Party Hard falls flat in execution and bores in some cases. It’s a dour middle ground between a playground for murder and a puzzle: too restrictive in weapon / trap choice and infuriating to enjoy completely, and too simple and redundant to boggle the mind.

All in all, the Mega Man Legacy Collection has just enough toss-ins and challenges to make it worthwhile, while not messing with the highly-successful formula that formed the foundation of this long-standing franchise.

Red Goddess may lack a touch of the polish that players find from big-budget, AAA games, but it more than makes up for this with what it offers. Gorgeous lands to explore, artful storytelling, and well-designed controls come together to forge a great experience.

Volume is a solid game. Its new-age telling of a certified classic is intelligently done. Its gameplay shines every now and then, but is overall lacking during most scenarios. Yet still, it is recommended if you are a fan of stealth and puzzles.

It’s pretty minimal in its design, difficult to get into, and a bit cumbersome to navigate. I’ll freely admit that, on my first few plays, I planned on giving it a pretty low score. As I played a bit more, though, it began to grow on me and the frustration faded as I learned pilot, manage resources, and make use of upgrades and consumables.

Rather than trying to recreate a retro feel with modern tools, Iced Lizard keeps things to a simple three-color palette, NES-approved chiptune soundtrack, and purely unfrilled gameplay.

Road to Gehenna serves as a fantastic addition to an already-great game.

The mystery surrounding the disappearances, and the hearts pulled into the gripping narrative are well-thought-out and beautiful, in an eerie way.

While it’s not exactly reinventing the genre or creating anything brand-new, INK is a decent and inexpensive addition to the library of platfoming fans.

A great package. 30 amazing games spanning a beloved studio’s history, a low price, amazing extras that take fans behind the scenes, and a wonderful musical to kick things off make for the best collection of gaming goodness released in a long time. But, the issues with controls are difficult to ignore.

A phenomenal outing that builds well on its foundation and introduces great new content.

In the end, Roving Rogue makes a bit of a splash with its interesting means of storytelling, but that’s about it. From the frustrating controls to the uninspired level design, the rest of the game falls pretty flat. It’s not necessarily awful, mind you, just uninspired and a bit frustrating.

Galak-Z took the simple, addictive gameplay of an arcade space shooter and built something wonderful out of it. A simple game to get into with an underlying complexity that never gets in the way of the fun of the game. Galak-Z is a must play for absolutely everyone.

The simplistic visuals and sound design of Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop!? may make the game seem aimed at a younger audience. Make no mistake, though, the gameplay has plenty of depth and complexity.

With high-quality writing, voice acting, and graphic design, it stands well above the expectations I had going in, and I’d easily recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of the point-and-click genre.

This game so difficult to play through in the first place: the clunky and robotic feel of your characters and their movements. Extended Dream Edition is a regurgitation of the same nightmare that surfaced last year, and I can’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t already utterly enamored with the game’s beautiful aesthetics.

The best way that I can think to say it is that if you’re looking for something that’s slow, calm, and without any pressure to accomplish concrete goals, it’s almost certainly worth a look; the graphics are solid, the music is fantastic, and the lack of difficult objectives or enemies to overcome lends itself to losing yourself in the simple act of discovery.

N++ gives fans more of what they want in a more refined, deeper, and prettier package.

A really fun game, filled with fast-paced, side-scrolling beat ’em up action. It brings gamers back to days spent in arcades pumping quarters into machines. It may not do too much in terms of new, but what is available is polished and extremely enjoyable.

The Swindle has some really cool ideas, and the sound and visuals make for one of the prettiest games out there. But, for players looking for something new or are intrigued by the steampunk aesthetic, the randomized barrier to entry may be a bit too much.

Traverser creates a compelling world with numerous interesting quirks and a solid story. While the puzzles aren’t what they likely could be, given the intriguing design and mechanics, they’re also not so awful as to make the experience entirely dull.

All in all, Luckslinger is a fantastic retro-styled game with just enough innovation to make it worthwhile.

While I’m a fan of nostalgic throwbacks, this title isn’t bringing much that’s new or innovative to the genre.

Spectra creates a short yet enjoyable experience that mostly makes up for its visual sameness with the great supporting soundtrack.

The gameplay was pretty much the only reason why I was able to make it all the way to the true ending. But if you’re looking for a good story, oh boy, you’re not going to find it here. Here’s what you’re guaranteed to get with this game: engaging gameplay and an overall soulless story, filled with equally soulless characters.

In the end, Zenzizenzic is a great game for those who like the twin stick shoot-em-up genre, but may be looking for something with a little more to it.

Heavensward proves nothing other than that Square Enix can dress up old content without breaking it, and more needs to expected from the developers in future expansions.

Ironward’s Kickstarter-funded efforts have certainly paid off, and even as someone who doesn’t dabble much in real-time strategy style games, I thoroughly recommend at least checking out the demo available through the game’s official website.