This debut episode of the final season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead is impressive, if a little formulaic.

Grand Kingdom has a lot of really great ideas: its map setup, its use of obstacles to force you to think tactically, and its online integration are all great. But once you get past the game's second layer, it starts to plateau, which is disappointing. Whether it's more unique enemies, multi-layed class synergy, or more consequential online wars, Grand Kingdom feels like it's missing that little something extra. With that, I really hope there's a sequel. I'd hate to see all these great ideas go to waste.

With The Beginner's Guide, creator Davey Wreden starts with a brilliant premise, only to waste it with his insistence on telling rather than showing within his barely interactive worlds. Games don't necessarily need to be fun to work, but they should at least be engaging—something The Beginner's Guide can't maintain during its 90-minute running time.

Pokken Tournament is fun for a bit, but I'm not convinced that it has any staying power as a fighting game. It's further hurt by its thin single-player mode and limited roster, which hurts its potential with casual fans. As attractive and faithful to the license as it is, it has plenty of room for improvement. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel.

While Syndicate isn't AC II, to Unity's AC, it's still an improvement over Ubisoft's 2014 offering. The pair of protagonists work well, some stealth options return, and there's more ways to get around. London is a worthy playground for the Frye twins... and for players.

Don't let Yo-Kai Watch's kiddie appeal fool you: It might not be as deep as your average, adult-style RPG, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Level-5's gradual evolution of their "house style" has amounted to a true successor to Pokemon—one entirely free of its predecessor's 8-bit baggage.

The minigames of Super Mario Party are great, taking advantage of the Switch hardware in unique and creative ways. It's the dialed back board game and its lackluster extra modes that let the whole package down though. While it's still bound to be a great party game to break out when friends visit, it lacks the drama of the best in the series.

By shoving the story aside and doubling down on its great battle system, Paper Jam smartly emphasizes what the series does best. Some of the padding can be a little annoying, but the way paper-thin characters add new angles to enemy encounters makes this crossover more than just a simple gimmick.

World of Tanks is an entertaining and enjoyable tactical shooter with a surprising amount of depth. If you're not prepared to pony up some cash, it does become a grind eventually – but if you reach that point and you still want to play, spending some money is very likely a worthwhile investment.

Smaller in scale than last year's epic adventure, The Old Blood treads familiar, blood-soaked ground and doesn't offer much in the way of new ideas. However, it's very well produced, has some great moments of dialog, and offers a ton of Nazi-slaughtering action that's somewhat relentless, but still plenty entertaining.

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2's offers a unique method of taking down bad guys, which is enough to differentiate it from the Mega Man Zero series that indirectly spawned it. Tagging and shooting foes is tons of fun and the ability to play as Copen is a nice addition, but Gunvolt 2 still has notable issues with repetitive level design. Still, if you enjoyed the first game, there's no reason you won't have a blast with this one.

A clever, abstract take on a bullet hell shooter that breaks the action up into very short bursts. It's challenging, fun to play and very addictive. A great indie game to play between AAA titles.

Light and breezy, Ever Oasis makes for a pleasant little snack while waiting for the next wave of 3DS RPGs. Some of its core concepts could have been taken further, but it's still a well-executed RPG from a long-standing veteran of the genre.

Heaven's Vault may have one of the most well-realized video game worlds ever, with your curiosity and personality molding your story through the Nebula. Whether you're fascinated by history or just by a personal sense of duty, there's a lot to love about Heaven's Vault, even if the clunky movement and frustrating sailing sour the overall experience.

Despite some combat balancing issues and some occasionally too-linear design, 7th Dragon III offers a top-class portable role-playing experience. Thankfully, you don't need to be familiar with the unlocalized earlier games in the series to grasp the story, and its wealth of customization options make for a fairly breezy RPG experience... at least until you get to those brutal True Dragon fights, anyway.

Although the emphasis on bow hunting and woolly mammoths can give a bit of a Skyrim vibe, that quickly fades as you gain full mastery over the protagonist's ability to summon a variety of deadly beasts into combat. The writing fails to make its primitive heroes anything more than one-note lunks, but the primordial nature of the game world complements the action and ultimately makes up for the underwhelming story.

Super Mario Run's lack of offline play is a bummer, but otherwise it's an engaging experience that demonstrates Nintendo understands what makes for a good mobile game. Even if you're not a fan of mobile titles, it's worth a try: The initial download is free, and you can pay for the additional levels if you like what you see.

Episode 2 is effective in picking up where Episode 1 leaves off, but is content to mostly move the pieces around the board in an effort to setup the rest of the story.

Carrion is an energetic and taut game that flips the tables on The Thing, putting you in command of the alien creature and tasking you with simply going to town on the hapless humans surrounding you. The loose physics-based gameplay is satisfying to play, and the enigmatic creature's bloodlust is crucially never too powerful to render the armed humans that challenge you entirely helpless. Although Carrion's story falls largely flat, it's a very satisfying slaughterhouse of gnashing teeth and tentacles.

Garden Warfare's bright colors, cartoon graphics and humorous approach are the antithesis of most first-person shooters. But don't be fooled. It's as good as any out there - and very likely an awful lot more fun.

Like its predecessor, Smoke and Mirrors enjoys great writing, excellent voice acting and a lead who is likeable in all the right ways. That said, the second chapter in The Wolf Among Us feels somewhat too short -- like a build-up, a segue to bigger things. There are also moments where the writing trips, leaving players to wonder if Bigby's been hit on the head one too many times.

Panzer Paladin adopts a bit of every NES platformer you played as a kid, and the result is a little chaotic, but a lot of fun. Panzer Paladin's degradable-weapon mechanic adds a unique element of strategy to the mix, and playing as Flame outside of her Panzer suit lets you discover some cool secrets. However, there are times when the instructions are vague and the lives system doesn't need to exist in this day and age, but it's hard to stay mad when you're surrounded by this much 8-bit beauty.

The fundamental gameplay is strong. Matches are fast and enjoyable. The characters are visually wonderful and mechanically distinct. But the overall experience just needs more. More Guardians, more maps, more modes. The heroes feel like they're in the right place, but the rest needs to be pumped up over time for Gigantic to truly stand tall among its competition.

As a continuation of Marvel's Spider-Man for PlayStation 4, The Heist is okay. The Black Cat is the focus, as the rest is remixed mission and challenge types, and three new costumes...If you're in too deep with Spider-Man, it's worth picking up, but I do wish The Heist was a bit meatier overall. If my speculation is right, the later DLC releases will build upon what's found here, offering a satisfying expansion once all three updates are out.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is one of the best Call of Duty games in years, with vibrant new gameplay additions and robust multiplayer offerings. Despite that, it still feels hampered by aspects of its approach and tone that would have better been left in Call of Duty's past.

The core gameplay is great, but everything surrounding it is problematic.

Full Throttle has a great cast of characters and atmosphere, but with its remaining irritating action and timed sequences, bland puzzles, and an unnecessary fresh paint job, the game carries its old flaws to a new generation, and ushers some new ones in as well. Luckily, with the seamless swap to its already-fantastic original pixel art (whose immense detail is commendable, even in 2017), clicking through Full Throttle's charming love letter to wheels is still pleasant.

Hyrule Warriors is basically a one-note experience, but it hits that note with perfect pitch. The Zelda universe works better as a musou button-masher than you might expect, and much of that success is down to Tecmo's obvious love for the subject matter.