Fire Emblem Warriors is a fun game held back largely by its adherence to the source material, which drags down several gameplay systems. It's still enjoyable, especially if you like Warriors games, but it could've been a lot more. The lack of diversity in the cast hurts it as a collection of fan favorites, and the overt similarities to Hyrule Warriors mean that it's easier to recommend Zelda over Fire Emblem unless you're a die-hard fan of the latter. If you can get past the nagging flaws, it's still one of the most solid Warriors titles on the market and a great Switch exclusive. It's always going to be in the shadow of Nintendo's other popular sword-swinging franchise.

Boasting an incredible story, great presentation and fun, sensible puzzles, this is one game that fans of the genre and fans of the classic story have to play.

It isn’t the savior of the Western genre that it could have been, but given the circumstances, I think it’s amazing that the product turned out to be this good. The graphics aren’t amazing but they have style, and the dialogue has that Rockstar “twang” to it that makes it a good game, but not a classic.

Cat Quest offers cute visuals, solid RPG action, and an overall charming feline adventure, and it's best enjoyed in bursts to avoid the otherwise repetitive quest structure.

As it stands, Syndicate is a pretty fun experience, but it lacks the innovation and heart that I've come to expect from Starbreeze as a studio.

A wonderful game and recommend it for any RPG fan who needs a game to spend 40-80 hours on.

With the new training and performance system, another unique gaming experience has been added to an already full-featured game.

Its tricky control scheme is likely to be a divisive element, but those willing to spend considerable time with the tutorials should find SSX Blur to be a rather solid experience.

The problems with Pro Stick are inexcusable, the implementation completely factoring out the human holding the controller.

As a fan of the movies and a fan of creative approaches to games, I've had my eye on John Wick Hex since the day it was announced. Its bizarre approach works satisfyingly well in the context of how John Wick would think in the same situations: risk versus reward, careful observation and planning, plays and counter-plays. It is a simple game to understand yet rewarding to attempt to master. It also makes a compelling case of how great movie-inspired games can be if developers really think outside of the box.

Bounty Star: The Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem is a fun game that never manages to make all of its mechanics blend together well. There are a lot of strong ideas that I really like independent of each other, but it never feels like a cohesive whole. There's still a lot of fun to be had in blasting bandits and helping Clem go from the graveyard to the farmyard, but it's very much a game with big ideas that it doesn't always live up to. If the concept sounds interesting, it's probably well worth a shot. Just be prepared for an experience that doesn't always hit the mark.

In many ways, Sonic Colors: Ultimate represents the unhindered high points of the 3D Sonic games. It's Sonic as a single playable character, so there are no werehogs, gameplay changes, or an adorable pudgy younger version of himself. It's the "run incredibly fast through loops" gameplay boiled down to its essentials, and it works really well. Even a decade out from its initial release, it's still a darn fun game, and Colors Ultimate definitely captures the feel. It won't change your mind if you never liked the 3D style of gameplay, but if you did, Colors is arguably the best of the lot. It might not have the highs of Unleashed or Generations, but it also is a far more focused affair.

In the end, Headlander is a very good adventure game for fans of the Metroidvania blueprint. The gimmicks that come from a flying head are used well, and the idea never feels tired. The action in firefights is good, and the number of areas and slightly hidden passageways in the world makes exploration equally worthwhile. It does feel like a drag whenever you have to perform the same action multiple times in different parts of a level, but the game is short enough that the padding doesn't feel too bad. Overall, genre fans will have a great time with Headlander.

Compared to the earlier entries, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier wasn't the best season. There were more than enough characters who were unsympathetic, and some of the recycled plot devices didn't do anything to wipe away that sense of déjà vu. The final episode, From the Gallows, brought a satisfying emotional resolution to earlier actions and events, and the end report listing the overall relationship outcomes between Javi and all of the major characters made you feel like there was actually some agency in a Telltale title, even if that doesn't really occur. Though uneven, this turned out to be a good season if you were willing to stick with it.

Dead or Alive 5 is certainly one of the better games that has come out since the fighting game genre made a comeback. While the core of the fighting system remains the same, the new additions give it a much-needed boost without ruining the balance. Though it could still use some improvements, the presentation is a little better than its previous home console incarnation, and the online play is also smoother.

It's a good title for kids. It controls well, the levels are interesting, and the references to Pac Man 25 years ago are respectful.

Dead in Vinland is easily one of the best games I've played, and its addictiveness is real. Every time you die, you'll reach for that new game button, like every other addict before you. Fans of survival managment games should snag Dead in Vinland, which is a steal at $20. The most important thing to remember in Dead in Vinland is that it is designed to defeat you but not destroy you. As the Vikings would say, Fear not death, for the hour of your doom is set, and none may escape it.

Average; nothing special but no glaring shortcomings either; any charm might be lost to fans outside of the genre.

It’s got its share of issues, but they’re something you don’t have much time to think about between waves of hostile undead. I’d recommend it to any console owner who enjoys a good FPS.

I really enjoyed this game, as evidenced by the 40 hours I spent playing it in the first 5 days I had it.

The overall design presents a good economic-based, city-building simulation with pleasing accompanying visuals.

Easily one of the best on-line titles for Xbox and is still one of the most fun and addicting games out there. Valve could have done a lot more with this title, specially in the off-line modes, but as it is, it is still a fine game, assuming you have XBL.

With everything but the sound category being wholly mediocre and disappointing (especially for players of the first Call of Duty), Finest Hour is just another sub-par release.

Warlords of New York won't change your mind about The Division 2. If you weren't a fan of the open-world cover shooter with loot mechanics, the expansion does nothing to convert you, even if the simpler changes to loot stat readouts is appreciated. The return to New York is nice, as is the more open-ended approach to how you get to the final boss, since it gives you some strategy about when you want to get your new toys. The plans for the endgame future are the most intriguing, since we'll get to see whether it'll be enough to get people to stick around. In short, there's enough content in the Warlords of New York DLC to keep fans happy for a little while longer.

Cygni: All Guns Blazing is a "jack of all trades" type of shooter. It isn't afraid to use as many different gameplay mechanics as possible, and it isn't fearful of creating chaotic situations almost all of the time. You'll wish that more time had been spent refining these elements or adding some quality-of-life elements and tweaks to make the mix stand out more positively. What's available is good enough that hardcore shooting fans will enjoy it, and the hope is that improvements are made to tighten up the experience either through various patches or a potential sequel.

Game of Thrones: Episode 5 - A Nest of Vipers reinforces the idea that happiness doesn't last. All of your victories in the previous episode — and the much smaller ones here — are easily reversed, and you get the feeling that the final episode will end in a Pyrrhic victory.

At the current price point, it's hard to justify a game that is ultimately so simple and small, even if it can be fairly enjoyable. Pieces Interactive has a good premise here, but ultimately, they didn't make enough out of it to justify the cost.

As it stands, BPM is a solid idea that's well executed, but it's wrapped in some mediocre game design that ultimately drags down the experience. This may sound like a harsh deconstruction of the title, but I would still recommend it to the right person. If you're very much into rhythm games or intrigued by the title, give it a shot. Its gameplay is promisingly solid, but the rest of the experience feels either underwhelming or too repetitive to appreciate over time. I would have loved to see some more drastic gameplay variations, skill-based additions, or maybe a change of pace or music to mix things up.