Streets of Rage 4 is the perfect love letter to Sega's fan favorite beat-'em-up franchise. It captures the spirit and soul of the games while adding great new mechanics and tons of style. At its heart, it's a short, sweet, and well-made game about punching criminals until you can punch the biggest criminals of all. The price tag might be a bit steep if you're not someone who loves beating things up with friends, but for Streets of Rage fans, it is everything it should be.

Despite its gorgeous world and accessible veneer, Sakura Wars isn't going to win over the masses. It's simply too restrictive design-wise to achieve the broad appeal of games like Persona and Yakuza. For those willing to look past the blemishes, there's a certain beauty to be had here. It may not be the next Sega cult-hit, but Sakura Wars is a powerful love letter for series fans. It' not half-bad for anime fans, either.

Heroland is a charming game that simply lasts too long. The first impression is super positive, reminding me of Half-Minute Hero and similar delightful titles, and for the first few hours, the gameplay strikes a good balance between engaging and hands-on. As time goes on, it starts to drag, and only the quality of the translation can help push the game over the finish line. If you can play Heroland on something portable, it is far easier to recommend, but it just doesn't have what it takes to be a sit-down-and-play game.

I'd classify River City Girls as a fun, anime-inspired romp that's worth the time if you're looking for a balance between the visceral satisfaction you get from pummeling enemies on-screen and some of the off-center humor one can find in pieces like "Scott Pilgrim vs The World." It has that kind of vibe, and it's a great change of pace from the more heavy-handed stuff out there.

Gears Tactics is a solid turn-based strategy game that has something for genre veterans and newcomers alike. The faster pace and more aggressive style of the game will appeal to fans of the franchise, while the tweaks to established elements, like action usage and overwatch, will also tickle the fancy of strategy fans. The brutal difficulty may be par for the genre, and while the lack of multiplayer will turn off some players, the strong campaign and post-game skirmishes will keep others interested for quite some time. Both the series and Splash Damage are relative newcomers to strategy, but they've done a good job of convincing people that they can handle the challenge.

Is The Complex worth it? It's really hard to say. It's not exactly an expensive buy at £9.99, and the addition of choices make it more engaging than a television episode or movie. At the end of the day, it's basically a £10 movie rental with some button prompts added in. The best way to play it would be with a group of friends watching together, so you can argue over the choices and go for the path that feels best for you. Otherwise, there are better games and better movies available for the same cost.

It's not exactly the top of its field, but Anthill is an engaging experience for short bursts. The simple nature of the game and the streamlined strategic elements make this a great pick-up-and-play title for strategy and tower defense fans, and there's a good deal of content to keep you busy for some time. You'll wish it supported docked play, and multiplayer modes would've been nice, but Anthill remains a title that's worth checking out.

In the end, Vitamin Connection is a fun and endearing addition to the Switch library of exclusives. The level of difficulty is there, but nothing feels impossible unless you're playing solo so beating each stage feels like an accomplishment. The long stages mean that stretches of gameplay can feel lengthy, but the overall duration feels just right, while the New Game+ mode and the ability to improve on each minigame gives the game some legs once you beat the campaign. If you want something that feels fresh in the co-op space, grab Vitamin Connection.

XCOM: Chimera Squad is a solid attempt at a stand-alone, quick-play XCOM 2 campaign. The trimmed-down mechanics make it a lot easier to go through the campaign relatively quickly instead of having to dedicate yourself to it. It's undeniably simpler than the game it's based on, and the massive shift in tone might be too much for some XCOM fans. For those who don't mind or newcomers looking to get a taste of XCOM, Chimera Squad is difficult to pass up.

I enjoyed a lot of my time with The Foundation, but I'm left wondering how much of a lasting impact it'll have on the Control universe as a whole. It felt more like an entertaining distraction than a large step forward, but I had no problem eating up all the lore, info and strange encounters I could find. If you're a fan of the game and thought it was one of the best games of 2019, you'll see that poking around in the underbelly of the Oldest House is well worth the time.

Trials of Mana is pretty much everything you could want from a remake of the original game. It is incredibly faithful and loving, while improving the original's combat system in significant ways. At its heart, it's an upgraded SNES RPG that's been saddled with poor AI, a lackluster camera, and bad voice acting. The core game is better than it ever was, but there is a lot more room to improve as well. I'd recommend it over the Collection of Mana version for your first experience, but don't expect it to clear as high a bar as Final Fantasy VII Remake did.

The gameplay is solid, and I enjoyed my time with the title. It just needs more of ... everything: characters, game modes, maps, and skins. Microsoft and/or Ninja Theory certainly seem to be aware of this shortcoming, if the game's price tag is any indication. That doesn't change the fact that the game desperately needs more content if it wants to keep its audience; otherwise, Bleeding Edge's matches might not be so bloody in the very near future.

Depixtion is the nice middle ground between the simple Picross games and the more complicated ones that try to throw different genres into the mix. Veteran Picross players should be able to quickly pick up the concept of using different shades of color and different color layers, and it won't be too daunting for newcomers either. The puzzle selection in Depixtion can seem low compared to its contemporaries, but it will take some time to get through them all due to their layout. Overall, Depixtion is a solid puzzle game that fans will appreciate having in their libraries.

Exit the Gungeon is a lot of fun to play, especially if you liked Enter the Gungeon. It is noticeably streamlined, which may hint at its mobile origins, but it's still a frantic and skillful bullet hell experience. It makes a few choices that don't fully pay off, such as its randomized guns arsenal that often feels like gambling. I'm not fully on board with the tight spaces restricting movement, and the new jump-dodge did not click for me in the same way as the trusty old dodge-roll. While these aren't necessarily small gripes, they don't suppress my enjoyment of Exit. If you enjoy twin-stick shooters or bullet hell games, Exit the Gungeon is a rough gem to take a closer look at.

All in all, despite Might & Magic: Chess Royale being free to play, I have a hard time recommending the game as anything other than an introduction to auto-battlers or a very casual experience to distract a few minutes while waiting in line. It's overly simplified and displays little in the way of character. With several games of this nature on the market, it's difficult to see how Chess Royale could compete.

At the end of the day, Arc of Alchemist delivers a decent gaming experience. The characters' personalities are fun, and their antics are worthy spectacles. The building mechanics are a fun respite from the otherwise ho-hum aspects of the game. Those who are interested in the genre may find this to be worth their time, but the music, art, and significant chunks of the gameplay are too blasé to talk up.

Battle Planet: Judgement Day is a shooter that's best played in short bursts with a friend in tow. The lack of objective variety can quickly dull your excitement, and the phantom attacks from enemies can be frustrating. The shooting is good enough that you can suffer through some terrible guns now and then, and the level design is enjoyable enough to merit a break from more involved titles.

If Contra: Rogue Corps were known by any other name, it wouldn't be so bad. The idea of a twin-stick looter shooter is intriguing, and the shooting can be decent even if the level flow isn't exciting. However, that reliance on the franchise name comes with certain expectations. The overheating guns, restricted co-op, and missing weapon sets run counter to what fans have come to expect from the series that's been around for over 30 years. If you aren't too discerning, this may be worth a look if it's in the bargain bin. If fans of the series pick up Rogue Corps, they will be disappointed.

There's nothing wrong with ArtPulse being more of a toy than anything substantial. Sometimes it's fun to just goof off. There's not enough here to make the title realize its potential. The creation tools are woefully limited, and the game's ability to instantly delete things stifles one's creativity even more than the limited toolset does. The inability to share your creations or save them also hurts, but anyone hunting for some easy high-level trophies will be happy. For everyone else, ArtPulse would've been a perfect demo disc experience, but it shouldn't be something that you purchase for real money.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 has the unusual honor of being both one of the best anime-based games and best Warriors games I've ever played. It has its flaws, including the tiresome return of Giant foes and the usual Warriors repetitiveness, but it's a great example of how to reinvigorate something that seems like a tired formula. If you're a One Piece fan or a fan of the Warriors franchise, PW4 is absolutely worth a go. Once you've taken a bite of gum-gum, you won't be able to resist more.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a love letter to the original game. With likeable characters, engaging gameplay, and clever twists and turns, FF7R does everything that it needs to. An over-reliance on pre-existing knowledge of FF7 may make it a tough introduction for new players. The strong writing and excellent gameplay should carry newcomers over the finish line, even if they're confused by things by the end. The ending might be a little controversial, but the rest of the game sets up such a strong base that I can't wait for Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2.

No matter how frustrating the combat became or how broken the environments turned out to be, I loved doing case work and figuring out obscure deaths or uncovering secret organizations within this peculiar game world. Given all the downsides, this is a game that is difficult to recommend, especially at full price.

In the end, I felt that Luna: The Shadow Dust ebbed and flowed more like a beautifully soundtracked picture book than an actual video game, which is admittedly a refreshing change of direction for this genre. If you're looking for something a little more out of the box than a typical point-and-click experience, then Luna: The Shadow Dust might be the game for you.

Code Vein should be applauded for doing something different with the Dark Souls formula. It's great to be able to switch out your classes at will and combine them, and the almost-constant presence of co-op is a real selling point for those who may not want to jump into the deep end of this emerging subset of the genre. The rest of the game, from the story to the level design, feels bland, and the combat falls apart when you suddenly have no AI companion by your side. If you don't mind a heavy dose of anime in your action game, Code Vein may be worth checking out.

There's barely anything salvageable in Down to Hell. The backgrounds look nice enough, and the music is decent if you aren't too picky about your metal. Everything else is a cautionary example of the kinds of sins that game developers should avoid. Even if you were to find the title for less than $1, there are a plethora of similar games on the Switch that do a much better job, so there's no reason to look in the direction of Down to Hell.

Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories is a mess of a game. The use of an earthquake as a backdrop is wasted due to the lack of meaningful reactions from anyone in the story. All of the incidents you witness range from semi-normal to wildly ridiculous, but the cast of unlikeable characters punctuates each scenario. The mechanic of stumbling across major story beats makes it so that you'll only figure out things by dumb luck, while the solutions to some of the puzzles feel unsatisfying due to their bewildering solutions. The choice system is the game's real saving grace, but unless you're interested in seeing how much of a terrible person you can be in later runs or are just a massive fan of the series, there's little reason to check out this title.

Despite everything you just read, Last Encounter is not a bad game. It looks decent, it plays decently, and it sounds decent. That's all it is, though: a relatively inoffensive twin-stick shooter. Since it glosses over the woes concerning design, perspective, and heck even gameplay, but this title is pretty functional. If "functional" is the kindest word that can be mustered for this flat and frustrating game, then I wouldn't necessarily call it good, either.

Persona 5 Royal does what it set out to do: Make Persona 5 a better and more rounded experience with more content. It mitigates a lot of the minor flaws but doesn't get all of them right. For the story, there are plenty of unskippable or slow areas with extensive hand-holding. Royal is an even easier experience than P5, including the Platinum Trophy, which is probably one of the easiest ones I've achieved to date. Those minor gripes aside, it's still an incredibly mesmerizing game that sucks you in and immerses you in an all-around great experience. I'm not sure I'm OK with the $60 price, though. A paid update to the original game would've been the better move here. With that being said, if you love Persona 5, you'll love P5 Royal. If you haven't played it yet, what are you waiting for?