Hob is a solid adventure game. If you can live with brief moments of frustration when you're lost and nothing is going on, you'll often be rewarded with a large chunk of the game where the pacing is just right and the balance between combat and puzzle elements is fair. Despite a few issues with stuttering, the presentation is exquisite, and the game comes in at a satisfying length. Adventure fans would do well to give Hob a look.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus delivers on its promises. It's more of the same, but there are more weapons, more tools, and more Nazis to kill. In some ways, it's slightly disappointing in that the mechanics aren't more creative to go with the excesses in the plot, but a safe sequel isn't a bad thing. If you enjoyed The New Order or its spin-off The Old Blood, you'll enjoy Wolfenstein II. It hits all the right marks of the original, and any flaws are minor and don't detract from the all-important task of blowing up Nazis. Sometimes, that's all a game needs to be.

Assassin's Creed: Origins manages to be both experimental and safe. It tries a lot of new things, but it never ventures too far from the Assassin's Creed formula. There's a lot of potential in Origins, and it'll be exciting to see how the new features evolve in future games. Fans of Assassin's Creed should find a lot to like, and it may be time to revisit the battle between the Assassins and the Templars.

One Piece: Unlimited World Red Deluxe Edition is a great choice for anyone who's a fan of the anime, show or genre. It offers an original story from the creator of the One Piece universe, and it features smooth combat, a gorgeous world that has clearly received a lot of development attention, a ton of DLC, and it's wallet-friendly to boot. My only nitpicks have to do with the camera being too close to the character, which interrupted the fluidity of traversing the world, and there were a few slow points in the story due to a lack of clarity in missions. If you're looking for a fun and lighthearted adventure, you can't go wrong with this title.

The $30 price tag might scare away a few people, but there's no denying that Namco Museum is a bundle of fun. Just about every game is a classic, and while the overall collection could stand to be bigger, the fact that three games are new to the series shows that there's hope for some newer titles in the future, as opposed to the same library of classics. If you're a fan of retro gaming, Namco Museum is an easy purchase to make.

Tragedy of Prince Rupert is both a surprising and maddening experience. The emphasis on exploration and the solving of rather obtuse puzzles makes this a deeper title than the initial shooting would have suggested. On the other hand, your fragility combined with the steep spike into pure bullet hell territory can quickly yank you out of the experience. It's a distinct enough experience that you should only undertake if you have the patience of a saint combined with inhuman dexterity.

NBA Live 18 feels like it can be a competitor to the NBA 2K series. The game still needs some work in the presentation department, and while the streamlined modes may be pleasing for players who can feel overwhelmed with options, the available modes can feel pretty bare-bones. The gameplay is solid most of the time, and The One is a pretty good way to do a story mode, even if it doesn't have the writing depth. NBA Live 18 is now a decent alternative, and as long as EA Sports can keep up this momentum, it has a good chance of putting up a tighter fight next year.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a good, surprisingly polished callback of a game that replicates a lot of the feel of classic JRPGs without bringing along most of their flaws for the ride. I have no idea how appealing it is to anyone who didn't spend 40-hour chunks of his childhood on Final Fantasy III, but for me, it's a pleasant combination of modernity and nostalgia. That's a tricky combination to pull off.

At the end of the day, I would rather play Resident Evil: Revelations again on current-gen consoles than to reminisce about my 3DS. It didn't hold up well, and it understandably suffers in many graphical areas due to it having been originally developed for a handheld device. It's still a better-than-average game that features a classic series plot and two of my favorite characters. If you go into it with the understanding that this is a port of a handheld game, you should be more than pleased with it. The Raid mode extends playability and longevity with its addicting gameplay and co-op capabilities. Luckily, the comes with a wallet-friendly price of $20, but if you can catch it on sale, it's an even better deal.

Moero Chronicle has moments of being a decent dungeon crawler for those new to the genre. The basic mechanics are done well, and the idea of collecting monster girls as party members makes gameplay more interesting. However, the act of taming the girls is difficult enough that your interest will fade even if the humor is appealing. Until some of the issues get fixed, it's difficult to recommend this title.

All in all, Lichtspeer is a fun indie title with limited story and gameplay elements that create an overall good but somewhat lacking experience. What's here is incredibly well made, but if you're not a fan of difficult arcade-style, high-score shooters, Lichtspeer might not be right for you.

If you're looking for a beefy single-player experience, you'll have to look elsewhere. Outside of Arcade mode, you can learn how to drive well and get in a good challenge while doing so, but GTS pales in comparison to the campaigns of versions past with respect to long-term, single-player engagement. If your focus is on multiplayer, then GTS is just right for you. You'll have to learn how to drive like a professional and not hit things, but the game provides you with all the necessary tools to achieve that.

It's a distinct experience in that it's a modern game dressed in a retro game's skin, with a substantial learning curve built into it before you're even competent. I don't think it's bad at all, but playing it feels like I've found myself in the cockpit of some vehicle that I don't know how to drive, five seconds before a crash. I figure there's a decent audience for this sort of game out there, but I'm not in it.

A solid follow-up to the original game. It doesn't change too much, but the new combat system is an improvement over the original, and it retains the same sense of irreverent humor and love for the franchise as the first game. TFBW is a solid RPG on its own merits, and fans of South Park will find a ton to love here. The only thing that drags it down is feeling a bit too similar to the first game despite the differences, and some of the humor can fall dangerously flat.

The story makes more sense this time around, and the atmosphere delivers the right amount of unease, which is what will keep players plugging away to the end. The gameplay has been tweaked to be easier, but it's not to the point where you can go through without much trouble. Despite the presence of a few technical issues, TEW2 looks and sounds great, and it's certainly worth your time.

Sine Mora Ex is a good game, but the new version likely won't satisfy people who are familiar with the original. It still features the challenging and fun gameplay, but it currently doesn't warrant the hefty price tag of $30 for a few minor improvements and content. Chances are that owners of a Nintendo Switch have never had the opportunity to try Sine Mora, so they will experience a highly challenging and entertaining game. People who have played this before should wait for a sale to get the slightly touched-up and expanded version of this truly enjoyable experience.

Even though it isn't as robust as past collections of the series, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 is still worth getting if you're a Mega Man fan. The eighth game may be a letdown, but it demonstrates some fun moments while the other three titles are solid. It isn't bursting with extras, and the inclusion of side games would've made this perfect, but for some people, it might be enough to be able to play MM9 and MM10 properly with save states.

2Dark has a lot of potential, and the premise is exciting. The developers dared to delve into a dark plot, and that bravery should be applauded. The title doesn't fail in any particular way, but it also doesn't meet its full potential. The gameplay felt overly complicated and could've benefited from a less is more approach. Some improvements to the inventory system also could've made gamers feel more in control of the protagonist. It would've been amazing if the game had managed to remain focused on some quick and tense action sequences, rather than spending so much time on tedious tasks, which interrupted the sense of immersion.

SteamWorld Dig 2 is a masterfully created exploration-platformer in a Metroidvania package. If Dig 2 could offer an additional difficulty level, introduce more boss fights, and capitalize on the potential of the world and story, this could've been extraordinary. As it stands, it's an incredible experience and excellent value for fans of the genre or video games in general. One has to bear in mind that we are talking about a $20 indie game made by a small team, so Dig 2 is far from a full-fledged AAA experience. What's astonishing is how the title manages to capture and entertain us during its runtime and beyond.

Shadows of Adam is a worthwhile romp through classic JRPG nostalgia. Fans of the genre will appreciate the '80s and '90s callbacks and expansive world. At the same time, newcomers to the genre should find the title accessible, especially with its easier battles and exclusion of random encounters. While it might not display the same creativity of top-of-the-line JRPGs like Final Fantasy or Persona, Shadows of Adam executes its ideas well, and more importantly, is simply fun to play.

If you can live with some bugs, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is a solid follow-up to Shadow of Mordor. Everything that made the first game such a treat is still fully intact, and the addition of loot makes it even more difficult to decide whether to keep or kill orcs. The new fortress mechanic is very intriguing, especially when multiplayer is thrown into the mix, but it makes concessions so it doesn't heavily punish those who don't always maintain their bases. All of this is thrown together with a wide variety of activities and an overall journey that is rarely boring. Fans of grand adventures absolutely enjoy this title.

The Madden series is iconic in the world of sports gaming. Regardless of your reason for playing, you can't go wrong with Madden NFL 18 because it's the ultimate NFL simulation experience on the market. This year's iteration brings dramatic changes in the form of an interactive movie, but there's something here for everyone, whether the interest is in MyTeam, online play, the MUT system, the competitive scene and community, or the superstar career mode.

Overall, Bannerman feels fresh in the way it looks and plays, and we wouldn't be too far off the mark in describing it as a 2-D Dark Souls. Fans of skill-based combat who are interested in the masterfully created retro visuals will get a short but intense journey through the gritty side of war in medieval times.

Metroid: Samus Returns is a solid remake that doesn't reinvent the wheel or eclipse the high points of the franchise but represents an enjoyable and well-made return to what makes Metroid work. It's low on story and high on exploration, and that's all it needs to be. The frustrating moments are few and far between, and the 3DS iteration eclipses the Game Boy original in pretty much every way. It's a Metroid title that shows why the old 2D classics were popular, and it succeeds wonderfully. With a ton of hints dropped throughout the game about a new Metroid game after Samus Returns, it should be interesting to see what Mercury Steam can do with an original game.

Aside from being one of the best-looking games on the platform, it plays like a dream due to a myriad of control options, while the freedom afforded by its gameplay options ensures that people of any racing skill level will be able to jump in and do well. However, its lack of stability puts it behind the console version and can make playing it on the PC frustrating if you aren't prepared to restart the game constantly. Despite the score given, which would be one full point higher if stability were fixed, players really wait for a patch unless they're impatient.

All in all, The Escapists 2 is a bigger and better version of the original game. The core gameplay loop of improving your inmate and finding materials and resources to escape is really engaging, even if it can be remarkably boring at times. The new features are mostly hits, and even when they're misses, they just need to be fleshed out, rather than being bad additions to the experience. The Escapists 2 does a solid job, and it's fun to play. Its only shortcomings are some awkwardness with the controller and the general tedium and punishing nature of the game.

In the end, Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star serves as a good appetizer for those who want some Musou action now. The action goes at an almost non-stop clip, and there's rarely any time to breathe before you have to unleash triple-number combos again and again. There's a ton of content to go over, and while the story can be nonsensical at times, it remains entertaining for those who aren't averse to anime or a visual novel style of game. Overall, Fate/Extella is a solid game to bide your time with while you await some of the bigger titles this year.

The changes that have occurred in NBA 2K18 are great, and everything feels more polished and confident. The dribbling and shooting are arguably the most noteworthy changes, as they feel and look more realistic than ever. The MyCareer mode is a lot better than it has been in the past few years, mostly due to the balance of archetypes. You can now safely play the way you want and not suffer any long-term setbacks. Overall, NBA 2K18 is the pinnacle of basketball simulation games, and it offers more than enough reasons to upgrade now rather than waiting for next year's offering.