Make no mistake about it, Battle for the Grid is a cheaply developed cash grab that will sorely disappoint those fooled by its admittedly exciting promotional run. The game’s dull campaign takes little more than twenty minutes to complete, and once you’re done there, you’ll be waiting equally as long to find an online match. Whilst local play is indeed an option, I cant at all recommend it due to its shamefully weak, boring, and unbalanced gameplay.

Gang Beasts is a competitive brawler in a Human: Fall Flat skin. Nothing more, nothing less. The physics-based play doesn’t always suit the multiplayer concept, and as such, the whole ordeal comes across quite tedious and frustrating. Whilst I’ve no doubt that it will find an initial following, I do doubt its ability to maintain a fan base due to its lack of variation. You’ll certainly have some laughs here, but you’ll mostly be laughing at it, not with it.

Even as a big fan of open world adventures, I simply could not find any real enjoyment to be had here. There’s nothing particularly wrong with a simpler approach to this style of game, but due to the sheer lack of active engagement with its world and its systems, I daresay that even dedicated players will grow tired of Windscape long before the quest is over.

Whilst Metagal doesn’t stand nearly as tall as the likes of Mega Man, there’s still quite a bit of fun to be found here. The gameplay is fluid and responsive, with just the right level of challenge in place to keep you on your toes throughout. That being said, the game’s short length and its habit of frequently handing out cheap deaths are its greatest drawbacks, which is a shame, because Metagal’s otherwise sturdy framework clearly deserved better.

Sekiro is quite simply outstanding. It’s stunning, it’s deep, it’s diverse, and it’s wholly engaging across all aspects of play. However, what truly speaks volumes is the developer’s ability to constantly encourage its players’ capacity for improvement. Here, in Shadows Die Twice, due to its punishing difficulty alone, you’re either all in or you’re all out. If you’re of the latter, you’re missing out on what may well be one of the best games of 2019.

Far: Lone Sails is a game that says a great deal without ever uttering a single word. Much like Dear Esther, it’s a journey that can be interpreted in many ways, and as such, your view of its gorgeously desperate world will constantly vary throughout. It’s a shame, however, that such a compelling canvas is slightly held back by its simplicity and its short length. Still, it’s a fascinating tale that deserves attention, just don’t expect too much from its gameplay.

AngerForce is an accessible yet challenging shmup that frequently rewards its players whether they win or lose. Its gameplay is tight, responsive, constantly packed with action, and comes complete with diverse environments, heaps of enemy variations, and a shed-load of upgrades. Not only is it one of the best looking shmups in recent memory, it’s easily one of the most entertaining. Genre fans would do well to have this on their radar.

Despite its varied modes, the bulk of your time spent playing Phar Lap will consist of little more than participating in dull repetitive races, whilst tending to a shed-load of overly linear upgrade paths. The game’s depth is puddle deep, and remains as about as exciting as watching paint dry. Moreover, it relies far too heavily on cheap tactics to needlessly stretch out its longevity, only further emphasizing how quickly it outstays its welcome.

The game’s greatest drawback is that of its structural imbalance. Whilst its Groundhog Day-esque choice-driven narrative remains deep and engaging, its lack of content variety and depth ultimately paves the way for repetition. The combat, on the other hand, remains satisfying throughout, which is further upheld by the game’s entertaining RPG elements. Overall, it’s a fairly decent adventure that’s only fun until the novelty wears off.

Miles & Kilo offers a colorful and, at times, exciting adventure. Its steep difficulty curve and the simplicity found in its handling sits well with its short-burst level design. However, its reliance on using irritatingly cheap tactics is bound to frustrate even the most forgiving of players. That said, Miles & Kilo does enough right to justify a recommendation, but it’s a recommendation that I can only extend to the patient fans of hardcore platformers.

Smoking is bad for you. The game clearly relays that message to its players at each and every turn. Whilst its intentions are good and it is indeed free to play, the whole experience is an ugly mess. One Leaves lacks originality, consists of little more than lazy ideas and poor execution, and is chock-full of irritating performance issues. Sadly, because of this, the majority of its narrative gets lost in the midst of its frustrating methodology.

The entire journey is based on process and reflection, and speaking of its ambiguity, the game achieves greatness through bonding that with its intelligent level design and its ability to tease perception. It’s a shame then, that the whole experience is massively let down by its clumsy handling, its lack of technical refinement, and its tedious rinse and repeat gameplay structure. This, if anything, is the definition of squandered potential.

The Division 2 feels like a watershed moment for the loot-shooter sub-genre. Its mechanics are solid, its performance is great (aside from some minor glitches and bugs), and its content is bountiful. These things make it a rarity in the genre, an outlier from games that launch half-finished and limping from patch to patch and DLC to DLC. The Division 2 is the new gold standard for games-as-a-service – D.C. really is lovely this time of year.

AlienCruise is a decent side-scrolling shooter that does well with the little content that it serves up. The game’s commendable variation of interesting enemies, together with its few colorful and distinct locations, collectively ensure that player interest is maintained whilst repetition is held at bay. Despite some cheap deaths and its generic audio presentation, fans of the concept are unlikely to be dissatisfied with what’s on offer.

One Piece: World Gofer would have been a much more befitting title to put to this dull adventure. I’ll credit the game for its gorgeously detailed world, but this splendor is merely superficial. Most of your time spent here will consist of taking on generic missions, picking up fetch quests, and constantly battling against the game’s few boring enemy variants. The end result makes for a repetitive slog that fails miserably to excite on almost all fronts.

Sephirothic Stories is an outdated RPG, and a poorly developed one at that. The gameplay itself is far too basic, with very little innovation in place to give it any distinction or character throughout. I can say the same about its low-quality visual and audio design, which is further hindered by its constant asset recycling. Overall, and at best, this is nothing more than a substandard adventure that’s crammed with needless microtransactions.

RICO’s a very hit and miss affair overall. There’s no denying that it wears its procedurally-generated content quite well, offering some exciting and constantly unpredictable gunplay as a result. Unfortunately, it’s hard to overlook its gameplay repetition, and there’s some irritating design choices and a bunch of technical issues to contend with throughout. I’ve no doubt that it will find its following, but I cant wholly recommend it as it is.

The Occupation’s compelling story sits rather well with its intelligent framework. This is, for the most part, an intriguing real-time detective game that sports some solid features and robust mechanics, collectively putting forward a tense and constantly exciting affair. Indeed, there’s a few persistent technical flaws present that tend to interfere with the game’s flow, but in the face of everything that The Occupation gets right, they’re easy to overlook.

Whilst its story is both welcoming and gripping, and its dialogue remains on point, Beat Cop fails to build where it truly matters. The core loop, although very serviceable, becomes tedious and repetitive before long, with little mechanical depth in place to keep things fresh. There’s certainly some fun to be had here, but it tends to be quite fleeting. In essence, it’s a generic management sim that, to its detriment, rarely ever attempts to innovate.

I and Me goes a long way with the few mechanics that it encompasses, putting forward a solid puzzle game that boasts both quality and distinction. The game’s accessible functionality and its charming design makes it an appropriate choice for players of all ages, but its questionable difficulty curve is bound to frustrate the younger audience. Still, when all is said and done, there’s an endearing journey to be found here, if indeed short lived.

Crimson Keep is a disgusting mess. It’s a game in which progress is measured by luck and chance rather than skill and strategy, simply due to its horrendously developed framework. The combat is all over the place, the looting is almost completely unnecessary, and the level-up system is practically useless. It doesn’t help that the game is chock-full of cheap deaths, most of which are born through lazy ideas, technical flaws, and poor execution.

The game blends its few mechanics together well enough to maintain traction, and includes support for co-op play to bolster its worth. The problem, however, is that it lacks the depth found in many of its contemporaries. Furthermore, its visuals are fairly poor and its handling can be sloppy. If you’re in the market for a run-of-the-mill tower defense game, Hell Warders isn’t a bad choice, but you can get much better elsewhere at around the same cost.

Overload is a wonderful throwback that feels more like a true sequel to Descent than that of a spiritual successor. The content-rich gameplay is as constantly hectic as its inspiration’s gameplay, complete with tight and responsive feedback, and a host of varied upgrades and unique weaponry to utilize. That being said, the developer would do well to swiftly address the game’s rather distracting performance issues.

The devil you know is back, and it’s more diverse, more energetic, and more stylish than ever before. Devil May Cry 5 is quite simply enthralling across all aspects of its fast-paced and varied gameplay, and comes with a story that’s not only interesting, but well written and superbly voiced. Despite some minor issues with delayed rendering, the Sons of Sparda saga couldn’t have concluded in a better way.

Whilst it’s slightly let down by its stodgy controls and its dull boss battles, Fimbul has enough going for it to make it a worthwhile investment. The story is simple, but told well enough to keep you in place throughout its short run. Combat, though hectic at points, is satisfying enough to see you through most encounters. It would have been nice to see more from its interesting choice system, but overall, the game gets more right than it gets wrong.

Blood Waves is bloody awful. The entire game confines its players to a single room, and then expects them to be content with killing the same bland enemies, over and over again. There’s some variation to be found in the game’s pool of weapons, traps, and upgrades, but these generic additions lack depth and excitement. It doesn’t help that the game handles very poorly and very awkwardly throughout. It’s a cheap, repetitive, frustrating cash grab.

Black Desert won’t be to everybody’s tastes, and does little to push the MMO genre forward. With that said, it does streamline the experience into a more familiar shell, its real-time combat and impeccable UI tweaks helping it fit onto a console with the minimal of fuss. Its quest structure is lacking in variation, and it doesn’t have the complex characters of The Witcher 3, but it’s a world that is great to explore with friends, with the promise of more to come.

Old Man’s Journey is a decent brain teaser that manages to relay such a beautiful and meaningful story without ever uttering a single word. The game intertwines its gorgeous landscapes with its intelligent puzzle framework to great effect, ultimately pushing forward an experience like no other. That said, the game’s lack of basic guidance and its short running time is bound to disappoint those that seek something more grounded and lengthy.