RemiLore clearly has some heart. The problem, unfortunately, is that its execution seems to be all over the place. I found myself almost constantly questioning the game’s many systems rather than enjoying them, simply due the fact that they don’t feel very unified overall. Still, I’ll credit the game for its tight combat, its accessibility, its healthy serving of modes, and its lush visuals, but even so, it’s not worth its rather steep and greedy asking price.

ToeJam and Earl: Back in the Groove is a very faithful comeback. However, outside of some lovely looking visuals, things haven’t really kept up with the times. It’s fun in short bursts, but be prepared for things to get a bit too repetitive, a bit too quickly, especially in solo play. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is as brilliant and as funky as it ever was. When all is said and done, die-hard fans of the originals will find the most value here.

Mars Chaos Menace is too hard to recommend due to being chock-full of cheap deaths, awkward level presentation, and poor design choices. To the game’s credit, and a forefront necessity for any shmup, its handling remains fluid and responsive throughout. That, however, means next to nothing when much of the difficulty within is relayed through little more than its incompetent development. Simply put, it’s a waste of digital space.

Anthem is one hell of a decent loot-shooter that boasts some ambitious mechanics. Its massively engaging combat and its flow of movement takes center stage, with its several activities, its deep lore, and its diverse and interesting world following closely behind. That said, Anthem isn’t without fault, and BioWare will need to carefully address the game’s issues alongside its community feedback to ensure they maintain player interest.

The “one more go” Trials formula that we all know and love is back, and it’s back at its absolute finest. Rising is the deepest, lengthiest, and most enthralling entry in the series to date. Everything from its refined trademark difficulty and its addictive physics-based play, right up to its epic track design and its truly sensational camerawork, is nothing short of outstanding. That being said, RedLynx really needs to address its screen tearing, and fast.

A gorgeous and immersive first-person survival game that takes all the best the series has had to offer, and runs with it. The slow pace can take a little getting used to, but that visceral heft to the game really helps to place you in its world. The open world is a nice addition, but the game still plays at its best in its claustrophobic smaller areas. If you’re seeking a palette cleanser after years of breakneck shooters, Metro Exodus is a great choice.

Yonder’s world is as endearing as it is captivating, but the Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon-esque content that fills it, although accessible and plentiful, isn’t quite as robust as it appears to be. Whilst most of the game’s fun quests and opportunities have meaning and depth, a large portion of them feel needless and tacked on, merely to bolster longevity. Still, overall, it’s hard not to be allured by the game’s diverse and truly relaxing foundation.

Daggerhood is a safe choice if you’re a fan of punishing platformers. It does a fine job of keeping its gameplay varied and challenging via continuously introducing new and interesting mechanics. It’s a shame then, that it’s held back quite a bit by its poor boss encounters and its tendency of taking cheap-shots. Overall, I wont go so far as to say that it’s a good game, but it does just about manage to get more right than it gets wrong.

If you follow Artifex, Queen’s Quest 2 will feel painfully familiar due to its lack of formulaic deviation. Unsurprisingly, the story is its weakest element, with its unenthusiastic voice work trailing closely behind. That said, it’s still a fairly robust and very challenging puzzler nonetheless. One that certainly knows how to motivate your senses through its intelligent design, its commendable diversity, and its expertly detailed locations.

Whilst it’s lacking in story content and comes with a questionable mission structure, there’s much to like about New Dawn. The gameplay remains fluid and responsive throughout, with no shortage of memorable moments born through its nonstop action, as well as its broad variation of unique opportunities. That said, once the game’s grind-wall kicks in towards the end, you’ll start feeling less like a liberator, and more like a liberator’s butler.

Creepy Road is a mixed bag of pros and cons. Whilst it looks and sounds the part, handles quite fluidly, and comes with a diverse variation of enemies and weaponry, there’s just too many glaring issues holding it back. Chief among them being lazily designed boss battles, poor hit detection, and several environmental bugs. It’s a shame really, because had the developer held the game’s quality to a higher standard, this could have been a hit.

DiRT Rally 2.0’s relentless difficulty truly knows no bounds, making it an experience that’s clearly been designed exclusively for rally sim enthusiasts. The game packs a respectable variation of tracks, vehicles, and modes, with a plethora of customization options present to aid you in finding comfortable handling. Despite its few technical issues, it doesn’t get much better than this. It’s tense, it’s engaging, and it’s constantly exciting.

Taken as a finished product, Apex Legends feels like the Battle Royale craze growing up. The possibility of new modes and options to be added is an enticing prospect, but what is here is well worth the asking price. That asking price, of course, is free – and Respawn should be commended for its risky approach to a rapidly oversaturated market. Apex Legends is an excellent shooter, and an excellent Battle Royale title.

The biggest challenge you’ll face here is trying to overcome its horrendous presentation. There’s a complete lack of distinction between the game’s foreground and its background, leading to heaps of cheap deaths as a result. What’s worse, there’s almost no depth and variation within. Instead, the game makes a nasty habit of constantly recycling its few dull ideas, over and over, throughout the entirety of play. Heed my advice, avoid.

Considering that it’s a sequel, and despite its efforts, Monster Energy Supercross 2 doesn’t feel wholly refined overall. The game suffers considerably due to its loose handling, its steep difficulty curve, and its excessive loading times. That said, there’s enough diverse content on offer to keep die-hard fans entertained until next time. Just don’t expect the quality to have come on in leaps and bounds in comparison to its predecessor.

Crackdown 3’s campaign is shockingly under-baked, consisting of little more than overly repetitive mission structure, hit and miss functionality, and several technical issues. Things don’t fare any better in its Wrecking Zone. Whilst its multiplayer component does indeed house some potential that may be realized through post-launch support, as it stands in its current form, it’s a shameful representation of Microsoft’s lofty promises.

With such a vast amount of iconic material on show here, it’s disappointing to see the sheer lack of effort put forward in regards to its overall execution. The game’s combat is indeed reliably fun, but this means very little in the face of its several shoddy design choices, its horrendously lengthy loading times, and its cast of characters that are painfully devoid of characterization. Fans of the IPs would do well to temper their expectations.

Whilst it would have benefited from some variation as far as its visual design is concerned, it’s easy to like Minesweeper Genius for its relatively straightforward and challenging structure. The game takes the classic Minesweeper formula and introduces some simple yet effective mechanics, which goes hand in glove with its randomly generated content. The end result makes for an experience that’s both fun and gratifying throughout.

The King’s Bird is an utterly challenging platformer that’s perhaps, oftentimes, more frustrating than it needs to be. Further hindrance is found in its slightly unresponsive handling, together with its wildly fluctuating difficulty curve. That being said, if you can muster the perseverance and precision to see it through, you’ll find a pleasant, warm, and somewhat endearing adventure buried underneath its convolution.

Conarium is certainly one for the fans of H.P. Lovecraft, despite the fact that it’s less of a traditional horror, and more of a puzzler with elements of suspense present. That said, the game does a wonderful job at presenting a dark and eerie story that follows in the footsteps of its source material, complete with a great setting and several nods to its inspirations. Unfortunately, however, its slow pace and its short length holds it back quite a bit.

Despite some occasionally poor bot behavior, there’s a lot to like about Hyper Jam. This is every bit as addictive as it is exciting, with accessibility and short-burst functionality serving as forefront aspects. The game’s fluid and fast-paced action sits well alongside the game’s unique perk stacking system, with each and every passing round becoming more tense and frenetic as a result. If you’re looking for a new arena brawler, this is one to consider.

It would be all too easy to compare this to the Souls series, but in truth, Salt and Sanctuary deserves a spotlight entirely of its own. It’s a dark and twisted journey that constantly relays a remarkable amount of depth, variety, innovation, and detail. Its greatest achievement, however, is not that of its outstanding structure, but its ability to frequently entice its players, despite how often it screws them over. This, is a punishing must have.

Glass Masquerade’s jigsaw-like functionality may indeed look simple at first glance, but in practice, it’s anything but. The game’s clever use of its singular artistic mechanic makes for a challenging, yet strangely therapeutic puzzler. The only drawback is that it’s quite short in length and doesn’t provide much replay value. That said, for a genre that’s rapidly gaining weight, Glass Masquerade effortlessly showcases that less is more.

Access Denied’s varied and intelligently designed puzzles are bound to excite fans of the genre, and although it’s a very short game, it does well with the few tools that it encompasses. It’s a shame then, that its handling can be all over the place, which simply isn’t forgivable for a game that strongly encourages perseverance and precision. That being said, and for its fairly generous price, you could do worse.

Wargroove certainly packs an impressive portion of diverse content, but its harsh difficulty, together with its complexity, has a tendency of muddying the water. Nevertheless, if you can overlook Wargroove’s taxing challenge and bear with it long enough to understand its varied functionality, there’s a lot to like about it, especially if you’re a fan of strategy games.

Ages of Mages is a mixed bag of pros and cons. Though to the game’s credit, it does indeed manage to get more right than it gets wrong. The gameplay remains fun, fluid, and responsive, with just enough depth present across its enemy variation and its skill tree systems to keep it from repetition. The drawback, however, is that it’s bogged down by poor presentation, minor framerate issues, and unbalanced difficulty.

The game is described as a feel good RPG, but in truth, and due to the sheer number of poorly implemented mechanics, it’s more like an RPG that looks good, but feels terrible. The combat is all over the place, the pacing is questionable at best, and the core ‘buddy-up’ system just fails to excite. It doesn’t help matters that its random generation is puddle deep, making it overly repetitive as a result. Pass this by.

Episode two is of a much slower pace in comparison to its predecessor, and comes with less emphasis on heavy choices, as well as some minor bugs. The end result makes for a segment that doesn’t quite meet the quality that was paved by what came before it, but surprisingly manages to hold its own nonetheless. Rules is a solid addition to the Life is Strange world, and a great lead in to the challenging choices, inevitably still to come.