While all the pieces are there for a great Metroidvania, complete with unique setting and characters, Cookie Cutter frustrated me more often than not due to the broken parry system that rarely works as advertised. I wasn’t expecting to play a love-revenge story as a lesbian android that talks to her robotic vagina, filled with violence and gore, but it certainly was a memorable adventure.

Overall, Lords of the Fallen is an excellent example of if at first you do not succeed, try again. With a multi-realm dynamic to manage throughout your campaign, Lords of the Fallen delivers a challenging and highly rewarding souls-like' experience. With Unreal 5 delivering graphical presentations that are memorable, an incredibly deep character progression system, and enough loot to keep even the greediest of gamer happy, Lords of the Fallen takes its rightful place in the upper echelons of the genre. Grab your friends and some extra controllers because Lords of the Fallen is a quality experience that is rarely found.

Even with Aspire: Ina’s Tale being a simple and beautiful 2D game, don’t expect the story to be a happy one. It had an overwhelmingly melancholy tone. The ending may not have been the biggest surprise to me, but the journey was well worth it. With no collectibles and a short run time of about 5 hours, there is no need to revisit once completed. This may seem like a bad thing, but it isn’t. The game provides a focused gaming experience that achieves what it sets out to do. Aspire - Ina's Tale told a story, captured the imagination, and left me a variety of mixed emotions. It also seemed to know how to wrap things up before it outstayed its welcome and started to run too long, something a lot of games don’t seem to understand. If you’re a fan of 2D platformers, I recommend checking this one out.

It has flaws, like a missing online multiplayer component, but it’s a fun way to spend a half hour or hour here and there.

Lake is a relaxing gaming experience that is quite unique, not just mechanically, but with its laid back game design. You can tell that Gamious made Lake with a lot of heart, as it’s a charming experience that can be enjoyed in any way you see fit. While the courier parts may become dull after a while, Lake is a great example of a charming and unique gaming experience unlike anything else if you’re looking for a comforting game to unwind with.

Overall, The Darkest Tales runs about 6-9 hours, and despite some technical issues, I enjoyed it immensely. I would have liked to have seen something new with regards to gameplay, but sticking with the classics has a sort of comfort to it, and that also plays into the toys and fairy tale feeling. The characters were delightful, the artwork was spectacular, the music was enchanting and the tale - Twisted.

If you can take it for face value, knowing it's a QTE heavy experience and you like the Japan and anime style, you'll without a doubt enjoy your time with Asura. For everyone else though, it has charm, amazing visuals and sound, and a certain uniqueness that's a spectacle to be soon, albeit a short one.

Alas, if you’re a platforming fan who yearns for something challenging to play on their Xbox One, you can’t go wrong with Talent Not Included. It is a solid, difficult and funny experience, and definitely worth a play through, especially if you have a friend around for local co-op. Just don’t go in expecting anything groundbreaking or overly long, because it’s neither of those things.

Taking clear inspiration from Deus Ex and Metal Gear Solid, Disjunction rewards you for being patient if you’re going to play a stealth run. While the game simply devolves into avoiding vision cones more than anything else, the three playable characters are not only are for narrative purposes, but showcases different ways you can play based on your playstyle. Cyberpunk enthusiasts will no doubt enjoy their time in 2048 New York, as will fans of stealth games, though casual fans will probably enjoy Disjunction best in bite sized sessions rather than a longer playthrough.

I still don't get how making breakfast or taking a bath can take up half the day, but the real fun in Sims 3 Pets comes from recreating all your past and current pets over the years.

So $14.99 buys you a game that has some issues in the areas of level design, soundtrack, repetitive combat, and an oversimplified gameplay system. But should you buy it? Absolutely and without question. If you enjoy a quality platformer then you will most-likely enjoy SkyKeepers. The frantic combat keeps you on the edge while the jumps and the gameplay will truly test you. While on the surface SkyKeepers may seem like a generic platformer, but Sword Twin Studios took the basic elements of great 2D platformers and adapted them to fit their narrative. So, while SkyKeepers may not be innovative, ground breaking or flawless, it's definitely a high quality 2D platformer for you to enjoy.

McPixel 3 isn’t for everyone. It’s crude but it gave me the kind of unexpected laughs that I haven’t had since moments playing the most recent South Park game. If you want something to have a few laughs, and not take seriously, I think you’ll like it. If you like crude humour, you’ll love it.

It’s a solid entry into the Let’s Sing series. It was the same as other entries as far as gameplay, so the only real difference was the music and new avatars, and that was enough for me to find it enjoyable. ABBA sits alongside only a handful of acts that seem to have longevity and cross generational appeal. I’d hazard to say they are up there with the likes of The Beatles and Queen. For this reason, they are a perfect choice for this outing of the Let’s Sing franchise. Voxler didn’t give us anything new but delivered what was promised and that’s enough for me.

If you're unable to play online, it's very difficult to suggest Armored Core V due to its brutally tough campaign if played solo and dry storyline. As a multiplayer game though with an active and experienced team, you'll have one of the best mech simulations you can possibly think of. Fans of the aging Chromehounds finally have a new title to play online.

You’ll get what you put into Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Those that can dedicate well over a hundred hours will surely get a deep and lore rich adventure with plenty of replayability. That is, if you can get over the sheer overwhelmingness of it all in the beginning or don’t feel guilty playing on a lower difficulty. Having gone into the experience without any expectations, I’m glad to have had this adventure even if it did take a dozen hours to start to really understand how I wanted to do so well.

With a game so heavily invested into its narrative and lore, there’s a mountain of text to get through, great for those that love to read novels, not so much for those that want to simply play and progress the story. Undungeon can become punishingly difficult at times, especially when you aren’t focused and hit a bad streak of deaths in a row, yet there was always something bringing me back, wanting to give Herald one more go to fix the shattered universe, especially once you unlock a new character to play as.

Technomancer has so much going for it in terms of story, sound, moral choices, and everything we’ve come to expect from a quality 3rd person RPG game from the big players in the gaming industry, so much so that it really feels like you’re experiencing a cheap knock off of a really great game. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means that it could have been a whole lot better.

There are far worse and far cheaper games that you could buy for the cost of this game, but when you see the quality and effort that has been put into this title, you'll wonder why would you look elsewhere? Despite some faults, some flaws, and a few dings here and there, this is a quality shooter for its price.

All in all, this game brings you closer to the true capabilities of the Kinect. It's a bit limited in terms of gaming options, but it's a good addition to the family's Kinect library in any event.

Easily my favorite in the series, Isonzo offers class based and slow paced World War I gameplay that surely takes some getting used to, but is also a very unique experience compared to other shooters in the genre. The verticality of the level design of cliffside battles and unique classes is what keeps me coming back for one more onslaught on the battlefield, even if the map variety is a bit low and only having a single mode can be tiresome at times. While Isonzo may not have the polish and same experience of a top shelf AAA shooter, it’s quite clear to see that it’s a labor of love and passion from a smaller team that aims to bring a historically accurate representation of WWI combat that should appeal to its specific niche audience.

Any way you look at it, The Eternal Cylinder was a whacky and enjoyable ride. I found myself sad when I lost a family member and felt guilt when I didn’t have enough materials to revive them after death. The fact that ACE Team made me connect to these small creatures in such a small time just proves to me that I will always cheer for the underdogs and always try protect my friends and family. If you’re looking for a simple game that stirs the imagination, you should definitely check it out.

All in all, this is a very good game, while with its flaws, overall submerses the gamer into the world of G.I. JOE.

Twin Mirror on Xbox is a good game, and for fans of the genre like myself, it's a solid experience. For those who aren't as keen on the genre, nothing here is going to change your mind. With its compelling story, some fantastic characters, decent gameplay and moments of something that could have been brilliant, I enjoyed both my playthroughs. I was, however, left wanting more from the title and it feels like it sits in the shadow of its better DONTNOD adventure games.

It is real-time and parts of it are strategy but it is not a real-time strategy game. While a decent first attempt into the genre for the Xbox, there's obviously plenty of room for improvement.

There is much more content to DEADCRAFT than its budget price would indicate, but a lot of content doesn’t always mean enjoyable content sadly. I loved the idea of the half zombie hero concept. I love crafting and survival games, but the lack of variety in the missions was a pretty big deterrent for me to continue on long term. That, along with the odd combat style and top-down gameplay didn’t make this a game I loved, and after about 10 hours I really was kind of bored with it. I wanted to love it more, it just wasn’t for me. If you like fetch quests and crafting, maybe you’ll love this. If you’re looking for something with a compelling story and a real survival action RPG, this probably isn’t what you want.

Before we leave is a pleasant little distraction to while away some time. If you like the idea of city building and management, without the conflict that a lot of this style of game have, it’s worth a look. Just don’t look for a definitive goal line to move towards. Also... Space Whales.

Overall, for me personally the game is just a cash cow for Activision and truly not worth the $60. It would be so much more worth the purchase if it were a 30 or 40 dollar title, especially when it's basically the same GHIII game that just came out a few months ago.

It’s not hard to recommend TOHU, especially if you love hand-drawn game environments and puzzles. This game made me really think for some of its puzzles, and also made me smile a lot. It may have elevated my blood pressure at times, especially the previously mentioned shooting part in the swamp, but I am delighted I had the opportunity to play it.