While not without its list of issues, the length of Pathfinder: Kingmaker – Definitive Edition is deceptively long, the voice acting is quite well done, the dialogue is written well and the world has more than enough lore to get lost in. While its console port could have used a little more care and work, it’s still a great gaming experience if you crave those classic cRPG’s from the late 90’s – early 2000’s and want a classic D&D-like experience.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is the true sequel that fans have been waiting for. The Unreal Engine 4 powered visuals brings the series into 2020 while Toys for Bob has kept to the original source material while adding some new gameplay elements, a personal touch so to speak. What has also made the jump (no pun intended) to this sequel though is the difficulty and control issues of the past. I really do wish the game was more accessible to new and younger fans alike, as some people may be turned off by this, but I don’t think it’s fair to heavily penalize the game for this fact, as it still is what made the series what it is. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is truly the best game in the series and I do hope we see another one on the upcoming next-generation consoles.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect with Port Royale 4 being a newcomer to the series, but came away with an appreciation for the simulation and management aspects of its gameplay. While it may seem a little steep being fully priced the same as a ‘AAA’ game, there’s plenty of value within if you’re a fan of these strategic and management type games. It’s very overwhelming to get the hang of initially with the slew of menus, but once you setup some trade routes and figure out how to best trade, you’ll soon be the new conqueror of the Caribbean.

I had a decent enough time with Party Hard, and I look forward to replaying some of the levels to mop up the rest of the 1000 points in achievements. It is a pretty fun game to just pick up and play and have a laugh seeing what sort of ways you can interact with the environment and its characters. If you are looking for a stealth assassin game you might want to check out the Hitman series, or if you are looking for a crazy murder spree then you might be better off playing Hotline Miami. Poor AI of both the police and the innocent people tends to ruin the core gameplay loop, which is to get in, murder, get out and repeat. When the basic premise of a game is ruined by something that is outside of the players control it leads to a frustrating experience.

Heroes of Hammerwatch: Ultimate Edition ended up surprising me in the best way possible. While I normally uninstall games once I’m done playing and reviewing them, this one has stayed in my nightly rotation when my friends are on to do a few runs. There’s so much depth and value here with near infinite gameplay that it becomes addictive, as you want to make your characters that much better with every run, even if it borders on being an arduous grind later on. It’s a lot to take in and figure out, and it will feel daunting at first, but put the time in and find some friends to play with and you’ll easily get your gold's worth with Heroes of Hammerwatch: Ultimate Edition.

The idea and gameplay behind Relicta is interesting, as is the story, but the puzzles become quite challenging in certain sections, sure to frustrate some. While it’s quite a lengthy game for its genre, it does feel like it wears out its welcome near the end, as I just really wanted to finish it and be done. While there’s no reason to replay once you’ve completed the story aside from any missed collectables, I’m still glad I got to experience Relicta and Doctor Patel’s journey across the moon.

On paper, Lair of the Clockwork God shouldn’t work. Blending point-and-click with an indie platformer just shouldn’t work; but it does, and brilliantly, thanks to the amazing writing and dialogue that had me constantly chuckling or outright laughing. While it’s a satire on the genres, it also executes them near perfectly, and simultaneously. I legit had a wonderful time with my adventure alongside Ben and Dan and haven’t laughed this much at a game in quite some time. Two games in one; half point-and-click, half platformer, all hilarious.

Darkestville Castle took me a little by surprise, not because of its quality and great humor, both of which I expected, but how authentic it comes across as. It’s as if Darkestville Castle was hiding away all these years, taken straight from the 90’s and only unearthed now for fans to enjoy. It nailed the comedic aspect and gameplay just right, and although I found many of the puzzles a little too obtuse, I was smiling all the way until the credits rolled and should be played by any classic point and click adventure fan.

Skully has a lot of good qualities about it; beautiful graphics, charming characters and I had an overall good gameplay experience. While I constantly struggled with the rolling controls, I still found reasons to enjoy my experience. Skully is not at all a bad game whatsoever and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a great time killer. I think for now, I'll keep rolling through the levels and explore some more!

More than a simple sequel, The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters improves nearly every aspect from the original game, yet still keeps the same authentic feel. While the horror aspect has the odd jump scare, there’s a surprisingly lengthy campaign for Mina to adventure in, even if it does become a little tiresome and repetitive by its conclusion.

For a game that’s so gorgeous to look at, you wouldn’t assume that it’s one of the most challenging and anger inducing ones simultaneously. While it’s going to slap you across the face then kick your ass when it comes to its brutal difficulty, it’s also what makes Okunoka Madness so great for those that love the genre. Even though it’s deliberately designed to infuriate you, I still kept coming back for more and more. Yes, I eventually reached my limit and almost tossed a controller through a window, but I’m also not its intended audience.

Bite The Bullet doesn’t take itself seriously, even for a second. The writing and puns within are written well and quite funny if you take the time to read everything. The eating mechanic is an interesting take on the classic run and gun gameplay, and while it works and is completely unique and full of humor, I kept having to stop the flow of moving forward to eat everything I could. For classic Contra and Metal Slug fans, or someone that has always wanted to eat flying robots and bullets, you’ll find an entertaining few hours on your hands that’s satisfying like some fast food. You are what you eat; literally.

If you’re a Souls fan, you’ll most likely enjoy Hellpoint, as long as you can handle its lack of polish and extremely janky platforming. It would have been easy to write off Hellpoint as a simple Souls knock off, and I almost did until I found a friend to play alongside. It’s unforgiving in every aspect and doesn’t hold your hand in any way, something Souls fans will appreciate. The co-op feature makes it much more accessible for casual fans of the genre like myself, but there’s enough content within to really test yourself with for those accustomed to difficult challenges.

I had a hard time with understanding the purpose of Windbound. The concept set forth is relatively easy to understand but the execution fell flat and left me with more questions than answers. Aside from the graphics being gorgeous beyond expectations, Windbound wasn't a game that I found I enjoyed thoroughly. Some gamers may appreciate the survival mechanics and the overall style though. Windbound for me isn't a game I'd jump on my raft and cross oceans for, so I think I'll set up camp and chill on my island.

While the Battle Royale genre is oversaturated at the best of times, Spellbreak manages to carve its own niche with its wildly unique battlemage gameplay and extremely colorful visuals. With the promise of more modes to come, I’m excited to see how Spellbreak evolves over time, as it already feels decently balanced in its current state and a literal blast to play.

More than a simple coat of paint, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 not only brings back that nostalgia and great memories growing up playing every chance I could, but modernizes many of its fundamentals without completely changing everything about the classics that made it so great in the first place. For fans of the classics like myself, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is a perfect example of how to preserve its original essence as to what made it so great in the first place but adding many improvements at the same time, and for newcomers, there’s no better arcade skate game out there on the market today.

Double Kick Heroes a very fun add to the Game Pass library and it’s a blast to play with friends passing the controller back and forth while sipping on a few adult beverages. The soundtrack slaps and the story and dialog don’t get in the way while you’re trying to just chill and have a good time. Double Kick Heroes knows what it is, and it does it pretty well.

No Straight Roads is far from perfect, but when it comes to everything related to its audio, from the soundtrack to the great voice acting, there’s really no better. It’s clear that No Straight Roads was made with passion and care, and it shows with its uniqueness and visual flair. While I wish the gameplay was equally as satisfying as its soundtrack which elevates the whole experience and more than makes up for its shortcomings, I’m glad to have been a part of Bunk Bed Junction’s fight at taking NSR down and restoring order to Vinyl City while rocking out.

When you start to think of the depth of involvement that trains played in the beginning years of any developing nations, Kalypso has done a masterful job in delivering an experience that will leave you captivated and challenged for hours. Railway Empire is beyond deep with the amount of content and management that you will have to commit to, but at the same time it looks beautiful, sounds authentic and provides a level of strategy that will have you wonder where the last few weeks of your life went. Now when you combine all the DLC that has been released since January, Kalypso has bundled this incredible experience together for only $40 which makes this one of the best investments you can make on the Xbox One and should definitely be experienced.

It’s abundantly obviously that Tell Me Why was made as a labor of love, and my time with Tyler and Alyson, while short, was very memorable. More importantly, it made me learn something new, ask questions and broadened my knowledge to other people’s plights that I’ve never had to personally experience. Not many other games have had the same lasting impact that Tell Me Why has.

Not only does Nowhere Prophet reward you for playing strategically, it feels awesome when you start to unfold your intended plan a move or two ahead of time and finish off the enemy leader. There are some really unique ideas and gameplay elements that actually meld together quite well, making for a unique experience that actually surprised me more than I expected and easily stands out amongst other decks of cards.

Battletoads in general is just a fun, silly and all around interesting game, even if you don’t know what's going on or are up for a challenge. If you ask me, anyone and everyone should jump at the opportunity to give this classic reborn a go.

Rocket Arena has an interesting concept and a great art direction with its Overwatch/Fortnite aesthetic and character design, but with a change to free-to-play, I could see Rocket Arena garnering a stronger following given that players are already being asked to purchase premium currency for skins and a Blast Pass to get the most out of it. While fun in short bursts, it took me quite a while to settle on a main, as many characters never clicked with my playstyle, and the poor matchmaking balancing was quite demoralizing as a new player, though bonus points for incorporating crossplay.

While it may not be perfect with its difficulty spikes, performance issues and awkward controls, it more than makes up for it with its clever writing and amazing narrator. With dozens and dozens of hours of content to be had, Dungeons 3 – Complete Collection is an absolutely hilarious RTS with equally unique DLC.

At the end of the day, We Should Talk is a conversation that you probably won’t enjoy a whole lot, or want to have. Not at its price, at least. If this game was a dollar, it would be easier to recommend, but there’s just not much to it and repeat playthroughs get so very, very tedious because there’s almost no variety. I wanted to like this one, I really did.

While it doesn’t have every official golfer, course and tournament, PGA Tour 2K21 a great start to the series that should no doubt keep your interest until the next iteration. The Golf Club series was a decent golf game in its own rights, but HB Studios and 2K’s new partnership seems to be off to a great start, laying solid groundwork for the series and creating an addictive and entertaining golf experience that anyone of any skill level can enjoy. It’s time to hit the links once again and win that FedEx Cup. Fore!

If you’ve played NASCAR Heat 4, you’ll know exactly what to expect from the latest sequel. I mean that almost literally, as the main complaints from the community is that it’s essentially the same game with the 2020 season liveries and driver updates. If you already own last year’s outing, there’s not much reason to upgrade unless you’re a die-hard fan, but if you’re new to the series or skipped a few of the last ones, NASCAR Heat 5 is a great starting point, even for amateurs to the sport.

Codemasters put Michael Schumacher's name to this game and delivered a racing experience worthy of the greatest F1 driver in the sport's history. An incredibly deep and extensive game, F1 2020 has very negatives which is why Codemasters has released what could arguably be called "The Defining F1 Experience" ever to be found on Xbox One. If you are a fan of racing games, pick this up and you can thank me later. Are you in the market for an F1 racing experience that is quite literally second to none? I give you F1 2020 by Codemasters which I'm calling "A Thank You to Michael Schumacher".