Greedfall: The Dying World feels like a giant leap backwards for the developers at Spiders. I was over the moon when I had heard that Greedfall was getting a sequel, and while this game delivers in its writing and narrative in parts, it pretty much fails in everything else. Lackluster combat, glacial pacing at the onset and bugs galore spoil what should have been a triumphant return for the studio, especially after the greatness that was their last game; Steelrising. With a little energon and a lot of luck the team can probably right this ship, but I’d wait for a sale before heading off for this one.

Despite my less than enjoyable time with Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, I can’t help but appreciate its existence as the precursor to some of my favorite JRPGs of all time. However, as is often the case with pieces of history, it’s best left in a museum to be admired for all future generations.

As I was playing through Mega Coin Squad, I felt as though I was playing a free game I downloaded off the App store on my phone while I was bored on the toilet. Why I felt that way isn’t entirely clear but in that scenario, I would’ve most likely deleted the game from my phone as I was flushing the toilet.

I wanted to like The Last Oricru very much, I was intrigued by the fish out of water story, but the abrasiveness of the main character and the basic feeling combat just killed it for me. There is a case here for a strong presentation, the vistas and some of the levels were a joy to explore, also the fact that the game kept what felt like a solid 60 fps was a big plus in this ‘next-gen’ age but there was always something just keeping me from really enjoying myself. Be it the so-so story, the wasted use of souls mechinics or just Silver himself, sadly The Last Oricru just doesn’t add anything new to the genre.

Extinction is a game that feels like a novel idea that didn’t get fully fleshed out. I wanted to love it, but the repetition really drags it down. At a lower price or with a little more variety to the encounters this game could have been something special. As it stands though it is nigh impossible to recommend it.

YAZDHD isn’t an expensive game, so I am not too fussed about the value prospect. It may not look pretty, but it handles well and if it wasn’t for the online bugs and the lack of player base, I would probably recommend this more. But if you regularly have friends over, then this wouldn’t be the worst way to spend some time.

I said Override 1 was great and I still think it is. There was a real charm to it despite not being the most polished experience; I had just wished that there was more single player content. I also assumed that maybe some licensed content would bring in a crowd but clearly, I was wrong as Ultraman DLC seemingly failed to bring people in. I’m really disappointed, as the mech design is just so good but this game is so boring. I think Override 2 killed all the goodwill I had from the first game; I really don’t care to try out a half-baked single player game attached to a dead multiplayer game again. It works fine and that’s the best I can say about this game.

I wanted to love We are the Caretakers, the whole afro vibe, the music which is absolutely fire and I was even down with the idea of trying to save the environment. But the bland and boring combat makes We are the Caretakers just a chore to play; none of the attacks are visually pleasing or noteworthy and the animations feel stiff. I would love to see another game set in this world because the concept and everything is very interesting but combat and graphics would need to be overhauled because as it stands; even though this games heart is in the right place (10 percent of revenue going to the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Rhino Recovery Fund, which focuses on improving the health of rhino populations while also benefiting local people) the actually gameplay is just underwhelming.

Bard Gold is a decent little indie title, but it’s one specifically aimed at people who are into these roguelike games. Side scrolling, with a little dose of death and progression goes a long way to keep the game entertaining enough, but it just doesn’t do enough different or interesting things to garner much attention.

What started as really intriguing for me ended up growing dull in the long run. As far as a game goes for the genre, it’s not horrible or broken, and I’m sure some folks will really enjoy the story being told here, but for me it’s too little all around.

Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator isn’t a bad game, it’s just a janky one. I had a good time diagnosing patients and honestly the drives to-and-from became a source of unintended comedy. I mean why would the pedestrians cross the street when an ambulance is coming down with sirens blazing going 80 MPH; I don’t really expect an answer, but I asked myself this question a lot while playing. I really wish the game looked better, even on my Series X things like characters hair were translucent and it was really off-putting at times. If you don’t mind some jank in your games and/or were curious what paramedics go through; then this game might tickle your fancy.

Skull & Bones isn’t a horrible game at all, but its not the game that we wanted. I mean all they had to do was just remove the assassin’s vs templar story from what they had with Black Flag and let us be pirates. I don’t know, I am just a black guy with a laptop and a big mouth; I am certain that game development is more difficult than all that. Skull & Bones offers some fun and often times thrilling combat, but the downtime and story in-between all that is just not interesting. This game is going to end up being another victim of chasing that ole dragon which is live service game success. Its not for every game, and hopefully, prayerfully developers will stop trying to attain this high and just set this fad out to sea.

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival could have been really fun. But the lack of things to do during the main game hinder it so badly.

Overall, as I have mentioned, Dead Space Ignition is just a very poor attempt to generate hype for Dead Space 2. The art is bad, the mini games are not fun, and the experience is short unless you go back for more endings.

Overall, as I have mentioned, Dead Space Ignition is just a very poor attempt to generate hype for Dead Space 2. The art is bad, the mini games are not fun, and the experience is short unless you go back for more endings.

What it all boils down to is a game of hide and seek while trying to avoid various baddies. The game is great for a younger crowd, but the simplicity and monotony will even wear on their nerves after a while.

Gemini: Heroes Reborn is certainly not a bad game, it is just excessively forgettable.

The disappointment comes from the fact that it simply feels average. I left the game feeling like I wanted more, whether it was better visuals, more diverse game play, or simply a fresh helping of innovation.

Although having a few highlights in both the art design and soundtrack, AereA falls down in almost all other areas – a dungeon crawler that offers nothing new, other than a cool concept, and fails in the things that are essential to an action game, such as combat and quest design. It may offer local 4-player co-op, but even playing with friends won’t bring this game to life.

I just want to play a great pirate game; I feel like nothing has been able to top the experience of Ubisoft’s 2013 Assassins Creed: Black Flag. Even their own Skull and Bones pales in comparison. Flint: Treasure of Oblivion has an interesting concept by exploring Captain Flint from the Treasure Island novel. But the execution here makes it hard to recommend; ranging from minor issues and frame drops to confusing game elements and a lot of pointless wandering around the maps make this one feel like it should have just remained lost at sea.

As always with classic games, those who have fond memories of these specific entries will still enjoy them. For anyone else though, there are better options within Capcom’s arcade library.

Here we have a franchise, put into the Warriors mold and relying entirely too much on knowing the series already to get the most out of it. It’s entertaining, but doesn’t do anything these games haven’t done before. It’s the epitome of being a game for fans and only for the fans if they like the gameplay loop, otherwise all that’s left is a story to follow and if that’s all the fun, the game might as well have been another visual novel.

Resistance: Burning Skies is a competent game that simply falls flat in just about every category. The shooting is mechanically sound, but never really interesting. The presentation is simply broken at times, and the cut scenes are downright embarrassingly low-resolution. The online is dismissive and the campaign is short and flat. It really feels like this is more of an example of what can be done with a shooter on the Vita, than a thought-out experience.

The disappointment comes from the fact that it simply feels average. I left the game feeling like I wanted more, whether it was better visuals, more diverse game play, or simply a fresh helping of innovation.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus does not warrant the ‘Plus’ moniker. The game adds nothing to incentivize a second or third purchase. If you have never played it, and your only experience with the franchise is on the Vita, I can see taking the plunge.

What this boils down to in the end is that DW5E is simply a sloppy rushed port that is trying to cash in on the popularity of the franchise for the next-generation.

It’s not that Serious Sam: Tormental is a bad game, its just one that doesn’t do anything new. In an already increasingly crowded market for indie, rougelite games this one is bound to be missed simply because it doesn’t do anything new to push the genre forward. Of course, the opposite side of that is that it doesn’t really do anything negative either, it is a solidly made top-down shooter. Sure, it adds some of the trademark humor that the ‘Serious’ series is known for, but aside from some laughs the gameplay was pretty simple over all. While the game does have a ton of unlockable’ s available to those that desire to chase them down, it’s not enough to really add anything new or exciting to the already established gameplay loop. Luckily the game is retailing for only $10, which feels about right. In this case you most definitely are going to get what you paid for, no more and no less.

Those who are used to the Dynasty Warriors franchise will at least be happy to see some of the characters that they love from the series, along with lots of nods and winks. But Omega Force’s difficult position of needing to please both fans of the franchise, while also trying to bring in fans of a different kind of genre, has resulted in a muddling experience that may start out promising for turn-based newcomers, but quickly turns stale.

The more I played of Steel Seed the more I felt like that old saying where the kid asks for McDonalds and their mom says they have that at home. Yea, well Steel Seed is like the Stellar Blade we have at home. While the game itself is competent, its greatest sin for me is that it just wasn’t very fun. This seed didn’t bring forth the crop I thought it would, and I suggest just skipping this one.

Yakuza: Dead Souls is not a good game. In fact, I had almost no fun while playing it, and I love me some zombie slaying of almost any variety. The cumbersome controls, broken camera and poor design really took away the bright spots the game managed to shine through on occasion.

Contra: Rogue Corps is a game a lot of people would consider Konami to make. After seemingly wanting to exit the business even with a string of classic IP, this game feels like it was made for the sake of releasing a new Contra in 2019. It has good ideas hampered with poor implementation. It is not fun to play and that is its biggest crime. I wanted to love Rogue Corps. I tried to love Rogue Corps. I simply cannot find any fun to be had with the latest in this beloved franchise.

I wanted to love Ultra Smash, but it fought me at every turn to keep me from wanting to play more of it.

The game holds up decently in that regard, but falls short in a lot of others. If you're only going to play alone and can live with some design issues it's a fun game, but if you want something to play with other people then look somewhere else.

WRC 3 may have a professional sounding name, but the game is more of a disappointment across the board. The amount of content is both impressive and disappointing at the same time. Nothing here will drag players away from better experiences elsewhere, and the sheer lack of modes just makes it feel like a rushed effort. I really wanted to like WRC 3 much more than I did, due to the fact that I am a sucker for the genre, but sadly it is nearly impossible to recommend to anyone without mentioning competitors in the process.

If you enjoyed the original game, this sequel will probably hold a certain amount of interest. For everyone else, I’m not sure it’s worth the time.

Again is a staggering disappointment in most accounts due to its crawling pace and uninteresting concept.

Tango Fiesta has a few nice touches here and there, but nothing really in the way of originality. It’s not the best twin-stick shooter out there, by a long mile. And it isn’t even the best eighties action film inspired game either. If you like some couch co-op shooting action, then it may be worth a look, but wait until it goes on sale.

The core skating feels good, but never satisfying, and everything surrounding it just feels flat. I wanted this to the be the resurgence of the series, but it feels more like a budget game wrapped in a AAA game price.

Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All ends up being a game full of wonderfully hand-drawn visuals and extremely repetitive combat. It makes it hard to really recommend this game to anyone other than those that are fans of the duo. While yes, some young kids may enjoy the overly simplistic nature of the game; anyone who is an older gamer will become quickly bored with the easy combat, and lack of new moves or attacks.

Balan Wonderworld is a game that I tried hard to love. It is not the pariah that the internet makes it out to be though. I think the game is charming and flawed. It has tons of issues, but I still finished it. I had some good times sprinkled in with the frustrations. It took me to a simpler time in platform games and there is truly nothing else out there with the same kind of presentation and whimsical ideas it delivers. That said $60 is a hard ask for a game that seems to want to frustrate players at every turn. I wanted to love Balan Wonderworld, but it did everything in its power to test my love every chance it got.

I really wanted to love Rogue Trader, especially with how much I love the universe but more so because I had just come down from the high that is Baldur’s Gate 3. And perhaps this is unfair but the majority of my playtime was me grumbling because what is 1 step in BG3 was 5 or 6 in Rogue Trader. I do realize that both games are built on different rule sets but I just didn’t have fun playing with the one in Rogue Trader despite how much I love the universe. All of the bugs and issues I ran into didn’t help anything either, if you are interested in this one, I would suggest waiting for a few patches before really digging in.

Toy Odyssey disappointed me almost from the start, but in a very conflicting way. I immediately could tell the core action and platforming where rough, but I enjoyed the visuals and story elements. A game that quite frankly walks a straight line right down the middle for me. As a game, I grew frustrated with it, as an idea I wanted to like it more. If players are dying to get their hands on another metroidvania style game that has a unique concept behind it, it’s not a horrible game to take a chance with. Just know going in, its core mechanics definitely needed some fine tuning.

It is very difficult for me to recommend this version of the game. We all know that Skyrim is amazing, but many people have played it for hundreds of hours at this point and the massive price tag just doesn’t seem worth it to experience it in VR. I also can’t see anyone wanting to spend the kind of time that this game demands with a headset strapped to their face. The time I’ve spent using my PlayStation VR has mostly been with smaller games and experiences; ones that can be played for short bursts. Skyrim is not one of those games, demanding long and intense play sessions. As such, I feel that this would have been better served as a low cost add-on, with the ability to transfer saves to the standard version of the game.

SkateBIRD has the skeleton of a great skateboarding game, but with the collision issues and the movement being as spotty as it is, it just brings down the entire experience. There were times in my play sessions I was having a blast pulling off combos and tricks and would come crashing down when I would hit a grind that didn’t work, or I would tap on the edge of a wall and fall off. Then on resetting my character would have the camera facing the wrong way and would be moving forward right back into the wall I just hit. It’s a sad truth, because under that, there’s a great skateboarding game here. Players looking for a new skateboarding game may get some enjoyment out of this, but keep in mind you most certainly will find issues with the movement. If you’re willing to put up with some frustrations, there’s something here for you, but if you’re easily bothered, maybe wait for a sale.

I am extremely sad at this reboot of Saints Row, while I wasn’t a huge fan of the absolute bonkers nature of the 4th entry, even if I did love the 3rd. With this reboot I feel like Volition missed a huge opportunity evolve this series for a new generation, not just of consoles but for gamers. As it stands, this game comes off just feeling like its clinging to the tone and design choices from the 360; even the graphics in this reboot from 2022 feel dated and frankly Johnny Gat deserves better.

If Pantynado sounds appealing to you, this game might be in your wheelhouse. Otherwise I would steer clear of its mediocre combat, and limited world to explore.

There is no excuse for launching the game the way it was in April, and most gamers have already forgotten about the title entirely. But for those that may stumble upon it on sale somewhere, feel good in knowing that you are picking up a solid, and unique title, that is finally worthy of sitting on a retail shelf.

While I’m down on this game a lot, I still think it was a decent outing. It’s a difficult game both by design and by the issues I had with it. Still, it tries to capture that old 8-bit feel and does a decent job with it. Even up to the slowdown when multiple things are happening on screen. (Is that a feature or performance issue? I couldn’t tell you) Regardless, I never disliked my time with Trophy, but I can most certainly say it could have been better with some other features and better controls thrown in.

It’s truly a great shame to see a title which showed promise go out in a whimper due to predictable writing and a myriad of glitches.

Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot feels like something that should be free or included in a bundle for PSVR owners. It doesn’t feel like it warrants its price tag and it is linear and criminally short. Even hardcore fans hoping for more Nazi-killing action should probably avoid this one until it drops way down in price. There just isn’t enough here to warrant the price of admission.

Rapala: We Fish is not a good start to bringing the series to a younger crowd. The controls are counterproductive and the layout and pacing of the game are simply mediocre at best.

It is nigh impossible for me to recommend Rabbids Land to anyone who bought a Wii U. The collection of games ranges from mildly enjoyable, to downright mind-numbing. The fact that four players are supported and only two can play at a time is boggling, and trying to fly solo is comparable to watching paint dry. I love Rabbids. Their humor is undeniable, but there is nothing funny about sitting and waiting to play a mediocre mini-game, only to have to do it again ten minutes later.

This is one spaceship that would’ve been better left stationed in the far corner of the universe until it was properly prepped and ready for action.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with the core concept, but it’s not one that holds up on its own.

There are lots of survival systems at play in Beyond Contact, but due to the poor functionality of the UI a lot of those systems aren’t fun. While I did enjoy the actually base building, and research systems for upgrading gear and tools my constant fight with the UI and bugs just marred each of my play sessions with the game. If players can deal with the controls, the developers are promising more planets to explore. Those that prefer the mouse and keyboard might have a better time with this one than I did with the controller.

Don't get me wrong, there is some fun to had with Little Deviants, however the $30-$40 price tag hurts this collection of mini games. If they were on an iOS device, I might pay a dollar for one or two of them.

There is a lot of content in Dynasty Warriors 9 and the ideas are sound, but the execution is just atrocious. I hope they continue to iterate and spruce up the genre. I love seeing new takes on familiar formulas. Sadly though this outing feels like a half-baked idea that no one on the team was really behind.

While I enjoyed the story of Front Mission: 1st Remake, the combat made the game feel like a chore. In fact, it felt like for everyone good thing I found with the game, I would end up with two negatives. I had issues with the camera control in the heat of battle, the overall difficulty on default is a tad hard (but there is a difficulty selection if you want to play on easy), missing more attacks than I hit even in melee and all these things just led to a poor experience. I think Id love to play a new Front Mission game, one that isn’t a remake and is charting its own path forward; hopefully we can see that one day.

Overall, Mario Tennis Open is an attractive looking distraction that can be enjoyed by people who aren't in the mood to take a game seriously (both in aesthetic and game play). However, I feel like many people will end up feeling cheated by a game that feels so casual that even a generic mobile-phone game for a buck can feel like a higher quality product.

Poor execution keeps Confrontation from ever really finding its stride.

The story is original, but poorly told. The action is fast-paced, but frustrating. Everything seems like a winner on paper, but when you finally get your hands on the controller things just fall apart.

It seems to have the right set up for a decent Aliens game with the presentation and look, but due to the boring story and clunky enemy AI, there is no tension or exciting action.

I really wanted to like CID, his character brings back memories of when cartoons were allowed to be politically incorrect and dangerous, but his game is just too broken to recommend.

Aside from the presentation and art style, there is really no way I could suggest Knock-Knock to players. Unless you really enjoy trial and error game play and confusing mechanics that aren’t explained, you may want to stay away.

Farming Simulator 2013 is a mixed bag. It works in the most standard levels and it can be a very addictive game IF you allow it to be. The problem is, the tutorials and explanations are really barebones when looked at from the larger scale.

The biggest disappointment of Ready 2 Rumble Revolution is its wasted potential. There is a quality arcade boxing game buried under that motion-controlled mess, and you really never get a chance to experience it.

Rock Revolution is a bad attempt at cashing in on the genre. It really does nothing to separate itself and actually siphons most of the enjoyment out of playing music games.

Rock Revolution is a bad attempt at cashing in on the genre. It really does nothing to separate itself and actually siphons most of the enjoyment out of playing music games.

Glam’s is a game that is hard to recommend. Players and fans of twitch platformers can most certainly find some challenge here but in the precise jumping and puzzle solving of each level. The problem is, I feel like because of the control scheme and the way it feels, it makes it even more difficult to get into. Still, people looking for that challenge and having patience can find something here. Anyone who gets frustrated easily or does not like the sound of a trial-and-error style game should avoid this one.

The easiest answer I have for that is to just not buy this game, even now that its price has been dropped to $30. Adventure Time fans deserve better. Kids deserve better. If this game goes on a deep discount I’m sure there’s at least $10 worth of content here, but honestly there’s still better games to spend that money on.

In spite of the wacky and colorful art design, Shikhondo: Soul Eater is a bland and unfulfilling experience. The gameplay is just okay, and there are no hooks that give this Flatline a heartbeat.

Koi isn’t a bad game. It just lacks content and a level of polish found in even the smallest of indie games these days. It’s a game that you can load up and just explore, without too much threat involved. But in the same breath, don’t expect too much back in return.

There’s a lot of new interest and goodwill rolling JJBA’s way in the last few years and I truly wish that this was competent fighter that I could point to get the gamer crowd interested in this legendary manga/anime series. However, the shallow, uninteresting combat, boring story mode and the lack of a local multiplayer mode makes this one hard to recommend, even to the most diehard of fans.

It seems like Breakpoint saw the Assassin’s Creeds, the Far Cry’s, and The Divisions and decided it wanted to incorporate that into its own game. The issue is that throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the game isn’t going to make it great. They have a decent frame for Breakpoint and the feel of it is fine, but when trying to navigate the world or even the menus gives you a headache, it may be time to take a step back and think on what you need to do to make it better. The only way to play this game is with co-op friends. Single player people should avoid this one. You will be bored and frustrated within two hours. Even with some friends the issues will become bothersome, but at least you’ll have someone to complain with.

NFL Tour is just Arena Football with professional teams. Instead of releasing this game, they really should have made NFL Street 4, especially since the third entry in the series was so bad.

Wanted: Dead is a mess of a game with hints of excellence strewn about. I wanted to love it a lot more than I did. Instead the game kept making me frustrated at every turn. There have been a million examples of how to make a challenging game without making it frustrating. Wanted: Dead is the epitome of the latter. It simply uses lazy tropes instead of clever game play to create its difficulty. The end result is a game that has some great ideas, but will not interest most players. I expect most to quit before finishing the first boss.

If you can’t tell, I didn’t like Doctor Who: Edge of Reality in this iteration. Had I played this in VR I think some of my issues would have been resolved, but the mistreatment of both Doctors is quite unforgivable and would be a huge issue in either version of the game. While I think it is almost as hard to make a good Doctor Who game as it is to make a good Star Trek game, I appreciate that studios keep trying different things… but this ain’t it bruh.

Now, I don’t want to act like this is an actual bad game. It’s not. It just has multiple things that make it far too difficult to play.

There are a lot of cool ideas here; the crafting system for example is robust and interesting, but it doesn’t make up for all the issues the game has. Tie that in with the complete lack of originality and Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 feels like a half-baked attempt at the genre. It could have been great; it SHOULD have been interesting, but in the end it just ends up frustrating and disappointing. There are much better games in this genre, and there is little reason to invest in this sniper’s mission.

As for right now though I cannot recommend this to anyone when better games trying to for the same things are readily accessible, cheaper, and more successful at doing being a 3D platformer.

I wanted to love this game, especially when I heard that Matt and Trey wanted this as an avenue to have a sort of metaverse with the show. So, events can happen in the show on one night and the next it picking up in the game. The premise is very cool, but sadly this game ain’t it. Its going to take a lot of patches and things to get this up to snuff, which is sad because it does some neat things. The different cards in game that work as powers for one, players can choose one ‘bullshit’ card to use which is some uber power like making someone vampires, or giving super strength. All of it with the vibe that these are still kids playing outside. Sadly, it’s all just wasted in its current state, I really hope the developers can turn this around because I want to go on down to South Park and meet some friends of mine.

Pixel Heroes: Byte and Magic simply decides when it’s your time to die and doesn’t equip you with enough tools for a fair fight. The combat is not strategic enough to justify the difficulty. The characters fleeting charm doesn’t justify the headache.

In the end, MadCatz' new business model of releasing software to complement their hardware will only work if the software is of respectable quality. Otherwise, it has the potential to drive customers away from rather than towards their product.

This game is simply not very good. I have played worse for sure, but the mistakes made here are purely by design. Players should get the benefit of the doubt on making jumps, or maybe don’t have most jumps lead to instant death. Enemies should be fun to fight, not unwanted encounters that can kill you or at least break all your armor. Inventory this limited in an RPG is absurd. Don’t let the somewhat interesting, Breath of the Wild art style fool either, because the game isn’t all that pretty in gameplay; it comes off lifeless and bland.

Wrecked: Revenge Revisited is spattered with moments of enjoyment, but not enough to warrant its many problems. Factor in the hefty price of 1200msp, with day one DLC weighing in at another 400msp, and you have a barrier to entry that is already hard to surmount.

I have been waiting two decades for a new game in the series, and this is what we got. Combat is just devoid of fun, the levels are uninspired and repetitive, and the story, while supremely voiced, just doesn’t land like the previous games. Kain deserves more, and I hope this doesn’t deter them from revisiting it. Give the game to an established team with a larger budget and restore the legacy the series left behind. For now, I simply cannot recommend this game, even to hardest of hardcore fans.

I would say if you’re looking for a trial and error game with high difficulty, but rewarding game play, go for Trials over Guts and Glory. You’ll get a few laughs seeing how characters die, but in the end, it becomes frustrating far too quickly.

Even with the WRC and FIA license, coupled with lots of content and a split screen mode cannot make up for the performance issues I experienced; resulting in a game that I am unlikely to go back to. If you are hankering for some rally action, I would recommend waiting until June to see if Dirt 4 scratches your itch.

The game is muddy, even when the camera is pulled back. You'll also want to turn the audio down, as the music is repetitive. The sound effects are useless in terms of player feedback as you'll never know if you crush an enemy below you unless you actually see it. It would be nice if the game rewarded defeating an enemy with some kind of flourish.

So yeah… Somerville kind of sucks. The best parts of the game are when it focuses on the alien invasion aspect. The worst parts are everything else. Honestly, skip this game. It actually makes me worried for what Playdead has coming next because they have said they want to do more than just 2D games too and if they play anything like Somerville I’ll probably skip it.

I was excited to play Basketball Pro Management 2015, but in its current state it’s very tough to get into. Anyone hoping for a basketball equivalent to Football Manager is going to be sorely disappointed.

Truly, I think the good folks at Deep Silver are a talented bunch, capable of making great games. Seeing them relegated to porting a mediocre game from the mobile devices instead of creating a new title that would better showcase their talent as well as the strength of the platform is a shame indeed. If you’ve been waiting for a quality game to fill that void until Star Fox makes a return on the Switch, you best keep waiting.

I am sorry to say that Anthem has fallen short in pretty much every way. Not only do I believe that Anthem was never originally conceived to be a Live Service game and was hijacked by EA to jump on that bandwagon, but also that this game was released in an unfinished state. This has left such a sour taste in my mouth because when Anthem is working well, it can be a real fun time; flying around, getting into intense battles against humans and beasts. But it has so spectacularly failed in all other areas that I simply cannot recommend this game. And with The Division 2, a game that has experience in the Live Service sector only weeks away from launching, I feel like this Anthem will just fall on deaf ears.

Saying that the later levels in HoPiko require precision would be a gross understatement – they require absolute perfection in timing and all else. Some may like that about it, but no one will enjoy dying randomly and starting over on levels they’ve completed a dozen times already.

Ninja Pizza Girl showed a lot of promise. The gameplay was solid enough, a lot of the music choices were great, and there were funny and quirky ideas. Unfortunately, the game frustrated me in several other areas. While the game had many rough edges, I still saw charm and effort put forth by Disparity Games.

Plays like a cross between those classic racing titles and a dual-stick shooter. On paper, the blend of these two designs should breed an enjoyable multiplayer experience. Unfortunately, due to a frustrating camera, bland colors, and touchy targeting, Battlegrounds ends up disappointing.

If the idea was to preserve the original experience as much as possible while bringing the visuals up to modern standards, Secret of Mana fails with its slew of technical issues and unimpressive graphic design. If the intent was to forge a brand new experience based on the original, Secret of Mana fails as the dated combat engine challenged me in all the wrong ways and the added elements like voice acting fell flat with poor performances all around.

If you are the sort of person who gets their kicks from hidden object/puzzle games, you may get a few hours enjoyment from Dream Chronicles. However, with a hefty price tag and with better games of this style out there, you may be better off looking elsewhere.