Lost Sea is a fun diversion, it’s colorful and beautiful in a cute way and offers some fun moments. It just seems better played in shorter spurts than longer durations and unfortunately the game punishes those that prefer that play-style.

With Pit People, Behemoth tried something new and was only partially successful. It has excellent art design, unique world-building and some truly funny moments, but the problems with its combat and structure hinder what could be a hit. Understandably, the game’s weakest parts are those that the studio doesn’t have much experience with.

While the PSP is certainly not short on RPGs Dragoneer’s Aria does offer a nice diversion from others in the genre.

As a game it’s a good amount of content for a fair price, but I would advise checking out the demo before jumping in.

Death’s Gambit has style, personality and some potentially innovative ideas that takes it well beyond a mere copy-cat Souls game. Unfortunately, the game’s inner demons quickly reduce things to a repetitive grind. That grind doesn’t always feel like it’s worth the time investment, despite the enchanting visual glamour. It’s worth a look because of its unique style, which really is a cut above the rest, and it is clear that White Rabbit have had a good crack at producing a game that tries to be creative with an established formula. However, be prepared for a journey that’s a bit of a slog in more ways than one.

Playing against other human beings is where Worms shines the most and it’s just as fun as I remember it those many years ago.

I like this game. It plays really well, but the sexualized content is not for me at all. If this is your kind of thing, this is a great game to play. If you really can’t get along with the anime breasts, I would say stay far away from this one. Even then, the combat is a pretty well done.

The Last Tinker is not a bad game, just one that fails to live up to its promise.

While the combat is simple, the presentation unpolished, and a clear lack of co-op hurts the replayability, the core game is still tons of fun to play and gamers looking for a mindless beat-em-up will find plenty to love in Activision’s latest iteration in the Shrek franchise.

Deadlight tries to do something new with the zombie genre by paying more attention to solving puzzles and using platforming elements to get away from zombies. While I applaud the effort, it just falls flat. Dodging the fast, pack-forming zombies is extremely frustrating, and if caught by one, you are as good as dead. Topped with jumping that requires absolute perfect timing, the result is multiple retries that add frustration and suck the fun out of the game.

In fact I thought despite the QTE, and some other frustrating parts it was a pretty fun game.

All in all, Way of the Samurai 4 is a decent game that some players will enjoy.

The Last Tinker is not going to give action fans and people looking for a challenge a ton, but it does offer up a rather fun and interesting game that has both a great art style and a nice, kid-friendly story at a casual pace.

Madden 21 is the first time I have found it hard to recommend upgrading. It truly does feel like a roster update in a lot of areas. Franchise mode is super disappointing for me. I spend hundreds of hours in it yearly and I can’t tell a difference between the game I played last week and today. The developers have said they are listening and have heard our requests. This could be patched in. I still want to see this game on new hardware, but as of now I am having a hard time saying Madden is worth the annual upgrade for gamers.

I’m not saying Surgeon Simulator is a bad game. I mean, it is, but it’s supposed to be. The game is interesting in multiple ways, but in the end, I found myself enjoying about three hours of it and then deciding I didn’t have the time or the patience to do some of the later surgeries.

I didn’t hate FBC: Firebreak at all, in fact I rather enjoyed my time running through its jobs with my friends; even if we had seen everything the game offers after the first day. But Firebreak isn’t a perfect game, it has a lot of issues, especially with the balance and the constant disconnections which for an online-only game is utterly unacceptable in my opinion. The good news is that all these issues can be fixed, but if I’m honest; I miss the days when players could buy a game, take it home and play it with no issues from start to finish, I know digital is the way but it shouldn’t make these developers dependent on the ‘patch’ crutch. I don’t know, just an ‘old man shouting at clouds’ I guess but FBC: Firebreak is fun to play as long as you have a solid team and temper your expectations.

Bound by Flame is a great, terrible game.

Styx is a solid game with polished mechanics that simply fails to justify its higher asking price. Combine that with its release date being sandwiched between so many ‘must-have’ titles and it doesn’t even fill a void of having nothing to play. Still, it is a solid stealth game, and one that provides plenty of entertainment in its solid campaign. I just cannot justify the steeper price for what still feels like a lower-budget title.

Felix is a fun game; this package just doesn’t pack a lot of punch. One game with variations does not feel worth the asking price. Unless you have an extreme affinity for Felix the Cat this is a hard retro release to recommend. I had a good time revisiting this game, but it just falls short when it comes to value. Only bother if you are a huge fan of the original games.

That’s where I stand with Scarlet and Violet. It’s got the trappings of a great Pokémon game, but I think this is most certainly a learning experience for both the players and the developers. Hopefully, the next generation will improve on both the pacing and the technical issues found here. In the meantime, players can get a lot of enjoyment out of this outing, just remember, even though this is a choose your own adventure style game, it doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want when you want.

At the end of the day, Mato Anomalies feels like a budget title with a lot of things going for it. It has some decent mechanics and some interesting story bits if you are willing to read a lot. The RPG side of the game can have some difficulty spikes and level grinding side dungeons will be needed in some instances, but for RPG fans and visual novel fans, if you can get past the different mechanics and are willing to learn some unconventional ones, this could be a decent experience for you even with the lower budget feel.

That’s where I stand with Scarlet and Violet. It’s got the trappings of a great Pokémon game, but I think this is most certainly a learning experience for both the players and the developers. Hopefully, the next generation will improve on both the pacing and the technical issues found here. In the meantime, players can get a lot of enjoyment out of this outing, just remember, even though this is a choose your own adventure style game, it doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want when you want.

I completed Kings Quest Chapter 2 and I muttered to myself “That’s it?” It’s not a horrible chapter, but it’s a far cry from the way the game started out.

This is a game that just feels like it exists. I was drawn in thanks to my connection to the Smurfs from my childhood. Playing with my son he enjoyed the game, but had little interest in learning about the characters. It feels like the game is more built to tug at nostalgia instead of bringing in new interest. Even so the core game is enjoyable enough to recommend for parents looking to play games with their kids. It is easy enough to play while also not being too simplified for the sake of being a ‘kids’ game. Definitely worth checking out for parents and kids alike.

If everything read up until this point has you nodding in agreement or wanting to check this out, forget the numerical score, the $60 price tag might just be worth it. Otherwise wait for a price drop…if it ever happens.

Gloomhaven was a tough one to review not because the game itself is bad, despite feeling clunky to navigate using a controller; no, it’s just after playing for many hours I realized that it’s just not for me. Its systems are deep and allow some great tactical plays to happen. The game allows for players to enjoy with four of their friends but much to my chagrin it doesn’t have a quickmatch function; so sadly, I was playing solo. I think with friends this would be more fun, just like playing a session of D&D is more of a blast with friends. I would recommend this version for those like me who were intrigued with the board game but just know that Gloomhaven is not for the timid.

If you are a fan of the show, and I mean a very large fan, then you owe it to yourself to check out this amazingly funny diversion.

Overall, Transformers Prime is decent game for a system in its twilight years. My two biggest gripes for this title are the lack of graphical fidelity, which could not be helped, and not allowing the player to use a classic controller. A multiplayer mode is also available, but it just feels like a tacked-on bonus for two players. However, if you can look past those things, Transformers Prime offers a solid gameplay experience. Nintendo Wii owners can finally have a decent game worthy of the Transformers name.