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.