It is a blending of genre and style that is an unexpected treat, and already one of the year's role-playing game highlights.
The track designs are excellent, holding up even under that close level of scrutiny while riding at low speeds to explore, allowing you to appreciate the craft that went into every ramp, gap and bump in the road. And with that closer appreciation, maybe it will inspire you and other players to add your own ideas through the level editor, constantly building a better game.
To be clear, Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut is still not an easy game. It is a better-paced and better balanced game, allowing even relative newcomers to zero-gravity dogfights to be able to build up the skills to become ace pilots.
Ultimately rewarding, 10 Second Ninja puts both your reflexes with a controller and your own personal mettle to the test for a game that can be just as hard to put down as it is to pick back up again.
Debates still go on as to whether video games have had their Citizen Kane moment, but with Jazzpunk we can at least rest easy knowing that games have had their Naked Gun moment.
The brilliant design used throughout Octodad: Dadliest Catch brings out the absolute best from a bizarre concept that simply needs to be played to be believed.
If the first act truly is half of the game, there is some reasonable concern that Act 2 might need to be considerably longer to resolve everything without resorting to an overly-expository info dump.
Much like the sibling rivalry at its core, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a game of extremes. The game can get so frustrating you'll wish it would just go away, but then on the next puzzle everything works as it should and it becomes difficult not to fall for its charms.
Letting go of the past can be hard, especially if it's a past you have great fondness for, but sometimes letting go is necessary in order to move on. Perhaps that is a lesson both Clementine and the players controlling her will learn together during the course of The Walking Dead: Season Two.
Knack has its moments, and PlayStation 4 owners starved for something to play on their shiny new console will appreciate that the game actually becomes more fun to play the second time around, allowing it to keep players busy during the several month drought that seems to follow every system launch. But had Knack released as it plays now at any time other than a new system's launch, it would have been overlooked and overshadowed without a second glance.
It becomes difficult to tear yourself away from Rogue Legacy, as the repetitive flow is brilliantly augmented by randomly generated traits and dungeon layouts. Before you know it, three hours and 20 generations of heroes have passed, and you finally realize that your cheeks are where you feel the strain the most from smiling the entire time.
But it is still worth a look for those who value the journey more than the destination, and who are eager for a charming new point-and-click adventure to lose themselves in.
It is actually a little sad to play Okami HD again after so many years. Well, playing Okami HD is a joyous experience, but it is sad to see that after six years it is still one of the best examples of its genre. Okami HD is fantastic, and hopefully this re-release will inspire a new generation of game designers to play, enjoy and then scoff, "Ha, I bet I could do better".
Fez is ultimately a game about games much in the same way Hugo is a film about films. Fez can be very demanding to get the most out of it, but without ever actually asking anything of you. Do not play Fez to beat it, but play to explore and get lost in its puzzles and pixilated world.