Another miss for the Rings franchise, then. There are bursts of quality here, and the potential for fun when playing with others. However, it ultimately fails as an adaptation and a survival game.
Web of Wyrd is clearly created by people with a reverence for Mignola's work and impresses as an adaptation. However, as a roguelike and a brawler, it underwhelms.
A depiction of hell that hasn't really been fully realised before, Agony is marred by frustrating stealth sections and some poorly explained mechanics. The horrifying imagery is generally effective and the overall presentation manages to survive some glaring technical issues, but this is very much an acquired taste in every sense of the word.
Hidden Dragon: Legend is an indie title that offers an initial burst of satisfying combat, but that quickly devolves into a tedious stream of identikit encounters coupled with platforming that feels like a tacked-on afterthought.
Wales Interactive's Tron-like puzzle game has great atmosphere, a compelling setting, and an engaging concept – but it's ultimately not that interesting to play. The story lacks pace and substance, while the puzzles are lacking in difficulty and nuance – especially given that the powers used to solve them quickly become tiresome.
A sporadically fun co-op brawler, South Park: Snow Day is a step back for the franchise. Card collecting and gag-filled combat will keep fans entertained, but there are plenty of better ways to have good times with weapons.
Other than the online tournament mode, it's a bare bones experience. Longevity of this will hinge on future content and more diverse play options (couch co-op in particular). In its current state, though, the bite-sized events offer a welcome alternative to the rat race of other party royale titles.
This mashup of shooter, stealth, and RPG wears its influences proudly but rarely matches them. Its alt-history setting is interesting and there are plenty of ways to approach the robot-killing, but these elements are at odds with messy storytelling and characterisation.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite is in no way the failure that Colonial Marines was. It's a fun squad shooter with just about enough features at launch to keep you coming back to replay missions and tackle the horde mode. However, it's not the strongest game of its type and really doesn't seem to fit the license.
This is the same old Torchlight, but somewhat diminished. Classes are full of character and lots of fun to play, while Relic abilities encourage experimentation and significantly change combat. However, there's nothing especially new or exciting about this third instalment.
In One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows, becoming a hero for fun isn't all it's cracked up to be. Saitama is a hilariously game breaking gimmick that pays off in single-player, but online he only leads to frustration. Elsewhere,the main story mode has plenty to do, but there's not much variety. Fans will mostly enjoy the writing and the fighting, but newcomers might be left wanting.
Agatha herself is a wonderfully complicated character; we see things from her innocent and skewed perspective, for good or ill. The puzzling is relatively simplistic -- there's nothing here to match the nonsensical item combinations of the genre's luminaries. But this is a game more about story and tone than pixel hunting, and the result is a decent, bizarre experience.
Darksiders hasn't changed much since 2012. It's still a fun mishmash of genres with a great protagonist and undemanding combat systems, but it's a pity that it feels outdated compared to its genre peers and stumbles when injecting Souls-like sensibilities.
Rogue Trooper is still fun, and boasts a sense of freedom that even many modern shooters don't possess. The polished visuals do a good job bringing a ten-year-old game to new consoles, but the overall feel may be too creaky and old-fashioned for some.
A fun throwback to a number of different beloved titles, Iron Crypticle is fun in short bursts and can be a blast with friends. Yet, aside from the charm of the 8-bit visuals, there isn't an enormous amount here to keep you dungeon running once the initial novelty wears thin.
Has-Been Heroes is as tough as nails and built for people that like to lose over and over again. The combat offers an interesting twist on a familiar mechanic, but never really evolves beyond that initial learning process. Some of the whimsy present in the Trine series has been carried over here, but not enough to balance out the punishing difficulty.
SaGa Emerald Beyond has a deep and satisfying combat system that gets its hooks into you from the jump. There's a lot of narrative content across its five adventures, as well as a diverse collection of characters, but very little that truly grips the attention.
If you give yourself over to Warhorse's muddy opus, it will reward you with a hundred hours of grueling and enjoyable trial and error. It's buggy and rough around the edges on Switch, but Kingdom Come Deliverance is a singular RPG experience. The pacing and constant juggling of mechanics is not for everyone, but invest the time and you'll experience an engrossing, grounded adventure.
PlateUp! successfully differentiates itself from the cooking sim next door. While its roguelite elements encourage repeat attempts and reward your failures, fiddly controls, and awkward UI hinder its appeal as an undocked co-op experience. Fortunately, on a big screen, it's great fun.
As much as this engages as a sobering alternative to the likes of Two Point Hospital, a large chunk of it just sees you cycling through familiar motions. The rich atmosphere and worthy setting are compromised by a narrow vision.