Anamorphine is a narrative adventure that fails to deliver its story with enough competence to offer the player any emotionally engaging content. So what you're left with is a low-budget, brief experience with no replay value and a high asking price.
The Free Ones puts the grapple gameplay mechanic above all else, which manages to produce enough thrills and momentum to carry the game to its conclusion, across chasms where story and presentation should be.
Mothergunship has some interesting ideas and unique gameplay mechanics, but it doesn't deliver as enjoyable of an experience as it may seem on paper. The gunplay is lackluster, weapon crafting isn't as extensive as you might hope, and the roguelike design elements mostly work against the game.
The Crew 2 offers a wealth of varied content to undertake in a huge open world, but the entire experience is shackled by too many gameplay and design annoyances, with hastily borrowed mechanics that never really come together.
Developer Quantic Dream continues to solidify their pedigree in creating narrative driven cinematic experiences. Aside from a few story and design stumbles, Detroit: Become Human offers an engaging adventure with great presentation, meaningful choices, and plenty of replay value.
Trailblazers is a fun arcade racing game – from its varied modes to the solid presentation and unique gameplay, the formula for success is definitely there. However, a relatively high price, inconsistent AI and barren multiplayer prevent this title from reaching the podium.
Though not without some minor issues, Light Fall manages to overcome its fairly typical visual design and platforming gameplay thanks to the unique Shadow Core mechanics and an engaging narrator.
A straightforward puzzle game that uses an established formula without much deviation. Vandals should satisfy anyone looking for this certain type of gameplay, but aside from a nice soundtrack, it does little to stand out.
God of War takes a classic franchise and reshapes it into the modern fold. The end result is a dramatic, polished, visually impressive and somewhat by-the-numbers PS4 blockbuster that slots along nicely beside the other exclusives in the console's library. It has plenty of content and fairly robust combat to entertain newcomers, while fans of the original games will likely enjoy the second half of the adventure a bit more.
Umiro makes for a relatively straightforward trial and error puzzle game, and if that piques your interest and you can ignore the frustrations of repetitive gameplay, it's worth a look.
Far Cry 5 manages to deliver some satisfying open world action with a focus on co-operative play, but a few poor design choices, disappointing story and occasional bugs hamper the overall impression.
Surviving Mars has the interplanetary foundations of a good strategy game, but it gets bogged down in its own complexity, micromanagement, and a surprisingly bland setting.
Distortions adopts the negative connotations of its own name by offering an overpriced mix of poor storytelling, bad gameplay, lack of polish, and an outdated presentation.
Metal Gear Survive is an enticing, challenging, polished and occasionally frustrating spinoff that doesn't devalue the reputation of the franchise, and offers a unique standalone experience that fans of survival games should enjoy getting stuck into.
Strikers Edge has some decent mechanics at its core, but a lack of gameplay modes, short campaign and deserted online scene make this essentially a barebones local multiplayer title with a high asking price.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is an excellent representation of the source material it is based on, with solid mechanics and plenty of variety, and offers just the sort of over-the-top mayhem that fans of the franchise should thoroughly enjoy.
InnerSpace features a unique game world with some nice moments of quaint exploration and set pieces, but on the whole it's a bit too cramped and pricey to truly soar.
Finding Paradise is a great sequel that, while perhaps unable to reach the extremely high emotional bar set by its predecessor, manages to be entertaining and heartfelt all on its own. It's an original and engaging world, supported by tight writing and excellent soundtrack, that is well worth experiencing.
Reigns: Her Majesty is a solid sequel if you enjoyed the original, but it suffers from many of the same issues such as repetition, being at the mercy of the deck, and not really offering role playing choice but rather making you micromanage happiness meters. The low price point helps offset some of the annoyances, though.
Gear.Club Unlimited may be the only racing car game on the Nintendo Switch for the moment, but it squanders this early lead on a repetitive career, underwhelming presentation and functional, but uninspired gameplay with a price that feels too high.