Yakuza Kiwami 2 totally revitalizes an underrated gaming classic and applies the lessons Sega learned throughout the series’ evolution. It’s still unique and even weird at times, and it can still be a little rough around the edges, but few series manage to take you deep into a criminal underworld and tell such compelling stories.
Anthem is a game with a lot of great ideas, but it doesn’t always have what it takes to put those ideas together. It suffers from trying to do too many things, but you can tell that under the three or four games they tried to make, a really good one is sadly buried.
Mr. Shifty is a fun, fast-paced top-down brawler that manages to keep you on your toes as you dodge baddies and beat them down.
Expedition: Vikings is a great game for fans of Viking lore. It tells an engaging, well-written story while doing its best to remain faithful to Viking lore. It has some rough edges, but overall it’s a great tactical RPG.
Trackmania 2: Lagoon is another great entry to the series, and if you’re a fan of tropical paradises and racing at breakneck speeds to shave seconds off your scores, it’s a great title. It offers a ton of content and a seemingly endless supply of user content, so there’s a lot to get into.
Where the Water Tastes like Wine is an engrossing trip into 1920s America that brings its mystical - and sometimes dark - storybook setting alive. Its game mechanics don’t work as well, but it’s an amazing instance of storytelling in an interactive medium, and visual novel fans should pick it up
Bombslinger offers a fun, engaging take on the Bomberman formula that turns it into a challenging dungeon crawler. It feels a bit familiar at times, but on the whole, it manages to stand up and do its own thing. A great addition to any Switch library
A capable RPG sitting atop a lackluster shmup, Drifting Lands is much more focused on the looting and upgrading than it is on sidescrolling shmup action. Fans of ARPGs who enjoy the sidescrolling shooter format might enjoy this one, but it’s a tough sell for purists who want a more varied shooter.
Boo! Greedy Kid is a silly little arcade title that will probably eat up a nice chunk of your time. It seems to miss the chance to make the gameplay more complex, but it still works as a simple arcade title for someone looking to kill a little time.
Just Cause 4 doesn’t make a lot of changes to the core gameplay of the series, but then again it doesn’t have to. It does make some welcome tweaks and additions, most notably to the grappling hook. The fourth installment in the series may not be as visually appealing as other titles in 2018, but it’s just as explosive and entertaining as ever.
Transference is an example of a first-person narrative driven game done right. From its tech singularity premise to its balance of story and gameplay, the game manages to craft an experience that's immersive and interactive without feeling like another walking simulator.
Overkill’s The Walking Dead has some great, challenging gameplay that’s held back by lots of technical issues and poor design choices. It has the potential to be a great co-op action game, but at the moment it’s better at frustrating than it is at entertaining.
Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets is definitely a novel take on the puzzle genre, and it manages to design some clever and creative levels to keep players engaged long after the novelty wears off. It’s not the best choice for people who just wanna solve puzzles, but if you like a mix of reflex-based action and puzzle gameplay, you’ll like this one.
TumbleSeed starts off simple enough, but in classic roguelike fashion it quickly becomes a tricky, demanding (literal) balancing act with a variety of buffs and obstacles. Fans of light, arcadey titles should check it out
The Low Road is a light romp through corporate espionage that features a great cast and top-notch writing, as well as some very compelling moments. Its puzzles are a bit lackluster at times, but it’s still a great way to pretend you’re a 70’s spy.
A surprisingly fresh take on licensed anime games, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet manages to get more creative by offering you a fresh character rather than one of the series mains, and it carves out a fairly decent story within the canon. The gunplay is solid, but be prepared to grind and patiently wade through some of the slower sections
While Syberia 3 is a great way for newcomers to explore the unique world of Syberia, a wealth of technical issues prevent this promising adventure game from really shining. We hope future patches can take care of it, because the story at the core of Syberia is just as engaging as ever, and while its puzzles aren’t that tricky, it’s got a story worth telling.
While its mechanics can be a little finicky, Beholder is a simple game that ends up immersing you in the life of an informant in a totalitarian state, and it’ll no doubt make you develop a fascination with the lives of others. As you juggle your desire to be a good person with your desire to stay out of prison or an early grave, Beholder will force you to make some heavy choices
While it’s by no means a bad shooter, Demon’s Crystals doesn’t have much to offer to help it stand out from the pack. Its lack of content and somewhat repetitive nature make it a more ideal recommendation for shooter fans looking for a nice arcade shooter on sale
Impact Winter does some great things with the survival formula, and its focus on cooperation really forces you to think twice about your actions, but its technical issues on PC mean you’ll have to wait for some patches to get things in working order