Jordan Baranowski
Balan Wonderworld tries to be an homage to nostalgic platformers from the PS2 era, but it forgets to be a good game in the process.
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders is a hybrid hack-and-slash and real time tactics game that first released in 2004. It's solid but feels dated.
SolSeraph is a spiritual successor to SNES classic ActRaiser. Sadly, it doesn't quite reach the lofty heights set by its predecessor.
Vaporum is a throwback to an old-school genre, but it doesn't bring about a renaissance for the grid-based dungeon crawler on console.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a PvPvE heist game that puts you into the shoes of Robin Hood and his band of thieves - but the arrow misses the target.
The Lost Gods is the third and final DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising. While it introduces new perspectives and mechanics, it doesn't exactly come together into a cohesive whole.
Empire of Sin has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it's buggy and full of odd design choices, never really reaching the heights it sets for itself.
Vigor is an F2P shooter from the developers of DayZ, and while it features a lot of strong ideas, it ultimately can't pull it all together.
Automachef is a challenging puzzle game with a unique presentation, but it can get a bit too repetitive for its own good.
Stronghold: Warlords approaches the RTS genre a little differently than most, and with varying results.
A New God is the first DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising, and it adds some extremely tough new challenges to its endgame, even if it's not as compelling as what's to come.
Super Meat Boy Forever may look like the previous games in the series, but it actually features an autorunner mechanic that simplifies things... at a cost.
There's a lot going on beneath deck in Port Royale 4, and much of it works very well. Setting up your perfect trade routes and watching all the moving pieces sail into action hits all those lizard brain elements that we love, and optimizing things when some new wrench hits the system is always a good time.
If Dark Souls were set in space, it would be Hellpoint, a strong souls-like marred only by its similarities to so many others in its genre.
Iron Danger lacks the polish or depth to appeal much beyond that interesting concept. A lot of people will have fun with Iron Danger, but I could also see it being a game that many load up and ultimately bounce off of.
Broken Lines, a squad-based tactical strategy game has some interesting elements but lacks the polish to stand out.
Warsaw is a turn-based RPG that combines the gameplay and style of Darkest Dungeon with the real-world setting of WW2 Poland.
There's a lot to like in GreedFall. It ticks many of the most important boxes an RPG should. It makes you care about the characters and the world, all while giving you a sense that you can actually impact those things.
Fantasy Strike is a well-designed fighter that may have trouble sustaining a long-lasting audience.
Samurai Shodown is a throwback to arcade fighters and the series' first entry in a decade. It is solid without a lot of frills.