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For the uninitiated, Total War: Attila does a good enough job introducing a very detailed world and mechanics. What it does best is allow a player to get right into the meat of combat and enjoy orchestrating campaigns across gorgeous battlefields. While micromanaging the war effort and empire can be detracting, there are enough game modes and variety in the campaign to ween someone into the thick of it. At the end of the day, the battles are satisfying and the AI is good enough. It is not without it's problems, but it's as good a strategy game as you'll likely to find.
Gamers shouldn't be fooled by the lighthearted premise of I am Bread as both difficult controls and gameplay mechanics result in continual frustration. I am Bread would have been better off as a funny, short gimmick and not a complete game focused around the premise of being a bread slice.
Shadow run is a campy romp that doesn't take itself too seriously. Its fun to play through, but only mimics (and doesn't quite stack up to) the exceedingly excellent XCOM. There is better weapon class variety, character customization, and a few other points where it might exceed its muse, but it measures up just a shade below on most other occasions.
"Epic" is a criminally overused word these days, but Xenoblade Chronicles deserves no other descriptor. This existential saga of man vs. machine is finally available to the masses and on a portable to boot, with some graphical sacrifices. If you have a couple hundred hours to kill, I can think of few better ways to do it than with this JRPG masterpiece.
Project Cars delivers a solid racing sandbox that is both entertaining to play and stunning to see in action. Unfortunately, the game's career system lacks proper progression and any incentive to complete its races. Racing enthusiasts are sure to enjoy all that Project Cars has to offer, while those looking for a game to compete with its console competition will have to keep waiting or look elsewhere.
Crypt of the Necrodancer is an awesome rhythm game you don't want to pass up if you're into the genre. It solidly blends dungeon crawling with moving in time to the rhythm and the soundtrack is great. Putting in your own soundtrack is a huge plus for me as well as I have a lot of classic NES music I can use to match the retro-style look of the game. If you like rhythm games, definitely pick this one up.
Titan Souls is a pretty solid game, but I can see where it may not gel with some players. There is quite a bit of difficulty to it as you have to learn each titan's patterns and figure out how to expose and attack their weak points, and others may just see this as a rip-off of Shadow of the Colossus. If you can get past that, Titan Souls provides quite a bit of challenge, but admittedly could have gone on a bit longer for a $15 price point.
Sid Meier's Starships provides a simplified, portable gameplay snippet of the series turn-based gameplay that ultimately makes it a difficult recommend for Civilization fans. While the game was clearly designed for a tablet, there is still some entertainment to be found in brief gameplay sessions. Yet, it's impossible not to take into account there are far superior strategy games on PC that make Starships an even less-desiring title to play.
Marvel's Avengers–Age of Ultron looks like a 10-car pileup glued together with overly looping dialogue and a few forgivable missteps. Even without prior existing knowledge of these superheroes' thoughts and motivations, it's still a challenging table with subtle rewards.
Story of Seasons doesn't rewrite the book on farming sims, but it's a big, healthy break from the Harvest Moon series that adds a few strong new ideas. It's Harvest Moon in everything but name, and one of the best of this kind of game to come along in a while.
Toukiden: Kiwami adds on to an already good game with more content, more gameplay variety, and some proper multiplayer that really rounds out this package.
It's just hard not to recommend Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. There's so much content. It received a proper current-gen graphical upgrade and there is tons of both DLC and normal content included. I have a few problems with The Pre-Sequel, but that's it.
Out of the Park '16 proves once again why it's the go-to series for baseball management simulators. With the new license to use real MLB players and the other additions and improvements, there's not much you can't do in this year's edition. If you're looking for a great baseball management simulator, you'll be hard pressed to find something better.
Ziggurat is Milkstone Studios' first game of this scope, and I both hope and believe it will be their breakout game. It is everything a roguelike game should be, and so much more.
Final Form Games throws history out the window to create an action-packed shoot-em-up where 17th century colonists fight over Mars. This is a great looking game that will remind players of the genre's heyday in the 1990s. And with dozens of items to unlock and a wide variety of weapons to shoot, Jamestown+ will keep shoot-em-up fans happy for many hours to come.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars is enjoyable but rather easy, even in later stages. The main attraction here is the stage builder where after unlocking everything you can build practically any kind of stage you wish. While some people tend to make stages simply to give easy stars in the hopes of getting easy stars in return, there are stages where a lot of thought was put into them and are challenging. If you like the series, you'll enjoy Tipping Stars, but you might find it a bit too easy.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon continues the streak of great Etrian titles. The shake-up in gameplay doesn't rattle the game too much for die-hard fans and will give them exactly what they want, while giving people unfamiliar with the franchise, a good entry level introduction.
Olli Olli 2 may be incredibly difficult at times but it is also non stop fun. It takes everything that made the first game great and made it even better. If you missed out on the first game, you really can't go wrong with this one. This is a game that I feel that anyone can enjoy and especially those who need an extreme skateboarding fix since Tony Hawk and Skate are now dead. If there is an Olli Olli 3, I anxiously await to see how they are going to top this one.
The Sims 4 Get to Work does a lot of right things for being its first expansion pack that only stumbles in a few places. The manageable retail businesses and photography skill are great additions to the base game, while the new career venues suffer from repetitive gameplay and frequent load screens. Sims fans shouldn't hesitate in picking up the Get to Work expansion pack as the new gameplay features and added content are well worth the purchase.
Infinity Runner does provide a few moments of intense fun. Unfortunately, those moments are broken up too often with gameplay choices that really bring the game (and the fun) to a screeching halt.