Cultured Vultures

For all my complaints about Crown Trick ’s frustrating barriers to progress, it is still a delightful and stylish gem with a ton of complexity hiding under its Candyland-looking exterior. Its combat is equally thrilling in its need for careful strategy and frustrating in its steep dependence on randomized elements. While it may not have the staying power of other roguelikes, it is a tasty enough treat to entertain fans of the genre.

While Monster Truck Championship has plenty going for it in terms of gameplay, the graphical and career mode flaws contribute to a game that’s not as good as it could have been. Perhaps these are issues that could be addressed in a sequel, if Monster Truck Championship does well enough for a follow-up anyway.

It’s a truly fun and unique little experience that will undoubtedly bring a smile and chuckle to players of all stripes. Here in the darkest timeline of 2020, that might ultimately be Cake Bash’s greatest strength of all.

Noita relies far too heavily on random numbers to create any kind of enjoyment, and though it might make some fun stories, players will be left craving an actual roguelike rather than this RNG simulator.

Re:Turn is clearly a labor of love, but one which never decides whether it wants to be a book or a video game. By the midway point, all tension had devolved into boredom. I had explored the length of the train many more times than I ever wanted to, and decided that I wanted off.

Neighbours back From Hell has very little in the way of replayability, variety and overall imagination. While this may be a miserable experience for new players, some fans of the original might love it for what it is.

Raji: An Ancient Epic definitely deserves your time and attention, as it has also taken a lot of time itself to arrive. Its successes are intriguing and exciting, and its failures are from an abundance of ambition. While its combat is very flawed and very difficult to forgive, the game’s atmosphere, absolutely stunning visuals, and deep exploration of a mythology we Westerners rarely see in pop culture all deserve to be seen, heard, and experienced.

While Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix is a much improved and enjoyable sequel, the lack of voice acting stops the game from feeling like an authentic Nickelodeon experience.

There’s challenging gameplay, some incentive to replay and an all too relatable tongue in cheek narrative that makes this a brilliant dungeon crawler to enjoy. For those of us that have suffered the humiliation of unpaid internships and overbearing management teams, this one is for you. There is something special and fun about Going Under that should not be slept on.

I had a lot of fun with Serious Sam 4 and was excited to jump back in each time I booted the game up. Part of me just needed an FPS that didn’t require any thinking but still made my heart race and my butt clench at times, without having to care about the lore, and that’s probably the best way to play it. It’s an entry that adds to the series and lives up to the name, but, honestly, the most important thing I learned from this game is that Sam’s favorite author is Philip K. Dick.

While it may be possible to put in the effort to master the timing system and hit perfect shots on a regular basis, doing so is just appealing. There’s just a distinct lack of fun to be had as the main element of the gameplay is so inaccessible and frustrating. Those looking for the next great tennis game will have to wait a little longer or look elsewhere because this is certainly not the answer.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds isn’t a bad game, especially coming out in such a disappointing time, but it may have done better on the mobile market and won’t scratch the itch for every fan. With some tweaks, however, Battlegrounds could be seen as an entertaining, above mediocre distraction, with a goofy look, remembered as the less offensive alternative.

Crusader Kings 3 is likely to forge its own dynasty as one of the best grand strategy games of all time, and I know Levi would have felt the same. Whenever I kidnap the pope, subjugate some sad sack, or marry my child off to a sixty year old nudist, I will remember him.

A roguelike with exceptional storytelling, Hades brings heart and soul to a genre known for its emphasis on combat. With the continuing evolution of characters and challenges, the Underworld will keep bringing you back long after you’ve escaped.

It’s fun for a few rounds to sling spells and fly through the sky, but once the gimmick wears off, you’re left with a mediocre battle royale in dire need of a content update. Here’s hoping that future patches at least add a few extra spells to the relatively short list currently in place.

While the overall experience has some rough edges, and the real-time-strategy elements feel ornamental at best, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim’s maximalist more-is-more mentality is a blast to experience. Rocketing from plot to plot, and never afraid to throw a complete curveball at the player, the game is a consistently surprising, and often unexpectedly nuanced, Supreme Pizza piled high with memorable characters and stories.

If you’re looking for some light relief from the very serious games released this year or have ever thought how you would handle a crab wielding a lightsaber, Fight Crab may be the game for you. Don’t expect the world from a game where a crab rides a seal and you may find yourself falling in guilt-free love.

Doraemon Story of Seasons is a competent farming sim with an enticing look that’s unfortunately hampered by snail-paced narrative elements and the wrong kind of tedium overwhelming its gameplay.

Kingdoms Of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is less of a wholesale remaster and more of a reminder of the original's quality outside the hype bubble and separated from its controversies. With this second chance, Amalur stands on its own as a weird and often wonderful action RPG.

Marvel's Avengers is held up by a surprisingly excellent single-player campaign and let down by its stagnant gameplay loop and widespread technical issues. We definitely can't do this all day.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions isn’t a perfect rendition of the beautiful game, but it is a welcome return to an era of football games that don’t take themselves too seriously.

Iron Harvest feels like a really professional minor overhaul mod for the Company of Heroes series with so much potential squandered by the developers seemingly wanting to stick too much to the tried and true formula of Relic’s strategy series without innovating or pushing their incredible concepts forward, such as the mechs. Iron Harvest is definitely not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination.

It has a sharper narrative, better presentation, and a kickass soundtrack. Additionally, I find the quests, character progression, and NPC interactions to be a lot more fruitful and fun this time around. Anyone who’s missing the old Fallout games or is a fan of isometric RPGs in general should really check this one out.

It’s really too bad. Windbound could be a really cool game and it sometimes will wow the player, even withstanding its flaws. Maybe a few more spins in the development cycle could have unleashed Windbound’s inner potential but, as it is, Windbound feels bland and undercooked, despite its beautifully animated veneer.

Even if it isn’t perfect, No Straight Roads has enough charm to make it likely to strike a chord with those who want something just a little bit different. For those who are ready to rock, have fun.