IGN

It's hard to believe that such a content rich, well-polished title could be the product of one man's hard work. Aside from the incredible orchestral soundtrack and savvy voiceovers, creator Dean Dodrill is responsible for every aspect of Dust. Sure, the RPG elements could have been stronger, and the boss battles are a bit of a letdown, but if those are the worst things about your game, you're in pretty good shape. An Elysian Tail is a rare example of artisanal game craft.

With its quirky play style and captivating global meta-war, it’s easily one of the most unusual and interesting online shooters out there. While it's not very original in terms of the core weaponry and visual presentation, it more than makes up for it with sheer creativity in the gameplay department, which it needs given the fact that it has no single-player or offline modes whatsoever. The war is on, and it's awesome.

And that's the real hook, the strange alchemy that transforms a deep, rewarding RPG into an equally deep and rewarding fighting game. To watch or play a fight in Persona 4 Arena is to behold the impossible. It weaves the majesty and imagination of one of the best role playing franchises of all-time into the snarling bravado of a one-on-one brawler so effortlessly, one wonders why it's never been done so well until now. If you count yourself as a fighting game fan, but have always harbored an irrational aversion to “anime fighters”, now is the time to get over it. Persona 4 Arena is the genuine article. Miss it at your own peril.

The best Mario games reinvent themselves at the same time as paying loving homage to what went before; they take something you know and love and make it feel new all over again. New Super Mario Bros doesn’t do that - but it’s a delightful game while it lasts, and still the best 2D platformer on the 3DS.

The Expendables 2 just doesn't click as a package. It's never anything special. There's lots of action, but it's not exciting. There's an upgrade system, but it's uninteresting. There's a lot of content, but it's just the same stuff again and again. If you want to shoot and clop through the battlefield with friends, cool, but you won't miss much if you skip The Expendables 2.

Deadlight lacks neither style nor substance, and it lasts just about the perfect amount of time. The story is minimal but engaging, and the ending is unexpected -- in a good way. A couple of sections stumble a bit, but not enough to detract from what is an engaging, memorable experience.

Orcs Must Die! 2’s new cooperative mode allows its gameplay to outshine the formidable strengths of its predecessor, but at the cost of piling several punishing difficulty spikes on the single-player mode. Even so, few other tower defense games succeed so well in delivering pure fun, and the extensive upgrades and improvements to traps and weaponry makes slaughtering orcs more enjoyable than ever.

The Secret World flirts with brilliance and – at least, during earlier zones – looks primed to seal the deal. But, as time goes on, its its seemingly bottomless bag of tricks starts to look a bit shallow. The story, world, skill system, and investigation missions definitely do their damndest to rewrite the MMO rulebook, but uninspired combat, ho-hum PVP, uninteresting late-game quests, and general clunkiness keep TSW's smartest innovations from truly shining.

In longer sessions, Wreckateer exposes the extent of its creativity, leaving you with little to wonder about and discover as you grind through too-similar stages. But it works both as a Kinect puzzle game and a relaxing casual diversion. You can distract yourself with a few rounds of ripping structures to pieces and go on with your day, and come back later to enjoy more.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is proof positive that sometimes all you really need to kickstart a series is to go back to its roots. While there are still a few glitches and notable absences we'd like to see ironed out, we're already dreaming up which levels, moves, and modes we'll see in future DLC packs. Tony Hawk definitely rewards your $15 with equal parts fun and nostalgia.