While the series has been noticeably silent for nearly half a decade, Soul Calibur VI still brings with it the same addictive gameplay its always been known for, while also feeling a bit dry in its various modes and online offerings.

I’m torn on whether or not I fully enjoyed this story-based expansion to Xenoblade Chronicles 2. While I absolutely adored the story components that Monolithsoft have delivered here, the supplemental side quests bog down the experience and cause this expansion to feel as if I was progressing through it at a snail’s pace, as if I was being punished somehow.

Where Red Dead Redemption 2 excels so perfectly is in its storytelling. It’s not a far off assessment to say that this might very well be one of the best written games ever crafted, not only in its main quest, but in its side activities as well. In fact, the side quests are probably my favorite moments I’ve had during my 60+ hours with the game.

After a disappointing Mario Party 9 and 10 on the Wii and WiiU, iterations that collected the group in a single party vehicle as you made stops together along the various game boards, Super Mario Party brings back the individual dice rolls to each player and is a return to form for the series.

While I was quite taken with Origin’s use of Egyptian history, albeit a mostly fictional one, Its mechanical flaws and mediocre side-quests held it back from being a truly remarkable game. While some of those flaws still exist here in its follow-up, Odyssey improves greatly on its open world, its quests, and offers us a better game overall.

With the announcement that Game Pass would include all future first party titles on the day of their release, I recently got behind the wheel of Forza Horizon 4 and left my backlog in the dust. While often overlooked during conversations about first party dominance, Forza Horizon 4 is one of the best brand exclusives out there right now and a much needed win for Microsoft.

Shadows: Awakening is a very ambitious action RPG that has a huge cast of playable characters called puppets and they will be absorbed into a demon called the Devourer and used to complete a goal set forth by a mage named Krenze, a man with a hidden agenda.

Senran Kagura has featured a wealth of humor mixed with its incredibly non-subtle approach to fan service, yet has always had a certain charm baked in to each subsequent release. Its latest title; however, lacks nearly everything that makes each of the other Senran Kagura games feel worthwhile and comes off as a complete waste of time.

When the surprise announcement came that Insomniac, developers of the Ratchet and Clank series was working on a brand new Spider-Man title, the hype was incredibly real and it became one of the most anticipated games in recent memory. Thankfully, all that hype was justified and not only is Spider-Man a true marvel, but it is also one of the best superhero games of all time.

Based around the board game, Super Dungeon Explore; Super Dungeon Tactics does a remarkable job at converting the experience of the table top genre into an enjoyable turned based strategy game, even if the inconsistent difficulty can get in the way of some of the fun.

Lara Croft has been a gaming icon for over twenty years, spanning numerous reboots and three major motion pictures. The character has been portrayed by several actresses, all doing their part to bring the character to life in one form or another. When Crystal Dynamics rebooted the franchise some five years ago, it reintroduced us to Lara Croft all over again.

The team behind Zombie Army Trilogy is back with another third-person co-op shooter. Now that I've spent a solid five days pushing through the campaign and each of the five maps available in horde mode, I can unquestionably state that Strange Brigade is an absolute riot!

While 2015's Helldivers did manage to be a fairly entertaining title, it failed to be memorable or leave a lasting impression like other titles of its ilk. Warhammer 40K - Inquisitor: Martyr is the latest sci-fi based hack and slash dungeon crawler to see a release and while it is certainly fun and action-packed, the title is certainly rough around the edges. 

From a visual standpoint, Dead Cells was a game that I had been intrigued by for a fairly long time. Dead Cells is a game that needs to be on people's radar, a game that truly needs to be celebrated. Dead Cells is one of the best games I've played in 2018 and a strong contender for my Game of the Year. 

Like many, I missed out on the original release of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on the WiiU and was looking forward to its inevitable release on the Nintendo Switch. My exposure to the title was minimal, but it looked like a charming puzzle game with all the trappings and polish of a typical Nintendo release.

Where Warhammer: Vermintide and its recent sequel at least looked to build upon the Left 4 Dead formula with their progression system and fantasy setting, Earthfall simply tries to exist by running around in the skin of Left 4 Dead, expecting different results with what can feel like a bare minimum effort. 

Blending Left 4 Dead with the Warhammer fantasy genre almost seems like a match made in heaven. The original Vermintide shamelessly borrowed from the Left 4 Dead formula while keeping the action consistently flowing and offering up a diverse cast that would banter back and forth as we chopped up the hundreds of enemies that came our way. 

If titles such as Yooka-Laylee and Bioshock are considered love letters to their respective gaming inspirations, then Octopath Traveler is the full-on romance novel of the JRPG. Steeped in combat mechanics and visuals of JRPG's from a long-passed era, SquareEnix's latest is a return to the greatness of classic role-playing adventure games.

The Nintendo Switch has proven to be one of the best platforms for engaging and lengthy JRPG's. We've just seen the release of Shining Resonance: Refrain and are days away from Octopath Traveler hitting the console and the system is currently packed with several more such as Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Lost Sphear.

It's a rather weird thought that Mario Tennis would share any resemblance to that of Marvel's latest Avenger's movie, but when Mario is set on the path to recovering 5 colored 'Power Stones', I had to shake my head and let out a very loud sigh. In fact, I made that same sound at many of the design choices that Camelot chose to go with for this latest installment.