The Missing is one of those games that forces you to immediately reflect on the entire experience once the credits roll. As the game comes to a close you’re presented with some truths that reshape your understanding of everything you’ve seen. To properly discuss The Missing, delving into the details of the ending is necessary. It reframes the entire adventure and it’s why this game is worth playing.

Car Quest is one of those weird experiences that isn’t particularly fun or engaging, but can tap into your OCD tendencies and keep you playing even when you’d rather not. Its design is rather mundane - you drive around a world collecting an artifact at a time, which opens up a new area of the map where you’ll collect a new artifact, which will in turn open a new area of that map where you’ll collect… well, you get the point. This cycle is only broken on occasion where you’ll gain access to a portal that requires a certain number of batteries to get into. In the portal you’ll do more of what you do in the main world, just on a smaller scale, until you earn an artifact to use back in the main world, where the cycle continues.

Five minutes with Nickelodeon Kart Racers and it’s very clear that Mario Kart 8 acted as not only an inspiration to the game, but in many cases as a blueprint for its design. As it turns out, that’s not a bad thing at all and helps make this a very competent racing game with some nice features and even a few things that help set it apart. But like any facsimile, it’s not nearly as crisp, pristine, or flawless as the original.

For all the retro-inspired indie titles out there, the genre seems mostly earnest, even deferent. There may be a small jab, such as Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon regulating the whip to a sub weapon, yet these are smaller details as opposed to poking fun at the original retro titles. Granted, the goofy nature of many retro games renders parody harder to accomplish, as even Shovel Knight feels like it could have once been an earnestly made game from the '80s or '90s. Enter Old School Musical, a rhythm game which pokes fun at an entire smorgasbord of games.

I’ve had some trouble sticking with Flipping Death. In between playing other games for review I slowly chipped away at it, making small progress over a pretty extended period of time. On the surface, I really love what it’s going for. This platforming-adventure has a great sense of humor, memorable characters, and a really neat and unique art style that absolutely leaves an impression. While all of the accoutrement is fantastic, solving puzzles and accomplishing tasks feels pretty consistently obtuse and rarely satisfying when you finally figure it all out.

At first pass, you may mistake Wandersong for a game about a bard who’s trying to save the world. I wouldn’t blame you, because while that is what it seems on the surface, more importantly Wandersong is a game about emotions and relationships. It’s about conquering your fears and adversity, doing what’s right even when everyone else is telling you it’s wrong. It’s about leaning on your friends when you can’t do something by yourself, and yes, it’s about singing your heart out even when nobody wants to hear you.

Back when the GameCube released, I developed a real love for rolling monkeys in balls along complex tracks while hoping to reach the finish line without falling off. Yes, Super Monkey Ball was truly something special. Later, during the Wii’s lifespan, a couple titles based around rolling marbles appeared under a new series, Kororinpa, scratching that same itch. These were incredible games that used the Wii’s motion control to great effect and since then I’ve been pining for more ball rolling goodness in whatever form I can get it. Enter Marble It Up, a spiritual successor to the Marble Blast series that had its final release on the PC and Xbox 360. While I missed these titles, if Marble It Up indicates their quality, I’m sure I’d have loved them.

MagiCat is a fascinating example of a game. While it’s not particularly great, it takes a simple concept and tries everything and anything possible with the idea to see what sticks. Oftentimes it’s frustrating and cheap, other times brilliant and fun, it all depends on what level you’re in and what gimmick is on display.

Velocity 2X, by all measures, is a well made game. It has a pretty extensive amount of content including 50 core levels with a healthy number of objectives to achieve in each, a set of unlockable puzzle-based bonus levels, and the Switch version even includes the DLC out-of-the-box. But even after completing the whole game, I never really felt satisfied with it. While there’s a lot of content, each level feels similar to the last and this lack of diversity eventually wore me down. By the time the credits rolled, I was relieved to be done with it.

Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, but his video game history has been a deep well of untapped potential. He’s had good games still worth playing today, yet he’s never had an entry on par with Batman’s excellent Arkham titles. Marvel’s Spider-Man is Insomniac’s attempt at elevating Spider-Man to the same level as Batman. While they do not quite reach that same quality standard, there is a solid foundation for Insomniac to build upon.

Somehow it’s been six whole years since Dust originally released as a Summer of Arcade title on the Xbox 360. It’s incredible to me that it’s been that long, but though six years have passed, Dust still holds up as a great title today. Since its original XBLA release, the action-adventure spectacle has made its way to PC, PlayStation 4, iOS, and now most recently the Switch, where it feels right at home.

One of my favorite things about playing strategy/role playing games is the sense of satisfaction that comes from executing on a well-laid plan. The thrill of deftly maneuvering units into place for a swift and deadly strike after multiple turns of meticulous consideration is something that few games deliver. I love strategy/RPGs, and I was excited to tear into Valkyria Chronicles 4; a return to form of sorts for a series held in high regard by a rabid fanbase, and a franchise I have little experience with. Sadly, instead of tearing into this game because I couldn’t get enough, I will now need to tear into this bizarre title that not only doesn’t reward sound strategy but does everything in its power to undermine player agency.

At a point, Bullet Hell games felt like they were generally exclusive to Japan and rarely made an appearance in western markets. These days, both consoles and the PC are flush with them, which I can appreciate. I’m by no means great at them, but I find them engaging and they hit that same nerve that other intensely challenging games in other genres do that makes me want to get better at them. Azure Reflections is of the Touhou variety (though an unofficial entry in the Project) and puts its own unique spin on the genre. Though incredibly challenging, it offers players a helping hand with its accessory system, as well as a variety of difficulty settings to make it more accessible to a wider audience.

Since Portal hit the scene around a decade ago, it’s inspired a variety of other games that have chosen to use the first person perspective for puzzle solving and storytelling, rather than the typical shooting. The Spectrum Retreat is one such game and it does well in both telling an interesting story and providing some great puzzles. However, these two elements rarely coalesce and more often feel like oil and water, separated naturally by the construct of the experience. Though it’s too bad the two don’t come together, what’s presented is still compelling thanks to ever evolving puzzle constructs and the gradual realization of what's going on in The Spectrum Retreat.

On paper, Nefarious is such a great idea. For once, you get to assume control of a villain, and instead of saving the princess, it’s your job to capture her. The boss battles that end a level? That's your time to shine and stop the would-be hero in his tracks. In execution, Nefarious is rife with issues. Unresponsive controls, mediocre gameplay, and progress halting bugs make for a game that’s just not at all what I had hoped it’d be.

It’s not often that a game does something that completely surprises me, but The Messenger managed to catch me totally off guard. What appears to be a modern 8-bit take on Ninja Gaiden suddenly morphs into something more at the halfway point of the game. Its once linear levels branch out and become a Metroid-like maze, with hidden secrets abound. Not only that, but the graphics and sound boost into 16-bit and the world takes on an extra level of detail. While this gimmick was incredibly cool, the tight gameplay and intricate level design is what makes The Messenger a truly special experience.

There’s an itch that super challenging platformers scratch for me that other games just can't. While it’s always nice to dig into a classic platformer like Mario or something a bit more unique like Rayman, getting my fix of games like Super Meat Boy and N++ is a necessity. Shio fits very nicely into that niche and offers a decent chunk of gameplay, a unique hook that differentiates it from the crowd, and healthy offering of secrets to extend the experience.

The genesis of Freedom Planet is quite evident from the moment the game begins. Though you play the part of a purple dragon, it’s clear it could’ve just as easily been a blue hedgehog. However, there are a few changes to the classic Sonic formula that sets Freedom Planet apart as its own unique experience that merely wears its influence on its sleeve. The end result is a well constructed, fast-paced platformer that entertains from beginning to end.

Anyone familiar with the typical programming of Adult Swim, won’t be the least bit surprised by their latest published video game, Pool Panic. It has the aesthetic of many of their shows, the offbeat humor, and preserves the general oddity of their late night flavor. It proclaims to be the least realistic pool simulator ever, and it’s not an inaccurate description. Pool Panic is actually a puzzle game dressed up as a pool game, using the basic premise of billiards as the foundation of the experience.

I consider myself a plugged in gamer.  I take it as a matter of professional pride to keep tabs on all manner of games, even if I’m not personally interested in them.  So imagine my surprise to learn that I’ve spent the last twelve years thinking the Yakuza series was just a low budget version of Grand Theft Auto, only to find out it’s actually a super deep roleplaying game.  This was a pleasant surprise as I worked my way through Yakuza Kiwami 2, my first true foray into the franchise.

Part of being a gamer is picking your favorite Mega Man subseries and diving in. Some enjoy the simplicity of the classic series. Others want the story and exploration from the Legends series. Personally, I like the X series. Something about vanilla Mega Man never clicked with me, with X giving me just enough complexity without deviating from what makes the series work. Despite my love for Mega Man X, I never tried its sequels, so I was excited to see what they added to the formula.

I’ll start by saying that I’m in awe of Iconoclasts. It’s the culmination of nearly eight years of solo work by Joakim Sandberg. As someone who has built a much simpler game from scratch on my own, I can assure you this was no easy feat, and for such a complex and beautiful game it’s really a stunning achievement. The world, the art, the music, and the gameplay are all phenomenal. Traversing the world, solving puzzles, exploring the locales, and defeating bosses is consistently entertaining. I have some reservations with the story and the, at times, cringey dialog. The story does prove to be quite memorable in the end, but for much of Iconoclasts, I found myself lost in it, focused solely on the gameplay.

For those familiar with the 3DS release, originally published by Atlus, Code of Princess EX is a technically and visually upgraded version of the game. Outside of the nicer coat of paint and a crisp 60 frames per second, a variety of other changes were made that have a fairly significant impact on the progression of the main quest. Regardless of the evident love poured into this HD upgrade, Code of Princess EX can be a bit of a slog that will likely only appeal to the most dedicated of brawler fans.

20XX, despite being thoroughly inspired by Mega Man X, manages to distinguish itself by throwing away a good portion of that formula for something much more chaotic. The team at Batterystaple Games has managed to recreate the feel of Mega Man X, in both its control and enemy design, but mashes it into a roguelike design that includes randomly generated levels and temporal upgrades that are gained and constrained to your given run through the game. Each pass you’ll encounter different power ups, approach bosses in a different order and apply different approaches to make your way through. Level and boss design, as well as their relative challenge, will even vary based on how deep into a run you are. Progress can be slow, but somewhere along the way, 20XX will get its hooks into you and you’ll be unable to resist the pull of taking on another level or starting up a new run in an effort to make it to the end.

Back when Crash Bandicoot hit the scene, I was a firmly entrenched Nintendo fanboy. Crash, to me, was a second rate 3D platformer that was put to utter shame by the fantastic platformer offerings of the N64. I’ll admit, the N. Sane Trilogy has done little to elevate the core material for me, but it does leave me wishing that other companies would show as much love and care to their older 3D games as Vicarious Visions has shown here.