Back in the summer of 2013, Santa Monica Studios Creative Director, Cory Barlog, had the insurmountable task of starting work on the latest iteration of the beloved God of War series. This was a franchise that helped define the PlayStation 2, some 15 years ago.

I've played my fair share of bad games; mechanically broken ones, or those that are barely capable of keeping your attention. I've played numerous titles that have cumbersome controls, countless glitches, and stories and voice acting so bad you have to wonder what publisher would want it being associated with their brand.

The roguelike genre has never been something I've been drawn to. The prospect of losing ones progress upon death is generally a gameplay mechanic I tend to avoid. Difficulty, challenge, these are concepts that don't concern me when it comes to video games.

When Kirby Star Allies was announced for the Nintendo Switch, I expected a bit more than what we've seen on the 3DS handheld throughout the past few years. While my experience with the Kirby games is well under a decade, Star Allies in many ways feels like a full game built around the mini-game modes that have been tacked on to each subsequent handheld release.

When Ubisoft released Assassin's Creed: Origins, late last year, it was a title that broke free of a few Ubisoft gameplay traditions. It certainly made substantial strides in regards to refining its gameplay, but it still contained many elements that people have come to expect from a typical Ubisoft release.