Battletoads is an interesting property in that while there hasn’t been a main series game in some 26 years, it still has a fairly loyal following. Being hailed as one of the most difficult games ever made, not to mention a property initially designed to compete with the popularity of the TMNT; Rash, Pimple, and Zitz haven’t exactly been given their due. While much of this new game works extremely well, its focus on providing too many types of gameplay novelties wears thin and is the poster child for tonal whiplash.

Mortal Shell, despite being a pretty shameless Dark Souls clone, shouldn’t be overlooked. The dozen or so hours you’ll invest into the game across its gorgeous but few areas are teaming with weighted combat, fierce encounters, and an unforgiving lust for your demise. For a game developed by a small team of just 15 people, it certainly has the promise to be considered one of the better takes on the Souls formula.

While the game is set in the biggest environments the series has seen thus far, the game feels drastically too ambitious for its own good, as this large scale adventure is plagued by incredibly poor texturing, constant pop-up, and significant framerate drops. These issues and more are everywhere, and while the game has seen a patch or two since release, the game at its core suffers from an over-written narrative, inconsistent pacing, and some bizarre choices that have several of its advertised features locked behind a dozen hours of progress. While there is a good game buried deep in here, it’s one that sometimes isn’t worth pursuing.

When Fast and Furious: Crossroads was first shown off at the Video Game Awards last fall, the game looked awful, featuring extremely bad visuals and gameplay that didn’t look inspiring in the slightest. Cut to release and it’s exactly how you think it was going to be. Was Bandai Namco aware of this? Well, think about how well this game was advertised and you’ll have your answer.

While the JRPG genre has seen a wide range of franchises spawning several decades, it’s rare for them to tell a connected story from game to game, often reinventing themselves with each iteration, rarely ever returning to them. The Trails series can then be looked as something of an oddity as it spans almost a dozen games, all connected and often intertwining with one another.

Fall Guys is incredibly fun and joyful around almost every colorful corner, and with the inclusion of seasons that will update the game with new costumes and new maps, this is certainly a fun platform for improvement. The pudgy and yet agile characters are bursting with charm and seeing a mass rush of 60 of them trying to cram themselves through a tiny opening is downright hysterical.

Going into Ghost of Tsushima, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it. Given the titles that Sucker Punch has worked on before, and the much smaller team size when compared to other Sony first-party studios, I was a bit hesitant if they would be able to pull it off. After wrapping credits on Ghost of Tsushima, I can firmly say not only did they pull it off, but it’s easily one of my favorite first-party games for the console.