Citizens of Earth is rooted in the past but still forward-thinking
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is a flawed but appreciated push in a new direction
Revelations 2 is the most self-assured Resident Evil game in a long time
Republique continues to impress with its willingness to grow from episode to episode
Axiom Verge works moment to moment but feels less successful as a whole
Chronicles: China is the smartest twist on the Assassin's Creed formula yet
Devil Survivor 2 brings many disparate styles together in a great combination
Nevertheless, a month past its release, it's safe to say that Splatoon functions well enough, has an active community and continues to grow in the right directions, even if some obvious areas of improvement remain.
Tembo the Badass Elephant is a surprising new direction for Game Freak that pays off
Rare Replay is an essential piece of gaming history
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture contains astounding humanity beneath its flaws
Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold gets the series back on track and builds on its strengths
Until Dawn isn't a great game, but it's compelling in spite of its huge flaws
Mad Max is a shallow, forgettable experience
SOMA may not be as scary as Amnesia, but it is without a doubt a stronger game
The balance that Dragon Quest Heroes walks between trivial fun and deeper strategizing is precarious. At any point in the 30-plus hours I played, I felt like it could have tipped over, leaving a boring, button-mashing shell of a game. Amazingly, it never did.
Syndicate doesn't get everything right. It doesn't solve all of the series' problems, and at this point, I'm not sure if any one game could. However, it's the first step in a uniformly positive direction that the franchise has taken in years.
Rise of the Tomb Raider executes the franchise formula with confidence
Xenoblade Chronicles X is an awesome game buried under a mountain of annoyances
Resident Evil 0 is better in retrospect than it was at release