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Marvel’s Spider-Man is a game with many faults, but it’s still easy to enjoy. If you’re committed to doing everything, you’re probably going to burn out. So much of the side content strings you along with rote gameplay, and the story alone isn’t going to be enough to get you through the entire runtime. But, if you’re just looking for a fun Spider-Man power trip, then simply doing the story missions and skimming the surface of the optional content will be a fantastically fun time. The combat, traversal, and general gameplay are all fantastic, and I’ll be looking forward to the future DLC as an opportunity to play with new combat scenarios. A sequel is all but confirmed at this point, and there is a lot of potential here for an incredibly strong follow-up. Marvel’s Spider-Man may not have an interesting story to tell, but its great combat and swinging mechanics make the wait for an inevitable sequel more than bearable.

The Padre is an experience that is undoubtedly not for everyone. While the detailed and blocky voxel-based visuals are pleasant to look at, it feels like the game has a bit of an identity crisis. Most of the eye-winking charm works while most of the horror and referential elements don’t. The Padre could shape up to be something special if it solidifies its identity as a charming love letter to the games and movies that it’s drawing from; but the hackneyed story, sputtering pace, and lack of any resolution mean that only a select few will really enjoy what The Padre has to offer in its current state.

Yakuza 0 is a long game filled with amazing moments. The last few chapters of its 17-chapter story are worth experiencing and I wouldn’t trade them for anything, not even the 35 hours it took me to get to that point. Not everyone will be able or willing to make it that far. While it’s a ton of fun to take part in activities around Kamarucho, there can be a lot of mind-numbing combat in between. That repetition will fight you along the way, but the investment will pay dividends. Those last chapters have my favorite moments in any video game ever. It’s a shame that many will likely fall off Yakuza 0 before experiencing some of the greatest narrative moments that video games have to offer.

The Messenger is a retro gaming inspired rollercoaster ride. You never quite know what turn it’s going to make next. It’s a shame that one of those turns is not very enjoyable and even leads to a worsening of the general gameplay. It picks things back up once you get into the final sequence, but it can be excruciating to get through the latter third of the game to get there. On the other hand, the first two-thirds of The Messenger is an absolute blast that stands a cut above many of the classic titles that inspired it. Despite the fact that it may not be worth experiencing in its entirety, the majority of The Messenger is an incredibly entertaining and joyous experience. It combines retro and contemporary design philosophies in spectacular fashion which makes it easy to recommend to anyone with any appreciation for the side-scrolling action platformers of days past.

Moonfall Ultimate is abhorrently average as an action RPG. The hand-drawn art is by far the best thing about it, but the lack of smooth animation means that the game only looks good in still screenshots. Repetition runs rife through Moonfall whether you’re engaging in the simplistic combat during longwinded sequences, taking in the lore that’s as deep and as interesting as a puddle, or playing the survival mode which is just a series of even more uninteresting combat encounters. You might be able to find some fun in the co-op, as a friend can make even the most excruciating of experiences seem more entertaining, but it’s hard to find more than one redeeming quality in Moonfall Ultimate otherwise. There are far worse things to spend a dozen dollars and as many hours on, but that won’t keep Moonfall from sinking into the ocean of other Nintendo Switch e-shop releases.