Despite being an all-around improvement over the original Borderlands, Borderlands 2's biggest flaw is that it plays it safe.

With over sixty hours of content, five major renovation plans, and an addictive customization gimmick, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning shines like no other game in the franchise. While this is certainly a game made for existing fans of the franchise, there's room for newcomers to learn the ropes with the game's many tutorials. Harvest Moon: A New Beginning is a strong and memorable addition to the Harvest Moon family, and a game I know I'll be playing until the wee hours of the evening.

It's possible to complete version 1.3-chili of The Real Texas in just under 20 hours--longer for fans of classical music and optional quests.

Atelier Ayesha is a game that can give even a cold person warm and fuzzy sensations. Ayesha's journey is worth undergoing for those who love to see how this series continues to improve.

Etrian Odyssey IV taps into the inner explorer and makes uncovering a world's mysteries captivating. Much of what it has to offer is forgiving enough to entice those without dungeon crawling experience, though that also makes the game unthreatening to people with a background in its brethren. I found the process of exploration and filling out a map from a blank screen incredibly addictive, and have no regrets for the many hours it took to do so.

Far Cry 3 reaches for greatness, but falls short at merely being really fun. It has a few hiccups here and there and the story is very thin, but the exploration and combat really shine. It's a worthy addition to any collection.

Dark Arisen is definite a play to Dragon's Dogma's strengths and it turns out well for it. There is still work to be done for the series, particularly in bulking up the story and world, but there's lots of highly addictive fun to be had from exploring Bitterblack Isle's depths.

If you like Diablo-style games, Sacred 2 is for you. The single and multiplayer options included provide nearly endless replay value for fans of the hack and slash genre.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World's biggest drawback is simply that it's a direct sequel to Tales of Symphonia. While this provides the game with a fairly large potential audience of fans, the story draws very heavily from the events of the first game, and while it's possible to pick up the pieces during the game, those who haven't played Tales of Symphonia will likely find themselves lost.

Still, with so many elements crammed into one package, it all comes together surprisingly well and Spectrobes is a series that continues to show promise.

For those who love Disgaea, Disgaea 3 is a welcome addition to the series. With a hilarious, upside-down storyline and the battle system's tricks still intact, there's no reason for these fans not to play Disgaea 3.

There are a few things done unusually well in this specific title, namely a story the player should actually care about, an even and consistent pace that was missing in Dragon Quest IV, less need to level grind, a party-forming mechanic that gives the player several diverse options to consider, and an overall experience that develops and changes over the course of the game, flowing naturally with the plot and maintaining a fresh feel for the battle system.

Avalon Code is a quirky, highly original action adventure that will probably appeal most to fans of the Legend of Zelda series or Harvest Moon's relationship systems. The glaring interface issues detract from the experience somewhat, but for the most part aren't much more than a minor irritation and can be alleviated with a bit of storage management on the part of the player. There are also a handful of localization errors that make a small number of the recipes unusable, though.

Rune Factory: Frontier can be somewhat tedious at times, but at the least it always gives players something to do.

Considering the source material, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories is an impressive effort that is certainly worth playing for every fan of the series that missed it on Nintendo's retired handheld. The game is far more familiar in 3D, and translates into a more addicting and satisfying experience on the PS2.

Rise of the Argonauts is a difficult game to judge, mainly due to its backwards design. The majority of the game is spent engaged in the story rather than the combat, which is unusual for a game of its type.

Overall, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Times is an enjoyable game with a few noticeable faults.

Drakensang is ultimately a rich and polished experience, and fans of the old party-based PC RPG design will find the same virtues and flaws that come with this type of game.

Despite its mostly average base components, Crimson Gem Saga is a surprisingly good game.

It isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and its choice of storyline from the series makes a sequel unavoidable, but at last a worthy RPG featuring Akira Toriyama's magnum opus has been created.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona was so different and unique when it first came out that it still feels like a fresh experience today.

It's a shame that the battle system is as simplistic as it is, because the game has so much going for it, including a great plot twist, fantastic art direction and an ending that is a real tearjerker.

Fossil Fighters does not have top-notch graphics and sound or a big name to call its own. Its quality lies in entertaining battles and having many addictive things to do. Its prominent use of dinosaurs is also a plus.

Those who played and did not like the series, or who are bored with it, will find little here to change their minds. The Disgaea brand of near limitless levelling (and grinding to go with it), has always been an acquired taste, and the formula is starting to wear thin.

Aside from the travel issue, Spirit Tracks is, in every way, a better game than Phantom Hourglass. Sadly, the travel gets so frustrating later in the game that it really drags the whole thing down.

Sands of Destruction could have been excellent, and some aspects of it indeed do approach greatness. Unfortunately, its many irritations in combat cause the game to fall short of the lofty status it wanted to achieve.

It's a solid game all-around that takes a good-not-great traditional JRPG and replaces the standard third-person dungeons with good-not-great first-person, tile-based ones, binding everything together with a strong apocalyptic story.

Although Silver Star Harmony is not a perfect remake, it's one that definitely received a lot of tender love and care.