Best Month Ever! does indeed live up to its title… except with a few pitstops. While there is some clunky dialogue and awkward animations, the game still shines through with its story and themes. Best Month Ever! tells a good story about a dying mother’s wish, with mature themes that are treated with the utmost care, and a beautiful art style. The game is lacking with some accessibility issues and subtitles not always matching up with spoken dialogue. However, with an action-packed adventure, fans of point-and-click games should pick this one up when they can. Overall, it’s a touching story that almost anyone can connect with.

A few odd design decisions prevent Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield from growing into the action-packed blockbuster it yearns to be. While the title finds its footing once you’ve unlocked its speedier and more difficult game modes, it’s a bit of a slog to get there. For those willing to put in the effort to get to that endless runner’s high, there’s a slick experience to be found here. Although less patient parkourists might want to look elsewhere.

GRAVEN’s shortcomings will hold you back from really enjoying it. Although the design and atmosphere are great, it’s not enough to overcome the frustrating gameplay loop. Fans of the genre will find plenty to enjoy, but for most, the overall experience is likely to tip more into the frustrating than the exciting.

As a debut title, Violet Saint has done an impressive job of building a world that feels both dark and dismal, but also alive and full of character. Moroi is so much more than just a hack-and-slash, with both mystery and puzzles to solve throughout. The cast of absurd characters and humour keeps things light, even with all the gore, and the action packed combat sequences are bolstered by the pumping soundtrack. Even if you aren’t familiar with Romanian folklore, anyone who enjoys a good grimdark fantasy will enjoy Moroi.

Fans of the series were excited when Valkyrie Elysium was revealed, and a modern take on the loved franchise could have done it wonders. Unfortunately, the archaic level design and grubby visuals make the adventure feel like it would be more at home back on the PS3. Combat is its saving grace, dancing between combos and activating magic abilities on elemental foes in satisfying fashion. The Einherjar who fight alongside you add a nice touch, enhancing combat and adding some much-needed levity to the boring narrative. Mindless, enjoyable combat is here in spades, but it’s not enough to make Valkyrie Elysium a reboot that I’d strongly recommend to anybody.

A niche but mostly well-presented experience, Red Solstice 2 attempts to create something entirely new by blending established genres. While its mishmash of strategy mechanics into an action game doesn’t quite hit the mark, it does provide a swathe of tense, tactical moment-to-moment gameplay and absolutely nails its occasional moments of creeping alien horror. It’s far from a strategy game at heart, and struggles to strike a balance between its complex real-time strategy mechanics and action-oriented gameplay – but for sci-fi fans who are prepared to overcome the game’s learning curve and just want to squad up and rip apart some eldritch abominations, there’ll eventually be plenty of gooey green blood to sink your grenades into.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters has some stumbles on the Switch. The frame rate can drop, multiple endings are hard to find, and the intricacies of combat pass you by. But if you give the game a chance, you will find a story that occasionally moves you while entertaining you with light-hearted humour. It’s not a story that stands out because it’s special, but because it’s easily accessible and funny. The game is inviting even if you haven’t played other games in the franchise. You might have to work harder to understand and spend more time on the mechanics, but it’s an adventure well worth the investment.

Remakes of true classics are usually cause for some concern, particularly a game that’s almost 35 years old, but this is so much more than just an old game with a new skin. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX balances perfectly the updates an old game needs whilst still staying true to what made the original such a landmark title. The quirks of the gameplay are all still there, controlling just like the original, although with little tweaks that make the experience even better. The new levels fit so well, it’s pretty, and it sounds good to boot. If the developers could take on Alex Kidd in Shinobi World next that would be great, please and thank you.

A chilling fever dream of dystopian hope, After Us takes the mechanics of an atmospheric puzzle-platformer and uses them to create a beautifully unsettling experience that feels a little too real. Its satisfying traversal challenges through gorgeously rendered wastelands provide plenty of engaging gameplay moments for platforming fans, though its relentlessly oppressive environments may prove too harsh for some. Haunting and immersive, but definitely not for the faint of heart.

Concord is a great shooter that will pleasantly surprise those willing to tune out the outside noise. Within is fantastic minute-to-minute gunplay and action, complimented by a diverse cast with diverse abilities that can mix up a game at a moment’s notice. Though it’s perhaps the least revolutionary game we’ve seen in a long time and still in need of small functions like leaderboards and a clearer vision for its future, what’s here today is some of the best multiplayer gaming I’ve experienced in forever. I’ve found so many weirdo heroes I’ve grown a rich affinity for, whether it’s via their deep-prosed lore or their chaos-causing gameplay. Concord’s fate isn’t quite written in the stars yet; it’s far better than a majority are giving it credit for. I pray you join me and other Freegunners on this voyage. We need you.

Akimbot does a successful job at emulating the PlayStation 2 action-platformer era of games. It’s incredibly flashy and movement feels fluid, frenetic and fun. Similarly, gunplay leads to explosive setpieces worth witnessing. Though being true to this era comes with its own faults in frustrating checkpoint systems and performance issues, it’s all made up for in charm. We don’t get games like these often these days and for that alone, it’s worth it. We are so back.

Dreams of Another is an admirable mess of a game. Its narrative is poorly executed through truly terrible dialogue and performances, it’s incapable of offering a creative alternative to its exploration beyond shooting, and its philosophical musings wouldn’t be out of place on r/im14andthisisdeep. But, for those players who decide to dream this particular dream, Dreams of Another offers an eclectic kaleidoscope of bizarre artistic motifs, a fascinatingly surreal mood and a (possibly entirely unintentional) thematic density that is still worth treasuring amidst the haze of its voxel world.

A great strategy title for fans of tactical turn-based combat. The synergy between different factions, playstyles, and faction heroes offers plenty of variety and, combined with the reward system, keeps things interesting. Maps can become repetitive after a long play session, but this felt like a minor bug in an otherwise solid strategy game.

Farmagia is a very interesting concept with a lot of good ideas, great voice acting and an elaborate story. There is a lot to like, especially if you are a fan of tropey anime romps, but it has its fingers in too many pies, ending up feeling unfocused and not as polished as it could have been. There is definitely a very interesting game in Farmagia with lots of moving parts and a story that clearly had lots of effort put in, but it falls short in a few areas with disconnected farming mechanics and framerate issues. This is a shame because there is a lot of heart to be found within. Any big anime fans are likely to have a good time with the story and voice acting, but outside of that, there isn’t much to grab players.

Neon Blood, on its surface, is a stunning pixelated cyberpunk adventure that boasts an intriguing plot. However, players will unfortunately find that when they spend more time with the game it is riddled with clunky traversal, uninspiring combat and the lack of accessibility features. Though Neon Blood looks like it would be an exciting cyberpunk adventure, the issues make it visually gorgeous but not a super fun experience.

While updated graphics and a new control scheme are all well and good, Aspyr should have done more to bring Star Wars: Bounty Hunter into the present day. The lives system should have stayed in the early 2000s where it belongs, as all it serves to do is make the game’s already murderous level of difficulty even more aggravating by dragging out the experience and arbitrarily making players replay huge chunks of the game whenever the game serves up enough cheap deaths. The bounty hunting system also could have done with improvements to make it easier and more enjoyable to interact with. While there is some fun to be found with flying through the sky and gunning down your enemies, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is overall too frustrating an experience to be an easy recommend for anyone but the most diehard of Star Wars fans.

The Tartarus Key is a good experimental indie horror venture. It never outstays its welcome and creates a thrilling, brooding experience that never cheapens itself with jump scares. Feeling a little existential in its atmosphere, this too is bolstered by the low poly PS1 era art style the game is going for. Though not every puzzle is the most fun to work through, they are at least all well thought out with plenty of fun quirks that work well with the escape room vibes. I enjoyed being in the heat of the moment, feeling something in my brain click when I solved a brain teaser and it resulted in rescuing another character’s life. Rounding it out is a fun cast I’m needing to see more of, with Alex as a force of nature of a horror protagonist. Rest assured, The Tartarus Key is a secret little gem that should be high on indie horror fans’ lists.

Gambonanza isn’t as feature-rich or varied as it could be, but it remains hypnotically compelling all the same. Whether you’re a champion chess player or don’t know your Rooks from your Pawns, Gambonanza’s short, sharp matches and varied Gambit mechanics are engagingly addictive, and are worth checking out for any roguelike fan.

God of War: Sons of Sparta really does try to tackle a different approach to the series while also retaining the feel of God of War. There was so much potential for a new perspective on the characters and their pasts that have yet to be properly explored, which made it all the more dissatisfying when the game came to an end and fell short on all these opportunities. The focus on the primary objective really didn’t leave much room for any other characters to be expanded upon, and the gameplay and storytelling weren’t compelling enough to keep me invested all the way to the end. If you really want to know what happens for yourself, or you’re desperate for a new Metroidvania, wait for some patches to fix the bugs and give it a go. If you don’t, then you will be fine to skip this one.

AEW had the right idea in wanting to focus on the nostalgia of the wrestling games we played when we were kids, but at the end of the day, the seemingly low budget and lack of polish is something that should be left in the past. AEW: Fight Forever has some fine ideas and its execution of moment-to-moment gameplay and animations isn’t terrible, but matches can be won with minimal effort or drama, presentation is missing key things that make wrestling special, and the story mode is repetitive, boring and self-masturbatory. Fight forever? In this game? No, thank you.

Adore is a rather good game that has a refreshing spin on the creature collection genre. The action-based isometric combat presents a unique take regarding controlling a team of creatures, and mastering when to summon them and customising a team made for a compelling experience. The gorgeous and charming art and soundtrack are also a pleasant inclusion. While the very limited variety in quest objectives starts to become an issue long before the credits roll, you can definitely still have a fun time with Adore’s new interpretation of isometric dungeon crawling and creature collecting.

Gotham Knights smartly puts focus on some iconic DC Villains and showcases a new threat with an interesting story full of conspiracies and secrets. It does a good job of establishing this story with underrated heroes, tying in fun action which is enhanced greatly by playing with a friend. Other elements, like boring diversions from the main story, a tacked-on crafting system, and an over-reliance on throwing piles of long, repetitive battles in your path towards the end are less successful, but I still enjoyed my time exploring Gotham City overall. Especially if you have a sidekick, this is a superhero adventure that is well worth suiting up for.

Painkiller is a serviceable co-op shooter that doesn’t live up to its namesake. It gets the satisfying gunplay mostly right, but the rest is unremarkable considering its short length, repetitive objectives, grindy upgrade mechanics and lack of any kind of proper engaging narrative or satisfying conclusion. While it’s hard to call Painkiller bad, I’d also struggle to recommend it to anyone aside from hardcore fans of co-op, while DOOM Eternal exists. If you want an excuse to mow through rooms of demons with two friends, then Painkiller will serve you just fine, but fans of the original will probably have more fun with any of the large array of single-player boomer shooters available on the market.

Lost Epic is not a bad game necessarily, but it struggles to stand out compared to similar 2D action titles. The application of Soulslike elements only serve to slow the experience down with dull backtracking and grinding for experience and upgrade materials. Although its combat can frequently be very satisfying and a treat to behold, the sheer amount you’re forced to go through combined with limited enemy variety ensures that repetition sets in quite quickly. If you enjoyed Salt and Sanctuary, but wish its visuals were run through an elaborate anime filter, perhaps Lost Epic is for you. Otherwise, maybe wait for a sale.

After an initially positive impression, Aphelion fails to achieve liftoff. Shallow and outdated climbing mechanics, coupled with an abundance of boring stealth sections, make the narrative the only hope for this mission. However, with a lack of compelling characters or performances, the gravity of two unlikeable leads proves too strong for Aphelion. Despite strong visuals, instead of reaching for the stars, this sci-fi journey ends up falling back to Earth.

Despite being competent on many levels, FBC: Firebreak is an exceedingly familiar cooperative experience you have likely played before. Remedy’s signature flair for visual design and return to a familiar and beloved video game locale might be enough for absolute die-hard fans, but it is tough to see who the target audience for this entry into the RCU was envisioned for. While not a total misfire, FBC: Firebreak feels destined to be a footnote from the world of Alan Wake.

It’s a shame that the early pacing issues with Forspoken and the slow-burn drip-feeding of abilities will likely put off a lot of players and prevent them from seeing how fun the game can actually be when it’s firing on all cylinders. Bland and boring environments with some awkward visual choices and lifeless character models give an unfortunate first impression that is saved by its enjoyable parkour and versatile combat during the later stages of the game, along with a surprisingly heartfelt story. Forspoken might not be the savior we were all hoping for, but it’s a decent adventure with enough soul that it shouldn’t be cast aside entirely.

Red Souls Games should be proud of releasing their debut title; there is no doubt about that. But as a game striving to honour the paragons of survival horror, Post Trauma significantly falls short. Its astounding art direction and captivating music create an unnervingly eerie atmosphere that will stick with you well after the game’s conclusion. But Post Trauma‘s muddled and borderline incoherent story, flat characters, frustratingly difficult puzzles, and incredibly easy gameplay, where the stakes are never felt, are a real disservice to what is a clear love letter to horror.