Smoke and Sacrifice get a lot of the things we love about this genre right, with the added bonus of playing a protagonist with clear goals and motivations. It also teaches players a lesson with every death. While there are save points, they are far and few between, so ensuring that you choose your battles wisely will also help you on your journey. With beautiful visuals and a thematic ambient soundtrack, Smoke and Sacrifice is a brilliant game you should check out.

Bricktales is perfect – for the right audience. The trouble is, I’m not sure who that audience is. The visuals and the writing feel very all-ages. But the puzzle design requires a high degree of patience and perseverance. I’m neither a parent nor a child, however. For all I know, kids love spending ages making the perfect bird perch. That’s where the alchemy happens, you see. That’s the crucible. If you love building without blueprints, if you’ve got a head for design, you’re in luck. LEGO Bricktales will be an incredible time from start to finish. But otherwise? The breathtaking visuals and clever design won’t be enough to hold your attention.

The price is a little high in my opinion, but if you’ve got a VR setup then it’s definitely worth it. Even without, if you enjoy other horror games where resources are limited and your mind is playing tricks on you, then there’s a good chance Narcosis is worth the money. Just make sure to grab your best headset, and turn out all the lights before you start.

Earth Defense Force 5, like previous Earth Defense Force games, clearly have a following – and if you’ve enjoyed the games before, you’ll enjoy this one just as much. If you’re new to the franchise, you’re not going to get much depth, but under the right circumstances and with the right mindset, you might be able to squeeze out a fun time.

As far as handheld gaming is concerned, Transformers Prime: The Game makes an encouraging case for the future of Transformer games on the 3DS and other handhelds, and is easily the best of the bunch so far.

If Ghost Blade had a classic, well-established pedigree I could understand picking this one up. If you’re in that extremely small niche that enjoys this sort of game, you’ll love it. Anyone less than absolutely hard-core should steer clear.

Quantum: Recharged from developer SneakyBox and publisher Atari is an improvement from the original arcade experience. It brings enough newness to enemies, provides a good dose of mode variety, and is quick fun. While the arcade experience might not attract every gamer due to its lack of depth, there is enough here to warrant a hard look.

Traveling through the dungeons gives that rare feeling of a pen and paper RPG coming to life. The puzzles and traps are smartly done. Overall, this is a highly enjoyable VR RPG experience. Unfortunately, the weak link comes in the controls.

Even without casual matchmaking, Team Ninja delivered an incredibly entertaining tournament until the weight of progression started to sink in. I clocked in close to 15 hours and only unlocked 3 outfits. I got one that I might have wanted, but I really wish I had a choice. And, I only unlocked those few skins because I slogged through the one, hyper-linear mode that gives decent rewards. Everything else awards pennies by comparison. All but the most hardcore players are liable to burn out before the first DLC drops. In the end, Dead or Alive 6 ran a marathon and put a grind wall (some might call it a paywall) before the finish line.

In the end I see Wonderbook: Book of Spells as being a a hit with the kids and it is a good start for the peripheral that makes it all come alive. Sure, there is certainly some room for improvement; however, the future is bright for future "books" that utilize this unique peripheral and I cannot wait to see what is next.

Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale are isometric western RPGs with pre-rendered backgrounds. If this style of game is your cup of tea, then these are both classics, especially the creative, dialogue-heavy Planescape: Torment. If you are new to the genre, these might be tough to try by modern standards. But the way the menus have been mapped to controllers make these RPG classics very playable on consoles. Whether or not they’re playable by modern standards is up to your taste.

Ground Zero is one of the most complete indie survival horror games I’ve run across in a long time. While it may come across as a Resident Evil clone, Ground Zero is more like a companion game than a mere clone. The game keeps itself fresh with its generous mix of combat, puzzles, extra modes, and unlockables. Ground Zero offers a lot of quality survival horror gameplay at an indie price.

All in all, Artis Impact is a fascinating work of art from a solo developer. I just wish the combat was more balanced and the English translation were better.

Republique is an excellent contribution to the stealth genre. With a unique twist on gameplay, a captivating story that leverages paranoia, surveillance and civil liberty and copious amounts of Easter eggs, this is one story that is definitely worth diving into.

If you like puzzle games and brain teasers, imprint-x is absolutely for you. I would even go so far as to say that if you have friends who enjoy physical puzzle boxes but don’t stray too far into the digital realm, this could be the game that gets them hooked.

Shu is a charming and elegant little platformer that surprised me with its fast, but also calming, gameplay.

It does not bring anything truly new to the table in terms of gameplay, and the interface can be a tad finicky, but the clever writing alone should be enough to keep you coming back for more.

LOUD on Planet X is an interesting concept, but it ultimately falls flat. The great soundtrack and cool art style is hampered by a lack of interactivity with the music, limited replayability and competitive spirit that other games in the genre have.

Ironically, The American Dream’s political aspiration is both its selling point and its downfall. It doesn’t say anything beyond what you can already discern from the game’s trailers, but there’s still plenty of fun and laughs to be had in this offbeat depiction of America.

If you like one player coop games in the style of Moss, then Mixture may be worth checking out. There are too few games of this type, be it flat or VR. Mixture may have less personality than Moss, but the gameplay is overall solid minus the throwing mechanics. Mixture provides a solid challenge and an interesting world.

If you’ve eagerly anticipated this year’s entry into Codemasters’ popular F1 series, I hate to say that you might be better off sticking to F1 23. Time will tell if the developers can correct the issues plaguing the handling system. I anticipate they’ll have a fix released sooner rather than later, given that even professionals like Lando Norris have admitted that F1 24 feels awkward and unrealistic. If you’re committed to jumping in this year, do so with your expectations in check. Even if Codemasters fixes F1 24’s most glaring issues, the fact still remains that this is an excessively minor update.

The three games found in the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection are great, especially the original (the other two are more of the same). They all look, sound, and play as well or better than any other versions that have been released. If you enjoy third-person action games, the Ninja Gaiden Sigma Trilogy still holds up today. And the original should be required playing, as it is one of the original Xbox’s finest exclusives. However, buyers beware that these are only the Sigma versions of the modern Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. I don’t want to judge this collection for what I wish it contained (it already has three great games with tons of content), but by calling it a “Master Collection,” the game loses a couple of points due to false advertising.

RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business offers a tighter, more compact take on the original. While the story remains fairly shallow, this puts the focus on gameplay, with new weapons, enemies, and executions that help elevate the experience. Returning players will know what to expect and likely enjoy what’s on offer, but if the base game didn’t win you over, there’s nothing here that will change your mind. While it doesn’t reinvent anything, Unfinished Business is a satisfying extension for those eager to jump back into RoboCop’s boots.

It is certainly a pretty game. The minimalist polygon planes are very evocative, the sound design is lovely, and the abundant bloom lighting creates a mood. There’s sort of a goal (get to the next triangle) and when you achieve it, the art style shifts. But I didn’t really find it relaxing, I found it boring. And I never got over feeling perplexed.

In a time where Battle Royale is all the craze, raking in all that money and not bothering to try to keep up with your competition seems like a stupid idea. Considering PUBG creators sued Epic Games over Fortnite over plagiarism, it becomes pretty apparent that the suit wasn’t over losing money, but out of spite that someone else was making a better version of your game. Instead of paying legal fees, maybe pay a programmer to outdo your competition and beat them by being better, not by throwing a legal tantrum.

There are issues to be ironed out, the Auto Combo being a huge one right out of the gate, but none of the issues I have with the game can’t be fixed with patches or updates in the future. The core of Marvel vs Capcom Infinite shines like the Infinity Stones it features, and there are Infinite possibilities of where the game can go from here. It’s Mahvel baby, and it’s back in a big way.

Doing its best to make a long-ago conflict come alive, The Great War: Western Front is ambitious and complex. Like the actual war, it requires patience, determination, and the ability to suffer repeated failures to make a small amount of progress. It isn’t so much a hardcore sim that novices can’t decipher it. The problem for me is more with the subject matter, combined with the weight of many systems. Victories never feel jubilant. In World War 1, winning was a matter of losing slightly less than the enemy. History lovers and wargamers will find a lot to enjoy, but for me, playing The Great War: Western Front felt a bit too much like homework and not enough like fun.

Dead Rising 4 is great fun for people who want to take on zombies and not feel threatened but if you already have the base game, you might not want to fork out the full price for Frank’s Big Package. If this will be your first step into Frank West’s shoes: by all means, grab a weapon and jump right in.