5 minutes of Spellagis is fun… but it remains the same even after 5000 minutes. There simply is no variety to speak of. The arenas, the enemies, the abilities of your auto-shooting mage - they are all extremely unimaginative. In essence, this is entertaining enough to keep most playing it until they reach 100% completion rate… which is easy to do in one single day.

Assassin's Creed III gave you the chance to enjoy some simple yet fun Assassin's Creed action, in a vast, Colonial-era Boston - and now you can carry all that on your backpack. It wasn't perfect, sure, but the same can be said for the rest of the earlier entries as well. The real disappointment here comes from its new, remastered iteration, which doesn't really upgrade things as much as it should - at least when it comes to the Switch, which is the worst of the available versions.

This isn't an awful game - it's just that, for the most part, it isn't much of one.

A frustrating case of style over substance, Near-Mage dazzles with its art direction and whimsical Eastern European charm but fails to back it up with compelling storytelling. What begins as something that looks it will turn into a heartfelt journey into a world of wonder, fizzles into a predictable plotline with shallow characters and gameplay that rarely requires more than clicking and walking from A to B. This is undoubtedly a passion project, but passion alone can’t save what can be described as an impressive spell full of sparkle and colour that’s barely potent.

Between the terrible story and characters, and the poor performance on Switch 2, it is really difficult to recommend Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. That isn’t said with any delight, either, as the level of customisation and depth to combat is something to be admired, but with only a dreary open world to explore, and no space combat to be found, there is a lot left to be desired. Mech-obsessed fans that can hook up for party play will find fleeting enjoyment if mission and loot-based gameplay is sought after. Other interested folk may need to hope Marvelous puts in a lot of post-release work to get this one up to standard, though.

Ixion perhaps could be used as an example of flying so high... and then missing the mark and falling pretty far down. There was so much to recommend and enjoy about the game, especially if only checking the first few hours. But the more you play, the flaws, difficulty, unraveling story, and pretty much everything else frustrates the player to such a degree that many players are not going to finish the game, either due to the difficulty, or simply not wanting to do the same thing for 5 hours and hoping their ship doesn't blow up randomly.

For short, nostalgic blasts of fun Venture Kid succeeds in almost every respect. While there's fun to be had here, it's painfully clear that, just like playing the game itself, everything is just going through the motions. The excellent soundtrack may even be enough to warrant a dabble, but with nothing new brought to the table, there's no reason to spend your hard earned cash, when the games that this owes so much to its design and creation can be purchased. There are a lot worse than this, sure, but be aware that once completed the first time, multiple revisits are unlikely. Fun? Certainly, but with little variation in gameplay or level design there is not enough for this to stay interesting in the long term. With a little more risk-taking in development, a craving of individuality, and a creative spark, Venture Kid could have gone far.

Abyss is a tidy mini game with responsive controls and an easy to pick up and play formula, but it's just far too short and lacks any replay value. It's the budget price tag that saves it from being less than an average game, though. For any parents out there that might be after a game that is simple enough for children to play and keep them occupied for a little while, Abyss would be ideal, especially given the cost. However, for anyone else, that couple of quid is probably best saved for something else.

The heart-breaking visual novel known as Empty Horizons is… decent. Definitely far from bad, but, apart from big time genre fans, and, specifically, Ebi-hime fans, most are advised to start with something more meatier, like Asphyxia.

Moco Moco Friends is neither bad, nor is it good. For fans utterly desperate for a monster game that isn't Pokémon, it could suffice.

Mononoke Forest is difficult to recommend, because the learning curve is difficult to describe. Honestly, it's enough to make many gamers turn away, and for good reason. If one were to get past the obnoxious controls and the initially confusing gameplay, however, there's something enjoyable buried here - it's a shame that it's so frustrating getting to it, though.

Even if a fan of sci-fi and visual novels, Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition will largely fail to click with most. The pacing is way too slow, the characters are not interesting, and the overall plot takes too long to get going. Despite a few redeeming factors, it simply cannot be recommended due to the many failings across the board.

With WWE 2K Battlegrounds, 2K has made it impossible to recommend for price and value. All aspects of the game revolve around microtransactions and by offering so little to begin with, the motivation to continue playing isn't present. Even the little things that make WWE games worth playing, such as seeing your favourite star enter the arena, are ruined with short audio clips and the same punch out of casket or box entrance. With baffling modes and gameplay that doesn't ever need to extend past single button bashing, it really highlights how 2K have gone for the cash grab and decided a mobile game may reach a wider audience on consoles. This is one title that needs to Rest….In……Peace.

An enjoyable Klondike Solitaire experience, with some nice anime cutes that make the view better. While there's nothing wrong with that concept, but Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS manages to ruin the fun by being way to short on content, be it the time to do everything that needs to be done here, or simply unlocking more girls and/or outfits. Nothing PLUS about this, sorry.

This is the type of game that should be an automatic hit for RPG players, but there is something missing in the complete package. The graphics are good, and typical genre staples are present, but ultimately it gets lost in itself. Overall this is a solid title, but in the end it lacks heart. It does everything averagely, and nothing especially rises above, or provides anything unique - unfortunate, as its ingredients definitely lend itself to what might have been a really great game.

By no means the worst in this unfortunate line of adventure games, Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice has forgotten what makes a Leisure Suit Larry game fun. What's that? Well, apart from puzzles that don't drag out so freaking long, a Larry game mostly needs that kind of naughty humour that's less about penis-shaped props, and way-too-obvious dirty jokes, and more about the loser protagonist's lust getting him into all sorts of crazy situations.

With the pedigree and ideas going into this, Phoenix Point should have been much, much better than it is. The cool ideas are overshadowed by ever-present bugs, glitches, and hiccups that constantly get in the way of the player. Even excusing these, the ideas and presentation come off as incredibly bland very soon into the adventure. Little customization, little options, and little reason to care about your soldiers or base, round out reasons this is in need of massive updates and overhauls if it is to be saved.

Fans going into Contra: Operation Galuga will be very bored and repulsed by the hideous mobile-like graphics. Anyone else who just wants to mindlessly run and gun while taking it easy, might have a few hours of amusement. The lack of polished controls and excessive load times on Nintendo Switch don't do this one any favours, either. This is a very mediocre shooter that plays it too safe and feels soulless.

It certainly has some potential, but Rhapsody constantly disappoints.

Check Nihilumbra out if feeling deprived of some 2D platforming on Wii U, but it is a forgettable experience.

Abomi Nation actually plays better than it looks. What really holds it back is simply optimization and settings that largely don't work. The combat is simplistic, with many moves being useless. One of the advantages is a story that actually is better than might be deigned simply from the pictures. Fans of the challenge mode will likely enjoy it, and with a few patches under them, expect the experience to improve. Other than those looking for something exactly like this, most will be put off by too many other things.

The Low Road is an incredibly standard point-and-click adventure that only manages to stand out thanks to some interesting visuals and its variety of splash screen style puzzles. The automobile corporate espionage plot begins with promise, but unfolds into an incoherent farce that fails to keep any emotional investment. Unappealing character designs and laughable animation give a very amateurish and childish impression, clashing with a mature plot. The Low Road would have made for a more interesting movie than a videogame.

Eternal Hope is reasonably well designed in terms of gameplay, even if the controls feel sloppy and some puzzles do not always make much sense. It is difficult to make puzzle games last very long, but this one definitely has enough length for its low price point. A stronger story or tighter gameplay would have made this game into a great one, and the team behind this adventure certainly has the potential to do it, but as it is, Eternal Hope just lacks focus.

Despite the occasional clunkiness in battles, there is a well-developed battle system lurking beneath the surface that really just needed a bit more polish. Unfortunately, there's a lot of crippling little details between the battles, systems, and presentation that add up to a very lukewarm start for the series outside of Japan.

Curse of Osiris doesn't really do anything to enhance the Destiny 2 experience, aside from the new raid and some nice quality of life upgrades. The campaign portion is tedious and doesn't live up to its potential in the slightest. There's also an annoying reliance on the Eververse system for obtaining the expansion's new gear, to the point where it feels straight up player hostile. For hardcore Guardians, Curse of Osiris is a necessity to keep up-to-date with the latest gear and power level increases, but for everyone else, this is not a meaningful addition to the core game.

A conflicting compilation of Sonic games that does plenty right in remastering some of the blue hedgehog's classic Mega Drive hits, but lets everyone down with unnecessary money-grabbing DLC, while not offering anywhere near the amount of content that really should be here in terms of the Sonic series' vast history. Still with bugs to fix, time will tell if Sonic Origins becomes a respectable overall package, but it will suffice for the more casual fan after a bigger price drop.

There's a fair bit to like about Diablo IV — best-in-class sound design, intriguing character classes, fantastic graphics and occasionally addictive gameplay all feel like the series in its prime. However, even the best parts are let down by an undercurrent of frustrating design choices: the cynical inclusion of a Battle Pass, a bloated open world, repetitive mission structure and progression that too often feels meaningless cast a long shadow that let the latest Diablo title down. Future Seasons may refine what's here, but many of its issues sadly feel baked into the core experience. All but the most die-hard fans may wish to wait for a substantial sale on this one.

Elderand is the definition of disappointing. There's no big flaw to point at, apart from the fact that this is extremely afraid to do… well, anything apart from the basics. The result is something that looks good, sounds good, and feels good, but never really manages to be more than 'ok.' It's a well-crafted 'ok,' with nothing to show for that could separate it from the rest of its competitors, old or new.