The genuinely thought-provoking Ring Battle system, engaging puzzle design, and care given to Olivia's characterisation all make The Origami King the best Paper Mario since the series' Wii outing, but that wasn't a high bar to begin with and the series is still struggling to come up with an engaging gameplay loop in light of the lessened RPG elements. Without experience or levelling, random battles lose their lustre fast.

Episode 3 Lair of the Leviathan is every bit as good as the last two entries, if not better thanks to some much-welcomed tweaks.

The Wizards is generally a good VR action-adventure title. Using some imaginative and intuitive controls to cast spells, it does an excellent job of making the player feel like they are indeed controlling a powerful wizard. The narrator is brilliant, and there are some really special effects and sights to see. However, things are let down slightly by the overall length of the game, which can be polished off in just a few hours. Additionally, many of the landscapes and levels have the habit of merging together due to how similar in style they look to one another, with only small bits of variety. It isn't the cheapest adventure on the market, but certainly one to pick up if a fan of this genre.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar on Nintendo Switch is a highly engrossing experience, which JRPG fans, raised on the likes of Final Fantasy and Suikoden, will savour every minute of. In interactive form, Joe Madureria's universe has been brought to life in a whole new way. Strengthening and upgrading its endearing characters is a very enjoyable process. The world is atmospherically rich and aesthetically gorgeous, and is supported by a great soundtrack and voice acting.

While its story rings a bit hollow, the extravagant imagery and art direction carries the emotional investment. The mouse-style controls are a fun and new way to play this underappreciated and novel title and improve the experience, though it does come at the cost of a spotty frame rate. It's disappointing that it couldn't have been locked down, especially in such a unique game that features a ton of action and quick thinking.

Unlike the recently released PlayStation Classic, SEGA Mega Drive Classics has had the effort put in to ensure that there is enough depth and optimisation to keep all players happy.

For the price-point of this DLC, it is hard to fault the amount of content offered up. This is most definitely the template for The Creative Assembly to continue forward with when it comes to future DLC for Total War: Three Kingdoms. The overarching conflict is an intriguing one, and the presence of the mysterious Yellow Turban faction really freshen things up in the campaign side. On top of the six new factions, the DLC also renews the interest in some of the existing warlords, with the ability to experience them under completely different circumstances than previously. This isn't a DLC for gameplay additions, but the play style adjustments in the campaign to the core gameplay loop do enough to keep things interesting.

Lost Judgment is a bittersweet event. The story aims for a mature tone but is too often a macabre, morbid misfire that strays too far from the balance between silly and serious that the series is famed for. It's not a poorly developed title, though; the outrageously brilliant combat and sandbox distractions are clear evidence of that. It just struggles to tell the sort of meaningful, believable and sensitively weighted story that players have come to expect from this talented team.

Nicalis brings one of the toughest and addictive gaming experiences from almost every other format to Nintendo Switch, and the transition is seamless. With dastardly levels of difficulty, a quirky aesthetic, and an absolutely sublime soundtrack that has definitely stood the test of time, the major drawback comes from how short the experience is. Once accustomed to overcoming the challenges faced, there is not much left to do after rescuing everyone. Hopefully, an expanded successor is on the way.

For those that already own this game on the 3DS, it's pretty tough whether or not to recommend the game to them. If they do want to play through a new challenge though, the Infernal difficulty offers a true hardcore experience. However, to those who don't own a 3DS, this is their chance to pick up the definitive version of the game.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered isn’t a reinvention. It’s just a time capsule with a fresh coat of vibrant high-quality paint. Under the hood? It is pretty much the same beloved sandbox RPG of the early 2000s, with few of its issues fixed for this new update. Fans are advised to go straight for the purchase as long as they have a capable system. The rest are advised to wait for a price drop, some bug fixes, or preferably both.

For long-time fans of the franchise, this is an easy recommendation. For newcomers, it’s perhaps best approached with measured expectations and a bit of patience. Either way, Mega Man Star Force: Legacy Collection stands as a worthwhile addition to the Nintendo Switch library and a fitting second life for a trilogy that never got the attention it deserved.

A handful of issues, some much more annoying than others, do not negate how solid of an action RPG Middle-earth: Shadow of War is. A tremendous achievement for the team at Monolith Productions, this is an exciting, if not sometimes slow, and too often unfair, title that manages to be as impressively fun as it is big.

Despite some technical issues, Layers of Fear: Legacy manages to weave together an incredibly intimate, and tense, family drama that can scare just as effortlessly it can intrigue. Each new setting and puzzle reveals a piece of the overarching narrative through an eerie atmosphere that blends perfectly with the haunting score. There's never a dull moment as each chapter has its own defined feel to distinguish it from the rest of the game. Scares come fast, but almost always psychologically, slowly raising the tension as the story comes to a close. Layers of Fear: Legacy may stutter at times, but it's easily one of the best horror titles on the market.

JYDGE is an interesting title that keeps things simple. Many elements that might be expected of shooters nowadays (large maps, amazing graphics, gun and character selection options) are missing, but it's much preferred to them being bolted on needlessly. It requires the thought process of figuring the perfect strategy, whilst simultaneously allowing players to run and shoot at anything that moves. Death is also common, but is that really such a bad thing? JYDGE knows what it wants to be, and it delivers it well.

Slime-san is a blast through and through. From its normally tight and fun controls, the fantastic atmosphere built by its unique visuals and fun music, there is very little it does wrong - some of those things could be put down to player error. The bite-sized levels and variety of modes, power-ups, plus the amount of content, means that not only is this perfect for those wanting quick retry-based, semi-rogue-like levels, but also those who want a host of varied and interesting content - it really offers bang for your buck, so its thoroughly recommendable to those who enjoy the genre.

Easily on par with its predecessors in the main Yakuza franchise, but (and this will be hard to believe) in many ways this actually stands above them. In particular, Judgment contains the best story in the franchise to date. Yagami's tale is a captivating one, filled with imaginative twists and utterly surprising moments, told with the signature Yakuza style, flawlessly juggling comedy with drama, containing many three-dimensional characters that are easy to connect to. Best of all, there's more to this than just the story. The gameplay is massively fun, and there is a positively absurd amount of things to do. For Yakuza fans this is a must buy. For those new to the franchise, this is the perfect opportunity to jump in.

Despite its cartoony graphics, this game is a surprisingly solid city builder. There is enough here that fans of the various genres this takes from will find it enjoyable as they craft their ever-growing city and automation empire. Programming the robots is oddly satisfying as is watching them roll around and taking care of the smaller tasks. A couple of small bugs and some pacing issues prevent it from being truly great, but those remotely interested in the genre will definitely have a lot of fun with this one.

Total War: Three Kingdoms - A World Betrayed is another fascinating addition to the main campaign for those who are still obsessed with this wonderful strategy title. Adding an important part of the story, and introducing some fan-favourite characters and scenarios, The Creative Assembly has once again vindicated this DLC approach. The new faction mechanics for Lu Bu and Sun Ce give an additional strategic dimension, and as with the previous DLC, the existing characters have new situations in this warring China, meaning there is an added incentive to replay the campaign with them numerous times over. This is a no brainer for owners of the game to buy this addition.

Children of Morta is a wonderful rogue-like ARPG, with a lot of deep layers in terms of gameplay mechanics, that does a terrific job of acting as an underlay to the simple, but dark, atmospheric story. Everything intertwines together splendidly, and seeing how each character can help to buff up their family members via their shared abilities, both in each characters unique skill trees, or the household's base stat upgrades, there are plenty of moving pieces here that all contribute towards the family's mission to end the Corruption. No run is ever wasted, with each failed attempt still rewarding the family with some positive enhancements for the next run, until that eventual stage boss is defeated. For those who are looking for a new rogue-like to jump into, this should definitely not be missed.

Fight' N Rage has really done its research in ensuring it presents itself as a warm love letter to an adored genre. It also takes the time to give gameplay and combat mechanics real depth. Add to this multiple gameplay modes and a wealth of unlocks and found here is a title standing on the shoulders of giants to make a case for plenty more new additions to the genre. Mutant Mayhem indeed.

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II is even less of a visual novel than its predecessors and leans in more heavily with the adventure game mechanics like inventory and key item collecting. It is also more streamlined than before and the story is not as compelling as it was the first time. The lack of urgency diminishes the stakes and the puzzles are far too easy to feel any sense of dread or mystery. At worst, Death Mark II can feel boring. Its best aspects lie in its audio and visual departments, whereas the story and gameplay are merely serviceable.

From a gameplay standpoint, Wide Ocean Big Jacket is an extremely simple game - with 'game' put between the biggest quote marks imaginable. As an experience, though, this is something else entirely. Turnfollow's tiny adventure is basically a funny, and occasionally very sweet, slice-of-life tale of four people enjoying themselves in the woods, while also dealing with some serious matters, but not in a very serious way. It's not a narrative-driven game. It is vacation in video game form - and only the good parts are included.

The series on the whole is a great throwback to the older Mana Khemia series. Ayesha is the weakest entry, graphically, story and gameplay wise, but things improve drastically with Escha and Logy, with a serious, "cool" factor to Logy, with the series coming to a very refined closure with Shallie. For JRPG fans that have any interest in those, they are a great pickup together. While not quite "traditional" RPG quests, they are very similar to the JRPGs that really first started getting popular in the West many years ago.

The Pikmin series is top notch and these HD ports are a great reminder of that for anyone who has played them before, and a wonderful primer to the series for anyone that hasn't. It's startling how well a lot of the artistic decisions that were made in the GameCube era still translate to now, like a soundtrack that is absolutely bang on, and character designs and animations that are infinitely charming. Whether or not the time limit in Pikmin or, conversely, the unlimited time, gauntlet-like puzzle caves and score chasing from Pikmin 2 is the preferred way to go, they're both excellent titles that play just as well now as they ever did. Plus Nintendo has included the New Play Control options for both titles, which updated them with pointer control on the Wii, as an added bonus.

Spewing larger-than-life encounter after larger-than-life encounter The Ancient Gods - Part One can get a bit on the repetitive side, but it's easy to forgive it for this minor misstep, since more DOOM Eternal is never a bad thing. Don't let the low level count fool you. The three available maps are fairly large, and the high challenge will manage to keep you on your toes, especially due to how some new demons affect the battlefield. As a whole, and while a bit more variety would be more than welcome, the first DLC is very enjoyable, looks great, carries some new, and pretty neat tunes, and finally leads the narrative down a pretty intriguing path. Can't wait for Part Two!

A new hope is here, as Star Wars video games finally get the long-awaited return to form they deserve. The creators clearly care about the source material, and have produced a story and a setting that will hopefully continue being explored. There are some teething issues here, but there is much more promise. Respawn has created the first step on what could be a very bright future.

The Lara Croft Collection is not to be overlooked. This bundle encompasses one great and one decent arcade action adventure, of which twin-stick shooter and score attack fans will find plenty of enjoyment. Although both games are worth experiencing in multiplayer if possible, Guardian of Light, at the very least, deserves playing even solo, and is a reminder of what Tomb Raider is all about, captured expertly in a style that is positively different, yet respectfully reminiscent of the classic series. Technical issues remain, but it's just a joy to have these ported to a modern platform. Now, with things quiet on the Lara Croft front, surely, it's time for that long overdue third game in this mini-series.