It comes as no-surprise that eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 fits into the category of an exceptional football simulator. Superb graphical realism, and tantalising gameplay, create an experience that fans of the beautiful game should absolutely play. Konami really needs to find a way to license the Premier League and La Liga to start tempting those away from FIFA, especially those who are really bothered about licenced content.

NBA 2K20 keeps things fresh with some welcome tweaks to gameplay, refining a product that was already well-oiled and well-drilled. This year's MyCareer mode is an enjoyable enough experience but it, like most of the other modes, is spoiled by microtransactions. Year on year, Visual Concepts continues to push the bar on providing an excellent basketball sim. It would be nice if 2K could finally start providing fan service to match.

Is Final Fantasy VIII Remastered the best way to play it? It really depends on a few things. Being able to bypass most of its questionable design choices certainly makes it more enjoyable than it was, then again that only highlights just how flawed it was in the first place. So, why bother at all? You may as well play it as it was intended, warts and all. This also applies to the revamped visuals; obviously improved in some areas, but the updated HD character models don't go well with the low-res pre-rendered backgrounds.

The Surge 2 rises above both its technical limitations and its predecessor to set itself apart in the action RPG genre. It could even be debated that it makes a case for being lumped in with its genre cohorts - a case that is strong indeed thanks to its innovation and willingness to change and improve upon the foundations set in the first game. While it flits in and out of being a smooth-sailing and sleekly presented package, it nevertheless provides a walloping good time and can't be faulted for its enjoyable combat and exploration, navigation issues aside.

Gearbox long ago managed to make pure concentrated gaming compulsion and they've perfected it here. Insane amounts of fun, blasting across multiple worlds with some of the craziest guns ever imagined, and even more fun with friends… when the frame-rate keeps up, something hopefully the developer will address. The humour may not be to everyone's tastes, and while some elements are obnoxious - again, Claptrap needs to stay dead - and there are just too many jokes, there are plenty that work, and work well. The Borderlands formula works, and has inspired countless other pretenders. Borderlands 3 shows that the original is still the best.

While it is clear that The Council is designed for multiple playthroughs to select different choices to influence different endings, the challenges thrown into Checkmate do make it a grind to have to replay, and to be honest, none of the good endings are even worth pursuing to that extent. The Council tells an intriguing and ambitious story, and Big Bad Wolf have shown the potential of what they can achieve for their next endeavour.

Dragon Quest XI on Switch is a masterpiece of the genre that is only held back by unfortunate occasional crashes during extended play sessions, which we can only hope will be annihilated entirely shortly after release, and a 2D mode that doesn't feel perfectly integrated into the Switch experience. It is therefore not perfect... but came darn close!

AI: The Somnium Files is a masterfully crafted narrative that makes the most out of the adventure genre. Choices that matter, and result in shocking outcomes, and the unpredictable story has a fleshed-out cast of characters. While the Switch version does have some technical short comings that can be overlooked, anyone looking for a genre-bending mystery will be sucked in to Kotaro Uchikoshi's latest and greatest opus.

The original Hotline Miami was that watershed indie game that changed things and influenced others, beginning the trend of '80s nostalgia that has become so popular lately. It is hard not to see why because, this makes the '80s seem so cool, and reminds everyone of simpler age when it was possible to be cool and corny at the same time. Wrong Number has its issues, and most people in the future might even forget it ever existed, but anyone with the guts to make it all the way to the end will never forget it.

Disappointing is the best word to describe GreedFall. The 17th-century-esque fantasy tale of imperialism-versus-nature told here is ripe with potential, but the world/character-building, and story-telling soon runs out of "fuel;" the role-playing element starts great, giving you the chance to choose amongst many a path, only to become way too simplistic and limiting; the combat is fun, but it gets monotonous before hitting the 10-hour mark; and, finally, doing quests quickly gets rid of its "do it your way" mind-set, for an endless marathon that has the player running back and forth between quest markers. Disappointing…

Considering the dearth of Mech games, Daemon X Machina is bound to get anyone's attention. Rather than allow itself to serve as mere niche fulfilment, this rises above through a solid balance between accessibility and depth. With just a little effort, you can make the battlefield your own, cutting through countless enemies like… *sigh* a hot knife through butter. The variety of armaments, armours, and skillsets allow veterans to create a thoroughly customized experience. Of course, they'll have to deal with a rough frame-rate, as well as a dreadful last boss. In the long run, those are small fees to pay.

If My Heart Had Wings is an entertaining, slice-of-life, light romance/comedy tale, which, strangely enough, also delves with the creation and flying of a glider plane, and even succeeds in making that part entertaining. That being said, this will probably only appeal to fans of the genre and no one else, as it's a somewhat generic choice for a visual novel. Even fans, however, should expect something that takes a bit too long for anything to get going. Prepare yourself for lots and lots of reading, which can eventually put you to sleep.

The developer has done an admirable job of maintaining the core of Epic Games' legacy, yet they have been unable to truly improve upon it. It is still the same cover-shooting action it has always been. Still satisfying and very crunchy.

For the new generation who never even held a Game Boy (or picked it up in Virtual Console), this is a chance to experience this gaming masterpiece in its best form to date.

Jet Kave Adventure is a noble effort from 7Levels and mechanically it does show some promise, but it also becomes repetitive quite fast as it fails to nail the smart level design and addictive platforming action of its contemporaries. The level art is gorgeous and does a great job to enliven the sci-fi-imbued prehistoric world that the developer has created, but the platforming itself is far too uniform and simplistic to retain the player's interest. As such, it's best suited to short play sessions but even here, the experience shows too many frustrating cracks to be memorable.

Epitasis is not an adventure game, but a collection of painfully similar puzzles that require minimum effort to solve. On the bright side, the main goal of Lucas Govatos' creation was to provide some simple, casual, relaxing fun, and it achieves that, looking pretty good while at it. Just make sure to grab it when it gets a lot cheaper.

The Sinking City succeeds at its main areas of focus which are exploration, investigation, atmosphere and storytelling. All of those likeable elements are kept intact on Switch and while visual impact is overall expectedly lower than on other platforms, the promise of a preserved artistic direction is kept for the most part by Frogwares. It is still perfectible however in its implementation of combat and overall controls, which still do feel rather janky at times. At time of writing, this feel of roughness coating what is otherwise a good experience at core, holding it back on Switch as much as on the other platforms, even if some extra work went into the audio department to make things feel more authentic.

Star Wars Pinball is packed full with content, and offered at a more than reasonable price given all the goodness found therein, even for owners of the same game on 3DS and Wii U which both only received a fraction of what is on offer here. Moreover, this one brings the same level of graphical fidelity found on the base versions of competitors' consoles, with HD rumble, TATE mode, and portability added on top for good measure. This is a serious contender for best pinball game of all time right here, especially for fans of the Star Wars universe.

There's nothing new to say about Guerrilla that hasn't been said before - its gameplay is solid and enjoyable enough to hold up its shortcomings in the story and graphics departments. They just don't make games like this anymore, and perhaps with good reason. Nevertheless, this is a robust cult classic that houses some thrills up its sleeve. It's intriguing that Red Faction has even made a reappearance… Is THQ Nordic gauging interest for a sequel, perhaps?

For an action-adventure title, inaccurate hit-boxes and level-design that's even slightly off can be a deal-breaker. Rather than get dragged down by its deficiencies, Blasphemous rises above to create a uniquely engaging experience. Exploring the dire realm of Cvstodia is a treat in itself. The lore is intriguing, and the few characters you meet weave compelling narratives. Still, there remains an unshakeable thought that this game is a beautiful painting, but with an askew frame. Then again, maybe it's because of the imperfections that players start to question everything around them. Whatever the case, you'll definitely want to give this a look.

Gamers may not remember Turrican. Thankfully, Gunlord X is here to fill that gap inside everyone's soul, which only fast-paced 2D action can fill. Not since Sonic Mania has a throw-back retro style game been pulled off with this much panache and style. While it may not be lengthy, it is hard to let go of the controller because playing as Gunlord just feels so good and the wake of destruction he can leave feels so satisfying.

A brilliant remaster that has wiped the dust off the original Spyro trilogy and given it a lease of new life in the hope of introducing Spyro to a new generation of gamers. The Nintendo Switch feels like the most suitable home for a family friendly mascot platformer where so many primary colours are at full bloom, so it is a shame that it has taken such a long time for a port. The low level difficulty will be quite off-putting to seasoned gamers, but charming characters, varied worlds and a number of items to collect will keep younger players entertained for quite some time.

Home to an incredibly immersive world and the best combat on the Nintendo Switch, Astral Chain is a must-play not only for fans of the genre, but the medium as a whole. It is a title that understands the importance of balancing gameplay, story, and style without ever sacrificing substance for anything else. It's more accessible than most PlatinumGames titles without ever having to compromise its core mechanics. The slower start may alienate potential fans but sticking with Astral Chain leads to a surprisingly thematic script, incredibly deep combat, and what might be Platinum's best game to date.

Children of Morta is an exceptionally well made ARPG, where the same amount of attention has been given to all its aspects, from the way it plays, to the way it's story is told, to the way it looks. Those in search for something with hundreds of hours of additional content should better look elsewhere, but the pleasure of combat (solo or co-op), and the addictive nature of rogue-likes, combined with the strong narrative, and the fantastic ultra-detailed pixel art style, gives a pretty good reason to put this on your wishlist - NOW!

Catherine: Full Body's narrative contributions may ultimately serve to hinder what was an otherwise thoughtfully written story about self-discovery, but the overall improvement when it comes to gameplay is almost staggering. With hundreds of brand-new stages to play through - both in the main game and in Super Rapunzel - along with deep online multiplayer, this is a remake that offers so much high quality content that it's difficult not to see the whole package as a complete upgrade. In fact, with so much content to play through, it's almost easy to forget just how poorly paced the new scenes are at times. When it comes down to it, Rin isn't nearly as interesting an addition as the new items and blocks are. If nothing else, Catherine: Full Body is far and away the definitive way to play the game… Just not the best way to experience the story.

Altogether, Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is an exemplary update to the 1994 original. Both the new and returning characters have impressive move-sets. Discovering how to implement these techniques is very rewarding. The eight stages aren't especially creative, but they all have strong fundamentals. If players want a spot on the online leaderboards, then they have to take as little damage as possible, and accurately gauge threats. While it is fun to mash on hapless grunts, targeting elites is the only way to survive. This is one beat em' up gem that you don't want to miss.

While just a 10 to 15-hour adventure, more crazy things happen in Anodyne 2: Return to Dust than in any other 100-hour RPG. What starts as a simple 3D explorer/platformer and Zelda-esque dungeon crawler, soon turns into a journey through a realm that is otherworldly beyond any doubt, and yet manages to feel so familiar... like a faint memory, or a place you paid a visit in your sleep. It's not a game that was designed to be experienced by everyone, yet everyone is advised to experience it, if only for its beautiful, vintage PS1 visuals.

This is, for the most part, a disappointment. By no means a terrible game, Vambrace: Cold Soul plays it a bit too safe with its concepts, as most of them are straight up copied from better tactical rogue-likes and RPGs, and especially Darkest Dungeon. Gorgeous character design can only get you so far...