In the end, if you enjoy quirky RPG’s, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey should definitely be on your radar. The story is funny, the battle system is fun and engaging and just every part of the game is solid. I’m thoroughly convinced that any RPG fan would enjoy Bowser’s Inside Story and this remake is the way to do it!

After the impressive Aria of Sorrow comes yet another hit sequel, with a deep character upgrade system, solid combat and slick presentation.

World to the West is presented in stylized and clearly-defined visuals which goes a long way in perceiving the environmental puzzles. The same simple approach extends to the gameplay. Everything is straightforward and easy to grasp. I liked the old-school vibes of World to the West, harking back all the way to the 80's. When I played these kind of games as a kid with home computers, they were called arcade adventures and presented usually in an isometric view. At the same time, elsewhere in the world kids had their Nintendo Entertainment Systems and were immersed with the likes of The Legend of the Zelda. In my eyes World to the West manages to blend the best of both the western and eastern schools of action-adventuring. The result is fun, challenging and rewarding experience which is easy to play but hard to put down.

Ori and the Blind Forest is an aesthetically breathtaking adventure. Immaculately detailed environments coupled with engaging gameplay, all driven home by an emotionally driven plot makes this journey one for the ages.

If you enjoy Cities: Skylines, you should definitely put aside some money for this expansion. Your first instincts will provide plenty of amusement, but when you go back to playing the game as usual, the true value of Natural Disasters becomes apparent. Far from being a tangential add-on, it adds more to the game than you would dare to assume. Though slightly marred by visual inconsistencies and conditional performance wobbles, Natural Disasters is a thoroughly essential addition to the Cities: Skylines experience.

The Nintendo 3DS has had a slow start, but I feel this marks one of the first important games to come out on this system. I can't say it's a must buy, but is really close for those who have already picked up a 3DS. The amount of content in this game along with the varying degree of gameplay makes this one of the best Mario games I've played in a while.

By publishing the game three days before the launch of the PS4 without any hoopla, Sony has all but guaranteed that sales of this game will be abysmal. It really is a shame, because it is a game worthy of the top billing that an excellent first party game should get.

The style is superb, and the gameplay flows right along with it to make Pure one of the few “must have” racing games in recent time.

After so many years since its debut, Hotline Miami is still a really tight and focused game. Wrong Number carries over much of its predecessor’s greatness, though I don’t like the larger levels that much only because it makes getting ganked by unseen enemies a little too easy. To hand-wave away these games because of their misanthropic tone and senseless violence is to ignore a product that’s addictive, well-designed, and even fun. As for their status as console ports, both titles are a great fit and have arrived on the Switch with nary a blemish. There is no better time to experience the acid trip that is Hotline Miami if you haven’t done so before. For everyone else, this is one double dip that won’t do you wrong.

Hero Academy on PC might not be totally necessary, but it remains a great bit of asynchronous warfare. What it boils down to is the best of strategy gaming- a title that's light and welcoming for players who want a quick tactical fix, and also an involved, sometimes hellishly meticulous war of wits and attrition.

Orcs Must Die! 2 perfectly combines the strategic thinking of tower defense games with the frenetic action of an old-school shooter, with plenty of laughs along the way.

Blitz is a game that gives as much as you put into it. Keep an extensive music library and group of leaderboard rivals and its longevity is potentially massive. The packaged 25 songs definitely won't be enough to sate your fill, and once you get the hang of its complex systems you'll be chasing down those high scores in a fervour that you haven't experienced since the rhythm game heyday.

Its varied just enough to make the entire experience quite refreshing. And really that’s what Watch Dogs 2 comes down to. It’s a refreshing and easy going world to be in. Even when the narrative tries to up the stakes you can go on hacking the world and making it do whatever it is you want to do. The game is opened up just enough to allow for the insane to happen and when it does Watch Dogs 2 really shines. It’s not a momentous step forward for the franchise but anyone sitting on the sideline worried that Ubisoft slept on the criticism of the first, fret not, Watch Dogs 2 is a better game in every way from its predecessor.

The Burnout franchise continues to impress, with this 4th installment featuring a deeper world tour mode, even snazzier visuals and online play.

There are dozens of "Souls-like" games but Nioh is by far the most ambitious, polished and successful because it has taken Dark Souls' digital DNA and genuinely evolved it into something both recognizable and different. Nioh owes much to the spirit and mechanics of From's games but there is a lot of Diablo and Ninja Gaiden in there as well. It doesn't matter whether Nioh is derivative or wholly original, it just matters that the game is incredibly well made, challenging, complex and fun.

In the end, Heavenly Sword is really the first major standout title for the PS3 since its console debut.

At times, these remakes are faithful to a fault, but the pure joy of finally nailing that combo you were going for, executing that trick you had failed five times in a row, completing that goal that you just couldn't manage, it’s all here and it holds up better than game design from two decades ago has any right to do. If you once loved this series, you owe it to yourself to experience these games again in all their remastered glory and if you're new to them, you'll find a game that is easy to pick up, hard to put down, and addicting in all the best ways.

Unlike many games that have big ambitions and big budgets, only to falter at the most fundamental level, Into the Breach under-promises and over-delivers. Its modest look and surface simplicity belie an addictive and really satisfying gameplay loop that is deep without being overly complicated and rewarding in perfect, bite size moments.

NBA Live 09 is the real deal when it comes to a great video game basketball experience. There isn’t a new mode that takes the game over the top, or a new feature that makes it best out there, but it is the combination of a vision and the hard work to get through some rough years to get to this game which is by far the best NBA Live game I have played in a long, long time.

There are really two categories of RPG's, the great ones, and the less than favorable ones. Jeanne d'Arc manages to get in the top category, which just shows that Sony really pushed this game to become great, and they succeed in doing that.

What makes this game even more impressive is the Xbox Live support, which is honestly the best online squad-based experience out there today.

With Nioh 2, Team Ninja has deepened an already engaging experience, porting the excellent systems and gameplay from the first game and introducing even more toys, stats, moves and systems to master. Incredibly difficult but equally rewarding, Nioh 2 has brought Souls-like combat to new levels of complexity and nuance and while the influence of FromSoftware’s genre-defining games is still apparent, Nioh 2 has an identity all its own.

I found this to be a very fun and unique take on the genre.

The game plays much better then last year's game, and overall ha[s] a great look and feel to it that most people are just going to love.

With its endless charm, solid gameplay, and beautiful display, Songs for a Hero is a fun platformer throwback that I couldn’t put down, falling into that familiar time sink state that is so often heralded by the phrase, “Just one more level.”

A Pixel Story is a game that grows progressively harder as it teaches you to be faster, more accurate, and more accepting of the inevitable.

In bringing the series back from the dead to today’s competitive scene, Samurai Shodown not only chooses to honor the series legacy but dares to be old-school. Instead of flashing extra frosting to attract attention, the game trusts that its basic gameplay is enough to keep the players coming back to it. There’s no trendy character customization and all the collectibles are just gallery items, such as sounds, artwork and movies, you unlock by playing, not paying. Samurai Shodown is like a Chinese checkers to more showy and easygoing fighting games out there but not any less engaging. It’s not how fast you can hit but when you hit that matters. Uncompromised and dignified, Samurai Shodown might be a niche title in its genre but it does its own thing and succeeds in it.

The content addition felt solid, although I would have appreciated either of the two challenge paths to have been made a bit longer, since they are basically two rooms full of enemies leading into a boss, unless you decide to explore to pick up a few non-essential items; they didn’t feel as rewarding as the main path in my opinion.