Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX is a game that holds bundles of musical delight.

Be it a trip down memory lane or your introduction to the 8-bit era the Mega Man Legacy Collection gives you all you’d expect and more.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the best playing entry in the series, and while it’s not going to wrap up the entire story in a neat little bow, it’s a technical marvel that works beautifully as a playground for espionage.

However, what it does bring is the best representation of One Piece to a video game, while giving fans the chance to get caught in all of Luffy’s mad adventures in a fun and solid, if uninspiring, Warriors game aimed to depict the madness that comes with taking down hundreds of enemies with unique characters.

Had Lost Dimension worked harder in building a cast of likeable characters, its Wild West premise of losing any party member for good would have been more impactful. That aside, the combat is fun despite its small frustrations, and the usual array of customizable skills and plentiful missions should prove to be another satisfying budget RPG experience, though with so many of those pouring in by the month, this game does run the risk of being buried underneath the rubble.

Until Dawn is a fantastic blood scrawled love letter to all things horror – the slasher genre in particular. Even though all its ideas come from decades worth of scary movies, seeing these elements uniquely worked into a game is highly effective.

The game will please fans of the genre who have been waiting for a game like this to come to PS4, but I honestly can’t see it winning over many new fans to the genre due to how overwhelming its initial few hours can be.

Card Hunter not only prides itself in capturing the spirit of tabletop gaming, but has also built a refreshing game on top of CCG concepts to bring tactical depth under its charming visuals, and best of all, it won’t cost you a penny to experience its joy.

Look past its unpolished visuals and confusing story, however, and you may yet discover (or rediscover) a unique experience that rekindles an old flame with the long-cherished franchise.

It’s challenging, interesting, funny and most importantly true to the brand.

I can clearly say I had fun with Onechanbara Z2: Chaos, because in the end, it just manages to bring shameless adult fun with a slap of fan service, but even though I liked my short time with the game, it clearly needs work on its issues to bring a Onechanbara game that is more than just a mediocre game with deep, stylish combat to butter up the overall package.

In short words, if you like indie games and the puzzle genre, Q.U.B.E. is something that you should get, especially if you liked Portal.

While the main story missions are a little easy, it still is really fun to play with, and there are already plenty of user-generated missions to play with. Volume’s purity of focus in creating simple stealth works well for the most part.

It might have a rather generic name for a video game title and a mediocre story, but Victor Vran makes for a solid option from other action RPGs to blast on for a few afternoons with friends, thanks to its focus on fast paced, fun action and neat ideas with the destiny cards to add a distinct flavour on top of the otherwise well-known formula of isometric action role-playing games.

If anyone was ever curious to try one of the growing number of Western releases from Compile Heart, this would definitely be the game to try, especially now that it runs smoothly and carries a budgeted price.

Even after ageing a good five years, God of War III still remains a fabulous action game jammed with memorable set pieces and locations.

I enjoyed my time with Cradle, but I dare say many will not. Its detailed, although imprecise storytelling gives many of its suitors reasons to dislike it, to not understand it, and at worst give up on it. Regardless, I believe there is something quite special at work here.

If you just want to speed around tracks for a season, then fans will find entertainment here, but really, when it comes down to it, it’s probably best to wait for next year’s release where, hopefully, missing content is back to bring this great racing engine up to par with the quality of game modes that were once a feature of this franchise.

Overall, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge is a nice throwback, even if it’s not really that old, with a single glaring problem – being ‘Metroidvania’ style comes with some responsibilities that this title just couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain for.

Angry Birds is no longer the ultimate time waster, it now feels like a soulless service built solely to harvest money, and is happy to screw its players in as many ways possible to get it.

It is a charming stylish endeavor that mixes the joys of experimentation, with the satisfaction of solving puzzles, whilst not forgetting to remain fun in the process. You cannot ask for much more than that.

Anyone able to overlook the mundane presentation will find an intriguing title that will take time to master its mechanics, and is worth checking out for people who have had their fill of Space Hulk or are after the next digital adaptation of a challenging 90s board game.

In the end, Deception IV has a few kinks in its mechanics, but not enough to explode in your face.

While this isn’t a classic like Donkey Kong Country Returns or Rayman Legends, there is a lot to like with your short time with Tembo The Badass Elephant, and it goes to show that Game Freak are more than just “that Pokémon company.”

Woolly World is still a great game that is happy to welcome gamers of all skill levels into its cushy embrace. It is one of a few select titles that is easy to get lost in, and is good for what ails you if you’ve had a troubling day.

By the end of Episode 5, the single most impactful decision reveals itself, leading to all sorts of speculation on how the final episode will play out. It’s just too bad that with that anticipation comes dread, as Game of Thrones now runs the biggest risk of showing just how meaningless the players’ choices will matter, depending on how they handle the key decision made by the end of this episode.

As the episode came to a close, I felt I had taken part in a more surreal adventure than what came before. Where as others episodes tried to ground characters in a well realised world, Episode Four shifts to deal with issues very much outside everyone’s comfort zone.

At its core Rocket League is gameplay perfected and with a suite of multiplayer options, the game will see life for many months to come.

Regardless of the downsides, and even though the game can be very grindy, I am finding myself liking it, and I’m willing to invest time into it daily. Whilst it is no where near the same level of quality of something like the aforementioned Diablo, the game offers the same sort of mindless thrills I’ve grown to love about Blizzard’s genre-topping effort.

Simply put, Kholat fails to properly balance its moody aesthetics while keeping the player actively invested. It is yet another case of an experience that is beautiful to witness, but boring to actually engage in.

It is a unique mismatch of ideas, and that is what makes it so uniquely appealing, and very much worth giving a go.

If you are looking for an exclusive Warriors game on the go, then Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 is just about fine to fill the void, but in the back of your mind, you will be thinking that this is second fiddle to the great game on home consoles.

Overall, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3 V Century is yet another Neptunia game, no more and no less.

It’s not like Steam is starved for the genre, so this game is not worth picking up.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is more than just an incredible game that successfully brings lush visuals, tactical combat and a captivating world untainted with the issues that games of similar nature have when building such huge open spaces. It is also a respectful closure for Geralt, the series and its fans.

Ultimately, above all else, the game comes across as feeling wholly authentic – and that is a word you can attribute to only a small handful of games released in this day and age.

Though not as expansive enough to call it a true special edition, Devil May Cry 4 features a lot of fan-favorite additions and an attractive price that makes it well worth double-dipping (or triple-dipping if you originally started on console and moved to PC).

Ultimately, I believe that the Hatred team simply tried to make something controversial in the hopes that nobody would notice how forgettable their title is. Even calling itself ‘ultra-violent’ is a stretch.

It arrived more stable, looks better, still contains the amusing humour and bundles of references, and its spell system remains hectic and unique, but slight changes in the game design mean that it feels less exciting and safe than the fresh-faced original, and that’s a little disappointing when so much could have been done to take it forward.

For the pen-and-paper RPG enthusiast who likes to create their own characters down to the smallest detail (from party role to personality trait) as well as discover every nook and cranny in a gigantic dungeon, Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy offers a lengthy and solid experience. For those who may find the game too daunting, try to stick with it after a few hours in the hopes that its numerous mechanics and micromanagement requirements end up clicking.

If you really like puzzles and parkour mechanics, check this one out, otherwise you might not find what you’re looking for.

If you can stomach the pandering story situations Neptunia throws at you, or if you happen to actually enjoy it (once again, no judging here), the simplistic-yet-satisfactory RPG mechanics and large amount of content (including quests, optional bosses, unlockable outfits and more) results in a decent RPG experience that’s light in commitment, if high in moe calories.

D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die should do well though, because even though there isn’t much game to it, the popularity of these cinematic adventure titles do good when the price is right on Steam, and coming out with 10% discounted at £9.89 means it doesn’t hurt the wallet to to experience four hours of what I believe will be the most entertaining and off-the-wall story to grace 2015.

It may be a fixed narrative with little alterations, but it’s still an interesting narrative, but should that fail at any point than this entire castle built by Telltale may collapse.

Splatoon isn’t perfect, but despite the faults it’s a wonderful game, both online and offline.

In the end, Uncanny Valley brings an interesting premise and gameplay features that are plagued by arbitrary mechanics and technical limitations. With a bit more polish, Cowardly Creations’ next game may be the one to put the Indie studio on the map.

In the end, Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed is a decent button-masher built around the polarizing Neptunia brand, with an overabundance of pointless banter that even the most hardcore fans may grow weary of.

Taken as a singular entity, Chaos Theory is not Dontnod’s best work, but there are still some interesting moments to be had should you choose to play.

Shooting Nazis until they explode is a fun diversion, but there’s a better game that does that, and it’s called Wolfenstein: The New Order.

In the end, Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains is precisely the kind of Anime game that many expected it to be: a quick and uninspired cash-in that tries to utilize its source material to hide the boring and sparse gameplay within.

Despite being impressed by its visuals and attention to detail, I hadn’t first realized how short and lacking in substance it was, and I always begrudge video games like that being released in the first place.

At the end of the day, this is still Grand Theft Auto V, an entry that I find is the best in the series, and a game that has been made that little bit better with the performance boost and graphical enhancements.

Minor gripes aside, Sayonara Umihara Kawase + is a refreshingly retro platformer at a budget price that even includes the SNES original as a bonus, no doubt further acknowledging the newfound recognition for the series from its Game Center CX appearance.

Affordable Space Adventures is a unique experience that you can only find on the Wii U, and it utilizes the system in a thoughtful and creative way. It’s great to see what small developers are doing with the system, and I hope that more games like this come out in the future.

I’m afraid that whilst The Deer God was boasted as “a breathtaking 3d pixel art game that will challenge your religion and your platforming skills”, the only thing that it really challenged was my patience. It did look pretty nice though.

With the rate in which this company pumps out titles, fans of Moe and/or RPGs might be better off waiting for the next Hyperdimension Neptunia, which is also hitting the PS4 this year.

Mortal Kombat arrives on current generation, bringing a refined and gory battle system with additional depth with the implementation of character variations, refreshing and cool new characters, another solid story and plenty of content, but the best improvement is the smoother fighting engine with better animations that no longer look awkwardly wooden.

No matter if you want to play by yourself or with a friend, there is a lot to like with PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate’s smartly designed environment puzzles and infusion of dynamic fluids that offer a refreshing experience on this take of a shooter meets puzzler.

Ultimately, Slender: The Arrival retains the same experience as the previous versions, though it lacks the visual polish of the PC original.

Hardline both succeeds with flying colors, and fails miserably in various aspects of its game design but the good outweighs the bad with its sandbox style mission design, handful of addicting multiplayer modes, and rock solid Battlefield gunplay players know and love.

Despite this game more than likely being in a niche category to most people, it ends up being one of the best selections on the 3DS, and with all the great stuff you can do in it, it deserves all its praise.

If more time was spent to slowly explain its gameplay, or better yet simplify it so that it doesn’t conflict with players who want to experience the story, it would have proved a much stronger recommendation.

If you are looking to invest in a current generation hunting game that offers fast, fluid combat and amazing monster designs, then Toukiden: Kiwami is a great recommendation for existing fans or newcomers to the genre.

I would go so far as to say that Rogue Legacy is the greatest Metroidvania game I have ever played. It may sound like an extremely controversial opinion, but as it stands, this definitely tops the list as far as I’m concerned.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a game so savage that it can be unpalatable to certain players. But for those who enjoy the thrill of overcoming difficult combat where a single mistake can be your undoing, I can’t think of a lot out there that’s better.

Bladestorm: Nightmare at its core is the same game that came out in 2007 with some slight alterations to the mechanics that bring in a little fun, but at the same time kill off the strategy that this game was going for.

This game may lean far more heavily on the Metroid homage than most, but it still manages to perfectly capture the tried-and-true gameplay elements of Nintendo’s classic while also incorporating several new ideas to let it stand out on its own, turning an homage to a retro classic into a modern classic that future titles will want to follow.

The final hour of episode 3 is its strongest, where the players are able to shape the character development in some really interesting ways that lead to either a satisfying catharsis or heartbreaking submission.

If Lego Dimensions is a real thing, and we’ve no 100% confirmation it is, then the house of Brick better get on with it otherwise Sick Bricks will have established itself as the go to brick based toys to life experience.

There is a lot to love about Cities: Skylines and it gets a lot right for fans of the genre who felt crushed by SimCity’s disappointing release.

Whilst Dontnod refuse to directly answer a bunch of the questions posed in the first episode, Episode Two succeeds at adding yet more wrinkles to what is quickly becoming a compelling story arc that will likely span all five episodes before delivering its answers.

The shorter length and arbitrary conditions of the final episode may not be as well thought-out as previous episodes, but as a combined whole it is a solid finish to a spin-off that successfully restored a lot of lost faith with the Resident Evil brand.

To summarize, Apotheon is a fairly good game, but I feel more could have been added, and certain aspects certainly could have been handled better than they were upon the game’s port to a console.

Its potential is crushed by the frustrating match ups with ghost AI and it’s back track laden puzzles through a roughly 5 hour long campaign consisting of only a handful of environments that, through the fault of only it’s spectacular art style, all look identical.

In the end, Assassin’s Creed Rogue feels like a multi-colored blanket stitched together by years of older materials.

Design choices made by the limited hardware this title originates from hinder the overall game, stopping it short of greatness, but this is still one Final Fantasy that RPG fans should find time for, as joining in education with Class Zero is a jolly experience.

Dante’s remastering demonstrates that no matter what colour your hair is, a great game remains a great game made better by the frame rate increase and all the extras that come included in the package.

Revelations 2 continues to steadily climb upwards in both quality and content, with episode 3 possibly being the longest experience yet. The decision to distribute the episodes weekly also prove that the Resident Evil series makes for a surprisingly good episodic series.

In the end, htoL#NiQ is a beautiful and encouraged experiment marred by a frustrating difficulty and clunky controls (even if intentionally clunky). It will require a bit of patience and several hundred deaths, but those willing to commit themselves will appreciate the game’s haunting beauty the most.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires feels eerily similar to Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires with all the characters from Dynasty Warriors 8, so if you played that game, then you can probably skip this unimaginative release.

In the end, Hyperdevotion Noire is a spinoff that breaks from the gameplay norms of its predecessors, but not its overall sentiment: if you can stomach (or even embrace) the pandering amounts of moe and shower scenes, you will be treated to a fun and addicting RPG that does service to several tried-and-true gameplay mechanics while poking fun at several well-known franchises.

A few technical issues still remain, such as the unreliable stealth mechanic where enemies will arbitrarily sense a player’s presence even if they are properly concealed, and the AI-controlled character still has a habit of staying behind and/or failing to pull their weight during more heated skirmishes. Nevertheless, this latest episode has gone a long way to raise optimism over Capcom’s latest RE experiment.

Deathtrap is a game that, although it may sound cliche, is easy to pickup but very difficult to master.

It’s cute, charming, and lots of fun, with enough challenge to stand up on its own right among other platformers.

The gameplay is functional, carrying over much of the mechanics introduced in RE4 while adding enough restrictions that players don’t feel invincible, and the extra Raid Mode does away with the traditional time-trial focused Mercenaries and introduces a more interesting mission-based mode that features RPG-like skills and weapons unlocked through exp and currency.

In any case, if you don’t mind the sexual nature of the motivation mini-games and are looking for a JRPG that makes for a fun play in short burst and is a little different, then taking a peek at Criminal Girls: Invite Only might offer you a fairly enjoyable, if flawed, time.

In the end, episode 2 is a more dialogue-heavy entry compared to the first, but it’s also a much stronger episode for it.

Someone once told me to not buy things for what you want them to be, but buy them for what they currently are. Based on that sound reasoning, I would recommend holding off on Life is Strange for a while, but keep an eye on how well future episodes are received.

Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is a good fighting game that remains similar to the last release, building on the already strong foundations created by the game two and a half years ago.

It ended up being a fun puzzler with an interesting twist, but bad gameplay implementations.

In the end, it’s the writing which defines these Telltale adaptations, and Game of Thrones is no exception. In fact, it’s thanks to the original source material’s penchant for sudden and shocking character deaths and betrayals that this game has potential to keep players glued for each subsequent episode.

Regardless of quantity concerns (which is a valid complaint), where The Order more crucially falls apart is in regards to quality. It does not matter if a game is one or one hundred hours long, you need to enjoy playing it, and The Order fails at that most crucial of tasks. This is unforgivable, and instantly makes it impossible to recommend.

Perhaps a better, more Mean Girls like way, to summarize the game in one simple phrase is like this. It’s just not Fetch.

Steam is looking to have a promising future for fans of Japanese role-playing games, and while Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 might not be the best of the bunch that people were hoping to see arrive on the platform, the game is still a good, light-hearted and comical RPG that does a good job of honouring and having fun in regards to the topic of video games, while also being given a wonderful performance boost from PC hardware.

Total War: Attila has itself firmly set on bringing a great representation of the Total War gameplay. This is the best point to begin playing if newcomers are interested in sampling their first Total War, while fans can feel better knowing what to expect with a working title at launch.

The Escapists is an interesting premise for a simulation-style game that offers numerous ways to tackle situations and lots of routines to keep track of. However, the cumbersome interface may impact the enjoyment of anyone playing with an Xbox controller, and with the promise of further updates and additions on the PC side, interested players may want to consider grabbing the game off of Steam instead, if possible.

Atelier Ayesha Plus: The Alchemist of Dusk is a solid port from Gust, which adds another Atelier game to the PlayStation Vita.

Grey Goo is perfect for fans of 90s real-time strategy games and is one of the best RTS games in recent memories not to be called StarCraft II.