Though it may require a bit of patience to get to the sweet stuff, Atelier Ryza is a wholesome and addicting experience that RPG fans will gleefully gulp down, even if they’ve never dabbled with the Atelier franchise before. Thanks to the strong visuals and countless gameplay features, now is the best time to jump in on this niche series, which may end up becoming much more recognizable thanks to this latest solid entry.

As a complete package, God of War Ascension has its fair shares of excitement and disappointment. There is no doubt this is a good game with fantastic-looking graphics, quality combat mechanics and a fun, if somewhat experimental, multiplayer; but the problem lies mostly with the single-player.

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr is mostly a good title that comes with some innovative ideas, but falls short in other areas regarding its performance and level design. Warhammer 40k fans will get a kick out of it, and its long life through random missions means content is in hundreds of hours for people who enjoy working towards the highest achievements. Others will eventually grow bored of the repetition, but will easily have gained enough hours out of the title to not be short changed.

Mahokenshi is a visually eye-catching and mechanically solid entry into the big world of deckbuilder games and brings in a mixture of elements that will appeal to not just card/deckbuilder fans, but people who also enjoy board games.

SkyDrift is 1200 Microsoft Points (£10), and because of that you can somewhat forgive the shortcomings, since the title is full of quality instead of quantity. It's worth the admission fee as it is a blast to play, and a bit of a surprise hit that sprang out of nowhere. If you've been waiting for the next decent arcade racer on Xbox Live Arcade then you should check out this title.

Super Monkey Ball fans should check this Vita exclusive out, and with Sega selling the game at a reduced price of £14.99, gamers can enjoy playing Banana Splitz without needing to splash the cash.

I recommend Pinballistik to anyone who isn't exactly a fan of pinball but would be open to a familiar pastime with a competitive twist.

As a modern reinvention, The King of Fighters XIII is everything longtime fans could hope for, and a sufficient cleansing of the disappointing KoF XII. It’s too bad that SNK couldn’t cater more to newbie players just tuning in, but even with the confusing third act storyline, the tight gameplay and character variety might prove enough to make those late bloomers into newly converted fans.

There are so many of these 90s-inspired shooters that anyone who is a fan is having a field day with all the options available. Dread Templar becomes another solid entry in this subgenre. It offers a nice mixture of retro gameplay along with some more modern ideas with its skill tree and weapon modification concept. Dread Templar is a fast, fun, twitchy shooter that enjoys promoting the old through great-level design, hectic gameplay, pixellated visuals, and its groovy metal soundtrack. Dread Templar is a competent first-person shooter offering made for a certain audience, and I think the developer is happy with delivering a good retro-feeling shooter for those people to add to their video game collection.

Inversion might not be innovating in its field with the Gravlink mechanic, but get past the start of the game and you'll open up to a rather enjoyable and good enough shooter that fans of the genre should give a chance before writing it off as a poor man's Gears of War.

Control issues aside, Puzzle Agent is a refreshing and entertaining adventure game, filled with memorable characters and a setting that will please fans of the modern mystery genre.

All in all, this is what a sequel should have been: a combination of the good from the old with a number of tweaks from the new.

If you are a fan of the Fable series and know a few friends who enjoy party-games, have at it. It's not the golden goose by any means, but, for what it is, this Fable will do.

As it goes, Under Defeat HD: Deluxe Edition is a solid shooter that I am happy was given the chance to come across to the UK and deliver gamers a good bit of challenging fun.

For arcade enthusiasts with a controller of their choice plugged into their PC’s USB port, this PC re-release is both the definitive version and one of the best Bullet Hell experiences you can have, which makes it the perfect blend of Heaven and Hell for those seeking an eye-crossing, thumb-mashing challenge.

RPGs are usually very long, and as many of us have grown up, we simply don’t have the time to play through them anymore, making Evoland an extraordinary journey through a much simpler time that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

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.

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.

Nanotale – Typing Chronicles was a great experience, I’ve never played a typing game before, so this was a fresh idea to me, and it definitely won’t be my last. Fishing Cactus have released 2 games in the Typing Chronicles series, and I hope they don’t stop there; I don’t think they really pushed the boundaries of what this kind of game can achieve but that only gives me hope for the next instalment.

The concept sounds fantastic, and there is potential in setting a game up like this, but in reality, The Cave’s take on telling a story like this ends up making it a fun but flawed adventure game.

Considering the initial shock of a Sonic RPG, and the potential, I think that SC could’ve been a bit better in most aspects but TDB definitely lays solid foundations for the probable sequel. It really is an RPG but delivered Sonic style; fast and fun.

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.

Overall, Hinter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition is a fun metroidvania game to pass the time. The addition of the mini-map and some tweaks make it feel like a good addition to the Nintendo Switch catalogue. Hinter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition has issues, but still, it’s something that could become an improved adventure if Lienzo’s team keep expanding Ikki’s world in a sequel.

The bizarre music and strange noises and beats do take away from the experience somewhat, but it’s still an enjoyable game.

Graphics aside, it's a short and sweet adventure that's a fun way to spend a few hours, but nothing to write home about. The puzzles are interesting while they last but are done and forgotten very quickly. There's no bigger picture or point to solving the puzzles other than to get to the next one, and that isn't quite enough for me to say it's a great game.

So, if like me you’re a little weary of current shooters, or just fancy a bit of something retro then Serious Sam HD should be right up your alley. Weighing in at 1200 MS points, roughly a tenner, it’s not going to break the bank either. There’s loads of fun to be had here, but you better get used to dying a lot, but it’s all worth it to save the world.

It is not on the same level as other retro-inspired shooters, such as DUSK, but one thing I always say is that not every game has to be the best, just as long as the player found it fun, and with Kingdom of the Dead, I found it entertaining from beginning to end. Kingdom of the Dead is worth checking out for people who want to step away from complexity for a bit and just shoot something without having to think much about it. Sometimes life needs simple things to have a good time.

The series has grown and evolved over the years and WRC Generations is a pleasant look at the history and all the improvements the developers have made during its active career, leaving with us a rally game with some of the best stage designs ever conceived in the video game rally genre, but one which fans have mostly seen before.