Still, despite its flaws, there is a lot of fun to be had in Fantasy Life. The job system is extensive and mastering each skill compulsive, while decorating apartments provides a nice break from the repetitive missions.

Still, it is gorgeous - there's no denying that. Gorgeous, stylistically interesting (if derivative of Edward Gorey) and with some wonderfully creative ideas behind it, Murasaki Baby is a game to welcome with open arms. It's just not a great game to welcome with open arms.

Joking aside, Flockers has character and is satisfactorily challenging for the most part, but is a dish best served in bite-sized chunks. This being the case, home consoles don't necessarily feel like the optimum platform for the game, so we'd like to see those sheep herded towards tablet pastures in the future.

Yes, Hatoful Boyfriend is a dating game with a bird gimmick, and that alone will be enough to keep many players at arm's length. But to pigeonhole your time at the St. Pigeonation's Institute as a mere gimmick would be a grave misjudgment of a game that is far more delightful and unexpected than even its bizarre premise would suggest.

With gorgeous visuals, great presentation, intuitive controls and deep game modes, Madden NFL 15 is undoubtedly the MVP of American football games.

For us, nothing in First Light ever really stood out. It's well polished, but plays it so safe that there wasn't anything to really love or hate. Perhaps using it as a taster before investing in the full fat Second Son experience is a good idea.

While we hesitate to call it a game-of-the-year contender, the Vita needs more titles like Velocity 2X, a game that's equally effective when experienced in short bursts on the move, or in the kind of marathon sessions that tablet and smartphones cannot compete with.

Although both games are thematically grim at times, we thoroughly recommend Metro Redux to both series newcomers and fans of the original titles.

It's a challenging area with a pleasing aesthetic and is set to offer a lot of potential talking points for fans of Dark Souls lore.

Like any good vacation, you'll return home at the end of it with lasting fond memories. But unlike most vacations, with Hohokum you always have the opportunity to revisit them whenever the mood strikes.

CounterSpy is a stylish game with wonderful art direction and a humorous tone - it's just let down by a few sneaking flaws.

Dungeon crawlers aren't to everyone's taste, but you would be hard pressed to find a better one than Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition on consoles. This is the definitive version of an already great game, and it truly excels on the PS4.

Still, despite its short length and lack of replayability, time playing The Swapper is most definitely time well spent. The clone-based puzzles are superb, while the addition of a thought-provoking narrative is the cherry on top of what is an excellent puzzle/platformer.

Despite its often infuriating difficulty, Road Not Taken is a fascinating journey where how you play it makes all the difference.

Ultra Street Fighter 4 may not be a new game, but it's the definitive version of one of the greatest brawlers of its generation, refined in all the right ways.

It features a superb plot, contains at least one piece of essential DLC and looks absolutely stunning, making it an essential purchase for newcomers and one to consider for fans of the original.

This was clearly a labor of love for Just Add Water, and fans of the original will no doubt experience a similar degree of fervour when they revisit Oddworld, which isn't to say the game's appeal is limited to this crowd.

Hearkening back to the original Dark Souls, the expansion is impressively intricate, challenging and extremely fulfilling.

Perhaps it shouldn't come as such a surprise, though, that a once-praised game inspired by minimalism would falter so completely after being heavily built upon and expanded.

Wii Sports Club feels a little light on content and isn't quite as accessible as it once was, but it's still a great multiplayer game, whether played online or with friends.

The storytelling is sloppy, the set-pieces are repetitive - and in some cases stolen from past games - while the visuals are dated. It's redeemed only by enjoyable third-person shooter action, which comes alive in co-op multiplayer when there's no story holding players back.

While many games will borrow elements from the classics in an attempt to become a spiritual successor to some popular title, MouseCraft manages to pay homage to its inspirations while retaining an identity all its own.

As a tidy-looking package, Civilization Revolution 2 ups the ante in almost every way. It's bold and colourful, and looks fantastic on iPad's gorgeous Retina display. If you're a veteran fan of the series like me, then this mobile sequel might put you off at first. It feels constricted to the mobile world, without the sense of epic scale you get zooming out on your huge empires in the PC games.

With the promise of regular content updates, Carbine's opus has the potential to achieve great things, but whether it realizes this potential largely depends on its success in amassing a community. But for now, WildStar is a massive multiplayer online game done right, blending the traditional with forward-thinking combat, high production values and an engaging world that begs exploration.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a superbly titled game. It is a valiant effort at a sincere depiction of war by developers whose hearts were clearly in the right place, telling a gripping story that is still respectful of its source.

Sniper Elite 3 treads that fine line between realism and fun, but it comes together well, providing cheap kicks for those who enjoy over-the-top sniper kills, and a modicum of tactical depth for players looking for something more substantial.

The different racing styles provide a hugely diverse experience that really highlights Codemasters' strengths as one of the best developers of racing games.

EA Sports UFC is one for the MMA diehards, and while its learning curve feels like an endurance test at times, the game rewards perseverance with some very satisfying fights.