There is so much potential for Operencia. Zen Studios has crafted a gorgeous, elegant dungeon crawler, with rich lore, interesting characters, and the team has demonstrated real talent with dungeon design - something that is by no means easy. Cleaning up the combat system so that it's not so exhausting and frustrating is all it would take for Operencia to be a top-tier example of the genre.

Coteries of New York does a good job being a Vampire: The Masquerade game. The developers have captured the essence of the property, crafted an appropriate aesthetic and narrative environment, and avoided any inclination to try and "change" what Vampire: The Masquerade is. Playing this game feels every bit like playing the tabletop pen-and-paper experience with a good GM weaving the story. Sadly, by nature pen-and-paper RPGs are about fun stories rather than anything meaningful, and Coteries of New York doesn't really have anything meaningful to say. Throw in some confused mechanics and this one won't be remembered as a classic of the genre.

For all its technical issues, Disaster Report 4 is a truly astounding bit of video game art and a true reflection on something that is important to understand about the Japanese culture and mindset. It is nothing like the disaster stories and games that come from western creatives, and the more melancholic, sympathetic, and people-focused themes of the game might confuse those that expect a disaster experience at first. Embrace it for what it is, however, and the game is so much better than any of that blockbuster trash. There is something very subtle, but very powerful at the core of Disaster Report 4, and, even as I've had the likes of Animal Crossing and Resident Evil 3 to play this past two weeks, I've found myself coming back to this one, and reflecting on it to a far greater degree. It's not necessarily fun, in a traditional sense, but it's culturally insightful and intelligent, and that makes it valuable.

La Mulana 2 may just be more of the same, but it’s also a home run for a winning formula that nobody else is making nowadays. For players who enjoy complexity and depth, there’s an ocean of possibility here which makes any other Metroidvania look like a puddle by comparison. (Yeah, even Hollow Knight.) It’s humbling for a game to show me what it really feels like to not have my hand held at all: it forced me to swallow my pride, grab a pen and paper, and earn my progress forward. Few games can boast that. And once you’ve braved the ruins of La Mulana, you can bravely look to the future with confidence. Because you’re an archaeologist now.

So let's go down the list of what makes The Complex compelling: phenomenal cast, complicated characters, a deep and rather dark narrative. No, it's not a traditional game. No, it's not a traditional film. But when it comes to interactive films, it's a very solid effort worth several playthroughs to discover what you may have missed the first time. The developer even makes it easy to play again, offering a skip button for subsequent plays. There are some components that seem unnecessary, and some settings that could be improved upon, but The Complex is absolutely a game I will recommend again and again.

I recognise that Resident Evil and what I want Resident Evil to be are on different trajectories. I still want the series to engage with the horror of being almost out of bullets and surrounded by a hostile world of very dangerous enemies. I also want more of the dry humour of the B-grade that used to define the series, that both indulges the horror while recognising how silly it is. Resident Evil 3 doesn't give me that, and Resident Evil as a series isn't largely interested in indulging it any longer. Which is fine. I can still kick back and enjoy the empty action and cinematic profile of the new take on the series. What's more, I do realise that I'm in the minority in what I want Resident Evil to be and Capcom has delivered more of what the series' larger base of fans want with this remake. Which is fine. Resident Evil 3 is a very, very fine example of what it wants to be, and anyone who loved the Resident Evil 2 remake should be won over all over again with this one.

There's a lot of room for Granblue Fantasy: Versus to grow from here. There are a lot more characters that can be brought into the game, and many more stories that can be told through that RPG mode. As it is, however, this is a remarkably beautiful and intelligently-structured fighting game, which does justice to the source material and offers a stunning foundation for what might come into the future. It also works as the perfect introduction to Granblue Fantasy for the west, and now Cygames should be left with no other choice than to release the mobile game worldwide.

We all need games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and while I don't think it's perfect by any means, and some of the new elements this time around come at the expense of what made previous titles so wonderful, the winning charm is still there in full. This will be Nintendo's biggest game of 2020, and with good reason - everyone who has been looking forward to it will be absolutely delighted by what Nintendo has delivered.

My Hero One’s Justice 2 is a straightforward expansion of the first game, offering new characters and stages galore. Although it relies on the same disappointing implementation of the anime’s story, the arcade mode compensates with humour. The refined arena fighting gameplay carries this one to being among the more unique anime arena fighters in recent years. The sheer personality of each character might be enough for those vaguely interested in the My Hero Academia craze to give this one a shot.

It's not that Moons of Madness is without merit, but it does come across as a game where the development team never quite reached creative cohesion and weren't able to quite work out what they wanted to achieve with this game. From the butchering of Lovecraft's vision, to a scenic structure that feels too disjointed for its own good, to the over-reliance on cheap horror tricks like jump scares in the absence of true narrative and thematic depth, Moons of Madness is just a little too confused for its own good. It's an inoffensive way for sci-fi and horror fans to while away a few hours, but by no means a masterpiece.

Doom 64 is an impressive port of the forgotten son of the series. Without a multiplayer mode it sits as one of the less essential shooters from the era, but as the first effort at bringing Doom into three dimensions, it's a valuable bit of series history, and to this day it plays very nicely indeed.

I rarely write reviews this brief, but there's really not much else that can be said about A Street Cat's Tale. There was plenty of potential here to give players a grand adventure and a chance to see the world from the eyes of a cat. It could have also been an opportunity to explore just how poorly humanity can treat animals. Sadly, the game doesn't deal with any of that and there's simply nothing to sink your teeth into with this game as a consequence.

Talisman is a classic board game, and deserves respect for that. It’s also eminently playable to this day, and very easy to pick up and play, and as such it’s a genuinely good game for lazy Sundays with friends. But the Nintendo Switch port of the game suffers from the console's limitations, and the utter reliance on luck can make this game a very frustrating experience over the longer term (and, as a quick side note at the end - games of Talisman can be long - be sure to have a pot of coffee ready as you sit down to play this one).

This is truly lovely bit of literature in the guise of a visual novel. The Switch has no shortage of this genre at this point, but SeaBed might just be the most meaningful of them all.

Persona 5 is a really great game, so when I say that it pales in comparison to its predecessor, it is important to remember that I'm saying that it's only mildly inferior to one of the greatest games of all time. Persona 5's bloat and thematic step backwards are issues, but the raw gameplay is so enjoyable, and the characters so vibrant and well-written, that I haven't minded having the excuse to play through the bloat again. Not by any means.

Sony's sitting on an incredible base and foundation. The series could do something about offering more casual baseball fans something to enjoy on their own terms, but that applies to all AAA-blockbuster sports games, and MLB The Show has the decided advantage of being a sport that's actually enjoyable.

If for no other reason, NinNinDays is worth a spin because the asking price is cheap, and the art is just that good. As pervy pin-up goes, there just aren't crotch shots and taut midriffs of the same quality on the Switch as what Sumire's story offers. However, outside of the art, a limp localisation of what is only a standard and uninspiring narrative are big red flags that would hang over any visual novel, and NinNinDays doesn't get a free pass for those issues just because its fan service is particularly appealing.

As something of a budget entry into the same genre occupied by Onechanbara, Dead or School is decent fun. Being a budget game it struggles to maintain a consistency in tone and experience, but a solid loot and upgrade system, some great boss fights, and a good sense of humour, all help to see it through.

It's great to have a "real" Kingdom Under Fire game playable on modern platforms. I know Blueside has had all kinds of issues with sustaining and modernising this series, but everyone really should experience the original. With Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders there was real potential that this series could have gone on to something big. As it is, though it's shaping up more as a bit of flash in the pan brilliance that will likely not be replicated.

Mystic Vale is not without its flaws, but for fans of open and complex card games, it also offers a tantalising amount of depth.

Just as I have a special reverence for Demon's Souls, even as I recognise Dark Souls was able to refine and improve on "the formula", I recognise that Nioh 2 is the better game, while also missing spirit and originality, which has gone by the wayside. That said, Nioh 2 is still going to be better than just about everything else that will be released in 2020. Brilliantly creative monster and level design come together with subtle - but important - improvements to the complex-but-rewarding mechanics. This is something that only people with patience and perseverance should sign up for, however this is also a rare case where the rewards truly exceed the demands made of players.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX will be one of Nintendo's most niche titles of 2020. With that being said, I fall squarely into the Venn diagram that makes the target demographic for this game, so I loved every second of it. As a fan of Pokémon, Mystery Dungeon roguelikes, and whimsical, light-hearted, and wholesome art styles, Rescue Team DX clicked with me on every level.

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is aimed firmly at the target audience of games such as Jump Force. It finds subtle ways to translate One Punch Man’s comical lore into gameplay but forgets to polish the central experience before padding it out with filler. There’s a respectable degree of fanservice here, but little to see for casual fans. The silver-lining is in the anime aesthetics, which make the game worth a second glance for those on the fence.

Two Point Hospital is wildly entertaining, with a great sense of humour and production values that pop with light-hearted, satirical style. It's worth playing through if for no other reason than to see what zany diseases and treatments you'll need to deal with next. It's just odd that for a game with such strong nostalgia for Theme Hospital it would neglect to recreate the challenge that was such a feature of those early-era simulators. Still, that's me showing my age, I know, and I can't imagine anyone failing to come out of Two Point Hospital with a giant smile on their face. If nothing else... it's a great cure for boredom (okay, I'm sorry, really. In my defence, I did resist getting that stupid joke out until right at the end).

It's laudable that, as a tiny indie production, the developer decided to get that right so that the game plays nicely, before worrying about anything else. Sadly, that "anything else" is also what elevates a game. Getting the core mechanics right is expected. Giving players a reason to care and to want to continue playing on is where success comes from and so, while I admire the Aussie spirit in taking on something this ambitious, it really is a game that could have done with a lot more resourcing.

The appeal of Langrisser I & II is quite limited, and I don't think it's going to grab the attention of the Fire Emblem new converts that the developer was probably hoping to. With that being said, for the nostalgic, and people who like their traditional tactics JRPGs, there's a lot to like here. The re-drawn art is lovely, and while the narrative is a little too heavy on the shallow and cliche, the focus on the battlefield tactics action is certainly a refreshing shift from Fire Emblem's increasingly bold pivot towards being a waifu and husbando simulator.

Kingdom Rush isn’t even that great by tower defence standards. The towers are generic and bland, and enemy hordes are entirely predictable.

Hero Must Die has a lot going for it – a strong, immediately compelling theme, a lovely, melancholic aesthetic, and a simple elegance to its systems. Unfortunately, the development team really struggled to find a way to marry the form and function of the JRPG, and the narrative that the mechanics are meant to support. That conflict means that Hero Must Die is nowhere near as memorable and potent as it should be. As a retro-styled little indie JRPG it’s certainly made better than most, and it’s perfectly entertaining in its own way, but as a powerful experience that makes us muse on our mortality, it’s almost painful how far this one misses the mark.

Ultimately, Wanderlust succeeds in being an inspirational work about the power of travel.

This "reward" that Romance of the Three Kingdoms offers is subtle and nuanced. This is a niche game and I would very much expect its sales to be much lower than what its rival achieved. It's the better experience, though, from a particular perspective. If you love your historical strategy for the history that they depict, then Romance of the Three Kingdoms delivers. Everything about it is a perfect reflection on what that book was on about.

There are some good ideas to be found in Bookbound Brigade, and when everything clicks into place, it can be a lot of fun. But between the unreliable map, the tedious combat, the tired sense of humour, and the missed opportunity to do anything noteworthy with the "literary mash-up premise", Bookbound Brigade's good ideas are overshadowed by poor execution.

While I probably enjoy Katana Kami more as a cultural work than a game, such as it is, that’s so much more important to me anyway.

All in all, this collection coming out on the back of the original Mega Man and Mega Man X Series is a must have for fans or those that never actually got around to playing them. With plenty of features only improving on the original releases back on the Game Boy Advance and the collections on the DS, Mega Man Zero 1-4 and its two sequels are an ideal way to celebrate one of the more niche and forgotten chapters in the Mega Man legend.

Rune Factory 4 is a delight. It's one of those heartfelt, earnest, and wholesome games that remind you that not everything needs to be dour, competitive, excessively violent, or deep. It's a game in which a blatant clone of Hatsune Miku (or a male character, I guess) grows turnips, bops monsters on the head (and then makes friends with them), and eventually gets married. It's sweet, I love it, and bring on Rune Factory 5.

While coming in five years after the PC release, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III was a pleasure to have on the console. While NeocoreGames have moved on from the crazy world of Borgovia to the stars of Warhammer 40,000 with Inquisitor, this final chapter is a reminder that, with any luck, the developer will again its hand at something with a fantasy bent at some stage.

Ciel Fledge could have been more robust... indeed, it really should have been. There's just not enough substance to go with the charming presentation and concept. However, it's still one of those things that's difficult to put down, not least because its gameplay loops and feedback are tight and engaging. Like the daughter you're tasked to manage, there's room for this fledgling series to grow, and plenty of potential if it's managed well.

Hunt could have been so much more. As a hypothetical single player game, in which you carefully research a mark as you make your way through a deep south Gothic nightmare towards the final, hellish, confrontation, Hunt could have been something truly special. But commercial reality won't allow for that. Multiplayer shooters and content-driven live services are where the money's at, and in chasing the money Crytek has produced something that's a whole lot of fun to play, but ultimately shallow, vapid, and a complete waste of all the effort that went into the theme and design of the thing.

On the one hand, the base game itself is so good, and the extra stuff doesn't mess with that. On the other hand, the extra stuff doesn't do much for the overall experience.

Code: Realize is a beautiful visual novel, with a wonderful concept that is written wonderfully. It's a little short of the flash-and-bang, which means it's not the ideal introduction to the entire genre, but once you're settled in to the genre and can appreciate a visual novel for a quality narrative without needing full animation or "gameplay elements," it's hard to look past this one as a key example of the genre done well.

In the end, Mega 39 does one, very special thing: it takes the incredible Hatsune Miku Project Diva Future Tone, and makes it portable. You can bellyache all you like about a relatively thin tracklist, but “relatively thin” to the ridiculous bloat of Future Tone isn’t really a fault. Not when what is in the pack is still more than any other rhythm game on the Switch, and with the optional DLC to come. Most importantly of all, however, is that Mega39 is a celebration of the world’s greatest digital idol, and a digital celebrity I truly care a great deal about. As such, it fills a major gap in something that I've wanted on my Switch since the day it released. I am now fully on board with the Nintendo Switch being the greatest console ever.

Whether you were a witness to its glory in its original context, or whether you’re just reading about it for the first time in 2020, Vanquish is an experience worth having. Its desire to subvert entrenched shooter tropes in both its mechanics and its story, leaves it feeling a breath of fresh air to those who have been jaded by how samey the genre can feel. If you like your games to demand mastery, and to reward those who unlock the potential within its mechanics with an undeniable feeling of coolness, then Vanquish is absolutely worth your time.

Darksiders Genesis is a welcome change of pace. Fan of the series might question whether or not they will like the dramatic overhaul, but this is a really solid Diablo style of game that is a lot of fun to play. I enjoyed the new character a good deal and have always appreciated the world these games were set in. The wheel is not getting reinvented here, but the overall execution is generally well done.

Snack World really isn't my thing. As much as I am a fan of Level-5, the pitch of this one is out, and as such, too much of it falls flat. It's a satirical game that's trying too hard and if it was funny, then the jokes it makes would be directed at its own faults as a game. It's a workable dungeon crawler without being inspired, but unlike the rest of Level-5's library, this one is focused on being attractive to one demographic at the expense of just about everyone else. Where most other Level-5 games are a joy and delight, this one really felt too much like a slog.

On the one hand, the sheer quality of the game is evident in bounds, and as a homage to the mighty Baldur's Gate, it continues on the excellent trajectory set down by its predecessor. On the other hand, those loading times really are so bad that I neither enjoy my time with the game, nor want to play it. Of course, a patch could resolve that and then the main criticism of the review would be rendered redundant. Sadly, I do need to review what's placed in front of me, and you're all better off playing Baldur's Gate again than slogging through this in its current state.

On the one hand, the Yakuza Remastered Collection is "just" a re-release of three games, with relatively minimal effort having gone into the updates. On the other hand, it's three superb games within an astounding collection that allows you to play the entire series from beginning to end, whenever you find a cool 500 hours or so to sit down and work through it all. In that context, the 200 or so hours that the Collection represents is a major chunk of some of the best action you'll ever find in video games.

It's a clean, snappy, hugely entertaining game, and an excellent next step forward for the emerging property. You'll want to have a high tolerance for fan service, but it's a Compile Heart game and you should already know full well what to expect going in. What's important is that it's all executed so well that Azur Lane ends up being too charming to put down, and there's more waifu bait in this one than any other game you'll play in 2020.

If only that localisation didn't put a dampener on everything by making a full half of the game, and, critically, the context that gives the action purpose, so irritating to sit through. Please, developers. It's fine to have a broken English port for a game where the narrative isn't relevant, but when we're talking about RPGs, make the investment and hire a premium localisation outfit. It will lift your game, significantly. There are, apparently, console versions of Banner of the Maid set to come later. I hope on feedback the team does get a new localisation done, because fixing that issue will add a couple of stars to the score, effortlessly. Everything else about it is truly wonderful.

Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics is cynical. It has taken a safe, familiar genre, done absolutely nothing but the most straightforward, safe application of it, and thrown the Dark Crystal license over the top, but it has in no way tried to do anything interesting with Dark Crystal.

Having too much of a good thing is the possibly the most forgivable flaw that hit too many games, and Patapon has the pick-up-and-play vibe going for it, meaning that you can always take a break from it if it starts to become draining. The only other issue with Patapon 2 is that the rhythms will get stuck deep into your brain, and it takes ages to push them out. And then you'll load up the game again and it'll be stuck all over again. It's just that charming, bright, and catchy.

Fan service aside, it's a beautiful little story, heartfelt and generally well told. It's supported by particularly good production values and a crash course in train terminology that will help you come away with all the more respect for how trains work and are managed. It's such a lovely game for the most part. But then there's a scene where the protagonist is groping at the "doll's" body. Or another scene where the "doll" is groping a clearly phallic symbol, and when those scenes kick in, Maitetsu undermines all the great work it otherwise does. If you are part of the niche that can handle that side of things though... there really so much merit to the rest of the story that this visual novel tells.

Because Arc of Alchemist is such a short JRPG, the more draining elements of it don't end up being exhausting. Because the game moves at such a snappy pace it's easy to focus on and enjoy its strengths - the narrative and characters. Over the last couple of years Idea Factory has really broadened its horizons. Where once it focused almost exclusively on pervy humour, stuff like Arc of Alchemist show a different side of the studio. It's creative, different, and interesting, and respects your time so don't feel like you've made some epic commitment just to play through it. I love it.

Not Tonight is a deeply relevant, thoughtful experience. It comes from a place of genuine frustration with the way too much of the world is behaving at the moment, but manages to channel that frustration into something productive - a satirical (however darkly), deeply sympathetic game, that's both entertaining and has a strong point to make. Is it a little too infatuated with Papers, Please? Yes, but you could do far worse than create a breathless homage to a game that great.

None of the characters or situations in Coffee Talk are simple or black-and-white. Rather, the world is a beautiful, complicated shade of grey. People aren't "good" or "bad," they're just trying to do their best. The message is hopeful. The pace is soothing. The music is well-suited to the environment. Coffee Talk really delivers on all fronts, and even offers more game time post-story. Now, it's time for me to return to my customers, I think the orc has arrived...

Worlds of Magic is not bad, but it's also by no means a genre leader. It's simply too limited and shallow to meet the expectations that people have of 4Xes in the modern era. The plains hopping feature is nice, and can lead to some truly epic, expansive campaigns, but it's not quite enough to offset the limitations elsewhere. Furthermore, the Switch port was clearly never optimised for the hardware, making this the lesser version of an already mid-tier experience.

Journey to the Savage Planet ticks all the right boxes. It gets its core play loops right, and it respects the player's time - you'll clock it at 15 or so hours if you're not too concerned with collecting everything along the way. I had a good time in both single player and co-op, and for something that is so foreign to the kind of games I usually play, that this one hooked me in speaks to its X-factor. For all the good, however, the game's a complete misfire as a narrative experience.

While Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot doesn’t really do anything new “overall”, it’s still an amazing time because of the way that everything has been put together. Those new to the series and long time fans alike have plenty to find and enjoy, as the pacing is just right to both let you relive some of the iconic fights of the series, and just live a little with your favourite characters.

I will forget about having Ember on my Switch within a few months of having being done with it now, I suspect. If you do play it, you'll be looking at around 20 hours of highly derivative, classic RPG action. You won't be annoyed by Ember and, played in short bursts, you won't be bored of it either. It has that pick-up-and-play quality.

It's a super-short indie project, so it almost feels unfair to throw a score onto Red Bow. It's just not a game to put on the same kind of scale as major blockbusters from Nintendo. But, then again, the game is a commercial project and sits on the same virtual store shelf as Nintendo's games. The reality is that Red Bow struggles to understand how horror game stories are told, and adventure games are designed. There are some ideas buried in there, and when the developer is more experienced it would be great to see him revisit this but Red Bow itself its a bit too hollow for its own good.

It's a brilliant concept, well told, and backed by Atlus' skill with turn-based combat at its peak.

If you're under any illusions about whether Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls is for a general video game audience, don't be. It's not. It's not even for general RPG fans. Hell. If you enjoy modern dungeon crawlers you're still going to need to be adventurous to get a kick out of this one. On the other hand, the developers of this Wizardry respected the game's heritage, understood the audience for this kind of game, and the uncompromising commitment to delivering for that audience is admirable. Especially for oldies like me that grew up playing these games. The trip down memory lane that Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls provided has been a delight.

Where the Arland series introduced me to Atelier, it was the Dusk series that really solidified in my mind that it really had become my favourite JRPG property. By the end of Shallie I was six titles in and knew I would play anything else that came out of Gust the second it landed. If you're one of those that is new to Atelier (and thanks to Ryza I know that there are a lot of you out there), then here's your chance to catch up on three of the most distinctive and interesting JRPGs of the PlayStation 3 era.

This is not an indie that has looked to a quick cash-in for minimal effort. It's just unfortunate that the racing genre is such a competitive one and, even on the Nintendo Switch, there is everything from Mario Kart, to rally racers, bike racers, and a half dozen existing top-down speedsters. It's just not enough to provide such a stock-standard racing game, however good the intentions.

The only people that might get something out of Mirror are those who are such big fans of the PC version of the game that they need to keep playing it on Nintendo Switch while... on the train, I guess. It's a character-driven, visual novel-heavy match-3 puzzler where terrible localisation has ruined the characters, the narrative is incomprehensible, and the match-3 action is so stock-standard it doesn't deserve to be celebrated, even if it does work. The real reason people played this on PC - the titillation, has been greatly reduced in order to be console friendly on the Nintendo Switch, and as such there is nothing of worth left in Mirror.

Nurse Love Addition is subversive, intelligent, and quite beautiful. The Nintendo Switch has become quite the home for the VN, as we expected would be the case as the PlayStation Vita moved into legacy. These games are always a more natural fit for the handheld, and the Nintendo Switch's gorgeously large screen really does this one justice.

Unfortunately Gunma's Ambition's joke only sustains it through the one play-through. There's no real reason to aim for a better completion time, and the gameplay is far too shallow to sustain the concept beyond the joke. It's a great joke, don't get me wrong, but given how specific it is to the Japanese culture, and given how little the game has going for it beyond that, I can't think of a more esoteric experience that I've had on the Nintendo Switch to date.

Future iterations or sequels fro Drawngeon could well see it become a series worth paying attention to. The strong hit of nostalgia, as well as the unique visual style, give the game a foundation much stronger than many of its genre peers. The execution is deeply lacking, though. The lack of variety in gameplay systems, and the completely unsatisfying approach to character development, leave Drawngeon feeling hollow and a grind within minutes, and that's just not good enough.

Princess Maker 3 is both funny and charming, and the core gameplay loop, limited as it is, is compelling if only because there are so many different endings to aim for that the game both encourages and rewards people that experiment with it. I'm often in the mood for simple but rewarding gameplay loops over stuff that is overly complex and exhausting, and I can see myself coming back to Princess Maker for quite some time to come.

I think that perhaps it’s the trappings of the autorunner genre which holds Earthnight back from greatness. This is a game with wildly original ideas that kept me enthralled throughout, but I did keep wishing that it would slow down and give the player some time to breathe. Endless runners are fun and all, but they’re not the kind of game which encourages careful appreciation. For that reason, occasionally the artwork and gameplay clashed against each other (the detailed art doesn’t make for immediately readable game mechanics, the game mechanics detract from the detail of the art) and I felt that Earthnight was lesser than the sum of its parts.

This latest one is the most accessible and easy to follow yet, but it is still a spreadsheet simulator, and it services a very niche audience.

So while SD Gundam G Generation Cross Days may not be for everyone, I would definitely recommend it to fans of the series and fans of turned based tactics. With all of the series and side stories available to play, not to mention the sheer number of available units, there is more than enough to keep you busy for a long while... and this is just the start. This one has a season pass, and the promise of adding even more suggests that this game may well become a hobby in its own right.

Between The Rebel Collection and the Assassin's Creed 3 + Liberation packs, the Nintendo Switch has the pinnacle of the series available for it now, as far as I'm concerned. Having these games available for on-the-go play makes the mild concessions made more than a fair tradeoff, and it speaks to the quality of Rogue in particular that I was more than happy to play it through yet again. It's a rare game indeed that ropes me in for a third replay.

Darksiders Genesis gets a lot right. It has plenty of personality and a dynamic, engaging action system. Its only real problem is that it has tackled a thematic challenge that it can't deliver - hell should not be dull, empty or repetitive, and yet this game fails on all fronts there. It's not entirely the developer's fault, in the sense that if they showed a truly creative vision of hell it would either offend or be too surreal for the kind of mainstream audience that it's pitched at, but perhaps developers need to better consider where they're setting their games in that case.

For fans of the Blair Witch franchise, this game is an interesting vignette which fleshes out the universe a little more. But for those looking for a horror game filled with good scares, this is probably one to pass on.

The band of people interested in Princess Maker Go!Go! Princess would have to be very narrow, but it does provide a sound board game experience, backed up with some lovely art and a charming theme. It's also worth noting that the publisher is bringing one of the Princess Maker titles to Switch in English, and while I suspect they would have been better off reversing the order of these two releases, I imagine they will compliment one another very nicely. The Switch has proven to be impressively robust when it comes to digital board games, but the anime trappings of this one help it to stand apart.

I can't think of a single thing that truly disappointed me about Transport Fever 2. It's elegantly presented and understands that some efficiencies are required for the sake of playability.

It's tough to create good satire, particularly when it has socio-cultural undertones, but Heroland not only succeeded, it exceeded the wildest expectations I had on initial impressions. Furthermore, within the robust, witty, and consistently hilarious script sits a game that's a bit grindy, but one that doesn't stop being great fun to play throughout. FuRyu continues to establish itself as a publisher with a knack for finding the most interesting and creative games.

It’s a fitting tribute to an incredibly talented musician, with proceeds going to a good cause, and I hope it will help to champion the artistry of AVICII’s body of work.

I really hope Miku VR is a success for Degica. I want to see more of it. I understand that to some people the track list will seem thin, or the content expensive, especially in comparison to SEGA's offerings, but this is everything I could have wanted. Miku is sexy, the rhythm gameplay is both different and engaging, and the music selection is great. This is a VR experience I can lose myself within for hours at a time, and will no doubt keep coming back to for many, many years to come. Keep it up, Degica!

People who have played other Star Ocean titles will get a kick out of some of the names and locations being crossed over from those entries. Each Star Ocean title is distinct and self contained, and there's no particular order that you need to play them through, but there's a cohesiveness across key locations and names that establishes this series, infrequent as it is, as being one in which titles are tied to one another. Even if it is a simple case of name dropping time gates and the like at times.

The Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy is still fun, in the sense that gamebooks are good fun, and the development team haven't broken anything in the fundamentals. But this is also a deeply uninspired effort, and the Nintendo Switch has such good, innovative adaptations of gamebooks already that it's hard to see where the appeal of this package is. The really hardcore traditionalists would rather read a proper adaptation of the books. More casual fans would have wanted more done with them. The presentation is pedestrian, and the gameplay basic. It's genuinely difficult to imagine who would get much value out of this package.

Simulacra is one of the more interesting lost phone games I've played, and I enjoy the horror atmosphere it creates. The narrative is beyond intriguing despite the blandness of Anna herself, helped along by distrustful characters with more depth to them. I like the fact that there is generally no time limit, as it gives me time to sit and think, as well as to sift through the phone's contents. The puzzles aren't ridiculously difficult, but aren't always easy either. I would like to return to the big question I've been asking all along: is it reasonable to play found game on a console with a controller? It works well enough, minus my gripes about small icons and the annoyance of typing text.

So perhaps the "Amazing" in the title isn't really warranted, but it has to be emphasised: there's nothing actually wrong with Amazing Brick Breaker. It works, and if you're going to buy it, then you're going to get exactly what you're buying. Most importantly of all, though, this is one of those rare games where I don't feel somehow guilty if I can't get to 1,000 words in my review. It really is a relief to be able to go lazy on reviews occasionally, and this one really doesn't warrant anything but a quick footnote on what we usually cover on DDNet.

Lost Ember has its heart and soul in the right place, and every time I discovered a new area I was left amazed with the gorgeous vistas and intense beauty of it all. I also greatly appreciated that this is one of those games that respected my time and, large as its sense of scale is, is over quickly for anyone who doesn't want to waste time hunting down the collectibles. However, the initial goodwill I felt for the game evaporated quickly when I realised how shallow it really was. I can't see myself remembering this one, or coming back to it to play it again, and that's a real pity.

Good intent doesn't cover for a game this poor though. I would love to see the developers learn from this one and come back with something more, because there is a lot to admire about Decay of Logos. Enough so that I don't think I've ever felt quite as deflated having to give a game a score like this.

One thing is certain about the Sniper Ghost Warriors series: CI Games is slowly bringing this franchise, kicking and screaming as it is, into a niche of its own.

There's nothing offensively wrong with Labyrinth of the Witch. It's a cutsey Mystery Dungeon-like roguelike. There are already so many examples of that genre, though, and the Nintendo Switch didn't need another one whose only innovation was to bring a mobile gaming grind to proceedings.

There's nothing wrong with how Black Future '88 plays. It's actually quite exceptional. But there are a lot of exceptional roguelikes and hardcore 2D platformers, and Black Future '88 lacks the narrative or context that it really needed to stand out against its many competitors.

There's simply no reason to play something so utterly bereft of thought as Narcos.

When Need for Speed: Heat is producing its promised fantasy, it’s a wonderful game which I’m always happy to keep coming back to. Ghost Games have improved their engine and systems to make the city and cars feel better than ever, and Heat’s core gameplay loop is designed to last. Occasionally there are the moments which require suspension of disbelief, and it’s possible for the more misguided elements to build tedium in an otherwise strong entry to the series. Heat is a marked improvement on the last few Need for Speed games, however, and I hope that further refinement will see the series better deliver on its legacy.

Shenmue 3 won't disappoint fans of the first two. But that's almost secondary to the real story here. Shenmue 3's real strength is in the way that it suggests a different way of looking at the very storytelling of videogames. It challenges the idea that a game's value is in it aspiring to be "cinema", and it provides a pretty compelling argument for the alternative, too. On a personal note, as a fan of both theatre and Shenmue, this game is effortlessly my pick of what has been a very good 2019 for the creative side of videogames.

Planet Zoo is to zoo management games what Planet Coaster is to theme park management games—a spiritual successor to tycoon games of days gone by, with more depth and more freedom for creativity than ever. Some of the more complex elements can take a while to really click, but when they do, Planet Zoo becomes an engrossing experience.

Civilization VI is essential. Not only is it a game that's educational, informative, and inspirational (see my video above for more thoughts around that), but it's also deeply pertinent to today's world and gives players a way of seeing - and grappling - with the topic on their own terms. There are deeper strategy games out there (though not on PlayStation 4), but Civilization's accessibility and polish make it the perfect introduction to the genre, and while the PS4 port doesn't do anything beyond what was already on offer, this is still one of the best things released on the console this year.

There's a lot to like about Fishing Star World Tour. It's a lightweight, highly accessible, and charming little arcade-like take on fishing, and while it's never going to top anyone's list of favourite games, it's the kind of mindlessly relaxing thing that's useful to have on the console for those times where you really do just want to chill.

Deemo - Reborn - is still up there with the best rhythm games on the PlayStation 4, and while the Nintendo Switch Deemo very much felt like a port of a mobile title, -Reborn- has that premium presentation and design that give us a sense of where the series might yet go into the future. There aren't enough rhythm games that make the piano the central instrument, and Deemo is an elegant example of how to take an elegant, classical instrument and spin it into an interesting rhythm game.

For players that have yet to play either of these two titles, this package is more than worth picking up as it comes at a great price for two separate titles. Whether either is worth a replay or not is debatable, however. This package came at perhaps the wrong time of year, given how many other great JRPGs (and Pokemon itself) have been released at the same time. These are fun little games, but they're hardly classics.

Pokemon Sword & Shield is as close to a true reset for Pokemon as we've had. It's clear Game Freak wanted to get back to basics, and streamline the experience across the three main characteristics that makes Pokemon great - the collecting, the combat, and the catching. In all three areas Pokemon Sword offers vibrancy - solid pacing, superb balancing, and a joyful playfulness that makes the experience so appealing. The series needed that soft reset, and now Game Freak has the same outstanding basis and core to build on anew. Just as it did back when Pokemon Blue & Red so effectively captured my imagination 21 years ago.

Pokemon Sword & Shield is as close to a true reset for Pokemon as we've had. It's clear Game Freak wanted to get back to basics, and streamline the experience across the three main characteristics that makes Pokemon great - the collecting, the combat, and the catching. In all three areas Pokemon Sword offers vibrancy - solid pacing, superb balancing, and a joyful playfulness that makes the experience so appealing. The series needed that soft reset, and now Game Freak has the same outstanding basis and core to build on anew. Just as it did back when Pokemon Blue & Red so effectively captured my imagination 21 years ago.

Pokemon Sword & Shield is as close to a true reset for Pokemon as we've had. It's clear Game Freak wanted to get back to basics, and streamline the experience across the three main characteristics that makes Pokemon great - the collecting, the combat, and the catching. In all three areas Pokemon Sword offers vibrancy - solid pacing, superb balancing, and a joyful playfulness that makes the experience so appealing. The series needed that soft reset, and now Game Freak has the same outstanding basis and core to build on anew. Just as it did back when Pokemon Blue & Red so effectively captured my imagination 21 years ago.