In the end, the started and overt point of Archlion Saga is that it was developed to introduce people who are less familiar with JRPGs to the genre. The developers failed in doing that, since anyone who plays this as their first JRPG won't touch another one for a very, very long time. No one likes having their intelligence insulted, even if they are completely new to something.

While it's shallow and has an overly narrow focus, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is good fun, and serves as excellent, entertaining fan service for the Marvel faithful. Get a group of friends together, and this is a glorious throwback to the days of couch co-op adventuring, with the development team even throwing in a camera that very nearly ruins the experience. That is true commitment to recapturing the essence of playing games from yesteryear, right there.

Lacking personality as it is, and with its main selling point - the multiplayer - being an apparent bust, it's very hard to understand who would actually want to buy into this version of Skulls of the Shogun.

Kill la Kill is an anime licensed tie-in fighter done well, and given how frequently these turn out to be terrible that in itself is a relief. It's fast, it's furious, it's explicit and fanservicey, and it is outright hilarious in its satire. The developers have nailed every element of Kill la Kill that needed to be done right, and I can't imagine fans wanting anything more from this particular game.

With a very short completion time and no replay value there really isn’t much to keep you playing and whilst the lack of challenge may be appealing to those looking for a short game to pick up and play it becomes tedious very quickly.

Strategically, Field of Glory: Empires is one of the more accessible 4X strategy titles out there. It's not too demanding on the player around the diplomacy and trade side of things, allowing you to focus principally on the military strategy. The interface, sadly, will put anyone off who isn't a wargaming veteran, but anyone who has an interest in ancient Rome and its military history should push through that, because they will get a kick out of Field of Glory: Empires. If only because you'll be able to hand Hannibal the great victory and conquest the poor guy clearly deserved.

If you’ve played the original Dragon Quest Builders, the sequel is ultimately more of the same, except polished in very way. The slight improvements in building, inventory, combat and town management make this game an easy one to play, so much so that I imagine it’d be hard to go back to the first once you’ve become accustomed to the new mechanics. If you’ve got a lot of time to kill, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a great choice – it’s clever, rewarding, and has a wealth of possibility.

It's a grindy, retro-styled roguelike, with a wonderful monster collecting mechanic, and a great sense of humour. On the Nintendo Switch, it really feels at home, and as long as you can get over the overwhelming orientation process, you'll be set for many hours of dungeon crawling with this one.

You've got to ask yourself: if you're looking for quality pinball, would you not be better off playing a pinball title that offers actual quality? And if you're looking for something sexy, would you not be better off looking for something actually sexy? Peach Ball is broadly entertaining, but it's hardly a pinnacle in either case.

We’ve seen better from ACE Team. Abyss Odyssey was a gorgeous representation of the developer’s own culture (something we still see too infrequently in video games), while Rock of Ages was as funny as a Monty Python sketch, and Deadly Tower Of Monsters was the spot-on love letter to the dodgy B-cinema that so many of us loved growing up. In that company SolSeraph seems a little too unfocused and uncertain of itself, despite being an entertaining and challenging game in its own right. However ACE Team at its worst is still more distinctive than most other developers at their best. I do think that SolSeraph will find an audience, and I do hope, for those who have played ActRaiser, that this comes across as the spiritual successor they've long been waiting for.

I love that Netflix is investing in game development, because many of its properties could potentially use the medium to enhance the overall experience for fans. It needs to do better going forward though. Stranger Things 3: The Game is trash that does more harm to the property than good. It was almost quaint going on a memory trip back to when video games were used to churn out cheap bonus money grabs every time a major film landed, but the industry has moved on from that nonsense, and there's nothing about this game that is acceptable in this day and age.

Like a wave of nostalgia, Focus on You is over fleetingly quickly, and it's not exactly a deep and meaningful experience. It is beautifully produced and performed, however, and an excellent use of the unique experiences that VR enables. It's not going to win game of the year awards, but nostalgia is a tricky beast for developers to work effectively with, and I think this one captures the aesthetic and tone of a nostalgic memory perfectly.

Scrap Rush is ultimately a party game which does a little better than the other party game fare available on Switch at the moment. Its mechanics aren’t particularly novel but they are robust enough to support replayability, and there’s a good blend of skill and chance involved with success. The team at Acquire has successfully tapped into a more cerebral game that’s still easy to understand and quick to pick up and play. If you’ve got a group of friends you play local multiplayer with regularly, this has the chops to make it into the regular rotation. That being said, it might not have the staying power of some of the other local multiplayer classics.

Bloodstained is absolutely, unapologetically a game made for Symphony of the Night's many fans, and it lives up to that legacy better than I ever could have hoped for.

On the Nintendo Switch, and particularly in handheld mode, it actually looks really nice in capturing that grim-Mars wasteland. Sadly, open worlds age far worse than most other approaches to game design, and while I can quite happily recommend HD remasters of JRPGs that originally appeared on PlayStation 3 - or even PS2 or PS1 - because it's the unique and timeless narratives that people play them for, open worlds lose their value rapidly.

If you've ever wanted to learn Shogi, then this is the most accessible learning tool that we've had released in the west. By the end of it, you'll be comfortable enough with the game to start playing the real thing. As to whether that's enough to justify the steep asking price, think of it this way: I believe you learn a lot about a culture by the games it plays, and Shogi is a deep and enduring cultural artifact of Japan. So, if you do have a genuine interest in the country, its history, and its culture, then I would suggest that learning Shogi is important... and learning opportunities of this standard are few and far between.

The Sinking City is a thoughtful take on the source material, but is nearly destroyed by the poorly-executed open world and actions sequences. The investigations themselves are well-structured and easy to maneuver, but the long treks between, and the downtime that comes with them, is unnecessary. Still, if you're a Lovecraft fan or a fan of Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes titles, it's well worth a play for being an intriguing, and more authentic take on Lovecraft than most manage.

I really wanted to see a bigger improvement from the original Super Mario Maker to this sequel. The features that Nintendo has added in are nice, but with only one additional game environment to play around with in Super Mario 3D World, Nintendo is underselling the own rich heritage that it has to work with. With that being said, anything that encourages people to create, rather than just consume, is a noble cause, and Nintendo has managed to build something completely accessible despite giving users absolutely everything they need to recreate any Mario level. That's surely the holy grail of the creator genre.

The world has seen better visual novels. We've experienced smarter and deeper narratives, and we've seen games that effectively meld visual novel convention with gameplay elements to push the boundaries of what this genre is capable of. But since it's set in a patisserie, let's use this analogy to explain why Nekopara Vol 3 is so worthwhile: a title like Steins;Gate, Death Mark or Utawarerumono is like having a Kobe wagyu beef steak. It's the most succulent, delicious thing you've ever eaten. Nekopara is like having a crepe, filled with cream and sweet fruits; you're going to be on your death bed saying "I'm so glad I didn't miss out on that in my life," but you're going to enjoy the hell out of eating it anyway.

Truly, SEGA’s Ryu Ga Gotoku studio is one of the very few studios that we can rely on to push narrative boundaries and really explore the potential for what video games can offer as a traditional storytelling medium.

I can't help but think to myself that there are so many more interesting board games that I'd much rather have on my Switch than a serviceable version of Catan.

Blade II is a great example of what happens when you let a content-driven business make a content-driven game. There's plenty in there to do, but doing any of it is a complete waste of time. Sadly, games like Blade II are far too common, and happen right up and down the industry, from the tiny indies making mobile titles, right through to the biggest companies churning out the blockbusters. The contentification of video games is a plague, and Blade II is one of the most egregious examples of that.

While the games themselves are functional and worth a chuckle, the best experience relies on the player being familiar with the source material.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is exactly what the doctor ordered. It's light-hearted, hugely entertaining, and made with a real eye for detail that helps elevate the overall experience. After the disappointment of the recent Sonic one, this has put everything in the world right again.

And at the end of the day, I’m not sure if I’m happy with what the game represents, but I can’t help but admit that the levels are well made and the core gameplay is immensely enjoyable.

The fact is that Secret of Mana is to me what Chrono Trigger is to most people who were into JRPGs on the SNES, and Collection of Mana has been a truly wonderful trip back through my very fond memories for this series.

Even with SpellForce 3: Soul Harvest releasing so close to SpellForce 3, it’s worth it. The new storyline alone alongside the well crafted systems for both the RPG explorations and the RTS building of armies makes for a good time for both new and old fans alike.

Studio Evil have served us up our order and I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what they have planned for dessert.

It's light, breezy, gorgeous, and a joy to play.

A really quite brilliant game. There is fan service in there, and some people will look at that and the anime trappings and not be able to move past it, but underneath this exterior lies a heart that is in many ways the precise opposite of what you might be expecting. It's almost - dare I say it - feminist in the critique it provides over the way that women are treated in this fairy tale world.

It's unfortunate that the action is too pacy for the Switch controls and there wasn't more attention paid to strategic depth, balance, and how the games various systems would interact with one another, because Golem Gates had all the potential to be something truly amazing.

Vectronom is well made and attractive. It's got a strong sense of minimalist style, and as difficult as it is, it's also entirely fair, and once you've learned its rules and behaviour, it becomes comfortable, albeit difficult, to play. At the same time, this game crystalises some issues with how rhythm games as a whole handle music, and while its various stages are well designed enough, there's nothing truly memorable in there. It's an indie game that wears its heart on its sleeve, but unfortunately also struggles to stand out as anything but a textbook example of an indie title.

I wish more horror games were like Layers of Fear 2. It's a mature and intelligent understanding of the deeper and more meaningful elements of horror, and while I can have as much fun as anyone creeping around a Resident Evil game and shooting the ugly monsters while being startled by the jump scares, it's something like this that I end up reflecting on well after I've finished playing, and this is the kind of game that I return to when I'm looking for an actual horror experience.

There aren't many visual novels that are presented as well as Alternate Jake Hunter Daedalus: The Awakening of Golden Jazz. It's stylish, slick production that borrows from the classical masters of the crime fiction genre, while adding some genuinely creative approaches to the visual novel that help to make it both feel fresh and hard to put down.

If Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is really the last big 3DS release, it's one smashing swan song. The game is more straightforward than its predecessor, but this change plays to the strengths of Persona’s multitudinous characters. All up, it’s an exemplary crossover game worth investing hundreds of hours before you even start playing in just to appreciate its nuance.

If you’re okay with the lack of customisation options in the main game, then Project Nimbus will be a more than competent mecha game to tide you over until the release of Daemon X Machina. GameCrafterTeam have poured the entire team's love and effort into this aerial action game, and the love for the source material really shows.

I enjoyed Kotodama a great deal. It's just surprising enough to keep the narrative interesting, and the colourful humour and cheerful fan service certainly help make the game a delight to play. Could it have been more? Yes, certainly. There are plenty of moments in Kotodama that you'll think to yourself that it could have been much more than a straightforward fanservicey romp... but the developers have achieved exactly what they set out to do, and have done so with such precision and panache that it's a real joy to play anyway.

As a fan of Scrabble - and board games in general - I like the idea of having it on the Switch for on-the-go play. But when the AI is about as interesting as a parrot with access to a dictionary, a UI that actively wants to stop you playing the game, and a complete absence of anyone online to play with, I was left speechless, that a developer in 2019 was somehow capable of making a worse version of Scrabble than what we had on the Game Boy back in the 90's.

I thought going in that it would be something special. I think it still probably is something special. But with the console and television set up that I've got, and no apparent way to make the text and font more legible, I wasn't able to experience what makes this game the stand-out horror experience that the other reviews suggest that it is (and I've got no reason to believe that those reviews are in any way inaccurate). Unfortunately for me Darkwood is unintelligible, and I'm genuinely sad that I wasn't able to appreciate the many merits of a game because I simply had no way of actually making sense of it.

Team Sonic Racing is a decent kart racing game. It’s very unfortunate that Sumo Digital decided to fixate solely on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The lack of SEGA’s wide variety of franchises makes the game feel very samey throughout, and only fans of Sonic will get a kick out of the use of the IP. On the plus side, the team elements of the game works really well and that offers a unique way to play a kart game. It’s not the best or most interesting racing experience out there, but there’s some entertainment to be found in Team Sonic Racing, particularly for younger fans of the blue hedgehog.

Blood & Truth, however, lacks an experimental spirit. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it’s too easy to look at this, look at what conventional games achieve unburdened by VR, and still think that these “AAA”-minded developers are struggling with the limitations of the platform.

It’s testament to the charming quality of Kairosoft titles that you’ll keep playing them, even after realising how utterly pointless they are. Pocket League Story is another example of this. You’ll keep telling yourself that there are better options on the Switch for both football management and simulation… but then you'll find that you keep coming back to this because that good-natured charm and colour is simply irresistible.

We don't get many games that aspire to be true and honest works of art, but Observation is one.

If you’re planning to play a grindy dungeon crawler in short bursts over a long period of time, you’d be in the best position to get something out of Lapis x Labyrinth – but if you’re looking for something a little deeper than a button masher you might walk away disappointed.

Atelier Lulua's an interesting one from Gust. On the one hand it's certainly the most visually impressive and detailed effort we've seen from the series to date. Gust has always had limited budgets to work with, but the team has really pushed themselves here to make something that does look very "next gen". It also plays very cleanly. On the other hand, Atelier Lulua is a very traditional game, and is an effort to bring fans back to trilogy that has had two other full trilogies developed in-between. It's almost painfully delightful, warm, colourful, and completely charming in everything that it does, but its reliance on nostalgia and series tradition means that I'm just not sure that this will be one to win the series new fans.

OTTTD is a quality example of the tower defence genre by SMG Studio, and it is no wonder that the original release of OTTTD scored favourably enough that a Switch port, years later, would make sense. Is it essential? No, this genre was never about being “essential,” – it’s tailored right down to the core as a simple way of passing time with accessible challenge. But SMG Studio has nailed that brief, and this game does deserve to be considered among the very greats of the genre.

Castlevania Anniversary Collection is an excellent, high quality retro collection. It is of a collection where too many of the games don't hold enough value beyond their nostalgia, and it's lacking titles I would have considered to be key. However, with a great set of features, and plenty of classic dark fantasy platforming, this package is a useful reminder of just how prestigious the entire franchise really is.

On the surface, Akane is a super difficult game that requires absolute dexterity with a controller. It has some fantastic ideas which sadly are all cancelled out by mechanics and design choices that fight against the good stuff. It looks gorgeous, and can be enjoyed in really short spurts, but unfortunately there’s just not enough substance in this game to consider recommending it above the vast array of games available on the eShop right now.

Regardless of which way you choose to play, you get a supremely balanced, intelligent, and deeply strategic game in Total War: Three Kingdoms.

Re-playing Blades of Time in 2019 is surreal. There are assuredly many better games from the previous generation of consoles that deserve to be on Switch ahead of this one. I can’t even imagine the developers have any hope of using this re-release to springboard the franchise back as they work on a sequel, because no one is going to want a sequel after playing it. Time hasn’t been good to Blades of Time, and and other than for the morbidly curious, I can’t see anyone being masochistic enough to derive any value out of it.

World End Syndrome does more than enough as a visual novel - it's hard to put down, well written, and the art is gorgeous. I just hope people don't give up the first time, when the "bad ending" it mandatory. In hindsight it's a brilliant way to introduce the depth of choices that come after that scene, but it's the most poorly executed trick the game has up its sleeve.

On the one hand, A Plague Tale: Innocent tells an intense, and highly interesting story of one of the darkest moments of European history, and the impact that it had on its youngest people. It's evocative, interesting, and benefits from the highest calibre in production standards. On the other hand, it's so committed to a stock standard, safe approach to gameplay that so much of the great work done in the narrative is undermined. A Plague Tale comes so achingly close to the brilliance of a Hellblade, but sadly where Ninja Theory's "blockbuster indie" project is a masterpiece, Armicia's story is "just" a page-turner.

It's the perfect blend of a classical, nostalgic love letter to the genesis of the tactics RPG, while at the same time offering just enough to subvert expectations so that even genre veterans will have trouble putting this one down.

Something about the survival genre has taken all those brilliant ingredients and spat out a failure of a meal, however, and that's an depressing reflection on the entire genre.

European Conqueror doesn't really work as a historical wargame. Its predecessor dealt with it loosely enough, but European Conqueror takes the abstraction one step too far for its own good. With that being said, this is still a very fine tactical wargame, with good scope, and certainly so much to do that you won't be putting it down in a hurry.

Sadly Shadowgate remake falls into a trap of not adding anything to Shadowgate, making it rather redundant to play. With that being said, Shadowgate is still Shadowgate, and there's an inherent classic quality to this adventure that, coupled with the dark fantasy atmosphere and general difficulty, also makes it inherently rewarding.

What really lets Our World Is Ended down is its lack of narrative focus. On the one hand you'd got a compelling discussion about fluid reality - something that, much like AI and robotics, is quickly falling out of the area of "science fiction" and into "we actually need to talk about this, because it's happening" territory. On the other hand, you've got a lot of stories about a bunch of generally unlikable characters and their obsession with breasts. With the way Our World Is Ended is designed, these don't mix anywhere near as well as they needed to to take this to the upper echelons of the genre.

I do think the Castlevania retro collection that Konami has coming soon will do a better job. Focused as it is on a single, more mainstream franchise should help elevate it in the same way the Street Fighter collection was elevated by the sheer quality and consistency of the brand. Haunted Castle would have been more fitting in that collection, though. Konami really does make some odd choices at times.

It is impossible to put down.

Cytus Alpha is one of the finest playing rhythm games you'll ever come across. It's abstract, minimalist and focused, but it delivers such vibrant rhythm game action that it's impossible not to love.

Despite a lack of originality and questionable controls I found myself coming back to Giga Wrecker Alt to tackle that puzzle, overcome that boss or just explore its world. If you are looking for a ground breaking new entry in Game Freak's reserve or something similar to the Pokémon titles then this may not be the title for you. However, Game Freak's team has stepped out of their comfort zone and developed a game with some rather satisfying qualities which may just tide you over.

On the one hand SteamWorld Quest is a frustrating experience. Image & Form really needs to track down some writers that can weave tales into its intriguing and impeccably-designed SteamWorld universe. There's so much potential there that it's becoming tiring waiting for the team to tap into it. At the same time, SteamWorld Quest is also a delight to play, with a well-developed card-based combat system, gorgeous art and production values, and elegant gameplay structures. It's a game (and franchise) that wears its indie credentials on its sleeve, and it's hard to be too disappointed by its flaws for that reason.

The concept of Panty Party is hilarious, though once you move past making jokes about finally getting your hands on Hatsune Miku's underwear, the humour of the game doesn't exactly sustain itself either.

BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! tells a beautiful, minimalist story that can appeal to everyone. Like everything else, it's brilliance is in its simplicity.

Moero Chronicle is so completely unabashed about its fan service and endless innuendo that it's oddly charming, in its own way. There's absolutely no way that people who don't enjoy fan service for the sake of fan service will get anything out of this game. The dungeon crawling is executed well enough, but it's traditional to a fault.

For its strengths and its faults, I kept finding myself drawn back to the game’s evocative narrative all the way through. Even after the open world shenanigans and tedious emphasis on combat wore me down, I carried on at the thought of finding out more about characters who at that point were starting to feel like real people. And at the centre of it all, is Deacon St. John – a callous, cold-blooded ex-biker ex-military mercenary, but he’s got an enormous heart, and that makes all the difference. The whole game is a joy to play, because of the optimism which he and his friends build up over the course of what is otherwise a bleak and empty landscape. And this is more than a fitting summary for Days Gone – a zombie game in 2019 featuring open-world mechanics we’ve all seen before – but like Deadon, the team at Bend Studio have got an enormous hearts, and, just like with Deacon, that makes all the difference.

It is hard to believe that Dragon’s Dogma originally launched in 2012 as it feels current and fresh seven years later. The deep combat system still feels seamless and fluid, the Pawn system is still as innovative as ever - it works so well, and yet no other developer has decided to crib it for their own games.

That Tin Man Games has managed to take the newest of video game technologies to deliver something so perfectly nostalgic that it predates video games entirely. Somehow, that also makes Table of Tales the most impressive application of VR that doesn’t let me get up on stage with Hatsune Miku and dance with her.

For a game whose lead protagonist is a girl with the ability to summon cheese sandwiches, Alluna and Brie is genuinely impressive project. It's a full featured blend of JRPG and visual novel thanks to its time management and minigames, the art nails the humorous fan service brief, and the narrative, while shallow, is rife with an excellent sense of Australian humour.

The perfect addition to the series. Earth Defense Force 5 made improvements but it still felt like it was slavishly committed to the way earlier EDF titles operated. Iron Rain is different. It finally taking itself more seriously, which may or may not resonate with every player, but the end-to-end revamp in the way the game works on every level is exactly what the series needed to keep pushing forward.

The characters are whacky and wild, the crimes confounding, all in the best ways. However, before you play, a note: it will become habit to yell "Objection!" when you disagree with anything.

Feather is a beautiful, soulful experience, which is sadly too limited for its own good.

Just as foreign films might be worthy, even essential, even though they lack the budgets and production values of Hollywood, so too does a title like Sword and Fairy 6 deserve to find an audience in the kind of player that is more interested in artistry and theme than how well done the button pressing fun is.

This isn’t a game which cracks easy jokes about weed culture; it doesn’t underestimate the finesse involved in the craft; but it also doesn’t shy away from criticising the shadier aspects of the industry either. It’s a truly fascinating look into a mythologised trade, and it’ll be a test for the most seasoned of tycoon fans.

The World Next Door isn't perfect, but is shows that Viz is - for now, at least - willing to take on a project that's a little different and oddball. Colourful, creative, and generally well designed, it's worth forgiving this particular title its teen B-tier narrative tropes.

The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa is one of the best examples of subversion within the brawler genre since the mighty Lollipop Chainsaw.

When I first read the premise of Generation Zero I was intrigued and before I even loaded the game up for the first time I was excited. I wanted to like this game. Unfortunately, the game quickly falls into a beautiful void of its own making. With weak storytelling and empty gameplay, Generation Zero sinks into the mud and collapses like so many tents at the festival that day, gripping to weak foundations.

Zanki Zero isn't really "new"; underneath the dungeon crawler window dressing it's too similar to its predecessors thematically to stand out as a bold new statement. The dungeon crawling elements work well enough, however, and it's hard to complain that the creators are sticking to their traditions when these games are so intensely intriguing and intelligent. Zanki Zero offers every bit the brilliance that Danganronpa did.

It's a fairly by-the-numbers dungeon crawl that borrows the Steampunk aesthetic, and offers some genuinely clever twists, as far as combat goes. There aren't too many dungeon crawlers on the Switch, and even within that category Vaporum is flat enough that it doesn't come out on top, but it's a pleasurable way to bust a few hours on a weekend nonetheless.

With that, there’s really not much redeeming about Dungeons and Aliens. It squanders a potentially interesting Tolkien-ish Fantasy vs. B-Movie Alien plot, and barely gets its skinner-box-gameplay-loop out the door. I could only recommend this game if you’re looking for something to fidget your fingers with – but aside from that, nearly anything else on the Switch would be a better choice.

As the first RTS on the Switch, WarParty is an brave attempt to emulate the glory days of a genre that has long moved on in terms of what it offers players. Admirable as the attempt might be, though, the game is so unrelentingly unpleasant to play, and so limited in scope, that I think I'll be sticking to the plethora of superb turn-based strategy titles that are also available on the console.

It's rare that I find a game so completely inspiring that it continues to consume my thoughts beyond the game, and encourages me to learn something new. I've always had an interest in Chinese history and artistic tradition. I've always had an interest in poetry. I've never had an excuse to delve into Chinese poetry and the history of its poets before Lyrica. And I'm so thankful that Lyrica has given me the reminder and excuse to do so.

Tropico 6 does provide the much-needed stepping stones to advance the series. For a series which often gets continued updates or DLC, Tropico 6 is also with with a long and exciting future ahead of it. The developer has indeed created what sets out to be the definitive version of Tropico, and while there may not be ground breaking adjustments to the core of the series, at its core the series doesn’t need to be something else. The enhancements to the strategy side of the game are welcome, but really, it's the return of the satire that makes Tropico 6 such a delight.

Overall, Darksiders is dated and a little embarrassing, but it’s also surprisingly good. It’s a testament to the robust design choices that Vigil Games made when developing their original title, that each of its parts holds up after a decade of innovation in gaming.

I will say that I wish that Tom Clancy's The Division 2 had more to say. The thin story is not helped much by its characters and stands in sharp contrast to the intriguing setting and mission development. These tasks certainly provide more interest than the simple fetch-quests found in most games, and it is interesting that mission characters are often more interesting than those who help propel the primary storyline forward. Despite this concern however, just about everything else The Division 2 does is fantastic, and I have found myself logging back into it over and over again as I further explore what the game has to offer.

The pacey, stylish, and colourful action, complemented with the neat strategy elements and interesting - albeit high-energy narrative, combine to make The Princess Guide quite unlike the other JRPGs out there.

Games like Yoshi's Crafted World always get overlooked and quickly forgotten - they're not explosive enough, the graphics aren't realistic, and you can't make memes about how it's "destroying" you. But, this game is the perfect foil for all those other titles being produced, and while it's a different manifestation of quality, it's every bit the standard of any expensive, open-world blockbuster out there.

While the Pinball FX3: Williams Pinball: Volume 3 is not the best of what Zen Studios has to offer, this has been my favourite of the three Williams sets so far. The tables all have interesting twists that make them unique from one another and they are faithful recreations of real-world tables.

The bright, charming, and community-focused story, in a world without a great evil or catastrophe to reveal the ugliness of humanity, means that Nelke, like every other Atelier title, is the perfect foil to the unrelenting angst and anger of so many other games out there.

If lastability and replay value are the sacrifices needed for tight and innovative design, then Attack of the Earthlings signals a welcome change in a saturated genre. I for one welcome our new insect overlords.

As a character-driven bit of Final Fantasy fanservice, Chocobo Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy nails the bright, bubbly charm and joy of a good, humble JRPG. It’s the small moments where you get to simple appreciate Chocobo for the adorable character that he is that it’s at its best, and accompanied by the comfortably familiar and accessible dungeon crawling that it has, this is a relaxing, pleasant, joyful game, and I hope it sells brilliantly, so Square Enix can realise that this is one mascot that shouldn’t be put on ice.

I enjoyed the more robust attention to telling a story and while this means that the levels are more structured, From Software deserves a great deal of credit for clever level design that makes great use of Wolf's prosthetic arm and his great sense of mobility. It will be interesting to see if Sekiro has the same longevity and rabid fan devotion as the Souls games, but I can fully appreciate From Software taking some chances and doing something quite different as well.

There's a basis here to grow into something truly spectacular, but the first entry of open world One Piece hasn't delivered on its promise.

Ninja Village is so bright and charming it's impossible not to get drawn into playing yet another Kairosoft title, and then staring at the screen for hour upon hour. These things are always so perfectly low-pressure playable, that they're just that much easier to open up than the more complex and detailed city builders available on the Switch. That's not to say it's necessarily better, but when you need to simply chill out, there are few better that do it better than Kairosoft.

A Ghost of a Tale is a solid vision, and done justice given its the development constraints. It was remarkably brave of the developer to tackle a genre and subject as complex as this, and it's a remarkable achievement that it has come out the other end as compelling and deeply playable as it is.

It's been quite the period for shooters on the Switch, with the port of Turok the Dinosaur Hunter and the modern buddy-cop shooter, Rico, all releasing along with Apocryph over the last couple of weeks. Apocryph's stylish commitment to the classic shooter genre tradition, and its dark fantasy vibe, make it the most distinctive and appealing of these games. That design also lets the game down when it comes to delivering a satisfying shooter, but people who can still pick up Heretic or Hexen and enjoy them for what they are will also be able to get a couple of hours of frantic fun out of Apocryph.

Fate/Extella Link is a delight. It takes beloved characters from a beloved anime franchise, and then appropriates the Koei Tecmo Warriors gameplay structure with such style and panache that Koei should be taking some notes itself. If only the developers hadn't gone with the ham-fisted sci-fi elements. Fate doesn't need that stuff.

Having "unlimited replay value" means nothing when it results in such a grind, and I can't help but think that Rico would have been so much better if it was over and done in a couple of hours, but that bombastic action really had a chance to fly thanks to carefully designed levels arranged to help boost that experience.