The presentation in general is great, and the challenge level is oddly compelling. This is a difficult game to put down.

It constantly reminds you that you’re not playing Portal by highlighting all the ways that it falls short of Valve’s beloved puzzler. ChromaGun came at the king, and it missed.

Go into this game with an open mind, and allow the game’s pleasant charm, sweet characters and storytelling, and light, graceful approach to JRPG action to wash over you, and you may just find yourself as in love with the utterly refreshing and pure experience that Atelier Lydie & Suelle has to offer you.

Toodee and Topdee could have been something truly essential if the developers had have funnelled the creative energy that they put into the puzzles and mechanics into some other areas of game design, too. Unfortunately, the game doesn't have the personality, aesthetics or energy to stand toe-to-toe with the big guns. But the puzzles themselves show a confident understanding of good design and creativity. Ultimately that is the most important thing for a puzzle game, so hopefully, the developers get the chance to revisit what they've done here with a slightly broader vision. This team clearly has talent in spades.

Someone I know summed up the game perfectly: this seems like the kind of game Tina Belcher (a character in Bob's Burgers) would write. And I am fully here for it. I am head-over-heels for six weapons, something I never thought I would say. The narrative, the gameplay, the music, the animation – it's all wonderful. Any complaint I have lies in the fact I am greedy and want more. Thankfully, more is on the way!

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Ash of Gods: The Way anywhere near as much as I did. What could have been a big step backward from the bold and ambitious effort of the original Ash of Gods has instead become one of the most genuine efforts to push the burgeoning “deckbuilding card game” genre forward.

The true value of Toukiden, and now Kiwami, is the sheer respect and love for Japanese heritage that drips through its atmosphere.

I hope it’s a game that others embrace as a stepping stone towards understanding a history and culture that too many are too eager to dismiss as “weird” or different.

This is a game which taught me to love the feeling of being lost, and I’m sure it’s one I will return to for a long time.

Between the various modes, the online options, the huge cast of unlockable and upgradeable characters, you will not lack for things to do.

Adventures of Pip is a solid platformer with a clever little gameplay mechanic, but ultimately doesn't do all that much with it. That being said, away from the mechanics, it was also good to see one of these retro-themed platformers do something more with the art style than simply have it as window-dressing. Adventures of Pip actually turns pixels into part of the gameplay, and that's neat.

Even with all of its Halloween charm, Costume Quest 2’s greatest strength is that it knows its limits. It's a short experience, and it's to it benefit as it never feels bloated. It’s the quintessential bite-sized RPG, wrapped in all the Halloween charm you could ever hope for.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is in an odd spot where only diehard comic book fans will really appreciate all of its references, but those that already care about these characters will want to see them interact in more meaningful ways. Instead of giving players an interesting original story, it’s just yet another by-the-numbers LEGO title that will leave players occasionally laughing between bouts of frustration between its dull combat and often counterintuitive puzzles. Ultimately, this is one brick that doesn’t have to be collected.

A surprising mix of old and new, which has managed to once again rekindle my excitement for both the genre and the developer. It may stumble every so often, but Dying Light is still the most fun I’ve had in a while.

The sheer precision that Superbeat offers, whether you’re using the touch screen or buttons to play, allows the developers to really ramp up the challenge, but do so fairly. The way each track is scored also perfectly fits with the music theme, and so each track feels different to play. And, consequently, each player is going to find tracks outside of their comfort zone difficult to get a feel for. I can nail that Latin American track, but damn I’m terrible at sludge metal. So, yes, Superbeat is superb, but as a result of my desire to avoid a number of tracks like the plague, there's not as much in there as I might have otherwise liked.

By the end of Spirit of Sanada you’ll have learned something, enjoyed the prettiest Warriors game to date, and seen just how far Koei Tecmo’s been able to take this series, so that it’s no longer purely an action game. With Spirit of Sanada, we see a future for the Warriors franchise where every battle and event is given context and purpose, and it’s a far deeper and more rounded experience for that.

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.

This is a game that knows it’s nothing more than light-hearted fun, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Sure, it can feel a little too cheesy to be palatable at times, but the developers have cooked up a perfectly satisfying meal for the enjoyment of you, your great-grandchildren, and your great-great-grandchildren after them.

Chroma Squad is a fun little RPG that doesn't take itself too seriously and is happy to be silly nonsense. It's not the most lasting of games, and some glitches to wear the experience down, but I think Behold Studios could really turn a sequel into something special - and I hope they do.

Tachyon Project does not reinvent the wheel for twin stick shooters, but it does add some creative new tread that allows it to feel familiar yet fresh at the same time. There are plenty of modes, challenges and customisations to try out, so fans of the genre should have plenty to keep them busy throughout their time with it.

The lack of narrative hasn't stopped me from pouring hours and hours into Sky Force Reloaded, and I don't doubt I'll put in a great many more—I have to perfect every level on Insane difficulty, after all. This is a game that doesn't do anything new, but it takes a classic genre and delivers on it so well that it's hard to fault the lack of innovation. If you have even the slightest interest in shoot 'em ups, this is a game you don't want to miss.

I know I've said this at least a dozen times now, but I do think Shantae deserves better than the platformer genre. She's just too good of a character to waste on a genre that doesn't really do narrative. Give her an RPG or something, WayForward. In the meantime, though, while this might not be the biggest release of the year, it's certainly a worthwhile celebration of one of the most niche - but loved - platformer heroes out there.

If you’re in need of a wicked spiritual expulsion, consider opting for an Extreme Exorcism. Just make sure you bring the blue hair dye.

Warp Shift is a puzzle game that is joyful in its accessibility and expansive in its complexity.

Soul Hackers 2 is a smart, evocative, and classically dark game from the Shin Megami Tensei tradition. It’s not going to turn heads like Persona 5 and SMT V did, but the developers seem to have realised this and taken the opportunity to deliver a harder-hitting and more thought-provoking narrative. To me, that’s Atlus getting back to its core vision for the broad and extended SMT property. That’s what I want from this series.

Beyond Gotham could have stood for some more innovation, but it's impossible to deny that it's a charming game with its tried-and-true.

I went into Princess Peach: Showtime expecting Nintendo-quality filler. A game to pad out the year’s release schedule without being a particularly memorable effort by the company. Instead, we get a wonderful, playful and clever little game that allowed Nintendo to make Peach a multifaceted hero without needing to subvert all those years spent building this incredibly valuable character. This feels like it could be the start of another very valuable property for the company.

I hope this is just the start for Pathfinder in video games, and I like the future that Kingmaker promises. It's a major time commitment, sure, but Pathfinder: Kingmaker has the kind of narrative arc and development that perfectly captures the essence of playing a tabletop RPG, only in digital form. That's something that I haven't really felt since the era of Baldur's Gate itself and for that I really appreciated what the developers have achieved her.

By giving us a rare – albeit fantastic – look into an almost completely ignored period of Japanese history Otomate has given us a gift. Winter’s Wish is beautiful and written with a deft touch. We’ve got a great cast of characters, a meaty narrative to work through, and some notes to start learning more about a fascinating chapter of history. It’s a win all around.

Though TRI lacks the polish and presentation of the more popular Portal titles, its sheer accessibility and serenity mark it out as something genuinely different, and as such deserves to be noticed.

We already know there’s at least one more Prinny Presents volume on the way, and I encourage NISA to continue producing them as long as there’s an obscure back catalogue to work through. Players will be attracted to these collections on the promise of “hundreds of hours of content” where they might overlook them individually as being too “obscure.” Then, after starting to play them, those same people will realise that NISA is so much more than the house that makes Disgaea, and as both developer and publisher, has produced a vast library of obscure games that deserve to be remembered despite the obscurity.

Given that this is the first attempt at a very different kind of game for Koei Tecmo, I’d say that Attack on Titan franchise is in good hands going forward.

Particulars is a game by smart people for smart people. It holds many instances of clever design choices that both entertain and educate, although its complex subject matter might leave some players in the dust.

While it’s not to the standard of its rhythm games, Rayark did well with its first RPG. Implosion looks gorgeous and is a very slick production. You can tell that it’s a game that comes from a studio that has had minimal need to develop narratives previously, and on the Nintendo Switch, the game’s mobile roots hurt it, but then the Nintendo Switch is also a portable console, and as a game that’s best played in short bursts, it’s a good one to have sitting on the hard drive or memory card.

STATIONflow is an interesting experiment in urban space design, with an eye for the utilitarian and an ultimately sympathetic outlook on the bureaucracy. All in all, meeting the demands of thousands of commuters is difficult, and the game is effective in teaching the player why inefficiencies tend to occur. It’s a very particular kind of person who would enjoy this – they’d need to like thinking on their feet, and coming up with practical (if a little boring) solutions to complex problems, only to be rewarded by the reassurance that nothing’s gone wrong. But as with most games which target a niche audience, there’s bound to be a dedicated following eager to enjoy what DMM Games have to offer.

Dice Legacy does have some interesting ideas under its belt, and I’m excited to keep exploring the various strategies and play styles that its robust tech tree has in store. I find the experience quite taxing with how much improvisation and compromise it demands, so I’m saving it for a time where I’m in the mood for careful, organised play. If the idea of a strategy game with an unusual twist piques your interest, Dice Legacy is a great game to pick up – on PC. As enjoyable as the game is, the poor optimisation means Switch owners would do well to look elsewhere.

So, while the horror might be a little too much of a pastiche for its own good (it does go places sometimes, but a "haunted letter", Ring-style, is a shoddy hook in 2021), there's something very readable and enjoyable about The Letter. It's not particularly deep, but it's significantly better than amateur standard, the editing is clean, and you can just tell that this was a labour of love for the development team. It might not be an Otomate production, but this is of a standard that well exceeds most other indie visual novels.

As a big-time Shantae fan, I’ve loved having the opportunity to fill in the gap for the game in the seies that we very nearly didn’t get. It’s more a curiosity than something essential – more recent titles in the series are definitely better, but if this continues to breathe life into the series, then I’m all for it.

Because the developers were so inept at resolving this tension, I lost interest in Mouse: P.I. For Hire within the first level, and each subsequent stage found me disliking it more and more. It’s a competently and even entertainingly made game, but a dismally cynical work of art, and it never manages to shake the impression that the only reason that it looks the way it does is that the marketing team thought that it would be a good way to “stand out” and shift units.

If you're into the 80's neon-filled culture and new wave music, then Neon Chrome might just very well be the perfect little game to play over the weekend.

These are really minor complaints, though, when stacked against the fact that Atelier Firis took me back to the innocence and joy in those Arland games that got me interested in the series in the first place. Most importantly, given that this is the first time that he’s helmed the creative side of an Atelier title, Shinichi Yoshiike has proven himself to be a confident and safe pair of hands to shape the series into the future. As such, I expect that this series will continue to remain my favourite among the more traditional JRPG franchises out there.

I am, of course, a hardcore Warriors fan. Everyone knows that. I play them all. Fire Emblem Warriors is, for my mind, the best of the licensed Warriors titles.

Potion Permit is twee. It’s sweet and charming, and made with love. The developers were also successful in finding a new take on the Moon-like rural life sim, and Atelier fans in particular are going to enjoy this crossover. The combat is the only real misfire, and thankfully it’s never present enough to make the rest of the experience taste sour.

It remains true that Cat Quest is a hugely reductive game that strips the RPG formula to its very roots, and that lack of depth becomes tiresome towards the end. I'm glad that this is not a game that outstays its welcome, but at the same time it's not a game I'll remember, beyond that adorable skipping run of my adorable little furrball.

I love The Alliance Alive HD for so many reasons that the laughably simple gameplay was a non-issue. The characters are vibrant, the world is fascinating to explore, the aesthetics are gorgeous, and the game perfectly straddles that line between indulging in nostalgia and modernising what it needs to to retain relevance. It's the kind of game that looks like it would be easy to dismiss or overlook as being something too indebted to yesteryear, but in truth it deserves much greater respect than that.

For a game that is 13 years old, it's surprising how well the game holds up today. The game is enjoyable as the strategy is solid.

The platforming is rock solid, and as I noted, I love the theme with a passion. I would like to see WayForward do something more narrative-heavy with Shantae, as I think she would be a spectacular lead in a RPG or similar, but as it stands this is my favourite 2D platformer series of all, and I'm glad to see that it's now on PlayStation too.

The nature of the game’s narrative development means it has a healthy respect for the surreal, and while it’s a downbeat narrative, it’s a rewarding and valuable one.

There are plenty of titles out there with a strong moral conscience that try to communicate with players by making "difficult decisions" the core gameplay loop. This includes This War of Mine, Papers Please, Reigns, Not Tonight, Beholder, Ministry of Broadcast, and plenty of others besides. Yes, Your Grace is guilty of not adding enough to this philosophy of game design, and thus I suspect that it is destined to be one of the lesser-remembered examples of the "genre." With that being said, there's still a lot to appreciate about this one, and it's wrapped up in such a lovely package that, if nothing else, it makes for an excellent lazy Sunday afternoon experience.

I would have liked more context to the action, better realised characters, and more involved levels. And, of course, some kind of single player experience. But, for what it is, as a no-frills Overwatch clone, Paladins gets the job done. It’s a game I’ll likely be playing for quite some time to come, because it certainly scratches a very specific itch.

The gameplay is pretty standard but also very well done. The minigames could be tweaked a bit; leaving your player feeling stupid isn’t exactly a good thing. But the story overshadows a lot of my complaints: it’s intriguing, it’s heartfelt, it’s scary. It’s not the best game you’ll ever play, but the developers have tried to make something distinct, at least.

Cygni: All Guns Blazing is a SHMUP with some seriously high production values behind it. For a genre that is usually quite niche, seeing something that pitches higher like this is impressive. It’s not always perfect – the budget spent on the cut scenes was a noble idea that ultimately misfired – but once you’re into the thick of the swirling maelstrom of activity, it’s hard to be disappointed with what the developers have achieved.

It’s just a really nicely designed and executed game. I don’t think Ariana and the Elder Codex will be the kind of experience that sits in people’s memories for months and years after finishing it. I also don’t think that it’ll be something people are recommending and writing essays on a decade from now. It’s a bright, charming game made for easy consumption right now, and sometimes that’s all you need.

I didn't think I would like this at first but the game soon grabbed me and pulled me into a wonderful story and well thought out characters.

Culdcept Saga is, with or without dice, absolutely brilliant, and the kind of game I can see myself playing for a very long time into the future. It successfully takes a couple of different approaches to traditional board and card games, and fuses them into something that you can spend a lot of time learning to master, and feeling really good about yourself as you do.

World Conqueror X is a hugely rewarding strategy game. It's not as refined or committed to the history of the conflict as the more serious wargame fans would like, but then it manages to depict the truly complex, global conflict in a streamlined, accessible, and, for the most part, authentic manner. I am beyond delighted that the Nintendo Switch has something like this on it.

Like the very best horror, Tokyo Dark takes a look at real-world issues and tensions in a way that's memorably shocking. There's a strong subtext to Tokyo Dark's story, and its told in a nuanced way, with memorable characters and intense imagery. Cherrymochi is a unique developer that has created a unique thing here, and for that the team has certainly earned my attention for whatever it has coming next.

There's not much else to say beyond what was in my review of this game on PlayStation 4. The Switch port is a high quality, highly functional version of the base game, and while there are some totally expected visual downgrades, this is offset by the fact that you can now play Railway Empire on the go without having to lug your laptop around. When it comes to the kind of experience a simulator offers, the portable form factor really is is the ideal way to go.

Armello really does a very good job of blending board game mechanics with video game technology to create a fun experience that should appeal to fans of both.

The Famicom Detective Club games are excellent, highly traditional detective mystery stories. Some might see that as "quaint", "old", "antiquated" or even "simple." That's simply our cultural experience talking. The reality is that these games are highly relevant to the Japanese understanding and interest in the genre, entirely modern, and the core storytelling experience is so modern it's easy to forget that they're remakes of NES-era classics. Throw in some of the most stunning VN art from the very masters of the genre, and this little collection of two titles has every chance of becoming one of the sleeper hits of the year. And, who knows? If it finds the audience it deserves, it might just inspire Nintendo and Mages to make a new one. I'd be up for more Famicom Detective Club.

While Harvestella takes a while to get going, the journey is rich, rewarding and wholesome. For a genre that is usually the province of the mid-tier developers, having something like this that doesn’t cut corners, doesn’t feel like a series of concessions and feels creatively liberating is an inherent joy. Many years ago I read a wonderful analysis of Harvest Moon that effectively argued that the series has been so popular in Japan for so long because farming is a genuinely aspirational pursuit to so many people, who feel locked into soul-crushing and exhausting work in concrete jungles. That being the case, the pure fantasy escapism of Harvestella makes a particularly potent example of its little genre indeed, and for just about anyone on the planet right now, this is exactly what we needed.

The Cruel King And The Great Hero is a lovely and loving adaptation of everything that people love about the fairy tale, with the charming premise of a girl that dreams of being a hero, and a gold-hearted dragon that makes that happen for her. I know we’re all feeling JRPG fatigue from the sheer number of them that have been released this year, but don’t let this slip past you. It almost did me, and that would have been a big pity.

Trinity Trigger fills a very specific niche: It’s there for people that either grew up with the likes of Secret of Mana, or who have come to appreciate them. The game wears its heart on its sleeve and risks being seen as the wrong kind of quaint by sticking to such a classical approach. Thankfully, the soul and love for the genre are so obvious that I imagine most people will be enchanted by this.

Sherlock's mind is presented in such a way that he is clearly a man treading the line between madness and brilliance, which makes this opportunity to play him all the more riveting and an opportunity not to be missed people who enjoy genuine detective fiction.

I did have a delightful time with One Piece Odyssey. The best way to summarise it is as a breezy, easy-playing JRPG that you can knock off over several weeks and a few solid sessions. The developers have crafted something blissfully over-the-top and funny, and done One Piece a grand homage to celebrate its 25th year, while at the same time very cleverly figuring out how to make a 25-year-old anime as entertaining for newcomers and those not familiar with Luffy and the crew as it is for those who have watched every single episode. That is some incredible work.

What Mario Maker on the 3DS has forgotten is that one of the key reasons to make games is to have other people play them.

NBA Live 19 has provided a fun, slightly hybrid arcade/simulation style of basketball that works well on the court. There is still room to add features and improve some aspects of the gameplay, but the series has taken some long strides in the right direction since rebooting. That is good news for hoops fans such as myself, who feel that some healthy competition is a good thing.

If you’ve never played Tomb Raider, then you can grab this and enjoy the ride. It still looks comparable to other modern titles on Switch 2. The action is also taut and, the first time through, exciting. The thing is, though: Tomb Raider just isn’t worth replaying that often. The best games – as works of art – delight over and over, no matter how familiar they become. With Tomb Raider, and so many other blockbusters over the last 15 years, familiarity just makes the lack of creative inspiration behind them and the slavish devotion to risk-free content delivery all the more apparent.

Multiplayer is, of course, the main reason that you buy into a Battlefield game, and it's generally enjoyable, even if it doesn't do anything to revolutionise the genre. However, both Activision and EA, and every other FPS developer that aspires to become the top dog franchise, needs to learn that if they are going to persist in putting single player narratives into their games, then they need to do a far better job.

As a fan of Scrabble, Boggle, and other word games, this is a nice alternative for when I can't get some friends around to play one of the board games.

Reverie is a game with Kiwi heart and soul, it is a love letter to New Zealand, to classic adventure puzzle games, and to childhood summers spent daydreaming being an explorer and hero.

The open world format really lets LEGO 2K Drive down. It’s disappointing that all those development resources went into a pointless “story” when the developers could have focused on giving players more awesome tracks and cups to enjoy. The underlying racing mechanics are so very entertaining. Instead, though, we have a familiar story: a massive space to “explore” but no meaningful reason to do so. Developers, if all you’re going to do with open worlds is dump busywork on players and use it to pad out the number of hours it’ll take them to finish the game, then find a different format. Not everything needs an open world, and I would argue that arcade “kart” racers are a good example of that.

There are not many games in this world that I can say actually made me grow as a person, but A Normal Lost Phone is definitely one of those titles.

The ways in which TownCraft subtly nudges players in a certain direction is a great way of allowing creativity to flourish while still providing targets and a traditional sense of challenge.

With a second season pass to come, RoTK XIV is a significant investment, but it's one of those games that becomes a hobby all by itself. The portable platform suits it, as the clean aesthetics and design look resplendent on the Switch screen, and while it's not exactly a pick-up-an-play experience, it's also the kind of strategy game where you can get a lot done when you've got an hour's spare over lunch or before bed. This is going to be on heavy rotation for a long time to come.

Yo-Kai Watch continues to be a delightful mix of morality stories for children, nostalgia for what it's like to be a child in suburban Japan, humour and monster collecting. The series may well never hit the same notes of mainstream popularity as Pokemon, but the fact that Pokemon has got a very genuine competitor in this particular genre, finally, is hopefully a sign that will push both franchises forward into the future.

Tesla vs Lovecraft is enjoyable enough for what it is: a simple, energetic twin-stick shooter fat doesn't push any boundaries but gets most of the fundamentals right. At the same time, there's so much untapped potential in the idea of Lovecraft/Tesla crossover, and that leaves me wanting so much more from this game than it actually delivers.

Phantom Doctrine did come out of nowhere to become a truly enjoyable and memorable experience. If you had have told me six months ago that it would be possible to take the pulp sci-fi, raw entertainment of XCOM and apply it to a Cold War espionage narrative, I wouldn’t have believed you. That’s exactly what has been delivered here, though, and I hope it has the chance to surprise plenty of other people.

I doubt any digital poker game will be able to completely replace the real, physical game, but Pure Hold'em is nevertheless a truly special experience, and as premium poker games go, we won't see a better one than this for some time to come.

God Eater 2: Rage Burst is a great mission based action experience. It’s the added narrative and characterisation that makes it more than just another Monster Hunter-like grindfest for better equipment to take on bigger monsters with. They even provide sunglasses, so you get to look cool while doing it all.

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

The point here is that Death End re;Quest is an excellent game, with a narrative with a depth that might surprise some players who go in assuming that fan service is the limit of it. And, sure, the Switch port is not the perfect version of the game and struggles to run smoothly at times, but that doesn't stop it from being highly playable, and for Idea Factory, putting this on a handheld platform is a worthwhile endeavour.

Without a doubt getting the most out of RPG Maker WITH requires a substantial time commitment, and there’s no point to buying the software just to play other people’s games – you can download the demo for that. If, however, you’ve ever had the creative itch to play with this wonderful genre, then the tools couldn’t be easier and you don’t need to know a line of code. Get out there and get creating!

Sega 3D Classics Collection doesn’t have the finest selection of mainstream hits Sega could have assembled, but that curious nature is precisely what makes it so special. Had only the most beloved fan-favourites been given the 3D makeover, I simply wouldn't have walked away with the same sense of awe.

The strongest part of Regalia was its multitude of lovable characters, and any interaction with them was where the game really shone; there just weren’t enough of those opportunities to carry the more cumbersome elements. Those new to JRPGs likely won’t have the same jaded lens to view this game through, but I maintain that for Regalia to have really made an impact, it would have had to aspire to more than being a tribute to those who have gone before.

It’s the combination of well designed levels, hauntingly picturesque visuals and a consistent overarching tone which make this game hard to put down. I admire the developers’ ability to keep the player fixated on a pensive mindset, so that regardless of how difficult the levels become, they always have something deep to ponder on as they repeat each level until the correct button timings are ingrained into their fingers.

Atlus has proven that Persona 4 DAN was not a one off, and while SEGA and Atlus seem to have lost the Hatsune Miku license recently, it is clearly not because the company has lost the ability to produce a sublime example of the rhythm game genre.

What I have to emphasise here is that the base puzzle game of Puzzle & Dragons is so, so addictive. Backed with a simple, pleasant aesthetic and speedy mechanics that mobile games specialise in, it's easy to watch the hours fly by without really realising you've been playing for so long.

Genuinely good fun, and a true retro rush for people that grew up with classic RPGs.

Ultimately, the best way to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is in exceedingly short bursts. As a “switch your brain off and button mash” kind of experience it works and in so closely emulating Hades it is inherently entertaining. But it’s also soulless and draining to play for longer than a half hour here or there. It doesn’t even work as TMNT fan service since it behaves more like Hades. It is, simply, a pastiche that is simultaneously a decently made game but also a very bad creative work. If only the games industry were better at using the language to grapple with stuff like this.

Had the game been a tiny part of a greater whole it would have worked. But as it is, and particularly on the Wii U, Cosmophony ends up playing like a demo, stripped of its powers to sustain by its confused design, lack of content and its impossible level of difficulty.

One thing’s for sure: if you're not Nintendo hardware equipped but wish to taste forbidden fruit, then at least until Zelda goes mobile World to the West is probably one of the finer ways to to experience easy going, family friendly, lightly puzzling and very cute gaming. I certainly loved it, and if I was to offer personal advice in two words I would simply tell you: Go West!

It makes me truly happy to see game developers creating high quality products such as Never Alone that push entertainment boundaries and demonstrate that games can be culturally important. We need to see more of this game, and I hope this is a roaring success so that other native culture organisations look at it and realise the sheer power of games to tell their own stores.

Of the two, I give the tip to the first Revelations, as that boat setting really is up there with the original Resident Evil’s mansion, and Resident Evil 0’s train as a distinctive and brilliantly designed environment. Otherwise I find these games to be unremarkable. Entertaining, but unremarkable.

There’s not much else I can say about St. Dinfna Hotel. If you’ve played horror games then you know what you’ll be getting from this one. If you haven’t played many horror games in the past then the clumsiness of the combat, and the lack of assistance through the puzzles, makes this a poor entry point to the genre. Indeed, if you’re not familiar with the classic horror titles St. Dinfna is in homage to, the entire experience is almost pointless. I do think the developers have talent and passion for the genre, and I hope that this is successful so they can get a second run at it. If they do, all they need is to have their own voice and the confidence to add to the genre, rather than parrot it, and I do think they have it within them to create something special.

The game comes so very close to being an amazing experience but the gameplay doesn't quite match with its excellent concept.

Paradigm Paradox is not terrible. It’s a perfectly readable visual novel, and the twist it gives to the magical girls story – putting it in the context of an otome – was one worth exploring. However, I’ve got to say that I expect far better from Otomate. This is a studio that produces the most beautiful visual novels, with the most vivid characters and settings, of all. Against that studio’s lofty standards this one is, unfortunately, a big misstep.

Earth Defence Force 6 is pure fun distilled into a video game and it is impossible to put down. It’s based on B-grade sci-fi, and is B-grade in every way itself, and I would take that over over-produced, self-important, vapid blockbuster nonsense any time.