You're not going to forget your time with Detective Pikachu in a hurry, and those memories are going to be all very positive.

Given that this is a port to a console, and the Switch has consistent hardware specs across the board, it’s clear the game’s stability wasn’t re-examined prior to its Switch debut. No cheeky philosophical quip is going to make that look anything short of lazy.

Once again, this is a game for the fans, and only the fans, but I think that there has been a genuine job here to do right by the fans. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is not a classic game by any means, but it's leagues ahead of most other anime or manga fighting games.

It might not be as completely over the top as some of Compile Heart’s other work, but it’s a load of fun for the studio’s fans nonetheless, and its relative subtlety might just help get it over the line for people who find the Hyperdimension games just too silly for their palettes.

Knowledge is Power is an entertaining quiz game, and based on my multiple playthroughs I’m yet to hit a question for the second time. It's Mario Kart-style item system ensures that most games are close, no matter the quiz knowledge. At the same time, the questions themselves are entertaining and varied enough that this one comes highly recommended for trivia heads.

Miitopia is the right kind of silly nonsense. It's oddball, but never random for the sake of randomness. There's method to the madness, and in giving players such control over the experience, Miitopia ends up becoming something resonant on a personal level. Part of the reason I had so much fun with this game was because I had a direct hand in crafting what I experienced. I rarely laugh out loud as much as I have had with this one, and that is more impressive of a feat than Nintendo will get credit for. It's hard to get humour right over something as extended in length as a JRPG, and Nintendo nailed it.

The level design is generally good, albeit quite generic. It’s not like Butcher has many surprises for the players, but the action flows nicely and the game knows how to be punishing without feeling unfair. All in all, it's a generally smooth game let down by its idea of scale.

I love the classic Dragon Quest titles with a passion, but there is nothing that redeems these poor ports. They fail as an archive of classics, since the redesign fundamentally changes them. They fail as pieces of entertainment, because they're so ugly and poorly made. Finally, they fail as Dragon Quest, because Dragon Quest fans will be insulted by this trash being passed off as their memories.

I appreciate the vision and the concept behind it, and I love noir, but the execution is sorely lacking.

Sheltered is like a premium version of Fallout Shelter, and it's a far more thematically compelling proposition. I love that it makes you be quite ruthless in your efforts to keep your family alive, but then allows you to feel awful when they die. It's less humanising than The War of Mine, which is the most readily comparable game out there at the moment, but it's intense for its own, valuable, reasons.

I am quite sure that some people will absolutely love the intensity of the horror and dark fantasy that infuses Lords of the Fallen. As cartoonishly silly as it comes across by trying so hard, it is technically impressive. Similarly, the game is perfectly solid mechanically, and while it does have some issues with pacing and the design of some boss battles, it is, for the most part, very playable. I had more fun with this than I think it deserved, and while I’m not sure whether I was laughing with it or at it most of the time, I was definitely laughing and having fun with it. Who knows? Perhaps satirising the self-seriousness of dark fantasy was the entire creative point and if so, bravo developers, you nailed it.

Harold is a fun game for fans of the continuous runner genre, and against all odds it actually manages to take such a simple genre and build on it in a genuine and unique manner. It has a fairly steep learning curve, but despite taking on the role of an angel, the ability to hinder opponents is actually devilish fun.

It might not have the stealthy educational value of Minecraft, but Ninjago is a well-produced and clean title, and I'd be able to buy this knowing that my child was going to get enough play out of it to tide them over.

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.

Unfortunately, the game’s high difficulty and unavoidable bullet patterns make it a hard sell for modern players. The game’s multiple pathways and variety of characters don’t hide the extremely simple gameplay at the core – gameplay which wears thin after a few too many cheap deaths. Unless you’ve got a nostalgic soft spot for this one, you won’t miss out on much by avoiding it.

It's not the longest game, and doesn't offer anything that will be remembered as a classic game by any means, but the tense atmosphere, striking art style, and challenge, will surely help this game find itself a niche.

BurgerTime Party! should scratch an itch for those who remember and enjoyed the classic BurgerTime game the way I did, with more levels, modes and a pleasant presentation. It makes a fun enough diversion, even if your enjoyment will probably taper off after a handful of hours, because there is no real story to chase and the mechanics of the game never really progress into anything more than their initial hook.

The only area it missed out on was the music. Why The B-52’s Rock Lobster was not the soundtrack on repeat is an oversight that will forever astound me. It was just such an obvious, perfect soundscape for this particular experience. Jokes aside, though, Fight Crab is very much my kind of game as someone who considers a trip to a Salvador Dali exhibition to be a good time. I realise that I'm in a very limited niche in that regard, but this is a horn I've trumpeted more than a few times in the past: if we're going to be on board with this games as art routine, recognising that subversive experiences like Fight Crab have value is step #1.

Sundered proves that procedural generation and smart, hand-crafted level design are far from mutually exclusive. The combination of the two, and the way the play off each others’ strengths makes this one of the most engrossing Metroidvanias I’ve played in a while. The random approach to regular combat leaves something to be desired, but epic boss fights more than make up for it. If you have even the slightest interest in Metroidvanias, this is a game you need to play.

This is a game made with loving fan service and an eye for details that only genre veterans will really appreciate. For everyone else it's going to be a pretty, but slow-paced and obscure RPG with an odd sense of humour.

Apocalypse Edition is not going to sate anyone looking for a deep narrative experience - The Walking Dead or The Last of Us this is not. However, for those looking for a higher level of action and maybe something a bit more humorous (albeit not kid friendly in the least, just for the record), then Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition could be a real treat.

God Eater: Resurrection is a very fun hunting game, though it's not perfect. It's great that there is another alternative to the Monster Hunter formula available to us, though. Between this, and Koei Tecmo's rising Toukiden franchise, it's proving to be a really good period for this little genre.

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.

Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash was a blast. Quick paced arena combat supported by a well designed card based system and multiple storylines to follow, this has to have been my favorite entry yet and with the quality online competition modes online modes there’s more than enough replayability to keep going for quite some time.

I feel like I’m being very harsh on The Walking Dead: Michonne, but that’s only because I’ve been such a fan of Telltale games over the years, and this doesn't meet my expectations of the team. I do want to know more about Michonne’s backstory, I just wish she was working it out with more engaging characters.

This combination of clever and original gameplay elements, and heavy storytelling in a genre not overly known for that makes for an excellent experience that stands out from the pack. From Software has been a tough bar to beat, however, with competition like this and Koei Tecmo's Nioh series, From can't rest on its laurels. We're spoiled for choice now, and from top to bottom, Code Vein is worth every moment.

Obliteracers introduces some interesting ideas, but between dead lobbies and limited local options, its multiplayer core falls a bit flat on PS4. With nothing else to pick up this slack, it ends up being a game that quickly loses steam.

Even that's ultimately part of the charm of Elex II though, because it was a game made by RPG enthusiasts for RPG enthusiasts, and min-maxing is, ultimately, a big part of this community. Though the game comes across as an impenetrable club members-only experience at times, the creativity and energy behind it is impossible to deny. Frankly, I would rather play something like this, bugs and all, than something overproduced and so safe that it puts me to sleep.

It’s only around 14-20 hours from go to final blow, depending on how frequently you need to repeat boss battles, and that feels about right. Flintlock isn’t a majestic epic in the vein of Elden Ring, and nor did it need to be. This is a nicely streamlined, elegant, and focused Soulslike, with an interesting setting to explore and some excellent, refined combat. This is a tough genre to get right, and the developers, in realising their limitations, have not over-extended themselves. The result is very playable and enjoyable.

The gameplay mechanics and presentation values in Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today are solid, but the puzzles will frustrate a segment of the audience. Worse yet, the end does not pay off the effort to get there.

But for newcomers to the Warriors franchise, I can't think of a better title to introduce you to the history, characters and action, either on PlayStation Vita for Nintendo 3DS.

The core fundamentals of Monster Rancher are delightful, and while this collection has its issues, there aren't all that many modern equivalents to what it offers, so they hold their value well. Whether this is some kind of elaborate market research with Koei canvassing interest for a potential new Monster Rancher, or a simple acknowledgement that the series still has fans and they'll buy anything Monster Rancher-related, I don't know. I almost hope they don't make a new Monster Rancher, because the appeal of these games is in their simple charm. Simplicity that modern game development can't get away with. In that context, I actually believe that Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX will be the best of this series. Putting aside the inability to summon monsters via CD, both games have aged like the finest of wines, and remain some of the best examples of design from their era.

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.

Ultimately, it’s a little difficult to really understand what the developer was aiming for here. It seems more like it was a project from someone who was simply inspired by the entertainment value of stuff like Octodad than a game that is really looking to break out with its own identity. The potential’s there, but it’s all a little to raw for its own good.

Coupled with the bright, colourful art style and cheery soundtrack, I honestly struggle to see how anyone could play one of these games and not enjoy their time with it.

With fantastic visuals and a sleek sci-fi setting that brings to mind the world of Mass Effect, The Collider 2 is as visually impressive as it is in its gameplay.

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain does enough with modern technology to update the experience and make it both fresh and familiar, which is not an easy task. However, by adhering so closely to the source material and old school conventions, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain will inevitably rub some people the wrong way due to uneven difficulty and some unfair demises that seem harsh when compared to something like the Souls titles, which are renowned for their challenges but also for their fairness in teaching you how to play the game better.

Hyrule Warriors Legends isn’t as technically impressive as the original release on the Wii U, but it stands out as a true highlight among portable Warriors games.

You’ll find nothing ground breaking in LEGO Jurassic World, but it is so rushed that I can only recommend looking at one of the many other LEGO games out there unless you're a massive fan of Jurassic Park.

This is the kind of game I can sit down to and play for an entire evening without realising how much time was slipping. It's always "just one more turn," or "just one more battle", and even after all these years of playing Koei's strategy and action games set through the Sengoku period, and reading books about it, I'm always impressed that Koei Tecmo manages to teach me something new each time it releases something in the franchise.

I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Contra in the first place, but I’ve always admired the series for challenging and inspiring so many players over the decades. Likewise, I understand what WayForward’s done with this remake of the original. I appreciate the effort to try and find a broader audience. But if that was the goal they should have properly built the game around that kind of experience, rather than half-measuring it and then giving players the ability to just ignore it all. The complete lack of confidence in actually following through with whatever creative vision WayForward took into this project, unfortunately, leaves the entire experience feeling soulless.

Despite its unyielding dedication for all things realistic, I rather enjoyed the demanding style of play The Golf Club prides itself on, even during the first few hours, where the game will either draw you in or turn you off completely.

Anything but inspiring.

RONIN is over in around seven to eight hours but the lengthy design of the levels makes it feel a lot longer than that. When you’re locked in a stalemate with ten armed guards, jumping around the walls to avoid gunfire is more tiresome than engaging. RONIN is good for a few short levels in your spare time, but I can’t fathom playing it for a long session.

Moon Chronicles: Episode 1 lifts the veil off of Renegade Kid’s revamped throwback FPS title. It's a healthy blend of retro aesthetics and modern controls, while the B-movie narrative set the stage for a solid shooter that’s a good fit for the 3DS eShop. It might be short, but it succeeded in leaving me with a desire for more. Hopefully the wait won’t be too long.

This game will not be for everyone, and there are superior platformers available on the market that offer a greater gameplay experience. With that said, control issues aside there is replay value, with each level giving you a ranking out of four stars based on how well you perform.

Secret Files: Tunguska is entertaining stuff, and adventure game fans who have somehow not played this yet should have a look at it. By the same token, it's difficult to look at this game and argue that it's as timeless as Monkey Island. It's simply too limited.

The shooter sections feel out of place, and they almost feel like they’ve been included to flesh out the already short campaign. Which is a shame, because the action is perfect.

The only thing really lacking here is the personality, which is a shame, because Rock ‘n’ Roll Racing was full of personality, and BlazeRush could have been a new contender if it followed suit.

A Druid’s Duel was a very intense experience that had me growl like a grizzly more than once as a single mistake would be enough for the opponent to take me down. Overall, A Druid’s Duel is a solid and attractive experience that tactics strategy fans will find themselves losing themselves in for hours at a time.

I’m still surprised that Nintendo ever thought that there would be an audience for Yo-Kai Watch 2 in the west, but boy am I glad that they did.

Unlike Nintendo's Mini NES retro console that was released last year, this is a more difficult package to recommend to people that didn’t grow up playing the games. I don’t think there’s been a better effort to archive the games on the Atari 2600 and bring them to modern players, but I just don’t think the people used to complex worlds, storytelling and gameplay that we have today will understand the value of these older games. But older players may well get a kick out of playing Basic Math again, to remind them of just how hard it was to act out excitement on that Christmas day when their parents thought they had found the perfect gift.

Stikbold lacks any kind of narrative or gameplay substance to be a compelling single player game. Sadly, it’s all too simple to be an effective multiplayer title, either. It’s passingly fun.

If you’re really after a taste of something different, take a walk on the wild side with Neptune and the CPUs. After all, no other MMO has all its flaws on display quite like 4 Goddesses Online; if you’re going to sit through toxic players, boss fights, and an unfathomable plot, you might as well do it with cute girls who acknowledge the genre’s flaws and enthusiastically attempt to make them entertaining.

God Wars is too Japanese in tone, aesthetic and design to ever have much of a hope of reaching a mainstream audience, but as a culturally relevant artifact, anyone who is interested in seeing how a game can explore ancient folk tales and spirituality in an interesting and engaging manner should not pass up this opportunity.

None of these irritants break the game, though, and I did have a lot of fun with Ty the Tasmanian Tiger HD. Having not played the original I got to enjoy something retro-styled from a genre that is effectively dead, and while I never got along well with collect-a-thon, it was still a big part of my youth so there was an inherent nostalgia there. I also loved that this is a genuine product of Australia, with Australian humour and culture depicted throughout. Krome Studios' classic might not have the profile of a Crash Bandicoot or Spyro, but anyone wondering why this got a HD re-release needn't. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger certainly belongs on modern consoles, and it would be lovely for the franchise itself to be resuscitated at some point.

Billion Road isn't perfect. The interface makes it difficult to track some of the finer points of detail, particularly around property ownership, and a lack of minigames and other events of excitement mean there's a draining level of downtime in the game where you're just waiting for your next turn to roll around. However, for the board game enthusiast this is a true Japanese experience. Under the bright colours and ridiculous wealth being thrown around (you'll be worth billions in just an hour) lies something that has clearly been created by people who love the unique micro-cultures with Japan, and the sheer delight that you have in simply travelling across the country.

The Museum Archives are by no means the perfect collection - they're the wrong ports in that the NES ports rather than the arcade originals are in there, and there are many compilations that have more games in them. With that being said, there's not single dud game in this collection, and whether they're as well known as Pac-Man or as obscure as Dragon Spirit, they're all genuine all-time classics. You buy either of these collections and you'll be coming back to them for years to come.

Minoria is excellent, but it's also very limited. It's beautiful, the action is solid for the most part, and there are plenty of intriguing ideas running behind it. The game's problem is that it deserved a bigger vision than the modest execution, and while that is a much more preferable problem than the other way around (too much ambition for too little means), it still means that Minoria will be forgotten well before it deserves to be.

Throw in the superior character portraits, art, and musical score and Mercenaries Blaze represents a confident step forward. Of course, it’s not of the standard of a Fire Emblem, Disgaea or God Wars, but for people that enjoy the core gameplay loop of the tactics JRPG – and it is a very compelling one – Mercenaries Blaze is a lean and effective example of it.

It's a completely individual title that slides in nicely with what I shall, in the future, refer to as D'Avekki lore; it can be played alone, or it can be played before or after the other two titles in the "series," but any way you play it, it's a standalone experience. The noir feeling of the narrative means that choices aren't always delineated as "right" or "wrong", but, rather, a choice between bad and equally bad. The supernatural aspect somehow fits perfectly with the noir aspect. The gameplay is new yet familiar, with the developer mixing up how choices are made by going from text to video in a way that makes it perfectly clear how to play. Koehring and Cunard play off each other wonderfully, building off character stereotypes from past films and fiction when the men were "manly" men and the women were "dainty" ladies. Thanks to the trophies, it is relatively easy to explore all dark corners of the game. Basically, this is another D'Avekki hit game that I will probably never stop referencing or wanting to discuss.

Risk System is something of a connoisseur’s shoot-em-up, with intelligently designed enemies and bosses that reward careful practice and precise movements. The demanding level of difficulty might cause some initial frustrations, but a determined attitude and a calculated approach to risk will help players emerge victoriously. After a few hours of playing, I was able to effortlessly take down bosses that I’d previously thought of as impossible, and that’s always a great feeling to have.

The Hundred Year Kingdom is the most rare and precious of things: it's a smart, engaging, and thoughtful game, but also one that is highly accessible, playable, and respects the player's time. It is clearly a solo project, but it's also weird how a solo developer has managed to figure out how to do that when so many developers 1,000x their size remain committed to wasting our lives on their content.

Despite these minor issues, Process of Elimination is high quality, authentic, classical example of Japanese detective fiction. It’s not subversive or particularly boundary-breaking, but it’s also a very good student of the genre. So long as you can still kick back and enjoy a good Conan Doyle, Christie or Ranpo story, you’ll enjoy what this has to offer.

Howl is an earnest effort with a strong aesthetic and creative vision. It’s easy to imagine that it’s going to find an audience among people who pick it up on a whim – because in screenshots and video, it does stand out – and then find themselves absorbed in the puzzles. Unfortunately, while it does get challenging, Howl outlives its welcome, and the strange decision to deliberately add repetition into something that should have focused on forward momentum really hurts it in the end. If it was half the game it would have been twice as impressive.

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge is a delightfully charming, remarkably in-depth eco-management sim. I figured it would be a pretty chill game with some intense parts of difficulty for me because that’s where I’m at these days. What I got was better than anything I expected. It’s not confusing, there is very little stress involved, and it is easy to get lost spending hours at a time meeting new frog friends and saving the wetlands. The expansive help section is especially appreciated. The game goes at the pace you choose. It was actually so overwhelmingly chill it was a bit easier to overlook some of the parts I did struggle with.

It would be nice to see Just Dance further innovate as a series, or it runs the risk of becoming incredibly repetitive going forward. Some new features provide interesting wrinkles in the existing formula, but it feels like the series has plateaued and is in need of a few new moves before the next inevitable release.

Road to the Olympics is a solid addition to Steep. Even if the story mode is lacking, the Olympic events and new Japan-based massif are more than enough to make this worth your time, especially with the PyeongChang games on the horizon. It might look like one of those weary licensed games of the PS1 and PS2 days, but fret not, because Road to the Olympics is the real deal.

We live in a world where very serious questions are being asked of western interventionism and imperialism, colonialist attitudes, and the nationalism of western powers. With ISIS and Syria, we’re finally starting to realise that over a century of meddling, king making, and warring in places like the Middle East and South America has left many of those places in a state of endless humanitarian disaster. And in this context Ubisoft decided it was the right time to release a game that outright celebrates all of these things that we need to question about western – and particularly American – foreign policy. Wildlands is repugnant for the way it blindly celebrates the many evils wrought on the innocent in these places. It’s utterly unforgivable trash, and that’s tragic, because there is a decent – albeit derivative - game underneath all its posturing.

Code Vein II is very, very close to joining From Software’s games and the Nioh series in the upper echelons of soulslikes. A quality narrative, fluid combat and an excellent, Ocarina of Time-like approach to progression combine in a way that makes it very hard to put the controller down. It does feel like it’s in search of an identity of its own at times, and it's unlikely to develop the reputation Ocarina of Time has for that reason, but Code Vein II has a lot going for it.

It's the kind of experience that, like Gone Home, people will dismiss for lacking action or having a narrative that doesn't treat its players like idiots, but it's also the kind of game that shows that the games industry is growing up and pushing the limits of what can be achieved given the freedom and resources to be properly creative.

More than anything else it's nice to see Koei Tecmo continue to support the PlayStation Vita. Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires won't convert anyone who isn't an existing fan of the series, and I've got to admit that after playing the recent Nobunaga's Ambition, I can't help but wish Koei localised the PlayStation Vita version of that instead, as I've already got a lot of Warriors games on my Vita, but nothing that approaches the depth of Nobunaga's Ambition. Those personal issues aside, this is a content-loaded, engaging, and entertaining entry into the Warriors series, and well worth playing for anyone who likes their action a little more cerebral.

Stranger of Sword City is a stellar, and surprisingly unique example of a dungeon crawler. It's dark, grim and gothic at times, and revels in the same difficulty that Experience Inc was able to throw at players in Demon's Gaze, but its unique mechanics and themes make it one of the most boundary-pushing dungeon crawlers we have seen in recent years.

Abyss Odyssey is a thematically deep game. On the surface it's a simple action platformer crossed with roguelike, but under that surface is a true rarity; a game made by South Americans that rejoices in South American mythology.

On a whole, while Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus offers more than a dozen hours of content, it doesn’t offer much variety in terms of gameplay. That being said, the visual novel-like storytelling does add enough of an interesting plot and characters that, assuming you're okay with seeing them in underwear most of the time, makes this game worth playing through.

Maquette - and the development team - deserve better. There's some real talent evident in the unique, interesting, contemplative and rewarding puzzle design here, and that kind of quality occurs less and less frequently in this vapid and action-obsessed industry. The development team also know how to write interesting and emotionally engaging narratives - we don't see stories about love told with this kind of sincerity anywhere near often enough. Unfortunately, the one and only problem that the game has is also the thing that almost breaks it; the two elements that the entire experience relies on are at near-complete odds with one another.

Mother Russia Bleeds is a solid debut for Le Cartel Studio. The production is top-notch and the soundtrack is arguably one of this year's absolute finest. It's crystal clear from the onset that the game was born to be wild. It's the culmination of walls gone soft after repeated exposure to drone music and the countless hours spent playing arcade classics. It's a heavy metal game for the most hardcore, and while there's more style than substance to a lot of it, I doubt the fans of that style are going to care in the slightest.

At its core, Democracy 3 is a mass of pretty spreadsheets that visualise an intimidating amount of data systems that are all linked to one another.

A solid tower defence experience that really does raise the bar for the tower defence genre. It might still be the simplest example of strategy gaming out there, but at least this one has merit for long term play.

The developers have done what is needed to bring the game to the Nintendo Switch as a highly proficient port, though they’ve done nothing of substance to update what the original release offered. Aside from the localisation, it didn’t need any updating anyway, and even considering that terrible localisation Banner of the Maid is one of the most refined, enjoyable tactics JRPGs on the console. Also, Pauline really is an excellent protagonist, and she is just that pretty. I hope it’s not the last we see of her… now that this is on Switch, let’s get her into Smash Bros next. I might even start playing that game again if she was.

There is an occasional awkwardness to movement that can make the single player story a bit of chore at times, but it does a nice job teaching the basics and serving as an almost extended tutorial for the good stuff - multiplayer mayhem.

In some ways, Destroy All Humans! shows its age, being a remake of a game that's now 15 years old, in a genre that's grown a lot in those years. But it's also got a sense of humour and parody of American life that feels more relevant today than when the original game first came out. That's a depressing reflection on the state of the world today, but it also means that the satire that underpins everything else in the game hits harder than the original creators ever could have imagined.

The big question for me, personally, though, is whether Project Cars 3 just zigged when it should have zagged. The thing is, that I do like accessible racing games. I spent many, many hours with Real Racing. But this new entry with Project Cars has given the series an identity crisis, and where the developers could have taken their existing learning and delivered the previous Project Cars vision to an all-new degree, instead we've got the team effectively starting from scratch again. I guess we can look forward to Project Cars 4 being a repeat of Project Cars 2, in taking and refining the initial idea and actually delivering to the vision.

I really enjoyed this game. It’s not quite on the level of the fighters I really love (that being Dead or Alive and BlazBlue), but I can see myself coming back to this one fairly often.

As an adventure that does just about everything right in the fun and technical sense, CoE's most valuable triumphs are its sense of humour and accessibility; whether you’re politically knowledgeable or oblivious, and if you have a near-romantic relationship with turn-based RPGs, you will risk yawning through a filibuster if it means becoming the Vice President of this world.

Warriors All-Stars is a delight. It’s explicitly a love letter to the Koei Tecmo faithful, and it doesn’t pretend to be otherwise.

For anyone who came to Mario Golf to play golf, Super Rush is greatly lacking. I'll be willing to grit my teeth and buy the DLC if that's what it takes to get this game up to par, but Nintendo's going to need to at least double the number of courses to get it there, and at the time of writing there only seem to be four new courses on the roadmap (though they are, at least, going to be free). It's still not going to be enough to return Mario Golf to that pedestal that it once had on the N64 and Game Boy Color.

If the contents of each game’s track list don’t matter to you, then I would strongly suggest picking up the second game and skipping the first. The first game has infuriating random encounters, a weaker 4-character-party-system and simpler maps to explore – and while the second game’s 9-character-party and monster fusion systems don’t make the role-playing that much more meaningful, it’s still a smidge more engaging to play around with. Both games are much better in their standard Taiko game-modes however, and so I’d still recommend Drum ‘n’ Fun before either of these two – the party game mode in Drum ‘n’ Fun is a lot more complementary to the Taiko experience compared to the JRPGs in this collection. Combining the JRPG and Rhythm genres can make for some very engaging gameplay experiences, but Taiko Rhythmic Adventure 1+2 does not do it meaningfully enough to achieve any lasting appeal.

Even as a dedicated single player game, Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers is one of the best games available on the platform. It’s just so perfectly balanced, invigorating, intelligent, and rich.

Vampyr is the vampire story that I’ve waited for many, many years for. As a fan of Anne Rice and the deeper tales around vampires – and as a fan of stories that are focused on moral conflict and consequence, Dontnod have crafted something that feels custom-designed for me.

Spellforce III is, effectively, a throwback game, being both old-school RPG and old-school RTS, stuck on top of an old-school fantasy setting. The developers have done a remarkably good job of taking complex controls and making it work on a controller, and while the game isn’t particularly boundary-pushing, innovative, or stand-out, it is engrossing in the way that it combines genres so seamlessly and entertainingly.

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...

The talent is there, and it's wasted on a game like this which, fun as it is, doesn't live up to the promise of its screenshots.

Rainbow Moon is not a good choice for people who are looking for a narrative, but for fans of the old school, punishingly difficult, hardcore JRPGs, this is a nice throwback with an awful lot of raw gameplay behind it.

This is one of the more unheralded Super Nintendo JRPGs, but the update is of a high quality, and while I don’t think it’s a classic example of the genre by any means, it is still a very enjoyable game. A clean, enjoyable combat system, plenty of enemies to fight, and a bit of exploration and puzzle solving on the side; this is the kind of classic JRPG experience that I’ll never get tired of.

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.

The journey is captivating but it's over all too soon, and for all its beauty the game's world feels empty without other characters to speak to.

The Sims 4 leaves me feeling like the potential for greatness is there, but at this point we will have to wait and see if it ever gets realised.