There’s no denying that Marvelous can make a game, but to make a mech simulator of this calibre... That I didn't expect. I was pleasantly surprised and Daemon X Machina is proof of just how well Marvelous can execute on great ideas. With the Armored Core series currently on hold, the void of its absence can finally be filled with this highly customisable and equally story-driven experience.

The Marvelous Miss Take is so good because it’s a rare thing in games - it's a unique twist on an established formula. You're forced to think far more cleverly if you want to see success in this game than most stealth games, and it's the better for it.

Plasma Puncher is a gorgeous, difficult and sometimes frustrating game. The excellent production values are overshadowed by some minor technical inconsistencies, but while I could spend all day complaining about the small stuff, the real weakness is a lack of gameplay depth.

Rune Factory 5 plays things pretty conservatively, and it’s the better for it. It’s a comfort food kind of experience, and while this might cost it on store shelves given that it has been released at the tail end of so many excellent, intelligent, innovative, and big RPGs, it’s a game of simple delights and pleasant experiences. Sometimes, that’s enough.

More a series of small improvements than anything major, WWE 2K17 is a great deal of fun for wrestling fans.

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.

For all its early-stage failings, Exist Archive is an excellent game once it finds its groove. As long as you go in knowing what to expect and knowing it will get better eventually, it's a game I'd recommend to anyone who likes JRPGs.

Lost Sphear, as with I Am Setsuna before it, is a beautiful, heartfelt bit of classical Japanese videogame storytelling. It’s not a game that you should be playing for the gameplay in so much as it wraps nostalgia and some more modern ideas together in order to tell something that is both memorable and soulful. It’s a beautiful, emotive game and with it Tokyo RPG Factory has cemented itself as one of my favourite JRPG outfits going around.

It is disappointing to see a game like Metrico take so many wrong turns and squander so much promise. It becomes yet another example of a game burdened by creep, one that started with a simple premise that becomes buried by complexity.

The Game Bakers, the developer of Squids Odyssey, has created a game that largely misses everything that makes the RPG genre great. As such, it quickly becomes tedious, and while I do think it would work as a free iOS game as a time waster, it doesn't work as a sit down experience on a home console.

There's a lot of content in Blackguards, but memorable moments are few and far between. This is a game that feels like it has a lot of ambition, but it's held back sharply but budgetary constraints and, perhaps, an engine so unfamiliar to the development team that they couldn't compensate for its inherent flaws.

Football Manager 26 is for the diehards alone for this reason. It’s frustrating to deal with the bugs and UI changes, even if the core game remains basically the same. If you were to imagine this game without those issues, however, the new ideas and enhancements that are in the game are universally good and, whether it is just a matter of patches or waiting for Football Manager 27, there are very good reasons to get very enthusiastic about this series again.

The Vita version of this game is only the slightest touch beneath greatness, but there's a lot of competition out there for sports games, and being "portable" is not really an adequate excuse any longer for being significantly inferior to the home console version. Especially for a game that is as relatively simple as baseball.

You come to a visual novel for the narrative, of course, and Chaos;Head Noah does some exceptional things with its storytelling. Throwing such an unlikable protagonist at players seems like an outright risk in 2022, given that YA authors have somehow dominated the literature discourse to demand we must always sympathise with a heroic protagonist at all times else the story is problematic. Being willing to depict some pretty extreme scenarios that are designed to make the player uncomfortable is, equally, a risk in a world that has decided that all entertainment should be uplifting and positive. Chaos;Head is probably more transgressive now, in 2022, than it would have been back in 2008, and that only makes it more potent, and essential, as a work of art.

There’s so much raw content in this package that, as long as you’re a fan of the standard tactics JRPG formula, you won’t be able to help but get plenty of value out of this trilogy. And the standard tactics JRPG formula is so damn good that it’s timeless. Making Mercenaries Saga itself functionally timeless.

Metrocide is carried by some intelligent game mechanics which really evokes the setting and makes the player feel like they are a professional contract killer.

Mothmen 1966 is a solid, albeit short (though there’s nothing wrong with that) game that successfully combines pulp fiction and video games. The next game in the series, set at a summer camp, is already planned; and I’m already counting the days until I can get my hands on it too.

It's quite unfortunate for the sake of the game that Utawarerumono just happens to come out in a rare period when there are a lot of tactics RPGs to choose between. Fire Emblem and Disgaea both have far higher profiles, and those respective games will get the bulk of the attention, but for something a little more beautiful than Disgaea, a little more humorous than Fire Emblem, and genuinely focused on the narrative, Utawarerumono is my pick of the bunch.

I admire a game that is willing to take a risk, and certainly trolling the people who believe that games should be mindless content that doesn’t challenge their intelligence with a “political idea,” is a creative risk I can admire. But beyond the initial amusement that I took from knowing that somewhere out there someone is absolutely fuming about this game on a forum or in a tweet, there’s actually very little intelligence in Dustborn. It’s also an experience that is so culturally specific that it probably shouldn’t have been a global release.

Gundam Versus is mechanically solid, though the melee side of the game still needs work. But that only takes this game so far. A lack of narrative or context for any of the action leaves this as a dry, multiplayer-focused game that fails to capitalise on the IP nearly as well as we might have hoped.

No doubt this will be a fringe Warriors title. Especially with a new Fire Emblem Warriors right around the corner. Touken Ranbu doesn’t have the pull in the rest of the world that it has in Japan and I’m not 100 per cent sure where the audience is for this game. However, if you go in with an open mind, you’ll find an excellent and surprisingly relevant Ruby Party narrative, backed up with some very confident action brawler design. Basically, any day there’s a new Warriors game to play is a good day, and today’s a very good day indeed.

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.

Star Wars Battlefront II gets a lot of things right. The presentation is absolutely top-notch, the gameplay is fun and well-executed and the choice of property is among my fall-time favourites. Where Star Wars Battlefront II has hurt itself is in a lack of care around the ability to play with your friends and a progression system structure around microtransactions. While those optional purchases are (currently) turned off, they will be back in some form or another and in the meantime, players are left with a hell of a slow grind in making progress... slow to the point that it's just not entertaining.

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.

The narrative of Masochisia is terribly fascinating. It tackles issues that are definitely not for minors, and the heavy use of graphic and unsettling imagery are not for the easily offended. In fact, there's very little about this game that makes it recommendable, seeing it is easily one of the most upsetting and visually distressing video games in existence.

It's a pity that everyone that doesn't have a VR headset will miss out, because Déraciné is really quite remarkable.

Runers is a fast paced and fun roguelike that offers plenty of variety. While there is a lot of reading to figure out exactly what everything does, the simple, twitch mechanics and randomisation make it one that is easy to come back to over and over again.

The potential was there, and this game has certainly been supported well enough by both Kickstarter and Team-17 that budget shouldn't have been a concern either. The issue is, simply, that Yooka-Laylee proves that nostalgia is a difficult beast to wrestle with for game developers. All that being said, I do hope that Playtonic stick around though, as there is the clear potential and passion for the studio to grow and produce a true great in the genre.

If you are looking for lots of action set against a deep space backdrop, Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut should scratch that itch effectively as long as it lasts.

The bigger screen and better resolution of the Switch makes Of Mice And Sand the game it wanted to be. The extras added into this edition makes it the definitive version. It’s a very pleasant, enjoyable and entertaining little game, but its biggest problem is hard to get past; I wanted it to be far more memorable. It simply struggles to take its excellent foundations and turn it into something truly special.

There's a lot to this game and I cannot recommend it to anyone new to the genre as tutorial does almost nothing to help you learn the game. For hardcore RTS fans out there, I suspect that this game will be right up your alley.

Is it disappointing that units in Warhammer 40,000 are so simple in presentation? Sure, especially when you consider how monotone many of the "apocalyptic" environments are. But given the choice between a game like this an a major studio producing a Warhammer game that fails to even understand where the real appeal of Warhammer lies, I'll take a game like Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon any time.

Space Hulk: Tactics is the most impressive Warhammer 40K effort I've played in recent memory.

Sadly, Mario Party: Star Rush is the latest game that fails to realise that simple truth behind the appeal of the franchise.

Yu-Gi-Oh! has come a long way in the years since these titles, both as a card game to play (many might argue that it’s too complex now) and as something to adapt to video games. This collection is a lot of nostalgic fun to remember the simpler times, but is also important to understand just how limited these games are. It would be like if EA put together a retro compilation of its FIFA football games. Sure, you’d have a rush of nostalgic delight loading up the GBA game that you spent months playing back in the day, but it would only take one or two matches to realise that nostalgia has a habit of warping memories and not all classic video games are timeless. Some are. Konami’s Castlevania collections show that. I fully expect the impending Suikoden collection to be a similar story. These, however, are not.

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

Plot aside, Reel Fishing is a very specific game for a very specific audience. It's a reasonably casual game, but at the same time it can't be expected to appeal to anyone who doesn't "get" the appeal of fishing. But for people that simply want to toss a lure into the water, then this is a good way to get away from it all for little while, and for an inner city dweller like me, that's a bit of escapism I appreciated a great deal.

Kromaia Omega’s technical shortcomings are kinks that can be ironed out. That I’m lavishing a game that physically ails me with so much praise is a testament to its glorious, grand vision. If other companies are bold enough to follow in Kraken Empire’s footsteps with similarly intricate shooters, this game could be the launch pad for a whole new subgenre and that’s exciting stuff indeed.

There’s not a moment of Daydreamer that I don’t vividly remember, and in breaking down what makes a game so completely, the developer has created a conversation in how games are constructed, and why they are in the way that they are.

The boss battles remain a highlight and almost enough of a reason to play the game in itself, but the rest of the game structured around them is so pedestrian and bland that keeping motivation in this one is perhaps the greatest challenge of them all.

To say that The 25th Ward is niche would be an understatement, but that’s what’s so impressive about it. It respects the intelligence of its players, allowing them to wade through the feverish surrealism that the game often depicts, and melds that perfectly with a traditional noir thriller than Raymond Chandler himself would have been proud of. Goichi Suda might be known for his action games today (and they’re usually very fine games in their own right), but what I wouldn’t give for him to go back for another spin or two at the visual novel.

The Switch has a surprisingly good range of digital board games now, and the absolutely brilliant Wingspan is just around the corner. Evolution holds its own; it's an entertaining game mechanically, and benefits from being accessible to players of all ages and having an educational thrust behind it. It's no lecture, nor is it preachy, but it will certainly help you frame an understanding (and interest) in ecosystems and evolution. All brought together, it's a wholesome good time.

Despite these criticisms, there’s a lot to like about Fort Triumph. XCOM is a good thing, and Heroes of Might & Magic is a good thing. Mashing those two good things together in a way that does justice to them both is a noble effort by the developers, and the presence of skirmish mode does mean that the poorly conceived narrative can be ignored. You’ll bounce off Fort Triumph quickly enough, but it’s a good time while it lasts.

I’d kill for a Jackbox Party Pack launcher, from which I could launch whichever games in packs I already owned during gaming sessions, rather than having to both remember which pack they were in and then launch that pack’s interface. In fact, I’d pay for just that alone, Jackbox Games. How about it?

Say what you want about Dear Esther, but The Chinese Room really know how to respect its legacy. Almost a half decade on since it first saw light as a Half Life 2 mod, Dear Esther has captured the hearts and minds of players, effectively started a genre and polarised the gaming community perhaps irreversibly. And the developers absolutely know this as they relentlessly justify their artistic choices in the commentary. This game is rich and thought provoking in its design, hiding its depth behind simplicity. It deserves an hour of your time.

If you can handle the corners that were cut due to the budget, then Thymasia’s combat system is worth it all on its own. The game’s intriguingly dark setting and the exquisitely dark theme are more than good enough to pay attention to as well. There are certainly things that the development team could do with a sequel if this generates enough revenue to build on the foundations that they’ve created, but the earnestness that went into making this one distinctive from the other “Souls clones” is worthwhile either way.

The visuals and music deliver as always and it is great to see some more times spent on actually developing the story and fleshing out our three protagonists. However, in giving the heroes a better story, they somehow have even less to do in the game. Perhaps more frustratingly, the story is short and incomplete, making the game feel rushed or like the development team has unannounced DLC planned for down the road.

It's a niche game for a niche audience. Fighting game fanatics who don't mind a spot of fan service will get right into it. Everyone else is better off sticking to BlazBlue, or Dead or Alive, or Street Fighter, or any of the dozen other more accessible fighters that have been released in the past few years.

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

If 2022 is going to be the year where I end up slamming dozens of games for being written like amateurish fan fiction, so be it. YA-style writing might sell well, but to be perfectly blunt about this it's good writing in only the most exceedingly rare cases. For narrative-heavy genres, like RPGs, the tonal dissonance that YA writing forces into to work to make it read and sound "modern" even if it's set in a world of swords and sorcery, is unacceptable. I could have and should have liked Reverie Tactics. In practice, I found it infuriating. Developers: please stop pitching your work at this level.

Musings over fan service aside, Samurai Maiden is wildly entertaining B-grade fun. Like many of D3 Publisher’s other most notable titles, it rolls with its trashiness and embraces B-grade aesthetics and tone in totality. It doesn’t take itself seriously (at all), and doesn’t aspire to be anything more than a genre piece, made for people that probably already knew if this was for them from the first batch of screenshots. The fact it actually plays nicely to go with its fun theme is the icing on the cake. These kinds of games are becoming less and less common, for reasons that are best left to opinion pieces elsewhere. The point is, we need to enjoy stuff like Samurai Maiden when we get the opportunity to, because when they’re done as well as this, they’re a riot, and it would be tragic to see these kinds of games disappear.

What you need to know is that the frame rate is up to the task the action throws at it, and the controls are slick and feel really good. You’re a fast and ridiculously competent hero, and the power fantasy in this game is very real. Koei Tecmo no doubt developed this quickly after seeing how popular Vampire Survivors is, and while it’s not exactly pushing boundaries, the team has done a great job bringing its exceptional Warriors properties to the formula. This is a game I’ll be returning to for quite some time, as stress relief if nothing else.

As a paid product, The Charnel House Trilogy fails to deliver on its promised horror.

For fans of the old Heroes of Might & Magic titles or Total War, Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars does a lot that is highly laudable; it offers a great concept, nails the aesthetics, and offers quality tactical and strategic action. In this way, it checks all the requirements of a good strategy game. The problem is that it's hard to see it as anything more than a foundation or a statement of intent. If this one is successful enough you'll see an Immortal Realms 2 that fully delivers on the concept, I suspect. For now, however, as much as you'll enjoy what this gothic nightmare strategy promises, it's going to be a real struggle to see it as more than a promise of what might come in the future.

Lord of Magna is pure comfort gaming. It wont dazzle you with its production values, nor will it break your mind over its philosophy or test your skills at JRPGs with its difficulty. Instead, just like the hero's obsession with adopting new people into his ever-growing "family," this is a game that you'll develop a deep and personal attachment to, because it was built with a purity of intention that is so rare these days, and tugs on the heart strings in just the right way.

It’s rare that we have a game that genuinely deserves to be called “elegant”, but Root Letter is that game. It takes a romantic, nostalgic idea, wraps it up in a mystery that is fun to piece together, and does all of that within the context of one of the most beautiful examples of anime art you’ll ever see.

It’s a game that is very clearly made for the fans, mainly those who have played the previous games. The puzzles, the writing, the acting, and the humor is all ripped straight from the 90’s, and if you’re fixated on modern gaming sensibilities, you probably won’t last ten minutes in Tex’s world. But for those who have been waiting for the return of the world’s greatest PI, look no further. Tesla Effect is a love letter to a genre that is all but gone.

As someone who can't get enough of the tactics JRPG genre, this is one I couldn't put down.

With plenty of levels, several endless modes and multiple characters, there's a lot of replay value to be had in Rollers of the Realm. The relatively toned back violence makes this a game I'd readily recommend to younger audiences, and the story is very good on the inclusivity front with representation for characters of various races, genders and ages.

Saturday Morning RPG is enjoyable. It's a clean, cheap, pleasant RPG for people who either grew up in the 80s, or have developed an appreciation for what passed as entertainment back then. Either way, the heavy reliance on nostalgia does wear thin and lose its comedic appeal, and from there you're only left with a workable, but very limited, turn based combat system, and not much more.

Zwei! The Arges Adventure is a lovely little title from Falcom that I am very happy was localised after the success of its successor. If you’ve been been needing some lighthearted dungeon crawling or have already played the localised sequel and want to know how the series began, than you'll appreciate this one a great deal.

If you’re going into Gal*Gun looking for some voyeurism, then you’re playing it wrong. At the same time, if you go in without a strong stomach for fan service then it’s going to throw you out too. Gal*Gun is for people who enjoy a kind of hyperbolic satire that borders on the transgressive and enjoy light gun shooters. It’s almost a dead genre these days, but Gal*Gun Returns is, all things considered, an example of it at its best.

Spacebase Startopia is not completely without merit, but it does lack in charm and depth, and simulators need one or the other (and preferably both) else they're in big trouble. With that being said there is a very specific audience for this game; it works as a competitive simulator where you learn the perfect order for doing things and then execute on that to cruise through to easy victories. In almost any other context, however, Spacebase Startopia lacks the creative whimsy and data-driven depth that we usually expect from a great simulator.

The character depth and story detail might feel somewhat lacking compared to newer JRPG titles, but there is an expansive world here that begs for exploration as you grow your characters for future challenges. The overall package is an easy one to recommend.

With some excellent new modes, fun collectibles and unlocks, and some of the most well-executed Bomberman gameplay we’ve seen in years, Super Bomberman R 2 is a genuine return to form for the classic franchise. The quality of the new modes is genuinely surprising, and it’s all designed according to the kind of multiplayer that is popular right now. In other words, this represents the best chance the 40-year-old venerable franchise has to find a new generation of fans yet.

After Lost Sphear and I am Setsuna, it is clear that Tokyo RPG Factory wanted to ramp up its gameplay credentials. Everyone already knew that it could tell a beautiful if sad story, but it seems like the criticisms about the less-than-engaging combat systems in efforts past got to the team. Sadly Oninaki is still not a particularly interesting game insofar as the button pressing side goes, and the increased focus on the combat is draining. With that being said, move past the combat and you’ve got yet another powerful and deeply human story, told in such a way that it’s pure poetry to behold. Oninaki is three for three as far as sad, but beautiful tales from Tokyo RPG Factory go.

As a horror experience Outlast 2 works as a bit of grindhouse exploitation. It’s intense, it’s sharp, and it’s a grisly, beautiful game. But it’s also so linear and tries to be so cinematic that it opens itself to comparisons to similar stories told in other media, and as weird as it is to say, Outlast 2 is also far too safe.

It’s refreshing to see a game tackle hard issues so earnestly, and I can honestly say this is a story which will stay with me long after playing.

Numantia has really impressed me in the way that it has inspired me to learn more about the conflict it depicts, and it has done a really good job of accurately recreating the surprisingly varied range of battles, locations, and twists and turns that occurred through the war.

There's a good number of levels and the challenge is stiff enough that you'll be plugging at it for quite some time. Here Be Dragons is limited, though. It's not as funny as it wants to be, claiming to be a satire, but failing to satirise anything, and it's not nearly as strategic as it should be, since it's more like a puzzle game that just happens to have dice rolls to potentially screw everything up. It's enjoyable and the distinctive art style shows that the developers did want to achieve something unique, but Here Be Dragons needed a little more work on executing against the intent.

Should sequels never see the light of day, One’s Justice is still excellent comfort food for fans of the series.

Conan Exiles is enjoyable enough, but it does reveal some fundamental weaknesses in the survival genre; it’s not one that can be tuned effectively to storytelling, and that means that if you’re using a storytelling property, such as Conan, you’re going to need to exhibit a great deal over control to bring the necessary focus into the experience, and unfortunately the developers weren’t able to quite get there with Conan Exiles.

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.

Ultimately, it’s fun but probably more of a tablet experience. The issue comes from the fear that there is a lack of imagination in some segments of the developer community.

Slain: Back from Hell is a unique fish in a sea of pixel-art platforming throwbacks. The level design for the most part is well-done. The difficulty suits the atmosphere created by the music and art style.

All together, Azkend 2 is a perfectly workable and enjoyable match-3 game. If you’ve played quite a few of these in the past then you’re probably going to question whether you need even more of them, but then again, this is the first match-3 game of its kind on the Switch to date, so perhaps there’s an audience for it. It’s not going to be your game of the year, but you might just get a lot of play out of it.

I must say I really enjoyed building and running my own Jurassic World park. It's not perfect, and certainly given the heritage of the developer in theme park games we possibly could have expected a bit more from it, but you just never know what DLC and the ongoing development promised of the game might bring.

On a whole, Digimon World: Next Order isn’t a bad experience. It does take some time in order to get used to the flow of the game, and to deal with its irritations, but once you're there, you're in for what might potentially be a very addictive grind indeed.

Pandora offers a stiff challenge, and will keep space-faring strategists happy until Civilization: Beyond Earth breaches the event horizon later this year.

If you are a long standing fan of Tetris and would like it on your 3DS then you probably already have one of the other Tetris games. But this one will likely have a more vibrant online community, so it might just be worth the re-purchase, even if the single player game doesn't offer anything new.

This will be the game that I play for ten minute sessions on the train, or on, well, bathroom breaks, for some time to come. But I'd be lying if I claimed that I was not disappointed in realising that there is no scenario where I might play this for an entire afternoon at a time. It's really not that kind of game, and quite unlikely other Harvest Moon games in that regard. But by the same token I don't think that Seeds of Memories is a failure by any means and it's a game that I am very glad to have on my iPhone.

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.

It might not have the charm of Harvest Moon, but there’s a purity to the experience in Farming Simulator 18 that also means it avoids the irritants.

There are little issues that mean that Undead Darlings wears its "indie" spirit on its sleeve. Voice acting is uneven, with different actors sounding like they recorded the lines at different volumes and using different equipment, with no effort to equalise the sound. The characters are attractive and charming but some of the key art lacks for energy, detail, or really in highlighting any particular scene of note. However, all of that is more than forgivable. Undead Darlings comes across as a work of passion and creative energy, and I rarely see a game as inherently enthusiastic as that one. However flawed and rough it is, this is one very admirable little experience.

I truly wish I had better things to say about Spray Paint Simulator. I do have good things to say: it’s really chill, the graphics are vibrant, the painting gameplay is great, and the options cover a good amount of possibilities. Unfortunately, the game is weighed down by its clunkiness and lack of story. (Yes, even a game about spray painting needs a story.) I would like to say I will go back to it, but I’m left wondering if I’ll ever feel that itch to return.

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus is great fun, combining the rawest of Japanese-style raunch humour with a tight and mechanically sound combat system.

Cuts to the core of an action JRPG, the combat, and does an admirable job of making something worthwhile out of it.

Armed Seven is a worthy genre piece. It is an easy recommend for any shmup fan out there, and though its short length may turn some off (it only has six levels), the brutal, merciless nature of the game, and the robust controls should be more than entertaining enough to encourage you to come back to try to master at least one combination of weapons.

There's quite a few levels to work through in Jydge, so you'll get your money's worth. There's probably no reason to go for both this and Neon Chrome, though. There's just not enough variety in how the games play (or indeed their visual design) to sustain them across two titles. I like the idea of spinning this setting into a franchise, as there's potential there, but giving another genre a crack would be a good idea at this point.

The visual update is beautiful, the orchestrated soundtrack is gorgeous, and, let's face it, if a developer were to fully modernise MediEvil, the result would likely lose all of the series charm by bloating it out with endless side-quests, open worlds, and some Very. Serious. Violence (TM). MediEvil is a rare bit of whimsy from modern Sony, and so while it plays a little bit too much like an artifact of yesteryear, it still got me smiling.

Managing your deck is nearly as exciting as the battles in its own way. Nabbing new booster packs and busting them open with the touch screen is a simple joy that offers a little joyful suspense every time you acquire new cards.

It’s got all the hallmarks of a successful JRPG, but dressing it up in beautiful hand-drawn maps and a stunning soundtrack hasn’t gone far enough in helping to conceal its flaws. It’s a shame, because the bones of a great game are there. They’re just too bogged down in a shaky delivery to be enjoyed in the manner that they deserve.

Thank goodness The Legend of Legacy is on a portable system, because once you start you’ll find time anywhere to play: you’ll get in a few more rounds of grinding on the bus, or a few steps closer to your self-imposed goal while waiting in line in a government office. The classic JRPG elements combined with the characters, the story, the graphics, and the music make this a game not to miss out on.

It’s a hugely entertaining, visually striking experience, and has instantly become my favourite multiplayer title on the PlayStation 4.

It's silly, but taken in the right sense, it's a satirical adventure that sits on the right side of quality entertainment.

There’s a lot to like in Vikings, even if the game’s never able to effectively articulate how it’s different to the genre’s greats. It manages - just - to be more than a by-the-numbers Diablo clone thanks to the creative energy that went into its bosses and environment design, but it relies too heavily on that, and the assumption that you’ll be playing the game in multiplayer. As a single player experience, the limits on what Vikings can offer become distracting; making it good for a lazy afternoon of grinding fun, but not something that you’ll remember over the longer term.

As with the main Danganronpa games, there’s a number of serious subtexts to Ultra Despair Girls, and actually digging into these themes makes it clear that the game’s a lot smarter than it might appear at first.

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.