Obviously, your own mileage will vary. If you're into arcade stuff, No Stick Shooter will excite. If your persona is after a game to clear your mind of the latest 150 hours plus of a JRPG turn based saga, No Stick Shooter will delight. And if you’re simply wondering where you fall on the arcade spectrum these days, No Stick Shooter will give a better start.

A love letter for fans, a final send-off for some beloved characters and fitting conclusions to endearing storylines. The likeable characters kept me interested and never left me feeling as though the development team had gone to the same well too many times, despite some reused locations and bosses. If you are okay with a considerable shift in overall gameplay, exchanging actual exploration on world maps for doorways leading to more focused events, then Trails in the Sky the 3rd is going to be highly satisfying.

The main point here is that Nippon Ichi has done a spot-on job with Disgaea 5 in porting it to the Nintendo Switch. This is one of the best tactics JRPGs you can play. It’ll last you a long time, become more rewarding the more time that you put into it, and runs just perfectly on the Switch’s hardware. You could not ask for a better portable game than this.

Let's take a step back and examine Block'hood from a distance: it's a city-building game with charming retro-styled graphics. With every step closer, with every minute longer played, the end goal becomes increasingly clear: showcasing the pressure our precious planet is currently under due to increasing human demands and decreasing natural resources. In general, I think humans know what's coming. It's the reason those huge blockbusters films about disasters do so well: no matter where we are from, what language we speak, we know that we are pushing the planet too far and possibly past the point of no return. We're scared. So some people fight it (science!) and other prefer to flee (and pretend the threat isn't there), but we're all watching and waiting. Block'hood means I no longer have to wait. I know where the world is going. And I think I'd like to get off the ride now.

This combat system is a lot of fun. Each character does have distinct abilities and a role in the battlefield, and the action is fast enough that you’ll need to think quickly as you play. The crowning achievement of combat is the super attacks that you work towards (usually in time for the boss battles).

For all its mechanical competency, The Surge feels as mechanical as its enemies through most of the experience. No where near enough was done with the science fiction theme, and after catching my attention with an intriguing set up, the game then lost me with a generally dull plot that it was never quite able to claw back.

Not every game needs to be innovative, however, to provide thoughtful entertainment, and Period: Cube most certainly provided me with that in good measure.

A mixed offering, but one that could serve as a fantastic foundation for Coffee Addict Studio to build on in future games.

A new NBA arcade game will always be something to get excited about. Many of us have fond memories of dropping coins into those arcade cabinets back in the day. A game that can capture that raw sense of fun, while modernising the more archaic elements would instantly become one of the most entertaining games of the year. I’m sure the developers went into NBA Playgrounds with the most noble of intentions, but this game is not the NBA I remembered. This game is one that young me would never have considered to be worth my allowance.

This is the kind of indie game that hurts to review, because the intent to do something fun is clearly there, but it’s just not a good game at all.

Once I pushed past the odd tone and approach to the game, though, I had a really good time with this one. It’s not a classic by any means, but it’s different, interesting, and often quite clever. This is a developer with a bright future.

What Flinthook does do well is keep the variety of enemies, rooms, and environments strong from start to finish, and, generally speaking, the difficulty curve is reasonable. There’s always the risk that random elements means a game will take massive momentary spikes in difficulty when you get unlucky and the algorithms work against you. Flinthook avoids that, and progress through the game does feel good, but it struggles to be compelling.

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.

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.

Dawn of War III feels like a little bit of every other game that the franchise has churned out so far, but whether or not it will stand the test of time is uncertain; I’m already having trouble pinpointing anything particularly memorable about the campaign that doesn’t involve particular factions having really cool units. Being a fan, I probably hold this game a little closer to my heart than others will. Perhaps those keeping it at arm’s-length will be far enough away to not notice the imperfections.

Even with something as pedestrian and well-canvassed as arena mode DLC, Yoko Taro found a way to do what he does best: question our fundamental understandings of things we tend to just take for granted, and tear at the fabric of the circular logic that holds those things together. Arena modes are the purest form of the idea that combat is the pinnacle of fun in games, so Taro made an arena mode that undermines that very foundation. The best part, though, is what comes after you’ve finished all three colosseums (and no, I’m not talking about the well-publicised CEO boss fight). The arenas represent maybe three quarters of the DLC, and thought-provoking as they are, they’re not a patch on the final chapter. I’ll leave it at that, because it’s best discovered with as little prior knowledge as possible, but suffice to say that 3C3C1D119440927 is a lot, lot more than just an arena mode with some costumes attached. It's an insightful look at the very nature of arena modes and games' general obsession with violence, and the perfect epilogue to the greatest game ever made.

It’s a beautiful, elegant genre, and, when it all clicks, it’s a timeless formula. Unfortunately, Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy just asks too much of its players.

Syberia 3 feels like a game that was made because everyone involved in the project felt an obligation to make it. It has its moments, and as a fan it’s great to see Sokal’s work reach a proper conclusion, but it’s also difficult to see how this game will find an audience; even among existing fans of Syberia, tastes change over 13 years, and it’s hard to see how this game has done anything to encourage people back for one more spin with Kate Walker.

Properly articulating what Birthdays means to me is difficult. It is the embodiment of the pure joy of gaming, where I can sit down and simply immerse myself within this space without feeling pressure or tension. There’s nothing to “win,” but everything to enjoy while, at the same time, the game is pointing out, in its very innocent and heartfelt way, a very simple but so important environmental message. To Yasuhiro Wada, the environment itself has always been the real protagonist of his games, and Birthdays The Beginning is the ultimate realisation of that philosophy.

Late Shift is definitely a step in the right direction for choose-your-own-adventure film-games. Consider this: when reviewing a game or a film, we often look at content, characters, and (voice) acting. Late Shift stands up to each of these elements on its own to a certain degree. Some of the content verged on deep but never quite made it, the characters were solidly average, and the acting was surprising, in the best way.

I’ve rarely been as delighted in simply immersing myself into a game as I’ve been with GNOG.

I strongly expect that this game will be used for years to come as a ‘textbook’ case to educate developers about how to compose a story by not resorting to screeds of text or long loops of audio (in the form of simulated manuscripts, letters, voice recordings etc.); almost tauntingly, in one story, the letter-being-read crutch is used, but subverted ingeniously through the gameplay.

The Fame & Strategy Expansion Pack for Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII adds even more depth to the game’s systems, and brings the game to the Xbox One for the first time as well. If you missed the original release of Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII, then this is obviously the way to go, and I do think that diehards will also find enough of worth in the expansion as well to justify the purchase.

Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is both an amazing nostalgic trip to an older generation of gaming as well as a breath of fresh air with its fast paced and solid combat mechanics. It's rare for a developer to take martial arts and really try and do the philosophy and flow of them justice in a game, and for that Shiness is a most welcome addition to the RPG library.

Frequently surprising, intense, and always sublime.

For all the beauty and the brains behind Expeditions: Viking, the one gripe of mine that chips away at its score is the bugginess.

Chaos Code just doesn't offer anything.

MechRunner might work as a mobile game. With some fixes to hit detection, it could be a mildly enjoyable way of wasting a few moments while you wait for a bus. But when I settle in and get comfy for some gaming at home, I want something that’s going to hold my attention for more than five minutes, and MechRunner barely manages even that.

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.

I’ve played a lot of visual novels in my time, and a lot of them are favourite games, but I’ve got to say, as a student of Japanese history, and a lover of good storytelling, Hakuoki is right up there with my favourite games ever made. Any game that, after finishing, I can put down and say to myself “if that story was presented to me as a novel I would have loved it just as much,” is a good game, as far as I’m concerned.

At the risk of irrelevancy to most DDNet readers, I will add the quality family time Vignettes gave us is worth more than ten times its admission fee. Make no mistake about it, I warmly recommend you take up on the invitation, make a reservation, and roll up for the Vignettes magical mystery tour!

It’s all so completely charming that immediately after swearing for a few seconds, I was good to go again. I would like to see Koei Tecmo and Square Enix collaborate on more of these kinds of games down the track. Dragon Quest Heroes 2 is undeniable proof that the mix between a genuine JRPG and Warriors game works, and now it’s time for a Final Fantasy Heroes, methinks.

The split between aesthetic pleasure and unforgiving gameplay will be what drives the spear between whether this game is a worthwhile buy or not. There are a few things which the developers get absolutely right, and as a product of a small-team it’s fun to simply celebrate the sheer joy with which Lichtspeer was made. There’s value in the art, the style, the writing and the magic when it all comes together. As much as I enjoyed all that, however, I can’t say that this is a game which plays well.

For all its wealth of content, Puyo Puyo Tetris does rely on developing and then maintaining a strong online community for truly long-term value. As a local multiplayer game, you’ll be glad to have it around for the parties, and it’ll help plane trips and other long travels fly by in a snap. Get hooked into the game’s steep learning curve online, however, and you’ll have a game that you’ll be playing for months, if not years, and not once, for even the briefest second, will the game lose its charm.

I am so happy that The Dragon’s Trap was rereleased in this way. Its visual style appeals to a whole new generation, and the love and attention given to the game as a whole will make fans of the 1989 original smile from ear to ear. From the hand-drawn visuals to the instrumental soundtrack, everything about The Dragon’s Trap remake shows how remakes should be done. This isn’t a mere cash-in for nostalgia’s sake, this is a remake that has been targeted for all audience, a rare gem for sure.

ArmaGallant is a budget production, and that means that it will likely not sustain the community that a game of its nature needs. I’m already finding myself queuing for ten minutes at time to get a match going, and that’s really disappointing, because this is one I could see myself playing for quite a while yet, given half the chance. It also helps that I am, to date, actually undefeated. Bring on a world championships and those eSports sponsorships, please, I want to turn pro at ArmaGallant.

It might be a flawed experience, but that’s almost irrelevant when you consider just how much of it there really is on offer. This is how you do an “HD remaster."

It’s a cool little game that pokes fun at a lot of what is wrong with AAA First Person Shooters, and a lot of it is still relevant today. I'd just avoid playing through as Duke Nukem.

What I love about this game - and its iOS port - is that it has done such a great job of capturing and respecting the essence of Japan.

Now keep in mind, this is a port of the original Wii U title. if you already have it, there probably is not enough here to warrant coming back for more unless you want split screen cooperation, higher resolution or achievements. That being said, if you missed LEGO City Undercover the first time around and enjoy this unique brand of adventure gaming, know that this release is one of the most entertaining and original LEGO games in quite some time.

The problem with the package is that it’s difficult to argue that any of the games in it a bona fide classics.

That ending notwithstanding, Kona is a trip worth taking. It’s a beautiful, moody showcase of the snowy wilds of northern Canada, and a slow-burning mystery steeped in atmosphere. Play it for the journey, not the destination.

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.

The problem for Mervils is that none of it works that well. It’s not a game that benefits in any substantial way from being in VR, because you’ll be focused entirely on your avatar, which sits beneath your view and demands your attention at all times; you have no time to actually enjoy the game as a VR experience, and Mervils does nothing with that VR perspective.

Virry’s not a game, and I know that in writing that I’ve disqualified it as a potential purchase by many. But Virry is such an important little experience, because it gives people the chance to get close to threatened animals, and hopefully come away caring a little more about conservation.

The enemy’s AI is non-existent; it will spawn slowly strengthening hordes of soldiers, but otherwise it won’t do anything. If you can get a multiplayer game going there’s a bit more strategy involved, I guess, but there isn’t much of a community wrapped around this one, leaving Korix feeling like a game that had a good idea buried away in there, but fails to give people the VR strategy experience that they’ll be looking for.

What’s most important is that the game works without giving me the slightest bit of motion sickness, and as a fan of trash B-grade science fiction, I was really able to appreciate the inherent silliness of it all. There might not be much depth here over the long term, but for some short bursts of frenetic action, it absolutely has the lightgun genre nailed.

Accompanying this storytelling is a delightful tap-tap-tap sound as dialogue is spoken, as though the story is being typed out on a keyboard as the player reads along.

Talk about a piece of media that can capably transport the player directly into the 1990s of ice hockey games, Old Time Hockey does exactly that. From the one-colour loading screens, to the sound effects, right down to the chosen font, Old Time Hockey is a fun yet flawed experience. In a time where many developers are looking back to the 1990s as inspiration for their games, Old Time Hockey stands out as one of the success stories.

Fated: The Silent Oath is exactly the kind of game that VR was made for, and it’s nice to finally see the technology put to work on small, intimate, emotive character drama. The good news is that this is the first part of what’s planned to be a multi-episode game, and I’m really looking forward to spending more time in this world, with these people.

I had a great time playing The Inner World and was sad to say goodbye to its wacky denizens, the cheeky humour and the fairytale world of Asposia.

Despite falling neatly into typical fantasy locales (forest, volcano, snowy mountain), there’s something unique about Eekeemoo’s levels, and they inspire plenty of curiosity. Sadly, those feelings are quickly laid to rest by every other aspect of the game. Despite its potential and the love poured into it, Eekeemoo: Splinters of the Dark Shard is a broken mess that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.

MLB The Show 17 is the only AAA baseball game in town, but the series is clearly not content resting on its laurels. With notable improvements in several areas and increased accessibility to try and hook newcomers, baseball fans should find a lot to like about this year's release. Play ball!

Ticket to Earth is not a book by Sartre. One need not spend too much time assessing it in depth. However, the player is clearly not going to suffer the dreaded death by PowerPoint; the theme of the rich and powerful exploiting everybody else creates enough interest (and, sadly, relevance) to lift Ticket to Earth into more than just another tile based mobile game. It even meant yours noobishly had no problems whatsoever going through the grind required to upgrade my character to a level I could actually make progress with. I needed to know what’s going to happen!

It’s probably just as well Sony gave this thing away for free with PSPlus memberships. It’s the only hope the game has of actually keeping an audience (because it’s a multiplayer-only game, it needs a large and sustained community). But if David Jaffe genuinely wants to make a transgressive game, next time he should pay some attention to how actual transgressive artists like Goichi Suda and Yoko Taro do it.

Andromeda is still Mass Effect, and for some that might be enough, but this avenue needs more to be held in similar esteem. It does reach a satisfying conclusion, at least as far as the buildup warrants, but it takes the long way around. It does hit something that feels like a fresh, Mass Effect-patterned beginning, but a lot of the sophistication in plot that’s alluded to is left up in the air. Of course, we've also heard all of this before, when people were unsure about just what BioWare was trying to do with the original Mass Effect. It really took us two games to come to believe in the vision in the first instance, and perhaps that is the case with our new home in Andromeda, too.

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

If you’re here for the fighting however, you’re in luck. King of Fighters 98 is one of the most robust 2D fighters ever made. Game balance is impeccable, and each character has a solid amount of offensive and defensive options to make them viable. Matches are decided entirely upon skill, so this game is best experienced with a few friends who are willing to learn the strategies and get good enough to compete. You’re sure to be playing this one for a long time.

What you won't get is much personality or balance. The game undersells its "real people from history" basis; indeed, some of them I didn't even recognise at first. Their fighting styles are only vaguely reminscient of their real-world personalities, too, which is disappointing (aside from the special attacks, that are spot on). More critically, there are some characters with spammy attacks that make the game far too easy, and other characters that are next to useless. Given that the game already has a small roster, this doesn't do much to help its long term value.

Don’t let the small character roster fool you – Waku Waku 7 was one of the best fighting games on the Neo Geo, and western Switch owners are lucky to have the chance to try this one out. The game’s pastel colour scheme and gently paced gameplay is a breath of fresh air compared to the tournament minded design of King of Fighters or World Heroes Perfect. Fans of fighting games would be giving themselves a disservice to overlook Waku Waku 7.

This isn’t an exceptionally long game and doesn’t feature branching pathways or character selection like other Neo Geo games do, but it has deceptively simple mechanics that will have you playing over and over in an attempt to beat entire levels on one life. Players willing to look past the poor spritework and short runtime will find a fun arcade gallery shooter which otherwise might have been lost to history.

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.

The game’s difficulty level also strays on the balanced side for most Neo Geo titles. It’s definitely hard, but with enough dexterity all enemy and boss attack patterns can be avoided in some way. Its gameplay is easy to understand, and it’s a lot more fun when shared. An average run from beginning to end will put you at roughly two hours, but the game’s branching paths and overall energetic pace mean that this is a title you’ll want to come back to over and over again.

It is a digital combination of an extremely difficult board game and deck builder, combined with some zany creatures and topped off with some insane levels of difficulty. Perhaps it is the requirement of balance that made me love a game with such randomness behind it, as balancing my turns or the cards made me feel powerful in a world of beautiful chaos. I think Loot Rascals actually taught me something, which isn't something I say often about video games.

"Incredibly successful" is actually a wonderful phrase to go out on. I struggle to find an aspect of This Is The Police that I didn't find enjoyable and appropriate for the style of game as well as what was promised in trailers prior to the game's release. Taking over the role of police chief to run Freeburg would have been a great simulation/management game on its own, but then add layer upon layer of villainous folk and reasons to go over to the dark side, and the game becomes a fully immersive experience that requires great difficulty to put down.

It is strong at establishing an atmospheric story, aided by outstanding graphics and a highly talented, very natural voice cast who know not to over-act. It falls short on some technical fronts (translation, some over-familiar tropes and cumbersome narrative viewpoints), but these do not decisively mar the enjoyable experience.

A Rose in the Twilight is, in its entirety, a metaphor for the rose itself; it’s a truly beautiful masterpiece, but it’s also a gothic kind of beauty, in that it’s more than happy to stab you sharply, even as you appreciate everything about it. It’s a ravishing, masterful work, that will be played by just a handful, but hopefully remembered for a long time to come.

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.

The Franz Kafka Game is an interesting attempt at representing Kafka’s narrative style in an interactive medium. It’s not always going to be fun to play, but it’s a memorable experience which relies upon witty writing and clever design rather than technology or rewards systems. This is a game which is often confusing and unintuitive, but it gets away with it under the guise of being true to its source material. If you’re in a pensive mood and want to play something that’ll make you think, The Franz Kafka game will gently help you let go of reality and embrace the absurd.

Molemen Must Die! is a pretty solid action title, especially given its low price. Certainly it is a shallow game, but at a price point of three dollars, it's not hard to get your money's worth out of it. If you like a good laugh at the expense of an overly sensitive man who wants to build a wall... erm, drop a bomb, then you will likely get a chuckle out of the premise here. However, other than a few bits of background signage and the wordless introduction that quickly plays out at the start of each game, the political tongue-in-cheek is quickly forgotten in favour of the frantic action.

Yes, it’s incredibly provocative. Yes, it’s incredibly satisfying. Yes, it’s titillating, but in no way does it sacrifice the importance of mechanical mastery for shock value. Takaki has created a beast that caters to some pretty specific tastes, and the unapologetic delivery of the franchise’s latest offering should be admired regardless of whether or not your idea of a good time involves busty Japanese girls.

Fans of survival horror should give this title a go, and this is especially true if you have the opportunity to experience it in virtual reality. It may not have ghosts and goblins, but Narcosis still provides a suitably haunting experience worth undertaking.

Ultimately, this is a game anyone that loved adventure games will enjoy, and find entertainment in. There are quite a few nods to the Lucasarts/Lucasfilm stable, cameos and a continuation of jokes that have been there since the first Edison encounter. In terms of where it would sit alongside the earlier adventure games, it’s definitely a B-side, but being a B-side to the likes of Monkey Island, Zak McKracken and Day of the Tentacle is still a pretty mean feat.

Aside from a few annoyances and occasionally unfair difficulty, I found myself always coming back for more with FlatOut 4, and one hour would often turn into three-hour play sessions. It was just plain fun to play, and sometimes a game doesn't need to be more than that.

I don’t think I’ve ever played a more pointless game than R.B.I. Baseball 17... I just don’t see how anyone, anywhere, could possibly want what this one is offering.

Out of the Park 18 is a competent entry in a legendary franchise which offers management enthusiasts a staggering about of depth. Whether you already love baseball or you’re yet to discover what truly makes the sport great, OOTP’s robust engine and deep customisation options cater for the needs of any player. It’s a fairly steep learning curve starting out, but once OOTP hits its groove, it’s sure to captivate your attention for years (or at least until OOTP 19 rolls around).

Really, the best way to describe Everything is that it’s a game that lets you play as everything. I don’t mean that in the sense that you can play as anything, though you can do that (at least, any of roughly 1000 different things coded into the game). Rather, I mean that it’s a game that lets you play as a conceptual Everything – that one grand, all-encompassing thing that we are all part of, that binds us together, and that exists within all of us.

I like games that are able to explore serious ideas in an entertaining and subtle fashion. If you weren’t aware of the academic weight that drives the two titles in The Nonary Games, you wouldn’t be missing anything. It’s not essential to understand how game theory works, how it explains human behaviour, and why that’s all relevant to the deeper themes that 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward explore. If you want to take it, simply, as a cracking series of visual novels with sublime puzzle design, you can do that. But, if you’re like me and do take game narratives seriously, then these two are right up there with the best in the industry, and sticking them together into a single package makes them completely essential.

Siralim 2 simply does nothing substantial to build on the foundations of its predecessor. It’s very much like those sports games that simply update the roster of players without actually changing the game in any way from one year to the next… except that sports games developers don’t really do that any more. I want to see more Siralim, but if there’s to be a Siralim 3, I do want it to be something different this time.

Mario Sports Superstars does nothing to help the series make its case. In fact, it’s quite possibly the most aggressively simplistic game I’ve ever played from Nintendo.

It’s a game about what could have been, both from the protagonist’s perspective and also from the player’s point of view. The Crow’s Eye shone when it came to dealing with suspense and psychological distress. I only wish that it’d played more to its strengths in the end.

I'd say Unearthing Mars is well worth a couple of hours away from the real world. It's rough around the edges, but there are some great ideas at play and an enjoyable adventure to be had.

It’s intended to be the final piece of the BoxBoy! puzzle, and it’s going out on the highest note possible.

Bullet Soul is a refreshingly unique and infinitely replayable romp, gloriously representing arcade-style bullet hell action for the modern age. By not aspiring to be the most technically demanding game of its kin, it’s able to convey the appeal of its subgenre even better than some of the all-time classics.

Stranger of Sword City is not for the faint of heart. Players who aren’t willing to die and slowly come to grips with its systems as they struggle against its infinite difficulty spikes need not apply. Having said that, Revisited presents a more palatable and fully realised vision of an already standout dungeon crawler.

Talisman is a classic board game, and deserves respect for that. It’s also eminently playable to this day, and very easy to pick up and play; it’s a genuinely good game for lazy Sundays with friends. But it’s also not the perfect game, nor is this port the perfect port. And sadly that means that Talisman on PlayStation 4 won’t win over a new generation of fans to the game.

Where the first Toukiden was very solidly in the Monster Hunter tradition, this one edges that much closer to a hybrid JRPG/ Monster Hunter experience, and I couldn’t be happier about that. This is exactly what I want from a “Monster Hunter clone.”

Ultimately, SnipperClips is an experience to be shared. It’s a great game for introverts, for families who game apart and for friends who want to introduce others to their hobby, simply because it’s wildly successful at moving the solitary experience of completing a puzzle into a safe and welcoming social sphere. It gives you a common goal which everyone can understand, and an environment where players will genuinely need each other’s help to succeed. It also boasts a fair amount of content which will last a few solid afternoons with friends. With the only barrier of entry being that you’ll need someone (literally anyone!) to play with, SnipperClips is a game which is sure to delight any Switch owner.

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.

it does a lot right, but it does not break the classic mould enough to make it feel like a true new classic in its own right.

It’s not perfect, and it will frustrate many, but it’s a quality, solid effort nonetheless.

A fantastic game. I've played a lot of games that emulate the design of Castlevania to varying degrees of success, but few that do this good a job of engaging with the theme 's that underpin that series. In doing so, Momodora carves its own special niche within the Metroidvania world.

The Escapists has not only everything I want in a game, but also everything I want in a premium mobile title. One price gets you everything: dozens of hours of gameplay that includes sneaking, crafting, grinding, and the snazziest orange jumpsuits you'll ever see. The port is incredibly successful, with both control schemes working well and being easily interchangeable. To sum it up, I love it. I love it so much that I'm going to stop writing about it to continue playing some more — I'm eyeing HMP Iron Gate and think I can bust our in record time.

The story was familiar yet contained enough freshness to make it interesting, the hand-painted backgrounds were drool-worthy, the puzzles were a good balance on the fun-challenging scale, and whenever I was in a pinch there was a cat to help me out.

FAST Racing RMX feels like a modernised F-Zero in every regard. Its gameplay feels fluid and engaging, and the track design is arguably better than any other game of its kind. Casual players will enjoy the opportunity to race with friends or online, while hardcore genre fans will have some hefty challenges to speed through. Shin’en Multimedia has outdone itself with this one, and Nintendo should be proud to have the small but talented studio developing for its system - it’s a game which will feel right at home on any Switch console.

More than anything else, though, what I love about Miss Fisher is the way that the game really represents a very Australian sense of storytelling and aesthetics. As long-time readers know, I often talk about how I’d like for Australia (and other markets around the world) to develop a unique identity in game production, distinct from the US, much like Japan has. This game is an example of that. It’s got that droll sense of humour that we do so well, and the art captures old Melbourne perfectly. If this game helps people discover the Miss Fisher novels and TV series, then so much the better, because they are a bit of a cultural icon that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough.

That’s a shame, because there’s a lot of potential in the Psychonauts universe for a fantastic VR game – this much is apparent even to me, despite having never played the original game. The quirky characters and outlandish locations are just begging to be explored with the kind of immersiveness that VR offers, but Rhombus of Ruin isn’t that game. If anything, it’s a game that makes me want to finally check out Psychonauts itself, but that’s due as much to what this game fails to deliver as to what it succeeds in.

Where Shards of Darkness excels is when it gets you to think dynamically and to pare off all the extraneous technicalities, when hiding and slashing and scheming becomes second nature after you’re forced to hone your skills by being thrown for a loop once you think you know it all. This is a game that you need to sink more than just a handful of hours into in order to really appreciate but in my opinion, the reward is well worth it - the feeling of nailing a multi-target assassination with some high-octane traps before ziplining away and cackling was indescribable, and made much more meaningful by the fact that a few hours ago I was struggling to find my own ass in the dark.