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.

At first glance, Polaris Sector does not look like anything terribly new or innovative. While it does not reinvent the proverbial strategy genre wheel, credit is due for some of the more innovative systems and balanced, clean UI.

It wasn’t disappointing in that it was every bit as terrible as I was expecting. This is the worst visual novel I have ever experienced. It’s tempting to say it’s unplayable, in that I can’t have it on for five minutes before wanting to give up on games forever, but that would be inaccurate, since a visual novel just involves scrolling through text and performing basic inputs on to the screen. So instead I’ll just a far more accurate pejorative for this kind of game - Parascientific Escape is illiterate.

This is not a perfect game and its ideas are all over the place. It's rough around the edges, the overworld is tiny and it's over all too soon. I can in full confidence say though, that I've never played a more interesting open world title.

I wanted a game that was like Muramasa: The Demon Blade; a game that would take the aesthetics of classical Japan and really do something with it. Instead, Sadame proves itself to be vapid and uninspired in the extreme, and so very disappointing as a result.

Steel Rivals is irredeemably flawed and should never have been made. I try to find the good in games, even when they are bad – if a game doesn’t work, I like to think that perhaps the concept is sound but poorly executed, or perhaps the development team is young but shows signs of promise. But Steel Rivals has none of that.

Being based on a novel I was hoping for a better standard of story and in being short at only around nine hours, Trulon is also far shorter than I went in expecting for a JRPG. This doesn't make the game bad.

It's a good game, don't get me wrong. On an objective level it works, and there's a reason Fruit Ninja and other such games have been so popular over the years; they're a great deal of fun. The problem with Fire Fu is that it is just so very late to the party, that even an Asianophile like me struggles to get along with it over its genre ancestors, despite the Asian setting and theming.

There is so much more that this game gets right than wrong. To call Tom Clancy's The Division 'just a shooter' is doing it quite a disservice. It has some elements of the genre, but it comes away more akin to an RPG when things are said and done, similar to how Mass Effect successfully blended genres and came out stronger than the individual sum of its parts. It lacks the amount of narrative control over the story that Mass Effect provides, but in most other respects The Division accomplishes the things it sets out to do. It might not be the textbook definition of fun, but the bleak world is interesting, the combat is engaging and I found progression rewarding.

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

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

The game doesn’t stand up especially well by itself, and the Remaster has only addressed the superficial issues with the DS original.

Big Ant is, effortlessly, the world’s premier independent developer of niche sports, and Lacrosse falls squarely in its beat. It’s ace and I love it. Now.

If you're keen for one of the suspenseful thrillers manageable with just images and text, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc comes highly recommended.

Ultimately the success of Samurai Warriors 4 Empires rests on how well it has been able to merge action and strategy together, and while I feel this veers strongly on the side of action, compared with even the Dynasty Warriors Empires series, there’s still enough thinky stuff to do between battles to add nuance to the overall experience.

It was a great game back when it was new. It’s a great game still. Strong narratives don’t age, and this one has a strong story to tell. Throw in quality port work that gives the art direction the detail and clarity that it really deserves, and Twilight Princess is a classic that has scrubbed up well enough to be a worthy Wii U title in its own right.

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.

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.

With a core gameplay loop that is this utterly intoxicating, it's hard not to love AAC. It's an addictive and elegant score-chaser that has the power to bring newcomers into the shmup genre, as well as the legs and tail to truly satisfy shmup veterans.

Blast ‘Em Bunnies might be simple – no, it is simple – but it’s simple in the right way, and that’s something to be impressed with all by itself.

All in all, Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed does a really solid job of bringing colourful characters from the series into a new style of game.

Traditional where it needs to be, and wildly humorous when it wants to, this is the perfect follow up to the spectacularly successful original title.

There are better farming simulations and JRPGs on the Nintendo 3DS. I generally enjoyed my time exploring, harvesting and killing things, but I could not escape the feeling that I had done this all before, and that there were better individual examples of each genre out there for the system.

Fear. Pure fear. The most primal of emotions is the overwhelming one while playing Layers of Fear.

Screencheat is my favourite local multiplayer game on the PlayStation 4. It’s a nice, small, download that I’m going to leave sitting on the harddrive for whenever I have friends over, and while that might not happen on a weekly basis (I like my space, okay), each and every time I pull the game out, it’s going to more than validate its worth.

As a compilation, Legacy Collection thankfully makes an effort to be more than a sloppy pile of regurgitated code from decades ago.

Heavy Rain is very much the kind of game I like to play; it’s smart, interesting, different and highly focused. Cage might be a one-of-a-kind game director and thinker, and I do wish more developers paid attention to how he approaches his storytelling.

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.

In fact, it’s almost like a tech demo where the development team has come up with a brilliant combat system and has released that as a commercial project in the hope that a publisher will take note and throw them the money they need to make a real game next.

E.T. Armies is a well-made indie FPS with a few caveats that occasionally detract from a mostly enjoyable experience.

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 manages to bottle up something magical and succeed a second time in a row.

I find that the complexity of its systems add a nice layer of strategy that most “Diablo clones” could benefit from. More than that, though, I find the narrative to be delightful in the way it revels in the Grimm Brothers’ sense of villainy, and then sticks you right in the middle of it and left to figure out for yourself if you’re comfortable helping a monster that completely evil.

My admiration of the game comes from its self-aware humour, traditional gameplay, and surprisingly unique story.

Fire Emblem Fates still approaches war from a largely idealistic standpoint, but it makes a quantum leap forward by representing a broader range viewpoints along the way. For a series that has changed incrementally over the last 25 years, this latest entry is a refreshing reinvention.

Minor issues aside, I do think this is the best Far Cry game.

If a player who stumbles upon this title on Steam becomes inspired to make serious educational reform after watching their students get dehumanised into tropical fruit, No Pineapple Left Behind will have all been worth it.

Street Fighter V looks and plays exactly like how you'd expect any instalment in the series to, but there's something unfinished about it, something that makes you feel the series has taken a giant step backward.

It’s not a very long game at all; I’d clocked it in about seven hours, but those are the best, most entertaining seven hours I’ve had with the PlayStation 4 controller in my hands for a very long time.

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.

ADIOS is a game I think many people can enjoy. I also think each individual will get something different out of it, as long as they stick with it and get a feel for the inner workings of the game.

Thea: The Awakening makes for something of a grim, low-power 4X strategy game that works extremely well with its particularities. Proper planning can only take a God so far as adaptability and luck plays a major role with random events that could very well lay waste to everything. While that's not necessarily always good fun, what it does do remarkably well in building the tense atmosphere that is quite unique for the genre.

If you enjoyed the original title, then Project X Zone 2 should appeal because it does everything the first title did but better. If you are new to the series but a fan of some of the various franchises represented here, it is also worth a look.

It’s a beautiful game about human emotions and memories, and while I hope there’s never a sequel, I cannot wait to see what this team comes up with next.

I love the JRPG genre, and while the turn-based and slightly grindy nature of the combat likely will not bring new fans to the series, I found it comfortable and accessible to play.

It’s different, it’s creative, it’s stark, and I loved every second of it.

XCOM has once again proven that it is a powerhouse when it comes to tactical gameplay.

What Siralim is, ultimately, is a great deal of fun for a very select audience, and it gets there because it straddles the line between being something authentic, and something that understands that some design elements are best left in the past.

This isn't a game with an incredible amount of content, and it's possible to see everything there is on offer after a couple of runs.

There is an almost unbridled energy to the Naruto show and manga that translates over to the video game medium very effectively. The combat is not the deepest, but there is nuance to learn and master and the story and set pieces help to deliver on that frantic energy the show is known for.

The most heartwarming thing about this game is its a tribute to the lead developer's sadly deceased dog companion. For that reason alone anyone who has ever had a beloved pet really owes it to themselves to experience this one.

The environment and the art style work well together to create a tense experience, yet this tension however is lost with a somewhat simple approach to game design, a shame to what is a quality horror game.

A few new wrinkles such as the team-up attacks and the really cool audio part of the presentation are quite welcome, and I think these superhero games lend themselves to the TT Games better than most genres due to the large number of unique skills. It's reliable fun, but we keep saying this - TT Games needs to start bringing some genuinely original new ways of looking at LEGO, or the scores will start to fall as people get very tired of doing the same thing over and over again.

With the superb Final Fantasy heritage to support it and even compensate for the lack of narrative context, as well as some truly exciting multiplayer questing, this is a game I have a lot of time for, and will do so for a long time to come.

The theme could have been better explored and the rough edges on the control detract from the inherent fun of the puzzles. More than anything else, however, is that Attractio doesn't do anything to progress its genre.

In most other regards Arslan is a fairly standard Warriors experience, but between the strong, epic, narrative, gorgeous setting, and the varied bunch of really enjoyable characters there is more than enough here to justify its place among Koei Tecmo’s growing stable of licensed work.

It’s fast paced arcade shooter style is a ton of fun, and considering the types of leaps and bounds it brought to the FPS genre, it’s no wonder that it managed to succeed all those years ago.

It makes a good transition from PC to console, but Rebel Galaxy was far too vapid and uninspired to be a really stand out game in the first place. While that means it's not terrible, it's also a complete waste of what the far reaches of outer space offers for creative narrative, and this is deeply disappointing.

Jon Blow and Thekla have really created something special here, and while it has been a very long wait (I hope that the next one doesn't take eight years to complete...), the long development time has been used to good effect.

It’s difficult to conceive where the audience might be for this game. Players who already have the free-to-play version may as well just stick with that. Either you’re still playing it (and thus have likely finished just about everything and would simply be replaying through everything you’ve already done again), or you’ve stopped playing it and therefore you’re done with what Pokemon Rumble World offers.

The best part of Mini-Games Madness Volume #1 is its menu screen, which features psychedelic colours and effects underscored by a fish-eye lens.

I hate to harp on this, but it does need to be said that charades is a game that doesn’t actually need a game console to play. While you do get the benefit of having the 1,500 questions pre-written for you (and therefore in principle a more fair game than asking for everyone to come up with their own), it’s still putting an extra layer of technical complexity between yourselves and a really simple party game.

As a rhythm game fan, I have to say that Inside My Radio left me disappointed. It might have been an amazing experience had I been unable to follow a simple beat upon starting up the game, but years of experience in the genre made the experience entirely trivial.

You know what you’re getting from it, but by the end of it, if you play enough games in this genre, you will probably be itching to play something a little more creative.

Supporting a good, albeit simple narrative between the four protagonists, Croixleur Sigma provides a solid, fast-paced, three dimensional roguelike brawler experience.

Zombie Vikings is basic brawler, but it's a basic brawler done right, and is quite funny in the process. And, really, that's all most people are looking for from this genre. There are far better examples out there of it, but as a Sunday afternoon killer, this one is nonetheless almost as worthy as Thor himself.

Far bigger in scope than any of its predecessors, Megadimension Neptunia VII has nevertheless managed to retain its focus over what fans enjoy about the series most; its humour and its fan service.

I’m disappointed because of how good Radiohammer could have been. If it actually had a music library that didn’t sound like a set of royalty-free midi tracks off a dodgy website, I’d be much more willing to recommend it.

Moco Moco Friends is geared firmly toward young children, but the magical girl aesthetics and witty script allow it to transcend an otherwise middling JRPG. It wouldn’t have hurt to take a couple more cues from the collect-and-battle RPG greats and, with a sequel, Moco Moco Friends could be elevated substantially. As is, there’s something to be said for the pure, clean fun Moco delivers in spades.

There is plenty of fun to be had here with friends, but just make sure your expectations are in line with what you will be getting here. It is fun for a while, and well made for what it is, but for a game that relies so intensely on the multiplayer action, it's just not quite up there with the best in the genre.

This here is a masterpiece of narrative storytelling, one of the strongest examples of game-as-art that we’ve had in years, and a remarkable, cinematic, triumph that has the rare distinction of also being a major studio project that is both creative and original.

Baseball Riot is a perfectly competent game, but it suffers from a lack of originality.

Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen is just as solid of an entry from Capcom as it was back upon the PS3 and the Xbox 360. With lots of landscapes to explore, character classes to try out, and help to summon, there’s no shortage of adventuring to be done, and once you're hooked on simply existing in the world, this is one that will last you for many dozens of hours.

Volume’s score is great and the composer, David Housden, has done a fantastic job. The audio direction and design really impressed me with the memorable voice acting and sound effects throughout. It is always great to have a composer create a soundtrack so good, that it is actually interesting to listen to even outside the game.

Tharsis is an incredibly meaningful game that has picked a woefully inadequate format to express an innately intelligent idea.

Brave Souls isn’t the finest anime game out there, but I believe it can be. Even in its bumpy, jagged state, KLab has managed to boil the franchise down to its most appealing elements and turn an intimidating multi-hundred chapter mess into something newcomers can actually parse. Any company looking to convert a battle-driven shounen series into a video game ought to take note.

For anyone that has been put off the modern direction this series has taken, Zero in HD on our new generation of consoles is the perfect remedy.

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.

Satirical and self-referential, backed with some boundlessly creative combat systems and the endlessly bright Mario aesthetic, Paper Jam might not be a huge step forward from its predecessor on the Nintendo 3DS, but it is every bit as much fun.

The game lacks originality and suffers from a lack of narrative, and those two factors aren't enough to make up for the decent puzzles.

Escha & Logy actually works as a first point of call for the series. There’s very little assumed knowledge brought over from the first game in the Dusk series (Ayesha), and the systems and mechanics are more user-friendly and accessible.

Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest is a genuine quality free-to-play game. As with all match-3 games, it's not the most in-depth or complex experience available, but the Magic: The Gathering license is used well, and the aesthetic design makes is the perfect casual time-waster for those train trips or quick breaks.

While simple in presentation, the grand scope of Trails of Cold Steel’s narrative is really what drives this game, and it does so with remarkable intelligence and confidence. You’ll need a good block of time to actually play through this one, but for people that do make the commitment to it, the rewards are more than enough.

They hide behind nostalgic pixilated visuals, stick safely to existing game tropes, and are really quite culturally tone-deaf. While I love that digital distribution has allowed indie developers to create some genuine masterpieces that would never have had a chance otherwise, games like Kung Fu Fight! are the other side of that particular coin. If we didn’t have digital distribution there is no way a game like this would have ever been inflicted on us, and that wouldn’t have been a bad thing at all.

A Block and a Hard Place is my absolute favourite episode in the Minecraft Story Mode tale to date, and I certainly look forward to what surprises may be coming my way when the conclusion is released.

While it’s a decidedly feminine game, Style Boutique is a quality package, and people of all ages and genders will be able to find things to appreciate about it. While I would be the kind of person to find a serious fashion boutique/ retail buyer simulation fascinating, if I am going to play a casual sim, I would prefer something like this to the vapid and cynical likes of Hay Day, Farmville, and so on.

The game has all the hallmarks of a fun indie effort: an insane cast of characters, good enough challenge, and a cartoony production. It's just in the execution and slightly confused gameplay is where it falters and unfortunately, casts a big shadow over what little positive points the game has to offer.

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

While the core mechanics remain functionally the same, that (even more) exotic setting and (lesser known) time period, brilliant environment design and brief, but effective, narrative all combine to make something that offers just that little bit more.

There’s nothing to actually recommend about Chronus Arc. Fans of 16-bit and earlier JRPGs won’t get the nostalgic rush they might hope for from this game because it’s so artificially put together it feels more like an insult to the memory of those games than a celebration of them.

While Earth Defense Force 2 offers a lot of repetition over the course of its missions, it’s a fun distraction for fans of bad science fiction that want to indulge in a bit of wanton destruction. While it may not offer depths of narrative or even the real semblance of one, the gameplay more than speaks for itself, and it’s quite easy to see why this series has managed to develop the core fanbase that it has over the years.

It's a deliberately limited game, but it works well within its self-imposed restrictions to keep the focus on the party atmosphere from start through to finish, and while it won't be remembered as a classic game by any stretch of the imagination, this is a good one to have sitting on the PlayStation 4 hard drive for when friends are over.

Weird. Colourful. Quirky. Entertaining. Funny.

Starpoint Gemini 2 is difficult to get into, and I wish the narrative had been more interesting as well. However, the ability to play the game several different ways while reaching out and exploring a beautiful, expansive space helps to make the investment of time worth it. It is great to see a game like this coming to console, as the genre is far better represented on PC.

I think it is safe to say that Snoopy has avoided the movie-tie-in curse. What we have here is a game that is solid in its design ideas and has implemented them effectively. Yes there are some slowdown issues, but considering who the game is marketed towards, I don’t think they’ll be taking too much notice of that. It’s an enjoyable game, filled to the brim with fun and imagination.

Hard West is a great example of a turn-based tactical strategy game that blends both the Old West and the supernatural together seamlessly. Though it’s fairly derivative of games that we’ve already played, the intriguing way that the narrative plays itself out makes it worth a look, even for veterans.

I enjoyed Hatoful Boyfriend Holiday Star as a fan of the original. It was great getting more back story for several characters that were underdone in the original, as well as meeting new characters all in the holiday mood.

I found the combat highly engaging and every new ridge I would climb up provided me with such breathtakingly beautiful vistas that I would sit there simply slow panning around to take it all in. But at the same time, undercooked narrative has hurt the really long-term value of the game, and it was just a little too in love with the more arbitrary and irritating quirks of MMO design for its own good.

As playgrounds for the adults, the wealthy, and the risk takers, they are full of excitement and a little bit of danger, and so filled with exotic sights and sounds that I could almost smell the food vendors or rain on the asphalt after a storm; that’s how effective this game is at bringing me back to Japan for just a little while.