There’s no fun to be had in Baseball Riot, just monotony.

All in all, Daylight was a bit of a disappointment. Let it be said that it's utterly terrifying and will likely scare even the hardiest of players, but ultimately the experience feels a little shallow.

Mark McMorris Infinite Air is not going to appeal to more casual snowboarding fans, and unfortunately I would include myself in that category. If you are looking for a game that you can pick up easily and pull off some crazy looking tricks, you might want to look elsewhere. However, with properly aligned expectations and a willingness to sink some time into learning the game's mechanics, you can get a lot out of this one.

It takes a familiar, played-out sci-fi story and uses mechanics and interactivity to give it a fresh, insightful spin. It’s not as nuanced a take as this sort of story needs, but you can’t argue with how well Divide’s approach works at its best.

I’m so delighted to say that Lust For Darkness is the real deal. The fact that I can compare it to one of the greatest erotic thrillers of all time in Eyes Wide Shut, and not break down laughing, is in itself is a great credit to the developers. The game lacks the sheer mastery and refinement that Stanley Kubrick had over his canvas, but this is still leagues ahead of the clumsy, overly-simple idea of “horror” that most game developers aspire to.

Basically, Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament, is an older game and suffers from a poor localisation, but there’s a heart and soul in it that is so earnest and honest that it’s very easy to forgive the game its transgressions. Whether it’s the mixing of fantasy, spiritual philosophy and some of the most ancient recorded history, or the engaging combat system and stunning art direction it’s easy to get lost in this adventure, and full credit to EastAsiaSoft for giving us a second chance to play it.

Echo Prime doesn't ask for too much commitment from players, but the experience is much shallower as a result. Casual players will be able to look past the repetition due to their shorter, more spaced out gaming sessions.

Lovecraft fans will get a kick out of the references to the horror maestro's body of work that are scattered throughout the mansion as well. From Deep One through Necronomicon it's all there. As primitive as the game is by modern standards, Alone in the Dark is a true classic, and for a dollar or so on the iOS it's well worth playing, either for nostalgia value or to experience the very formation of the horror genre.

It's worth giving Rock Zombie the benefit of the doubt that it wanted to be a trash Z-grade grindhouse game. And if so, mission accomplished. It's just so bad it's worth throwing on in a drunken haze for a laugh or two...But it's not a good game at all. Oh no, no, no, no and no.

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.

I am torn on it because I absolutely loved some of the things that were done, but also came away with the distinct impression that there simply should have been more. More conversation, more depth to the existing mechanics or additional systems that come into play over time, more variety in puzzles and more game in general. I generally enjoyed my time with Armikrog, but came away with the unshakeable feeling that it also missed several opportunities to be a better, more memorable game.

The only redeeming factor of Toby: The Secret Mine is that it’s not one of the many, so many, “roguelikes” or pseudo 8-bit platformers that are the norm these days from indie developers. It felt kind of refreshing to go back to 2014, even for a fleeting moment. The ideas in Toby are sound, the execution however is a lot to be desired.

It's great when you need free chips, but Poker Club was built entirely around the social experience and that's largely absent here. I love Poker Club's design and philosophy, but unfortunately, where Ripstone's other games on Switch are exceptional, this is a vastly inferior port and experience.

There is a lot to like about Loop8, and there’s the sense that the creative team put a lot of work into the symbolism and theming of it. They shot for the stars. Unfortunately, it fell slightly short, and while it’s interesting and different, it never lives up to the clear potential it had. But that’s also okay. At least they tried something different. Gaming wouldn’t be worth it if people didn’t take a creative risk every once in a while.

Ultimately, perhaps we do need to remember that this is FuRyu’s first self-published game, and the existence of Varlet at all is, itself, an experiment. We didn’t get the usual creative subversion that we’ve come to expect from the company behind the likes of Lost Dimension, The Caligula Effect, Crystar, and Reynatis, but in taking this step as a company, perhaps FuRyu will be able to protect its ability to continue to do those games in the future. Valent itself, unfortunately, is a game I wish I could love more than I did.

I am happy to see that Drawn To Life is still mulling around in the minds of the creators. I'm not the world's biggest fan of platformers, but I greatly enjoyed the playful creativity and customisation that the original games offered. That Two Realms has somehow pulled back on a concept that even primitive DS and Wii titles managed perfectly well is very disappointing, but I hope that the low price point means that this was just a token first effort that will lead into a more substantial, and conceptually true, re-boot down the track.

Modern Combat: Blackout isn't a great game by any stretch of the imagination, but it's playable enough, and it's the only military shooter of its kind currently available on the Nintendo Switch. I'd suggest that you're better off with something like Splatoon for competitive hijinks, or City of Brass if you're looking for a simply well-made first person action title.

The very best examples of nostalgic homages are those that add something in the process. Goichi Suda's grindhouse-toned games, for example, add all kinds of stylistic features that help to build on the thematic basis. Milanoir isn't that game. It's slavishly devoted to something very obscure and doesn't do enough to appeal to people who don't know the base material. But that's not to say it's a poor game. Its energy and ballsy attitude is engrossing all in itself.

Photo Finder is easily the weakest entry in the Chibi-Robo series and lacks the same vision and atmosphere of its forerunners, but it still has the love Skip always pours into its quirky adventures.

Not a bad game, it is just a frustratingly average game. It knows what it wants to do and sticks to its strengths, it is just that those strengths are lacking for depth and may prove boring for gamers looking for a bit more action in their adventures. Still, if you set your expectations accordingly, there is some fun to be had here while it lasts.

While I appreciate the idea behind making a Power Rangers game that taps into nostalgia, I can't help but feel that the Power Rangers property can - and should - do far better with the brawler genre.

Red Goddess a great experience. Utilising strong emotions such as joy, fear, and anger could have been done with far less elegance than this, and the act of using them all to investigate and recapture lost memories is a worthy, enjoyable experience.

This absolute travesty was the maiden game by Big Deez Productions. It’s never a nice feeling to be this critical about something, because people did put hard work and passion into it, and as a critic I feel like I’m being cruel to say that something is completely irredeemable. But what Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn is: irredeemable. This is 2018’s most cuttingly unpleasant game to play. And I'm one of those that played Agony.

Probably the most frustrating omission is the lack of any sort of online mode. It's hard to get this kind of game right in online play - Nintendo itself still hasn't achieved it, but a fighting game that doesn't at least try to go online is a dud from the outset.

Even if you don't care about the poor storytelling and juvenile understanding of the noir genre, Metropolis is still a supremely bland and uninteresting match-3 game; one that doesn't integrate the gameplay and narrative together in a particularly interesting way and yet somehow also wants people to play it four times to experience all the endings.

Calling All Units doesn’t set out to do anything new, it’s pretty much an online only version of Need for Speed: Pursuit. The new mechanics of chasing down others online with a group of others is indeed fun, and for the most part the online does work. The story does nothing exciting whatsoever, but it does teach the new mechanics and how they work.

SuperPower 3 does allow you to lead any nation on the planet in any way that you might like to. Unfortunately, while the game is only as exciting as a pile of spreadsheets, it’s nowhere near deep enough to feel like a genuine political simulator. It needed more fireworks and a sense that the decisions that you were making were really impacting on the nation and, once you were powerful enough, international balance. As it stands, all that’s really on offer is a bunch of numbers endlessly ticking over.

It does seem as though Arc System Works were relying entirely on the nostalgia to sell Double Dragon IV. And while it captures the essence of those original games it falls short of being a good game today simply because the original hasn’t aged well. It would have been pretty rockin' back in the 80s though.

Moto Racer 4 is not a bad game, but it is a shallow, arcade motorcycle racer. It might be perfectly serviceable, and average racer that is fun enough in short spurts, but it really doesn't do enough to separate itself from the racing pack in any meaningful or memorable way either.

This won't be a game that will appeal to everyone and I have the feeling that it may well scare off (yep, pun intended) a fair few people with production values that are below standard, even by indie standards.

Crazy Strike Bowling is a fun little game but with a lack of features and online play, it's hard to recommend.

Match-3 games are dime a dozen, so it’s hard for any of them to really stand out. Boost Beast is another example of that. It’s adorable and cute, but with well over 200 levels, the grind becomes real and tiring with three quarters of the game still to go.

The concept of Panty Party is hilarious, though once you move past making jokes about finally getting your hands on Hatsune Miku's underwear, the humour of the game doesn't exactly sustain itself either.

A brutally generic and uninspired game that's let down mightily by hardware that is simply no good for it. It works, and as a tech demo for a Gears of War clone on 3DS it would even be exciting, but as a product to pay real money for, there's nothing that redeems IronFall as something worth playing.

If you’re within the niche that A Bastard’s Tale is targeting, you’ll find it plenty rewarding. It takes the “fail better” approach to game design and distills it to its very essence, taking the often repetitious process of dying and retrying and turning it into something captivating enough to endure the occasional frustrations that always come with repeated failure. “Just one more try!”

Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy on the Nintendo Switch is a refreshing take on a classic tale, backed by high production values and a keen eye for beauty. Its brief runtime and interactivity could make it a great resource in the classroom as a companion to a study of the book, while parents are also recommended to pick this one up to play alongside their children.

Ciel Fledge could have been more robust... indeed, it really should have been. There's just not enough substance to go with the charming presentation and concept. However, it's still one of those things that's difficult to put down, not least because its gameplay loops and feedback are tight and engaging. Like the daughter you're tasked to manage, there's room for this fledgling series to grow, and plenty of potential if it's managed well.

As a fan of the Muppets, I am disappointed that there wasn't more done with the license in Movie Adventures. It's a perfectly workable game, and does have a sense of humour that anything to do with the Muppets needs, but at the same time, it's nothing more than that and whether you're a child or a nostalgic fan for the Kermet and the gang, you're probably going to left wanting after this.

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.

I'm legitimately upset that I didn't enjoy I Saw Black Clouds more. It seemed to have so much promise. There were glimmers of hope – I really enjoyed the classic ghost story until that was yanked into another direction, one that I still don't think makes a whole lot of sense. Unfortunately, the entire story seems too far-fetched, minus the supernatural aspect of all things. As far as I can tell, there's only one general direction it ever takes in the end, although I remain hopeful for those other endings. The biggest problem with the game is that choices are literally the entirety of gameplay but they don't seem to matter half the time anyway, so the entire thing feels like an exercise in futility. And all that nonsense and non-decisions really dragged it down.

Cocoro is a difficult line defence title that might turn a lot of people away from it because the sheer difficulty doesn't gel with the art style.

Unlike the PC version, which has been on Steam for a few months, there is no online component or a track creator. There’s not a big sense of creativity in the track design or even the game design, it’s all run of the mill kart racer, which is disappointing as the Xbox One has the most limited range of games in this particular genre.

Extinction is a game which just feels bad to play. It’s technically proficient, looks good and has everything it needs to be a functional game, but it never goes beyond that and assumes the player will be engaged just by the act of killing big monsters.

Here’s hoping Wales Interactive are able to keep working on Soul Axiom, because these game-breaking bugs are holding back a game that’s otherwise creative, intriguing, and utterly gorgeous.

A short and fun game that I felt was paced well and can be picked up even when you only have a few minutes to spare before heading out to do something else. This in turn is a good thing because the difficulty spikes in the game In some ways this was a great idea because sometimes having to spend 30-50 minutes on a level to only fail in the last few minutes and then need to restart the level would not be fun.

But in the end, it becomes hard to recommend The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to anyone but the most devout of webhead fans, because it's a game that squanders all that potential.

I wish farm life in Harvest Moon 3D: The Lost Valley was more gratifying because its fundamental ideas are all there. With the franchise essentially split in two going forward, I encourage Natsume to continue its experimental ways, because it's likely that the other guys will churn out the most traditional experiences possible.

It's laudable that, as a tiny indie production, the developer decided to get that right so that the game plays nicely, before worrying about anything else. Sadly, that "anything else" is also what elevates a game. Getting the core mechanics right is expected. Giving players a reason to care and to want to continue playing on is where success comes from and so, while I admire the Aussie spirit in taking on something this ambitious, it really is a game that could have done with a lot more resourcing.

Primal Carnage: Extinction certainly sets itself apart from other online multiplayer shooters out there. With a few different modes and a couple of maps for each mode thrown in, there is some degree of fun to be had in the game. How long that fun lasts though is simply based on how much enjoyment a person can get out of online shooters in general, and just how much patience they have for balancing issues and mechanic design flaws.

Because Arc of Alchemist is such a short JRPG, the more draining elements of it don't end up being exhausting. Because the game moves at such a snappy pace it's easy to focus on and enjoy its strengths - the narrative and characters. Over the last couple of years Idea Factory has really broadened its horizons. Where once it focused almost exclusively on pervy humour, stuff like Arc of Alchemist show a different side of the studio. It's creative, different, and interesting, and respects your time so don't feel like you've made some epic commitment just to play through it. I love it.

The problem is that the game all-but mandates that you buy into the microtransactions, because otherwise progress is so incredibly slow that you’ll get bored well before you get anywhere.

Zenith’s gameplay issues don’t stop it from being a very workable system in a very entertaining genre. If it was devoid of its plot (or, better yet, with a more interesting narrative), I’d actually be arguing that it’s an enjoyable little game. However, the relentlessly juvenile attempts at humour never let up, and I didn’t laugh once. I think that says all that needs to be said about Zenith’s fundamental issues.

I’m going to hazard a guess and say that the potential audience for Sacred 2 Remaster is very small. It’s a very simple, grindy, button-masher action RPG with a totally irrelevant plot. If you’re going to play and enjoy this, it’s because you get hooked on that simple, basic gameplay loop. And if you do… well, welcome to dozens upon dozens of hours of it. If you’ve never played Sacred 2 before, but enjoy Diablo-likes or Eurojank like Risen, Gothic or ELEX, then there’s every chance you’ll find this one amusing (and in the right way).

Soulblight is a largely disappointing experience. Hopefully My Next Games can take what works here (namely the morality-based systems) and apply it to a future effort, but this current action game isn’t enjoyable in the slightest. It doesn’t bring anything new to the genre, and isn’t polished enough to stand besides the better offerings already available.

Being so critical of indie games never makes me feel good. There's just no hiding when you're an indie - games like Make War are crafted by a tiny team of developers and it's always deeply personal to everyone involved. And yet, when you think about all the masterful, creative, deeply artistic indie games that have been crafted by equally small numbers of people - Papers, Please, Tokyo Dark, Untitled Goose Game, Mini Metro, Undertale, and so many more - it's so hard to resolve Make War. There's the genesis of a good idea in there, but the execution is so far beyond uninspired that there's simply nothing that can redeem it.

It's simple enough for people of all ages to enjoy, and, as I've already mentioned a couple of times through the review, it's utterly adorable.

All the levels have the same basic objectives; kill all the goons, destroy all the drugs, and repeat. In later levels the game will add hostages who will get in your way. Killing hostages will understandably lower your score, but have very little value to add to the experience beyond that.

Sadly, Busby: The Woolies Strike Back barely meets the quality standards and expectations of the genre in its infancy, let alone all these years later.

The game simply struggles too hard to make you care about the characters or their situation, and an RPG without a compelling narrative is one that will always feel like it’s missing substance.

As the first RTS on the Switch, WarParty is an brave attempt to emulate the glory days of a genre that has long moved on in terms of what it offers players. Admirable as the attempt might be, though, the game is so unrelentingly unpleasant to play, and so limited in scope, that I think I'll be sticking to the plethora of superb turn-based strategy titles that are also available on the console.

The core product still has a good deal to offer. Unfortunately a bevy of technical and gameplay issues give the impression that Visual Concepts needed more time with this title. I imagine that 2K20 will continue to receive patches and support that make it better, but in its current state it is impossible to recommend this over last year's version of the game.

Yes, it's had far more effort that's been put into its presentation than any other example of the genre I can think of, however by its very nature this is a very limited genre, and Infinity Runner just doesn't do enough to prove its merits beyond an iPhone time waster.

When I first read the premise of Generation Zero I was intrigued and before I even loaded the game up for the first time I was excited. I wanted to like this game. Unfortunately, the game quickly falls into a beautiful void of its own making. With weak storytelling and empty gameplay, Generation Zero sinks into the mud and collapses like so many tents at the festival that day, gripping to weak foundations.

As a demo, it actually works; when I played it for ten minutes in a controlled environment last year, I came away quite impressed with it. But those first ten minutes are Bravo Team's limit, and Sony should have realised this and pulled the plug on the project as a commercial game a long time ago.

I do believe that Rodea could have been a good little game. The ambition it has going for it is certainly appreciable, but ambition not put to good use is ambition wasted. Unfortunately, despite being one of the few high profile third party Wii U games, Rodea is a dud.

Your enjoyment of NightCry is going to depend a lot on your perspective, which is why I suspect this is going to be one of the most divisive horror games since Deadly Premonition. To judge NightCry at face value would be to grossly overlook all the work that Nude Maker has done to create an authentic Clock Tower-style, classic stalker horror experience for the modern day. You’re going to have to look past the game’s often ugly exterior to see the beauty behind every design choice, every camera angle and every mindblowing plot twist, and you’re going to need to be a horror fan who isn’t spoiled on the modern trends of jump scares and instant gratification.

By licensed game standards Platinum has been able to use its "Bayonetta framework" to deliver a fine iteration of a classic franchise. What is unfortunate is that all it needed was some more time. Ultimately, all that's wrong with Mutants in Manhattan was that it couldn't meet Platinum's own stratospheric standards.

I genuinely enjoyed this game. It's no Bloodstained, but it plays really nicely, and offers up the kind of B-tier delights that we just don't see much of any more.

The biggest issue is not that the development set their sights incredibly high, but simply that this kind of game is a mammoth project, and there is simply no way that a limited budget can pull off something of the standard of, say, Skyrim. Risen 3 is a raw, entertaining experience that lacks polish but offers substance.

Nothing redeems this game. It's ugly as sin, it fails to understand what made the original classic compelling and though it includes the original classic, it is a neutered version of it.

If you do remember having good times with Glover back when it was a quirky alternative, then you may well have fun blasting through it again. Anyone else picking it up today for the first time is going to see nothing but a very B-tier platformer that lacks the charisma and creativity that once helped to elevate it over so many of its peers.

The Devil’s Third is a hell of a lot of fun because it breaks every rule in the book. I would take that, technical warts an all, over the glistening and safe nonsense that we’re exposed to from almost every other shooter out there.

Power Rangers Super Megaforce is completely uninspired, but at least knows who it is trying to target and is adequately made. As a bit of fan service, it succeeds in being connected to the show, but as a game it is repetitive, with half-realised ideas that could have made the experience more engaging but never really live up to their potential.

FIFA 20: Legacy Edition is really only here to appeal to those people who do not own last year's game on the Switch or are such dedicated soccer fanatics that a roster update is enough of a reason to buy again. However, I find it highly unlikely that anyone who owns last year's title on this platform (especially if they have seen the advertisements and new features for the PlayStation / Xbox / PC versions of the game) will feel like they are getting their money's worth out of the Legacy Edition on the Nintendo Switch. They'll probably feel insulted, and rightly so.

Yes, this kind of game is better in multiplayer, but if you’ve got any sense, you’d grab Brut@l for an action-roguelike experience, or Gauntlet or Diablo 3 for multiplayer heroics. Even for groups that are willing to go into Dungeon Bros with the right spirit, I seriously struggle to imagine a scenario in which this game has any longevity to it.

It's not the longest game, but it is a wild and entertaining ride while it lasts.

What’s in Tamagotchi Plaza is well-made enough and entertaining, particularly for the younger audience, but this is a very limited and shallow game that somehow manages to lack the meaning and intellectual value of Tamagotchi themselves. As an opportunity to play a few little minigames with your favourite critters, it has value, but as an experience where you get to hang out in the world of these mascots, Tamagotchi Plaza is lacking badly compared to the likes of Hello Kitty Island Adventure or Disney Dreamlight Valley.

Dragons and Titans not only fails to go out of its way to attract new players, but it fails at providing a basic online experience, even if the idea of duking it out on dragaonback sounds enticing.

There's fun to be had in Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, but it's a dialed-in action shooter game, which is a mistake since there was never a chance that this game would compete with the big budget games in the genre, such as Destiny, Call of Duty, or Titanfall.

While the runner platformer is fine and the visuals and story behind the game pleasant, the end result does not come together to create a cohesive experience worth investing your time into.

For all my criticisms here, I do want to see another take at this. There’s absolutely room for an anime Returnal, and the base mechanics are there. Scar-Lead Salvation does play well. It is so achingly close to a good game. It’s just crushed by trying to spread that quality across a very, very long gauntlet.

Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle is ambitious. This is a development team as indie as indie comes taking a demanding gameplay perspective and trying to do something demanding with it; create a fast, free-flowing, hardcore action game. Sadly it does miss the mark on this one. There’s skill involved in getting good at Kobuto, however, clumsy, limited mechanics, and a general lack of variety, presentational standards, or energy and excitement really let it down. I would have taken a simple, direct sequel to Bullet Ballet instead.

This game is a creatively broken, anti-intellectual insult. Bethesda spat in our faces and, because saliva is a kind of "content," figured that it could monetise it. Sadly, the success that Blades has seen on mobile - and will no doubt translate to success on the Switch as well - just goes to show that when it comes down to it, consumers actually like being spat on, because it means that they are getting content.

Overall, it's an okay game for poker fans who somehow haven't got their fill of the card game, but its appeal really is limited, and there really so many other poker options out there.

There's simply no reason to play something so utterly bereft of thought as Narcos.

Turtle Tale winds up being a game that shows some promise for fans of retro action platformers, but the lack of depth and variety create an experience where fun gives way to repetition far too quickly.

I don’t think we should completely give up on it, though. Games have been turned around from disastrous launches to become quite well-loved things, and I do think there is room for Babylon’s Fall to grow, while also being a decent time (in the right conditions) right now. It’s certainly content rich in its current state already, and while it’s probably a bit of a gamble throwing money into something that might not be around for too long, I can still see this developing a community.

I do think that there’s a game in there somewhere that might be worth the developers revisiting it when they’ve got a better understanding of VR. For now, though, the game is simply too limited, too clunky, too ugly, and too underdeveloped for its own good. Especially when Blast ‘em Bunnies does the same thing, only much better. The extra VR effect in Ace Banana just isn’t worth the trade-off in every other way.

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.

With minimal export options, even Art Academy is going to struggle to appear to people as anything more than a bit of gimmicky fun. And Art Academy doesn't have the same interface and functionality issues as this does.

There is nothing that redeems Excave II: Wizard of the Underworld.

A game that leaves you basically going through the motions to get through a relatively short tale that has moments of intrigue, but otherwise falls flat.

There's no soul to Falling Skies. It's a generic, cheap turn based tactics game. It lacks any identity of its own, fails to represent its license, and fails to understand what made the game it copied its base mechanics from so great. And as such I can't really recommend it to anyone.

I don't actively dislike Don't Knock Twice. I just find it painfully bland and generic... and really, it's harder to forgive that in the horror genre than almost any other.

Senran Kagura Reflexions has actually done a lot of damage to the series.

House of Caravan delivers just over an hour of fun, or a bit longer if you struggle to find things like I did. Its intriguing story and 1900’s atmosphere keeps you engaged long enough to be able to feel accomplished once you finish the game, however, its puzzles never reach their full potential.

Putty Squad is not a bad game, and with the relative lack of titles currently released on the PlayStation 4 it does fill something of a void. Still, platforming enthusiasts with PlayStation 4s do have access to Rayman Legends, rendering it rather pointless to grab Putty Squad unless you're an absolute genre purist.

Re-playing Blades of Time in 2019 is surreal. There are assuredly many better games from the previous generation of consoles that deserve to be on Switch ahead of this one. I can’t even imagine the developers have any hope of using this re-release to springboard the franchise back as they work on a sequel, because no one is going to want a sequel after playing it. Time hasn’t been good to Blades of Time, and and other than for the morbidly curious, I can’t see anyone being masochistic enough to derive any value out of it.