Many will say that Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 isn’t as great as the first collection. While the first seems to have had a bit more attention to detail in it, this collection is still a great way to explore the Mega Man games of yesteryear. I am crossing all of my body parts hoping that we see a third collection containing the likes of the Game Boy games, Mega Man & Bass and Wily Wars, as I have enjoyed every minute of Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, despite missing a few key features found in the first collection.

I must reiterate that The Ascent is gorgeous, and for a team of just a dozen developers, they have outperformed themselves in that regard. Unfortunately, because the narrative is so anaemic and there is so little that connects the narrative to the aesthetics and gameplay, The Ascent ends up feeling empty. There’s nothing memorable about the characters, the world is dull and far too large for how little it offers, and while, yes, the story hits those key cyberpunk talking points, the developers largely missed the nuances that elevate cyberpunk beyond pulp fiction. So, again, the game’s fine, if you are looking for a generic sci-fi shooter (and can ideally drag a friend along). As a work of cyberpunk, though, it’s a failure.

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.

The game looks gorgeous and has plenty of personality, and on the Switch you also get all the DLC, which adds even more value to the overall package. More than anything, though, the ability to detach the joy cons from the Switch unit and get a two player game going anywhere is a brilliant use of the technology, and makes Overcooked feel like it was designed for the console from the very start.

Hue is a very special experience. Imagine taking some of the best bits of Braid and Thomas Was Alone and intertwining them into an equally amazing package and you get Hue. Hue deserves everyone’s attention and it also deserves a collector’s edition release.

SaGa Frontier is a frivolous and irreverent little JRPG that eschews grand narratives and philosophies to instead focus on a charming sequence of absurd juxtapositions, genuine humour, and playfulness. It's a well-made game, and the effective, challenging and entertaining combat system stands as proof of that. It's just that it's also nothing like most other Square Enix JRPGs, because the developers clearly wanted to deliver something that defied the expectations of the JRPG genre. SaGa Frontier was such a resounding success at that that it has become a "cult classic" and while this will never appeal to the mainstream, hopefully it will find itself a new audience through this remaster.

The World Ends With You's strengths are in its narrative, which is genuinely different and consistently interesting, and the verve and style with which it pulls it all off. There's reason for existing fans to play the game again, because it has an all-new chapter to work through, and there's certainly a reason for people who haven't previously played it to give it a go, because to this day, nothing else has quite managed to offer what The World Ends With You offers.

Moving Out is a simple game with an easy to understand premise, and even without its superficial similarities to games like Overcooked, it’s likely to be welcomed warmly by any couch of friends. SMG Studios has designed an interesting set of challenges for teams to tackle, textured with interesting gameplay gimmicks that are just as likely to elicit a groan as they are a chuckle. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to share a game like this, which is just so effortlessly fun in every facet of its design.

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

Darksiders Genesis is a welcome change of pace. Fan of the series might question whether or not they will like the dramatic overhaul, but this is a really solid Diablo style of game that is a lot of fun to play. I enjoyed the new character a good deal and have always appreciated the world these games were set in. The wheel is not getting reinvented here, but the overall execution is generally well done.

The big question is whether people who have played the game before will get anything out of the upgrade. I do believe there's enough content in there to justify the purchase, and if you're a fan of Warriors games, and somehow missed either of the game's previous releases, you can consider Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate essential. It really is Koei Tecmo's Smash Bros.

Football Manager has always been for a specific type of person, and one who enjoys a blurring of the lines between legitimate work, and entertainment. Football Manager 2018 Touch brings that effectively enough to the Nintendo Switch, and while it's not a game that's going to turn too many heads or win awards, anyone who likes their really cerebral experiences will love spending hours trying to eke the most out of the favourite football team.

Overall, Darksiders is dated and a little embarrassing, but it’s also surprisingly good. It’s a testament to the robust design choices that Vigil Games made when developing their original title, that each of its parts holds up after a decade of innovation in gaming.

Although there is definitely room to grow in terms of story and how its presented, as well as a few minor flaws here and there, Tiny Metal: Full Metal Rumble provides a huge amount of enjoyment from start to finish with some incredibly tense fights.

The thing that often stops people short with game development is that the programming side of things can be intimidating. To this day the logic and process of software development throws me into a spin every time I look at it... and I do create games. They might be visual novels, sure, but they're games. I've always felt like I should know more about programming, but I just can't do it. Game Builder Garage might be pitched at a younger audience - and I can genuinely see Nintendo selling a bunch of Switches to schools for use in the younger grades as an introduction to the all-important education space - but the systematic clarity with which the tutorials of Game Builder Garage are arranged, and then the ease of use and accessibility of the software to play around with afterwards, makes it the best introduction to programming that I've come across, for anyone of any age.

I might not be much of a Sonic fan, but I know that if Square Enix had done the equivalent of this to that Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection, I would have blown my top. I did give the lazy effort to bring the mobile ports of Dragon Quest 1 – 3 to Switch a piece of my mind, and I don’t see that SEGA’s done any better with the Game Gear games here. The good news is that if you’ve already got Sonic Origins, then you’ve got all the bits of Sonic Origins Plus worth playing.

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

Dialing the difficulty up also provides a real test of anyone's management abilities. So look past the satirical elements of Tropico 5. The humour is there, and it's funny, but the real strength of this series - especially with Sim City falling off the map completely in recent years - is that it plays so, so well.

It seems inevitable to me that there are going to be a lot of people that dismiss Bravely Default II as a “retro-style JRPG.” They’ll see the turn-based combat, the very “JRPG” design of the characters, and all the other genre tropes that the game indulges, and assume that that’s all it is. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nuanced writing, impeccable design and subtle subversion highlight that Bravely Default II is, instead, a game that uses its genre rather than allow it to become beholden to it. In many ways it's a highly metafictional thesis that explores what people love about JRPGs, and what is genuinely important to the genre. In doing so the game has become this wonderfully nuanced, beautiful, entertaining and emotive experience, and in my book, that makes it a masterpiece.

New Super Lucky’s Tale is a competent game but not one which will excite players. It’s got a clear target demographic in mind and delivers on what it promises. At the very least, it’s a marked improvement on the original Super Lucky’s Tale, and is arguably the most immediately playable iteration. Fans of 3D platformers will find that this game can contend just as well as the games of old, but without the benefit of brand recognition and nostalgia, Lucky has a real uphill climb in order to achieve greatness. If you’ve already played the other 3D platformers on the Switch, this one is worth a look.

The Ark of Napishtim is still great, in short. Long time fans of the series will appreciate the visual upgrade and first time entrants to this chapter should find themselves at home, especially if they have appreciated some of the other entries in recent years.

This is the most disappointed that I’ve been with Square Enix for quite some time.

As someone who genuinely, deeply cares about games as works of art, to see a game as limited as Destiny become the game that is on the front pages of mainstream news is like a slap in the face. I can't deny that the game is entertaining, beautiful, or content-rich, but for all that Destiny is not even close to a masterpiece.

Long term the WWE series will probably have to consider updating or even replacing its engine. The game mechanics are solid, but fundamentally do not change a great deal and there are signs of rickety infrastructure in the audio, some of the modes and more. There is still a lot of fun to be had with the enjoyable action, and I loved the focus on narrative around MyCareer, but most of the other stuff feels largely the same.

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.

Disgaea 1 is the one least likely to overwhelm people who aren't deeply familiar with tactics JRPGs and complex JRPG systems. For this reason, this remaster is the perfect entry point for the curious, and anyone interested in the history and heritage of Nippon Ichi's premier franchise will get a kick out of it too.

Doom 64 is an impressive port of the forgotten son of the series. Without a multiplayer mode it sits as one of the less essential shooters from the era, but as the first effort at bringing Doom into three dimensions, it's a valuable bit of series history, and to this day it plays very nicely indeed.

The high degree of simplification seems unnecessary when the studio has successfully pulled off both technical and stylish input modes in the past. The roster, in its non-DLC state at least, is also wildly lopsided towards BlazBlue. It doesn’t have the staying power of the top-tier games of the genre, but it’s still a blast to see these fantasy crossovers play out with friends, so it more than evens out.