I love this game. I really, truly love it. It’s the realisation of a genuine fantasy, and, as I said at the start of the review, this is the kind of completely immersive experience that is exclusive to VR that makes for the most compelling argument for the technology.

This is a strong, strong game by Koei Tecmo, and does the Attack on Titan franchise a great service. Sadly, that's a franchise that doesn't have the pulling power that it did a few years ago, but older fans will enjoy the opportunity to get a new look at the distinctive setting and world, and who knows? The game might just find one or two new fans for the bloody, brutal, but ultimately dazzling franchise.

Tokyo Xanadu is good. It’s a lot of fun and Nihon Falcom has a real touch with combat systems that its developers deserve real respect for. The biggest challenge I found with the game was finding the motivation to actually finish it; it might not get anything wrong, but it’s such a lengthy quest that it really needed a greater thematic depth to maintain my interest, and unfortunately it wasn’t quite able to replicate Nihon Falcom’s own, brilliant, Trails of Cold Steel in offering that.

Those gripes and wishlish items are minor issues that would be nice to see Big Ant address in future titles, but I don’t want to take anything away from AFL 26. It plays incredibly well and has had a lot of effort put into it, despite being a game that only really has Australia to count on as far as marketability. What’s more, Big Ant’s still patching away. It’s going to be fascinating to see where this one ends up in a year.

Simple as it might look, but Yomawari is a remarkably complex game that aims to be something far loftier than most attempts at interactive horror. Its intensity is in its subtleties, and the way it is constructed makes it a masterclass in the aesthetics and theming of one of the most important art traditions to have ever come from Japanese culture.

I don’t quite think Shin Chan is that bad as Matt makes out, but the tone is jarring, and I do kind of feel that I’d get on just a little better with the core game that’s here without him present – though I’ve little doubt that his presence probably helped shift more than a few copies when Shin Chan: Shiro and the Coal Town first debuted in Japan earlier this year.

The Ice Dragon is a fitting end to the first season, but is anything but a proper conclusion. The decisions are hard, the consequences are gut-wrenching and the stakes are incredibly high. So now you get to sit back and look forward to the next season, knowing that you've been suckered right into committing to it before it has even been announced.

Credit must go to Nintendo for supporting this project, though. Yes, it might be the “safest” game that Goichi Suda has produced in quite some time, and the energy is just not the same when he’s retreading old ideas rather than creating something new. But then Goichi Suda on a flat day is still more creative than 99 per cent of the auteurs out there, and No More Heroes III is still big, colourful, bold and filled with surrealistic humour. With the energy dialled right up to the maximum, it’s hard not to love something this brash.

Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is one of the more niche Atlus classics, but the remaster has been well worth the time and effort. There is a dark and culturally interesting heartbeat at the centre of this one, and while I do prefer turn-based combat to this action button-mashy stuff from Atlus, I was more than willing to put up with it for everything else about the game.

If nothing else, the simple reality that Shenmue is again a living franchise is, all by itself, something truly amazing.

Unmechanical: Extended is a beautiful game. The graphics and landscapes are simply stunning and the character has real heart, despite being a little helpless. It's a pity that it leaves the door open to questions about the quality of puzzles, however.

The Room is an expertly crafted puzzle box game that does a whole lot of things right and I doubt anyone would have regrets picking this one up.

We don't get many games that aspire to be true and honest works of art, but Observation is one.

Doraemon Story of Seasons brings the best of the long running Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons formula together with a true cultural icon of Japan. It's rare that the Doraemon video games make their way out west, but this one works so well as a Story of Seasons title that if it is your introduction to Doraemon, you're in for a treat. Even if it means you'll then have around 1,700 episodes of the anime to catch up on (and no, that's not an exaggeration).

There’s not much else I can say, given that any commentary on the story would be a spoiler to the first game, and as much as I can breathlessly enthuse about the aesthetics and presentation, that’s something you’re going to have to see to get a feel for just how well it works despite being so eclectic. Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling is a sequel to a game you should play before it. But it’s also a game you really should play, because it is the most artfully unique and downright entertaining otome visual novel out there. Sweet and Spicy Darling is more of the same, and that’s all it needed to be.

There's nothing wrong with how Black Future '88 plays. It's actually quite exceptional. But there are a lot of exceptional roguelikes and hardcore 2D platformers, and Black Future '88 lacks the narrative or context that it really needed to stand out against its many competitors.

With regards to the artwork, the designs of the Ironcasts and Steamtanks themselves are noteworthy. The backgrounds, however, are very, very bland and simple. Repetitive buildings and uninspiring scenery make for a visual experience that doesn't do the concept justice.

Moero Crystal H does what it sets out to so well - be an outrageously perverse work of extended sex humour - that if you can enjoy that, on those terms, you're not going to find something more amusing on a console, likely ever. There's something almost noble about that purity of vision.

Pac-Man’s been through worse, like that Adam Sandler abomination I won’t mention again here. But it feels like gaming’s elder statesman deserves more recognition, and a better museum than this.

Handholding aside, and beyond failing to offer something truly above and beyond its predecessor, the multiplayer offerings are superb, and Swords & Soldiers 2 is good, reliable fun. It won't likely be a game you'll remember a decade from now, but as a weekend buster, you could do far worse than this one.

Raid mode returns, and while it’s not as exciting or fast paced as what we saw in previous title's Mercenaries modes, it adds an incredible amount of longevity to the game.

The best books, movies and video games try to make you feel something, and to that end Event[0] is an interesting experiment and a worthwhile experience that stands out as very unique game despite its humble roots.

Overall Cryptark is a great, albeit limited, fast paced experience. While it could have benefited from having a greater narrative scope and dialog between the characters, the action and replayability will be more than enough to keep you going for a long time.

Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? is a shining example of everything I love about FMV murder mystery games: the intrigue, the interpersonal relationships, and the quest for the truth. I especially like that no matter how often you fail there will always be another chance to uncover the truth, and without penalty. In fact, “failing” and pointing the finger incorrectly is especially interesting because that’s when true colours really shine. I have such high expectations from Good Gate Media and Wales Interactive that I keep expecting one of the game to be a flop, but alas, this was not!

It might be decadent, and looking at the screenshots in this review will tell you if it's a decadence that make you uncomfortable, but the gameplay behind it is rock solid and perfectly precise.

Even though that narrative isn't quite of a quality we want to see, it's a step forward for the new franchise, and after the bugs are fixed up, Evoland 2 will be a whole lot of simple, but effective, fun.

I imagine the target audience is less the philosophical and the obsessive, but rather the more casual JRPG fan looking for a light way to spend their spare time. As with most Falcom games, the game feel is straightforward and kinetic, paired with a vanilla aesthetic that’s more inoffensive than groundbreaking. I can’t fault a game for not being ambitious enough when it’s following a tried and true formula and does it without any perceivable blemishes at all.

An interestingly designed take on the tower defence genre.