The reality for Raiden IV x Mikado Remix is that hardened fans of the series probably do already own this game in one form or another already. In some respects, this is just a late port, and a slightly odd one given it’s gone from the lower-powered Switch to the PS5 (as reviewed), XBX and PC. If you do already have it, while this is a nice take with some great music choices, it’s hardly essential...If you don’t, it’s a very good shmup, if not one of the most complex out there in terms of gameplay mechanics. You’re still ultimately chasing a high score and not much else – and I didn’t appreciate that the default high scores were set pathetically low, because I’d rather have something to chase from the get-go. Still, I am a bit of a Raiden tragic, so in that frame at least, this is definitely a top game – for me.

Konami could have done more, for sure. There are several titles that really could have been included in this collection for the sake of completion – Metal Gear Solid 4 remains locked to the PlayStation 3, while MGS Acid and Twin Snakes look pretty set to be lost to time at this point. Sure, MGS V remains a viable product in its own right, but Konami really could have filled us in on the rest...With that being said, the original Metal Gear Solid trilogy isn’t just a trio of great games that people have strong nostalgia for. They’re genuine masterpieces and deserve to be preserved into perpetuity. This collection is a perfectly adequate way of preserving them for this hardware cycle.

I cannot say enough good things about Caravan SandWitch. It is a top-tier chill game. You can tell the instant Sauge steps foot on Cigalo: it’s especially calm for a post-apocalyptic planet, save for a massive storm brewing far out. The very few elements that didn’t work in my favour aren’t enough to even consider lowering my score for the game. That yellow van is instantly iconic the second you lay eyes on any visual of it. Caravan SandWitch has simple controls, colourful graphics, and oddly enough no sense of pending doom (despite Cigalo being on the edge of extinction.)

This carefully crafted feel extends to the player as well; there’s a definite feeling of weightiness to your actions, and consequences will rear their ugly heads should you make rash decisions.

I have no doubt that when everything is said and finished, this chapter will prove to be important to telling the story as a whole, it just lacks the depth and impact I have come to expect from The Wolf Among Us up until now.

Like the best in literature and the arts, by the time Chrono Cross’ credits roll you’re going to be left in a reflective mood. It’s not just that it’s a very good game – though it is – is also that it’s a probing work of art that asks meaningful questions of the players and respects them enough to allow them to come to their own conclusions about it. This is the first time that we’ve had the opportunity to play the game here in Australia, and it’s telling that this 23-year-old game comes across as one of the most forceful steps forward for games as an art form that we’re going to see this year.

What makes Sky Force work so well, though, is the thought and care which went into keeping the gameplay balanced – and it’s hard to appreciate just how narrowly the game’s design teeters.

LEGO DC Super Villains is another example of how TT Games haven’t just sat back on its LEGO titles to simply release “just another game” with a reskin. It doesn't always work, but the developer has tried to do something new while also keeping elements of previous titles that worked. Add in the iconic slapstick humour and you're in for a reliably good time.

Uurnog Uurnlimited is a Nifflas game through and through, but unless you’re a diehard fan of his puzzle design philosophy, this isn’t a game which will win you over.

If you enjoy some online competitive play, this is a great way to get your fix. If you were already a fan of the Awesomenauts, then it is hard to recommend against this updated version.

Crymachina asks probing questions about the nature of humanity through the lens of machines, and its conclusions are evocative, emotive and ultimately quite uplifting. It does sit in the shadow of a giant of a game that already canvassed exactly the same subject through exactly the same lens. However, there’s a greater warmth to Crymachina that makes it more relatable than the relatively academic NieR: Automata. Throw in some vividly memorable art direction and what we have here is a JRPG that might surprise people with just how memorable it proves to be.

Actraiser Renaissance, however, is a remake that should have simply stuck to the basics that made Actraiser great. Instead, what you get are moments of greatness broken up by far too many moments of mediocrity.

The fact that El Shaddai has been remembered as a cult classic (albeit with a fleetingly small cult) that has never been replicated, while its immediate peer from a decade ago has been relegated to the deep collective memory of “content that was kind of fun, I guess, but I have new toys to play with” highlights which of the two we, as a collective, should be trying harder to encourage more of. We need to stop acting like “complexity” (i.e. some abstract ideas and the occasional metaphor) is an inherent flaw.

For Christie nuts, The Raven is one of the better attempts to do her style of detective mystery that Christie herself wasn't involved in. It's well performed and convincing, and the age of the game is hardly a concern because, dated as it looks at times, the appeal of this one has to do more about the cerebral. It's all about the storytelling, in other words, and that side of things is spot on.

To say anything else about Emio would be doing you all a disservice, as it’s a winding, twisting mystery that is best enjoyed unspoiled. If you did play the remakes of the first two Famicom Detective Club titles then you’ll get more of the same here, just with modern standards of writing. That alone makes it a much stronger experience, because the narrative in this thing is incredible.

Really, the only thing that RAD is missing is Richard Simmons. As a game, there's a bit of a misfire in that the one area where RAD looks to distinguish itself from its peers actually hurts more than it helps, but the core action remains sound, and the nostalgia trip back to my childhood was like a precious gift. I question just how many 30-somethings are out there looking for a new time-draining roguelike to play, but regardless of just how niche RAD's audience turns out to be, I'm very glad that Double Fine gave it a crack.

Between that design creativity and the sheer stylistic beauty of it, Semblance is a game that'll stick in my mind for a long time.

Once you put aside Starlink’s somewhat confused nature and design, what you’re left with is a genuinely enjoyable open space adventure. It offers a fun little story (boosted by the presence of the Star Fox crew), enjoyably exotic worlds to scoot around, and tight, clean, and efficient combat. Remembering that ultimately Starlink is aimed at a younger audience, it’s hard to argue that the development team have in any way gone wrong in delivering both something new, and something that recalls the nostalgia from their own childhoods.

The Alliance Alive invokes the finest elements of the JRPG genre, modernizes them, and innovates where necessary. Its gripping fantasy plot can be worshiped for its emotional center or parsed for statements on equality, order, and free will. Whether or not you enjoyed The Legend of Legacy, this one stands as an authentic classic that captures the majesty of a Super Nintendo/PlayStation era masterpiece while also gazing forward.

It’s still the same cosy time and resource management simulation we fell in love with decades ago, but Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns stands out from the pack in understated ways. Its gentle but omnipresent plot functions in tandem with a broader perspective of agriculture to serve up one of the more distinct entries in this long-running franchise.

And there's some lovely sketches taken straight from the Fighting Fantasy original book that are sprinkled through the game that help to visualise the action.

It's got all the right ideas in there, but it's so timid in exploring any of them that it comes across as altogether too safe to be good horror.

While Death End re;Quest 2 didn't have quite the same impact on me as the original, that's only because things are never as surprising the second time around. I still found this game to be an intensely engaging blend of a brutal kind of horror, classical turn-based JRPG, and fan service. It's a mix that I would never have thought could work prior to this series, but Idea Factory has proven otherwise, and done so incredibly effectively. I wish I could delve more deeply into the themes in this review, because there's a lot to talk about with this particular dark mystery and I'm looking forward to discussing it at greater length with people down the track, but just be aware going in that there are layers of nuance to this game that it will never get the credit it deserves for.

I love the Pixel Pulp series due to the storytelling and art. So I definitely like the visual novel part. But I get so very frustrated with most of the mini-games. I’m in this weird place where I have to juggle which is more important to me, narrative or gameplay. And honestly, narrative will win out every single time. Bahnsen Knights is a curious, creepy celebration of the pulp fiction genre. I have really enjoyed seeing the developer grow over the three games in the Pixel Pulp series, and I cannot wait to see what it does next. I bet nobody will see it coming.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is a very attractive game that clearly had some effort put into the visuals. Beyond that, the title offers more tactical gameplay than most shooters on the market. The biggest sin that the game commits is that it just offers so little overall content.

I went into Void Terrarium a little apprehensive. With every indie out there scrambling to call their game a "roguelike", and with so many Mystery Dungeon roguelikes on the Nintendo Switch already, it can be difficult to muster up enthusiasm for yet another one. NISA and Furuya Masayuki surprised me, though. From the gentle subversion of the nature of progress in roguelikes, to the razor-focus on a sweet, paternal-style relationship between a robot and his ward, told with minimalistic elegance, Void Terrarium is a mature, different, and interesting take on the genre.

What really impressed me about I Am Setsuna is the way that the various systems layered on top of one another to reinforce and complement the intense, powerful themes that sit at the core of the game.

The Famicom Detective Club games are excellent, highly traditional detective mystery stories. Some might see that as "quaint", "old", "antiquated" or even "simple." That's simply our cultural experience talking. The reality is that these games are highly relevant to the Japanese understanding and interest in the genre, entirely modern, and the core storytelling experience is so modern it's easy to forget that they're remakes of NES-era classics. Throw in some of the most stunning VN art from the very masters of the genre, and this little collection of two titles has every chance of becoming one of the sleeper hits of the year. And, who knows? If it finds the audience it deserves, it might just inspire Nintendo and Mages to make a new one. I'd be up for more Famicom Detective Club.