Jokes aside, the lack of personality in Project Highrise hurts it. You stop caring about whether tenants move in and out, or what happens to them while they stay. And then the whole game becomes an exercise in figuring out ways to exploit it to make it even easier for you. Which sounds harsh, I know, and I don't mean to be, because overall it is an admirable and mechanically sound simulator. It's just that for a genre that was in danger of fading to real obscurity, the renaissance that it has had over the last five years ago has left Project Highrise with a lot of catching up to do.

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.

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.

The Adventure Pals is a welcome addition to the platforming genre, holding its own due to its quirky story, colourful graphics and accessible gameplay. I fell in love with the game and didn’t want to put it down. It's not the most essential, original, or unique that's ever been made, and it has some technical issues, but these are minor complaints in the grand scheme of things.

Reverie is a game with Kiwi heart and soul, it is a love letter to New Zealand, to classic adventure puzzle games, and to childhood summers spent daydreaming being an explorer and hero.

God of War on the PlayStation 4 has taken me completely by surprise. As a game that follows on from the old games, but somehow turns it completely on its head and makes it a world worth investing time into feels almost like a miracle. It is one of those games that takes Norse mythology as a core idea and treats it with respect, while also integrating it seamlessly into the story and making it important to the narrative. I have a newfound interest in learning more about Norse mythology, and it truly makes a game special when it encourages the player to learn more beyond the scope of the game itself.

You may well find Gal*Gun 2 to be offensive and intolerable. But that’s all the more reason to experience it and discuss it, and because it’s backed by a really good light gun experience that is bigger and (on balance) better than its predecessor, this game is one of the most playable and interesting transgressive franchises the Japanese industry has ever produced.

Aside from Diablo itself, the clones of the genre have largely slid right back into mediocrity, and I have to hope that a new Titan Quest could be the shot in the arm that can revitalise the interest that genre fans have in it, outside of Diablo.

Anything but inspiring.

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.

It’s not high-octane or revolutionary fare by any means, but Swim Out has a quiet beauty that gives it more in common with chess than Tetris, and that sort of thing is hard to come by nowadays.

Don't come into Opus: Rocket of Whispers expecting some sort of hardcore survival simulation or captivating pushing-buttons experience, or you'll probably wind up disappointed. No, Rocket of Whispers is something much better: a game that uses its simple game loop, repetitiveness and all, to tell a familiar but sincere story about loneliness and coping with grief.

The game itself doesn’t give much in the way of context of who Tesla and Lovecraft are, or even why a scientist would be fighting an author to begin with. Nonetheless, Tesla vs Lovecraft is a fun twin-stick shooter, made even better by being technically on-point and very clean to play.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is a success. I just wish the storytellers on the team were able to really cut loose and pull hard at the strings that, currently, they’re only tugging lightly at.

It's a super casual management sim, like Farmville or whatever city-building equivalents there are. Only far less attractive or compelling. But at least it's not begging you to buy premium currency every five minutes, I guess.

The Charming Empire does a great job of introducing players to the Taishō period; a period that we rarely learn much about in the west. As a period piece it does a decent enough job, but there are so many gorgeous visual novels out there now that the pedestrian presentation really hurts the romance and storytelling of it all.

Minit is a truly special game from Devolver Digital. One of those rare games that executes a new idea in a truly special way. Every sixty second period was a brand-new adventure filled with a sense of wonder.

Warp Shift is a puzzle game that is joyful in its accessibility and expansive in its complexity.

You're not going to forget your time with Detective Pikachu in a hurry, and those memories are going to be all very positive.

I soured quickly on Penny-Punching Princess. I love the art. I love the combat. I found the sharp challenge and simple, clean mechanics to all be very enjoyable. But I just couldn’t get past how shallow it really was in the end, and how the game failed to live up to the tantalising promises made in its lede. It could have easily been a 5/5 game, but instead it’s one of the real disappointments in 2018.

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.

Go into this game with an open mind, and allow the game’s pleasant charm, sweet characters and storytelling, and light, graceful approach to JRPG action to wash over you, and you may just find yourself as in love with the utterly refreshing and pure experience that Atelier Lydie & Suelle has to offer you.

It’s a shame that the plot turns what could have been an interesting, critical title into one that’s simply yet another serviceable AAA game for mass consumption. Did Ubisoft have something interesting to say about extremism and violence? Probably not, but maybe embracing parallels with current events would have made this production seem less like a backyard rodeo.

It fails to demonstrate any inquisitive or creative spirit, which is what makes indie games innovative, vibrant and, ultimately, worth playing.

I left the game feeling frustrated more than anything else. With arbitrary, esoteric puzzles and a wildly inconsistent tone exacerbated by technical issues, I found it hard to get sucked into the game’s atmosphere. The clever plot twists and unique setting were all but drowned out by errant jokes about office politics.

The Station is a wonderful example of how a game’s atmosphere can impact and influence the narrative. The space station felt believable, although the few characters that lived aboard fell a bit flat for me. As a sci-fi walking sim, The Station is more than successful enough.

Vermintide II feels like a predictable step in a fantastic direction.

I didn’t quite love Ni No Kuni 2 quite as much as its predecessor, because I wasn’t quite as connected to it. The game’s choice of themes and approach to storytelling didn’t quite tap into the same emotions. But it is without a doubt a better game. With the addition of city building and strategy battle elements, Ni No Kuni 2 is a deeper and more varied experience than most JRPGs out there, and certainly among the most beautiful and artful games that you’ll ever see.