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.

The game despite the obvious padding is a great length for both casual gameplay and for someone who wants to finish it in one sitting. The misfiring humour and weak standard of the environments however make for a poor narrative, and generally, an experience that isn’t particularly memorable.

To say that The 25th Ward is niche would be an understatement, but that’s what’s so impressive about it. It respects the intelligence of its players, allowing them to wade through the feverish surrealism that the game often depicts, and melds that perfectly with a traditional noir thriller than Raymond Chandler himself would have been proud of. Goichi Suda might be known for his action games today (and they’re usually very fine games in their own right), but what I wouldn’t give for him to go back for another spin or two at the visual novel.

Its bare-bones design philosophy means it’s perhaps not the best title for survival genre diehards, but it’s a refreshing title to hit the Switch and one you might find yourself playing for way longer than planned.

Totes The Goat takes one of my favourite retro games, and does a decent job of modernising it. The developer would have benefited from the actual Q*Bert license, and some creativity of their own so that the game didn't seem like such an earnest attempt to cash in on one of the biggest and most influential mobile titles, but yes, Totes is genuine good fun, and I imagine I'll get many months of play out of this one.

It's that sort of depth that makes Fe's story so affecting, even if it seems quite straightforward and even predictable on the surface. I saw every twist from a mile out, and yet I never felt like the story suffered as a result. Rather, Fe is a fairy tale: the sort of story that finds charm in its simplicity and familiarity, but has a lot to say to anyone willing to dig beneath the surface. In that, it's a resounding success.

These games are important because, as the dominant entertainment industry, games are a way to inspire audiences to learn more about something, and the more people learn about cultures other than their own, the better. Mulaka might not be your favourite game in 2018, but what you take away from it will be far more valuable than the couple of hours of entertainment you'll get from it.

It's a B-grade Dead Space clone that follows the "rules" of horror without actually understanding any of them. Sure, it's a good thing that developers want to continue that "horror in space" tradition of Dead Space, but this team simply wasn't up to the task. On any level.

Zwei! The Arges Adventure is a lovely little title from Falcom that I am very happy was localised after the success of its successor. If you’ve been been needing some lighthearted dungeon crawling or have already played the localised sequel and want to know how the series began, than you'll appreciate this one a great deal.

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is an incredible achievement, and the latest in a growing body of games that really push the bounds of what the medium can do. It is, at its heart, a game about stories, and the incredible power that they have, brought to life in the most beautiful way possible.

For a debut game, Moss is a remarkably mature, intelligent, confident and purposeful game by Polyarc...Moss really is the best VR game we've seen to date.

Immortal Redneck is a blast of a game in a genre that we don’t see enough of. It’s not the first roguelike FPS that we’ve seen on PlayStation 4, and I wouldn’t say it’s the best, either. It does, however, have an exceptional aesthetic, clever level design, clean action, a decent difficulty curve, and plenty of longevity. A very worthy action game indeed.

Despite the issues with balance, juvenile moments in the writing, and the occasional bug that suggested the ambition of the game slightly overextended its budget, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is the best video game entry in this particular franchise.

It’s an insult in existing at all. I'd rather castrated myself with a rusted spoon than think about this game any longer.

Proof that bigger isn’t always better. The additional gameplay mechanics only get in the way of how fun the original was, and makes the screen a busy mess at times. The saving grace is that the Switch version of the game is perfect for short play sessions, which makes it a decent purchase for those that want Pac-Man on the go.

It's a workable enough take on the game. Like I said at the start, pool is ideal for a handheld platform, and I can see myself playing Premium Pool Arena a lot while on trips or during short breaks. It's a clean, efficient, and largely no-frills take on the game, and in all that it's pleasant and enjoyable. And that's really all that can be said about a game like this.

So this won’t be remembered as a particularly good remake, and it’s tragic, because by itself, outside of the shadow of the game it’s a remaster of, Secret of Mana has its charms.

For every positive thing that Kingdom Come does with its storytelling, setting, and themes, it then lets itself down with childish writing, and then doesn’t help itself out by being so ambitious that, even beyond the bugs, the game has structural issues that are difficult to ignore.

This is an intense, clever, thoughtful and intellectually challenging JRPG that should remind people that when it comes to this genre, visual presentation and even the gameplay itself aren’t the drawcard. It’s that story that counts, and Radiant Historia manages to achieve something truly remarkable in giving players a time travelling plot that is genuinely interesting and worthwhile.

The game’s not going to draw the attention or community of “proper” fighting games, but Slice, Dice & Rice is distinctive, intelligent, rhythmical and, more importantly, intense. That ability to lose a match from a single button press makes every single movement count, and in that way it’s the most perfect, pure fighting game that you could hope to find. Just make sure you’ve got people to play in local multiplayer with. That’s where the game’s long term value is going to be.

Tesla vs Lovecraft is enjoyable enough for what it is: a simple, energetic twin-stick shooter fat doesn't push any boundaries but gets most of the fundamentals right. At the same time, there's so much untapped potential in the idea of Lovecraft/Tesla crossover, and that leaves me wanting so much more from this game than it actually delivers.

The main thing is the developers haven’t messed with the content. Because almost no one bought the Wii U, few people had the chance to play Bayonetta 2. With Bayonetta 3 on the horizon, giving people a chance to catch up is a really good idea on Nintendo’s part. That’s why these ports have been released, and they’re that good that, even if you were one of the few with a Wii U, you may as well buy them again.

It's never fun to play a game that's so fundamentally uninteresting that you really struggle to even watch the screen as you're playing.

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.

The historical setting, the devotion to detail and colourful artstyle are sure to draw its share of fans, and the gameplay is also a perfectly functional modern reimagining of 80’s era beat-em-ups. It is my dream that there forms a devoted fanbase who appreciate both of those things, but for now this is a game divided between two aims.

Koei Tecmo has done a remarkable job of telling the many stories of the many people that make Romance of the Three Kingdoms such a compelling book and period of history, and the beautiful cinematic consistency makes it the most perfect realisation of everything Koei Tecmo has been aiming for with this series over many years now.

The Seven Deadly Sins is a fun anime franchise, and that sense of fun does translate to the game. It’s not a perfect game by any means, and has some genuinely aggravating elements, though, and that means it is going to be one that only fans of the franchise are going to enjoy.

There’s so much raw content in this package that, as long as you’re a fan of the standard tactics JRPG formula, you won’t be able to help but get plenty of value out of this trilogy. And the standard tactics JRPG formula is so damn good that it’s timeless. Making Mercenaries Saga itself functionally timeless.