Weapon Shop de Omasse is a deeply intelligent game, and it's certainly part of a fine heritage of philosophy that has made for compelling experiences in the past. But we can chalk this one up to the collective learning experience of the game development industry; it's fine to feature philosophy and to shoot for comedy, but you simply can't rely on that carrying the game.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song is an interesting title, because its intuitive combat is an easy way for newcomers to experience the game. At the same time, it has a story and history that really is geared towards those who are already familiar with the series and the prior video game entry. Those two items are somewhat at odds with one another, but if you can get past that and the middling story, I found the actual characters and humour engaging.

On the whole, Nitroplus Blasterz Heroines Infinite Duel is a quality 2D fighter, even if it lacks the narrative in needed and the characterisation that would have made it more effective as fanservice. All I can recommend is that you give the game a chance until you've managed to topple the boss, because from that point on you'll probably find yourself with a game that has a combat system you'll quite enjoy.

With the variety in levels, the large number of missions, and the historical depth, I really enjoyed what Sudden Strike 4 had to offer. I think it’s going to appeal to only the smallest of communities on PlayStation 4, and the PC version is clearly going to be the superior choice for people that can manage it, but still, it’s a good little game.

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.

There are some good ideas to be found in Bookbound Brigade, and when everything clicks into place, it can be a lot of fun. But between the unreliable map, the tedious combat, the tired sense of humour, and the missed opportunity to do anything noteworthy with the "literary mash-up premise", Bookbound Brigade's good ideas are overshadowed by poor execution.

Talisman is a classic board game, and deserves respect for that. It’s also eminently playable to this day, and very easy to pick up and play, and as such it’s a genuinely good game for lazy Sundays with friends. But the Nintendo Switch port of the game suffers from the console's limitations, and the utter reliance on luck can make this game a very frustrating experience over the longer term (and, as a quick side note at the end - games of Talisman can be long - be sure to have a pot of coffee ready as you sit down to play this one).

At this present point in time, Goat Simulator is simply not worth it, even for the novelty value.

I just hope that F1 2015 has an engine for the new generation of consoles and puts the series back on track.

The game is unforgiving when it comes to the AI, and some players can learn from this while others will be destroyed constantly, which is unfortunate. With some tweaking here and there and adding difficulty levels, BRAWL could be amazing.

A brilliant game with new mechanics that purposely attempt to divert away from chess could sell on its own merits, rather the rely on the reputation of the game it is so eager to alter.

Sadly, apart from being really, really ridiculously good-looking, Fashion Dreamer just hasn’t got much going for it. With no real reward mechanism to encourage you to think about fashion, and nothing stopping you from building up an extensive wardrobe of clothes simply by jumping online for a couple of minutes here and there, there’s so small of an incentive to actually play. Especially once you’ve found an outfit for your character that’s so cute that you don’t feel the need to mess around with it any further.

Monark is a smart game. It knows it, and it wants you to know it too. Some may well find that it's even pretentious. But it’s also in so many ways a boundary-pushing and innovative experience, and one that I imagine will be unique for a very long time to come. Putting aside the disappointment that comes from realising that it could have attacked with its themes more, I don’t think there is any other way that the creative team could have delivered on a more coherent and compelling vision and, really, it is experiences like Monark that keep me interested in this medium. Don’t let this one pass you by, folks.

Ghost Blade HD lovingly embraces the history of bullet hell shooters, providing classic substance with modern polish. Though these modern aesthetics proved vexing at times, it’s an experience worth seeing through.

As a longtime fan of the series, I feel compelled to find redeeming qualities in this release, but as a critic, I can’t recommend it. The challenges are more basic than those found in Paw Patrol games, the replay value is virtually nonexistent, and the core concept feels more rough than many indie titles made with minimal resources and no major publisher backing. This isn’t the Survival Kids revival fans deserved, and it’s unlikely to attract new players to a franchise that deserved so much better.

Super Bomberman R makes a great party game if you have your hands on some extra Joy-Cons or Pro controllers, and playing with up to eight of your friends or at a party can be one hell of a time. The online options are also there if you want to play with friends or with strangers around the world. The boss battles even manage to make the single player game worth playing though, and that's almost unprecedented for the series. It's games like this that show the Switch is more than just a Zelda machine.

And no matter how much I enjoyed this game, which I did, it was hard to play, because the visuals are so jarring. As such Velocibox is not for the faint hearted, or epileptic.

Zombie Army Trilogy is a culmination of things that are all done well, but not great.

Levels+ is a completely forgettable game. It's got some gorgeous aesthetics, and functionally it's a refined, balanced, and perfectly competent Threes clone, but there is no longevity to the game whatsoever, and the lack of an online leaderboard for a game like this is downright amateur.

It is certainly not a bad game, but it feels like War of the Vikings has room to grow, and is currently not as much of an advancement over the last game as I would have liked.

The Coma doesn’t outstay its welcome, and tells its story over five or so hours. Sadly it’s just not frightening enough. The implications of the story it’s telling are terrifying, and certainly this will discourage anyone who thought they wanted to do a couple of years education in South Korea, so the themes that form the basis of game are potent. But where Creeping Terror had me gripped with its aesthetics and tension and never let go, The Coma is simply too inconsistent and clean to really work as a piece of horror.

The game itself is worth it, as Might & Magic: Duel of Champions is an outstanding collectible card game, but I do get more mileage out of the PC version.

Moco Moco Friends is geared firmly toward young children, but the magical girl aesthetics and witty script allow it to transcend an otherwise middling JRPG. It wouldn’t have hurt to take a couple more cues from the collect-and-battle RPG greats and, with a sequel, Moco Moco Friends could be elevated substantially. As is, there’s something to be said for the pure, clean fun Moco delivers in spades.

The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker’s hook, for me, remains the need to take over as a psychiatrist. It’s not as easy as sitting comfortably and saying things like, “and how does that make you feel?” As Doctor Dekker’s replacement you are toeing the line between your patients’ sanity and insanity, having to decipher clues in their personality or stories to gain insight into what to ask. The supernatural, Cthulhu-centric story behind the game is also a shining point that has led me to finally break my hesitancy to read Lovecraft. Your own sanity comes into question.

The limited budget of an independent developer is clearly on show from start to finish, but there's an earnestness to the game that is really quite appealing. But if "walking simulators" don't do much for you, don't expect to get much out of this either.

The good news is that now that Big Ant has nailed the look, feel and atmosphere of tennis and delivered a take on the sport that is genuinely impressive, there’s only really one thing left for them to focus on for ongoing updates and iterations. Far be it for me to ever suggest that AI is an easy part of game development, but if the Big Ant team can access enough historical records of how the professionals have constructed their games, understand where they target their shots, under what conditions, and where their games break down, then that massive roster, coupled with personality-based AI, would put Big Ant so far ahead of the competition that there’s no catching up. It’s a big data exercise, and it would be so especially worth it for the sport of tennis.

Mario Sports Superstars does nothing to help the series make its case. In fact, it’s quite possibly the most aggressively simplistic game I’ve ever played from Nintendo.

It’s a relaxed, laid back and generally amusing side story to the Final Fantasy XV universe, and it throws some great variety and boss battles into the gameplay mix. It’s not the essential VR experience, but it is a delightful little game that fundamentally benefits from the VR platform.