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.

You've got to ask yourself: if you're looking for quality pinball, would you not be better off playing a pinball title that offers actual quality? And if you're looking for something sexy, would you not be better off looking for something actually sexy? Peach Ball is broadly entertaining, but it's hardly a pinnacle in either case.

I don't think I've ever played a game as soulless of Jett Rocket 2.

More than anything, it's the crushing lack of originally that really does let down Baseball Riot.

Spellspire is good enough to play for a few hours, good enough to talk about a bit, good enough to praise for the developers' understanding of game progression... but also easy enough to forget about in a week or two when something new and shiny comes along.

Mutant Football League is a cheap and poorly executed arcade sports game. I think the developers went in with all the right intents, because there really aren't enough sports games being made for people who aren't willing to put a major commitment into the game in order to be able to appreciate it on any level. But for all the good intentions this game needs so much refinement, polish, and a complete graphical overhaul that I can't see myself busting this game out the next time I've got guests looking to play a game, either.

Beyond that it's surprisingly slim pickings. In that context, SubaraCity is a genuinely worthwhile little game; it's enjoyable, relaxing, and for the most part well designed.

Sadly Shadowgate remake falls into a trap of not adding anything to Shadowgate, making it rather redundant to play. With that being said, Shadowgate is still Shadowgate, and there's an inherent classic quality to this adventure that, coupled with the dark fantasy atmosphere and general difficulty, also makes it inherently rewarding.

I enjoyed Kotodama a great deal. It's just surprising enough to keep the narrative interesting, and the colourful humour and cheerful fan service certainly help make the game a delight to play. Could it have been more? Yes, certainly. There are plenty of moments in Kotodama that you'll think to yourself that it could have been much more than a straightforward fanservicey romp... but the developers have achieved exactly what they set out to do, and have done so with such precision and panache that it's a real joy to play anyway.

Clea has the foundation that it needs to become something really amazing. The aesthetics are spot-on, and the mood and themes are conceptualised beautifully. The developer has chosen a difficult genre to work with, however, and while Clea is perfectly playable and complete, I would want to see some significant strides with a sequel before it enters the upper echelons of the genre. Nonetheless, it does represent a very different kind of Aussie creativity, and it's very much worth supporting on that basis.

While playing, I realised that Hokko Life is trying too hard to be other games that it never really has the opportunity to grow into its own thing. It doesn’t shine on its own. The devs tried. They really did. Hokko Life is an obvious labour of love. But there is a certain je ne sais quoi lacking… charm, maybe? I’ve played a lot of life sims that made me excited to return, but this one didn’t. I know that a game’s not really hooking me when I’ve got to talk myself into playing it for hours just so I can get my review done in time.

There's a healthy number of items to unlock, characters to level and modes to play will keep you coming back for more. It's a pity then that it's burdened by some painful attempts to demand players throw in some extra cash for the DLC.

Senran Kagura Burst's strength is its sheer pace and energy. It's exciting and flashy, and thoroughly entertaining. I haven't enjoyed a brawler this much in a very long time; if only certain writers had given the game a go before dismissing it for something it isn't.

There are animated cut scenes and visually appealing visuals, but the raw lack of innovation in a kind of game that is rapidly showing its age really does let it down.

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.

The problem is that for all of Neoverse's merits - it's a good looking game, with good, balanced mechanics and excellent replay value - it's also ultimately unsatisfying to play. The narrative context is only ever a tease, and without a reason to get into all those fights and collect all those cards, Neoverse ultimately feels hollow. I'll keep Neoverse around for five-minute time-filler play sessions here and there, but I'm ultimately disappointed with this game. It could have easily been so much more than this.

Horror is a very natural fit for the technology, but some awkward juxtapositions between Here They Lie’s art direction and theming, and the critical lack of physical feedback after providing such a sensory overload in other ways, is perhaps an argument that the best horror experiences we’ll see on VR will be the “walking simulators” that focus on psychological fear rather than physical threats.

Aside from a few annoyances and occasionally unfair difficulty, I found myself always coming back for more with FlatOut 4, and one hour would often turn into three-hour play sessions. It was just plain fun to play, and sometimes a game doesn't need to be more than that.

It's light, breezy, gorgeous, and a joy to play.

Giraffe and Annika is the first outing for Atelier Mimina, and as a statement of intent, it shows us a developer that we should be paying attention to. Perhaps Giraffe and Annika is a touch on the short side for its own good, and perhaps there was a better way to build the world and adventure up than making players spend time in a fairly mundane "open world," but between the evocative characters, rich aesthetics and wholesome sense of humour, this game is a joy to play. And that is what's actually important here.

Space Commander: War and Trade isn't bad. If there's one thing that can be said about mobile games, it's that developers are hugely incentivised to make sure players enjoy what they're looking at, and there's no possibility of being frustrated by the gameplay. The core mechanical elements are rock-solid, and transfer over to the Switch well. The game's biggest problem is the setting. Space should be an exotic location filled with adventure and discovery. That entire experience in Space Commander is truncated to the point that it loses that essential quality, leaving the overall experience feeling quite hollow.

Now, rereleased and unmodified from its original gameplay, it is beyond archaic and outdated.

Even without the multiplayer, however, Battle Worlds Kronos is a unique, deep, and rich tactical strategy game. It’s not something I ever expected to see on my home consoles, but it’s nice to see, because as much as I like my wargames, I really do prefer to kick back in front of the TV when I’m in the mood to play games.

Fun, as the rhythm portions and the soundtracks that they use mesh well together. But let's not pull punches about this; this is a game that is going to be exclusively of interest to existing fans of Senran Kagura, and who are also fans of rhythm games. It's not going to convert anyone to the franchise, and unlike the likes of Persona 4 Dancing All Night, it's also not meaty enough as a rhythm game to appeal to people who aren't already deeply involved in the genre. It's pure fanservice.

It deserves to be noticed too; it’s not the greatest ‘Monster Hunter’ game out there, but it is gorgeous and has a lot of interesting, unique ideas going for it.

What beggared my belief is the question of why this “buy once play forever” game utilises all the cheap and nasty tricks from the freemium books. I can only conclude there is a core design problem with Subdivision Infinity, perhaps to do with it originally being conceived as freemium but then turned into premium due to rival releases. Regardless, the end result is a very mechanical affair of short dog fighting followed by lots of tediousness for the sole sake of getting a slightly better ship with which to fight slightly superior enemies in the next round. In the year of our Goddess 2017, this - Subdivision Infinity - is simply not good enough.

Moero Chronicle is so completely unabashed about its fan service and endless innuendo that it's oddly charming, in its own way. There's absolutely no way that people who don't enjoy fan service for the sake of fan service will get anything out of this game. The dungeon crawling is executed well enough, but it's traditional to a fault.

Ultimately, Road to Guangdong is an inconsistent game, but its heart shines through its writing and visual design. It does feel like a personal story and I do respect how the game so honestly captures the values and emotions behind family reunions in Chinese culture. I wonder what more budget could have meant though – whether it is more dialogue to flesh out Guu Ma or to background the long stretches of driving – but what is here is already valuable, and I’m glad I got to spend time in this loving recreation of 90’s China.