If you’re within the niche that A Bastard’s Tale is targeting, you’ll find it plenty rewarding. It takes the “fail better” approach to game design and distills it to its very essence, taking the often repetitious process of dying and retrying and turning it into something captivating enough to endure the occasional frustrations that always come with repeated failure. “Just one more try!”

Dusk Diver is a noble idea. After all, it's clearly inspired by the likes of Persona, and there aren't many better sources of inspiration out there. I'm also right on board with the setting. Having never been to Ximending, I was quite keen to see what it's like through the lens of this game. I didn't get to do that, though, because the game failed to capture the characteristics or community of the district. It was another hub-style location for another anime game. Throw in a functional, but hardly boundary-pushing combat system, and you're left with something that works, but at this particular time of year, a workmanlike experience is just going to drown under the weight of all the other really good stuff being released, sadly.

Losing the online integration hurts, and because of this the Wii U version is the superior one by a significant margin, despite looking inferior.

There's no denying that Archangel is pretty, but in every other way it's a case of unfulfilled potential.

Pure Chess on 3DS boasts a decent presentation and plays far more competently than many other video game adaptations, but I suspect this port may be the poorest version yet of an immaculate experience.

The open world format really lets LEGO 2K Drive down. It’s disappointing that all those development resources went into a pointless “story” when the developers could have focused on giving players more awesome tracks and cups to enjoy. The underlying racing mechanics are so very entertaining. Instead, though, we have a familiar story: a massive space to “explore” but no meaningful reason to do so. Developers, if all you’re going to do with open worlds is dump busywork on players and use it to pad out the number of hours it’ll take them to finish the game, then find a different format. Not everything needs an open world, and I would argue that arcade “kart” racers are a good example of that.

The biggest problem is that there is no button control alternative to gamepad gyro movement. The game is very playable with these controls, as well as being responsive and sensitive enough to make the quick moves that you'll need to make without being too twitchy, but some kind of button alternative would have been nice nonetheless.

Rainbow Moon is not a good choice for people who are looking for a narrative, but for fans of the old school, punishingly difficult, hardcore JRPGs, this is a nice throwback with an awful lot of raw gameplay behind it.

Raid mode returns, and while it’s not as exciting or fast paced as what we saw in previous title's Mercenaries modes, it adds an incredible amount of longevity to the game.

Between the permadeath aspect, the random floor layouts of the dungeon and the smooth gameplay with retro style graphics, Quest of Dungeons is a blast to repeatedly play through.

Tsugunochi is just a few dollars to purchase, and it is a very pure concept for a horror game. Anyone that’s a fan of the genre should do themselves a favour and pick this one up. As an academic exercise and piece of horror theory, it’s one of those that you do want to pull to pieces and study. This will enable you to better appreciate the way that the better examples of horror work on a psychological and intellectual level.

Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story succeeds as far as a "ghost story" is concerned. It offers up some good and creepy moments to go with some nicely classical point-and-click adventure elements. It struggles as cyberpunk though, failing to engage with the themes that make cyberpunk a distinctive, interesting genre, and proving unable to integrate those cyberpunk elements with the horror. I'm glad I played Sense, but there are too many inconsistencies for it to be something particularly memorable.

Every single locale in the trilogy feels like it deserves a full game in its own right but just as I started to get immersed the story would be over and I would be whisked into a completely different historical period. Long time series fans will still find some enjoyment in the solid stealth platforming mechanics but that’s only if they face the fact that these games are Assassin’s Creed titles in name only.

It's not the longest game, and doesn't offer anything that will be remembered as a classic game by any means, but the tense atmosphere, striking art style, and challenge, will surely help this game find itself a niche.

Picking up the IGS Classic Arcade Collection is curiosity-worthy. Even among brawler fans, I would guess many of these games are obscure. This is therefore an opportunity to dip into a largely forgotten part of arcade history. They’re also decent games that play well, albeit in a genre that has changed significantly (and for the better) over the years. The lack of “museum” material makes this a disappointingly minimally-featured collection, but it might be fun to bash buttons over for a weekend or two.

I had a really challenging time playing Once Upon Light, and it was enjoyable for that, but at times I felt some levels were too cluttered with content. Hardcore puzzle fans should have an enjoyable experience, but this one isn't really something that more relaxed players will get into.

This is one of those games which you could buy on a portable device and enjoy far more because of that.

For all the good, the reality is that Bleak Sword is in serious need of substance, and the novelty of a “lo-fi Soulslike” on mobile is lost a little on a proper console.

By and large EA Sports UFC 3 is the best offering from the series yet. The standing combat is well nuanced, and most of the choices made for career mode felt like steps in the right direction. Ultimate Team feels a bit out of place and unnecessary, and the overall lack of roster inclusions and modes makes this a slightly more shallow offering, but the key is the combat... which words far better when a fighter is on their feet and not down on the mat. I was engaged for several days, spending plenty of time playing the game, but the reasons that most people continue to play an EA Sports title until the next iteration comes along just isn't as strong in EA Sports UFC 3.

What could have been something lasting, something real, is instead a two dimensional narrative which brandishes plot twists and visual trickery to camouflage a lack of rich storytelling. Nonetheless, I would still highly recommend Stories Untold to writers and game developers: there are ideas in the first few episodes which are fascinating, and I’m dying to see where No Code’s metafictive experimentation might take the text adventure genre.

Vectronom is well made and attractive. It's got a strong sense of minimalist style, and as difficult as it is, it's also entirely fair, and once you've learned its rules and behaviour, it becomes comfortable, albeit difficult, to play. At the same time, this game crystalises some issues with how rhythm games as a whole handle music, and while its various stages are well designed enough, there's nothing truly memorable in there. It's an indie game that wears its heart on its sleeve, but unfortunately also struggles to stand out as anything but a textbook example of an indie title.

Sorcery Saga is a solid roguelike with a big heart, lots of content and a hefty challenge, but its repetitive gameplay and occasionally hostile design choices makes it a niche pick.

The big question is: what, exactly, is the target audience for Breakpoint? I can find things that I personally like, as well as moments I can identify as hat-tips to devoted genre fans. I just think that, in its attempt to be a tactical-action-open-world-sandbox-looter-shooter-online-squad-based-co-op, it collapses under the weight of all the hyphens. The disparate parts which Ubisoft tries to cram together are too different for a coherent game to form. I imagine the hardcore tactical FPS fan doesn’t want looter-shooter mechanics, and vice versa; anyone who likes this Breakpoint for one reason will hate it for some other reason. But at least Ubisoft did make the narrative less egregious this time around.

Despite a lack of originality and questionable controls I found myself coming back to Giga Wrecker Alt to tackle that puzzle, overcome that boss or just explore its world. If you are looking for a ground breaking new entry in Game Freak's reserve or something similar to the Pokémon titles then this may not be the title for you. However, Game Freak's team has stepped out of their comfort zone and developed a game with some rather satisfying qualities which may just tide you over.

I’m struggling to recommend this due to its length. It can be completed within an hour. Not that it's a bad hour, but there are games cut from the same cloth that boast tens or hundreds of hours of playtime from individuals, such as Enter the Gungeon or Binding of Isaac, with the roguelike features that are practically par for the course these days.

I am quite sure that some people will absolutely love the intensity of the horror and dark fantasy that infuses Lords of the Fallen. As cartoonishly silly as it comes across by trying so hard, it is technically impressive. Similarly, the game is perfectly solid mechanically, and while it does have some issues with pacing and the design of some boss battles, it is, for the most part, very playable. I had more fun with this than I think it deserved, and while I’m not sure whether I was laughing with it or at it most of the time, I was definitely laughing and having fun with it. Who knows? Perhaps satirising the self-seriousness of dark fantasy was the entire creative point and if so, bravo developers, you nailed it.

I had fun with Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami, but then I am a hardcore fan of classical roguelikes. I still play Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon every once in a while, and I am looking forward to the next Shiren the Wanderer a great deal. Given that the fan service is neither fun nor sexy enough and the game doesn’t do anything else to stand out within its niche, it’s not my favourite roguelike. But I don’t regret having played it by any means.

The use of the gamepad is by far the most enjoyable aspect of Affordable Space Adventures. In fact, it's so well done that it's close to being the best use of the gamepad on the Wii U so far. Sadly the game is held back by some serious game design choices, and while it's still playable, it's just not the kind of game that deserves to be remembered as a classic.