I’m definitely returning for Ghostpia season 2. It’s not just that this game looks quirky. Quirky aesthetics are plentiful. It’s that Ghostpia does something purposeful with the quirkiness, and uses it to enhance a pretty affecting and soulful narrative. I checked in with limited expectations and was thoroughly impressed. PQube picked a real winner here (at least in the artistic sense, who knows how many copies it’s going to sell).

I imagine that there will be some kids that will enjoy a mild kick out of Rubberduck Wave Race, as it is accessible and doesn’t require as much skill as most kart racers. However, thanks to the soulless presentation of the subject material, the lack of replay value and no sense of reward, It’s hard to imagine that anyone would get more than a very short chuckle from playing this. It sucks, really. As a fan of rubber ducks, I would love a game like this if it was even halfway decent. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even get to that point.

Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! is a good game, and it’s absolutely fine fare if you don’t already own a version of Taito’s venerable series. The new quirks don’t break anything fundamental, and that’s for the best in terms of maintaining series quality. At the same time, the new modes don’t add a lot.

As a (mostly) classical roguelike, Monster Menu is a good time. It’s well-balanced in its efforts to be excruciatingly difficult. It also has an entertaining loot and character development system. Most importantly of all, the core cooking mechanic is engaging. It will force you to approach everything from exploration to battle in a different way than most roguelikes. But I really can’t help but wish the developers made better use of the strong concept. Monster Menu really could have had a compelling, if nightmarish take on humanity’s sheer will for survival.

By giving us a rare – albeit fantastic – look into an almost completely ignored period of Japanese history Otomate has given us a gift. Winter’s Wish is beautiful and written with a deft touch. We’ve got a great cast of characters, a meaty narrative to work through, and some notes to start learning more about a fascinating chapter of history. It’s a win all around.

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.

There’s more work to do with AFL 23, and I’m expecting regular patching for a few weeks yet. However, I can’t sit on my review forever, so what I’ll say is this: The game has already evolved from a disastrous launch to become the finest AFL game ever. That’s a ridiculously low bar to cross, I know, but once Big Ant have brought in the final features and refined the mechanics to fully realise their vision, this will be a truly impressive representation of one of the most iconic parts of Australian culture.

The sheer scale and scope of it ought to be a reminder to the games industry that creativity doesn’t need the most powerful hardware, and the playful approach to gameplay makes this a rare open world game that’s a pleasure to explore and rewarding to immerse yourself within. I hope Nintendo understands that this can’t be the Zelda formula forevermore, and the next one will be an all-new and transformative experience again, but I also don’t begrudge the company the desire to take a second crack at what made Breath of the Wild so special to so many people.

I hope Rideon continues to produce Mercenaries titles. They’re genuinely entertaining as “no-frills” examples of the tactics JRPG genre. However, the Switch has so many of them now. Recent years have brought us the incredible remake of Tactics Ogre, the stunning Triangle Strategy, and earlier this year we got, arguably, the finest Fire Emblem to date. I don’t expect Rideon to get to that standard, and I think there’s plenty of room for a “no frills” and inexpensive little experience in between the big guns, but I would still like to see the series continue to evolve, rather than simply find ways to continue to repackage the existing assets.

Dokapon Kingdom Connect is a very niche thing indeed. But it’s silly, wacky, colourful and charming. Everyone in the household can have a laugh with it, and putting aside the old school “cheating” AI, it’s mechanically sound. It’s no replacement for Boom Street/Fortune Street/Itadaki Street, but it’s not a bad substitute, and might be on high rotation on your Switch longer than you think.

Mia and the Dragon Princess doesn’t really stand out amongst the crowd of interactive films; I doubt I’ll remember it in the same way as I remember The Complex, for example. It was an enjoyable time, enough for me to play through to try and get different endings a handful of times. Despite the broken spot in the story tree, it was a welcome addition to the gameplay experience. The acting was good, though some characters seemed unnecessary. One branch of the story felt complete, the others were definitely just dead ends and generally not terribly interesting. Is the game worth playing? Sure. Does it belong in the FMV hall of fame? I don’t think so.

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Ash of Gods: The Way anywhere near as much as I did. What could have been a big step backward from the bold and ambitious effort of the original Ash of Gods has instead become one of the most genuine efforts to push the burgeoning “deckbuilding card game” genre forward.

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is a fine sequel that I never thought would happen. Yes, it doesn’t do anything too innovative or different. However, it does combine personable and genuinely enjoyable characters, raunchy and anime nonsense humour that I couldn’t help but laugh along with, and some simple, but clean tactical action. The long and short of it is that it has been a real joy to hang out with this gang again and go on one more hilariously juvenile adventure with them (especially Tiara. I love her so much).

More than 10 years on, Mugen Souls remains a wildly entertaining little game. It’s never going to appear in those “1000 games you must play before you die” books, but that’s okay. Not every project needs to aspire to be that. For those who missed out back on the PlayStation or PC, or who always wanted to play the full experience with that missing minigame, EastAsiaSoft has done you all a favour with this release.

All my fears around whether or not Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly were completely unfounded. The game is warm, grounded in realism despite its fantasy world, with an amazing soundtrack and great drinks to learn about. It is a great compliment to a chilly, rainy day. The characters all have unique personalities so they sometimes clash, but they always figure it out in the end. It’s a wonderful, feel-good visual novel; I can honestly say I hope there is more to come. I’m sure there are more stories to tell. I’m 100 per cent sure the game did its original creator, who has since passed on, proud.

Trinity Trigger fills a very specific niche: It’s there for people that either grew up with the likes of Secret of Mana, or who have come to appreciate them. The game wears its heart on its sleeve and risks being seen as the wrong kind of quaint by sticking to such a classical approach. Thankfully, the soul and love for the genre are so obvious that I imagine most people will be enchanted by this.

Labyrinth of Zangetsu isn’t the longest dungeon crawler (though if you choose the “hardcore” difficulty mode, prepare yourself for a grind that chews through some hours). It is, however, one of the most imaginative examples of the genre in recent years. I find it most similar to Dark Spire, an old (and, sadly, nearly forgotten) DS dungeon crawler. Just like that one, Zangetsu is a fundamentally retro-themed dungeon crawler that plays like a modern game, making it far more accessible than, say, trying to tackle the original Wizardry in 2023. And, as an added bonus, it has an absolutely incredible art style.

The 8-bit and 16-bit Final Fantasy trilogies are both genuine masterpieces. These games wove deep, compelling stories that were as thought-provoking and artful as they were entertaining. Back in the day, they were a promise of what video games could be, and what people had to look forward to as the medium emerged as an art form. Increasingly, they’re a sad statement for what games could have been, had the medium not shifted to a pastiche of Hollywood excesses.

I find myself in a conflicted position with Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp. On the one hand, it is essential. To this day, these are two of the finest tactics games of all time. On the other hand, there is no reason for this remake to exist when a re-release would have been sufficient. If it’s Nintendo’s way of exploring a revival for the series then great, and I hope it sells a bucketload. I just wish WayForward’s talents had have been deployed better.

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.

Despite these minor issues, Process of Elimination is high quality, authentic, classical example of Japanese detective fiction. It’s not subversive or particularly boundary-breaking, but it’s also a very good student of the genre. So long as you can still kick back and enjoy a good Conan Doyle, Christie or Ranpo story, you’ll enjoy what this has to offer.

Your enjoyment of NightCry is going to depend a lot on your perspective, which is why I suspect this is going to be one of the most divisive horror games since Deadly Premonition. To judge NightCry at face value would be to grossly overlook all the work that Nude Maker has done to create an authentic Clock Tower-style, classic stalker horror experience for the modern day. You’re going to have to look past the game’s often ugly exterior to see the beauty behind every design choice, every camera angle and every mindblowing plot twist, and you’re going to need to be a horror fan who isn’t spoiled on the modern trends of jump scares and instant gratification.

Despite some initial confusion over the puzzle aspects of Murderous Muses – which I blame more on the way my brain works than the game, sometimes I need to be blatantly told something or I miss the obvious – I still felt that I got a really complete experience. The mash-up of a procedurally-generated environment with FMV is highly successful, and fit together hand in hand. I came into this game loaded with expectations and fearful of being let down… but that fear was completely unfounded. I mean, I’m a games journalist/critic with a degree in art history and a love of true crime – Murderous Muses was basically made for me.

Between the lack of personality, inconsistent aesthetics, physics that, accurate or not, look broken, and cynical always online requirements, EA Sports PGA Tour gets just about everything wrong. I found myself jumping right back to Easy Come, Easy Golf almost immediately. Sure, it’s not the most realistic golf game out there, but at least it has fun with the sport and I’m not booted from the game after every other hole. EA’s dour, miserable effort is the “you must be fun at parties” joke/insult manifested as a sports game.

The real reason for this release is that the “sequel” fandisc, Norn9 Last Era is currently being prepped for release later this year, and Aksys realises that the best way to get people to buy that is to have played the original. It’s mildly cynical, but at the same time, for something this niche. understandable. There are certain visual novels that I think I would have rather seen on Switch first (Hakuouki springs to mind), but nonetheless, this is a really exceptional page-turner sci-fi tale that boasts some great characters. Don’t let it miss you a second time.

The Great War: Western Front is an excellent way to learn something about the battlefields and conditions of a war that, let’s face it, is one we rarely learn much about these days. It’s always inspiring when developers take the time to be meticulous with their history games and aim to present something that doesn’t just entertain, but also informs.

What I’m saying is that I’m not entirely sure who is going to enjoy Curse of the Sea Rats. I do know that there’s going to be an audience out there for it, because while it has several issues it also has many redeeming qualities. However, when it’s one of a few million Metroidvanias that are already on the Switch, I fear that Sea Rats will struggle to find that audience, despite being a clear passion project from everyone involved.

Fundamentally, though, MLB the Show 23 is a good game. MLB the Show 22 was a good game. Adding the Negro Leagues mode was noble from Sony (and no doubt the kind of goodwill-generating progressive addition that will keep the licensor happy with how Sony is treating the IP). However, the misstep with the World Baseball League and a complete unwillingness to build on any mode but the awful Diamond Dynasty also make this year’s The Show unacceptable. If you missed last year’s iteration, then you can add a couple of stars to this score, because for you, it won’t be one of the most cynical annual iterations that we’ve seen in sports games for quite some time. For the rest of us, though. No. Not good enough.