The thing is, though, I did find myself having fun with this stupid thing. Each time you unlock a new minigame, that little Dante guide (actually a body-less mouse-creature with long arms) gives you a very self-aware summary of what the minigame is. He knows that three quarters of them suck, and he doesn’t hold back in his assessment of that. So with 100 in 1 Games, you’re playing bad games that the developers know are bad and have a sense of humour about their project. If that isn’t the dictionary definition of a game that is an utter hoot when you’re on the beers, then I dunno what is. But perhaps it’s also a sign that I should get on the beers a little less often.

“Director’s Cut” is the right term for this Yakuza 0 release. The biggest addition is additional minutes of narrative footage, and it’s been spruced up to work on a handheld console for the first time. That’s really all it needed, because it was already the pinnacle of one of the greatest JRPG properties we’ve ever seen.

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.

Is this an essential update? Not really. I would argue that the Switch 1 version of Civilization VII isn’t worth playing, and so if you are going to play the thing, you should upgrade. Nobunaga’s Ambition is already an excellent game, but you’re not getting much extra if you already have it and all the DLC on Switch. There’s also no upgrade option like there is with Civ VII, so you’d need to shell out for a full-priced game if you wanted those mouse controls. But then, on the other hand, I’ll still be playing Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening a year (and longer) from now.

Civilization VII is an excellent demonstration of just how good mouse controls can be and the game is significantly better than the Switch 1 release for it. Unfortunately, while the interface and UI is now an order of magnitude better, nothing can hide the fact that Civilization VII is just not very good. I hadn’t played it since launch, so I took this opportunity to dig in and see what the patching has achieved over the last few months, and it’s still not good. I don’t think anything can fix the way the game soft-resets with each era and effectively splits one campaign into three. It’s just broken game design.

I had fun playing Hello Stranger, even though repeated playthroughs sometimes felt a little redundant. Cam is relatable, and I found myself genuinely rooting for him even though I made him a bit of a creep in one scene… sorry Cam. There is a tense feeling while playing, as though you’re waiting for something to jump out and scream at you. (That doesn’t happen… often…) I’m a bit bummed about the minigames and the decision tree, but I’m thrilled with the story and visuals.

Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is one of the more niche Atlus classics, but the remaster has been well worth the time and effort. There is a dark and culturally interesting heartbeat at the centre of this one, and while I do prefer turn-based combat to this action button-mashy stuff from Atlus, I was more than willing to put up with it for everything else about the game.

Mario Kart World is magnificent. It features the tight and refined gameplay you expect from the series, a brilliant new Knockout mode, and such colourful energy and vibrancy that it was the perfect title to launch the console. I really didn’t think there was much else Nintendo could do after Mario Kart 8, but I stand corrected.

I have nothing but positive things to say about Date Everything!, and that’s saying something considering I’m a pessimist. It’s a love game that was meant to launch for Valentine’s Day, but it’s also a queer game launching in the middle of pride month, so the launch timing is still wonderful. It is an amazing game, and its fictional relationships hit me in my very real feels. The characters vary greatly in everything from appearance to personality, and despite there being 100 of them, it’s easy to remember each as someone special. The voice acting is exquisite, and shoutout to the devs for including the voice actors on every dateable’s profile. I expect to be recommending Date Everything! to others for years because there are so few quality games as quirky and heartfelt.

Bravely Default didn’t need fixing, and simply rescuing it from the 3DS is more than enough. This is a beautiful, heartfelt, and wonderfully classical JRPG, and as much as I love Mario Kart, over the past week, I’ve wanted to play this one so much more.

Fantasy Live i has that big MMO feel to it, yet throughout the adventure never becomes exhausting. Whether the post-game stuff is for you or not, the journey there is such pure, wholesome, moreish escapism that it doesn’t matter. Level-5 took many years to get this out the door, but the wait has been more than worth it.

Thanks to its laid-back, low-pressure vibe, aesthetic warmth and overall wholesomeness, Guardians of Azuma captures the comfort food quality of the entire Rune Factory series. Meanwhile, thanks to a vastly improved visual engine, accessible interesting combat, and an exceptional setting, it also takes a strong step forward from its predecessors. This is the strongest entry in a beloved series, and made all the more special because, after the original developer of the series closed shop, it looked like the entire series was dead for several years. This is a pretty good statement that there’s still so much more that it can offer yet.

I truly wish I had better things to say about Spray Paint Simulator. I do have good things to say: it’s really chill, the graphics are vibrant, the painting gameplay is great, and the options cover a good amount of possibilities. Unfortunately, the game is weighed down by its clunkiness and lack of story. (Yes, even a game about spray painting needs a story.) I would like to say I will go back to it, but I’m left wondering if I’ll ever feel that itch to return.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a very clever game. FromSoftware has produced a multiplayer-focused “Souls” experience that borrows some of the best ideas from the multiplayer giants while retaining the Soulslike formula and style. It’s not really for me. I’m a mega Souls fan, but I’m there for the dark fantasy storytelling and exploration more than the action and bosses. But I can appreciate what FromSoftware has done with this, and I certainly think the team has nailed what they set out to achieve with it.

The thing is, Eurojank RPGs are always better than their big blockbuster counterparts, because they’re what the developers really want to make. I don’t think an Elder Scrolls could be made with the grimdark purity of Tainted Grail. Look at what happened when EA put the blockbuster sheen over Dragon Age, which itself once indulged in dark fantasy. I personally don’t think King Arthur is as dark as game developers continue to, but I certainly appreciate that the developers of this game committed to that and actually delivered it. There’s a real heart and soul to this project, and Poland has produced yet another developer that is well worth keeping an eye on.

For all my criticisms here, I do want to see another take at this. There’s absolutely room for an anime Returnal, and the base mechanics are there. Scar-Lead Salvation does play well. It is so achingly close to a good game. It’s just crushed by trying to spread that quality across a very, very long gauntlet.

Pivot of Hearts is something special. The main character, Wen, is extremely relatable — even to people who aren’t game developers. He is the beating heart of the game, someone you can’t help but root for because he tries so hard to do everything “right.” The game shows genuine, non-conforming relationships progressing from the start, making it easy to fall in love with the characters. The way the developer incorporated the tarot card aspect is extremely clever. The more I played, the more I enjoyed it — even while lacking spades! I firmly believe that Pivot of Hearts can change some minds regarding “traditional” relationships. It isn’t always easy, but all that matters is that your heart is in the right place.

All in all, the original Duck Detective was a wholesome, entertaining, totally charming bit of brilliance, and this stand-alone sequel does it justice.

What you end up getting with 7’scarlet is a safe-ish suspense mystery. There are otome visual novels out there that are far darker, more explicit, sharper, more horrific, and more intense than this one, but it’s not a criticism of 7’scarlet to say that it’s for those that want something more relaxing and straightforward to enjoy. A truly lovely setting that will have you pining to explore small-town Japan, and some lovely art, make this pulpy-style otome an easy-going page-turner.

Death end re;Quest: Code Z ends up being something of an archetypical JRPG for Idea Factory in one way, while the opposite of what we expect in the other. It’s far sharper and smarter than the over-the-top fan service suggests it will be. That’s the archetypical half. Meanwhile, the JRPG mechanics are competent and enjoyable, but very standard with little experimentation. That’s categorically not what we expect from Idea Factory. It’s usually a company that experiments with combat systems to its detriment. That being said, I’m not disappointed by this at all. We haven’t had a proper “Chocobo Dungeon” style roguelike in a long time. This scratches the itch and then, thanks to the exquisite horror art and theme, leaves a bloody scar behind.

Those gripes and wishlish items are minor issues that would be nice to see Big Ant address in future titles, but I don’t want to take anything away from AFL 26. It plays incredibly well and has had a lot of effort put into it, despite being a game that only really has Australia to count on as far as marketability. What’s more, Big Ant’s still patching away. It’s going to be fascinating to see where this one ends up in a year.

I love being able to play Age of Empires II on my console, and for it to play so well on the hardware and with a controller. As someone who consumes anything to do with Romance of the Three Kingdoms with enthusiasm, I’ve loved this latest expansion in a very long line of excellent expansions, too. Now we just need to get a remaster of Civilization 2 as well, and I’ll spend the rest of the year just playing the same games I spent my entire teenage years with.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a precious thing. It has the big blockbuster production values, but in sharp contrast to most other “narrative-driven” games in this space, it also respects the intelligence of its audience and is willing to engage with a rich tapestry of themes rather than leaving the onion unpeeled. My gut tells me that as respected and successful as this game has already been, it’s only really getting started and over time will sit alongside the likes of NieR, and Planescape: Torment as the most literary and intelligent games ever made. Goddard, Camus and Sartre would be proud (well, perhaps not, existentialists are not a particularly jovial bunch by reputation).

I have not minded the opportunity to step back into Oblivion at all. It’s a big, beautiful adventure with some truly exceptional, memorable moments. The world of Oblivion alone is a perfect recreation of the Dungeons & Dragons descents into hell from my tabletop days, and I had such a rush of nostalgia playing that through again. It has made me feel old to reflect on the fact that it’s a 20-year-old game and I swear I remember playing it new like it was yesterday, and nostalgia always comes with some rose-tinted glasses, but yes, I haven’t minded having the opportunity and excuse to play this again at all.

I like my retro gaming to be bathed more in rosy nostalgia and details about what made a game great or a company significant, not drenched in cynicism. Super Technos World: River City & Technos Arcade Classics isn’t awful by any stretch, but it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that it is something of a cynical cash grab first and foremost. Do better, Arc System Works!

I came into Lushfoil Photography Sim expecting to love it, and maybe that was a mistake. I do like it. I plan on returning to it for little escapes sometimes (emphasis on little). There is just something I love about taking a view that countless others have seen and putting your own twist on it; as it turns out, that feeling can also exist thanks to video games. Unfortunately, the camera controls never became intuitive, and accessibility around motion sickness is lacking. Lushfoil Photography Sim has a solid base, but I could never recommend it to someone without also pointing out the heavy negatives.

We live in an era where games that have puzzles need to lead players by the nose to their solution, for fear of the player getting stuck and giving up. Anything that truly challenges the player is anathema to modern design best practice. That’s why Amerzone is such a rare treat. It looks the part of a modern game, tells an exceptional story with a page-turning quality that only one of history’s finest comic book artists could achieve, and is willing to throw some genuine puzzles at the player. If you’ve got the resolve for it, then you’re in for a ride with this one.

If you did have nostalgic love for Snow Bros 2, it would clearly hit you a little harder, though I do have to note that if it’s just the arcade game you want in a legal fashion it is part of the Amusement Arcade Toaplan app too – and there it’s a fair bit cheaper than Snow Bros 2 Special’s asking price too.