Between The Rebel Collection and the Assassin's Creed 3 + Liberation packs, the Nintendo Switch has the pinnacle of the series available for it now, as far as I'm concerned. Having these games available for on-the-go play makes the mild concessions made more than a fair tradeoff, and it speaks to the quality of Rogue in particular that I was more than happy to play it through yet again. It's a rare game indeed that ropes me in for a third replay.

Darksiders Genesis gets a lot right. It has plenty of personality and a dynamic, engaging action system. Its only real problem is that it has tackled a thematic challenge that it can't deliver - hell should not be dull, empty or repetitive, and yet this game fails on all fronts there. It's not entirely the developer's fault, in the sense that if they showed a truly creative vision of hell it would either offend or be too surreal for the kind of mainstream audience that it's pitched at, but perhaps developers need to better consider where they're setting their games in that case.

For fans of the Blair Witch franchise, this game is an interesting vignette which fleshes out the universe a little more. But for those looking for a horror game filled with good scares, this is probably one to pass on.

The band of people interested in Princess Maker Go!Go! Princess would have to be very narrow, but it does provide a sound board game experience, backed up with some lovely art and a charming theme. It's also worth noting that the publisher is bringing one of the Princess Maker titles to Switch in English, and while I suspect they would have been better off reversing the order of these two releases, I imagine they will compliment one another very nicely. The Switch has proven to be impressively robust when it comes to digital board games, but the anime trappings of this one help it to stand apart.

I can't think of a single thing that truly disappointed me about Transport Fever 2. It's elegantly presented and understands that some efficiencies are required for the sake of playability.

It's tough to create good satire, particularly when it has socio-cultural undertones, but Heroland not only succeeded, it exceeded the wildest expectations I had on initial impressions. Furthermore, within the robust, witty, and consistently hilarious script sits a game that's a bit grindy, but one that doesn't stop being great fun to play throughout. FuRyu continues to establish itself as a publisher with a knack for finding the most interesting and creative games.

It’s a fitting tribute to an incredibly talented musician, with proceeds going to a good cause, and I hope it will help to champion the artistry of AVICII’s body of work.

I really hope Miku VR is a success for Degica. I want to see more of it. I understand that to some people the track list will seem thin, or the content expensive, especially in comparison to SEGA's offerings, but this is everything I could have wanted. Miku is sexy, the rhythm gameplay is both different and engaging, and the music selection is great. This is a VR experience I can lose myself within for hours at a time, and will no doubt keep coming back to for many, many years to come. Keep it up, Degica!

People who have played other Star Ocean titles will get a kick out of some of the names and locations being crossed over from those entries. Each Star Ocean title is distinct and self contained, and there's no particular order that you need to play them through, but there's a cohesiveness across key locations and names that establishes this series, infrequent as it is, as being one in which titles are tied to one another. Even if it is a simple case of name dropping time gates and the like at times.

The Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy is still fun, in the sense that gamebooks are good fun, and the development team haven't broken anything in the fundamentals. But this is also a deeply uninspired effort, and the Nintendo Switch has such good, innovative adaptations of gamebooks already that it's hard to see where the appeal of this package is. The really hardcore traditionalists would rather read a proper adaptation of the books. More casual fans would have wanted more done with them. The presentation is pedestrian, and the gameplay basic. It's genuinely difficult to imagine who would get much value out of this package.

Simulacra is one of the more interesting lost phone games I've played, and I enjoy the horror atmosphere it creates. The narrative is beyond intriguing despite the blandness of Anna herself, helped along by distrustful characters with more depth to them. I like the fact that there is generally no time limit, as it gives me time to sit and think, as well as to sift through the phone's contents. The puzzles aren't ridiculously difficult, but aren't always easy either. I would like to return to the big question I've been asking all along: is it reasonable to play found game on a console with a controller? It works well enough, minus my gripes about small icons and the annoyance of typing text.

So perhaps the "Amazing" in the title isn't really warranted, but it has to be emphasised: there's nothing actually wrong with Amazing Brick Breaker. It works, and if you're going to buy it, then you're going to get exactly what you're buying. Most importantly of all, though, this is one of those rare games where I don't feel somehow guilty if I can't get to 1,000 words in my review. It really is a relief to be able to go lazy on reviews occasionally, and this one really doesn't warrant anything but a quick footnote on what we usually cover on DDNet.

Lost Ember has its heart and soul in the right place, and every time I discovered a new area I was left amazed with the gorgeous vistas and intense beauty of it all. I also greatly appreciated that this is one of those games that respected my time and, large as its sense of scale is, is over quickly for anyone who doesn't want to waste time hunting down the collectibles. However, the initial goodwill I felt for the game evaporated quickly when I realised how shallow it really was. I can't see myself remembering this one, or coming back to it to play it again, and that's a real pity.

Good intent doesn't cover for a game this poor though. I would love to see the developers learn from this one and come back with something more, because there is a lot to admire about Decay of Logos. Enough so that I don't think I've ever felt quite as deflated having to give a game a score like this.

One thing is certain about the Sniper Ghost Warriors series: CI Games is slowly bringing this franchise, kicking and screaming as it is, into a niche of its own.

There's nothing offensively wrong with Labyrinth of the Witch. It's a cutsey Mystery Dungeon-like roguelike. There are already so many examples of that genre, though, and the Nintendo Switch didn't need another one whose only innovation was to bring a mobile gaming grind to proceedings.

There's nothing wrong with how Black Future '88 plays. It's actually quite exceptional. But there are a lot of exceptional roguelikes and hardcore 2D platformers, and Black Future '88 lacks the narrative or context that it really needed to stand out against its many competitors.

There's simply no reason to play something so utterly bereft of thought as Narcos.

When Need for Speed: Heat is producing its promised fantasy, it’s a wonderful game which I’m always happy to keep coming back to. Ghost Games have improved their engine and systems to make the city and cars feel better than ever, and Heat’s core gameplay loop is designed to last. Occasionally there are the moments which require suspension of disbelief, and it’s possible for the more misguided elements to build tedium in an otherwise strong entry to the series. Heat is a marked improvement on the last few Need for Speed games, however, and I hope that further refinement will see the series better deliver on its legacy.

Shenmue 3 won't disappoint fans of the first two. But that's almost secondary to the real story here. Shenmue 3's real strength is in the way that it suggests a different way of looking at the very storytelling of videogames. It challenges the idea that a game's value is in it aspiring to be "cinema", and it provides a pretty compelling argument for the alternative, too. On a personal note, as a fan of both theatre and Shenmue, this game is effortlessly my pick of what has been a very good 2019 for the creative side of videogames.

Planet Zoo is to zoo management games what Planet Coaster is to theme park management games—a spiritual successor to tycoon games of days gone by, with more depth and more freedom for creativity than ever. Some of the more complex elements can take a while to really click, but when they do, Planet Zoo becomes an engrossing experience.

Civilization VI is essential. Not only is it a game that's educational, informative, and inspirational (see my video above for more thoughts around that), but it's also deeply pertinent to today's world and gives players a way of seeing - and grappling - with the topic on their own terms. There are deeper strategy games out there (though not on PlayStation 4), but Civilization's accessibility and polish make it the perfect introduction to the genre, and while the PS4 port doesn't do anything beyond what was already on offer, this is still one of the best things released on the console this year.

There's a lot to like about Fishing Star World Tour. It's a lightweight, highly accessible, and charming little arcade-like take on fishing, and while it's never going to top anyone's list of favourite games, it's the kind of mindlessly relaxing thing that's useful to have on the console for those times where you really do just want to chill.

Deemo - Reborn - is still up there with the best rhythm games on the PlayStation 4, and while the Nintendo Switch Deemo very much felt like a port of a mobile title, -Reborn- has that premium presentation and design that give us a sense of where the series might yet go into the future. There aren't enough rhythm games that make the piano the central instrument, and Deemo is an elegant example of how to take an elegant, classical instrument and spin it into an interesting rhythm game.

For players that have yet to play either of these two titles, this package is more than worth picking up as it comes at a great price for two separate titles. Whether either is worth a replay or not is debatable, however. This package came at perhaps the wrong time of year, given how many other great JRPGs (and Pokemon itself) have been released at the same time. These are fun little games, but they're hardly classics.

Pokemon Sword & Shield is as close to a true reset for Pokemon as we've had. It's clear Game Freak wanted to get back to basics, and streamline the experience across the three main characteristics that makes Pokemon great - the collecting, the combat, and the catching. In all three areas Pokemon Sword offers vibrancy - solid pacing, superb balancing, and a joyful playfulness that makes the experience so appealing. The series needed that soft reset, and now Game Freak has the same outstanding basis and core to build on anew. Just as it did back when Pokemon Blue & Red so effectively captured my imagination 21 years ago.

Pokemon Sword & Shield is as close to a true reset for Pokemon as we've had. It's clear Game Freak wanted to get back to basics, and streamline the experience across the three main characteristics that makes Pokemon great - the collecting, the combat, and the catching. In all three areas Pokemon Sword offers vibrancy - solid pacing, superb balancing, and a joyful playfulness that makes the experience so appealing. The series needed that soft reset, and now Game Freak has the same outstanding basis and core to build on anew. Just as it did back when Pokemon Blue & Red so effectively captured my imagination 21 years ago.

Pokemon Sword & Shield is as close to a true reset for Pokemon as we've had. It's clear Game Freak wanted to get back to basics, and streamline the experience across the three main characteristics that makes Pokemon great - the collecting, the combat, and the catching. In all three areas Pokemon Sword offers vibrancy - solid pacing, superb balancing, and a joyful playfulness that makes the experience so appealing. The series needed that soft reset, and now Game Freak has the same outstanding basis and core to build on anew. Just as it did back when Pokemon Blue & Red so effectively captured my imagination 21 years ago.