The game itself doesn’t give much in the way of context of who Tesla and Lovecraft are, or even why a scientist would be fighting an author to begin with. Nonetheless, Tesla vs Lovecraft is a fun twin-stick shooter, made even better by being technically on-point and very clean to play.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is a success. I just wish the storytellers on the team were able to really cut loose and pull hard at the strings that, currently, they’re only tugging lightly at.

It's a super casual management sim, like Farmville or whatever city-building equivalents there are. Only far less attractive or compelling. But at least it's not begging you to buy premium currency every five minutes, I guess.

The Charming Empire does a great job of introducing players to the Taishō period; a period that we rarely learn much about in the west. As a period piece it does a decent enough job, but there are so many gorgeous visual novels out there now that the pedestrian presentation really hurts the romance and storytelling of it all.

Minit is a truly special game from Devolver Digital. One of those rare games that executes a new idea in a truly special way. Every sixty second period was a brand-new adventure filled with a sense of wonder.

Warp Shift is a puzzle game that is joyful in its accessibility and expansive in its complexity.

You're not going to forget your time with Detective Pikachu in a hurry, and those memories are going to be all very positive.

I soured quickly on Penny-Punching Princess. I love the art. I love the combat. I found the sharp challenge and simple, clean mechanics to all be very enjoyable. But I just couldn’t get past how shallow it really was in the end, and how the game failed to live up to the tantalising promises made in its lede. It could have easily been a 5/5 game, but instead it’s one of the real disappointments in 2018.

The Alliance Alive invokes the finest elements of the JRPG genre, modernizes them, and innovates where necessary. Its gripping fantasy plot can be worshiped for its emotional center or parsed for statements on equality, order, and free will. Whether or not you enjoyed The Legend of Legacy, this one stands as an authentic classic that captures the majesty of a Super Nintendo/PlayStation era masterpiece while also gazing forward.

Go into this game with an open mind, and allow the game’s pleasant charm, sweet characters and storytelling, and light, graceful approach to JRPG action to wash over you, and you may just find yourself as in love with the utterly refreshing and pure experience that Atelier Lydie & Suelle has to offer you.

It’s a shame that the plot turns what could have been an interesting, critical title into one that’s simply yet another serviceable AAA game for mass consumption. Did Ubisoft have something interesting to say about extremism and violence? Probably not, but maybe embracing parallels with current events would have made this production seem less like a backyard rodeo.

It fails to demonstrate any inquisitive or creative spirit, which is what makes indie games innovative, vibrant and, ultimately, worth playing.

I left the game feeling frustrated more than anything else. With arbitrary, esoteric puzzles and a wildly inconsistent tone exacerbated by technical issues, I found it hard to get sucked into the game’s atmosphere. The clever plot twists and unique setting were all but drowned out by errant jokes about office politics.

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.

Vermintide II feels like a predictable step in a fantastic direction.

I didn’t quite love Ni No Kuni 2 quite as much as its predecessor, because I wasn’t quite as connected to it. The game’s choice of themes and approach to storytelling didn’t quite tap into the same emotions. But it is without a doubt a better game. With the addition of city building and strategy battle elements, Ni No Kuni 2 is a deeper and more varied experience than most JRPGs out there, and certainly among the most beautiful and artful games that you’ll ever see.

And now, remastered on the PlayStation 4, we’ve got the game Rogue always deserved to be.

I’d only recommend this one for a quick burst and a bit of fun, because it doesn’t offer anything substantial.

This is a strong, strong game by Koei Tecmo, and does the Attack on Titan franchise a great service. Sadly, that's a franchise that doesn't have the pulling power that it did a few years ago, but older fans will enjoy the opportunity to get a new look at the distinctive setting and world, and who knows? The game might just find one or two new fans for the bloody, brutal, but ultimately dazzling franchise.

If there’s any justice in the world Yakuza 6 would sell millions of copies. It’s smart, sharp, often surreal, and always hugely entertaining. The game maintains the series’ penchant for reproducing the experience of being in a Japanese city to exacting details, and then overlays a brilliant, labyrinthine, wildly funny B-grade yakuza drama over the top. It’s the kind of game you just “live” in, and the perfect example of open world game design done right.

HAL Laboratory may not be innovating here, but they’ve once again delivered an incredibly polished platformer that should appeal to all. Those looking for some cooperative fun will definitely want to check it out, as there are few better reasons to separate the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons.

Taken as a simple and cheap "solitaire" (i.e single player) game, Poisoft Thud Card is enjoyable, easy playing. I do say that as someone who spent many, many hours playing Hearts on my old Windows PCs over the years, though. I like time wasting card games. As such I'll probably keep coming back to Thud Card as long as I have my Switch. Or, at least, until a developer releases a Hearts game on the console.

There are not many games in this world that I can say actually made me grow as a person, but A Normal Lost Phone is definitely one of those titles.

Acceleration of Suguri 2 succeeds by having the complexity of a fighting game while rewarding quick thinking, reaction speed and dexterity.

It's not going to be forgiving on any level for players in their first couple of hours. Move past that, though, and you're left with one of the greatest examples of sheer precision in rhythm game design, and, let's face it, there's nothing more important to a rhythm game than that.

Unsatisfying ending aside, North is an interesting, insightful game that's worth a look. It doesn't ask a lot of your time (or wallet), and when it's firing on all cylinders, it has something genuinely important to say.

The tiniest of oddities and issues keep me from loving Edo Blossoms quite as much as I love Kyoto Winds. But then, the latter is a game I would have played a half dozen times by now, if not more. Being a slightly weaker sequel to that by the tiniest of margins still means that Edo Blossoms is one of the best visual novels out there.

Dragon Sinker's strength is that, in being such a slavish homage to one of the greatest JRPGs ever made, it too manages to be more playable than many of the original story JRPGs that Kemco produces. It is an endlessly replayable formula that the developers are copying wholesale, after all. But then, in being a slavish homage, the Dragon Sinker also opens itself up to comparisons with the game it's derivative of. And, sadly, it doesn't come out well in those comparisons at all.