Persona 4 Golden is full of surprises. Perhaps the biggest is that a console JRPG is so well suited to portable play, and that a four-year-old PS2 game is, by some distance, Vita’s best game to date.

The focus on the rebellious, non-conformist side of youth has its drawbacks, but means Persona 5 is something to which its predecessors could never lay claim. It is, simply put, cool. Everything, from the intro movie's disco house to the battle-mode cutaways and even the basic UI, is achingly, confidently stylish. Criminally, the DualShock 4's Share button functionality is blocked for the duration, but this is one of few true blemishes on a game that, while at times a bit too familiar, never comes close to breeding contempt. [May 2017, p.110]

The biggest addition is the inclusion of collectables from each course, which provides a great incentive to exploring in Freeride mode, and brings a touch of Amped's atmosphere to a game that was all about the rush. [Dec 2003, p.106]

Okami doesn’t just successfully follow Zelda’s structural template and tone – a rare feat – it makes it its own, toeing that line with grace, ingenuity and a strongly individual style. That’s not only rare, it’s unique. [Dec 2006, p.78]

It’s a game that rewards the long-haul with deep, inventive missions which eschew the usual fetch and kill structure, ensuring that the many hours spent in Fallout 3’s wasteland aren’t wasted. [Christmas 2008, p.88]

At a time when everyone wants to turn the entertainment world on its head – or at least be seen to – it proves that the entertainment itself, whichever way up it may be, is what matters most. [Christmas 2008, p.86]

No other beat 'em up developer is quite as willing to experiment with the form in a bid to stave off the moribundity that's gradually subsuming the genre. [Import - June 2003, p.88]

Its finest tactical espionage action yet. [Oct 2015, p.104]

How apt that this ultimate tale of hero-making should see Nintendo's hardware become the console it was always meant to be.

It all adds up to what is easily the best and most progressive rhythm-action game ever made, if that label even applies anymore. [Christmas 2010, p.76]

Viewtiful Joe will undoubtedly test your patience. But the moments that stay with you after you switch off the GameCube are characterised by inventiveness, wit, verve, charm style, vigour and, above all, fun. And that's not something that can be said of that many other games these days. [Sept 2003]

We may be in hell, but as far as the Roguelike genre goes, this is a glimpse of heaven. [Issue#350, p.92]

But perhaps the greatest compliment we can pay to Capcom is that the players who don't have the original permanently branded on their memories and their thumbs will merely have to settle for a supremely varied and expertly paced action game - one that doesn't quite supplant, but makes a fascinating companion piece to, one of the greats. [Issue#383, p.96]

Apart from minor graphical tweaks and two fresh characters, VF4E remains much the same game. [May 2003, p.102]

This is still a game with a formula, then, but it has never been better, and there are few areas where it could be improved. [July 2016, p.104]

It's harder than ever to resist embracing the chaos, because with so many ingredients its bound to surprise you more often than not. As its title suggests, this is a sequel that pulls out all the stops, as you sense that Sakurai is going all-out to indulge his inner nerd for maybe the final time. It's a rapturous celebration, not just of Nintendo, but videogames as a whole. Now for pity's sake, let the poor man have a rest. [Jan 2019, p.102]

Punch Quest isn't just good for a free-to-play game. It's good, full stop, infused with humour, depth and the most charming violence imaginable. Unless you're a skeleton knight, in which case the violence is offensive, troubling and needlessly graphic.

It's a third and final chapter, then, with all that implies. It's off-putting to new players, too busy tying up loose ends to dangle any threads of its own, and fails to stand up as its own game in the same manner as its predecessors. But it's also a spectacular, powerfully imagined and dramatically involving final act to one of gaming's richest sci-fi sagas.

Inside may require thought, care and occasionally a sharp sense of timing to progress, but its obstacles never feel unfair. [Issue#296, p.120]

It’s a game designed to exhaust the world’s supply of adjectives. It’s a world littered with riches - tiny details sewn into a vast, varied and utterly spectacular canvas. [Sept 2005, p.90]

No other beat 'em up developer is quite as willing to experiment with the form in a bid to stave off the moribundity that's gradually subsuming the genre. [Import - June 2003, p.88]

If an RPG is measured by the temptation to explore elsewhere before heading to the next objective, this is as great as any. We stall for hours finding and investigating one magical environment after another. It's bliss. [Issue#411, p.100]

The freedom of movement requires a new level of spatial imagination. Before Prince of Persia, platform games were like playing Tetris with only the blocks and bars. [Christmas 2003, p.100]

There are whole essays that could be written about the depth of the tuning mechanics. [December 2018, p.110]

The stuff of legend, then? Indeed. Although, perhaps fittingly, one with nothing new to say. [Apr 2010, p.88]

The freedom of movement requires a new level of spatial imagination. Before Prince of Persia, platform games were like playing Tetris with only the blocks and bars. [Christmas 2003, p.100]

The present console cycle is expected to last nearly a decade, and there will inevitably be developers advocating the need for more sophisticated tools. But just like Machu Picchu, the Pyramids and every other engineering marvel of antiquity, Uncharted 3 will stand as a reminder to future generations of gamers that enough problem-solving imagination can turn any old trowel into a magic wand.

So full and comprehensive is this modernised SquareSoft RPG, in fact, that beyond finishing the story, the trilogy finale may struggle to justify itself. But that's the future's problem, of no concern as we feast on the spread in front of us. In a triple-A climate where development costs spiral and content often replaces craft, the generosity and ambition of Rebirth is a convincing argument that, once in a while, too much is exactly what you want. [Issue#396, p.102]