It's got heart and charme. But strange narrative pacing, patchy writing and weak presentation slow down this original and pretty RPG considerably. Fans of historical fantasy are treated to a pleasantly sinister Warsaw excursion with a clever combat system.

A thoroughly successful remaster of the classic shooter, which has never been more beautiful than it is today. Plays perfectly on PC and console.

Like its predecessors, Expeditions strikes a brain-bendingly perfect balance between relaxation and tension.

While it does get a tad monotonous and predictable by the end, this remains an atmospherically dense survival adventure in an extremely vivid world. Its controls and variety of options deserve a prize.

Ultros demands a lot from you. If you engage with it, you may not get the best Metroidvania of recent years, but you will certainly get one of the most memorable.

If you are looking for an XCOM-like experience in the Warhammer 40K universe that also allows you to take a more aggressive approach, then Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters is the game for you.

Its core mechanics are solid and there's undoubtedly great moments, but these are watered down time and again by repetitive run-of-the-mill missions and tasks. Suicide Squad often simply becomes too mechanical due to its nature, instead of giving players some breathing room.

Rebirth is a successful remake between nostalgic memory and sequel with a strong combat system. An extensive adventure with small flaws, but also many lovely little things.

If you've got the time for it, this is a cute and engaging crafting-rpg.

A good port of the classics to modern systems, with a decent visual overall and more modern controls - but also outdated mechanics which make these a bit tough to enjoy.

The sailing and explosive battles are as enjoyable as this game's attractive backdrop. A shame that most of it is driven by dry resource collection to upgrade your ship.

The Inquisitor has a lot of interesting things going for it, but its shoddy execution makes it hard to recommend.

Helldivers 2, then: It's blunt, but very, very good, combining moments of unbridled panic with epochal triumphs. It's simply an exercise in barely controlled chaos. Arrowhead knows how to bring you dangerously close to the threshold of being overwhelmed every few meters and then give you a friendly pat on the back.

Don't Nod has arrived among the greats: Banishers combines a huge, enthralling world and a engaging narrative with good technology and effortlessly entertaining Kratos-style action-adventure combat.

Relink presents an exciting world and well-developed characters and will send you into ecstasy with its fluid combat system. Unfortunately, the fantasy story lacks depth and originality to be completely convincing. The lack of cross-play is also annoying.

The bottom line is that Go Mecha Ball is an arcade snack that you won't spend dozens of hours playing, but which fits perfectly into short breaks when you just want to have a quick game. For this purpose, the imaginative mix of pinball and two-stick shooter is actually really good. It's just a shame that it lacks an equally strong level design and more options for experimenting with different play styles.

At times, Infinite Wealth feels a little unfocused in terms of plot and progression, with all its little mini-games and time-wasters in a positive sense. Then again, maybe that's the wrong way to look at this game. These distractions an essential part of this Hawaiian excursion and a big reason why you're doing it all in the first place. It gives these characters and the world life and vigor - you're here to take a vacation. If you embrace that and let yourself drift through Hawaii instead of running from one quest marker to the next, you'll find this the most positively sunny game of the winter.

With clever puzzles, likeable characters and a polished, modern reworking, the two Another Code games look great on the Switch. Lengths in the story or the lack of bonus material only amonut to minor drawbacks.

With the Apollo Justice Trilogy, Capcom has released what is probably the most successful Ace Attorney collection for the current console generation. Both the design of the 2D and 3D models in the RE engine and the bonus material are impressive. An excellent example of how to bring back aged games in a successful fan package for the current generation.

Not only does Tekken 8 give its spirited martial arts show additional momentum by using the heat energy as a call for a stronger offense. It also looks great after the graphical redesign and is packed with game variants and training options as well as clever ideas.

Given the state of our world today, a game about the mechanisms by which violence reproduces itself uncontrollably is even more difficult to digest, but arguably all the more important. It's an ugly, mean game in all the right ways: a blockbuster that has no desire to pander, putting its message above the will to please. Daring.

Astlibra does everything, and it doesn't always get everything quite right. But as an overall construct, running pretty much alongside our timeline, it's as unusual a genre mixer as it is fantastic.

Great performance, but visually and stylistically a bit lacklustre. In terms of gameplay, however, The Lost Crown is beyond reproach: Precise, challenging platforming, cool puzzles and multi-faceted combat make this new Prince of Persia a treat for Metroidvania fans.

The fact that you can't skip a single cutscene and that some save points are far apart are also relics of previous Telltale adventures that I'm not particularly stoked about. You could therefore say that the new old studio is still very much the old one, despite the closure, takeover and new start. Which also means, maybe most importantly, that it captures the essence of the source material very skillfully, which is why I can recommend The Expanse: A Telltale Series to fans of the series despite the criticisms.

As much fun as the central gameplay loop is, the graphics and performance unfortunately make the comeback of Dragon Quest Monsters look like a relic from the past.

I love the visual style of the game, so as an Asterix fan I can forgive it for not having a huge amount of depth to offer. In this respect, Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All 2 should particularly appeal to fans, but it is also interesting for anyone who doesn't want to be overwhelmed by a wealth of game options or movesets.

Ready or Not is incredibly exciting, especially in co-op. The gunplay is excellent, the missions are exhilarating and if you don't pay attention to the smallest details, you might get into trouble. Tactics and teamwork are crucial, as is your choice of equipment. If you are looking for your new co-op obsession, Ready or Not is a very good choice. Solo players wait for the Commander mode becoming more fleshed-out.

An arduous train journey, but one that is convincing and demanding in terms of gameplay and challenges you with tactical planning.