The lighting system more than makes up for this lack of colour though, with pyrotechnic multi-coloured dynamic lighting, and full day and night cycles.

This is a high-quality game by anyone's standards, but that doesn't change the fact that I spent a good deal of my time playing it feeling blasphemously bored.

Machinarium is a treat for the senses that demands more of your brain, a paradoxically gentle yet punishing riff on a genre that, until now, had been revived but sadly defanged for modern players.

Batman Arkham Shadow can feel rough around the edges at times, but it's still a more than worthy entry to the Arkham series, and an essential Quest 3 experience.

Resogun really is that rare kind of arcade game that feels like an entirely different beast when played on the toughest setting. It's also the closest the PS4 launch line-up gets to offering a genuine next-gen thrill.

Regardless, that Cave continues to flourish in a shifting industry and to evolve a sub-genre they helped define, is testament to the studio's strategic nous - in-game and out. DoDonPachi Resurrection shows just how much poorer we would be without them.

Get the timing and direction right and you'll clock up a higher score, screw it up and you'll suffer the indignity of being a ham-fisted rhythmless clod.

As RTS games go Winter Assault and its parent game are more concerned with being spectacular than they are about being sophisticated, but we appreciate how that works.

So while it never becomes particularly difficult, it remains constantly interesting, bursting with personality and a desire to be incredibly silly.

MotoGP 10/11 marks the series' evolution into a simulation with depth. It's a game with a steep learning curve and there are no shortcuts to mastery – much like motorbikes themselves – but with patience and perseverance the rewards for dedication are great.

These games have always come with oddities, but the central mode is so staggeringly joyous and compelling that it draws my eye and my attention and leaves me powerless to do anything else. Unlike Tetris, Lumines didn't need a borrowing from Lumines to become even better. All it needs - and this may just be me, and I know we have the Steam Deck - is a release on Switch 2, where that glorious panoramic screen that you hold in your hands is waiting to take this absolute dazzler back home to its portable origins.

Cars, boats, guns, stealth, traps, super-strength, scent-vision - it's crowded, but its density is actually our delight, because while it may not play as strategically or controllably as something like "Halo," or as evocatively and inventively as something like "Half-Life 2," it's still atmospheric, involving, and empowering.

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a cerebral but hugely characterful stealth tactics game filled with creativity and depth. And fun pirate stuff.

It's infuriating that the adventure feels so rough around the edges, then, but a range of annoyances are not quite enough to detract from the madcap brilliance at the core of the whole thing.

FIFA 09 rams the point home with the emphasis on physical midfield battles and possession football, where teams hold their shape and press, and jostle with great effect, and it's up to you to exploit them by dragging defenders out of position, switching the play and paying attention to personnel.

It's bursting with happiness. And so am I when I play it.

Marginally better than the original. The single player game is undoubtedly more enjoyable, whilst the multiplayer is still flawed but nevertheless worth a few games.

I love it - the challenge, the atmosphere, the blood.

Tarsier returns to horror with a rich, meaningful evolution of its familiar Little Nightmares formula. And while it could perhaps be a little more radical, Reanimal remains utterly compelling; bleak, nasty, and full of menace.

Even though there is nothing new or truly unique about Torchlight, nothing at all, that it so confidently and prettily takes the fight to Blizzard is an enormous compliment about how well put-together this is.

On consoles, at heart, it's the same rewarding, anecdote-rich and very personal experience as it ever was. If you've got the option, then the PC version is still the one to go for, but in every significant way, this is just as good.

Meanwhile, it serves as a sharp reminder that, regardless of how pointless the skills are that some videogames imprint upon our minds and hands, some of life's biggest thrills are to be found in their mastery.

Trials Fusion is still a supremely enjoyable game, but it takes very few risks in its desire to stand the test of time, preferring to adopt the neutrality of a platform holder and stick to things that worked well in Evolution - a game with which you sometimes feel it should swap monikers.

Some of you might also grumble about how little innovation there is in this sequel. In most senses, yes, this is a straightforward re-run of the last one. In its favour, though, it boasts vastly superior visuals, instant restarts, an achievement system, and, of course, an online components like a leaderboard, uploadable replays and multiplayer modes.

The only problem, in truth, is that it's outrageously difficult to play against experienced campaigners that know the maps inside out and all the tricks. But against your equally (in)experienced mates, it's a fantastic way of experiencing stealth gaming multiplayer.

It's worth taking the time to raise a glass to this unlikely hero, and what might well be his best game to date. To Infinity, and beyond!

If it played just a little tighter, Apotheon would be brushing up against greatness. As it stands, it's stunning to look at and a pleasure to play, and what flaws it does have can be easily overlooked by anyone looking for something smart and stylish.

Is it a game? I can't say I know the answer, but I do know that unless you're an IGF judge or a prissy dogmatist who sets out to pedantically define the boundaries of an extremely fluid medium, then you shouldn't really care. All that matters is that Dear Esther is worth your time - and that its two-hour long chill will remain in your bones for a long while after.