Watch Dogs doesn't have that promising kernel. It certainly entertains, but mostly through borrowed concepts, and the central notion that could have made it stand out - the hacking - is the most undercooked of all. It doesn't get anything horribly wrong, but nor does it excel at any of the genre beats it so faithfully bangs out. It's good, and yet that always feels like a criticism when a game comes weighed down by this much hype.

It works well for now, then, but Tropico 5 is clearly more concerned with introducing new concepts atop the old than it is with overhauling its base mechanics. Looking ahead to the future, this long-running series would benefit from having the fires of revolution lit beneath it.

Always Sometimes Monsters isn't the first game to get clever with morality. It's not the first game that's had a few grey areas. It also isn't about either of those. It's about perspective. It's about empathy. It's about who we are and why we do what we do. That narrative is one of contradiction and hypocrisy, because that's what real people are about.

Enjoy the artful approach to science-fiction, enjoy the hoops Supergiant's jumped through to position you in the right place to engage with its combat, and you can even enjoy the very fact that the game often struggles to get its deeper messages across. After all, if the developer had something straightforward to say, it might not have had to make a game in the first place.

It's built on an impressive world but it doesn't do enough with it, and as a result it's curious, but hardly compelling.

Expedition will satisfy those who've spent the past two months regenning, arc mining and "standing by", and is further proof (if any were needed) that Respawn is rather good at this whole first-person shooter thing.

Bold, accessible, deep and rich, Mario Kart 8 is premium video game development. It feels expensive. But this isn't the vacuous lavishness of the Hollywood blockbuster; its excesses and indulgences work towards a common goal - or rather, finish line.

A wonderfully idiosyncratic creation that, despite its smorgasbord of influences, feels like nothing else.

It's exhausting, but when it all clicks it's amazing, too.

What could easily have been a mid-season lull feels instead like a peak. If Telltale can maintain this standard for the rest of the season, it could yet top The Walking Dead's first run in terms of quality - if not novelty.

Simply by staggering across the finish line first, Bound By Flame may seem to be an attractive proposition for PS4 RPG fans, but don't be fooled. With its shonky cut-scenes, its outdoor sound effects that play indoors and its linear maps, this is in no way a current-gen experience. It's a budget offering at a premium price - and a poor one at that.

Even in the cramped indie survival game genre, there's nothing quite like Sir, You Are Being Hunted.

It's still a disappointment to see that, after so long, Age of Mythology doesn't quite hold up to modern RTS standards, but there's enough here - and likely enough coming - to warrant a look regardless.

Sportsfriends is a celebration of the social side of games, their ability to bring a room together in one loud, raucous moment and how they're so much more fun when enjoyed with company. Alongside like-minded titles such as Towerfall and Nidhogg, this compilation is a pleasant reminder of that power - and, just like its companions, Sportsfriends represents video games at their very, very best.

Developer Beenox showed in the past, with Shattered Dimensions, that it not only has fresh ideas for Spidey but the development chops to create a polished and impressive game built around the character. There's none of that inspiration or attention to detail here.

To call Lost Swords a failed experiment would be an insult to every ambitious game that fell flat on its face. It feels like Namco put barely any thought into making the not-so-micro-transactions justifiable or even making sure that the single-player focus felt consistently engaging.

A pleasant anomaly: a stealth game that breaks out of rigid patterns and an episodic game that visibly evolves and improves from one chapter to the next. The game isn't quite everything it could be just yet - the occasional puzzles, although slightly more involved, still feel like the weak link in the chain - but with more episodes to come, there's a strong sense that by the end, it's going to be something very special indeed.

If you approach All-Star Battle as a fighting game first and foremost, you'll discover a satisfyingly complex combat system with a few lacklustre modes. Not a 10, then, but this Jo is far from average.

Daylight has neither the creeping sense of psychological dread of Fatal Frame nor the poster man antagonist of Slender, and its reliance on cliché lacks distinction. But if the game's straightforward purpose was simply to panic and upset its player then it is an indisputable success, no matter how cheap the tricks employed.

Child of Light stands as a wonderfully realised venture into unfamiliar territory for Ubisoft - and a welcome reminder that the industry's major players still have the creative flair to push beyond the lucrative safe ground that they so often favour to create well-crafted, highly-polished gems such as this.

Where Arzest failed, HAL has triumphed: Kirby might be a little late to the party, but he's arrived laden with treats.

Elder Scrolls fans will be put off by its rigid structure and weak storytelling, while your average MMO player will tire of wading through the wan questing to get to the good stuff. Even the good stuff isn't outstanding, and the game doesn't represent good value compared to its competition.

Hitman GO might not be broad in its scope, it might be a relatively straightforward puzzle game at heart, but it's still clever, cute and creative in quite a few ways, so much so that I don't really want to spoil some of the surprises it introduces as you make progress. Perhaps most importantly, it's loyal to its forefathers by upholding the tradition that the best of the Hitman games have displayed: it makes killing a pleasure.

The natural comparison is with Everybody's Golf - which, of course, developer Camelot was responsible for in the first instance - and while the Vita game has, by a distance, the superior single-player structure, World Tour is more than a match for it in the quality of its courses and the breadth of its options.

If you do like games that challenge you to work out the rules for yourself, to find the edges of the world by falling over them, then Fract is a unique and often remarkable experience, best savoured in the dark at full volume. Go on, get lost.

About the only thing I can say in favour of Rollercoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile is that it accurately captures the experience of visiting a theme park: it costs too much to get in, the stalls are all overpriced, you have to wait ages for all the rides and the whole experience will leave you feeling decidedly nauseous.

War of the Vikings, much like its predecessor, is a rough diamond. It's limited, but also unique. It's scruffy, but also capable of surprising beauty. It's frustrating, but also incredibly fun. On balance, it's a game I admire more than I like, but I'm glad it exists and can see why, at least for the niche audience that clicks with its offbeat rhythm, it's already a beloved cult favourite.

I wanted to love Secrets Of Raetikon. It's always intoxicating when you see a project so clearly fuelled by passion and vision - but its substance just doesn't live up to its style.