Afterlove EP is a poignant and heartfelt visual novel that explores some intense stuff about grief, wrapped up in the conceit of still talking to those who have passed on. However the lack of control, choice and gameplay options left me wanting to process my grief elsewhere.

Whilst initially having the potential for epic battles, Big Helmet Heroes swings for greatness with its fun concept and co-operative gameplay, but bugs and frustrations turns victory hits into misses.

It may not hit the heights of other giants in the business simulation genre, but Blood Bar Tycoon has plenty of personality and good management gameplay to keep it afloat. Who knew serving vampires and chewing on lowly humans could be this joyful and light-heartedly fun?

Trails Through Daybreak II delivers another dramatic episode in the long-running and consistent series. It breaks hardly any new ground beyond a few additions to combat and some new places to explore, but the story is a wild and mature sequel sure to delight fans.

On the surface, Moons of Darsalon looks like it escaped from a time capsule planted in the early 90's. It evokes retro platforming with a challenge often missing in today's games, filling the gap that the likes of Lemmings have fallen into and disappeared. A game brimming with retro charm, it's a great callback to those who ever had a Commodore 64 or a TV heavy enough to anchor cruise ships with.

While Waiting turns life's mundane moments into a game, sometimes a wait is exactly that, just a wait. While it offers some interesting reflections on patience and funny moments, it can leave you feeling as if there is no real progression or final pay off. If you're after something meditative, you'll enjoy the charming visual art and minimalist features with some casual puzzle fun.

Stilted combat, an unruly camera and poor localisation undermine the positives that DISORDER brings to the table. For the asking price, there are many other games doing the same things, only better.

Much like most Star Wars product these days, Jedi Power Battles is a nostalgia driven cash-grab that fails to improve the game other than reflecting some surfaces and modernising the controls. It's inconsistent, frustrating and, most egregiously, gave Amidala Force powers. That bad feeling you have about this? You know it to be true.

DeathOmen is small in scale but dense in horror tension. The half a dozen jump scare moments are immaculately curated, while the atmosphere is fantastically unnerving. It's over too soon and the walking and clicking aren't particularly investing, but DeathOmen is an (un)welcome sign of some terrifying scares to come. I'll be looking forward to leaping out of my skin again.

Despite a compelling central premise of combining RTS castle building and third-person action, Eyes of War is sullied by its severe lack of content, underdeveloped mechanics and a host of technical and presentation issues. In a couple of years this may be a fortress worth defending, but as of right now it's a settlement in disarray.

The land of Bohemia beckons you into one of the most immersive, visually impressive and brutal worlds you could ask for. A masterful RPG that combines impactful decision-making, gratifying combat, meaningful progression and a host of gameplay variety, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a triumph that deserves not just your money, but your time and your appreciation.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is bigger in every facet with more locations to explore, more characters to meet, more story to read and more systems to manage. But with an increase in sheer scale, my journey has felt less significant as a result. I'm a mouth piece of a story being told rather than a Sleeper choosing my path. Whilst that leads to something more definitive, it loses the feeling of being mine. Citizen Sleeper 2 is a sci-fi world that's hard to compare and powerful in its writing, audio/visuals and gameplay making it a must-play dice driven RPG overall.

Sniper Elite: Resistance is here, and it's not reinventing the wheel. It is the same craft that we've seen, with a more cheerful protagonist, in different locales. But that's not a bad thing, as Rebellion have only striven to improve the head-popping formula that they clearly care about. Another trip back behind enemy lines, Resistance is just as fun as any of the Sniper Elite's before it.

Combining monster hunting, colossi climbing, exploration, and crafting, Eternal Strands often feels a little ‘lite’. However it’s defining feature is an elemental physics-based magic-system that is a valid competitor to Breath of the Wild. It’s that rare beast that often just sets you free to explore and find your own solutions, and its wonderful when it does.

Like an unopened box of Celebrations full of only Bounties, Chocolate Factory Simulator promises much and is visually appealing, but delivers very little else. From the laborious process of actually making chocolate to the tedium of upgrading your only source of 'help', this is one factory Charlie would probably send all of his grandparents to visit instead.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins succeeds in both reinventing and rediscovering the bombastic thrill of a series that had drifted from its path. Veterans will likely feel disappointed with some of the personalisation changes and smaller character pool, but Origins delivers the incredible thrill of 1 vs 1000 clashes. With a deepened combat system and brilliant level of performance, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a welcoming spectacle for returning fans and newcomers alike.

An Ys classic remade and now remastered, The Oath in Felghana is the Ys series at its most punishing and retro. Frustrating bosses, challenging combat from one end of the land to the other, retro design, and a dull forgettable story, make this one for the die-hard fans only.

Taken at core value, the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered collection is exactly what fans of the original have been clamouring for. Visual improvements, some minor quality of life tweaks and bonus content make it a welcome return. However, those expecting more might be feeling left sucked dry, only to hope this draws up interest for a franchise resurrection.

Whilst the tropes, atmosphere and Xenomorph fear factor are intact, I'm not bursting from my chest with excitement for Alien: Rogue Incursion. The gameplay is cumbersome and inaccurate, the Xenomorphs' presence becomes a hindrance when you're backtracking and outside of a few great story moments it's quite slow. If you're fan of the Alien franchise, you'll love that it'll transport you into that world but you may have wished you hadn't stayed.

Let’s Sing 2025 doesn’t necessarily do anything wrong (except for online multiplayer stuck behind another paywall, I suppose), but it’s just a bit samey at this point, and the playlist isn’t full of enough pure karaoke bangers to really recommend upgrading if you’ve already picked up Let’s Sing 2024.

NAIAD is a relaxing puzzler that lets you learn through your experiments. Whilst this is perfect if you want a laid back game with impactful themes, the lack of hand holding does create friction on what is otherwise a game all about going with the flow.

The Great Circle represents a huge shift in focus for Xbox, and tells a terrific story full of excitement and adventure. Machine Games have once again created a Nazi-punching sim worth investing in and perhaps, if the quality of the output remains this high, there's hope for Xbox's future first-party line-up after all.

A visually stunning and atmospheric stop-motion samurai adventure, thoroughly retro in its design, is ultimately betrayed by glitches, janky combat and punishingly unforgiving platforming.

Among Ashes is an impressively original retro-horror that's main downfall is its worship to other franchises. There's a great narrative told between multiple worlds and some genuine scares that are worth experiencing. When you're not sure if the game's got a bug or a feature, you know you're in for the right kind of paranoia.

Rita’s Rewind is an enjoyable throwback that Power Rangers fans will appreciate, but its frustrating flaws prevent it from becoming a standout in the beat-'em-up revival.

Featuring a fantastic sense of place, unique style and a riveting narrative, The Thaumaturge is a challenging yet excellent RPG. Whilst the systems are lean, they all work great with each other and features a great detail in its writing, mixing history and dark fantasy into one neat package.

Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is an engaging and hugely enjoyable follow up to Röki. The characters you meet throughout allow you to discover the gods of Greek mythology in fun, unique ways, and there's plenty to discover as you explore this mysterious island. Mythwrecked comes highly recommended.

Spirit Mancer has a core gameplay loop that's respectably fun as you blast from left to right across the arcade-y levels. There's a cool mixture of hack-and-slash action and monster catching that's stifled by the game's own challenges, an abundance of shallow features and an inconsistent set of rules that it sets itself.

Suffering from an abundance of technical shortcomings, poor design choices and lifeless story, Liberte is a revolution that's failed to so much as spark, never mind ignite. The bones of this roguelike deck-builder store some hidden potential, but they're buried under the rubble of a disastrous start to life on PlayStation.

The Rise of the Golden Idol is a challenging, complex and darkly slapstick point-and-click that is worth sifting through with a fine-tooth comb. If you ever thought yourself the detective type, Rise gives you ample opportunity to test your deducing chops in some really engaging cases of wordplay. Some console-specific clunkiness and ever so slightly buggy menu sifting does dampen some of the game's highs but this is a gold standard for point-and-click puzzlers overall.

Ravenswatch delivers a tantalising co-op rogue-like experience for those willing to partake in the action alongside others. Taking on the dark world of Reverie solo proves less enticing thanks to its imbalanced difficulty, but after a year and a half in Early Access, Passtech Games have delivered a well-crafted, visually appealing dark fantasy spin of familiar fables.

If you’re in the market for a cosy sim that combines creativity, humour, pure charm, and the scratching of every itch in the cosy genre. I Am Future is it, whilst tackling every gripe that has existed before within the genre. Whether you’re a fan of cosy games, or lite survival games I Am Future is something special. I can’t recommend it enough.

Boasting a unique universe with interesting factions and streamlined strategy gameplay that works surprisingly well on console, Songs of Silence is mostly singing from the same hymn sheet. It botches a couple of notes thanks to significant framerate and performance issues alongside some wild difficulty spikes, but it's otherwise an army working in harmony.

Grab a partner or rope in a friend to laugh and cry your way through In Sink's series of carefully crafted puzzle rooms. While the repeated use of certain mechanics takes a toll on the fun, the more creative challenges are full of flair and are a joy to overcome. The highs just about outweigh the lows, leaving In Sink swirling the basin without ever really rising above it.

BioWare have returned to Thedas with a solid, albeit, unspectacular RPG experience. The visuals excel, but where the world is glorious to behold, the action, storytelling and levelling struggle to maintain their allure past the first ten hours or so. It's a valiant effort from a beloved developer and a step in the right direction after Anthem, but Dragon Age: The Veilguard has plenty of vulnerabilities in its formation. Though it's a long slog to get there, the finale is a real spectacle.

Vertigo Games have perfectly captured the essence of a Metro game with Metro Awakening. The more humble yet engrossing story telling is met with some painfully slow moments that bog down what is otherwise a great shooter set in Russia's nuclear fallout.

Redacted comes off as trying too hard in all the wrong places when the core of the gameplay is right there doing all the hard work making it a decent game. It's a rougelike with a rough exterior that once you crack through the dizzying first several hours, you'll have a lot of fun experimenting with mutated destruction.

Slasher inspired with a gratifying nostalgia for tank controls, inventory management and limited saves, The Fear Business is a short and bloody retro horror game. The PS1 era visuals are a treat, and though the save system and voice acting has their befuddling moments, this is a crazed killer that has some legs to keep up the hunt, before inevitably being overcome by those meddling kids... sorry, reporters.

With their second outing, Chicken Police Into The Hive does not disappoint, brimming with classy noir style, phenomenal dialogue and a wonderful seedy underworld narrative that has you hanging off every word. Visual novels don’t get much better than this.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 excels in being one of the most interesting iterations the franchise has seen in a long time. However, the standard framework it leans on is more glaring than ever as the new stuff completely outshines it. An entry maybe too scared to take the full plunge in offering something brand new but it at least shows what the series could be in brilliant and polished fashion.

Red Dead Redemption returns and is only marked down a single point due to the near-perfection of its sequel, this is nevertheless the definitive way to experience John Marston's story, with a fresh lick of paint and an update that may just transport you back to when you got off that train the very first time. Just brilliant.

More of a restful afternoon doze than a full blooded nightmare ridden REM sleep, Skyward Dream is a middling experience that's short and ultimately fine. The parkour and story elements, while initially intriguing, lack any real substance, leaving this a rest that's functional, though not refreshing.

Encompassing mastery in almost every facet of its design, Metaphor: ReFantazio is a near flawless JRPG experience that shouldn't be missed. A ridiculously addictive gameplay loop that's overflowing with depth, visuals and sound that are some of the most epic you'll experience, and a story full of enthralling characters and themes, Metaphor: ReFantazio is one of - if not the best - games of 2024. Potentially, even beyond.

Last Time I Saw You presents a good coming-of-age story with great pacing and heartfelt moments. Moments that are only sold even further through the fantastic hand drawn visuals, stunning visuals and snappy dialogue. Whilst it's light in the gameplay department and cherry picks from different genres resulting in something middle of the road, the heart of it all remains intact and is a lovely debut from Maboroshi Artworks.

Starship Troopers: Extermination is an example of how a game has potential to be good. As it stands, it still needs some balance and polish to its core. But aside from that, it shines when it works well. The real joy comes from playing with friends, standing fast against obscene amounts of bugs. It made lack the wit and satire of the film, but for an ambitious mutiplayer shooter, it may not eclipse Helldivers 2 or Space Marine, but it will stand on its own. Let's hope time is kind to this one.

The Smurfs - Dreams is a smurfin’ spectacular platformer and a glorious introduction to the Smurfin’ universe. From glorious, intricate level design to the soundtrack that’ll be stuck in your head for weeks, Ocellus have spun gold. This is one dream you won’t want to wake up from.

Even though A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead struggles to build and maintain any momentum by design, it's the perfect Quiet Place game. Sound, and it's absence, are the core of this game, for better and for worse. While some may drown in the quiet from the tedious pace, others will adore the serenity of its methodical nature and immense respect for the source material. Personally, I've never felt more on edge opening a door like I have playing this, and that's my screaming whisper of a compliment for it.

Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition Remastered is, again, a solid remaster of an already-great game. Whilst it may struggle to draw in newcomers, there's a reason why THQ keep trotting this out. Solid gameplay, fusing elements of other titles of the time, as well as a solid story make it a great time. Bolstered with updated visuals and all of its original content, it's certainly worth giving it a go if you missed it the first (or second) time around.

Whilst the core gameplay loop of riding, swerving and tricking across different parts of an elaborately designed city is fun, the gameplay variety falls short very early on. If you're set on just getting packages from point A to B in sick and quick succession then Parcel Corps may just be the package for you, but those looking for more bite to their bike may choose a different delivery service.

The opening absurdity of Squirrel With A Gun lives up to its name with some of the most ridiculous moments I've had in a video game. Once the novelty wears off however, you're left with a hollow, janky and frustrating video game that's a better meme than it is a gameplay experience. Still, the initial hilarity may be worth it for the more immaturely minded.

Diplomacy is Not an Option demonstrates the art of negotiation by being totally unflinching in both its vision and level of difficulty. Massive, bombastic battles are an absurd delight, provided you can muster the bravado to keep smashing your head against these rather thick, unmoving walls. Despite its flaws and missteps, Diplomacy is Not an Option is a sturdy castle that can withstand a good few of the ridiculously gigantic onslaughts it faces.

Ys X Nordics focuses on narrative and the essence of being a fun adventure, without much of the fluff that can weigh down more accomplished titles. It’s an open world, but it rarely demanded I wasted time doing fetch quests, and its melee and nautical combat are weighty enough for this kind of mid-length campaign. Ys X Nordics takes the series back to its beginnings, and while I can lament the things we lost along the way, it was still a worthwhile adventure.

Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 has near-perfectly recreated the feeling of what the original did decades ago; knowing exactly where to stay strictly within the source material and where to add some modernisation. Performances are the best they've ever been, combat is a simple yet hard hitting improvement and the world of Silent Hill has a new level of terrifying. If you're an old fan or a new player, there is no better time to revisit that town than now.

Fabledom is a charming cosy city builder with oodles of fairytale goodness. Despite a few bugs, this is an easy time sink and will have you entertained for hours. The game has a great art style that pairs well with the fun gameplay. That said, this might be a recommendation for the future, once a patch or two releases to iron out the kinks in this royal cloth.

If you like your action games to be fast and furious, Shady Knight presents a series of brutal and bombastic challenge boxes to overcome and look awesome doing it. It's unlikely to click with everyone, especially when it's prone to frustrating platforming moments and overwhelming mobs that diminish the engaging sandbox. Shady Knight struggles to let go of all of its demons, but there's plenty of hope the shadows won't keep it down for good.

Cute cartoon aesthetics, satisfying spell customisation and a variety of creatures to add to your party makes Necro Story a pleasant experience. The dialogue occasionally falls flat, the ending is conflicting and party system lacks depth, but these don't stop this necromancer rising from the dead to have a good time.

NBA 2K25 takes everything from its predecessors and takes a step into greatness. With astonishing visuals, incredible immersion and tons to be getting on with, NBA 2K25 feels like the most complete iteration of basketball thus far. The microtransactions continue to bring down the entire experience, and there's a sense that it feels more like a casino than ever before, but if you have the strength to avoid them, you'll have one hell of a time.

With an addictive gameplay loop that's hard to put down, Shogun Showdown is a brilliant roguelike in a year full of them. Sleak pick-up-and-play battles and deep systems offers so much play time, as long as you don't mind dying a lot.

In attempting to land another visceral knockout blow, Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns instead Johnny Cage uppercuts itself right in the nads. The underwhelming story chapters undercut the climactic finale of the vanilla campaign, while the new roster is comprised of welcome returning characters, or the uncertain potential of three unique icons. For the price of half a full game, Khaos Reigns doesn't have the substance to hold this timeline afloat.

Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open is a sweet ode to Malaysia but not very good at delivering impactful gameplay moments to support it. It's a number of ideas not fully realised with a subtle story of familial struggle, all whilst under the guise of a supernatural child's tale. It will click extremely well for some but not everyone.

Expanding on the original's vision in almost every conceivable way, Frostpunk 2 is a city-building triumph of a sequel. The intense challenge remains while the experience is bigger, bolder and yet streamlined and far more intuitive. In spite of the horrendous conditions and hostile environment, Frostpunk 2 is a joy to play, even when you're enforcing child labour and exiling a faction for daring to request you listen to their reasonable demands. Even if the end of the world is nigh, New London beckons to have you as its steward, and you'd be foolish not to heed its call.

Invigorated by exploring one of the lesser known periods of World War 2 history, 63 Days' rebellion is unfortunately stamped out before it can truly ignite. Frustrating controls, flawed stealth and far too much wasted time relying on save reloading undermines this resistance movement before it can truly make a mark. Much like any battle against a larger, more substantial oppressive force, there are glimmers of hope, but you'll have to fight tooth and nail to find them.

Antstream Arcade is not a perfect service and the games included are not all absolute bangers, but what's on offer is more than enough to justify its subscription price and more, with a treasure trove of delights from way back when and games that you may have always wanted to try but never quite found the time. Now is the time.

Whilst not perfectly optimised for console, Shadows of Doubt is one of the most interesting detective games I've played. The procedurally generated premise completely nails how authentic it might feel to crack a case, and the many avenues of investigating keeps you on your toes for hours on end.

A lovely time capsule of a game, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is exactly the kind of nostalgia we need. A fresh lick of paint brings Mickey's adventure up to today's standard, with a simple approach to gameplay to draw in the young and old alike.

The Plucky Squire does a great job of hopscotching you across worlds and genres whilst keeping the gameplay simple and understandable at its core. It's a real life fairy tale full of wit, charm and a smidge of meta cynicism, that's only bolstered by its fantastic hand drawn art style - overall outshining my complaints of low stakes and technical issues.

Dead Rising 4 might have almost buried the series, but Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is breathing life into something we thought had died long ago. You know, like a zombie.

A solid collection, Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will appeal to fans of 2D fighters. A few new tweaks don't detract from the arcade charm, making this a worthy collection for those who have always wanted to settle a bet about whether Ryu can beat Cyclops in a brawl.

A passion project led by a small group of dedicated developers, Copycat delivers an emotionally driven tale about the nature of home, belonging and change. In spite of the occasional thematic misstep and limited replayability value, Copycat is both an enjoyable and reflective piece of art that's worth your time. Whether bapping gnomes off walls or wrestling with deep feelings, you'll feel moved throughout this short-but-sweet feline adventure.

With an explosive first impression that simmers down from repetition, Wild Bastards presents a roguelite with plenty of mechanics to wrap your head around, a sharply written cast of characters and an impressive art style.

The game is a simple yet effective open-world exploration game that focuses on quality over quantity. The story doesn’t quite land for me and the cast is so big they became forgettable, but there’s an undeniable amount of charm present in it all. Caravan SandWitch respects your time above all else whilst catering to your 100%ing needs and I wish more games would follow suit. If a low-stakes open-world game is what you’re after this year, then Caravan SandWitch is a pretty good one to check out.

Hollowbody handles the core staples of a great survival horror experience with ease. Suffocating atmosphere, tense ammo management and punishing enemies make for a thrilling if unsettling experience. While it lacks depth in enemy variety and its engrossing stories feel slightly too brief, this a psychological thriller that’ll have you running for your life, yet coming back for more. Silent Hill 2 remake’s foggy town looms on the horizon, but Hollowbody’s tech-noir Exclusion Zone may be more competition than it bargained for.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is too little, too late. Instead of innovating, it instead takes ideas already popularised and doesn't even pull them off properly. Lacklustre visuals and a flat future aesthetic don't do anything to bolster its chances, not when better contemporaries are available.

Perennial Order makes bold design choices to create a fantastic world with great ideas but not without some flawed execution. If you love bleak eldritch horrors with a side salad of creative boss fights then you may just enjoy this, even if there's a few weeds in the gameplay.

Vampire Survivors delivers on exactly why it’s an addictive rougelite with near-perfect execution. Incredibly easy to pick up, even easier to get lost in and a well of secrets to keep you playing. It doesn’t offer too much variety with its gameplay but you’ll barely notice as the flashing lights of weapon upgrades and coins enamour you.

Despite some technical issues at launch, Arco is nothing short of a masterpiece. An epic on all fronts, from its captivating story and thrilling tactical style combat. This one is not to miss.

Secretly an open-world stealth game, Star Wars Outlaws nails the worlds, tone, look and feel of this wonderful galaxy, while delivering constantly satisfying gameplay loops. Playing off criminal syndicates against each other and reaping the rewards of a double cross never got old. Outlaws is closer to an RPG of some fifteen years ago, but from a certain point of view, that might be exactly what you want.

After a long, long hiatus, it’s amazing to see Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 come to life. A great campaign for new and returning fans, bolstered by adjacent multiplayer modes, there’s enough here to get stuck into. Paired with some gorgeous visuals and chunky action, this is as cathartic an action-shooter-brawler as one can hope to enjoy. For the Emperor!

Supermassive is back and teaming up with one of the biggest franchises in asymmetrical horror, Dead by Daylight. Whilst the visuals and sound, among collecting the odd Easter Egg provide the biggest highlights from the game. The storyline is a very slow burn, not worth the end-game final reveal. Although Frank Stone will be an exciting addition to Dead by Daylight, his standalone tale is overshadowed by long drawn out backstory and lackluster excitement.

A high-quality real-time tactics stealth title, Sumerian Six is full of intricate missions and wonderfully unique scientific abilities for you to unleash upon those pesky Nazis. Artificer have taken the torch from Mimimi Games and are running with it, and I’m so glad they are.

A Metroidvania for newcomers and veterans, Crypt Custodian does so much to be a well-paced journey. Frenetic battles, engaging secrets and a cute cast to cry over make the game’s less polished elements an afterthought.

Gori: Cuddly Carnage is a reminder that games don’t have to be realistic or serious to be an awesome joyride of violence or chaos. The visuals are wonderful, the combat is sensationally stylish and the gore delivers on this ginger-haired cat’s name with aplomb. Despite the odd issue with the camera and navigation frustration, Gori is a thrill ride from start to end, and I’m desperate to see more of him in future.

There’s a bit of a learning curve with House of Golf 2 which takes away some of the ‘pick up and play’ elements of other titles in the genre, but there’s some good course design and it’s fun to find the shortcuts hidden around them. There’s nothing here that will challenge the golf titans in gaming, but there’s plenty to discover if you’re willing to give it the time.

Monster Jam Showdown brings the chaos of their live shows to your gaming systems in fine style. A huge celebration of the Monster Jam universe, Showdown absolutely nails the aesthetic and is crammed full of replayability. If you’re one of the many fans around the world, you’re going to flip for this.

Dark and Deep produces an eerily stylish darkness thanks to the art direction of Gustave Doré and threads of narrative that threaten an engaging tale. Unfortunately, it becomes consumed in its own deep dark, owing to labourious mechanics, disjointed pacing and frustrating puzzles. There’s a glimmer of light in this heart of darkness, but you’ll struggle to find it.

Pepper Grinder is a short but near-flawless 2D platformer that’s a thrill ride from start to finish. From the sparkling pixel art visuals to its ingenious drilling gameplay, the game is a must-play for any platforming fan.

Whilst Aspyr have tried, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is unfortunately too much of a relic to polish up to today’s standards. Jango Fett’s story may be a decent one, but not at the price of retreading mid-ground nostalgia.

A major update to Atlas Fallen, Reign of Sand brings a tight narrative focus and voice acting that reworks what existed into a really enjoyable AA adventure. Sliding through the dunes on your quest to find the Knights and overthrow a god is made all the more fun with a great powertrip of a combat system. Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand is the Definitive Edition and I’m so glad the developers gave it the overhaul it deserved.

With the foundations of Arcade Paradise well and truly intact and even some subtle improvements to the game’s economy, the VR experience elevates many aspects of the base game. However, with some difficulty in its controls, some jarring flat screen moments and a few bugs this isn’t quite the new way to play.

Running free as Chesley in Farewell North is a liberating and visually beautiful time. With a heartfelt, emotionally investing story about grief and loss, stunning visuals and a soaring score, Farewell North overcomes its more straightforward mechanics and helps us appreciate the little things. Like playing fetch with your canine best friend, you’ll be wanting to come back for more, no matter the weather or occasionally rough edges.

While not bound for the embrace of death owing to its unique party system and visual flair, Deathbound struggles to stave off the reaper’s scythe thanks to technical issues, poorly told stories and unbalanced though otherwise competent gameplay. It may scratch the Soulslike itch for some, but whether you’d reanimate the souls of the damned for a longer crusade, only the Lady of Death knows.

Empty Shell is a not-so-empty hell of a game that uses tropes of survival horror and roguelites in a distinct way. The stark presentation and despondent atmosphere of the game make for a great setting in this mish-mash of genres that is well worth checking out if you like your horrors lo-fi and full of bullets.

A vertical sci-fi shoot-em-up with sublime atmospheric graphics and some incredible encounters, Cygni is ultimately let down by its lack of identity and a sharp difficulty spike straight from the launch pad. Shunting power between shields and weapons makes for a fun mechanic, but unless you’re a shmup aficionado, it’s a hard package to recommend.

There are butts, there is a minimal amount of boxing and there’s an abundance of bare scarcity to Bare Butt Boxing. What it attempts in slapstick presentation and cartoon fun, it slips straight onto its butt with, thanks to barely passable gameplay, stifling cosmetic progression and a lack of anything to help it standout. Bare Butt Boxing might bare all, but perhaps it should cover back up.

A shooter that echoes the old school with modern sensibilities, Deadlink will scratch that roguelike itch if you let it. A little lacking in variety, hopefully time and TLC will prove us wrong on that front.

Considering the resurgence of the Turtles franchise of late. It’s disappointing to see the brand reduced to this. If Fisher-price produced a game titled ‘My First Beat-em-up, this his would probably bit it. Stick to the pixel perfection of Shredders revenge for your Turtle Time.

The Garden Path is a slice of life gardening sim that allows players sit back and enjoy the view. Whilst the art style, real time mechanics and dedication to the craft feel impressive to experience, the stop-start pace can hinder your enjoyment in its tracks. The Garden Path is perfect for anyone who needs a low commitment experience of the simulation genre, but perhaps not for those who want to get lost for hours.

If you like the Trails and Ys games, Tokyo Xanadu is Persona as if made by Falcom. That might be right up your street. On a good day, it means fun combat and likable characters, but on a bad day, it’s a painfully generic story peppered with some of the dullest corridor-crawling in the genre.