The Secret Order 3: Ancient Times is a pleasant journey that will briefly entertain. At a budget price, it’s an ideal alternative to all the huge mainstream releases this month. Despite being the third in the series, it’s really quite a standalone story, and works as a great introduction to the genre.

Dragon Bobby - The Story of a Life isn't a bad game, but it's a tad simple and uninspiring in some areas. Still, despite this, it's an impressive feat for a one-person development team.

You’ll finish this in no time, and maybe get some Trading Cards and achievements out of it.

An absolutely enjoyable experience gameplay-wise, but a definitely skippable story; you're better off playing Death Stranding like a walking simulator and completing each area as you're introduced to it, rather than rushing to an unfulfilling story conclusion.

Monster Mop Up allows you to catch Ragamuffins and clean the crap out of everything, but that’s about it. If you want to turn your brain off for a while and clean, then it’s a good way to go, but otherwise, there’s not a lot of variation.

A bland, average dungeon crawler with some interesting characters that many will find uncomfortable to play through. Unnecessarily pushes boundaries of acceptability with regards to its lewd content.

Dokapon Kingdom: Connect blends a board game with RPG elements and looks like it would be fun to play, but the pacing is so ridiculously slow that it becomes frustrating and feels bland.

For what could be an exciting arcade racer Table Top Racing: World Tour fails to make an impression. It's an acceptable racer but it does little to distinguish itself leaving it feeling standard and boring.

A silly, but mechanically one-note rhythm game that struggles to be more than the sum of its parts.

Dead Season is functional and fun at times but is let down by strange design choices and a repetitive campaign.

Ready, Steady, Ship! is an okay game at first but can get a little boring after a while and is very annoying at times.

Unless you’re a die-hard point and click aficionado, it’s difficult to recommend this adventure. One thing is for certain though: It’s not worth its RRP of £24.99.

ZPF is a fun bit of nostalgia, but it doesn’t offer nearly enough to draw in the crowds or entice new players.

Moon Mystery has many fun locales and segments, but struggles to find its own identity among them. The gunplay is fun and fast, however, so if you can look past its flaws, you may enjoy the ride!

As harsh as this review can be read, given the game design basics Fumiko! breaks throughout the game. It’s saving grace is the use of lite narrative to sell an interesting concept, and its use of steller music choice, stops this review from becoming a critical breakdown on everything wrong in the game. Because for every step forward Fumiko! makes, it takes two steps back - and makes the floor transparent. A word of warning, not for the visually impaired. Even my eyes needed a break after two hours.

Undead West is a stylish, but functionally flawed bullet hell title, sadly falling behind many similar titles.

Happiness is mandatory, the Computer is your friend, and this game is mediocre at best.

While QUALIA ~Path of Promise~ has a strong premise, I feel like it didn’t hit the mark in terms of what it could do as a story. While some fans may enjoy it, if you’re looking for an immersive visual novel, this probably won’t be for you.

There’s nothing outrageously wrong with Elemental War 2 but it plays more like a platform for experimentation rather than an actual game.

Despite enjoying my time with Galaxy of Pen and Paper I can’t really recommend a game that corroded my save file twice in under 20 hours. Every time I load a save I have to cross my fingers and hope it works, and while I typically enjoy rolling dice, loading a game is definitely an exception.

This homage to titans of the genre can be beautiful to behold, but it ultimately runs too short and too shallow to match the mightiness of its ancestors.

AereA’s priority is to make the player feel totally engaged in a mystical world that has been fully committed to representing the power of music. I found myself astounded at how many mechanical holes this game contains when its visuals are so contrastingly stunning.

Robo Wars is a simplistic 2D fighter with robots facing off against each other. There is no story here, and the game felt very repetitive and boring.

Don’t Stop, Girlypop! was unfortunately a miss for me, but it shows clear potential that some post-launch care could help it reach.

Adorable they may be, but having a virtual dog or cat was an already old idea that somehow has even less features and charm on newer hardware. Proof that not everything needs to come to Switch.

Happy's Humble Burger Farm is full of untapped potential and although it has some fun elements to it, the lack of polishing and bad development choices ultimately bring it down.

Vessels of Decay is a great-looking, retro-inspired game that is unfortunately more frustrating to play because it’s buggy.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is a beautiful game that offers a relaxing experience, but some design choices clearly need extra watering. Unfortunately, its stylish charm can’t make up for repetitive gameplay and lacklustre progression.

Pineview Drive is an atmospheric horror game that does little else to engulf the player. Long stretches of half-baked scares and tedious key hunts make this title a lacking experience.

Crimson Keep is a decent enough title that you’ll get some entertainment out of it, however, the story is barebones, the gameplay at its core is bland and basic, and progressing throughout feels like it’s done at a crawl. On the positive side though, the design and overall look of the game are definitely noteworthy, being two aspects that help make this title more appealing from a visual perspective. Long story short, it’s up to you in this case, I personally would save my money for something else.

Dynacat would be much more enjoyable if the mechanics and controls were less fumbled. It’s a charming platformer, but it’s too awkward to be as much fun as it ought to be.

An excellent core concept but lacklustre execution. Still enjoyable for those that love simulators and dinosaurs but should probably be missed by those that are unsure.

Whilst Kurr Snaga is a fun couple of hours, NoTime Studios needs to give us a reason to keep playing. A leaderboard, or even a personal high score, would have been ideal.

Alone with You is a game in the same way that a statuette is a doorstop – it works and it’s interesting to look at, but it would be better off doing something else. This title’s compelling writing is let down by its monotonous gameplay, and I’m just not willing to endure one to enjoy the other.

If you're looking for an excellent neon filled twin stick shooter with awesome techno beats, you're not going to find it here and you’d be better off playing Geometry Wars or Resogun on PS4 (if you want something more original), but if you've played them all and you want more, then get this on sale as it is still a fun title.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is close to being the Pokémon game I’ve always wanted, but falls short of perfection in ways that other games in the franchise have gotten right in the past. The sequel could very well be the best Pokémon game released so far.

The Bunker is a well written short film with some good acting. It’s not really a game though, so it ultimately fails to live up to expectations.

A great idea executed in a mediocre way. If you can deal with the lack of polish, there is an interesting game here.

Great potential wasted by seemingly random events, the dumb AI allowed me to constantly scam them with no backlash.

Being as average as it is, it needs that average as possible score. It doesn’t do anything new, but because of its execution and price. It just keeps a right balance of: What did you expect as an eroge, it falls far below the belt.

Performances are mostly solid aside from the main protagonist, but the lacklustre script with a severe lack of character development aside from large amounts of exposition make it difficult to really care about any of them. Some of the endings are quite abrupt, leaving an unsatisfying finish. I find it unlikely that The Complex will win fans over to the genre, but those who do have a dedication may find something to enjoy.

Mediocre, yet imaginative, Crashlands is a game for those with a strong stomach for repetitive gameplay and oddball humor.

Overall, I do not like Demolish & Build 2017 for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it was so incredibly boring. Playing it felt like a chore, which I don’t think captures how it feels to really have a demolition job. For what could have been such a great idea, I feel like it was let down by its execution and its technical issues.

A great game, but with no value added it isn’t worth buying over the mobile version. Too expensive for a game that’s best played on a mobile screen anyway.

A lot of Caveman Warriors’ design feels outdated; it’s a title that relies on mediocre action-platforming, on top of average cartoon visuals and a simplistic combat system. It never goes out of its way to impress you, but it also won’t leave you wanting more.

A very generic RPG with city building elements and a dodgy control system.

Exhausting unfortunately is the word I would use to define playing Just Die Already for more than an hour and that’s a bit of a shame. Its art direction and sound track are both solid and contribute greatly to making the game feel unique. The actual premise of the game is a great bit of dark comedy. But the game’s loose structure and lack of meaningful objectives makes it a chore to play. I’d certainly recommend playing the game for a short burst of time but anything beyond that is just a recipe for boredom and exhaustion.

An admittedly wonderfully detailed passion project, but one that is mostly style over substance.

The controls are really slick, with the feeling of isolation very much apparent. But, the pace of the game accompanied with its limitations do weigh heavy on Breached.

Outriders is a boring game to play solo, with a lack of any real end-game content and bugs that may wipe all of your progress it’s probably best to wait for a sale for this one.

Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days is a top-down shooter that excels at the minimum. The replayability may be lacking, but it's definitely worth at least one playthrough.

As a whole package, all the praise should be going toward the single player experience, and I'd never thought I'd say that about a Call of Duty game in a long time. But in all honestly, it’s true. As for the multiplayer, it makes for an incredibly mundane and subpar experience that almost parodies itself. Completely making it very difficult to recommend the game as a whole.

t's a shame about the game’s issues later in the campaign, because there’s a lot to like in One Dog Story. The art design is great, the story is interesting, and the combat is satisfying; but poor design and technical issues hold the game back from its full potential.

Sloppy controls, an aimless direction, and atrocious level design hinders Dynamic Pixel's newest entry in the Hello Neighbor series from reaching the potential that many believe it has. While a whimsical art style and great performance across a variety of performance are great to see, Hide & Seek results in a forgettable and frustrating experience overall.

An extremely unengaging gameplay and bad graphics mine what could be an interesting addition to the pirate genre.

Decidedly average attempt at a reboot of the franchise, with controls that just aren’t fun and load times that sap what was left of any real enjoyment from the title.

Raining Blobs is a game that falls back on the saturated colour-match genre, but hopes to garner interest through its use of Kawaii female characters. Unfortunately this leads to an uninspired and unoriginal experience that is easily beaten by the more established games in its genre.

Despite my gripes about accessibility, the game delivers so many options regardless of whether players choose the role of Commander or Officer. Ultimately though, Eximius will most likely have a handful of hardcore fans to keep it alive, at best. Grading would be far higher if I could see potential for growth that would allow PvP to flourish. My advice, if you want to shoot stuff, stick to the Crucible.

The game is an unfinished and sloppy mess. With the majority of balancing and tweaking yet to be done there are some questionable items in the game, such as the previous mentioned shield for the Space Marines which seems to be capable of blocking all projectiles fired towards it. The shooting mechanics are alright but third person cover has always been something I have detested, being able to see over walls whilst hidden behind it often leads to some unfair and one sided gunfights.

Block Buster Billy is a simple enough concept, and the game does what it needs to do, but the lack of anything exciting or new won’t bring people back long-term.

I Hate This Place has good ideas, but its execution misses the mark. A lacklustre story, not enough horror, and disjointed mechanics likely won’t appeal to survival horror fans.

Black Mirror has potential to be a decent horror puzzle adventure, but its technical limitations and pacing issues prevents that from ever becoming apparent. Its £25 entry fee is steep for the short experience you’ll be getting, and the end product feels like a shadow of its former self.

Anomaly has some interesting concepts, but it fails to entice me to explore it deeper.

Woven is not a fun game, but it’s certainly a nice story. There are concepts —particularly the body-swapping mechanic— that could have been enjoyable with the right execution, but this game doesn’t even come close to pulling them off.

Triangle Studios’ latest release makes a strong first impression with striking visual effects and satisfying shooting mechanics. Sadly, the appeal quickly wears thin, exposing its repetitive gameplay and samey environments. Good for a handful of short bursts, especially with friends, but it feels too much like an unfinished product to fully recommend.

DROS isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either, the game has a few more negatives than positives, but to be honest, it mostly has “neutrals” and is extremely uninteresting.

Space Commander is a competent game, with many features and some innovation, turning focus from piloting one ship to managing and controlling a fleet. It can be engaging but unfortunately not for long as it is just too simplified and lacks in variety, depth or challenge.

Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow is an underwhelming puzzle platformer. The eye-catching, whimsical environments simply aren’t enough to salvage the poor storytelling and frustrating controls.

Frustrating, and flamboyant in all the wrong ways, Planet Diver is a total miss. Though, if the developers were looking to actively make a crap game, then they couldn't have planet better.

A promising title that lets itself down over and over again.

NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS’s greatest feat is making me want to revisit the smash hits that CyberConnect2 has released in previous entries of the franchise, as it nearly fails in everything else it has on offer.

An interesting experiment that fails to nail either side of the experience, it uses Fallout trappings to good effect and can be fun with great environmental storytelling and West Virginia itself is gorgeous. The lack of NPCs and overall cohesion along with lacklustre PvP hinder its identity, however.

Terrifier: The ARTcade Game won't convince you to check out the movies. Its stale gameplay and frustrating issues can make it unappealing to even fans of the franchise. However, it's not a bad time with friends.

The Calamity Angels themselves are indeed angelic, but this wacky workplace adventure comedy could have used a lot more wackiness to go with them.

A basic action adventure game with a great style and a surprisingly engrossing story that is sadly backed up by repetitive gameplay that never evolves into something great.

Done before and done better, Rainbow Skies is a game that has taken a fairly bland concept to begin with and proceeded to not change a thing about it. If you're looking for an epic tale of heroes and rogues, you'd be better off looking elsewhere.

While Max: The Curse Of Brotherhood does have a good story, it has too many downfalls to forgive. The platforming just isn't up to par, and the checkpoints will have you throwing your controller at a wall in no time.

Once the novelty of being allowed to give someone testicular cancer wears off, it's a rather uninspired affair. Clicking for hours at a time will likely result in carpal tunnel syndrome, which is the price you pay for being such a dreadful sadist. Shame on you.

A frustrating, hard to control climbing game that feels ultimately shallow and impractically designed.

Blue Reflection is one of the few times where I would say that it would work better as an anime rather than a game. It has a lot of good ideas and systems at work but sadly none of them are fully developed and poor performance ruins the experience.

It’s unfortunate that Ubisoft decided to end with something so weak. The first two DLC were fantastic fun, but Dead Living Zombies fails to be innovative, with a very light coating on top of a glorified Zombie Mode. I honestly don’t know how they could have made this better, but I’m sure it was possible. A lackluster end to the season pass trilogy, and to my time with Far Cry 5.

Gripper on paper sounds like a great time, but the way it is carried out just doesn’t work. The game design itself just leads to frustration, instead of a fun experience.

A bland, soulless horizontal SHMUP that is extremely basic and by the numbers. Interesting boss designs don’t do enough to hold the rest of the game up. In such a crowded genre there are much better options.

Peregrino has several interesting concepts, but it struggles to offer novel gameplay and a reason to keep exploring.

Nira is only worth it for its low price - there are already games that do the same thing, but far better.

An intriguing concept that falls flat thanks to a repetitive mission structure, a lack of rover variety, wonky controls, and nothing to keep players engaged. Enjoyable for an hour or so, but by then you’ve seen everything Rover Mechanic Simulator has to offer.

Wildshade is a serviceable kart racer with an interesting core mechanic and purposefully built courses that reward careful attention. However, it doesn’t offer nearly enough to warrant its price tag and fumbles in other key moments.

A solid experience worthy of some small praise when it works, but Alder’s Blood: Definitive Edition is so marred by bugs that I cannot in good conscience recommend the game. God is dead and, so long as the game remains unpatched, God will remain dead.

At first glance, Skystead Ranch is a creature-collector title for Viva Piñata fans, but upon further inspection, it feels too unfinished with features that don’t work and design elements that don’t feel as cute and whimsical as its visuals.

A bloated and bland action adventure title, with a few standout mechanics, but none that can save it from being an underwhelming package.

Chains of Fury isn’t quite ready for release. While the gameplay is fun, it is held back by various issues that show its lack of polish and just not having all the content it should.

Confidential Killings - A Detective Game won’t offer challenging investigative puzzles or tedium-free clue gathering, but you do receive excellent visuals and an interesting cast of characters.

A bland, repetitive roguelike that had the potential to be something far greater. Scar-Lead Salvation is disappointing in almost every aspect.

Arctic Awakening starts with a captivating mystery, but fails to stick the landing. The poorly developed story, lacklustre voice acting, and technical issues let down its potential.

I couldn’t help but feel that the greatest time manipulation Aeternoblade II succeeds at was the 15 hours I wasted playing it.

An incredibly simple RTS, The Unexpected Quest is best left unexplored.

The Backrooms 1998’s jumpscare-heavy take on the Backrooms is an underwhelming entry in the horror space with poor sound design choices, lack of intentionality with its mechanics, and bugs.

Disappointing, but with a glimmer of hope down the line for a better iteration.