Eventide 2: The Sorcerer’s Mirror was a little more than I expected: it’s been many years since I last played a hidden object game and I didn’t think that the genre would have moved on as much as it has. The writing was obviously translated into English, and the voice acting matches the odd look of the cutscenes, but the gameplay is amusing for the two hours there and it has a satisfying conclusion. The addition of adventure game mechanics really increased my enjoyment and I’d be really interested to see this taken further into a longer game.

A great text-heavy RPG in the classic style of yesteryear. It has great writing and a whole cast of interesting characters. The retro presentation might be off-putting for some but give it a chance and it will sink its teeth into you.

If you are a fan of Final Fantasy definitely pick this game up. Just maybe next year sometime. This games biggest disadvantage is that it’s been released only a month before Final Fantasy XV. But if you do play this game you will be treated to a wonderfully adorable and charming RPG with a cast of colourful characters, an immersive battle system, beautiful worlds and a soundtrack that is simply amazing. While the story is cliched and simple it’ll still have you hooked! Maybe we should give Square another chance.

Though there might not be much to it, what Toy Odyssey does do is very well polished and extremely well done. The game play flows well, the art style looks amazing, and they’re complimented by gorgeous graphics with an amazing soundtrack. Digital Smash has obviously put a lot of care and effort into Toy Odyssey and a developer we should all be keeping a close eye on for the future.

Nobunaga's Ambition is a turn-based strategy sim that does it's best to impress. Although it may not be my cup of tea, it will currently come as a welcome entry to fans of the genre.

While it is repetitive, the driving and fighting mechanics are enjoyable as long as you remember to take a decent sized break every few missions. Ultimately, this is a game for those who care more about the story than anything else.

Both campaigns add maybe eight to ten hours of extra gameplay onto Total War: Warhammer, and while solid, enjoyable experiences neither are anything to write home about. Despite this, fans of the two races will have lots to explore and enjoy.

Dishonored 2 is a substantial improvement over its predecessor and is an expertly crafted continuation from the first. With a plethora of choices and wonderful architectural puzzle design, Dishonored 2 is truly an immersive experience. It's just a shame it's held back by terrible and unfortunate PC performance.

End of the day, it’s just a rehash of the second iteration of the original Japanese launch, but more feature complete and features better illustrations than the Steam version. Give this a whirl if you’re interested in trying a solid J-horror game. Otherwise maybe just watch the Anime OVA, live action movie or read the manga that’s currently being published by Yen Press.

An excellent adventure-puzzle game with a heavy macabre theme in an oil painting universe that keeps you so immersed you barely realise how much blood you spill until it is far too late, ultimately let down by bizarre puzzle solutions and issues with Flash player.

Whilst a near perfect Monster Hunter in my eyes. If it contained better quality of life implementations to reduce the plethora of loading screens and responding to quests (which could be done in a single menu/mail system). This could be an easy ten, otherwise I’m shaking in anticipation for generation five, the Hollywood movie currently in production, Double Cross and Monster Hunter Stories coming to the west (hopefully).

If you like getting an hour per monetary unit, then you definitely get that in Orwell. The campaign is as long as Titanfall 2, and it has a heck of a lot more gameplay to it than BATMAN the Telltale Series, both of which cost more and are written just as well.

The game very accurately depicted the anime and nailed the speed and ferocity of slaying titans, although I do find the price point to be just a little bit too high for what the game actually gives you in content.

As far as the whole visual novel thing goes, Batman is a well written and performed game. As far as an adventure game goes, it's awful.

A game with a beautiful landscape and effects, but the clumsy controls, repetitive game play and lack luster rewarding system leaves much to be desired.

In short, Ride 2 is an experience that hardcore bike fans are going to get the most out of. The game is fun enough on its own merit without the impressive library of licenses and tracks, but for those not really into the sport I would imagine the barriers to entry are too high. Ride 2 manages to improve on last year’s release, but still struggles to shift itself above a niche racer for fans of the sport.

It’s much better than the first in lots of ways.

The improvements to the game are much needed, the single player campaign is one of the best I have played this year and as we draw to the close of 2016 I am almost 100% sure that no one will be able to top it, but I am more than willing to be proved wrong! Graphics are fantastic and a treat to the eyes, game modes have increased overall for multiplayer but there is the occasional hit and miss. Also… You CAN hack specters in multiplayer! I don’t know WHY so many people are saying you can’t!

A briefly funny but ultimately shallow experience that throws all of the progression into the less interesting mode and wears its inspirations on its sleeves.

Skyrim is still a great place to get lost in and the visual upgrade is welcome. It perhaps doesn’t go as far as it should and it’s a shame no other aspect of the game got looked at but it’s still well worth your time.

As someone used to simulators, I have to say this is the most playable one I’ve seen for a long time that isn’t just a sequel. There’s little mechanically wrong with it, and the sense of scale that it achieves is very impressive. I really enjoyed the in-game radio and that there was a form of story progression to most of the random activities together. Ultimately though it is let down by how tedious some of the missions can be and how plain it looks, and although it is relatively short there wasn’t a lot that made me excited to continue playing after the novelty of driving these huge machines wore off.

A game that is lovingly made, with a very interesting crafting system. Unfortunately, due to a lack of goals, purpose or anyone one else playing it has very low playability.

Ginger: Beyond the Crystal tries to revisit the golden age of Rare-style 3D platforming but instead falls a bit short of the mark due to a lack of depth and engagement.

Farming Simulator 17’s odd mix of authenticity and not-quite simulation is curious. The core gameplay loop is by its very nature extremely repetitive but if you have an interest in farming you’ve probably already bought into the idea. It’s certainly not a bad game but it’s definitely an acquired taste.

Civilization VI is most definitely the best base-game installment of the franchise yet. There are so many gameplay mechanics included here that it feels like it’s already had a large expansion. I can’t wait to see what Firaxis could possibly add to improve on an already spectacular and complete game. But as much as I hate to say it, with so much to learn this is one of the least accessible games in the series for newcomers. Still, with beautiful visuals,step-up in AI competence, and so much to do, for returning players this is the best Civilization game in history.

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.

New ideas and innovations help move the franchise forward, but a lot of the same bugbears are still prevalent. Until we get a new engine I believe we are always going to be waiting for that truly amazing wrestling game experience. Until that happens, 2K17 is a nice bridge between that gap.

This beautiful puzzle-platformer is filled with attention to detail, and with its tight controls and clever puzzles I couldn’t recommend playing this enough.