While Layers of Fear hews close to horror game tradition all too often, it does offer enough innovation to make it a worthwhile experience - especially when played after dark.

The Following is an excellent expansion by any measure, combining a fascinating narrative and enjoyable gameplay into a great piece of content for fans of the original game. It’s a shame parkour takes a back seat, but running zombies over in the buggy is an attractive alternative.

If anyone had any doubt about Capcom's ability to deliver a frame-perfect fighting engine, they can rest assured their fears are without merit. Sure, there will likely be balancing changes once the masses pick apart the V-Gauge and EX bars, but absolutely nothing at all about the feel of the game seemed "off" to this seasoned Street Fighter veteran.

Crypt of the Necrodancer evolves the roguelike genre substantially with an exceedingly simple addition. The rhythm mechanics, combined with some really great music and the roguelike experience, create one of the best titles either rhythm games or roguelikes have to offer.

Firewatch pushes the still-forming first person exploration genre ahead several steps, with wonderful dialogue, sumptuous design, and a story that examines loneliness in unique ways.

Sorcery smartly updates only the gameplay side of its source material, allowing the original writing to shine through. Though likely too simplistic for hardcore gamers, players looking for a quiet, absorbing role-playing experience will find much to enjoy.

Fun, innovative, and unique, Gravity Rush is well worth your time, bringing an original action-adventure from the small screen to a bigger one.

With great dungeon designs, enjoyable turn-based combat, and a new story that adds context to the turn-based action, The Fafnir Knight makes for an excellent addition to the 3DS library and an excellent homage to Heroes of Lagaard. Recommended.

Unravel is a fleeting yet enjoyable experience, with great gameplay and production design. Experienced players may find it too easy, but it's a gorgeous blend of story and gameplay for everyone else.

The Witness is an expansive and wickedly smart follow-up to Braid, with puzzles to test even the brightest minds. Its mental gymnastics are well worth the occasional frustration, and you'll come out feeling like a genius.

XCOM 2 manages to raise the stakes and challenge of its predecessor without ever becoming too frustrating. Defeat will be frequent and death even more so, but victory is all the more sweet for it. In short, it's bigger, better, broader, and even more brutal!

Bombshell is a broken, boring action game with a tin ear for humour and action that rarely rises above tedium.

Night School’s creepy teen horror more than succeeds at being a chilling supernatural tale, but its real strength lies in its rough, earnest, truthful account of five teen lives and the ways that they grow and fracture under the worst, most unearthly kind of pressure.

Sébastien Loeb Rally Evo is a fantastic rally game with it’s heart in the right place, but occasional technical woes stop it from reaching its full potential.

Blackbird Interactive clearly understands what makes Homeworld such an esteemed series, and for the most part Deserts of Kharak delivers. Only a relative lack of content somewhat lessens an otherwise excellent RTS.

First and foremost, Darkest Dungeon is a concept game that has hit its mark perfectly, a tonal masterpiece where everything from the art to sound, writing, difficulty levels and gameplay features contributes perfectly towards the whole picture that the developers aimed to paint. Turn off the lights, place a single lit candle next to your monitor, and creep hesitantly forward into its dark spaces; the way ahead will be hard, but the rewards are substantial.

Time has rendered Resident Evil Zero somewhat toothless and frustrating, but this HD offering is still an enjoyable throwback that goes down better thanks to some generous helpings of cheese.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen mixes the well-worn and overplayed clichés of the genre with just enough new stuff to keep things mostly fresh. Its story may be completely disposable, but the world itself is fascinating. It also has the honour of being one of the best-executed ports I have ever played.

Valhalla Hills is charming, but it lacks compelling problem-solving scenarios, is too repetitive, and has players relying too much trial and error to progress.

Rainbow Six Siege delivers on its promise of tension, tactics and teamwork, but it might not be worth AU$70; there are bugs both big and small that need squashing, there's no server browser, and connection errors are too common. There's something else to consider, too: PC players have been abandoning multiplayer-only titles in record time this year.

InXile's classical RPG translates beautifully to console, and should be picked up by RPG fans – even those neck deep in that other big post-apocalyptic title.

Rodea the Sky Soldier has the odd interesting idea, but numerous gameplay problems betray its troubled development.

WWE 2K16 pushes the franchise further down the sim path, to its detriment. It's also buggy and ugly – a fatigued veteran destined for the bush leagues.

Just Cause 3 understands what the essence of the series is – impressively chaotic sandbox action – and it duly provides mountains of it. Just don't expect too much from the story.

Star Wars: Battlefront is a simplified online shooter for a broad audience that delivers on its promise of Star Wars battle fantasies.

Legacy of the Void is a grandiose Space Opera of the highest order, a stunning conclusion to not only StarCraft II but the entire StarCraft epic that began a decade and a half ago. That’s only part of the story though: Blizzard has also managed to embrace new players with a more forgiving entry point, while also providing more depth and increased skill ceiling for the long time devotee. That might be the real legacy of this game.

Need for Speed is an excellent racing title with a laid back attitude and plenty to enjoy – if you can get past a few of the glaring design choices that is.

Even with its abstract and convoluted single-player campaign, Black Ops III is one of the best Call of Duty packages in years thanks to excellent refinement of the series’ multiplayer, and the return of Treyarch’s well-loved zombies mode.