So, the key thing to take away from my experience with 30 Birds is that this game is a colourful and rich puzzle game that excels thanks to its unusual narrative and beautiful art direction.

Neon Blood's short running time is an advantage because there is not enough content and ideas to fill more hours of entertainment. However, I wish Chaotic Brain had chosen to give the story more weight and a darker tone. They never managed to engage me and it feels like they themselves were lost and didn't really know in which direction they wanted to take the adventure.

With all of these points combined, the main thing to note is that while there are a lot of similarities between Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm and Exercise and Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer, this game also feels like a significant step forward in almost every conceivable metric. It's tighter, more responsive, has a deeper list of game modes, looks better, and still delivers the engaging and rewarding fitness activities that we expect from the franchise.

Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival has the potential to entertain for what feels like endless hours. Not least thanks to the fact that you can buy 700 songs if you wish, but also thanks to the fact that there are so many game modes to choose from where everyone entertains on their own terms.

Our impressions are generally positive, partly because it works more often than not, partly because it creates great gaming memories, and partly because it improves on many of its predecessor's gameplay systems. It's the amount of technical issues that prevent this from reaching higher heights than its predecessor.

Bugs and performance issues aside, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an excellent game. Despite all the hurdles, GSC Game World has matched and exceeded expectations with this dystopian shooter. An addictive game world, satisfying and challenging gunplay, combined with plenty of characters that bring the Zone to life makes the whole package an experience I won't soon be forgetting.

If you're looking for a casual party game to enjoy with friends or kids, it's easy to recommend in those scenarios. However, for returning players or if you're looking for something to play solo, I don't think there's enough here to make the remaster worth buying.

I don't have much to complain about in this Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. I've completed the game on version 1.0.0 on Nintendo Switch and I haven't experienced any lag or bugs. The only downside is that it's Dragon Quest III. If you're not used to this kind of game, where you need to spend a lot of your time fighting to level up in an ever-increasing loop of hours, this might not be for you. But if you want to get to grips with the mythos and get swept up in a classic story with unparalleled visuals, then Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is your gateway to the series.

On one hand, it's so simple and easy to pick up and play, with such a wonderful presentation, great cooperative support, and a great degree of charm that it becomes very, very easy to love. But at the same time the gameplay often feels too predictable, the customisation systems disappoint, and even after acquiring every Gold and Red Brick available I still cannot figure out who this game is aimed at. With the recent remaster and even the relative recency of the original PS4 launch, it's hard to point a finger at this game and call it a must-play, especially since compared to pretty much every other Lego game available it lacks in almost every metric.

Red Dead Redemption on PC is still an unforgettable game that both new players and fans of the series should experience. Despite its age and visual limitations, it still delivers legendary entertainment value that undoubtedly makes it one of the most memorable western experiences imaginable.

Vendetta Forever is a puzzle game disguised as a shooter, and you'll get a kick out of spinning around yourself to clear a room of enemies while ducking to avoid their projects. It has that 'I've-gotta-try-it-again' feeling and it's definitely a game worth checking out if you're looking for a good and accessible action game to knock the dust off that PSVR2 headset.

The Rise of the Golden Idol is a delight of a detective game and the perfect way to spend these cold, winter nights. It's a short experience, depending on how quickly you can solve the murders, but as you fall further into how the overarching story plays out, and piece more of the puzzle together, it'll easily keep you hooked until you've done it all.

The graphics are spectacular, the gameplay smooth and the world interesting, but there's still something off about it. The dark and gloomy gameplay experience quickly takes its toll, especially when physical nausea is present throughout.

Redacted definitely manages to entertain, but it doesn't quite reach the same level as Hades or Dead Cells. That said, it's not a bad game and I think many can appreciate the developer's new direction. But for me personally, there was more to be desired.

As it stands, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is extremely simple, and therefore quite enjoyable to engage with, and besides, after the first hour or so, you can easily just check in every day or two and open some packs.

The game delivers a unique and visually stunning experience that immerses you fully in the world of an ant. While there are areas for improvement, such as the repetitive soundtrack and limited unit options in multiplayer, the game's impressive visuals, realistic sound effects, and varied story missions make it a memorable entry in the RTS genre.

If you like the series already, this is a must-have purchase, but if you are new to the Metal Slug experience, I still recommend that you give this an honest try. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but Metal Slug Tactics is a hell of a lot of fun to play. What more could you want?

Mario & Luigi: Brothership just lacks some of the magic, the flavour, and the secrets those games bring, it drags considerably, and it gets a tad too dreary a tad too often. That being said, kids love it, it's good to see the return of a series many thought dead, and it does set the foundations for a new branch that can feel different to the Paper games going forward.

If you haven't played this in almost eight years or are about to experience the adventure for the first time, this version is either a good reason to do it again or the best way to do it for the first time. It is therefore quite difficult to oppose this new version when it is as fantastic as it is in many ways. Even if I still can't let go of the idea that it really wasn't needed.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure's sense of surprise doesn't hit with the same force as Life is Strange did nine years ago, but it has managed to re-engage me for a few hours to catch up with a character I've long wanted to see, and leave me with a sense of personal enrichment after playing it. A tempting title for anyone in need of a story in the cold autumn nights ahead.

Bioware is back, and while they're not reinventing the wheel here, they've made exactly the game we wanted them to make. An exclusively single-player RPG that is narratively anchored, far more linear, with all the content tailored and organised by skilled designers and without all the "bloat" that many have criticised Starfield for consisting of. What you have here is lean and mean, and it puts Bioware on an exciting trajectory where it's finally possible to see light at the end of the very dark tunnel they've been in for a long, long while. It's not a perfect RPG, but it's... pretty damn good, to say the least.

If for some reason you've had time to play all the great Japanese role-playing games this year and need more to bite into, I can really recommend Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven Heroes. Sure, most of it is old-fashioned Japanese role-playing, but there's also an innovative generation mechanic that I think is worth trying.

It's great to see really lavish, well-made and successful blockbuster titles like these in VR. The format itself would have needed a lot of these games at an earlier stage to reach a wider and larger audience. If you have a Quest headset, you just can't miss Arkham Shadow.

Treyarch has righted the ship with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. This is the Call of Duty game that Microsoft and Activision needed for a day one Game Pass launch, as it has a strong and thrilling Campaign, a tight and streamlined Multiplayer, and a fun and nostalgic Zombies experience too.

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered is a remaster of one of the craziest games ever made and the fact that it's potentially reaching out to new gamers who will get an experience they've never had before can only be a positive thing - and as I said, it's priced very reasonably.

Aaero 2 is definitely not a game for everyone. It has a fairly narrow audience and you might be a little worried that it's going to get lost in the crowd of games coming out these days - because it deserves better.

Despite a few elements that rubbed me the wrong way, there's not much else you can say about The Smurfs: Dreams other than the fact that this game is a pleasant, sweet, easy, and good cooperative platforming experience. It won't eat up much of your time, it generally will keep you interested with unique level design and gameplay iteration, and the difficulty and degree of challenge means it's an accessible and fitting offering for all ages.

Kong: Survivor Instinct is not a great video game, but it also isn’t a disaster. There are elements and moments where you become quite embroiled in the story and fall into the rhythm of the platforming, and this is bolstered by the fact that it’s quite a tight and streamlined experience lasting around four-to-five hours if you attempt to find everything. You don’t play this game and feel offended and cheated, as was the case with last year’s Skull Island or even at times with the recent The New Empire film, but at the same time, there’s not a lot here that stands out and really impresses. It’s a simplistic and budgeted offer based on one of the most expensive and lucrative franchises in entertainment, and that’s it.