When it works, Laika: Aged Through Blood is top-notch entertainment in prime time, and proof that suddenly there is pure innovation on the indie scene worthy of mainstream attention.

The Chinese Room has succeeded brilliantly with their original pitch of The Thing on an oil rig, while infusing the horror with the emotion that characterised a game like Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. It's the kind of game that, with relatively few mechanics, manages to create immersion with great sound design, evocative visuals and believable storytelling.

There's so much inside Age of Wonders 4 that it's hard to give a good overview in the space of this review. What's clear is that Age of Wonders 4 is a very solid 4X turn-based strategy game with so much customisation that the potential for replayability is nearly endless.

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.

Operation Night Strikers is a strong collection from start to finish. Night Striker may be the weakest link due to its unfamiliarity and less refined gameplay, but it still offers potential and a unique concept. Operation Wolf, Operation Thunderbolt, and Space Gun are timeless shooters, and experiencing them again on modern hardware, with their original feel intact, is genuinely heart-warming.

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.

There's not much bad to say about Mio: Memories in Orbit, because it works really well, it plays well, it feels good, and it seems really well thought out too. It does a lot of things right and ticks all the important Metroidvania boxes, while at the same time adding something new to how such a game should be put together. If I had to point out one thing, I would have liked to see a few more enemy types but that's really the only thing of significance, because I think the rest fits together really well. If we were to give it the highest score, we would probably have liked to see a little more innovation in the gameplay that could have really moved the genre forward, but that said, I would like to emphasise that Mio: Memories in Orbit is a really successful game.

So, is the expansion worth it? Much more than Mario Party, but at the same time don't expect a lot of content or innovation. For me, it's more like a nice icing on top of what was a memorable adventure, as a way to expand on the original experience with the recipe of "more and better". If the Switch title was among your favourites, go swallow the expansion and bump it up a notch in our score, because you won't be disappointed and you'll enjoy a new story with a few additions. If you don't already own the original, you'd better give it a try before jumping straight into the €80 edition.

WWE 2K24 continues on the same nice track that the train has been on for a few years since WWE 2K20 went off the rails. It's fun to play, looks great, has many varied game modes and match types, and a nice tribute to Wrestlemania's 40-year history.

I've been thoroughly enjoying the skirmishes and I'm looking forward to playing more when the multiplayer servers open. For those who loved the original, Age of Mythology: Retold is a must-play, offering upgraded graphics, the innovative reuse of god powers, and subtle gameplay tweaks that enhance the overall experience. And even for entirely new players, this will be one of the most fun and well-crafted strategy games you can play right now. Unfortunately, the 'Retold' bit in the title doesn't mean a novel take on the game's campaigns, as these are exactly the same ones as in 2002 and 2014.

Robobeat is an outright euphoric experience, especially a number of hours in with many weapons and abilities unlocked. Because there and then, as you bounce around the rooms, delivering viciously quick deaths to the beat of the lush soundtrack, the outside world disappears completely.

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.

There are simply few games that offer this huge quantity of content, but also back it up with quality. Timeless classics like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4 feel downright limited by comparison, yet share that wonderful sense of adventure waiting around every corner. Trust me when I say you don't want to miss this.

It's not the most mechanically complex game, has a middling and quite forgettable core storyline, and it's over in a flash, but otherwise this is a delightful and charming title that will effortlessly entertain for a few evenings.

Lisa: Definitive Edition is the best way to enjoy this tough story that engages and judges you as a player in a way that few games could offer, even among the big budget ones.

Astral Ascent isn't looking to redefine what you have to come to expect from a roguelike, but it is clear that what Hibernian Workshop has created is a very complete, coherent, and competent example of what roguelikes at their finest can be.

If you want an action-RPG a la Diablo, where you can become the dark overlord and build your own kingdom, V Rising is the most obvious option.

Dimfrost Studio has managed the feat of making one of the cosiest games I've ever played, only to completely change its character and become one of the most creepy I've ever experienced.

Ultimately, Moomintroll: Winter's Warmth delivers more of what we saw in Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley. It's an accessible adventure for a younger audience where the charm of Tove Jansson's stories meets simple gameplay mechanics, and it's easy to recommend this if you enjoyed its predecessor. Admittedly, the adventure on offer this time around may not be quite as grand in scale, and much of it can feel a little too familiar and repetitive at times, but a quiet, atmospheric winter's day can, as we know, be just as inviting as a warm and lively afternoon in the sun. Hyper Games continues its tradition of respecting the source material in the very best way, and if you like Finnish little trolls, these digital fairy tales are the very best on the market right now.

WayForward have done great work in restoring a tactical cartoonish classic to make it incredibly fitting to the Nintendo Switch as a platform, both on TV and in handheld.

My only quibble would be, perhaps more harshly, that these versions don't offer any new cutscenes or content for the returning player. They are the nexus that will connect the past to the present of the franchise and the future Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, but if you've played them in the past (even in the near past on Nintendo Switch, in the case of Kiwami 1), I don't see too much urgency in returning to this Kamurocho. For anyone who doesn't mind reliving two classics, you're in for the best possible version of them.

I find it difficult to recommend anyone to get the Switch 2 Edition unless they know they play New Horizon a lot and just want the same thing, but a little bit better. And the free content from Version 3.0 is, as I said, free, but it really feels like Nintendo has just tried to create content with a lot of grind to make it take time rather than be entertaining, and the Quality of Life stuff really should have been included from the start.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf does not set any new standards for the genre and continues in the footsteps of the first game, so if you liked Wishfully's debut game from 2023, this sequel is a no-brainer.

I enjoyed my time with Cairn, I really did. I wish Aava had exposed her character a little more, though. Returning to the way the game positions her, there is a lot of talk about her, and although this is subtle and understated, it could have been beneficial for her to reveal a little more of herself. That said, she is not exactly a superficial character, and Cairn is not a forgettable story about personal pride, toxic ambition, and the ability to identify bad motives in oneself and others.

The Plucky Squire is an example of playful and imaginative creativity that we rarely see outside of Nintendo or games like Astro Bot. Unfortunately, it doesn't reach the same heights as similar games.

There are some minor shortcomings, such as the game only clocking in at about five hours, and the ending feeling both rushed and a tad predictable. But all in all, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is an excellent modern point-and-click thriller.

As it is now, it is an entertaining action spectacle that is definitely best when played with others. Despite the repetitiveness, I have had a lot of fun with it and I look forward to diving into new planets to save humanity.

If you're into adventure and puzzle games, Killer Frequency is a nice and slightly different take on a game in that genre. But it's not a game for everyone.