Though it is accessible and enjoyable for many, it means everything that makes the anime so enjoyable is being spread too thin. It needs to be more focused, less complicated, and the good aspects need to be made great.

Solving the obscure puzzles of Scholar's Mate can be troublesome enough, and so when you also add in a pursuer and limited stealth mechanics, you're left with an experience that is generally unrewarding and frustrating.

If you’re a fan of the Terminator franchise and are after a single-player experience that lets you faithfully enter its world, you won’t be disappointed with Terminator: Resistance. Even its story is pretty good. Just don’t go in expecting a big-budget epic, because that’s not what it is. It’s simply a budget game with a fair amount of soul.

If you really like twin-stick shooters, and you were a fan of the 1997 original and desperately want to see how they’ve changed the ending, then maybe, just maybe, there is something here for you. Otherwise, get your rage out of the system another way.

In the end then, Soul Axiom on Xbox One is a missed opportunity, devoid of a soul itself.

When you take Feather at face value, it’s a lovely little game to have on the Switch for times when you’ve had a stressful day and want something to distract yourself. It would be nice if the game offered some guidance or a simple mission structure to give you more purpose, but as Feather is right now, it’s enjoyable if you go in knowing it’s a short, relaxing, simplistic experience.

If you get a big kick of out having pages of stats to micro-manage, or finding a lot of loot, then you may gleam some enjoyment out of of playing Sadame, but for me, I appreciate its art and its classes, and that’s unfortunately all I can commend.

Despite its difficulty, there’s no denying that Buildings Have Feelings Too is a lovely little game. It oozes personality, with quick-witted lines of dialogue and a premise unlike anything else you’ve played before. If you’re expecting a true city-building sim, you’re probably going to be disappointed. But if you pick up Buildings Have Feelings Too expecting a quirky puzzle game, you’ll have a great time.

As an action game, Feist succeeds on numerous fronts. Its visuals are gorgeous, and cleverly incorporating environmental elements into combat adds an interesting layer of complexity. However, inconsistent difficulty balancing and frame rate problems are glaring issues that belittle the game’s strengths.

Ultimately, Fallen Legion Revenants is one of the worst games I’ve played in some time.

Circuit Breakers is incredibly good fun. It might not entirely scratch my gaming itch but if you’ve got a love of arcade action or you’re after a pick-up-and-play game to dive into for a few minutes at a time, Circuit Breakers is absolutely the time-waster for you.

The direction in art and story is the high point in RIOT – Civil Unrest for sure. It helps depict these events, and teach the player about them – most of them I’d never heard of, but now I feel like I’ve learnt a bit about each. It’s grim and effective in that regard, but its gameplay really lets it down. RIOT – Civil Unrest‘s captivating art style and audio design is worth paying a visit to, and the game has some great ideas, but poor UI design, buggy AI and gameplay glitches really dampen the experience.

Ultimately, Blackwind is very much a budget experience. If you go in knowing what to expect however, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Its combat is competent and engaging, there’s a solid upgrade tree to work your way through, and solving puzzles to explore its environments adds a little more variety to the mix. Its environments lack any real excitement, however, and it’s missing a spark of innovation. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t provide enough entertainment for those looking for some basic action.

Breached is a game that tries to make its story cryptic enough to keep the player interested in replaying it, but its gameplay is too shallow and dull to make replaying seem worthwhile.

Fun-loving, colourful and jam-packed with a random selection of well-known franchises, I really wanted to love Funko Fusion. Indeed, there's a lot to like, and exploring its worlds (and finding its absolute mass of collectibles) is plenty enjoyable enough. It just puts too much emphasis on combat, and fighting your way through hordes of enemies time and time again soon gets tiresome.

With a short run time of only around two hours, it’s a shame much of that time is spent flapping about, trying to figure out what to do next. The puzzles are a real downer, taking away from the player’s ability to invest in the world and truly enjoy the atmosphere. Taking everything into consideration, Creepy Tale‘s full asking price on the Nintendo eShop is perhaps a bit steep. But if you can pick it up on sale, it’s probably worth a play through for its atmosphere alone.

With its generic gameplay, drab visuals and lack of modes, Sonic Wings Reunion is a real disappointment. This isn't a bad game by any means, but it does nothing to excite, besides having a wealth of pilots to choose from.

As far as party games go, Everybody 1-2-Switch is one of the best we’ve played in recent years. Whether you’re simply going head-to-head with a loved one or gathering the whole family together, the minigames here are bound to have you laughing and guffawing your way through them. The variety is excellent, and even the ‘worst’ games in the collection are so silly that you’ll be grinning from ear to ear. At just £25/$30, it’s an absolute steal, too.

If you're after a VR game that's fun in small doses but has lots of long-lasting appeal, then it's quite easy to recommend Time Carnage. The action's a little repetitive to consider playing through more than a few stages at once without it becoming to feel like a chore, but it's an accomplished title nonetheless.

As far as platform games go, there are much better titles out there than Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia. It’s let down by uninspired visuals, and a combat system that just isn’t fun. If you’re a fan of the Dreamworks series, then you might get a bit more joy out of it, but for everyone else it’s a rather humdrum platformer. It works, but that’s about it.

It has some good ideas and interesting features, but it doesn’t feel polished enough to impress. Basically, it feels like it needed more time in development.

The power you feel upon becoming a half-man, half-wolf monstrosity in Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is its saving grace. There’s nothing else out there that offers a similar experience. Sure, it gets a bit repetitive, but you’re a freaking werewolf, capable of picking up a grown man and ripping his head clean off. Boss fights are a highlight, too, actually putting your combat skills to the test, unlike the majority of battles where soldiers are thrown into the arena like lambs to the slaughter. Like its protagonist, Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood has many sides to it that are all rough around the edges, but it’s not totally devoid of charm.

If you’re a fan of Bakugan, there’s no doubt you’ll get a kick out of Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia. It’s a great-looking game, and seeing those huge beasties in battle for the first time is quite a thrill. But the game’s dull and repetitive combat quickly loses its excitement, and the fact you’ll be looking forward to completing a mindless side quest simply to get a reprieve surely tells you all you need to know.

It’s hard to recommend NASCAR 21: Ignition, even if you’re a die-hard NASCAR fan. There’s just not enough content here to warrant the price tag, especially considering that the experience at the core of it can be described as decent and nothing more. This is perhaps a good base for Motorsport Games to work from, but until then, you’re better off sticking with the better, and now a lot cheaper, NASCAR Heat 5.

Planar Conquest… probably isn’t going to sit well with you unless you’ve already amassed a serious number of hours into these types of games before.

Despite its few issues though, Shred It! is wonderful little game that’s hard not to love.

Had The Game of Life 2 been sub-£20, it’d be easier to recommend. But its asking price of £30 feels far too steep for what’s included here. One game will last only around 30 minutes, and since you’ll see the same random opportunities and job titles come up again and again, you’re probably not likely to want to keep playing. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of the board game, wait until it’s on sale. It’s enjoyable in small doses, but not at RRP.

It should be fun playing a game that puts players in control of Raziel and Kain one more time, but this 2D action adventure wastes the opportunity. Legacy of Kain: Ascendance has an intriguing story which is accompanied by good voice acting and a solid soundtrack, but its gameplay is repetitive and often downright messy.

Aerea‘s story is great, the concept is lovely, but the execution doesn’t hit the right note. It’s colourful, full of bombastic music and character, but lacks depth and fluid gameplay mechanics.

As slick as Solar Shifter is when it comes to its style it just can’t be recommended when it comes to the gameplay. It’s a shame as the Xbox One could really do with some solid shoot ’em ups to help fill up the online store.

Despite its problematic narrative, Shadwen is a very unique game that breathes new life into a genre that hasn’t seen much development in a while.

If Valkyrie Drive -Bhikkhuni- sounds rather crazy, that’s because it is. And that’s why it astounds me how tedious it manages to be the majority of the time.

At its best, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted delivers the kind of jump scares and edge-of-your-seat tension the series is known for. But, minus a VR headset, it’s not a great way to experience Five Nights at Freddy’s, even factoring in the bonus games and the additional lore it imparts. Given that you can get the first three Five Nights games on Nintendo Switch in their original, superior incarnations, it’s hard to recommend Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted to anyone but FNAF completionists.

There's a solid racing sim experience at the heart of Rennsport, but at the moment it fails to truly impress as a package due to a lack of content and a rather sterile single-player campaign.

After some updates, Redfall may well become a Game Pass must-play, whether you like to play alone or with others. But right now, while you can have fun with it if you grit your teeth and give it some leeway, it's very hard to wholeheartedly recommend. While some issues here are likely to persist even once the title has been polished up a little, such as the world feeling too empty at times and skill trees being underwhelming, it's the technical problems that are the stake to Redfall's heart.

Disappointing, that's the best word to describe Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown. Its handling is solid and it has a large open world filled with a variety of events and activities for you to explore, but technical issues, poor visuals and other frustrations just bring it down.

Inspired by Turtles in Time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants certainly plays like a blast from the past. After Shredder's Revenge, you'll likely find its gameplay too basic, however, and it fails to impress in other ways, too.

Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection bundles up four games that are all varying degrees of bad, with Bubsy 3D being the worst of the lot. It is cheap, however, and has extras that fans of the bobcat will no doubt appreciate. Make of that what you will.

Loading Human is definitely worth a look, as it does offer something unique and the story is certainly intriguing, but it remains a long way from being a must-buy – at least until its inexplicably unreasonable price drops.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for a serious table tennis game then this isn’t it; VR Ping Pong sits firmly in the casual gaming genre, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Hunter x Hunter Nen x Impact is a fast-paced and accessible 2.5D 3v3 fighting game that fans of the franchise in particular might want to check out. Well, as long as they're happy either playing with friends locally or digging into its single-player modes. When it comes to matchmaking, it can be hard to find matches, and when you do, there can be issues that spoil the fun.

Pixel Piracy is difficult to get into: there is a lot to be learned and lots to remember; namely getting to grips with the vast inventory system and mastering how to keep the crew in check.

At its most frustrating, I Want To Be Human is at its best… the intense, demanding platforming was superb.

An exact middle of the road kind of game that could have been something great for the genre if the execution was better implemented.

There are good ideas in Super Dungeon Bros, such as the inclusion of challenges, the Call of Duty-esque upgrades, and the team-work centred dungeon-crawling. Where it falls down is at the basics: good, satisfying combat and challenging gameplay.

It does what it sets out to do - scare you silly - rather well, and without resorting to cheap jump scares to boot. But with its short length and limited replay value, I'm not sure if it provides value for money.

It’s a tough game to sit through – and not just in a “it deals with challenging subject matter” sort of way. It’s hard to shake the feeling that you’re having someone’s gross beliefs about their twisted ideology shoved down your throat. Its initial premise had me hooked at first, but the bait-and-switch of subject matter does not make for a pleasant experience.

Described as “a British Twin Peaks” on its Steam page, The Isle Tide Hotel falls desperately short of its promises. It has some interesting moments, sure, but the overall storytelling just isn’t good enough to ever truly capture your attention. This certainly isn’t Wales Interactive’s worst game – there’s still a lot to like – but with its premise of a mysterious cult holding so much potential, it’s perhaps one of the most disappointing.

Doctor Who: The Edge of Time has flashes of excellence and, if you’re a hardcore Doctor Who fan, you’ll get something out of it. But for a show that’s had this long a run, there’s really nothing remarkable about Doctor Who: The Edge of Time.

By no means is No70: Eye of Basir perfect, but coming from a little-known developer, there’s a lot to be applauded for an ambitious first major project. It looks beautiful for one, with gorgeous lighting effects that bring every area to life, and great audio design that really complements the game’s atmosphere.

It’s the frustrating sort of hard that comes about because of poor mechanics rather than elegant design. Despite your demon powers, the rules of this particular fight club start off by declaring that they’re going to be totally different for you and your enemies.

Ultimately, it’s hard to recommend Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed to anyone but the most ardent of action RPG fans with a taste for Otaku culture. While its premise is genuinely interesting, as are the storylines that stem from it, the dated visuals and archaic combat will be big hurdles to overcome for most. For those who can see and work past them, however, there’s some fun to be had, albeit littered with some frustration. It’s just a shame that more hasn’t been done to bring this game up to today’s standards.

Despite its few narrative drawbacks, Uncanny Valley remains a genuinely creepy and interesting indie horror experience, and one that should be applauded for its unique consequence system.

While it can be a little ham-fisted with its messaging, Silent Hill: The Short Message is a suitably dark and disturbing experience that certainly captures the look and feel of Silent Hill. Those who dig into it will find that it offers an interesting take on how these stories can occur outside of the actual town of Silent Hill, too. In any case, for the price of free, it’s hard to complain about a short horror experience that is as good as (or better than) most of its ilk released at a cost.

South Park: Snow Day is, ultimately, a huge disappointment. This is so far removed from The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole that it really shouldn’t be considered to be related to them in any way. Sure, there’s a glimmer of trademark South Park humour here, but it’s not enough to make the repetitive, dull and painfully scrappy gameplay any more enjoyable. This is a snow day you can safely sit out of: stay home and play Stick of Truth again instead.

If you’re desperate for a sleazy point and click adventure on Switch, you might get some enjoyment out of Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry. It’s certainly not unplayable. But as point and click games go, its lack of a compelling story and poor puzzles relegate it to the bargain bin. Larry Laffer may be back, but he’s going to need better moves if he wants to attract the attention of 21st century gamers. You can only ride the coattails of past success for so long.

I’m finding it hard to recommend Anima: Gate of Memories to anyone outside of diehard fans of the IP and I don’t know a single person that falls into that category, so I can’t really recommend it to anyone.

I think I just really wanted Fimbul to prove it had more to offer. It’s not a must play, but it’s a game that, if presented to you as a player or spectator, is worth charging through.

Mighty No. 9 had an incredible amount of potential. The pedigree of talent behind the project justifies fans’ expectations for a platformer that is full of personality and high-quality action. This game has neither of those things; sure, it works, but the game feels completely lifeless. Characters lack the charm and depth that they need to be memorable, and the story is underdeveloped and plain.

Violent, vulgar and crude, Carmageddon: Max Damage is downright offensive and all the better for it. And with a highly entertaining gameplay loop that gives you a great degree of freedom, it’s a blast from the past that occasionally puts a foot wrong but is easily forgiven.

Had each character not felt so alike, and if the game’s combat system wasn’t quite so punishing on your thumb during extended bouts of play, Shing! could have been something quite special. As it is though, it’s still a good game, and one that fans of side-scrolling beat ’em ups should definitely check out. Its colourful visuals and challenging gameplay are an enjoyable combination, but one that’s best consumed in small amounts. Otherwise, your right thumb will never forgive you.

What Pixel Gear lacks in depth and length, it makes up for in fluidity, simplicity, and fun.

If you’re the patient sort, chances are you’ll have a good time with Balan Wonderworld overall. Costume management is clunky, but you’ll deal with it in order to find the secrets hidden within each world, and you won’t be too perturbed by the eagerly respawning enemies and repetitive Balan Bout sequences. For most players though, everything combined will probably prove to be a little too much. Balan Wonderworld is a game that’s capable of bringing out both delight and dismay in its players, though it serves up a little too much of the latter at times to be easily recommended.

Even though it’s arrived nine years later than planned (it was cancelled and later resurrected due to the 2011 Japanese earthquake) this is a step back for the Disaster Report/Zettai Zetsumei Toshi series. There are a few highlights, but Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories has so many rough edges, broken mechanics and frustrating, counter-intuitive elements that it’s anything but memorable.

With a running time of five hours or less, Silver Chains provides an evening’s worth of entertainment for those seeking ample scares and little more. That is to say that it’s enjoyable, but not exactly rememberable. It stands out as one of the best indie-developed post-P.T. horrors, but as the credits roll you’ll still be lamenting the loss of Kojima’s potential horror masterpiece. At least Silver Chains is a complete game, however, available at a price that won’t send shivers down your spine.

I’d have liked to have had more fun with Table Manners, but its purposefully-awkward controls ended up being just too awkward to bear. It’s a balancing act, and sadly I feel like developer Echo Chamber Games has missed the mark. It should be silly and entertaining – and it is, for a few minutes – but it quickly devolves into frustration. Maybe involving some friends might make it a bit more enjoyable. But by yourself, Table Manners just isn’t much fun.

Bullet Witch on PC is little more than it was all those years ago on Xbox 360; an adequate third person shooter with some good ideas but flawed execution. Here, it's bundled with all the additional missions and content that arrived post-launch and has better performance, but it's undoubtedly dated.

Forever Forest feels like an early access game; it looks and sounds a treat but there’s disappointingly little joy to be had here. You’ll initially enjoy treading the game’s green spaces, and swapping your character’s mask out for a more impressive, and lethal, piece of headgear will raise a smile. But with no meaningful goal to power through the tedium towards – and since the game theoretically goes on forever – you’ll quickly lose interest. Lovely as it is to look at, Forever Forest leaves a lot to be desired.

Overall, Party Hard is not a game you need to play. There are some fun moments, sure, but predominantly it is boring, which is a cardinal sin when it comes to serial killers.

Textures looks incredibly stretched and muddy even on the highest setting and animations are clunky and stiff.

Silver Chains succeeds because, rather than piling on the terror, it leaves you to dwell on the thoroughly unsettling situation you’re in.

Most players will probably blast through Redout: Space Assault in just a few hours. It’s a game that doesn’t try to do anything special, but it provides enough entertainment, particularly if you enjoy some arcade-style space-shooting action. And for less than a tenner, that’s fair enough.

A game of extreme peaks of troughs. At times it’s dreadfully boring; other times it’s wildly exciting. It doesn’t want to make your life easy, but then throws so much resources your way that being downed is trivial. It looks great, but it has a lot of bugs that will only make you able to view the game as ugly. Like Marmite, Generation Zero will dramatically split opinion. But it’s not just a matter of taste – Generation Zero‘s glitches and ill-implemented mechanics are just as much to blame.

If you’re desperate for a snowboarding or extreme sports title and you don’t mind putting in the time, Mark McMorris Infinte Air will likely quench that thirst, but don’t expect to be racking up points and hitting perfect lines even after many hours of it.

Divide‘s curious narrative and enigmatic characters can only do so much; for every genuine moment of intrigue there are a hundred other moments to be spent aimlessly wandering the endless, grey corridors, desperate for the whole thing to just end.

Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot really should not have been a standalone release; at the very least it should have been bundled in with the superior Wolfenstein: Youngblood. There are glimpses of potential here, but it’s lacking nearly everything that makes Wolfenstein fun. Gunning down Nazis in a virtual reality mech might sound like a lot of fun on paper, but the reality completely misses the mark.

For its low price, there’s plenty of gameplay on offer; it’s a game that will keep you playing for a long time to come.

All in all, VEV: Viva Ex Vivo is quite a conflicted game. It gives the impression that it wants to be quite a laid back, almost zen-like experience, yet it’s frustratingly challenging. It’s also as clear as mud when it comes to explaining itself, revelling in throwing science jargon at you to the point where it overcomplicates matters; it’s essentially quite a simple survival game.

Krinkle Krusher is a simplistic and generic tower defence game that is made worse by its use of its imprecise physical controls.

Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition is an important game that’s worth experiencing. It’s just not a particularly good one.

If you’re a more casual RPG player, there are likely enough issues to be prohibitive. Altogether, though, if Krai Mira looks like something you would enjoy, there’s a good chance that you will. It’s no masterwork, but Krai Mira has a solid foundation, and with continued support and updates, has promise. In its current state, however, its experience still feels unfinished.

With two different endings, Those Who Remain is worth playing through all the way at least once to find out how the story ends. But with so many issues, it’s hard to find the motivation to jump back in to reveal that second ending. There’s a small bit of horror and well-crafted atmosphere on offer, but it’s short lived – and there’s definitely better games to play in the genre. Maybe give it a miss, at least until the technical issues have been (hopefully) fixed.

It’s a shame that Trulon: The Shadow Engine lacks a lot of polish, because at its core, it’s a pretty enjoyable experience.

If you’re a fan of side-scrolling beat ‘em ups, have an open mind when it comes to humour, and don’t mind the odd bout of tedium, you’ll probably like Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn quite a lot; just like me. Technical issues do pull it down a little though; just be aware of them, and its ability to offend, before you buy into it.

With the side-scrolling beat ’em up genre currently going through somewhat of a revival, it’s a shame that Samurai Riot: Definitive Edition disappoints. It’s unique in the space and genuinely does have some good ideas. But when it comes to the gameplay, it just can’t compete with the likes of Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Shredder’s Revenge. If you really like the game’s setting and art style it might be worth taking a gamble thanks to its budget price, but chances are you’ll find it overly repetitive, as well as a bit dull and frustrating.

After two decades in development hell, Captain Blood has finally seen light of day — but it probably shouldn't have. Its controls and gameplay are rooted in the past, but its problems stretch far beyond feeling a little old-fashioned.

PC just isn’t the right platform for a title like Guards.

There are no redeeming features to be found in Fallout 76, and I’m not even sure if it can be saved. Technical issues just make what’s a boring and soulless experience at its core into something that’s simply more of an abomination.

Zorro The Chronicles is hard to recommend. There are few, if any, redeeming features here, and anything that’s partially enjoyable – like the simple combat with its humorous finishing animations – is ruined by a dreadful camera. There are far better family-friendly adventure games out there and so, even if you or your kids have a love for Zorro, you should spend your money elsewhere.

Vane is a unique experience and for that in itself Friend & Foe should be applauded. As an artwork, it’s compelling. But as a game, it’s recommended with strings attached: this is a harsh, uncompromising world and you’re going to need to struggle to survive.

It’s too bad that its production values and general lack of polish keep it from ever achieving a proper moment of emotional transcendence… [but] there’s enough earnest desire to show you the world through a glass darkly that We Are Chicago isn’t without value.

Action News Heroes is a mediocre shooter that is brought down even further by its annoying music, frustrating rating system, and lack of replayability.

It’s clear that Saint Kotar has tried to draw inspiration from the likes of Broken Sword. From the way its exploration works to its dark themes and eerie environments, it really wants to be a point and click game worthy of cult status. That’s highly unlikely to ever happen, though. While interesting at times, its story is too poorly told to ever be truly enjoyable. And the ugly visuals, awful voice acting and budget interface mean most players are not likely to stick around.

Cyber Clutch: Hot Import Nights has all the ingredients to make it an enjoyable cyberpunk-inspired car combat arcade racer, but ultimately it's a let-down. The handling is awkward, there's no real sense of weight or impact, and on PS5 Pro performance is terrible. Things could be turned around with an update or two, but until that happens this is best avoided.

Having a modern-day video game with some of the most beloved cartoon characters from our youth is certainly a novelty, and at worst, that’s exactly what Nickelodeon Kart Racers manages to be. But at best, it’s a solid entry into a rather stagnant kart racing genre. It may be lacking a bit of personality and polish, but zooming around the track as Tommy Pickles or Patrick Star is a lot of fun.

At the end of my time with MagNets: Fully Charged, I never felt the thrill I get from the very best video games, or even pushed through the rough to find a diamond. I found a game with limited appeal, repetitive gameplay, basic mechanics, and a pointless attempt at a story. It’s never a bad game, but it’s never a good game either. I remain indifferent and somehow, that is both the best and worst thing I can say about any game.

Even with fairly decent driving gameplay and a somewhat unique career progression system, Moto Racer 4 simply doesn’t do enough to wow veteran racing game fans or woo in newcomers who might be tempted to put pedal to the metal.

Gensou Skydrift isn’t a terrible racing game, but its awkward controls and iffy drifting mechanic heavily reduce the fun that can be had from it. Add into the mix poor visuals and a dire campaign, and unless you’re happy to race online you should probably avoid it. Hopefully the option to remap the controls will be delivered in an update, because that would definitely make it more of an interesting proposition.