Before playing Chronicle: Runescape Legends I had absolutely no interest in the game at all but now that I’ve tried it, I definitely want to continue playing. The game feels completely different to Hearthstone and that’s what makes it feel so refreshing.

Though not significantly difficult from its predecessor and prone to bouts of repetition, Space Run Galaxy remains a wholly refreshing take on the tower defence genre. Indeed, the focus that Space Run Galaxy places on speed and immediacy makes for a furious effort that is as challenging as it is rewarding.

It’s extremely challenging and offers plenty of ways for you to keep challenging yourself with simple but precise mechanics. It would be nice if it looked better and the framerate stayed at 60 consistently but those problems don’t hurt what Mighty No. 9 is trying to do. What hurts Mighty No. 9 is that it’s not Mega Man. So if you want Mega Man, keep playing Mega Man. If you want a game in the spirit of Mega Man, Mighty No. 9 will definitely satisfy that desire.

Sol trader has some issues that’s for sure, yet under is rough visage contains a game of surprising freedom and depth. It’s a strategy simulation that has enough in it to appeal to many different playstyles and thus players. The focus on information and relationships has set this apart from the pack and created something that is well worth playing.

What makes Heart of Iron IV work is the fact that although it’s moulded around just ten years of history, it offers so much historical background and variable outcomes, and as such packs a mightier punch than might be at first expected. It’s complicated - overly so at times - and may not offer the same amount of replayability as other genre similars, but one thing is certain: there is rarely a dull moment.

The only real disappointment in the new package is Retro Revenge for being a boring endless runner rather than the arcade beat-em-up the advertising suggested. It may be a pretty mindless package overall, but it’s not completely without brains.

Hitman’s latest episode has some impressive moments, but Marrakesh feels limited compared to the sprawling, interconnected layouts of Paris and Sapienza. It’s part of an increasingly great game and still provides some solid stealth action, but don’t be surprised if you’re not coming back to this one for more than a few tries.

A turn-based tactical effort that manages to deftly marry cheeky style with small scale strategy, TASTEE Lethal Tactics might not be the most groundbreaking effort around but its charm and accessibility make for a compellingly fun prospect.

Will it have the legs that games like Team Fortress and Counter-Strike have had? No idea, but Blizzard certainly has an impressive track record when it comes to supporting their games over time. For now, though, I can say that this is the most fun I’ve had with a shooter in years, and if you’ve got even a passing interest in team-based shooting, you should absolutely be playing it.

Battleborn ended up stretching itself too thin by trying to include too many modes.

Blood and Wine is an incredible send-off for an excellent game.

As a tower defence shooter hybrid, Excubitor has the potential to be an adrenaline-charged, strategic masterpiece. However, a number of aspects have let the game down and this left me feeling disappointed.

While Sengoku Jidai’s historical accuracy and tactical focus made a strong first impression, I found that the more I played and understood its mechanics, the less I enjoyed it.

Doom is tightly and elegantly designed, with fantastic enemies, compelling gameplay, a wealth of things to discover, surprisingly subtle storytelling, and an emphasis on fun.

Despite performance quibbles and a repetitive endgame for the campaign, Total War: Warhammer is an exciting strategy game that stands on its own. The four factions offer unique playstyles with compelling strategic options, and the hero units, fantastic creatures, and monstrous enemies make for spectacular battles that are almost as much fun to watch as they are to command.

Despite the shoddy graphics and performance, and a story that could use polish in its execution, Homefront: The Revolution has a solid foundation. It’s challenging and the mission variety in a pseudo open-world game is the best I’ve played in a while. It kept me engaged for its 22 hours. At the end, I felt satisfied. I hope to see another one with a bigger budget behind it.

Stellaris is simply wonderful. If you enjoy grand strategy games then you’ll love this. If you don’t then this could be the one to change your mind. If you’ve been too intimidated to try the genre before now, then here’s your ideal starting point.

Kathy Rain is a delightful little adventure game to add to the massive pile of fun adventure games released in the last couple of months.

Nadeo have succeeded in turning people who normally wouldn’t care about breaking records on a track into drivers that do.

N.E.R.O. has the potential to be very deep if you can connect with it and fully understand it.

With a multiplayer that has as much nuance and depth as each ship you can manage, Armada is well worth your time if you’re a fan of the 40K universe.

Episode Two is better than the first, both because its featured level is a more varied, interesting location, and because it eases the uncertainty of the episodic release and sets a precedent for excellence going forward.

A top-down, turn-based tactical battler with a solid core and not much content to go around it, Special Tactics has the beginnings of something great that it can’t quite parlay into excellence.

While the idea of a Telltale miniseries is a welcome and novel one The Walking Dead: Michonne suffers because there’s already too much Walking Dead in the world, and also the invulnerability of Michonne means you never worry about her the same way you did Lee or Clementine.

We can’t remember the last time a game disappointed us so much. Petroglyph are a gifted RTS developer filled with industry veterans, and their last title Grey Goo was superb. 8-Bit Armies though is not.

Battlezone 98 was a classic and Redux is a pretty good offering to old fans and new players alike.

Banner Saga 2 may be just the next part of Stoic’s ongoing tale but basically everything has been improved.

Villagers is a promising game that doesn’t deliver on any of its potential. Its mechanics don’t provide much strategic depth and its lack of content means that there’s no reason to come back. I can say, in some faint praise, that it’s not broken, but it’s so completely dull and unremarkable that I can’t think of any reason to recommend it.

If you’re a Souls fan, you should play this game, and if you haven’t yet dug into this nightmarish world, Dark Souls III is an excellent place to start.

Save your money for Far Harbor.

Like Way of the Samurai 4 before it, Way of the Samurai 3 isn’t much of a looker and arguably feels a touch dated when it comes to certain elements of its interface.

In a month full of high-quality adventure games from some of the most respected names in the genre, relatively unknown newcomer Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet could be my favourite of the lot. It’s incredibly funny and charming, with a lovely kid’s cartoon feel to it.

I can’t give Deponia Doomsday an unequivocal recommendation. Its protagonist is a major drag and a lot of its humor is straight-up lame. But by the same token, I can’t deny that it drew me in and made me care by the end. It’s a totally solid adventure game, and if you prefer a little extra bite in your old-school adventures, then it will be right up your alley.

Sheltered is unquestionably inspired by Fallout Shelter but it’s much more challenging and complex. It’s too complex for its own good and a lot is left to chance. It could also use more action.

If the prospect of slowly picking apart the mechanics of giant stealth sandboxes is exciting for you, then Hitman should provide a wonderful experience. But if you’re a one-and-done type of player, then you should look elsewhere.

What should have been a glorious marriage of Binary Domain and Smash TV in Ares Omega ends up as something far lesser on account of its many flaws. While a serviceable roguelike shooter ticks away at its heart, there simply isn’t enough here to recommend Ares Omega to anybody with a hankering for a well-crafted, progression focused blaster.

In many ways Shardlight is a typical WadjetEye adventure game - low-res graphics, common sense puzzle solutions, wildly imaginative, well written and hugely entertaining.

I’m confident in saying that Superhot is absolutely worth spending two hours on and, in fact, is among the best two hours any game can provide right now. Whether or not it’s worth $25 is a matter of how you value your time versus your money.

Combat is simple but fun, and once the game brings a tameable animal companion in then Primal becomes entertaining enough to last you many hours. Unfortunately stealth gameplay is more problematic as enemies blend into the environment and Hunter Vision is useless, but worse is that the constant need to hunt and gather resources takes up the majority of Primal’s play-time and isn’t fun at all.

There’s a depth to the lore and world-building that you rarely see at this scale. But the level design is so constrictive and the difficulty so fierce that it’s a constant fight to have fun.

This game has made a very successful transition to PC. Its levels are well-designed employing interesting mechanics that make it challenging, yet equally rewarding to play.

All the same, there’s enough here to bring you back to Galactic Civilizations III and give you enough to enjoy a good few more hours with space battles and planet cultivation, and if that sounds like it’s worthwhile then the price might not put you off. Everyone else may want to wait for a sale.

Depicting the horrors of an asylum with animated pictures was a tender touch to sensitive imagery. Even the 3D animations conveyed moments with care. But the story is confusing and painfully disappointing and the translation errors make matters worse. So I can commend LKA’s efforts, but I can’t recommend The Town of Light.

The wonderful acting helps to sell the cool writing further, and although the aging engine really needs putting out of its misery it at least supports the game well. Finally on the gameplay side (remember that?) the QTEs have been much improved since Game of Thrones and there were a few good choices along the way. Now roll on Episode 2 to see if they actually matter.

Every addition that Snowfall makes is fun and adds a bit of variety to your city-building. But those additions are few, and even the more sweeping systems like road condition and heating don’t add any long-term strategic considerations to the game. Even the new winter cities are a mostly visual change. It’s tough to recommend dropping money on such an insubstantial expansion.

The original Pillars of Eternity earned much deserved high praise when it was released. The White March – Part II keeps those elements that made the game such a success, but also tweaks some of the areas needing improvement.

Street Fighter V is mechanically one of the best titles in the genre and possibly the best in this storied series, but it’s also lacking in single-player content to the extent that in places it feels unfinished. Multiplayer battling has practically endless scope on or offline in a game of this tactical depth, but I still can’t help but feel that doesn’t excuse the lack of solo activities or how key training features such as trials are missing for the first month after launch.

Unfortunately, its tower-defense half fails to offer compelling strategic options, and that lack of depth, compounded by the lack of content, keeps the game from having much lasting appeal.

If you like the idea of cruising around farmlands in a weaponless Half-Life 2-style buggy by all means pick up The Following, but don’t expect a smooth ride.

There’s no making up for a lackluster story that clearly pads the game length, unimaginative missions, or a weak combo structure, but Arslan: The Warriors of Legend could have been a much better experience had it not been marred with inexcusable framerate problems and sullied with glitches.

The ending will be a point of contention for some, but it all comes down to a perspective and regardless of that, you should play this game.

Clunky, frustrating and a world away from the series best efforts, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia limps over the finish line, completing a spin-off trilogy and closing the door on a concept that simply deserved better.

XCOM 2 is everything a sequel should be, keeping the things that everyone loved about the first game while changing things up as much as possible. Turning XCOM into a scrappy resistance force alters the sequel considerably, not necessarily for the better but certainly for an equally interesting and different campaign. The enemy forces and AI have been revamped considerably, making for a hugely nerve-wracking and yet satisfying time, and the sheer variety in missions is superb.

Defunct combines speed and exploration in a package that’s simplistic but engaging. The gravity functions lack a variety of uses but they’re necessary in nearly every situation, and there’s so many ways to engage with the game the way you want. It doesn’t have all of its screws tightened, but what’s there is packed with replay value.

Bombshell isn’t the worst game I’ve ever played, but it’s among the most dull and uninteresting. From its cheesy, late-90s alien blasting plot to its absolutely repetitive action, it’s tough to pull out any redeeming qualities. Even assuming its bevy of technical issues get ironed out, this one still isn’t worth your time.

It’s the best game to bear the Tomb Raider name, and the best action-adventure title I’ve played in ages.

As a RTS Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak doesn’t actually have much new, but it’s still one of the better releases for the genre in a long time. In many ways it feels like a modern Westwood classic, but most importantly it evokes the same feelings of complex strategy that you might have had when playing the original Homeworld games.

Zero’s not a bad game. The opening train sequence is one of the coolest parts of the entire series, and while the character swapping mechanic isn’t the deepest gameplay addition, it adds a sense of cooperation missing from the other games. But its poor pacing and excruciating inventory management problems keep its unique additions from having the impact they should. The visual upgrades and improved control options help to make revisiting it a bit easier, but its flaws stand out all the more now, a decade-and-a-half later.

Dragon’s Dogma is a great game that feels unique among fantasy RPGs thanks to its blend of mechanics and influences. Its flaws - repetitive quests and a somewhat aimless structure - don’t block out its enormous strengths. Its core combat is great, and fighting the game’s array of giant beasts is some of the most fun I’ve ever had in an RPG. And this PC version is absolutely the best way to play it.

For those looking for something unique and original, Tharsis definitely offers that up in spades. It’s not a game that can be played for hours on end, but you’ll certainly return to it time and again should you fall for its clever blend of roguelike and strategy board games.

Although perceptibly divisive in execution and theme, it becomes difficult to imagine an individual that would experience That Dragon, Cancer and not feel richer and better off for having been immersed in its bittersweet storytelling as the end credits roll. While some might be understandably put off by the slim pickings of traditional genre fare on offer here, That Dragon, Cancer staunchly remains as an experience that everybody should let into their lives regardless.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is a stealth game with Assassin’s Creed adornment. Its story barely invites you to understand more about Arbaaz Mir and Climax Studios completely fails at telling one, but if you are desperate for a stealth game, you will be challenged and fairly compensated for your time and money.

Blood and Gold is a mess of ideas that feels half-finished.

FIVE, at its core, is a competent action RPG with fun abilities and some original ideas. But with achingly slow opening hours, limited character progression, loads of meaningless loot, and an utter lack of difficulty, its appeal is limited.

It would be best to continue playing your favourite ARPG or MMO instead of giving time to this hybrid.

The Mean Greens is one of the simplest multiplayer games ever with about quarter the depth of the already puddle-thin Star Wars Battlefront, and yet for a quick blast now and again that type of game is totally fine.

HellDivers is one of the best multiplayer games of the year.

Just Cause 3 taps the pleasure mechanism that derives so much joy from watching complex structures crumble. Because the game gives you so many ways to interact with the world and to tether anything, blowing things up never becomes a chore.

It is complex, sure, and perhaps that will be off-putting for as many as it will be endearing for, but there’s an original game here - one that ought to appeal to fans of both spectrum of genres.

Life is Feudal has a lot of things going on in it. Between the comprehensive skill systems, the crafting mechanics, and the maintaining of self and relation with players around, there’s a lot of things that could have made Life is Feudal really enjoyable. The biggest problem it faces is that practically everything in the game is a tedious crawl.

It’s a solid entry in a series that’s been far too prolific, and while Syndicate is good, it’s tough to be excited about it.

While Star Wars Battlefront is by no means a triumph, it’s not a disaster either. It nails the Star Wars atmosphere perfectly, with an incredible sense of spectacle and some of the most awe-inspiring moments in multiplayer gaming.

Sure, two armies clashing won’t have the same cinematic quality of a game from a bigger studio, but if you let your mind fill in some of the gaps you can see exciting, deadly narratives emerging in each play-through.

It’s clearly not perfect, but in a world increasingly dominated by time-consuming, social-life ruining games, it can sometimes be a lot of fun to hop back in time with a tight, ultra-responsive twin-stick shooter whose humble charms magnify in the presence of friends.

It’s a damn good real-time strategy game and a damn good StarCraft game.

With a solid blend of strategy and RPG elements, this game does a good job of putting you in your character’s shoes. It’s refreshing to find a strategy game with this much customization, allowing you to upgrade each character the way you want to, not simply unlocking a new, more powerful unit.

It’s a charming, lighthearted game of resource gathering and production. Unfortunately, it’s only really fun when things work smoothly and easily. Figuring out mistakes and solving problems - which should be the core of a good strategy game - are built around solving pathfinding issues, and Valhalla Hills doesn’t do much to make those problems more palatable.

The games weaknesses - spotty optimization and too much early focus on transporting materials - are overshadowed by its generally solid gameplay.

The final episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones story is the strongest since the first, with everything coming to a head, all your terrible choices coming back to haunt you, and a few major excruciating ones left to finish things off. However the lack of any real resolution robs the season of feeling like a complete game.

In many ways, Prison Architect feels like the ‘Theme Prison’ game from Bullfrog’s golden years that we never actually got.

Darksiders II is worth playing, but Deathinitive Edition is not worth the upgrade.

Wave of Darkness tries to separate itself from other games on the market by trying to do everything one might want to see in an RPG: deep item and spell crafting, open-world environments, tough encounters. All of these things are fine goals, but they’re all done better elsewhere.

You’ve got to work for hours upon hours to reach anything approaching competence, and it’s tough to recommend that investment to any but the most hardcore of space strategy tactical RPG simulation enthusiasts.

It really does feel like Fallout 3 with slightly nicer graphics and a few mods (like “homebase customization”) thrown in, and while Fallout 4 has everything that made the last game great it has all the weaknesses too, like a terrible inventory menu, stiff character models, interior locations requiring loading screens, and more. Fallout 4 is an amazing game that I doubt anyone will be disappointed by, but it’s not unique. And I still prefer New Vegas.

There is no doubt whatsoever that The Living Dungeon should have spent longer in the oven than the time that was afforded to it. Nevertheless, despite the fact that it feels like an Early Access title attempting to punch above its weight, The Living Dungeon still manages to provide numerous, if somewhat unambitious thrills in its hassle-free multiplayer skirmishes.

Rebel Galaxy has a ton of style and an incredible atmosphere that captures the weird little subgenre of space western to wonderful effect. But its repetitive combat and focus on trucking across the galaxy means that it’s not as exciting as it could be. There’s a lot to like, but you’ve got to work for it.

Coast Guard is a game that gets a lot of things right, but at the end of the day, feels rushed.

Anno 2205 has so much going on and makes all of your tasking varied and interesting. One game is three different building sims with real-time strategy naval battles peppered in and everything moves in a way that makes it compelling and addictive instead of overwhelming. It’s an ambitious improvement in a lot of ways over Anno 2070. Unfortunately, the technical issues keep it from being the perfect entry in the series that it wants to be.

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone may skirt the line between DLC and Expansion Pack by merely adding more of what was already in Wild Hunt, but gets away with it by being sizeable and awesome.

Let’s cut to the chase: Batman: Arkham Knight is a great game, but it’s not as good as Rocksteady’s previous two titles.

Crookz is a very enjoyable crime caper, and one of the most pleasant surprises of the year.

Vermintide is fast, furious fun, and its supporting systems do a great job of dragging you back in for just one more go.

The Park has solid atmosphere and pretty good scares, but it also has an unremarkable heroine and an inconsequential plot. It might be a decent curiosity if you’re looking purely for the video game equivalent of a haunted house, but its high price and short length make it difficult to recommend.

There’s lots of fun to be had in Devastation, but you need to be an old-school Transformers fan and pretty forgiving of a few major flaws.

Overall an immense disappointment.

WRC 5 is a completely competent, inoffensive racing game, but it lacks the features that have become standard in the genre. Whether you’re a fan of simulation or arcade-style racers, there are many better alternatives out there.

I appreciate what I saw in my time with Ancestory, but I can’t help but think that with how much it appears to use other popular card games for its foundation, it could have stood to have a bit more variety in key places. It is nonetheless a rather enjoyable time.