Irreverence works when you yourself have that playful perspective too, not just as a set of jigsaw pieces that actually don’t make any sort of picture at all.

While the game does what it says on the tin, it doesn't add a wealth of new experiences or features to set it aside from previous Zombie Army titles…A few hours into the game... you do sadly get the impression that you've seen everything Zombie Army 4: Dead War has to offer.

While I didn’t love my time with Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, I appreciate the simplicity of its gameplay, with it undoubtedly offering fun in accessible bursts. Unlike richer, more immersive RPGs, there aren't any complex mechanics to get to grips with – you just get stuck in, the controls intuitive regardless of knowledge. This title won’t win awards, nor will it spark debates over the genre’s unique innovations, but it’ll offer some a means to while away the hours, lost in a sea of colourful monsters, which is sometimes all we ever really need.

Did we really, really, really need a cat taming minigame? And you already told me the story of Athia at the start of the game. Why am I now ‘learning’ it again at the end of the game, strolling from point to point, pressing triangle for exposition. It’s a gorgeous game, but God if it’s not like a minorly insipid make-up artist’s Instagram grid. Loads of things to look at but no actual meaning in any of them.

As a narrative-heavy game that settles you in the director’s seat to drive these characters towards their respective resolutions, it feels like INTERIOR/NIGHT forgot to finish the story. I mean it genuinely, this game just stops. I sat in the main menu for about 20 minutes trying to work out if I had fenced myself into an abrupt ending or if there was a giant “continue” button in my blind spot. I went back to what I thought were pivotal decisions and chose the opposite to see if that would change the paths, and it didn’t.

Once the game ended I felt underwhelmed. For something that looks this gorgeous and has such a confident sense of style, that feeling doesn’t translate to the actual gameplay. All I could think about were the missed chances of having this cute shadow frog interact more with the world or have an emotional connection through its adventure, rather than just constantly chasing an ever-changing endpoint that never really satisfies.

If you liked the original, then this mesmeric remake is gorgeous and suspenseful, and I imagine it’s ideal after the Fatal Frame series has lain dormant for so long. On the other hand, if your palette for horror has been spoiled with more modern hits in the genre, Maiden of Black Water’s atmosphere rises to the surface while its other dated aspects pull it back down

In spite of the fact that the adorable art-style (which looks like it was plucked straight out of a children’s book) is a treat on the eyes, and the accompanying music - although rather repetitive - is very pleasant, Minabo: A walk through life isn’t a game I find relaxing, but just rather boring. While other social simulator games like The Sims give players full control over their characters’ personalities and what they do with their lives, Minabo just sees every vegetable plod along at a painfully leisurely pace, achieving very little other than interacting with their brethren in the most basic ways and sprouting children from the ground. Despite being inoffensive for a short period of time, this isn’t the engaging new cosy game that you’ve been waiting for.

Funko Fusion feels like it was put together by a committee who didn’t understand the brief. Or fun. And the worst thing? I actually like Funko Pops. I have quite a few displayed around my flat. I was desperately hoping this would be a hit and give us another great action game to lose hours to. This could have been amazing, it could have been the proper mash-up of pop culture it first appeared to be. Instead it’s a vapid, forgettable release that has no idea who it’s for.

I desperately want to be able to recommend this game to fans of the genre, and when it worked properly, it felt wonderful to play. Even now, I kind of miss the world within this game because it evokes a great sense of place and time through genuinely lush pixel visuals. In the state that it’s currently in, I can’t do this. There were too many moments when I walked away from the game in frustration, not because of my skill level, but because the controls of the Sandfox weren’t responsive enough, or traipsing back through old areas created tedium.

As I came to the end of my time in Tamagotchi Plaza, it became an insipid place to roam - an existential nightmare where everyone is constantly happy, living in a cycle of benign pleasantries. The constant repetition only serving to chip away at my sanity, much like when I owned my first Tamagotchi as a kid, hearing it chirrup for attention until I shoved it in a drawer to die.

The biggest crime here is, oddly, the faithfulness to the source material. On paper it makes sense and it does evoke the same feelings as the films, but it makes for a very frustrating experience that ends up being a bitter disappointment. When the worst part of your shooter is the shooting, then something went badly wrong.

Buried underneath the messy narrative and the mundane gameplay, there's a good game in here, somewhere. But for the most part, The Medium is a game that I'm very happy to put behind me and never think about again. For any fans of horror, I would firmly recommend you give this game a miss.