It’s certainly not a bad roguelike if you’re into the genre. The content there is engaging enough to keep you going for a while, just don’t expect it to be the kind of game that’ll be in your regular rotation for years to come.

The part that felt they didn’t fit in with the rest of the game was the reliance on stealth. There are numerous stealth sections throughout, and I felt they were put there to make it feel more ‘gamey’. There should have been more faith in the words as the gameplay, as they are the strongest aspect, and the stealth is just a distraction. Clearer maps to work your way around also would have done a lot for the exploration and prevented some frustrating backtracking.

Football Manager 2024 is inevitably an end-of-cycle game. SI's passion meant that even this year, we got a number of decent innovations, some surprising like the improvements in animation. However, the outdated engine and gameplay patterns, more and more easy to read, are still there with them. You'll play it and enjoy it, but don't necessarily expect a memorable release.

If you’re just in this for the puzzles, then The Talos Principle 2 is a fantastic puzzle game that, despite its difficulty, carefully crafts itself to be accessible to everyone with innovative mechanics that all interlink in ways that will keep surprising you. Taking the game as a whole package though, the narrative greatly drags it down both in terms of the quality of the writing and how it’s implemented as part of the experience.

In all, Thirsty Suitors is an incredibly strong basis for a game but needed so much more to ensure it was ready to play. From a technical standpoint, there is still a lot of jank here, and while it doesn’t crash, everything feels low-budget and not quite finished. This is seen most in the facial animations, and in a game that’s all about emotion it really hurts it that everyone hits you with a blank stare. It feels like such a missed opportunity. For everything that Thirsty Suitors does well, it feels that a little bit longer investing in the game could have turned it into something great.

My Time at Sandrock is easily the best life-sim of 2023. While it’s not perfect, I haven’t been so immediately grabbed and long-term addicted to a game like this since I first played Stardew Valley, and it’ll be in my regular rota for the rest of the year. It puts its best foot forward with the production and building side of things, then keeps you coming back with seemingly endless side quests and well-developed characters.

Even with a sometimes bland Career mode and the currently disappointing state of Moments, EA Sports WRC is a game every rally sim fan should play. Driving model, realism, variety — it's the pinnacle of Codemasters' experience in the genre, plus the official World Rally Championship license. Rally has finally come home.

Unfortunately Rogue City begins to malfunction almost as often as RoboCop himself. The framerate stutters on Xbox Series S, audio drops in and out, and textures pop in and out during cutscenes. I had one enemy, clearly dead, just stand bolt upright in the middle of the room. It's not really a showcase for Unreal Engine 5 on console.

UFC 5 is the strongest MMA game ever released, and I’m excited to see where the team takes it online. But if you’re not interested in fighting other players, there’s probably not enough meat in the career mode to fully recommend it right now.

Alan Wake 2 is the best Remedy Entertainment game, and is a strong contender for one of the best games of 2023.

Ghostrunner 2 is the definitive cyber ninja experience – an unapologetically cool power fantasy that’ll get your adrenaline pumping in no time.

Even in this subpar technical state, Cities: Skylines 2 is a potent and captivating sandbox that’ll see the hours fly by as you engage with it. It’s a worthy successor to the title that dethroned the mighty SimCity and will define the genre for the years to come. Official as well as modded content will surely supply players with even more toys and tools in the future.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 won’t do anything that blows you away, but it doesn’t matter when a game plays, looks, and sounds as good as this. It’s an improvement over the first game and proves how polished and slick a sequel can be when the developer is free to revisit and refine on top of solid foundations. Now we just cross our fingers and pray that Insomniac gets an 18-rating for its Wolverine game because it just might pull it off again.

Sonic Superstars is the modern 2D Sonic game I never thought we’d get. It updates the visual style in a way that feels true to the classics while bringing in top-tier level design that allows the core platforming mechanics to shine. In a week when both Sonic and Mario are launching new games, it’s a good time to be a 2D platforming fan.

On a technical level, Star Trek: Infinite has been a stable experience for me, though not without some rather annoying hiccups that I’d describe as typical Paradox launch shenanigans. Some missions were bugged and could only be completed by reloading to previous points in the game due to the wrong conditions being given, for example. Nothing in terms of visual glitches or crashes on my end, though.

Total War: Pharaoh delivers the series’ best campaign experience yet, becoming its new gold standard for customization options and mechanical depth, while improving on its predecessor’s battles. It manages to translate the fascinating and mysterious history of the Bronze Age Collapse into video game form in a great way, though budgetary constraints are sadly visible when it comes to scope: How beautiful would the addition of the Assyrians and Mycenaeans in the east and west or actual trade routes on the map have rounded out this game. If Total War: Pharaoh has proven one thing, then that Creative Assembly Sofia has earned the chance at working on something bigger next time – this kind of quality campaign deserves a grander stage.

There’s the usual minor improvements in visuals, and EA Sports finally implemented full crossplay. Vision passing sometimes makes passing easier, though most matches move so fast that you don't benefit from the player tags and icons anyway. You can fire coaches in franchise mode, too. That’s about it for new additions, though. Franchise mode and other existing modes remain largely unchanged, and HUT Moments is the only new mode this year. NHL 24 is a solid new entry, despite some balance issues, though it feels like it’s time for a bigger, more ambitious refresh.

It’s a shame, as there’s real potential in Mineko’s setup. It has a strong blend of the fantastical and mundane, and that’s refreshing in a genre where “fantastical” usually just extends to “you can run an entire farm by yourself and not die.” The art direction is also bolder and more striking than we usually see, and it goes a long way in creating a unique, mildly eerie atmosphere that helps sell the island’s mythology.

I wanted to like Ty 4 a lot more than I did, and while there is some fun to be had with the game, I found myself wishing from start to finish that it was the 3D platformer game I pictured in my head when somebody said Ty the Tasmanian Tiger.

Despite a bit of jank, and a bit of outdated game design, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Legend of Nayuta, and I would recommend it to anyone who’s even remotely interested.

Baten Kaitos 1 + II HD Remaster is a great way to play this pair of classic games, but there are a few caveats. A few of the new visual features might make the game lag, and the original English dub is missing aside from during the opening cinematic – very peculiar. But despite that, if you’ve ever wanted to play Baten Kaitos, I have no doubt that this is the best way to do it.

What distances it from Persona – and it really is similar in many ways – is the detail and design of the monsters, as well as the real-time combat. There are a huge number of systems at play here, combos, special moves, elemental effects, partner skills, and special skills all work together to help you take down what can be fairly difficult bosses. The downside of a condensed story is that you won’t be as close to the characters by the end but it did what it wanted to do effectively, and I’m excited to see what else comes from the team.

A man might enjoy the story, but I am not a man, and I did not.

I hope Ubisoft continues to make city-based Assassin’s Creed games because it’s refreshing to play something this tight and focused after the more bloated, RPG-focused AC games, but the developers need to update it for modern tastes. From the tech powering it to the structure and base mechanics, I’d love to see where the series could go with a proper overhaul. I’m not asking for a completely different game, but the physics and parkour controls feel drastically dated, and it’d be nice if they could find a way to let us infiltrate buildings beyond making us search for keys like it’s Doom.

Optimization on PC seems a tad problematic. Aside from a challenging Thrustmaster pedal set-up, the frame rate is on the low 70fps with an Nvidia RTX 3080 while resorting to a relatively low resolution of 2560x1080. Even at such low resolution, the game features aggressive dips between cutscenes and traffic at the start. This may be something to watch out for for those not playing on Xbox Series X, where performance is solid.

Once again, it’s a testament to the quality of Baldur’s Gate 3 that, through the bugs, difficulty level, and awkward UX, my friends keep coming back, and we all still can’t wait for the next lengthy, multi-hour session which will inevitably end with another dead merchant. It always does, and at this point, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Lamplighters League is intriguing from the first second, sucking you in with a great art style, fantastic voice acting, a jazzy score, and supernatural mystery. It manages to keep this going by offering compelling gameplay systems that give you lots of freedom and feel immensely satisfying to use. For me, this combination makes The Lamplighters League the best turn-based tactics game of 2023.

Separate Ways is the DLC we didn’t know RE4 remake needed, and it’s up there with the best DLC content we’ve ever had for a Resident Evil game. It’s a bit of a shame that this side-story of the original game was carved out to be paid DLC, but when the package is this good, it’s hard to moan. If you enjoyed Resident Evil 4 remake, then Separate Ways is an absolute essential.

Even though the feeling on the pitch is only slight different, not all of the new gameplay additions hit the mark - but even so, there's something that makes EA Sports FC 24 feel like the freshest games in the series, and certainly a good way to leave FIFA behind.

I can see why the episodic structure is appealing, but the choice to release each episode two weeks apart is a huge misstep. There is a reason why people binge-watch series. They want to know the ending while they still care. Releasing The Expanse in this way only punishes the early adopters, which are the ones that are paying the most for the worst experience.

Cyberpunk 2077 has always been good at pulling you into its world, but Phantom Liberty grabs you by the collar and pushes your face right into the grimy, piss-soaked alleyways.

MK1 is a pretty brilliant package. It doesn’t have the same swathe of content that Street Fighter 6 launched with earlier this year, but what is here shines. It’s gory, brutal, and incredibly kamp. This is a great step forward for a franchise that was at risk of stagnating. This is a modern Mortal Kombat klassic.

I’m left struggling with how to talk about The Teal Mask. Like the main game, it is one of the most enjoyable mainline Pokémon games ever produced, but the series’ old problems keep rearing their ugly heads and dragging the experience down from both a technical and gameplay standpoint. I love this DLC and I love Scarlet & Violet, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

I really wasn’t expecting Motorfest to be that big of a step forward for The Crew, but I’m pleased that I was wrong. All the major aspects of gameplay have been massively improved from its predecessor with the racing engine, events system, and reward loop each being better than before. While The Crew 2 only attracted a niche fanbase because of its unique gimmicks, Motorfest has a much broader appeal.

Despite its similarities to so many other soulslike games, it does enough to be different. For hardcore soulslike players, there is the promise of a new story, and alternate endings among the difficult boss fights. For newcomers, Lies of P does a good job of easing you into the action. It hasn’t made me more interested in soulslike as a genre, despite me obsessing over it for the last few weeks, which I guess goes to show just how different it is. Despite how dark and rainy it may seem, there is a genuine goofiness to it that is rare to find, and the promise of a unique story for each playthrough will see it stand out.

Starfield is a Bethesda game in every way. If you’re going into it expecting something like No Man’s Sky, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s Skyrim in space, which is exactly what I hoped it would be.

It was the little things that prevented me from claiming Sea of Stars as perfection. Without spoilers, one character does something VERY naughty, that ends in some very bad things happening, and everyone seems just okie dokie with it after the fact. No one brings up it was their fault, just because they’re good in battle, I guess. However, it is hard to criticize Sea of Stars, as it does what it intends exceptionally well, and it delivers something we’re all familiar with, in a very refreshing way.

If you like previous Strategic Mind games, this one delivers the exact same experience, which in turn means that if you didn’t like any of its predecessors, there is nothing interesting for you here.

This system neatly combines with the tactical turn-based combat to create a truly unique experience that has both the thrill of intense fights where every maneuver and shot counts as well as the power fantasy of being the maestro of a whole orchestra of war. Inspired by Dune, Cantata doesn’t only feature three unique factions to play as, but has the planet Shoal itself interfere with the battles on its surface. Thanks to a single-player campaign, full multiplayer support, and a map editor, there is more than enough content for players here to explore. A grandiose debut for the grand tactics genre.

HoloCure is made with genuine passion for both Hololive and game design as a whole, and it shines through with detailed combat, an in-joke around every corner, I just can’t stop playing it. With 38 playable characters from all three branches of Hololive and more on the way as the game develops, it’s a delicious rabbit hole that you’ll never want to leave.

It’s well worth a look for any wrestling or JRPG fan. With WWE and AEW mostly focusing on making simulation and sports-based titles, WrestleQuest has the kind of creativity and innovation that makes the wrestling world so special, and we desperately need more of it.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what it could be. Some tweaks to the formula would lead to a much stronger game, though the game at its core is a fantastic and innovative idea, and gave plenty of new concepts to excite me.

There is something amazing at the center of Stray Gods, but with the glaring technical issues, it’s hard to recommend it if you want to play a game without yeeting your PC out the window. It is incredibly unoptimized, draining the battery on my Steam Deck in less than two hours, and making the system almost too hot to handle. Even with the great art and the amazing characters and story, the musical aspect isn’t strong enough which is a major distraction when this is the game’s main selling point. I hope that someone tries this style of game again, it could truly be something incredible.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is a fantastic return for a classic franchise, though it can feel a bit thin on the ground in terms of content. It’s in dire need of a .5 entry, like For Answer or Verdict Day. Don’t take that as a condemnation though – it needs a .5 entry because we need more Armored Core 6. This is a fantastic base for the future of Armored Core, and after playing this I need to see that future as soon as possible.

Immortals of Aveum is a solid first effort from a brand-new studio. It’s not without its troubles, of which there are many, and it absolutely does not land half of the concepts it’s trying to pull off, but there’s a glimmer of a great game in there. If nothing else, it’s worth playing just to see somebody do something different in a triple-A space that so rarely innovates.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is exactly what we’ve been missing and the best game of 2023 so far.

Dave the Diver’s unusual genre blend creates an infinitely satisfying and addictive gameplay loop, which, thanks to the constant influx of new mechanics and game content, feels fresh and rewarding until the very end.

Look, this game isn’t going to be for everybody, but as a cute little idle clicker that has you acting as either an angel for good or a demon for chaos, it’s a lot of fun to have running while you do other things on your PC.

So is it any good? Well, it’s better than I expected at least. The basic gameplay loop is that you get a dirty car into the shop, you wash it, clean the interior, and send it back to the owner. That’s about it. It’s a brainless busywork simulator, like PowerWash Simulator but not quite as fun. For killing the time when you don’t want to think though, it gets the job done.

As an introduction to metroidvanias, Disney Illusion Island is fine. At its very best, it is only barely serviceable, and there are far better games to start with if you want to dip your toes into the genre.

There are some exciting puzzles and well executed point-and-click elements which add to the story and encourage you to explore the town. But there are also some fighting sequences and quick time events, which seem completely opposite to the themes it’s going for. There are also a huge number of collectibles, which in general add to the world-building, but feel punishing as many are time or chapter specific. However, for these fumbles the story is so incredible that it’s easy to look past them, and enjoy one of the best stories gaming has to offer.

The DLC improves the whole package, and those who were left a little wanting by the base game will find that it delivers the game they were perhaps envisioning. An incredibly soothing experience, with aesthetically pleasing shapes and calming music. Don’t expect much more than this and you’ll enjoy yourself.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a brilliantly made action platformer. The action is as solid as the platforming, and it all comes together cohesively. It doesn’t do anything groundbreaking, but solid level design and varied gameplay between levels keep things feeling fresh. Combine that with the solid gameplay mechanics, and you have yourself a winner. Rift Apart isn’t going to blow anybody away, but when a game is this well-made, you can’t help but play with a smile on your face.

Even with the empty worlds and the uneven approach to difficulty and puzzles, Pikmin 4 won me over with its charm. Sure, I miss the stronger emphasis on strategy, but roaming the dense woodlands and distant shores of a familiar alien beach with Oatchi and a crew of stalwart root vegetables is rewarding in itself. I just hope Nintendo leans into that exploration element even more in the next Pikmin.

Anyone who likes F1 Manager 2022 will love F1 Manager 2023. Anyone hoping for a steep jump in depth and mechanical crunch in the direction of Motorsport Manager will not find what they seek in this game either, though – the changes made in this year’s iteration won’t go far enough to get you on board.

It leaves me in a position where I just don’t see what all the fuss is about. I don’t actively hate it, and there are plenty of worse games that have come out this year, but “better than Forspoken” isn’t exactly a glowing compliment. There is something worthwhile in Remnant 2, but every time I started feeling it, something else would tick me off and snatch that feeling away.

The Queen’s Gambit Chess does its best to motivate you to play chess, and to keep playing chess. But whether this will transfer to real life, where Beth’s vision and markers on the board don’t exist is hard to see. However, it will certainly make you feel like a genius even when starting out, and that is as much as you can ask for a chess app.

Lost Signals is pretty much more Oxenfree, but better. That might seem disappointing from the sequel to something that promised to revolutionize adventure games, but the refined storytelling, intimate character moments, and creative presentation are, in this case at least, just as good as – if not better than – a brand-new idea.

I also experienced more than a few bugs throughout my 12 or so hours with the game. Some were small, like having to alt-tab in and out to interact with some elements, and others required a full reset of the game. Fall of Porcupine has the bones of a great game, but is unfortunately saddled with the flesh of merely a good game. It’s worth playing, if only for the lovely art style, but it probably shouldn’t be at the top of your priority list.

We Love Katamari was brilliant on the PS2, and it’s still brilliant now. If you’ve not played Katamari Damacy before, rectify that right now.

Pikmin 2 might not be a stone-cold essential like the first game, but it’s still brilliant and well worth playing in 2023.

Your spaceship has had parts break off and spread across the alien world, so you have to work with the Pikmin to get them all back. Most of the experience is filled with breeding new Pikmin and preparing your army for big expeditions, which may see you traverse the land while carrying a part for your ship, or doing battle with a tough boss monster.

Aside from all this romance games live and die on the cast, and there is an excellent cast of characters to choose from. No matter who you choose, you get to know everyone around you, and they bond together throughout the year independent of you. Each piece moves like fully formed people adding to that perfect feeling that what is happening is real. Jack Jeanne is the pinnacle, and evolution of the genre beyond simple dialogue trees. It’s a turning point for romance games, and we are unlikely to see a change so drastic for a long time.

The biggest sin is the pacing. Scenes are 10 to 30 seconds long, and then you make a new decision. There is loading between each one that makes it monotonous and boring. The idea at the root of it seems good, but the execution is too poor to carry it out. Harmony makes the classic error of telling me how much I should care about the characters without giving me any reason to.

You have to come into Sunshine Shuffle with the right expectations. You’re here to listen to an enjoyable story while a basic game of poker happens in the background.

The Murder of Sonic is a quirky addition to Sonic’s library, if not anything particularly ground-breaking. It might not make up for Sega trying to sell us the main menu and cutscenes for Sonic Origins separately, but it’s a nice gesture.

While there is a lot of strategy there is also a lot of cheese that makes it slightly less enjoyable. Stalling strategies are incredibly powerful, but leaning on them means that fights are long and slow paced. In particular, the Elemental Walls can block even the most powerful attacks, and the AI doesn’t play around them. Despite some balancing issues, and the hundred elemental reactions you have to memorize, Cassette Beasts is a game you will want to try out, even if you’re not a Nintendo fan.

Despite stumbling a few times in Lloyd’s route, Trails into Reverie is an impressive game that takes the series into emotionally and narratively deeper territory. The battle system might be familiar, but Reverie brings out its full potential – even if you aren’t patient enough to try and collect every character. The Trails series felt like it was stuck in a rut for a while, but Reverie imbues it with new energy and potential and promises a brighter future ahead.

How much you get out of AEW Fight Forever depends on what you like most about wrestling games. If you’re a solo player who likes to take these TV characters and create your own matches and stories, then you’re not going to find any of that here. However, if you want a wrestling game you can boot up to play on the couch with your mates, then Fight Forever is a blast to mess around with, it just doesn’t have quite as much variety as WWE’s offering.

Ghost Trick’s surprisingly enticing story gradually pulls you in, and its unique approach to puzzle solving remains fresh throughout the roughly 10-hour run time. The script is brilliant, and the updated visuals and soundtrack are equally impressive. Even after 13 years and with minimal changes, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is one of the smartest, most enjoyable narrative puzzlers around.

If you’re looking for a different take on an Alien video game or even just a solid squad-based tactics game, then Dark Descent is worth playing. Taking your squad on missions and slowly exploring the environments is great fun, especially when the game leans into its strengths and gives you a hostile maze of Xenomorphs to navigate. However, most things surrounding that gameplay fall flat, and you’ll want to simply rush through them to get back on the field.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is one of the best farming games ever made, remade, with quality-of-life features that it desperately needed. It’s beautifully faithful to the original, sparking nostalgia in all the right places, while refining the experience. This is the most relaxing game since Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and is essential for fans of farming and life-sim RPGs.

Final Fantasy 16 is an uneven game. There were moments – like the Platinum Games-tinged Eikon fight against Titan – where I was convinced that this was one of the best things I’ve ever played, but for every section as good as that, there are hours of drudgery. If you don’t think MMO-style fetch quests are the pinnacle of game design, you’re probably going to feel the same way.

If you never bought Sonic Origins, then Sonic Origins Plus is an essential addition to your gaming library, and proof that some games are timeless. You don’t have to have nostalgia for the originals to enjoy these four games, it is almost impossible not to enjoy yourself while running through the zones. My issue is that the additions don’t give much more than the Premium Sonic Origins, and that Premium content should have been included from the start.

Park Beyond is a fabulous theme park builder with vibrant aesthetics, rock-solid controls and UI, and satisfying mechanics – and thanks to the power of impossification, the game has a much longer staying power and more variety than many other representatives of its genre. The game does exactly what it promises: It lets you build your wildest dreams.

In conclusion, F1 23 has few standout innovations compared to last year’s game, and is lucky enough to come along with a genuine revolution in the sport.

It doesn’t help that my PC struggled to keep a consistent frame rate and no amount of fiddling with the settings really helped. This, admittedly, isn’t super uncommon with pre-release games on PC, but it seems like some of the Steam reviews have said the same thing, so it may need just a little bit more time in the oven.

What’s left is a game with a weird amount of dodgy fan service, an almost nonexistent story, a SRPG battle system that feels largely hollow, and a dicey frame rate on Switch. I’m sure, somewhere, there’s somebody for whom this is the perfect game, but that somebody is certainly not me.

It’s clear from the outset that Double Stallion, the developer behind Convergence, has a lot of passion for Ekko and the League of Legends world at large. Every moment, story beat, and line of dialogue is carefully crafted, and with an art style as gorgeous as this, it makes for an experience that will please just about any League of Legends fan.

Planet of Lana does many things right, and there are certainly parts you’ll remember, it just doesn’t do too much different. It needed something more to subvert your expectations, but when the inspiration already did this, it’s harder to take it further. Still if you haven’t played these three games, you’ll definitely enjoy your time, or even be wowed by what you find.

A whimsical soundtrack, interesting style, and fun world, can’t pull Ravenlok out of the category of ‘not fun to play’.

These minor niggles aside, it really is an excellent story. It’s tightly woven with clues to the eventual conclusion woven throughout from the very beginning. I thought there were glaring plot holes at first, but these are well wrapped up by the time the epilogue comes around. If you like games that challenge you with twists and turns then I can’t recommend it enough. It uses the interactive elements well, but could have tightened up how right and wrong answers are handled.

It doesn’t do anything special, but it is a solid story that will keep you intrigued with some tense decision-making. I captured my imagination enough that I wanted to see all six routes, with not only the good but the bad endings too. It’s a cliche, but Otome fans will enjoy this one, though it doesn’t have enough of a mystery to attract those outside the genre.

Diablo 4 treads familiar ground in its story and characters, but its combat and gameplay systems shine where prior games fell short. I wish its single-player experience was a little less hostile, and I worry for its longevity in its current state, but even at its lowest lows, it manages to match or outpace its predecessors in almost every conceivable way. [Review in Progress]

From the mechanics to the characters, and even the visual flourishes that adorn every attack, Street Fighter 6 is peak fighting games. This is a traditional, grounded fighter that feels entirely modern and fresh thanks to the Drive Gauge and everything that surrounds it. No mechanic or meter feels wasted, everything in Street Figher 6 has been honed to a fine point. This will be the best fighting game of 2023, and perhaps even of the generation.

Showgunners doesn’t let a clutter of subsystems distract it from its main focus, which is to deliver a series of intense and varied turn-based battles in an atmosphere that neatly fits the genre – it’s not revolutionary and you won’t find yourself replaying the game again and again. Those looking for exactly that, however – a well-defined and very competent experience – will get their money’s worth.

Despite my complaints, I would happily blast through Warhammer 40k: Boltgun all over again. There may be moments of frustration, but it doesn’t undermine the sheer joy of ripping through fast-paced levels with weapons that gods fear and metal music in the background.

Miasma Chronicles skillfully merges intense turn-based tactical combat, stealth mechanics, and rewarding exploration, dresses them up in a compelling world and narrative, and makes the result accessible to a broad audience.

Peridot may find its fan base of Tamagotchi nostalgists, but as it stands the technical issues are too much for me to recommend it to anyone. Until Niantic changes these fundamental issues, there is no way for people to play Peridot in the way the company envisions. And it could be good. The general gameplay of raising and playing with your virtual pet is one that has been successful in the past. I’m just not sure how the breeding aspect will sit with fans.

It’s not clear what the future holds for the Xenoblade series, but the director, Tetsuya Takahashi has confirmed that the story that started in the first game is officially finished with this DLC. Whether it will go the route of starting a brand new story in the same universe – like what Kingdom Hearts 4 appears to be doing – remains to be seen, but if this did happen to be the final thing we ever got in the Xenoblade franchise, I would be thoroughly satisfied. Future Redeemed is the perfect end to a perfect story.

Personally, I’d rather play a co-op shooter that’s flawed and interesting than the third iteration of a hyper-polished template – Far Cry 2 will always be more interesting than Far Cry 6 and the Breaking Bad man can’t even change that. Redfall has a personality all of its own. If Arkane stands in front of a mirror and takes stock, it will probably see all the scars and imperfections, too, but it’s better than seeing no reflection at all.

Shadows Over Loathing is the best possible answer to the question “What if wizards could summon cheese?” It’s a fantastic RPG that is as funny as it is engaging, and it leaves you wanting more every time you play it.

DNF Duel is a great fighting game, and works uniquely well on Nintendo Switch, even if the characters do appear to be a tad low-res at times. Well worth your time if you want either a casual fight on the go, or a way to practice away from your setup.

Live A Live is a piece of JRPG history, and the remake is the best way to play it. While there are a few obtuse puzzle and pacing issues, these are more indicative of the time it was originally released than the remake. If you don’t have a stomach for heavy story, maybe leave this one, but it's one of the better narratives you can enjoy.

The story is told wordlessly giving it a powerful punch for those who take the time with it. It’s worth checking out if you are proficient at 2D games, but beginners to the genre will likely only be met with frustration.

If I’m making it sound like a mess, it’s not. Great care has been taken to make all of these systems work together beautifully, pulling the best elements of each system into a game that is very challenging, yet satisfying to play. Gameplay has a nice sense of momentum that stops you from getting bogged down in drawn-out strategies, but there’s still plenty of room for careful planning and clever tactics.

The keyword of Age of Wonders 4 is “choice” – the game provides a lot of it, expressed in all of its mechanics. Lending itself to near unlimited replayability, especially once the ambitious plans for expansions and new content are realized, Age of Wonders 4 is a natural evolution of the series’ classic formula and will have min-maxers and role-players alike suffer from a severe bout of one-more-turn fever.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an improvement on Fallen Order, and while the highs are high, much of the game can feel monotonous or unsatisfying. One thing is certain: Respawn is inching closer than ever to making an excellent Star Wars game.