With most remakes or remasters, the result is only ever going to be as strong as its foundations. With such an exquisite Fares blueprint to work from, the remade Brothers can’t help but carry on that great family tradition.

Much as Sea of Thieves took a while to hoist its masts to full sail, Skull and Bones may eventually vindicate itself. Ubisoft would do well to slough away some of the cruft, zero in on the naval warfare and inject more life into its scenic but largely empty outposts.

Not everyone will warm to Akka Arrh’s ascending difficulty level but at a mere €20 for the mind melt of this PSVR2 version, it’s cheaper than hallucinogenic drugs and probably less risky too.

The heart of Ghosts of New Eden springs from the tender relationship between Antea and Red, the pain of their separation and the desperation of their situation – achingly conveyed by the two voice actors, Amaka Okafor and Russ Bain. It is this coupling that holds Banishers together, amplifying the difficult decisions the plot forces you to take.

Mario vs Donkey Kong 2024 has a time-worn charm polished by Nintendo’s acute attention to detail and its mid-price probably earns it a review star more than it deserves. Juxtaposed with the furious invention of recent full-priced stablemates such as Super Mario Bros Wonder or Kirby’s Forgotten Land, it’s a bit of a relic.

As a multiplayer co-op game, it fares marginally better but it’s hard to shake the sense that you’re witnessing a lot of sound and fury that signifies little. With a handful of notable exceptions, the mission quests blur into one another with their bullet-sponge enemies and dearth of game-changing upgrades in the skill trees...This hollowness at the core marks Suicide Squad down as a missed opportunity given Rocksteady’s pedigree and the vibrant personality on show in the down time between the lack-lustre shootouts.

It captures the futility of war in its endless cycles and the overwhelming feeling that you won’t be able to save everyone who crosses your operating table.

The heart of Bahnsen Knights, is therefore the conversational back and forth, elevated by sharp exchanges crafted by the team behind related pulpy visual novels Mothmen 1966 and Varney Lake. The allegorical plot may not take us very far but the flavoursome characterisation of this freakish group justifies the price of admission, which on most platforms is less than a tenner.

The overall standard remains high throughout and Capcom is to be applauded for its treatment of these remasters. Visually, they’ve been considerably groomed compared to their originals on DS and 3DS. Ultra-fans will be also amused by the art gallery, soundtrack compilation and meme-maker, plus the ability to jump into any episode of any case at will.

Everyone’s a bit anxious, the pacing is all over the place and humour is in rare supply. Buffy, this ain’t.

Once you temper your expectations – it looks more like a last-generation title than the hard realism of Half-Life: Alyx – Vertigo 2 packs enough thrills to justify its mid-range price tag.

Electrician Simulator turns on the part of the lizard brain devoted to making pleasurable connections but some of its design decisions have been badly wired and it feels a little too unplugged from reality.

The Last of Us Part II is a landmark videogame despite its troubling attitude to violence. It constructs a nihilist vision that weaves a compelling story while offering little redemptive hope for the human race. It gets under your skin, not always in a good way, and cannot be forgotten...The remaster changes none of that and therefore, in its own way, is inessential.