The main point of a grand strategy game is to make interesting decisions and eventually conquer the whole map. Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV remembered the latter and forgot the former. Thin diplomacy and little control over battles — the two main aspects of this game — mean that you rarely feel like your actually in charge of your kingdom. It's not an obviously bad game, it's just surprisingly dull. It’s a coin-operated puppet show, and one you’ve probably seen before.

Dry Drowning delivers the right mood in an atmospheric detective visual novel. It highlights nail-biting player choices that brilliantly impact the story and gameplay. Dry Drowning wraps up an interesting story with various elements, pushing art and sound to elevate the mood of the narrative. All these features work hard to deliver, but despite its strong character, a clunky UI and difficult text throw a wrench in this visual novel experience.

A thrilling ride through the gentle and the macabre. Little Nightmares II is carefully packaged with a heartrending punch, tender flashes and bitter twists – all the while expanding on the already captivating mythos of the series.

While some may have passed on this game whether for console or preconceived reasons, this re-release package deal provides a great opportunity to jump back in. All the variety and creativity of 3D World returns on a portable console, featuring an Odyssey-like bonus mode that takes all the fun from the base game and experiments even more. It's not the definitive Mario experience that other consoles have featured, but there's no denying the amount of flexibility this game provides with its seemingly endless design spectacle, now complete with a chance to live out everyone's fantasy of Nintendo-esque Kaiju battles.

Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is the perfect continuation of a genre. The same developers who helped bring classic adventure titles to life are the ones who brought this title to life, with the help of some Kickstarter backers. It's a nearly perfect game for those who played adventure titles in the past or players who enjoy exploring dense, witty, and mysterious worlds (with a splash of fantasy along the way).

Main Assembly is a joyous mixture of a lot of individually strong elements to make one big promising game. The game has everything to offer for a range of skill levels and has hours and hours of content to dive into. The multiplayer section of the game is a delight to hang around with your friends. You can truly create as much as your heart fancies and barring the slow driving mechanics, there isn't any other feature of this game that may discourage you from playing more!

The benefits of putting all in one is that nothing is left out. An obvious assessment to many, but it creates an unforeseen consequence of having the clearly better portions be a reward for braving a lesser product. If Märchen Forest were simply Episode 3 with an additional introduction period, this would be a more consistently good game. Though to some extent my own expectations with it, given my experience with the previous iteration, also likely affected the outcome. As it stands, it's 13-15 hours of a good game just after 7-10 hours of a mediocre game. If you can wait, there's definitely some fun to be had. Just take your time; no rush.

The first hour or so of Werewolf the Apocalypse - Earthblood had me intrigued. The story wasn't great, and there were plenty of issues, but I enjoyed the combat. After a while, the game became a slog with repetitive mission design, and no real incentive to do anything other than engaging in one-on-one combat had me longing for the credits to roll. Typically AA games have something to set them apart, but sadly it is not the case in Werewolf the Apocalypse - Earthblood.

I can't in good conscience recommend Silver Chains. It's not for a lack of effort; I'm sure that the development team worked very hard to ensure their vision. But it's a small package, and the Nintendo Switch isn't the best way to play the title. If you're looking to spend time in a fright-filled mansion that has an evil resident, there are other ways to scratch that itch. If you're looking for a scary game to play while safely tucked under your blankets, this would do the job for a couple of hours.

When working, Hitman 3 hits new heights for the franchise. Every map is perfectly designed and is fodder for photo modes. Gameplay remains tight and stealth focused, benefiting from the impressive new hardware of the current-generation consoles and high-end PCs. With this said, my enjoyment was constantly staled by persistent server disconnections. As an individual game, Hitman 3 is the best in the franchise. Played as a trilogy, this is one of the best deals in gaming if you can sustain a server connection.

Cyber Shadow is a game that wears its influences on its sleeve and brilliantly weaves together the best elements from the 8-bit era of action-platforming titles. It is able to tell a story with more heart and depth than usually possible through this specific aesthetic. With a soundtrack that sounds like it came out of a lost Nintendo cartridge, following Shadow's journey is a thrilling ride with edge-of-your-seat combat hiding behind every corner. The game's difficulty may turn players away, but that has always been the case with older games such as Castlevania or Master Blaster. You may perish a lot, but the game is so good, you're going to want to keep trying to see how it all plays out.

Appropriately, this adventure of rebirth was the product of the glory from the past. Metroidvania fans will feel right at home with Phoenotopia: Awakening, a modern answer to the 2D action-adventure born from the passion provided by the genre. Some may seem surprised at the volume of content available in a seemingly simple indie game. Yet passionate indie developers around the world have shown that with enough work, anything is possible, even triumphantly fun games such as this one. It's all that an adventure should be: you look back at all that you've done after so long and realize that none of it was wasted.

All in all, I feel like Academia: School Simulator is a great game. It's very casual and laid back but also delightful. If you're looking for a relaxing atmosphere and a great simulation game, this may just be it for you! It is leaving early access very soon and will be officially launched, so exciting. I've enjoyed this game since it first came to early access in 2017, and I'm thrilled to say Squeaky Wheel has nailed it.

If you're looking for a more casual and story-driven experience, Heaven's Vault will scratch that itch and then some with it's nebulous, well-written narrative and memorable characters. This game fits well on the Nintendo Switch platform and looks great, too, so if you've wanted to slow things down and enjoy an epic story, then what are you waiting for?

Olija is an exceptional game with style and substance in heaps. While certain aspects of the combat aren’t necessary, they can make everything you do feel a lot cooler. The story itself is a quiet romance and a dramatic supernatural tale at the same time, even if the ending is a bit flat. The soundtrack is brilliantly weird, nimbly flicking between disparate genres while consistently enhancing every interaction. All these things come together to make a game that is playful, heartfelt, and satisfying. It is a generous game in more ways than one, and I can’t wait to play it again.

Redout: Space Assault filled the void that I was missing when it came to 3D space shooters. It's simple enough to scratch the itch, but not so small that I plowed through it in one sitting. I wish there had been more responsibility over my ship when it came to ammo or fuel supply, but considering the title originated on Apple Arcade, the lack of this mechanic is hardly surprising. The story beats were predictable but well-written, and I will always be happy with a spaceship skin that reminds me of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Overall, Figment's mobile incarnation is a worthy version of the game. The accessible format can garner a new host of fans. The franchise shines not just because of the music and art, but for its lovely characters and message. A sequel is on its way, which will hopefully reach in, improve and involve gameplay and puzzles as deep as the themes it presents. It's a must-play for those who love meaningful game OSTs and art-core puzzlers.

Colt Canyon is a refreshing experience for the start of 2021's gaming calendar. Rather than focusing on a deep story, the game gives you a hectic but rewarding gameplay loop, with a combat system that has enough variety to keep you hooked for hours on end. This game going for so cheap feels like a highway robbery.

Whether bitter or sweet, high school will always be memorable. The strengths of Fujiwara Bittersweet comes through the energy and expressiveness of its characters. They make the experience work, and unless you find them unsatisfactory, there is a lot to enjoy going through their stories, especially for free(!). However, from a structural standpoint, there's much to be desired in terms of variety, with a lot of things recycled over or stretched out needlessly. Buckled with some minor technical shenanigans, it's not an immediately recommendable visual novel. But above all, the wholesome vibes (and it being free) are more than enough to at least take a peek. And Ichigo.

SouthPAW have done a great job of making a really solid roguelike with interesting mechanics, a surprising amount of depth and a ton of visual charm. The balance still needs a little work and the text could use a little more proof-reading, but with plenty more updates planned well into 2021, this is certainly a game to keep an eye on.

Jet Kave Adventure is a fine platformer, but it’s rarely more than that. It looks very nice for the most part, and the sense of humour is rather endearing, but the gameplay is fairly basic and often misses the opportunity to take it a couple of extra steps to make it memorable and exciting. It has some genuinely fun moments, though, and may be worth a punt if you’re a big fan of classic platformers.

Rhythm Fighter is a rock-solid rogue-like that offers a surprisingly massive amount of variables for each of your runs. From characters, to weapons, to abilities, to enemy variations, there's something for everybody to enjoy. Everything culminates in a really enjoyable title that is worth your time.

Whilst very brief and slightly obsolete in its gameplay, Sunlight provides an ambitious and rich narrative experiment, offering keen insight into concepts of impermanence, sensation and mortality.

Charge Kid is a bite-sized idea that could turn into something great with some additional work. At this point, it's great for the price if someone is looking for a challenging platformer, but for players on Switch or PC, you'd be better off picking up something fully-formed, like Celeste.

All in all, this is a great game! It is jam-packed with story and lore, features classic 2D pixel art and 8-bit music too. It has brought classic genres to a new light in fun and interesting mashups that vary in difficulty especially with the 'glitches'. My only complaint about this game is the mislabeled controls on the PC version.

Ori and the Blind Forest was already a fantastic game, but the Definitive Edition smooths out the edges and adds in extra content that slots in comfortably and adds to both the story and the gameplay. It looks brilliant, it sounds amazing, and it plays smoothly and satisfyingly. Be sure to pick this up if you’re a fan of the Metroidvania genre and fancy a challenge in an incredibly appealing package.

Cyberpunk 2077, within the grand scope of its interesting setting and lore surrounding Night City, is breathtaking. The plethora of missions, side activities, and characters are worth exploring. The vast openness of the game world offers choices and freedoms that have an impact on the story its self as well as personal levels of consciousness. When the game doesn't suffer from its various technical setbacks, it's addictive and fun. More often than not, Night City tells an interesting story that's worth reading to the very end and coming back to. Even with the base game, the amount of content, deep storytelling, and the engrossing environment is well worth the admission price as long as it's on PC or next-gen consoles.

Monster Sanctuary is a genuinely impressive Monster Collect-a-thon, offering far more customization and tactical variety than its competitors. All other aspects of the title fall spectacularly short, however. The story is abysmal, the environments have nothing interesting to discover, the Metroidvania elements are incredibly basic, and the level design lacks any notable features. If you’re here for the monster battling, you are likely to have a lot of fun with Monster Sanctuary.