Berseria is in many ways just another Tales Of game. The combat feels familiar, the environments are non-distinct and the cooking system isn’t anything special or new. What carries this entry is its narrative, the characters, and how the game explores the consumptive and destructive nature of revenge as a motivator. It’s an interesting RPG story wrapped in decent, if not exciting, surrounding elements. An alright RPG I’m certainly glad I played.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a surprisingly fun and fair entry in the series well worth a look.

Ultimately, 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue has one purpose – to pave the way for Kingdom Hearts 3 – and it pulls it off incredibly well. Dream Drop Distance HD has a great story and some really cool mechanical ideas, but is let down somewhat by the limitations of the 3DS hardware it was adapted from. But 0.2 Birth by Sleep A Fragmentary Passage is just stellar. It gives the perfect taster of what to expect in Kingdom Hearts 3, while also being its own awesomely designed short-form experience. If we discount its smaller scale, 0.2 is probably one of the best instalments of the series we’ve ever had.

It’s this sense of ownership – coupled with an ardent, fervent familiarity – that’s soaked into my very core. So no, Dishonored 2 isn’t perfect… but it’s pretty fecking close.

ClusterTruck is a simple game, and it manages to flawlessly pull off almost everything it does. The sporadically iffy controls make the last level is a total pain in the arse bordering on the unfair, but with a one in 90 fail rate it just feels petty to even bring it up. With hectic play, visual flair and an easy to use level editor, I’ve never had this much fun being hit by a truck.

I walked away from Ladykiller in a Bind deeply unsure how to feel about the game, even though its positives probably outweigh its negatives.

It was only during my subsequent playthroughs that I was able to catch the game’s quiet understatement, and I’m so frustrated that I missed these the first time around. This is a game to be savored and treasured, but its blunt delivery and liberal use of codes and symbols only serve to sacrifice clarity.

Mafia 3 is a game that gets in its own way. The city is beautiful, the themes are mature and the story, writing and performances are all easily some of the best we’ve had in games this year, but then the incredibly repetitive missions, wonky AI and technical glitches all make getting to the meat a royal pain in the arse. I’ve never loved and hated a game simultaneously quite as much as Mafia 3.

Farming Simulator 17 is excellent, and has already become my number one go-to “Zen game”. If I’ve had a stressful day, or if I’m just feeling particularly anxious, I can stick Netflix on and quietly tend to my perfect little farm. With its attention to detail, wonderful environments and depth of simulation, if a quiet, relaxing time looking after a farm is something you’d be interested in, you’d be hard-pressed to find something that better fits the bill than this.

There’s something special about Shu. Though delightful, it’s not the graphics, the sculptured bones of its story, or even the titular character him/herself. It’s not the mechanics or the gameplay, despite a calm, intuitive system. The score is beautifully hypnotic, too, but no, it’s not that, either. While all of those things are pretty much fine and dandy as disparate entities in their own right, it’s the sum of these parts that gives Shu its uniquely whimsical magic.

Ultimately, Pokemon Sun and Moon feel like a familiar experience refreshed and renewed. I’m back in love with a series I’ve been treading water with for a little while now. It feels damn good.

Ultimately, Pokemon Sun and Moon feel like a familiar experience refreshed and renewed. I’m back in love with a series I’ve been treading water with for a little while now. It feels damn good.

It can at times be weak on overall narrative strength, but it excels at interpersonal stories about a believable group of twenty something guys driving their car down long unending stretches or road.

The Last Guardian is a beautiful experience that I have no desire to actually control again. If it released a decade ago I might have felt differently...I hate that such a beautiful game is so unbelievably infuriating to actually play.