The mix of highbrow story concept and complex first person combat is certainly reminiscent of Bioshock, but this churlish homage has nowhere near the same nuance in terms of either plot or gameplay.

A welcome novelty and throwback for long-time Yakuza fans, that offers everything they love about the series, although it’s held back by a rather underwhelming plot and too much fan service.

Arguably the best Monster Hunter clone ever made and while it’s not quite as good as Capcom’s series it does have some unique and interesting ideas of its own – despite initial impressions to the contrary.

An effective tech demo but it struggles to be anything else, not least because for the majority of the time it’s just a fairly vanilla climbing simulator.

One of the best PlayStation exclusives of recent years is an inspired mix of bullet hell shooter and roguelike dungeon crawler, that somehow still feels like nothing else on console or PC.

An excellent remaster of one of the best games of its generation, that looks and plays so well you could easily mistake it for a modern game.

Despite the change in tone many things remain consistent, from Amanita’s trademark simple but infinitely expressive character design, to trial and error gameplay that has you tugging, pushing, and prodding things to solve puzzles, making this a perfect candidate for the move to mobile. It’s a brief experience, once you’ve figured out what you’re doing in each scene, but also an eerily atmospheric one.

Its physics works beautifully, but lobbing a bunch of ammo at stuff until it collapses and being rewarded with yet another un-earned 3-star victory soon feels a bit dull. Fewer levels, that actually encouraged you to think, would have been infinitely preferable.

An entertaining and well-designed mobile port.

Unfortunately, the lack of chain reactions and the fact that the game automatically selects chains for you gives it a dull, staccato feel. Combined with the stingy number of turns you get before having to wait for a recharge, Tumble Time utterly fails to live up to the joy of its visuals.

A truly wizard RPG, whose historical setting frees it from the limitations of the books and films, with an open world experience that entertains no matter how much you care about the source material.

A poignant, slow-paced but ultimately shallow exploration of memory and legacy in a changing world, that also manages to be the world’s first cycle-based walking simulator.

A very welcome surprise, that is one of the most enjoyably unique games on Xbox and one of the best rhythm action games in a very long time - as well as having arguably the best cel-shaded graphics ever seen.

A litany of missed opportunities results in one of the most aggravating action role-players of recent years, with irritating characters, dull combat, and a frustrating movement system.

An excellent remake of a not-quite-classic survival horror, that nevertheless makes a convincing argument for the continuation of the series.

A misguided attempt to recreate one of gaming’s oldest and most influential classics, that’s let down by outdated visuals and prehistoric gameplay elements.

What starts as a sweet and endearing homage to 90s gaming evolves into a sophisticated and, at times, dark exploration of two troubled youths, in one of the best indie games of the year.

A more traditional Fire Emblem experience than Three Houses, but one that’s filled with fun new features and emphasises deep and varied gameplay over dating mini-games.

Easily the best One Piece video game there’s ever been and a genuinely fun and innovative Japanese role-player in its own right.

Another great indie detective game that not only makes solving crimes fun and interesting but has some surprisingly good storytelling to tie everything together.

The best sequel to Chrono Trigger there’s never been, with a pseudo-Japanese role-player that maintains a delicate balance between retro homage and modern indie game.

One of the best story-based games of the year, with a complex mix of dystopian sci-fi, religious meditation, and a razor-sharp script.

A purposefully under-designed platformer that takes several cues from Pikmin but forges ahead with its own distinctive take on a platforming comfort game.

Fans of gripping mysteries and intriguing puzzles will love the eclectic storytelling, but not necessarily the pervy humour, in Kotaro Uchikoshi’s most fascinating oddity.

The best 2D shooter for several years and a fantastic homage to the genre, with some of the best pixel art graphics of the year.

A colourful, silly and deliberately over-the-top first person shooter, with severely undercooked gunplay and a sense of humour that will test the patience of even Rick and Morty fans.

An excellent sequel that marries Metroidvania style exploration with a dizzying array of new combat mechanics, to make one of the best roguelike experiences of this or any year.

This is likely to be the definitive version of a great game, and an excellent excuse to dive back into its gloriously rich and varied world, but at the moment it’s a bug-ridden mess that’s more trouble to play than the seven-year-old original. We’re sure by next Christmas it’ll all be running perfectly but all you get this year is a lump of 4K coal. [Review in Progress]