It lacks the sparkle and modernity of the more recent Florence, but still evokes a wonderful sense of mystery and melancholy, and because of its sedate pace does not in any way suffer from having touchscreen rather than physical controls.

It’s highly polished, but somehow lacks the heady compulsion that typified the early days of Clash Royale or Boom Beach, with rounds feeling less fun and exciting than the colourful cartoon characters that participate in them.

The 15 islands you’ll rule in campaign mode take a lot of work to balance, as you try to ensure your populace is well paid, fed, and entertained to offset the less pleasant needs to pay rent and taxes. It’s highly engaging and the iPad port works seamlessly.

The best Advance Wars game never made and while there are a few flaws there’s also plenty of new ideas and a mountain of extra content.

The mix of tactical spaceship building and roguelike action is intriguing, but Genesis Alpha One suffers from a split personality and a limited development budget.

A confused and confusing mess of terrible storytelling, simple action, and endless fan service that will delight existing players but baffle new ones.

Shallow and repetitive it might be, but this new mobile game can prove surprisingly tense and recreates the atmosphere of the first film very well.

A fascinating premise that is used not only to create a set of mind-bending puzzles but to ruminate on the nature of reality. It’s just a shame about the controls and the short running time.

One of the best portable role-players ever made and a joyful mix of bizarrely inventive gameplay and surprisingly sharp comedy.

A considerably less daring second episode, when compared to the first, that highlights the problems of episodic content more than it does the qualities of Life Is Strange 2.

A fantastic big budget remake of one of Resident Evil’s most popular entries, that manages to look state-of-the-art but in terms of gameplay finds a perfect balance of old and new.

A strange yet relatively successful attempt to merge television with an episodic video game, that should at least please the show’s fanbase.

A successful return flight for the veteran franchise, with highly entertaining aerial action that remains accessible for new fans and old.

A disappointing return for Suda51 whose shallow, repetitive action is not helped by a relentlessly unfunny script and tired pop culture references.

An atmospheric and often perplexing exploration game that suffers from bugs, uneven level design, and an unwavering dedication to leaving you to your own devices.

An interesting attempt to make a 3D Harvest Moon, that combines some of the best elements of Minecraft, but it lacks any real identity or new ideas of its own.

A low budget but competent remaster of a game that’s showing its age – and yet still makes a good argument for a future franchise revival.

An enjoyably distinctive survival game, in terms of gameplay, visuals, and an unusually affecting story.

An adult video game that is neither exploitative nor pretentious, but instead weaves a fun yet incisive tale about all too human characters.

Formulaic but not always predictable, this remains the best of the Tales series and one of the definitive Japanese role-players of the 2000s.

Compared to the classic 2D Super Mario games this is disappointingly anodyne, but it’s still competently made platform fun that can be enjoyed by everyone.

A very successful attempt to address real world news events in a video game that always feels realistic but never manipulative.

The game’s love for Ghosts ‘N Goblins is obvious but its refusal to cater for anyone but hardcore fans results in a frustrating and tedious slog – especially in story mode.

A frustrating mix of survival game and roguelike, that has absolutely no respect for your time and yet still hides an enthralling and rewarding action adventure within its murky depths.

The exceptionally witty writing that regularly knocks on the fourth wall is a bonus that’s somehow brought to life by feeling as though you’re actually there on Pandora with its cast of mock-savage weirdos. If you’re a PlayStation VR owner and enjoy first person shooters you may be seeing less of your family than planned this Christmas.

The obsessions with realism and old school action don’t come at the cost you might imagine, in this tense and well-designed online shooter.

At last the Earth Defense Force series gets a sequel worthy of its early promise, even if there are still a few unwanted bugs left.

A stunning visual achievement and a mediocre Metroidvania but despite that unevenness this is still an affecting interactive journey with real emotional resonance.