Only masochists will appreciate all of the new features, but they do help to round out what was always an unfairly pilloried and already highly competent action game.

Gorgeous visuals and some sublime visual storytelling, Ori And The Blind Forest might not do much that is genuinely new but almost everything it does attempt is genuinely great.

A disappointingly familiar entry in the long-running puzzle series, that comes across as very cheap (in terms of production values, if not price) but not particularly cheerful.

Another inspired mix of skateboarding and 2D platforming that manages to combine a surprising level of realism with some wonderfully impossible level design.

Possibly the scariest 12-rated game ever made, although the attractive visuals are better designed than the poorly balanced difficulty.

Exactly as simplistic and one note as the name implies, but if you want to shoot undead Nazis with your friends then you can’t say the game doesn’t deliver.

Despite its one glaring flaw this is one of the most enjoyable co-op shooters for some time, even if it is top-down rather than first person.

If only it had been considerably cheaper, or considerably bigger in scope, this could’ve been a fun ride, but as it is ScreamRide is not really worth the price of entry.

Almost exactly the same features as Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires, and although it’s still more entertaining than the main game the lack of effort put in is downright insulting.

Portraying existential quandaries as gameplay puzzles is a daring idea, but ultimately this is a more enjoyable game to watch and listen to than it is to play.

A near perfect remastering of a classic strategy game, that succeeds not just because of nostalgia but because there’s never been anything else quite like Homeworld.

As competent as the last two updates but still a fighting game held back more by its creepy designs and boring characters, than its purposefully simplistic action.

A fantastic arcade game in the best traditions of Treasure, that takes plenty of inspiration from older classics but has just as many new ideas of its own.

No doubt a dream come true for fans, but with so little innovation in the core gameplay the boast of being an interactive cartoon seems more like a liability than a positive.

A successful start to the first episodic Resident Evil, with some genuinely inventive co-op features and the most effective scares the series has seen in years.

An excellent expansion to what remains the PlayStation 4’s best exclusive, and one of the most enjoyable retro shooters of the decade.

As match-three puzzlers go this is well above average, but the cynical microtransactions make it a horrible slog to actually play.

Beneath the technical wonder this is just a dull, aimless Gears Of War clone – where the attempts at storytelling are just as boring and lifeless as the action.

Not much more than an HD update of the last gen version, but still one of the best arcade shooters around and a loving homage to the original Asteroids.

A technical showcase for the 3DS but artistically speaking this gets almost everything wrong, from the banal action to the laughable storytelling.

Only a minor evolution of Rome II, and with many of the same bugbears, but the stunning visuals and deep strategy bring a fascinating period of history fully to life.

A great idea in theory, but in practise the novelty wears out extremely quickly, with a serious lack of variety in game modes, maps, and tactics.

Some of the best 2D sprite work ever seen in a video game, and all used to support an impressively varied and imaginative Metroidvania.

The action may not be up to quite the same standards as the writing, but the bizarre world of the Underzee is more interesting to explore than almost any other recent game world.

More accessible and more immediate than ever before, whether it’s a hit or not Monster Hunter 4 is definitely the best of the series so far.

A wonderful throwback to ’80s style British gaming, that has much to teach modern titles in terms of player freedom and open world design.

If indie gaming is just a state of mind then Ubisoft is getting increasingly good at encouraging it in their developers, especially in this novel plant-based platformer.

Another uninspiring episode of nothing but filler and hopes for the future, although that’s as much a criticism of episodic content as it is the game itself.