Bland and unambitious save for its combat, Lost Sphear draws so heavily from the traditions of past JPRGs that it fails to build a personality of its own.

Accessible yet complex, chaotic yet beautiful, this is the real fighting game deal.

A smattering of technical issues keep Subnautica from true legendary status, but only just.

In terms of the game experience, that’s great. In terms of labour politics, the substitution muddies how I feel about the studio and the game. It’s worth reading the various interviews and points of view online to make up your own mind whether you want to support the studio and this outing for the franchise. With that caveat in place, Before the Storm benefits from being more focused and more of a character piece than Life Is Strange. It gets rid of most of the clunky puzzling, provides emotional payoffs for Chloe fans, and puts a gay teenage girl front and centre in a valuable way.

Tartarus shows off some excellent puzzles aboard a disappointingly empty spaceship, but it’s usually more charming than frustrating.

An engaging, vibrant and challenging platformer that adds narrative to a genre often shy of it.

PUBG takes the tradition of big-map survival games like DayZ and compresses it into digestible, 3-to-30-minute sprints that are reliably scary and low-key.

Slick platforming, well-designed puzzles, and a huge, connected world, with occasional moments of frustration.

An atmospheric, imaginative cyberpunk adventure with a human heart beating beneath its metal exoskeleton.

An entertaining, light-hearted point-and-click adventure game full of memorable characters and wholesome British humor.

A one-trick pony of a multiplayer fighter, Gang Beasts is sometimes hilariously messy but often just a mess.

A beautiful exercise in freeform solutions, Zachtronics has created one of the most satisfying puzzle games ever made.

SpellForce 3 competently blends RPG and RTS games into a generally enjoyable package, but there’s not enough creative force to create a lasting spell.

Frustrating, buggy and overly dependent on trial-and-error, this is a missed opportunity.

Portal's systems, if not its clever humor, are put to good use in this fun physics-based puzzle game.

Not the most inventive MMO expansion, but a robust chunk of new maps that flesh out the best MMO around. [Christmas 2017, p.66]

A fantastic feat of interlocking storytelling and design.

An ambitious game but one which exposes and compounds the weaknesses of solitaire.

Occasionally languid to the point of lethargy, Okami is a gorgeous and unforgettable adventure all the same.

At last: royalty I feel emotionally invested in! Reigns: Her Majesty is a smart and surprising extension of the original swipe-'em narrative game.

Deep but accessible, Battlerite is packed with smart decisions and reliably creates great competitive moments.

A brilliant stealth sandbox and unconventional RPG in one very ambitious but buggy package.

Cute, with a battle system that has more depth than it lets on, but the game's tone gets rather irritating.

A fun take on a classic format, great to play with friends—hectic and unique, but easy to understand and play.

A great port of a brilliant fighter with a staggering amount of content beyond multiplayer brawling.

A fine remake of a game that deserves to be played as much as it gets fondly remembered.

A spectacular, occasionally very fun tour of Star Wars battles that disappoints with a boring story, crappy progression system, and endless grenade spam.

Wholly unique and deceptively punishing, Uurnog Uurnlimited is as clever as it is creative.