Shantae and the Seven Sirens is an entirely typical game in the Metroid-like genre that will be very familiar to anyone who plays them. Despite this, the game's gorgeous visuals, extremely responsive controls, strong level design, and witty writing make it a joy to play through.

Let’s face it: if you played Life is Strange then you’ve probably bought this already, and if you haven’t, then you should play that first. If you’re one of the few Life is Strange players who haven’t picked this up yet, I’d definitely recommend waiting until we see how the rest of it turns out. What’s here is good and fine, but this episode feels like a prequel episode (no pun intended) that’s building up to whatever’s going to happen.

WRC 9 is a mean, brutal, no-nonsense racing experience that will have you both feeling like a driving artist and peasant all at once.

Padded and tedious, but engrossing and enjoyable. NieR Replicant occupies a strange spot in the gaming pantheon.

Last Epoch delivers an innovative ARPG experience with exceptional build customization and accessible crafting, bolstered by its refreshing time travel mechanic. However, a weak narrative, limited character customization, and repetitive endgame loop somewhat hold it back.

Potionomics combines genres to produce a deck-building game that never get old. It sometimes feels overwhelming, but the end product is satisfying enough to keep you hooked.

Whether you play in VR or on a plain screen, Trover Saves the Universe offers a fantastically engaging action platforming experience with a ton of dick jokes.

Total War: Three Kingdoms - Mandate of Heaven presents a massive conflict and an evolving sandbox campaign, with several features and events to keep you entertained. Sadly, it's also bogged down by its reliance on older concepts that lack strategic depth, glaring bugs, as well as missed opportunities. Though you could expect to log in the extra hours, it becomes repetitious to a fault once the rebellion has been quashed.

Over-linearity and rubbish dungeon design bog it down a bit, but the combat, characters, and rather unusual plot still make Tales of Berseria a tale worth experiencing.

Monster Energy Supercross provides an exhilarating experience regardless of whether you're a dirt bike veteran or newcomer.

Although there are some questionable mechanics and odd issues on the side, Total War: Three Kingdoms - A World Betrayed manages to excite and challenge you, all while adding refreshing features via a free update. If you only need to choose one Total War: Three Kingdoms DLC, A World Betrayed definitely surpasses Mandate of Heaven and Eight Princes.

Escape Academy is a worthy escape room game with a lot of strong puzzles. It's on the short side, but there's a lot of quality on display.

Overall, Star Wars: Squadrons should delight even the most jaded among the community. Doing a bombing run in a Y-Wing is among the best experiences I’ve ever had in VR. The game has a little bit of everything for everyone, and it should especially be embraced by those who still remember fighting among the stars more than two decades ago.

A well made game with a great premise and enjoyable elements, Time Loader is well worth a playthrough for fans of puzzle platformers.

Beautiful, complex, and captivating, Terra Nil is a delightful strategy game only held back by a smaller amount of content and some difficult-to-fulfill objectives.

The five new countries featured here are all quite beautiful, and offer a vast new road network to explore. This is bound to keep you trucking for hours as you explore every nook and cranny.

There’s always something that needs improving, and this is where Cities: Skylines has always shined for me personally. Industries provided enough new content for me to sink a good ten hours of playtime into an old city, and I’m expecting to put in at least ten more by the time this review is up.

Deep, attractive, and highly playable, Windjammers 2 is still missing some of what it needs to really shine. Plus the online is currently on the fritz.

Immortals Fenyx Rising is an excellent game filled with satisfying activities, wonderful movement, and action-packed combat. There's a significant amount of content here and it completely dodges the copy-pasted nature of Odyssey, making for an open world worth exploring.

The warm drinks you brew are as warm and satisfying as the atmosphere this game induces. Coffee Talk Episode 2 continues to be a relaxing and enjoyable drink-making game, while also having intriguing stories and interesting characters.

DNF Duel may take it's simplification a step too far, but it's still a flashy and satisfying anime fighter that's approachable for players of all skill levels.

KarmaZoo is a lovely co-op adventure that has some outstanding visuals, alongside tremendous platforming. But it may get repetitive fast due to a lack of game modes.

The Eternal Cylinder is a gorgeous adventure game that features one of the most compelling stories I've seen in years. Its strict linearity may be frustrating for some, but that slight downside is vastly outweighed by this game's many strengths.

House Flipper 2 rewards creativity and puts out a relaxing vibe that can be downright addictive.

Ion Fury may look like it plays it safe, but it delivers an exemplary first-person shooter that's better than many of the games that inspired it. Genre fans will be missing out if they choose to pass this one up.

A frantic co-op shooter in the same vein as Contra, Blazing Chrome is an electrified, 16-bit inspired run-and-gun game that will keep your trigger finger numb and your profanities loud.

SMT III remains a great game, but an inflated price tag combined with some dated mechanics might make it a harder sell for some.

The Quarry is still filled to the brim with thrills, tough choices, and brutal deaths. Unfortunately, it still suffers from the same pitfalls that have plagued past titles. It's worsened by poorly written character relationships and a rather unsatisfying ending.

Decent third-person shooting mechanics, geared strongly toward co-op; but unless your brain is tickled by colour-tiered items the rote repetition will eventually drive you from Manhattan. The Division’s speculative catastrophe fiction never sits convincingly with its pure, stat-based loot grind.

A whole heap of well-designed nonograms spread out across a well-written story which is delightful to look at and listen to makes Murder by Numbers an easy recommendation.

Sniper Elite 5 reuses a tried-and-tested formula that has made the franchise a hit. Unfortunately, that familiarity can wear thin as you continue to progress. Still, some multiplayer modes might keep you engaged.

While Duck Detective: The Secret Salami has an incredible voice cast, colorful characters, and an intriguing plot, I was let down by the puzzles and gameplay. There were a few puzzles that I solved on my own with no issue, but many puzzles had clues that left me in the dark instead of guiding me.

Light on challenge but heavy on atmosphere and exploration, Ghost Song is a welcome addition to the library of any Metroid-like fan.

The White March Part 2 brings this multi-part expansion to a satisfying, and typically well-constructed, conclusion; solidifying Pillars of Eternity as one of the best CRPG titles of recent years.

It’s still the same compulsive, time-attack Trackmania, but some of the beautifully chaotic edges (particularly regarding custom online multiplayer) that made it a cult hit on PC have been dulled.

A love letter to Boris and Arkady that brings their anomalous horrors to the Pacific Northwest. Pacific Drive makes up for what it gets wrong in pacing with imaginative gameplay and exceptional design.

Although 3 out of 10 Season 2 delivers a fun series of episodes and experiences, but it has trouble standing out as a standalone season.

A notable drop in depth compared to the Nioh games, Wo-Long still has some engaging additions inspired by Sekiro. I often enjoyed myself but repetition and a horribly uneven difficulty curve certainly don't help.

While the game is an excellent spiritual successor to the Castlevania series, it also does enough on its own to help it stand out from the crowd.

Deserts of Kharak is a worthy addition to the Homeworld series, but as a unit-focused RTS it can feel a little flat and predictable until about three quarters of the way through the thirteen missions. It’s really not until late in the game that the missions become more challenging and interesting.

Arise tells a simple, yet moving story with beautiful graphics and incredible musical score. However, its gameplay sometimes tends to work against itself, despite its intuitive controls.

With eight classic games (and two alternate roster expansions), Capcom Fighting Collection has a lot of great 2D fighters to sink your teeth into.

Frostpunk: The Last Autumn has a promising concept and setting, but it fails to do enough differently to justify the toil. If these are the people you're trying to save, you might as well let the world freeze over.

Cook Serve Delicious 3 is a stressful, yet at times relaxing, cooking game. It is so close to being perfect that I can't wait to see what the next iteration brings.

The definition of short but sweet, except you're also short and a horrible goose. Possibly too short for some tastes, but an excellent and hilarious stealth-puzzler nonetheless.

Spellbreak is exactly what you want a fantasy-themed magical battle royale to be. You can soar through the skies, cast powerful spells, and combine elements to devastating effect. The combat is fast, chaotic, and absolutely epic. Playing Spellbreak is like taking control of a superhero or powerful anime character.

There is a good game hiding underneath Overwatch 2's predatory shell, one that is soon to evolve into an even more massive headache for players as the game evolves.

Rockfish’s take on the space shooter is certainly different, and it’s a refreshing change for the genre. It’s not about exploring the vastness of space in an open world (though jumping into the unknown is certainly still a factor), it’s quite simply an arcade shooter. It’s also a great looking game with an easy to grasp flight model and a mystery waiting to be uncovered. If you enjoy action space sims or rogue-like games such as FTL then you’ll enjoy this. Even if you don’t, there’s a high chance you’ll still enjoy this. Everspace is a cracking game.

An extremely fun and cozy adventure game that will have any animal lovers smiling in no time. A handful of bugs and performance issues do impact gameplay somewhat but it's easy to overlook given Alba's creative brilliance. I would have preferred a slightly longer story but that aside this is one of the best indie games I've played in years. You would be doing yourself a disservice by not at least giving it a try.

Couch co-op that’s equal parts cathartic and chaotic. There’s no better way to bond than by tossing a TV or two into oncoming traffic. Moving Out’s charming, physics-based gameplay and equally quirky levels demand you bring a friend or three.

Shadow Warrior 2’s excellent combat mechanics cleave through its weak story and over-abundance of iffy loot. The result is a title that’s incredibly satisfying to play, almost in spite of the surrounding flaws.

I am blown away by BATTLETECH. It’s a game that I have wanted to play for a while but I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it nearly as much as I have. This is a solid, complete game which has had me utterly absorbed. The size of this game, the enjoyability, and the time it takes to complete justifies the £35 price tag. This is hands down one of the best releases so far this year.

Packed with content and fun gameplay, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has something to offer most fans of the long-running sci-fi franchise.

Othercide has a number of interesting quirks and its art design, with gothic and noir elements, creates a uniquely forboding atmosphere. Unfortunately, it's also got a ridiculous degree of difficulty that you normally don't associate with the turn-based strategy genre. The game's roguelite concepts are more than welcome, though repetition and restarts, combined with the genre's slower progression and mission system, will make playthroughs feel like time-consuming affairs.

Following the disaster that was Borderlands 3's writing, there was some serious pressure on Gearbox to deliver this time around. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands isn't a spectacular game and doesn't live up to Borderlands 2, but I doubt most people will care about that. The simple fact is that we got a Borderlands game that is fun with a story that isn't painful to experience. That's a win in my book.

Curse of the Dead Gods' combat system is extremely rewarding, and the challenge will keep you on your toes. Unfortunately, it lacks a lot in terms of content and it can be repetitive within a few hours. It's worth playing in bursts, but it doesn't have enough to satisfy long-term engagement.

Lost Ember departs from typical video game fighting and puzzle-solving to tell a heartfelt story through the eyes of its animal protagonist. Thanks to its stunning art direction and obvious love for its subject matter, it offers a genuine emotional payoff despite having some elements that still feel undercooked.

Although it has an underwhelming story and some pacing issues, Indivisible is a great game filled with memorable characters, gorgeous visuals, entertaining combat, and fun dialogue.

All the galactic flavour and themes of a 4X space title, married to the mechanics of Paradox's recent grand strategy offerings. Stellaris has a space opera tale of gene manipulation, Federation politics, or colonial slavery for everyone.

Their overall objectives may not be radically different from the equally pillage-happy Chaos and Beastmen, but an engaging roster, a smart twist on quests in the form of beast hunts, and a pair of Lords with a lot of thematic character mean Norsca and Wintertooth still stand out. This may prove to be the final major addition to the original Total War: Warhammer; if so, it’s a sign-off with real factional flair.

Adios is brief and mostly concerned with dialogue, but it's a thought-provoking piece of interactive fiction, even if the visual style clashes with the narrative.

A very enjoyable EDF game that costs more than it should. But it nails all the important stuff, while adding some enjoyable new mechanics, even if some depth is sacrificed in the process.

WWE 2K24 is a huge win for the series. If you look past the technical issues, you can see a full packaged game. However, the premier mode WrestleMania may leave you unsatisfied with how empty it can be.

Filled to the brim with visual novel conversations and over-the-top action, Scarlet Nexus is a surprisingly endearing game that might be more linear than people expect, but more compelling than it probably needed to be.

Simply put, if you have Everspace and want to experience the game in a new way then the Everspace Encounters DLC is well worth the asking price of £6.99. If you have not picked up Everspace yet then make sure you pick up the DLC at the same time. Even after playing the core game I have sunk a load more hours into the DLC thanks to the new challenges. Rockfish has made an already great space shooter even better with some great new missions, along with NPCs that add some real flavour to the experience. This is a very solid piece of DLC.

Superhot: Mind Control Delete somehow manages to give a lot more of the same slow-mo action without becoming tiresome or boring. However, things do get bogged down towards the end when the game has a little too much fun at the player's expense.

Charming and often fun, Lost in Random has less going on than I would have liked, even if I had a good time overall.

The provision of deep customization capabilities and an engaging narrative makes Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus a logical choice for aspiring tacticians of Holy Terra in M3.

This is a solid Star Wars game with excellent combat, great immersion for fans, and an engaging story. It looks great at most times, but runs poorly overall and needs patches for PC before it gets a solid buy recommendation.

Overall, Sairento VR is a solid VR game, it may not have the polish of some AAA VR titles but that’s to be expected as Mixed Realms are a tiny indie studio which is probably why bugs have slipped through the net. This is a game that will challenge your VR skills, the weapons respond well and the movement is excellent which is a huge plus in VR. Despite its flaws, Sairento VR is definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for some fast-paced VR action.

Laser League is an excellent example of a game that’s simple to pick up and play but is full of complexities that need to be mastered. This is a classic arcade multiplayer game that everyone should take for a spin because it’s a blast and it’s a bargain. It’s fast, frantic, and incredibly challenging.

Though not without flaws, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown manages to deliver an awe-inspiring and action-packed experience.

The plot meanders and the game is somewhat too long, but it's still a great time and well worth experiencing for Guardians fans.

Gorgeous and relaxing, Grow: Song of the Evertree will strongly appeal to fans of games about gardening and enjoying the Zen qualities of nature.

It executes its executions exquisitely, and I’m not yet at the point where I’m getting tired of it.

While it mostly iterates on the foundation laid by other games in the genre, quirky writing and characters help keep things fresh. Unfortunately, Mutant Year Zero’s short campaign and predictable story hold it back from being a slam dunk.

Another Crab's Treasure is a colorful and lively platformer that's also a tough action RPG with Soulslike combat. They juxtapose each other perfectly, and I had a fun time discovering shells, collecting microplastics, and defeating grueling bosses.

A beautiful return to form for 47 after his Moroccan adventure failed to impress too much. Bangkok offers a tight, focused level with plenty to do, which differentiates it from the missions of the last few months - and it's really well-designed to boot.

As long as you go into the experience knowing what to expect, Altdeus: Beyond Chronos has the potential to be genuinely entertaining. However, on the scale of interactivity, this really doesn't qualify a game. Their inability to take full advantage of the VR platform ultimately seals it's fate as nothing more than an acquired taste that will prove to be off-putting to many.

You'll find many enjoyable hours exploring, racing, and styling your way around Riders Republic. The world is gorgeous, the sound design and music choices are on point. There are only a few events that will frustrate you. Thankfully, you can mostly avoid these.

Hell Pie is an entertaining, colorful 3D platformer with a lot to offer to genre fans.

Most gameplay elements in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden have been done before, but they're pulled off way better in this title. The choices you make carry the already gripping story. Missing out on this experience may haunt you for years to come.

Excellent gameplay, unique ideas, and a strong presentation make for an easily recommendable narrative puzzle platformer.

Fairly cliché and quite short, Unbound: Worlds Apart is still well worth playing due to its excellent gameplay, controls, level design, and constant variety.

Redout 2 is a niche product that won't be for everyone. However, if you happen to fall into its target audience, then it'll offer enough to keep you entertained for some time. Just be prepared to fail over and over before things start getting fun.

Not every game here is essential (or even worth playing), but there are enough gems that even new players will find something to enjoy.

Kunai is a bite-sized Metroidvania that’s well worth the pick-up for the fast, frenetic action alone. Once all the foes have been fought and the bosses have been bested, the Kunai content well has run empty.

Reflection: Second Light is a perfect example of what a sequel should be. It takes the ideas put forward by the original and improves all of them. There's better exploration, better visuals, and, most importantly, much better character writing. The original was an average and forgettable JRPG. In contrast, Second Light is one of the best JRPGs released in recent memory.

Hot Wheels Unleashed has a lot of good concepts and ideas that are sullied by awkward execution and weird design choices. Its physics could use some more fine-tuning, and its AI needs to be rebalanced, along with a revamped track builder. Yet, there's still some glimmer to its toy car shine.

Between the charming pixel artwork, hilarious satirical story, and insane destruction, Terror of Hemasaurus is a winner.

Tropico 6 doesn't mess with the island building formula very much, but the new features kept me hooked for hours.

An endearing experience with a well-integrated narrative, Solar Ash trades the action of its predecessor for speed-based platforming. It's a compelling play, but it feels a little light.

Trials of Mana is an entertaining game with grating, simple characters and a subpar story, but the fast action and colorful exploration make up for those issues.

Revita may turn off or encourage players with its main gameplay mechanic, which is an interesting take on the genre. However, some of the game's poor pacing and progression might shut out your heart from this beautiful-looking game.

Call of the Sea might have an overly familiar premise and some less-than-stellar puzzles, but it's a gorgeous, enjoyable game boosted by strong production values and involved world design.

Going Under is bright, colorful, and wickedly funny. The game's structure is enjoyable and using various weapons slap the hell out of monsters is entertaining, but don't expect anything particularly deep or lasting.

Per Aspera reaches for lofty heights, but I could never shake the impression that the difficulties I encountered were more because of the game breaking down rather than Mars being a hostile place. But who knows, patches do wonders these days.

If you have the patience, Roguebook is an interesting adventure, worth exploring. Players will be treated to a multifaceted strategy title, that keeps you guessing constantly. Why not have them deal you a hand?