The Murder on Eridanos DLC expansion doesn't add too much to the Outer Worlds experience, but it has just enough personality and humor to make it worthwhile.

While Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok has some brilliant ideas, it's far from the epic expansion that you'd want it to be. It's hampered by reused mechanics and a story that's woefully disconnected from your main character's arc.

Marvelous Inc. recreated a great remake of the 20-year-old Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. While there are some things that make it feel outdated, there are also plenty of quality-of-life changes that make this a worthwhile farming game.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say the AI is broken. It is just stupid, as it always has been. If you could put up with it in the last few Total War games, or maybe didn’t notice, then it is no reason to put you off this title. Despite my complaints about the AI, and some of the campaign mechanics needing some tweaking, I am impressed by this game. The sense of historical authenticity at times has transported me back to this time period, and overall I think this is better than CA’s last historical outing, Total War: Attila.

The fact that it's not as breathtaking as its predecessor shouldn't really stop horror fans from picking up this creepy run-and-hide simulator.

Vigil: The Longest Night aims high and almost hits the mark thanks to its amazing level design, epic boss fights, uncanny visuals, and Lovecraftian and gothic horror themes. Sadly, it's bogged down by its muddled story, confusing map layout, and perplexing campaign progression.

Fun, jolly, and with tongue planted firmly in cheek for most of the game: Watch Dogs 2 isn't a must-have, but it's still a rather good time.

An all right farming simulator with charming graphics, fairly rounded mechanics, and a unique and interesting magical angle, but too slow to the selling point.

Although We. The Revolution has the potential to be a deep and challenging political strategy game, its gameplay becomes too shallow to be much of anything.

After a six year absence, Scott Pilgrim is once again back for blood. Aside from a few technical issues that will hopefully be ironed out soon, there is no reason to ignore the siren's call for a second time. It's high time to suit up and kick some bass.

Eschewing complex 3D flight models for whiskey and galactic broadsides, Rebel Galaxy takes the traditional space trading model, dresses it in spurs, and sets it loose on a frontier that’s dynamic, dangerous and unashamedly fun.

While there are a few notable flaws, Man of Medan encapsulates the thrills and scares of the horror genre while offering numerous branching choices for the narrative. It's the perfect way to set the tone for the rest of The Dark Pictures Anthology series.

Syndicate’s amoral corporate violence meets a more lenient version of Commandos’ ability-centric squad tactics, in this on-point cyberpunk sandbox.

Hotwheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged does an amazing job in providing a mechanically and visually pleasing experience, but the campaign mode has some downsides.

Both well-designed in some spots and iffier in others, Tormented Souls can be highly frustrating, but is an overall enjoyable classic-style survival-horror experience that fans will be happy to have.

It's a classic that's been lovingly brought back to life by Rebellion.

GRID Legends absolutely nails its role as a tried and true "simcade" experience thanks to well-balanced gameplay mechanics, a healthy variety of vehicle types and track designs and just an overall fun feel. It's easily one of the most well-built racers I've played in a while.

A perfectly enjoyable adventure through a dystopian wasteland, though one that misses a lot of opportunities and leaves a lot of tantalising threads dangling. Tasty, but not quite satisfying.

Lego Bricktales returns the IP to its block-placing origins with fun puzzles that can certainly challenge the mind. While it doesn't allow you to do whatever you want, the satisfaction that comes with problem-solving each puzzle is quite notable.

Wild Hearts apes Capcom's monster-hunting series, and does so well while introducing new elements that enhance the genre.

While frustrating due to it abiding by the limits set by retro racers, Slipstream is still a cool treat for any fan of the classics. It looks, sounds and feels like it came from that era. I’m sure if you were to slap a cover sticker on a Genesis cartridge and ask someone that’s never heard of the game if they’ve ever played this back in the day, they’d probably say yes. That’s how convincing it is.

MegaCorp is a decent inclusion to Paradox Interactive's spacefaring strategy sim. Sadly, it can be overshadowed by what the free update already provides to the core Stellaris experience.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a joy to play through. There are a few issues with the port, but it's a beautiful game that's a joy to get lost in.

Atelier Ryza is a great game slightly marred by a poor port, lack of enemy variety, and hard-to-find ingredients. But anyone who likes crafting games absolutely owes it to themselves to play this, as it's a huge amount of fun.

The Persistence is worth playing overall, but the game is unfortunately plagued with artificial difficulty solely to pad out the length.

Sheepo has a charming aesthetic, tight gameplay, and an excellently balanced level of difficulty. It's short but the length feels just right all the same.

If you've ever had dreams of taking over the world with a comical Doomsday Device, then Evil Genius 2: World is the near-perfect game for you to see it happen.

Even if you are not a fan of competitive multiplayer, Lemnis Gate is worth checking out due to its highly original mechanics, tactical sandbox abilities, and fluid shooter action.

It's hard not to respect and get swept up in the ambition of Lost Eidolons, where even the flaws and mediocre presentation is made worthwhile with some competent, classic SRPG gameplay.

Breezy and cute, Plantera 2 has more of what made the original so charming.

Sonic Frontiers succeeds in finally making Sonic truly work in 3D without many of the problems that plagued past titles. While it's far from perfect and could have used more polish, it's a fairly impressive game that offers up most everything fans could want.

In the end, Project Wingman is a fun arcade plane romp. It’s definitely not meant for people who love DCS and the “my plane just turned into the world’s angriest glider because my fuel tank got a glancing hit 5 minutes ago” gameplay that it offers. However, it’s perfect to scratch that Ace Combat/Hawx itch that most companies don’t even dare approach. It’s a shame about that ending, though.

Although it has demanding system requirements, The Medium is still a marvelous offering when it comes to its visuals and gameplay. Its locations will haunt and horrify you, and its dual-reality system will provide refreshing ways to complete your objectives. Unfortunately, it also suffers from a few technical hiccups, and its bizarrely abrupt conclusion leaves a lot to be desired.

Lords of the Fallen sets a new benchmark for all Soulslikes out there. It masters what we love about the genre, and adds to it in many ways. It won't get better than this for a while.

A story-driven game, Sand Land is a masterfully crafted world created by Akira Toriyama that finds finds itself in a conflict between its powerful narrative and a lack of detail on elements such as hand-to-hand combat and world design. Overall, an enjoyable game.

Moonscars has a lot of promising ideas. Unfortunately, the threadbare plot, questionable level design, and odd execution of mechanics hold it back.

There might be some issues here and there, but this is a perfectly enjoyable puzzle-platformer with great pacing and enjoyable shadow platforming.

Like Spec Ops: The Line and Alpha Protocol, Get Even is a flawed game whose strengths dwarf the mechanical weaknesses. Expect it to start popping up on podcasts or in long-form articles in the next few months, accompanied by the ever-present caveat “well, the combat bits aren’t particularly good” and then praise for almost everything else. It’s probably going to pick up 6/10 type scores in most places that aren’t here, and I can completely understand why. The shortcomings are easy to point out, but Get Even delivers a complex, non-linear narrative full of clever misdirection, shifting truths, and conflicted characters in a way few other games can match.

The zaniness of PHOGS!'s character controller combined with its elegant and diverse puzzle design is a recipe for a fun. The game ensures that every second is a new opportunity for friendship-fueled hilarity.

Destination one in Agent 47's now-episodic global travelogue shows IO Interactive know how to get Hitman back in fashion. A strong, stylish opening to the new game.

Visions of Mana is an incredibly hand-holdy, laid-back adventure game where you can't go two minutes without watching a short film.

It's well worth giving in to temptation partying with the devil by throwing back a few drinks in Afterparty. The game isn't very long or difficult, but it makes up for it with plenty of wit and charm.

With a combination of multiple features and mechanics from different genres, as well as a setting that's steeped in mystery, Chernobylite attempts to be the jack-of-all-trades. Unfortunately, a mediocre combat system, repetitive mission structure, and dull gameplay loop lead to questionable results.

A psychological horror game with a focus on narrative consistency and gameplay variety, In Sound Mind is a great time due to excellent pacing, level design, and pure ingenuity, even if it's not particularly scary.

Uneven, yet unique and compelling, Lost Words has some truly effective narrative and design elements. It's let down a bit by overreliance on the protagonist's less-than-interesting literary attempts, but it's a worth playing for fans of narrative games.

AI War II builds on the legacy of the first game while also showing that the developers learned the right lessons about gameplay.

A Total War Saga: Troy is limited in scope and unit variety. Similarly, its middle-ground approach between a purely historical title and one that's filled to the brim with mythological elements might not please everyone. Still, it manages to entertain owing to unique faction leader mechanics and Divine Will strategies. Grab it while it's free, but wait for a few fixes and balancing tweaks if you're planning on buying it separately.

With wonderful acting. writing, and striking visuals, South of the Circle is an experience worth seeking out, even if the dialogue options and movement are lacking.

Iron Harvest is one of the few RTS titles to take after Company of Heroes, and it does so in a unique way. Maybe some of it is due to budgetary constraints, or maybe those were conscious decisions to get the right gameplay that the developers wanted. Either way, the game is fun and good in a way the forsaken sequel to Company of Heroes never was.

Dead Island 2 delivers bone crunching combat alongside a generic experience that feels ripped straight from 2011.

The port has some issues with videos, controllers, and optimization, and the game lacks some content in comparison with its predecessor. But it's still a worthwhile experience for One Piece fans.

If you’re looking for a series of complex riddles and a stimulating discussion on apocalypticism, VirtuaVerse and its point-and-click adventure are right up your seedy back alley.

Although Carrion is a relatively short game with little replayability, its quirky theme and ravenous flesh monster make for a fun feeding frenzy.

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark's core gameplay loop is one that's not exactly brimming with mechanical complexity. But thanks to the impeccable atmosphere, extensive enemy variety, and memorable moments, the game doesn't really need it.

While “one of the most inventive typing games out there” is a summary in danger of being mistaken for faint praise, Epistory’s wonderful, paper-craft design and smart, word-based battle system combine to make it exactly that.

Ara: History Untold does a fantastic job at giving players the freedom to shape their Nation how they see fit, whilst keeping everyone in a toothy race. The Nations themselves could be more distinct, but the game mechanics more than make up for that.

Featuring a sweeping narrative experience and barring a few caveats, the penultimate episode Broken Toys might be the best yet for The Walking Dead: The Final Season.

Loopmancer has some nifty concepts and flashy combat. However, it's also bogged down by some simplified mechanics and a hammy narrative.

With a wonderful setting in 20th century Warsaw, The Thaumaturge combines perfectly the fantasy of magic and the rawness of human nature.

Alone With You joins the ranks of others who have used the sci-fi lens to successfully scrutinise the human condition, but does stumble in some of its endeavours. The decision to include actual, puzzle-based gameplay rather than presenting the narrative as pure visual novel was, I think, a good one, but the pacing falls victim to its own intended sense of routine. Ultimately, I found the story of the colony’s fate took precedence over any romantic entanglement hologram pals, but that 5-6 hour tale is a compelling essay on the anxieties of extreme isolation.

This anthology series of six short but replayable episodes has just the right mix of charm, melodrama, and creepiness to make it worth a look.

Just Cause 3 pretty much raises explosions and physics-based destruction to the level of an art form, and a few annoyances with gunplay and repetition don't do much to detract from that.

Superliminal seems like a great game at first. The perspective mechanics on display make a fantastic first impression, but the game's design falters as it goes on. The weakness of the puzzles and unevenness of the overall game drag it down in the end.

Song of Horror's scariest aspect is its permadeath feature - not because it's spooky, but because slogging through levels is an absolute chore. Worse yet, Song of Horror punishes the player for exploring its admittedly beautiful environment. Neat technical features and meticulously crafted lore do somewhat make up for its faults. But ultimately, none but the most hardcore horror fans will give this game the time of day (or night).

Grip: Combat Racing is a fast-paced experience that is sometimes hindered by its own level design. Online matches and game optimization are where it truly shines. The campaign mode, though, becomes more of a chore than something to celebrate.

Ring of Pain is an immensely enjoyable experience that can be monumentally frustrating due to its luck-focused nature. It has excellent mechanics and really has a way of worming itself into your brain. But it can be horribly aggravating all the same.

It's pretty and it plays well, but this is a short, underwhelming Metroidvania with no exploration and uninteresting level design.

Pendragon wants to help you tell a story of the last days of King Arthur, and how much that idea appeals to you is exactly how much you'll like it. Not every story works, but not every story has to.

I know that great VR games are few and far between, but Budget Cuts 2 is far from worth it. It’s sad to see a great first outing followed up by what feels like a cash grab sequel. Cut the money you would have spent on this from your budget.

This delightful sprint is both beautiful to watch and engrossing to play. Aerial_Knight's Never Yield is a fantastic hour and a half long sprint, that features an outstanding score and plenty of narrative surprises, interweaved throughout. Now, if only we had a flow-chart to follow the actual storyline...

The next installment in the open-world action franchise. It takes you to the island nation of Yara to topple a dictatorial regime.

It'll do nothing to shake the series' reputation for check-box collectibles and all-too-familiar mission types, but Assassin's Creed: Syndicate plays to the structural strengths of a terrific Victorian London setting, enjoyable characters, and a few smart, iterative design changes.

Nuclear Blaze could have been one of the best firefight games ever made. It has the mechanics, level design, and presentation down pat. But, it squanders its potential with a super short runtime and massive amounts of artificial difficulty.

A decent game, but nothing more. Far Cry Primal tries to differentiate itself from past Far Cry games with mixed success, managing some clever new tricks, but losing a lot of what made Far Cry feel special in the process.

Cerebral and engrossing, Insurmountable succeeds at making a tactical mountain-climbing rogue-lite. No frostbite required.

Phoenix Point has some amazing gameplay ideas and even fun fluff, but it needs to work on quality of life and balance.

Wattam features the best visuals, score, and cast to ever grace a Keita Takahashi game, but its gameplay proves to be a touch too shallow to preserve that childlike wonder beyond its four-hour story.

Ultimately, Zombie Army 4: Dead War has the same feel as any later-day entry into a horror franchise does. It has delved all the way into the realm of schlock, completely unapologetic for its own existence. There’s something almost admirable about that, but the magic isn’t quite there. That said, if you and your buds are looking for a decent way to pass 10 or so hours, there are certainly worse choices than this. The shooting is among the best around and the X-ray shots are endlessly entertaining. I just wish there were more here to hold my attention past a single playthrough.

Neon Abyss’ emphasis on thriving, not surviving is a breath of fresh air in a subgenre defined by struggle. It’s chaotic, cathartic gameplay is a welcome surprise and unique take on the formula.

A Juggler's Tale drops the ball some with its game design, but puts on a worthwhile show due to its presentation and story.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac is an enjoyable remake of the PS1 original with a charming presentation and gameplay that holds up well, although the price tag is a little much.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is nothing more than a decent but unspectacular JRPG. However, for Neptunia fans, it's a blessing. Idea Factory has finally gotten back to continuing the main story and has delivered a product worth talking about. It isn't the mainline entry that fans really want, but it's still leagues ahead of the other Neptunia spin-off games that it succeeds.

It takes some practice and deep breathing exercises, but getting into Fuser's rhythm is worth the effort. You can become a pro DJ without really knowing what you're doing.

Rune Factory 5 is improved on PC, and is an enjoyable entry in the series. However, it's graphically dated with serious tech issues, and gameplay is a step back in some ways.

HighFleet is a good game. It can be challenging, brutally so, and it has some issues with the way it handles things. But you can see the logic behind most of the concerns (that aren’t bugs), so it makes it easier to accept.

Enjoyably frantic, and gory, Darktide is gratifying to play, but the experience is softened by performance issues and dreadful load times.

The new Campus expansion adds a relatively deep and challenging new layer to the Cities experience, though I wouldn't call it a must-have.

With a subtle art style and in-depth narrative, Flat Eye manages to tell a dystopian story without feeling preachy. While it is a management sim, you won’t find this game as mechanically full or complicated as others in the genre.

In Other Waters is an OK game. It misses out on some things by not explaining the shortcuts or the fact that you don’t need to return to waystations to go back to base. I don’t know if I can say that it will stay with me for too long. The story is somewhat bland and inoffensive, and minimal controls are somewhat clunkier than necessary. The visual presentation of it all is a highlight though. I guess you can grab it if you want to replace Nauticrawl’s combat with the secret life of underwater bacteria.

Harvestella may have unsightly character models and rote combat, but it offers a satisfying blend of farming sim and action RPG that scratches the itches it's supposed to.

The Ascent is for the most part a polished experience that's tons of fun to play and behold. The narrative will carry you along to many interesting places with different baddies to fry, though a few encounters feature enemies that are pure bullet sponges. You will need to pick the right equipment and keep up with leveling, but these issues can be overcome. Hardware requirements shouldn't hold you back too much, and glitches are few and far between. The overall quality makes this one a must play for cyberpunk and isometric shooter fans.

Part action, part strategy, John Wick Hex is an incredibly challenging and highly stylized game that is both thrilling and infuriating at the same time.

Samurai Warriors 5 runs well and has a solid story presentation, but it's barely different from the last entry in terms of gameplay, save for having less than a third of the movesets.

While the game shows promise, it is hindered by questionable decisions and plagued by stability issues. Cities: Skylines II might not change your life, but some fans could enjoy investing some hours crafting their cities, as long as the game does not crash and burn.

It's rare for a game to make me swing back and forth a full 5 points on the score, but Virginia managed exactly that, and that's probably a sign of exactly how divisive this short piece of interactive story-telling is going to be. Let's settle around the middle.

The penultimate episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones may be A Nest of Vipers, but, though it’s consistently well-performed and presented throughout, this is looking like another series where the implied player agency lacks any real bite.

An unrefined rogue-like, but a hell of a rhythm shooter. A killer soundtrack and some striking visuals blend beautifully with frenetic shooting to produce pure adrenaline.

Although battling endless hordes of hyped-up marauders can grow tiresome, Peril on Gorgon adds a welcome depth to the narrative with plenty of humor wrapped in a sci-fi film-noir mystery.