Hard West 2 has some refreshing ideas to consider, such as perks based on your deck of cards, and consistently refreshing action points by way of kills. Unfortunately, its over-reliance on a puzzle-like, kill-all-in-one-round concept also leads to a repetitive and tedious romp as time wears on.

Brilliant, infuriating, beautiful, frustrating, fantastic, and hateful. Battlefield 1 is a great game, but perhaps not one for the more casual solo player.

Like the stereotypical school heartthrob, Need for Speed is vapid but beautiful and strangely exciting. It's a surprisingly enjoyable arcade racer, but one that's more for casual downtime than for a serious commitment.

The match-up of Warhammer and Total War is as harmonious as hoped, adding tremendous faction diversity and fantasy flavour to the familiar series mechanics. It’s technically sound too, but several old flaws (like AI blind spots in sieges) remain. An invigorating addition to the series, nonetheless.

Once it costs money, it’s a more difficult sell – but I’d argue it’s still one of the larger and more impressive bits of XCOM 2 DLC, even if most of its additions are outside of the core game itself. At that point, you should already know if a skirmish mode and some more tactical gubbins are what you’re after. But as a surprising, generous, and sizeable offering, it’s hard not to recommend this as a reason to dive back into the fight against our alien oppressors.

Broken Pieces has strong world design and interesting mechanics, even if the action feels needlessly shoehorned in.

Octopath Traveler's beautiful art, music, and in-depth combat system make it a journey worth taking, despite the haphazard plotting and somewhat repetitious nature.

The series returns with its incredible first-person shooting, wild gunfights, and a ton of Nazi killing. Unfortunately, that's about all it brings. The narrative is fairly shallow and it does little to add anything new while we wait for the next main Wolfenstein game.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom has a lot going for it, but its frustrations and pacing issues are a detriment to the overall experience.

An excellent fighting game fine-tuned for tense, thrilling bouts. While the fighting is always fun, its feature set is slim, with only a handful of modes that don't stray far from the core gameplay. If you're looking for a fight, you've found a good one, but don't expect a big story mode or much side content.

Oninaki does a lot of things right. It has a compelling story and solid gameplay but doesn't take either far enough to reach the level of greatness.

Short and extremely easy, Kao the Kangaroo won't win over anyone that isn't itching for a new 3D platformer. But it's still fairly enjoyable and a solid way to spend a few hours for anyone looking for a collection-based throwback.

Can’t fault the professionalism in pumping out one of these every year; but though Football Manager 2017 is up to standard and makes some iterative tweaks of note, it’s getting harder to ignore certain systemic issues which remain unaddressed.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 doesn't hit all the notes of its predecessor, but it's still a gorgeous re-imagining of one of Sega's finest action games.

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.

Broken Lines has some noticeable flaws such as performance woes, a lack of weapon variety and utility, and a poorly implemented save system. Still, it manages to entertain you during its short campaign and there are additional replayability quirks. The pause-and-play concept rewards smart, tactical decisions while you revel in the action that unfolds.

Metamorphosis is a good time with great visuals and an excellent atmosphere. But it's super short and the storytelling isn't quite as good as it could be.

In a lot of ways, it’s a game made for a specific audience. I’m part of that audience, and while there’s a bunch of stuff I wish was different, or better tuned, or more coherent (and maybe was a few chapters shorter, as the real climax of the game takes place a little way before the end) I had a bloody good time. It’s not for everyone – certainly not for those expecting a deep horror experience – but it scratches my Resident Evil 4 itch in a stylish and pleasing way.

Sonic Origins works magic with Anniversary Mode, allowing you to play four classic Sonic games in widescreen. However, the speed bumps, ranging from features moved to DLC and a lack of great content, bring the fun to a crawl.

In tandem, the (free) Banks 1.5 update and Utopia contribute a splendid set of features and mechanical changes to Stellaris. Taken alone, Utopia is more the luxury trimmings to Banks’ essentials, but it’s a fine package of unique species specialisation and mega-engineering all the same.

Dungeon Defenders: Awakened is a fun time, especially with others. But it doesn't have as much content as the game it's remaking yet, meaning that people still playing that one might be reluctant to move onto this version.

Despite the glitches I encountered, it was fun hauling such big pieces of cargo around. It definitely provides a different driving experience than what you usually find in American Truck Simulator. It’s worth trying if you’re looking for something to spice the sim up a bit.

Creepy and compelling, the game is finally officially out of Japan and offering a good time for series fans. Even if the controls and movement speed still leave a lot to be desired.

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.

Relic reinvent Dawn of War once again, retaining many RTS staples and borrowing a little from their MOBA genre-cousins. It’s not a flawless mix, and the multiplayer contents are a bit lean; but distinctive factions, a solid campaign, and largely compatible mechanics give Dawn of War 3 a strong base of operations.

Iron Rain is a good game on its own merits, but it's simply not as good as EDF5. It is a pretty different experience that's easy to recommend to series fans that are hungry for more, though.

Packed with plenty of hours of great gameplay, but a far cry from what it could have been, Ninja Gaiden Master Collection is both worth playing and worth being pretty mad about.

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.