It is difficult to grade Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. There are moments where you feel you have control of how you want to play the game and what you want to do, but so too are there moments where you feel you are just following along on a predetermined story, where the choices don’t matter, and the free agency you have as the Sleeper is just an illusion.

I went into Death Strand Directors Cut, ready to embrace the weird and enjoy the experience. The story, visuals and world are all quite good and up to a great standard. But before too long the monotonous nature of its core gameplay had me feeling I was doing a job that I had little interest in.

A great core gameplay loop, great enemy design and art, and a more run-based approach sets this game apart as one of the greats in the roguelike genre. The Stress and relationship system might not be for everyone, but it reinforces the strong focus on the choices you make in a run.

The controls irk, it is full of breadcrumb busywork and almost everything is done better in Breath of the Wild. But for all its faults, it still offers some satisfying environmental traversal, unique gadgets and complex puzzles.

An adventure that doesn’t stand out in anyway. Embracelet isn’t buggy, broken or busted, but it is decidedly average.

While discussion is sure to be dominated by the sexualisation of lead character Eve, looking past that, Stellar Blade provides a solid action experience for fans of the Souls-like genre.

The Switch version of Doom Eternal is ultimately a complex beast to recommend. If you’re someone wanting to take on some demons on the go? The lack of an adaptable UI makes it tough to recommend based on the amount of text which is unreadable when in handheld mode. For those players who primarily play Docked, especially if the Switch is one’s primary system? It makes for a far better prospect.

A visually stunning but too faithful recreation of a cult classic held back by its dedication to the source material.

As a Roguelike, Jupiter Hell stumbles with the randomness that shakes up each run instead, allowing the player a lot of control over how they want to build their character. Despite this, there is fun to be had with the tactical shooter.

If you have an itch for a fixed-camera horror and the patience for punitive controls, this is your game. If not, the Tormented Souls experience will feel less like a nostalgic embrace and more like a frustrating relic.

Unfortunately, while there are moments when Party Animals shines and is a fun competitive mini-game experience, these moments were brought down by some confusing design choices that hampered my enjoyment while playing.

A little light on content and a touch on the pricey side, Samurai Showdown on the Series could have perhaps been packaged better. But there is no denying the joy offered by its blood soaked and engaging one on one battles.

FixFox isn’t a game for teens or adults who act like teens (you know who you are). There isn’t enough challenge or engaging gameplay to be had. For the pre-teens out there though, FixFox is adorably cute, enjoyable and fun with a story that they can follow! The developers knew the audience that would enjoy this and delivered well.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road ultimately left me disappointed. It has certainly paved the way for more dynamic gameplay and interesting battle mechanics, but the shallow storyline and lamentable writing was hard for me to look past.

For all its quirks, I do hope that Screamer finds a regular and loyal fanbase. The story may be naff, and some tracks are better than others, but there remains an enjoyable core at the centre of it all. The potential for online play, particularly in all-out team races, is highly promising, but it’s a promise that can only be fulfilled if Screamer can entice enough an audience to purchase and persevere. It’s an excellent, flawed, unique, undercooked racer that just may yet manage to become a simply great one.

If you missed Spider-Man 2 on PS5, the PC version will be a great way to experience it, just not yet. I just wish Sony would learn from their mistakes and stop these sorts of releases from happening, but sadly their PC port rollercoaster just keeps on rolling.

It isn’t terrible but there is no denying that the NBA 2K franchise is on a downward trend. The focus on everything but the Basketball is this game’s biggest sin, one that almost ruins the entire experience.

While not difficult, The survivalists hooked me in with its take on the survival genre and the creative use of the local monkey population to help me survive.

While Hunt: Showdown gives players a high caliber atmosphere to play in, the steep learning curve and difficulty for new players to survive encounters with veterans may give it problems in gathering a larger player base.

Dead Take is an ambitious commentary on the state of a dark and often desperate industry. While its stellar performances are let down by some less imaginative horror troupes, it remains an intriguing take on the world of entertainment.

Horizon Chase 2 is blisteringly fast and honestly pretty fun. Its progression may feel borderline automated and its audio mixing lacks energy to an honestly bizarre level, but in a sea of very few fish it remains a solid and entertaining enough choice for what it is.

Breakout Beyond updates the classic formula to make it interesting where Atari's prior attempts at modernisation stumbled. But it's let down by the lack of leaderboards in its main mode, and a potential slog to unlock the hidden modes which offer more challenge.

This is a game that tries a lot but can never commit. Still, it's a fun enough jaunt through a world otherwise lost to a mobile game, with some nostalgic call-backs to other games in the series

There’s every chance more recent Sherlock converts might find themselves severely underwhelmed by The Awakened, which doesn’t really stand up against The Sinking City or Chapter One, but I nevertheless enjoyed traipsing around period locations for a few hours a night across the span of a week, the sort of popcorn gaming that isn’t appreciated enough in amongst larger, more bombastic titles that demand endless hours across their poorly paced open-worlds.

An excellent game, but a rough port, Wild Hearts S is held back by poor performance and sloppy visuals. Play it for the gameplay experience but not the aesthetics.

The Falconeer: Warrior Edition, fails to inspire. It’s a game that says its piece in the first hour but then meanders on for another dozen hours without saying anything more.

Emio - The Smiling man is a dark and gruesomely gripping mystery that’s held back from reaching greatness by its lack of improvement on the series’ existing flaws.

Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall is an ambitious sequel with new gameplay and a familiar cosy-danger vibe. Presently, management systems are somewhat unbalanced and difficult to fully enjoy.