With gorgeous settings and a beautiful rousing score that fit the epicness of the battles I faced and a satisfying combat style, I highly recommend it if you are a fan of the genre or just a fan of traditional martial arts.

Blanc is a prime example of innovation leading to a memorable gaming experience, and shows that even when a game’s mechanics aren’t perfect, the story can still stick in your heart and make an impact.

Scars Above is AA game design at its absolute best. A tight Sci/fi adventure that is perfectly paced and entertaining from start to finish. Proof positive that a smaller, tighter scope is often a wiser road to success in the world of video games.

Wild Hearts is a solid entry in the “kill giant creatures and harvest their parts to craft new gear” genre, and with plans to add new Kemono to hunt and room for new areas to be added this is a game that you can sink your teeth into for a while to come.

Kirby’s Return To Dream Land Deluxe is much more than just a remake, offering plenty of new content to fresh and returning players alike. It’s impossible not to smile while playing this game, especially alongside friends.

I wish I could sing the praises of this game, but the flaws were a little too frequent to ignore. The narrative is strong but the delivery of it often flounders, despite the convincing voice acting of some of the cast. Some puzzles fit right into the world and add to the immersion, while some feel like banging your head against a wall as you endure them. The environments are often stunning, but the shine is taken away when travelling through them reveals pop-in and an overuse of invisible walls. It feels like a game that’s almost there, and I wish it had stuck the landing.

It's not for everyone, but I feel it's a great introduction to an interesting slice of gaming's lost past and also to the unique arcade-esque fare in which Llamasoft specialises in.

A trip back in time in both good and bad ways, Wanted: Dead is bad, but intentionally so. There is sure to be a crowd that will enjoy this PS2 throwback, but it won't hold the attention of modern gamers for long.

I can absolutely tell that there are kids who will fall in love with it, and adults who are going to enjoy the nostalgic trip back to the occasionally surrealist world of Bikini Bottom.

Not only has Microsoft made one of the best RTS games of all time enjoyable using nothing but a controller, but they have even improved on the original release in some key ways. Age of Empires 2 is just as good as ever on the Xbox and should be a must-play for strategy fans everywhere.

While there are a few issues that will frustrate, One Piece: Odyssey is a great romp with the Straw Hat crew featuring a brand new tale that incorporates some of their best story arcs so far.

With the Dead Space remake, we have a very faithful and utterly stunning recreation of the original genre-leading masterpiece. Little has changed apart from presentation aspects and while some may feel that is a missed opportunity, I am more than happy to re-experience this classic title as it is.

One or two unnecessary chapters and some half-hearted multiplayer can’t get in the way of what is a sensational Fire Emblem experience.

If you love your management games then you will enjoy the different take on the genre in Honey I joined A Cult. Whether you want to get into the nitty-gritty and micro-manage everything, or just do the basics and let your cultists do what they do best, you will be able to spend many hours building a cult that just might one day take over the world.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn really set the gears in motion for a genre. Since the first launch of this game in 1995, a lot has changed and this title has been staunch in both keeping to its roots and also making some needed changes to modernise the game.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are a wonderful foundation for future Pokémon adventures, but what’s been put atop this foundation for now is rather shaky in a number of ways. Poor performance this far into the Switch’s lifecycle doesn’t bode well for GameFreak or the pressure they are put under to meet holiday deadlines, nor does the phenomenal sales success mean they have much incentive to refine what’s here, when such time and resources could be better spent on whatever pair of titles succeeds Scarlet and Violet.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are a wonderful foundation for future Pokémon adventures, but what’s been put atop this foundation for now is rather shaky in a number of ways. Poor performance this far into the Switch’s lifecycle doesn’t bode well for GameFreak or the pressure they are put under to meet holiday deadlines, nor does the phenomenal sales success mean they have much incentive to refine what’s here, when such time and resources could be better spent on whatever pair of titles succeeds Scarlet and Violet.

NFS Unbound is another step in the right direction for the veteran racing franchise. Always challenging, always intense and always fun, Unbound is a big return to form.

An excellent game in its own right, and one of the PSP’s best, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII’s remaster stands shoulder to shoulder still with some of the best and most enjoyable JRPGs of the modern day. There are certainly some aspects that have aged poorly in relation to other aspects, but the core pillars of the experience sing as loudly and as strongly as they ever have. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was already one of the great JRPGs, and a major player in advancing the genre, but now, 15 years on, it’s still right up there with the very best. With Final Fantasy VII hype greater than perhaps it has ever been, now is absolutely the time to check out this all-important prequel chapter.

The Callisto Protocol reaches for what Dead Space once achieved, and falls dishearteningly short. It re-creates all of the brutality and tension that drained the blood from our faces whilst playing Dead Space, but once you then find yourself actively fighting for your life, leaves you quickly frustrated and let down. 

Firaxis, in its first new IP since taking on Xcom 10 years ago, have only further cemented its position as perhaps the best strategy game developer on the planet. Midnight Suns, simply put is a must-play, even for those not used to turn-based tactics.

When all is said and done, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a fantastic port of a fantastic game. It runs well on a range of systems, including the Steam Deck, and really captures the feel of this younger, less experienced web-slinger.

If you don’t think the idea of becoming best friends with horses and just hanging out with them on an island sounds fun, you won’t enjoy this game. But if it’s going to tap into that same part of childlike wonder that I felt from the moment I loaded it up and chose my first horse, then it could be for you.

The whole experience is outdated and poorly designed which leads to nothing but frustration and regret. To add icing to the terrible cake, the game lacks any sort of coherent story or even likeable characters to help get players through the rest of the problems. When the only nice thing you can say about a game is that it works, well things are rather bleak I am afraid. Gungrave G.O.R.E is, simply a bad experience and one I can’t recommend for anyone, even those with a deep love for the IP it is based upon.

If you’re a true crime fan, this is going to be the one for you, while also showing you the dangers of letting a true crime obsession go too far. Sometimes, I guess we all need a reminder that going to an exact replica of a place where gruesome murders happened is a terrible idea, even if it is in the name of ‘art’.

The team at Coffee Stain know exactly what the title is and how it should be played, cranking up the insanity for an outrageous time and optimum enjoyability. Goat Simulator 3 is pure absurdity, nothing more, nothing less.

What it boils down to is, we have seen this game before. Be it as WW2 soldiers or Orc stomping space marines, this is an experience that has been around for quite some time now. That being said, The Valiant is still a welcome addition to a genre that is currently underserviced. It has been put together by a talented team that knows exactly what they are doing and as a result, have created a game that fans of the genre will undoubtedly enjoy. The Valiant won’t change the world, but it will entertain its target player base for some time to come.

I’ve believed for a long time that the games industry doesn’t value its history the way other media does, and collections like this serve as a shining light that perhaps this attitude may change in the future.