This is not the return to the series fans were hoping for. Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is a slight experience with a story that feels poorly connected to the older classics. Elalith's actions undermine the decisions taken in previous games and, if that's not enough, the gameplay is very basic. It does have some interesting visual sections, but these also scale back the interactivity. As a result, it doesn't feel cohesive and strikes me more of a piece of merchandise than a game.

There may be fans of City Hunter, the manga comic, but we'd be surprised to find any fans of this game's original PC Engine version so this expensive port is hard to recommend, especially because of the game's awful level design.

There was enough about I Hate This Place to keep us engaged right to the very end, but the longer we played it, the more it annoyed us. It feels dated, confused and amateurish in everything it tries to do, and it's such a shame because you can tell there was heart and vision behind it. It just needed more time, talent or maybe both.

We gave The Perplexing Orb: Bounce N' Roll the benefit of the doubt when we reviewed it but this sequel isn't just similar, it's basically the exact same game. With all the same problems as before and even less of a lifespan. It's a bit of a rip-off and we just can't support it.

It's one thing having rogue-likes do the shooting for you but this brick-breaker has zero interactivity apart from letting you pick your perks. And while that can be the most addictive part of some of these sort of games, it's not really enough to carry a game by itself.

Ultimate Zombie Defense is a bad port of an average PC game and it gives you almost no incentive to keep playing it.

Whilst it tries to do something interesting with it's pro-trucker story, time on the road is filled with irritants. The behaviour of the other road users is erratic and obeying the laws of the road only seems shorten your driver's chances for survival. The long hauls only seem to showcase a large, bland map with very few points of actual interest. Truck Driver: The Dutch Connection is a something of a dull mess that doesn't quite stack up.

Cat God Ranch is an odd thing. We suspect the concept was solid when it came to the project brief but the execution leaves something to be desired. Mechanics aren’t well explained at all and you’re guaranteed to hit a solid difficulty wall after a while. Yes, the animals are all very jolly and vocal, but can’t carry this beyond the initial couple of hours. The problem is the game mechanics aren’t clear and bafflement is likely to be your default state rather than enjoyment. For now, avoid this.

The Order of the Snake Scale is a small and cheap effort that struggles to serve up mystery or tension. Whilst the music can be atmospheric, most areas are lifeless and combat is sparse. It's an adventure game but the steps you take to progress the story feel strangely disconnected. The tank controls lead to an awkward fumble and the first-person view, whilst making it easier to navigate, is an ugly thing to look at. It's playable but far from cohesive.

Fast and Furious Arcade Edition is a vacuous void of a game that while it might work well in an arcade environment, but is so sadly lacking in this home port. The AI rubberbanding is among the worst we’ve ever seen in our memory, if not ever, to the extent that no matter how well you drive, the opposition will be on you regardless. Don’t waste your time and money buying and playing this, instead pick up Burnout Paradise on the PSN store as you’ll get more from that for less money. Avoid this at all costs.

Inside ZOE Begone! there's a good idea but it doesn't really come together as a game and feels like it's a few patches away from being its best self.

Gore Doctor aims to be a creepy, psychological, gore-filled horror game but in the end feels cheap, clumsy and poorly-presented. It doesn't really get anything right.

Super Engine GT Turbo SPEC is just the minimum viable product of racing games. It adds nothing to the genre and misses all the modes, options and fun that you'd get from pretty much any other racing game. It's surprising just how uninspired this game is.

Hegzis feels like a struggle to play. Not because of any skill ceiling or puzzle challenge but just because it's so repetitive and uninteresting.

S. Prism Destroyer is a run-and-gun shooter with gameplay from the '80s, visuals from the '90s and not much else. There's some challenge here but not much in the way of inspiration.

This cheap and cheerful BMX game has a solid enough engine but there's no real game hanging off of it. A serious lack of content lets this one down.

Police Shootout is a mystery. We somehow enjoyed playing it despite it having poor graphics, terrible audio, laughable writing and clunky, flawed gameplay. It's by almost every measure a terrible game and yet we finished it multiple times. Unlike the playtesters.

Beyond the Ice Palace II is a throwback in the worst possible way. A sequel to a 1988 Amiga game that should never have been greenlit, not to mention the terrible job Storybird did with it. The checkpointing is miserly, the platforming uninspiring and the post-release patch that deleted our save and removed what little enthusiasm we had for the game were nails in the already rickety coffin. Bury and forget.

Build Lands could have worked as a relaxing building game but instead aggravates with fussy level designs and an interface that fights you every step of the way.

Eastasiasoft's Bomb Jack clone gets a sequel which doesn't really improve anything but does take the previously trivial difficulty level a little too far in the opposite direction. We're not really sure who this one is for because it certainly doesn't land for the Bomb Jack obsessives here.

Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator has potential, but in its current state, that’s all it is. The diagnostic system that underpins the game was broken by the day one patch and remains in a state where the game is effectively unplayable. The gameplay itself is a bit repetitive but no less so than the nine to five grind. We just hope a future patch resolves the issues, because as things stand, we can’t really recommend this.

We love auto-shooters when they are done well but Spellagis fails to deliver in any aspect.

Shieldwall feels very hollow. The idea of building an army sounds great but it's realised in very limited terms. Tactical options seem very light and the timed nature of each battle means you're following the same basic flow every match. As diverse as the map selection can be, you're still stuck capturing flags against AI that seems to, at the very least, not operate under the same cooldown restrictions. The lack of multiplayer really hampers any longevity this game might have. As it is, Shieldwall is a very slender product with little depth.

This just doesn't want to click for me. Skautfold: Into the Fray has some intricate pixel art but the combat is hampered by a small selection of guns and enemy variety. The shooting prioritises precision and I don't think the analogue sticks quite supply it. How you engage with combat rarely changed over my time with it and that results in something frustrating and a little tedious.

Visuals from 20 years ago meet gameplay from 40 years ago. Space Paradox: Noire isn't terrible but it's about as unexciting a shoot 'em up as we can remember reviewing.

We love twin-stick shooters and we love tower defense games. Unfortunately, Road Defense: Outsiders doesn't execute either aspect particularly well.

Ninpo Blast combines ninjas and shoot 'em ups to make a game that's oddly unexciting.

Graven is a console port stricken with a fatal save bug. For anyone wishing to persist, the remaining product is lacking in a few key areas. I love how the levels are designed with clever shortcuts but the encounters can begin to feel stale. The lack of new enemy types and a small selection of weapons really brings the mood down. Magic doesn't really feel special and can often operate like another key, rather than a tool for combat. There's a good atmosphere but the potential this game wants to invoke doesn't really come to fruition.