Cris Tales is an enjoyable, shorter than average JRPG with some interesting time travel mechanics. The visuals are fantastically stylised and the characters are likeable but the time travel mechanics don't quite go far enough to make it stand out.

For a game limited to a single location, Grotto does a surprising amount with it. The constant visitation of the cave gives you plenty of interaction and the use of the constellations can feel relatively novel. The writing works well to weave these little decisions together and give off the impression of a larger narrative. It does settle into a repetitive loop but I was still determined to see it through. It's unique enough to recommend and I do find it a memorable and atmospheric experience.

Mortal Shell brings some new ideas to the Souls' formula. The Harden mechanic is excellent in its versatility and item familiarity gives you a reason to use your items. The exploration can be a struggle thanks to the convoluted layouts and reliance on stacking enemies but the boss encounters, where it's just you and the combat mechanics, are the highlight.

Another speedy yet charming double platinum trophy haul from Ratalaika. It's a phrase we're in danger of overusing, but better than a one and done.

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is an enjoyable return to Punxsutawney in game form. The repetition is both an interesting concept and a bit of a pain, but you will appreciate it, and the VR shenanigans, as the scenarios develop.

Cross•Krush is a cute puzzler that does everything right but would be massively improved by adding things it doesn't do. It'll make for a great hour or so of puzzling fun but after that there's nothing here to encourage sustained play.

Tin Can is an escape pod survival sim that does a great job depicting how modular systems work well as a whole but also had us more bewildered than we ever recall being playing a game. It has the uncanny ability to make us stressed just thinking about it.

Scintillatron 4096 wears its arcade influences on its sleeves but has more than enough of its own identity to carve out its own path. It may not be the most spectacular or exciting example of a twin-stick shoot 'em up but it is one of the smartest and offers its own type of fun if you're willing to give it a go.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink delivers a very polished experience with a main story that packs plenty of momentum. Combat is very kinetic but simple to handle. Perhaps that's detrimental when boss fights stretch into long encounters but the chaotic spectacle is thankfully easy to read. It's a shame the side content retreads old haunts and the post-game becomes a repetitive grind. What's here is a decent package but I wish the combat had a few more options to explore.

Whilst Toby: The Secret Mine takes significant leads from Limbo it does enough to stand out in it’s own right. The platforming is enjoyable and tight but the trial and error puzzles stop this from scoring higher.

It's not making any sweeping changes but NASCAR Heat 4 manages to make the social aspects of the career more influential. Transitions from night to day compliment the already brilliant visuals, even if the small stutters remain present. Racing online and offline is still competitive, fun and the options make the package feel accessible.

My Brother Rabbit is sure to warm your cockles with nostalgia for classic point and click adventures as the nights draw in. The gameplay is something of a relic but what this game does, it does very well.

Blackberry Honey did defy my low expectations. Whilst it is another typical lesbian love story, the time spent on it is used to good effect. The main two characters are well developed although the rest of the cast can feel undercooked and one-dimensional. There's a couple of enjoyable subplots and there's plenty of flourishes when it comes to the presentation. It's a shame it feels more like a book than a game. A little interactivity could've helped break up the monotony but what's here is decent.

Kombinera is a lovely looking game but it doesn't hesitate to put the boot in. Some puzzles are so oblique you'll simply not see a way out, not to mention the collectibles that'll lead to your inevitable demise. It's good but the difficulty may prove to be too much for many.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun is a user friendly but still challenging first person, dungeon crawling RPG. The voice acting isn't the strongest and the puzzles might have you scratching your head but the overall experience is an enjoyable, slightly shorter, adventure.

If you look in the dictionary of terms for palette cleanser, then Newt One would likely appear in the definition. The game features no stakes, violence or compelling storylines but makes up for that with a relaxing, fun gameplay loop and attractive low poly visuals.

Ship’s Cat is a game of two halves, the first being what you might expect, the second being something else altogether. The fact this is cobbled together by a solo dev and ends up being as impressive as it is, is quite something. Yes, the bugs halt progress a little, but with a patch already submitted to Sony, the prospects for Ship’s Cat are good going forward.

Final Fantasy XV is a great open world game. The combat has its flaws and the final few chapters are upsettingly poor but that didn’t stop me having tens of hours of fun exploring and ticking off side quests.

A fun action puzzler that you’ll feel compelled to keep playing long after the last trophy, moreso on Vita. Exactly what it says on the tin, Toy Tanks in abundance.

The Banner Saga 3 concludes the story whilst changing little gameplay-wise. Fans will tactically battle their way through to the ending but newcomers should go back to the beginning to experience the entire tale, rather than skipping to the end.

Mindcop is something of a throwback in some regards in terms of the strictly linear nature. The mindsurf and interrogation mechanic is fun enough, but we fear for many that the multiple playthroughs likely required to solve the murder will be a step too far.

Dead or School is a well-done 2.5d hack and slash game set beneath a ruined Tokyo. Coincidentally topical in terms of a virus ravaging the population. Well worth playing at any rate.

Darksiders Genesis changes the camera angle but brings a lot of what fans enjoy about the main series. It does get a little repetitive but the road to 100% is addictive and everything's better in co-op.

Squirrel with a Gun is pretty much exactly what you’d imagine it to be from the title alone. Yes, it’s shallow but it is also a lot of fun with it. Don’t expect a massively polished blockbuster, ‘cause this it aint. As physics-based playgrounds go, this is a good one. It’s fine to be silly and throwaway, which is exactly what this game is. Enjoy, switch off your brain and blow away some Agent Smith-a-likes with your rocket launcher.

Under Night In-Birth:Exe Late[st] is a game showing its age but the complexity of its systems continue to shine. A diverse roster should hopefully be complimented by a burgeoning online community. As it is, there's plenty of single-player content, even if the AI is a touch predictable. There's a likeable game at the heart of this with enjoyable combat. I just wish more was put into the presentation.

SlavicPunk: Oldtimer is The Ascent that your mum has at home but despite issues with the controls, difficulty spikes and storytelling there's more then enough here to keep you entertained.

Momonga Pinball Adventures is a fun pinballing adventure game that offers some fun, addictive gameplay at a low cost.

Kong: Survivor Instinct is a solid enough Metroidvania. Don’t be expecting much in the way of Kong himself, as he and other titans are reduced to bit parts. You’ll be fighting off human antagonists, with the main baddie being Alan Jonah as previously played by Charles Dance. Combat is OK, but you’ll see little nuance in enemy encounters. The titan encounters are made frustrating due to miserly checkpointing, but we still had a fair bit of fun with this.

Super Meat Boy Forever changes from a difficult, traditional platformer to a difficult auto-runner. It retains a lot of what people like about Super Meat Boy but the change from pure platformer to what amounts to a two button control scheme might put some people off. What the designers achieve with those two buttons is something to be applauded however.

Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is an action RPG with a split personality. There is a joy in the simple and easy adventuring aspect here, but the difficult and deep beat-em up inspired combat is a startling step change. Whilst it looks lovely these visuals will only get you so far, and before long the forgettable plot and generic quests stop this from being a truly memorable game.

If you can look past the issues with presentation and group combat, Achilles: Legends Untold is an interesting effort that delivers a competent power fantasy from the Greek mythos. Whilst I didn't feel engrossed by the story, the exploration was satisfying and the rewards just kept coming. It lacks finesse and fighting can be clumsy but I was engrossed enough to see the journey through. It's worth checking out.

Catan: Console Edition does a good job of bringing the popular board game to life. It's a little bit bareboned but if you just want a simple game of Catan with friends or AI, this version is as good as any.

Street Racer Collection packages four ports from the much travelled Street Racer series. For the most part, it does a solid job of conveying how the game tried to compete and change things up in a developing genre. In terms of the game selection, having two 16-bit efforts leads to a lot of content duplication and the controls aren't uniform across them. The DOS and portable versions at least feel like separate games and offer a glimpse into a series progressing over time. I had fun with it and you do get plenty of options to tinker with the experience.

Gravity Rush 2 is a tonne of fun to play, and falling through the air upside down is an image that is unique and memorable. However poor camera controls and bad stealth sections really spoil the fun.

Pocoyo Party is a fun game for those with younger kids in their household, replicating the look and feel of the TV show well. Notably it uses the DS4 tilt functions to great effect, which is more than we can say for 99% of PS4 games.

Eve: Valkyrie is the type of game that I have been waiting for a while now. It blends tight, responsive controls with some of the best action available for VR. Unfortunately it is slightly marred by unwelcome microtransactions and an teasingly brief single player. If you want a multiplayer space dogfighter then this is the best out there currently, however there could be more content for the price tag.

Moving Out is a gem of an action puzzler but is a little bit too light on content to be a true co-op classic.

Shio isn't perfect, but offers the right type of player a challenging platformer which rewards patience and tenacity.

Embr is a fun firefighting game with a true sense of silliness. We've seen the physics-heavy party game done a lot recently but Embr's originality and focus on replayability make it stand out as one of the more unique games in the genre.

Hidden Cats in Istanbul is another solid hidden cat game, though very much hewing to the same template as the last one set in Rio. It’s still good though.

Fans of the visual novel genre should definitely check out Chaos;Child. There are some pacing issues but the dark tale will eventually take hold of you, helped by its strong presentation and unexpected concepts.

Raiden IV x Mikado takes one of the best games of the famous Raiden series and gives it a fresh soundtrack. It's not going to do much that the PS3 version didn't do, but it's a solid example for the genre.

If you loved Sega in the '80s and '90s, you'll likely find Air Twister to be initially very impressive and enjoyable. It loses its flavour over time though and it's pretty repetitive but it's worth experiencing, although maybe when the price drops a little.

Tanuki Sunset is the racoon-based skating game you never knew you wanted. It's fast, fun and pretty cool but maybe a little thin when it comes to gameplay and longevity. We liked it a lot though.

Painkiller takes the original fan-favourite FPS and turns it into one of those modern squad shooters where there's a lot of fun to be had for a day and then the content dries up fast. It might be worth seeing what support this game gets before you jump in.

As beat em ups go, Bloody Zombies is about as standard as its name. Outside of VR it isn’t much to write home about. But the unique diorama aesthetic with the headset donned made for a great arcade-like experience.

Urban Trial Tricky is a decent motorcycle based, stunt heavy Trials clone and it can be a lot of fun. The child-friendly presentation is definitely at odds with the level of skill you'll need to make good progress though.

Inertial Drift benefits from a port over to the PS5 and this DLC offers more of the twin-stick, drifty madness of the main game. However, some of the original issues we had in 2020 with the difficulty curve and lack of variation haven't been fixed and, worse, have been continued in this DLC. However, if you're a fan of the original then this will be a welcome addition.

Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden isn’t going to change opinions about these kind of hidden object games, and in many ways this doesn’t matter. Aimed squarely at fans of the genre this game tells a decent spooky story. Whilst it isn’t the best hidden object game I’ve played, it is another perfectly fine example and one which will please fans.

Heidelberg 1693 is a savage 2D action-platformer that gives you plenty of gruesome eye candy which hopefully will keep you playing when the difficulty spikes start to test you.

As with most roguelikes, BPM: Bullets Per Minute is one of those games that you will either love over time or hate immediately and shelve for other things. The variable is within the random generation and contending with whether the game wants to throw you a bone or not. Aside from this, BPM is a solid meld of the rhythm action and FPS genres, combining an excellent metal soundtrack with solid gunplay that has a lot to offer, if you can break the stubbornly difficult surface.

Bonkies is a solid cooperative effort. Story and presentation is kept light-hearted and the building doesn't feel hectic enough to ruin friendships. Some of the stages are kept fairly straight forward but the increasing complexity of the campaign does give a crew enough to consider. It's a shame the levels roll out in such a linear fashion and I do feel the time limits are an unnecessary addition. Solo players will feel short-changed but Bonkies feels good with friends.

Digital Eclipse has proven once again that they do a great job of porting classic games into museums of retro gaming. The only issue is that the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a little short on actual classics. However, there are more hits than misses in this somewhat eclectic mix that should please most, especially fans of Ikari Warriors and the many self-made clones that followed the series.

Vaporum is an interesting steampunk themed dungeon crawler that will draw inevitable comparisons to Bioshock, but that's no bad thing.

Panzer Dragoon: Remake brings a Sega Saturn classic back to life. The visuals are decently updated but the price is a little high for an hour long game. Still, more of this please!

RPM has a couple of good ideas, a good difficulty curve and a very confident style of presentation. It's a bit short-lived and messy though but it's definitely fun for a day or so.

Redout: Space Assault is an unexpected departure for the series but is a solid, enjoyable and reasonably polished experience let down initially by slightly unintuitive controls, some missions that don't really land and visuals that can be a bit cluttered. Stick with it though and this is definitely worth playing.

Fans of the original Aragami will enjoy having four new levels to stalk their way through but the original game's issues are still present. So while the technical issues, clunky gameplay and overly long levels take away from the fun, Aragami still has plenty of moments where you feel like a badass ninja assassin and that's really the main thing we want from a game like this.

Breakers Collection offers up two excellent late '90s fighting games that never had a release outside of Japan and while both games offer up some great fighting action, they may be for hardcore fans only.

Slain: Back From Hell is resolutely old-school. From its 16-bit graphics, heavy metal score and the one track, balls-hard gameplay. It gives you a lot of reasons to dislike it but not many to stop playing. It may feel about as much fun as an economy class trip to purgatory but the moments of satisfaction it gives you are worth the journey.

The Gap is nothing to do with the clothing brand, but it is a fair walking simulator with an interesting time travel gimmick. It’s good but due to the very plot driven play, is effectively a one and done with limited replay value.

Distraint belies its mobile roots by offering up a very memorable story for PS4 and Vita gamers. The gameplay may be simple and the puzzling is a tad generic but we'll remember this game for a little longer than the usual 'indie game about feelings' stuff that indie devs like to put out all the time.

Dreamfall Chapters is a thoroughly enjoyable game. The story is hugely compelling and I’ve met some characters which will stick with me for some time. Whilst it does a great job of introducing new players, with a decent summary, this is a game where you’ll get more out of it if you are an existing fan. If you’re looking for a modern adventure game then this is a very good place to start.

If you can get past the fiddly controls, the underwhelming first level and the occasional progress-stopping glitches, Killing Floor: Incursion is an occasionally funny, often scary and generally fun VR shooter.

20XX offers a rogue-lite twist on Mega Man X gameplay. It suffers from the randomly generated levels and doesn't quite hit the heights of its inspiration but there is plenty of content and challenge to sink your teeth into, either solo or with a friend.

While Tesla vs Lovecraft continues to be a truly excellent twin-stick shooter and we're loving having a reason to go back to it, this DLC doesn't add enough to be truly essential but as an addition to a great game, it is well worth the cheap asking price.

Zero Strain offers up a unique take on the top-down shoot 'em up genre and has a few good ideas. There are some niggles but they don't detract too much from this likeable and addictive shooter.

Team Sonic Racing is a solid kart racer that suffers from some unfortunate drawbacks. The team-based racing works well and mixes up the usual kart formula. However, the game is marred by game modes that lack fun, missing polish and an inescapable feeling that this is a downgrade of what has come before.

Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story is a short but sweet shoot 'em up that encourages replayability and is a lot of fun while it lasts.

WRC 6 provides a fun arcade tear through the country with an accessibility which should appeal to a lot. It handles the on-track action fairly well, although the lack of split times and the co-driver’s torrent of notes can really dampen your enjoyment. The damage model and penalty system are perhaps too forgiving to add to the game’s challenge but there’s a fair amount of joy on hand from the driving. It’s by no means deep but it is enjoyable.

There is no doubt Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a fantastic game, unfortunately the PS4 version is not the best way to play it. The load times along with other technical issues make it difficult to get into at times. It's not broken so you will get enjoyment out of the masses of content, but you'll have to have plenty of patience.

The Fall Part 2: Unbound manages to retain the atmosphere, dark humour and themes of the original whilst bolstering the narrative with an ensemble cast and their own journeys. It works, even if the pacing does lag compared to the short and sharper first part. I feel Arid's combat doesn't strike me as necessary whilst the hub connecting the levels feels too empty and linear to justify being there. That said, there's an anticipation here to see how this story wraps up.

Rise of the Third Power attempts to replicate a SNES era JRPG and does a very good job of it too. The combat is interesting and characters likeable which makes for an enjoyable adventure.

The second Williams collection adds more predictably solid tables to Pinball FX3's ever-growing stable and while these have a great heritage and proven quality, the might be a tad too taxing for beginners.

Kansei: The Second Turn HD expands nicely on the groundwork of the first title. The intriguing plot continues to impress with some nuanced character work and some good voice acting. It's still a little short for my liking but the other endings make a replay worth it. The art is nicely made with a real sharpness to it and the leisurely piano score give investigating a relaxed pace. It's a pity the interface can sometimes feel sluggish and hamper the flow of proceedings. Still, I enjoyed it and I'm keen to see how the series ties up.

I Am The Hero isn't the best scrolling beat 'em up ever but it is well-presented, fun to play and gives you another reason to dust off the Vita too. We like it.

I always worry if time is going to be kind to old games. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered have delivered a faithful recreation. The upgraded visuals help bring a more cohesive look across both games and I simply adore the way the story is told. At it's heart, it's a fairly forgiving platformer with a lenient approach to death. Despite that, things like the save system in Soul Reaver show an industry still trying to figure things out. Set against modernity, it feels more like a historical artifact but I can't deny that it still manages to work.

Devil Jam is one of the better auto-battling roguelites that we've seen on PSN and it has a bit more personality than most of them too. It's just a little bit too repetitive for its own good.

A Musical Story mixes the whole 'indie game about feelings' thing with some good, intuitive rhythm-action gameplay and a surprisingly good soundtrack. It might not appeal to the hardcore rhythm-action fans out there but it has enough heart to find itself an audience that won't forget it in a hurry.

As a newcomer to Conan Exiles, the Isle of Siptah did feel a little daunting. There's an abundance of new things here and it can be tough to keep track of it. There's a lack of direction here but persistence does lead to some rewarding content. I would've liked some more visual polish and a slicker inventory but it's clear the focus here is on providing compelling content for the player to do. It's a shame you can't use an existing character to quicken the grind.

Where the Insanity DLC seemed like a great change of pace compared to the main game and was perfectly suited to the subject matter, Control lets the side down by just being a retread. However, the action is still great and fans of the series will enjoy how it fills in aspects of Pagan's story.

As a take on a classic, The Wanderer: Frankenstein's Creature manages to provide some stunning visuals with some slick presentational touches. It's light on interaction but the player does at least have something to do in each scene. The dialogue choices might not steer the experience too far off track but it does allow you to colour the narrative in some subtle ways. The story builds upon the existentialism nicely and does have it's own moments of artistic license. It's a well done, concise package that is worth checking out

Stubbs The Zombie in Rebel Without A Pulse is a fine remaster, warts and all. It’s the best way to play this fun game without the expense of an original Xbox and an increasingly rare disc copy. Yes, there’s the technical issue and the occasional crash, but it’s none the worse for it.

Manic Mechanics is a fun, well-designed party game that eschews overly-complicated gameplay and puts the fun first.

Pinball FX plays pinball as brilliantly as you'd expect but the economics behind it can feel greedy and, in terms of polish and performance, Pinball FX 3 feels little sharper and is nicer to look at as it stands, so the motivation to rebuy your old favourite tables isn't really there yet.

GRIP comes together nicely. There's a bounty of content on hand which, providing you can deal with the frustrations of competition, prove fruitful and rewarding. The core racing keeps me going through a campaign that can border on exhausting. There's a lot of trial and error involved but it's compelling enough with a solid presentation to keep my foot in the door.

As the final entry to the series, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered does its best to polish up a game that doesn't always hit the mark. The voice acting remains fantastic and is delivered with all the gravitas I'd come to expect. The pacing can be hit by Raziel's constant need to monologue but the helpful breadcrumb trail should prevent players from getting lost. Above all, it's a nicely put together package with a wealth of cut content and extras.

Otxo is a fair top-down shooter with roguelite elements. The faster you slay, the more you pay. It’s quite derivative and some of the default control mapping leaves a bit to be desired, but it’s fairly fun. It’s a fair way to spend a few hours, if not massively engaging. If you liked the Hotline Miami games this’ll be your thing. Us, we thought it was OK.

Space Crew is a spaceship management sim with a mean difficulty streak and frustrating combat. A few issues prevent this from being a truly satisfying experience, instead it lapses into annoyance. You might love it, but only in the way you would a ginger stepchild.

A nice bit of DLC for an already great game, just a shame it’s a bit short. Just wait until you're done with the main campaign.

Golf Club: Wasteland has a nicely executed narrative that is let down a little by withholding too much. The background radio calls do a lot to flesh out a barren, broken Earth and it helps that the golf on offer is decent, if a little simple. When the holes get more complex, frustration can creep in but I feel the penalty for failure is minor enough for people to persevere.

Ultra Age is the sort of game that you'd find for sale on disc heavily discounted within a couple of months of release during the PS3 era, yet take a punt on it and really enjoy yourself. Not actually a lemon, but definitely a bit citrussy. It's a fair action brawler with pyrotechnic combat and a fine line in roadblock bosses. But that's just fine.

Lovish's compact levels and responsive controls certainly scratch an itch. Whilst the 8-bit aesthetics aren't new, the execution is well done. The pace is kept up really well and the variety is strong. It's a shame the lives don't manifest into an actual failure state but there's enough danger in the levels to consider already. The story shows some heart, although it is thin. Despite that, it's a game full of ideas and ingenuity.

In what could've felt like a mesh of ideas, Onrush manages to succeed at providing a cohesive, fun time. There's depth to the combat with the vehicle classes providing different ways to play your part. Presentation carries a lot of charm and character and the seamless way you move from one event to another is to be applauded. I still wonder about longevity but, so far, it's holding my attention.

I do think Forgive Me Father 2 nails the atmospheric presentation. I don't care much for the Priest's gruff narration but the visuals are impressively stylised. The music helps reinforce it and the gunplay is solid. The campaign has a steady pace that rarely lets up and multiple endings and difficulty settings allow for plenty of return visits. I do wish movement was sharper but the arsenal shows a good variety of weapons.

As a visual novel game this lacks any kind of real interaction other than the X button. You’re coming here for the story and Steins;Gate 0 tells a great one, with multiple endings and loads to get your teeth into.

A polished anime quality remake of a ten year old Xbox 360 game you should consider checking out.

Weapon of Choice DX offers up a unique and crazy take on the classic run and gun genre. It may be pretty short but there's a fun, focused shooter here and one that does off some replayability too.