As a first time player, I happened to really enjoy Dear Esther’s bleak trek across a mysterious Hebridean island. The tale felt like a deeply personal one and, although the narrator’s wordiness can and will tend to grate, I can appreciate and engross myself in what the Chinese Room have provided. There are moments of genuine impact and it’s an experience very open to interpretation. Your interpretations will ultimately colour how you see this brief encounter.

As an annual product, Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 6 is not bringing a lot new to the party. The time on track remains interesting and unique but the presentation and career mode feels very stale and flat. Fans might jump at the chance to get back in the saddle but I struggle to find a reason to recommend this over last year's title. There's a lot of content here but I wasn't especially excited to wring it all out.

A great indie platform puzzler with distinctive graphics and a compelling gameplay hook. Recommended despite a few niggles.

Smoke and Sacrifice does just enough with its exploration and crafting to be enjoyable. The weak combat and some irritating design decisions make the replayability suffer but fans of the genre will enjoy following the story through once.

Overall then iO is a decent puzzle game offering loads of content, it’s also cross buy with the Vita which is nice. It suffers from some proper hard difficulty spikes and relies a bit too much on trial and error, but at the end of the day it plays a decent puzzle game.

Reverie Knights Tactics is a strategy RPG with plenty of mechanics to play around with. Unfortunately the battles became overly similar very quickly, with the optional challenges and odd puzzle here and there not doing enough to alleviate the tedium.

Disgaea 6 finally arrives on PlayStation consoles in the West and brings all its DLC with it in this Complete edition. It has the majority of what you expect from a Disgaea but certain elements are lacking whilst others that have been introduced maybe aren't for the best. Ultimately I can see some enjoying the additions and others resenting them so approach with caution and you may be pleasantly surprised.

TAPE: Unveil the Memories is a game that does occasionally show moments of class. The time rewinding gimmick does lead to some interesting puzzles and the plot is wonderfully grim. At times, the presentation manages to surprise me with distorting hallways and clever transitions. Unfortunately, it's also saddled with some cheaper elements and a monster that isn't that intimidating. Unfortunately, the pace bogs down in the final act.

Root Letter has great visuals, an intriguing story and well paced chapters. The interactivity may only give the illusion of player control but it’s a welcome distraction.

Repetitive gameplay is the only thing holding back Earth’s Dawn but it is a pretty major part of the equation. The missions reward you well and it always feels like you’re making progress, but the lack of variety may be a deal breaker for some.

Close to the Sun is a well-made narrative experience that's saddled slightly by inconsistent pacing. The acting is spot on but some of the earlier sub-plots tend to quietly slip away in favour of something games have readily explored. It's a very guided effort but there's a level of polish and artwork that helps make the Helios a believable venue for disaster.

This compilation of classic '90s shoot 'em ups is great for fans of the series and genre alike but while the game needlessly focuses on regional variations of the same games, it misses out important titles from the series and the cost is a little bit too much for what you get.

Whilst it might be the best option to play Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, it still doesn't excuse the faults of the original. I do adore the polished presentation but the platforming and combat feels stuck in time. The level design can contain great moments of verticality but the continue system can occasionally feel restrictive. As nice as the new controls can feel, it remains an authentic preservation of a fairly average game.

Carmen Sandiego is at once a tie-in to Netflix’s recent series as well as a throwback to Broderbund’s 1985 classic edutainment title. It doesn’t quite know who its aimed at though, whether it be current kids or their parents. Some minigames are fun, others are turgid. It’s best left to shorter play sessions anyway. We just fear it won’t do quite as well outside of America as the brand doesn’t quite hold the same cache on this side of the Atlantic.

Outlast 2’s backwoods territory has a real passion behind it’s visuals and sound but the skew towards the chase quickly strikes me as overbearing. The story tropes sit with a tale that’s been told before and, whilst the antagonists are memorable, their relentless nature adds frustration rather than genuine fear. Stealth remains enjoyable but it seems pushed to the periphery. This game will polarise, depending on your priorities.

Strikers Edge provides a cheap, small bundle of fun that offers something quick and enjoyable to those that want a bite-size scrap. It's simple to understand with little moments of nuance to give some more experienced players an edge. It's unfortunate the community hasn't quite formed around launch but, couch combatants might find entertainment from what is a bright, if slim offering.

Within the Blade is a great indie ninja game with a few rough edges. Just a few minor tweaks could elevate it, as it is in its current state it's a scrappy but likeable game.

A sloppily implemented PC port that ultimately should have stayed in early access longer to iron out the kinks.

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 Final Station mixes exploration with some run and gun gameplay. It doesn’t do either thing extremely well but when you have to clear out a room full of zombies with a pocketful of shells and not much else, the game delivers a good mental challenge and a dollop of tension. As the story, and challenge, develops the game hits its stride. Confident and artsy, maybe it has tricked us into thinking it’s good. Or maybe it just is. You might want to wait for the inevitable PSN sale with this one.

As with Volume 1, this is a weighty compilation that packs in fifty titles from Atari’s past. The quality of many of the games is questionable but as a history lesson in ’80s gaming, this is worth a look. Even if many of the games will only be fired up once.

VR Invaders offers a fun, if short lived VR shooter experience. The shooting feels good and the enemy variety keeps things interesting, but the lack of online leaderboards combined with the limited content means it won’t keep you occupied for long.

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.

Jedi Academy was always the best Star Wars game until Fallen Order came along but it still stands up today thanks to its brilliant combat and decent story.

Chronos: Before the Ashes is an enjoyable enough Souls like with more puzzles than you'd expect from that but its VR roots make it a rather pedestrian affair with rough edges. The ageing mechanic is a great idea, it's just a shame that to experience it fully you have to be really quite bad at the game.

Madden NFL 22 is a good return to form for the series after last year's clunker. The NCAA teams are a good addition as well as confidently implemented PS5 haptics. That said, if you hate American Football, this likely isn't your thing.

Little Orpheus is a delightful episodic romp as you discover how your hapless hero Ivan Ivanovich ended up losing the titular nuclear device. Great script, voice acting and pre-rendered graphical style make for a great value proposition. Very enjoyable and very much recommended.

Everdream Valley delivers on its promise of an open-ended farming experience. As bright and cheery as it looks, not everything is as polished as the cute, rotund animals. I find objectives aren't always clearly marked which leads me to question if there's more fatal problems lurking. The merchant does offer some expensive shortcuts to completing quests but, for the most part, I'm enjoying the cosy adventure on offer. It could be more direct in some circumstances but is a decent effort.