Chenso Club is a game that feels very much the sum of its parts. Whilst 2D platformers with roguelike elements are absolutely nothing new, the presentation does elevate it into a place of its own. Combat is fast, fluid and simple and the platforming is largely forgiving. The flow of a run means you're always close to gaining new gear and using your own health to shop does deliver some tough decisions for players to make. It all comes together to make something enjoyable.

Session's ultra-realistic skating mechanics are spot-on and reward your practice and patience. However, it's set in a world that feels a little dead, empty and cold at times and the structure the game does give you isn't particularly interesting or user-friendly.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is another great Falcom JRPG and well worth your time. The port could have done with more care, similar to how other formats have been treated, but the game underneath shines through.

Isonzo injects some much needed verticality and colour into attritional World War I conflict. The class types allow players plenty of ways to contribute, although online competition can feel like a meat grinder. A way to gradually introduce new faces would've been very welcome, although there isn't that much to Isonzo as a package. For offline combatants, the bots do provide a more forgiving opposition, if a touch predictable. Online with strangers, I struggled to find organisation amongst players. Still, there are moments where it shines with a mix of tension and victory. More maps are forthcoming and it is cheap which could entice someone to give it a shot.

Akane is one tough little hack and slasher where death comes easily to everyone involved. However, it's so badly lacking in variation that ultimately we can't see most players sticking with it for long.

Soulstice has some pacing issues and a dodgy camera but the combat is smooth, challenging and requires skill to master. A few tweaks would make this a fantastic game but even as it is fans of the character action games should definitely give it a chance.

XIII was fun in 2003 and terrible in 2020 but Microids have delivered on their promise to fix the remake. It might not be one for modern gamers but who cares? We've rather enjoyed playing through XIII's various spy thriller tropes.

Wayward Strand is a lovely graphical adventure with the feel of a whodunit in some ways. The charming Aussie voice cast conveys a great sense of place, just as the design does a good job recreating that awkward waiting around in hospitals feeling. It's recommended by us, but it might not be your cup of tea either.

Biomutant remains a slow burner. It took a while to get its hooks into us, but it sure did. It's not startlingly original and is a bit overburdened by its sheer scope, but we don't feel shortchanged by our forty plus hours playing it. Start a new save on PS5 if you want to get a clean sweep of trophies though.

As a package, NBA 2K23 is a phenomenal celebration of basketball. The return of the Jordan Challenge retells a stellar career and features exemplary presentation. NBA Eras takes you through an abundance of classic content and the on-court action feels tight and polished. MyCareer is substantial but still can't shake the intrusiveness of microtransactions. It delivers a decent story but can feel like a grind. Even with these problems, the sheer wealth of modes makes NBA 2K23 worthwhile.

It's Puzzle Bobble in 3D and on your PS5. Fundamentally it does all work but the twitchy controls do spoil the fun a little. PSVR gamers will probably get more out of it but the sharp PS5 visuals are probably the high point of this version of the game.

I'm still enjoying Train Sim World 3, even if the content can revisit their old DLC packs. The driving remains a relaxing experience and the breadth of routes on offer can give players plenty to work towards. What you get with the standard edition provides a nice mix of passenger and freight journeys whilst the deluxe edition adds steam engines into the mix. They all feel different to operate and have their own challenges. Visually, it's an improvement although not as polished as I'd like. It's a fun package, although I'd love Dovetail Games to finally consolidate all their Train Sim World content under one roof.

Nearly a decade later, The Last Of Us remains the absolute gold standard for storytelling in video games. While some may question the need for an outright remake, this is an absolutely essential experience for newcomers and one that more than warrants a look from returning players.

What a wholesome thing Kaichu: The Kaiju Dating Game is. Whilst it is essentially a dressed up compatibility quiz, the message it's trying to send is a delightful one about finding the right person to gel with. There is a cosy tone throughout and the artwork is cute whilst conveying plenty of personality. It's very light on gameplay and can be a quick experience. Still, it's absolutely charming with a lot of whimsy.

Steelrising has plenty in common with others in the Souls genre and even though it lacks the polish and variety of the best, the unique setting and some neat gameplay ideas make it worth a look.

It was always going to be a difficult task but Saints Row feels like a game that doesn't really need to be. Even if the technical issues weren't a factor, what remains is an okay but fairly forgettable criminal escapade. The new characters felt like a party I wasn't invited to and whatever confidence the old games had has been sanded away. It's not awful but there was a massive sense of disappointment I could never shake through my playthrough. I wish this was better.

Neon Abyss combines fun running and shooting mechanics with decent rogue-like mechanics and puts it all in a quirky setting. We like it a lot.

Rick Henderson's classic shoot 'em gameplay and neat 16-bit visuals give it some instant appeal and the perks and weapon upgrades keep it interesting. The randomly generated levels lack character and may mean that the game won't linger long in the memory but it'll definitely keep you entertained in the short term at least.

Cloudpunk is a truly impressive game, without even taking the PS5 updates into account. Graphically as close as we're likely to get to a Blade Runner game without an official licence being a thing. Often funny with a well written script, this is well worth your time. The on-foot sections can be a bit samey, but that's about the only moment we didn't enjoy here.

Whether you're coming to Destroy All Humans 2!: Reprobed fresh or as a fan of the original release, there's a lot to like about this package. The work that's gone into remaking the game's locales and assets has been really well done. Whilst it can definitely feel like a game showing its age, the writing remains funny and the gameplay is fun. Multiplayer is hampered by keeping it local and I do find the boss fights go against the game's brisk pace. Still, it's a surprise to me that this can hold up after so long.

On the face of it, eFootball remains a skeleton of a game in a genre where we're used to more content than we can handle and this update really adds very little to change that. But for gamers who don't want all the faff of playing through modes we've had for decades and just want to get on with building a side and having fun with them on the pitch, eFootball 2023 is a pretty good option. Especially as it's free and you never really need to spend any money on it to enjoy it.

Dusk Diver 2 has all the pieces to be an enjoyable JRPG but certain gameplay decisions make it more of a slog than it should be. The combat is fast paced but damage sponge enemies slow things down too much, whilst there are plenty of side quests but they nearly all boil down to simply running from one waypoint to another. It's not without its charm, if things were a little tighter it would be a real treat.

Cursed to Golf is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Very much a rogue-like with a golfing twist. You might bounce off like many do the Soulsborne games, but you might get hooked like we are too. Unflinchingly tough at times but also gives you hope you might prevail. It's the hope that makes you have another go. Recommended despite being harder than Henry Rollins and Jimmy Nail combined.

Yars: Recharged certainly improves on the original Yar's Revenge in every single category and we certainly enjoyed it but it does drag on a bit and suffers from a lack of variation after a while.

Soul Hackers 2 is an enjoyable JRPG which will feel familiar to fans of the Shin Megami Tensei series. It does do its own thing in many areas which is fine, but the dungeons are very simple and repetitive and the side content feels like padding although the rewards are worth it. It's not the next Atlus classic but it's a fun game nonetheless that may be a more forgiving entry point to the series.

Polished and mechanically interesting, Two Point Campus does a really good job of making further education seem exciting. The charming presentation and relaxed tone makes the grind of management easier to swallow, even with pressures like money and student satisfaction. It's not perfect with AI pathing being a slight concern, but there's enough here to keep me engrossed. It's a very likeable effort with plenty of depth to discover.

If you put 40 meter tall monsters in a fully destructible environment and have them duke it out, you're in for a good time no matter what and this party game gets that stuff right. However, to really get the most out of GigaBash, you'll need a sofa full of mates to play it with.

This compilation of five Turrican titles has our two favourites (Mega Turrican and Super Turrican 2) but neither of the original two Amiga classics. They're on the first volume and you'll need to pay £30 for each compilation, which stings a little. Also, with Turrican 3, Mega Turrican and a Director's Cut, three of the five games on offer here are basically the same game. So while there are still some great games on here, we've got real concerns over this pack's value for money.