Despite the cumbersome controls, lack of scares, and somewhat mundane puzzles, Ikai has a fantastic atmosphere, and can offer Japanese horror fans a strong story that keeps you hooked throughout.

Though its monsters genuinely scare me at times, Dragon Quest Tact is a fun-filled tactics gacha with some appealing retro vibes.

While the fishing core of Moonglow Bay might be a little lackluster, and exploration is underwhelming in places, there’s still a good time to be had with this cozy narrative-driven experience that touches on grief, loss, and new beginnings in a way that is almost certain to make your heart stir.

Catalyst Black is excellent at giving you a good time. The numerous game modes and loadout options are fun to play around in, and the scale of some of the maps is really impressive. I just wish there was something that made me want to keep coming back, which there isn't for now.

While engaging gameplay, roguelike concepts, and a big replayability factor bring Double Dragon back from the dead, Rise of Dragons’ late-game struggles and a skew-whiff lives system slightly detract from a promising revival.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a fantastic way to tide you over until Breath of the Wild 2, if you can forgive the dodgy frame rate and several other warts hidden within.

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin can be confusing to start with, but getting past the initial hardships opens up beautiful levels and satisfying gameplay.

A flawed but beautiful JRPG with farming sim elements, Harvestella boasts a unique and emotive narrative, gorgeous art direction, and an ambitious range of mechanics to explore. It’s slow to start but, with a bit of patience, blossoms into something truly memorable.

While the core gameplay of Desta can deliver hours of entertainment thanks to nuanced core gameplay and a likeable lead, the touch controls can be a little frustrating and those looking for a challenge may be hard-pushed to find one out of the gate. Still, this game knows its demographic and those who belong to it are almost guaranteed to feel right at home in the dreamscape streets of Desta’s London.

Hitman: Blood Money Reprisal offers a way to play a classic Agent 47 experience on mobile with fantastic touchscreen controls and a few gameplay improvements. While the graphics are not as impressive as we might like in 2023, it’s still worth picking up for fans of the series and those wondering why the original is still so well-regarded all these years later.

The Star Named EOS offers a lovely experience filled with puzzles of differing difficulty, on a background of hand-painted art and a delightful piano-filled soundtrack.

With a vibrant soundtrack, vivid visuals, and an eye for a punchline, Grapple Dog is a good time in a neat package. There are a couple of issues with movement, and progression can feel forced in places, but overall I’m hooked on the first game from Super Rare Originals and Medallion Games.

If you’re looking for a point-and-click, or narrative-driven adventure, with helpings of edge, sharp satire, and deep deduction-based gameplay, Gamedec makes for a riveting addition to your collection. However, the occasional issue with controls and performance does need addressing in a patch, and those looking for an interstation with a bit of heart will find nothing but a husk here.

For all its performance and interface issues, Rune Factory 5 has the same familiar comfort that every game in the series does. It's great to have it back, even if it's not quite right. It's good enough.

A modernised and remade classic – Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life – provides a very laid-back and pleasant journey through farming, raising animals, and finding a partner to spend your life with.

While full of classic Metroidvania mechanics and stunning visuals, Convergence lacks a certain originality to make it to the higher echelons. Still, the combat is tight, and the story is forthcoming with fully-voiced lines, making it an engaging experience for anyone looking to learn more about the world of League of Legends.

Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! is a great entry for newcomers, plus the story mode and multiplayer expand upon the gameplay in fun, if inconsequential ways. Puzzle Bobble vs Space Invaders is a great new addition, but it also leaves me wanting for an entry in this franchise that truly brings in some new ideas.

Diablo Immortal is a mixed bag. While the solo content offers a roadmap for series looking to bring their titles to mobile, the invasive microtransactions remove some of the rewards of mastery, and leave us wishing that Diablo Immortal had stuck to its paid-for guns. There’s enough for casual players to delve into the world of Diablo and have a good time, but as things stand, and as those in the underworld will confess to, there’s no way of getting to the top without paying for it.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park is a tale of two halves. I had a blast with the new single-player content, taking my time to trounce the Koopalings one by one, but the multiplayer element falls a bit flat in terms of replayability and variety.

A lovely learning experience that offers satisfying brain-teasing puzzles, but doesn’t quite have enough to keep players coming back for weeks. Fun multiplayer adds some mileage, though some extra options would really sweeten the deal.

An incredibly detailed and accomplished game that deftly balances combat with managing your very own occult village, Cult of the Lamb is an amazing game that deserves to be played. But no amount of humour or depth of mechanics can save the consistent and disappointing performance. I pray to Cthulu that some patches can bring this essential title up to snuff on the Switch.

If you can live with the creaky interface and resist overusing the auto-battle system, then you will discover that Disgaea is packed with great ideas and challenging battles.

WarioWare: Move It! is a festival of frantic fun, offering the sort of minigame madness we’ve come to expect from the series. However, the reliance on standing poses presents something of an accessibility issue, and one the game has little answer for.

End of the Universe tries to mash space shooting and roguelike randomness onto the small screen, with mixed results.

A fun twist on the platforming genre, Togges does a lot with a little and presents a charming world full of secrets to explore, and a satisfying gameplay loop at its core. While improvements to controls and visuals would be nice, there’s still a lot to love here for fans of classic titles like Pikmin or Super Mario.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a great time filled with farming, decorating, and forming friendships. The game really is fun, with an interesting story and plenty to do, but the performance on Nintendo Switch can leave a lot to be desired due to muddy graphics and pop-ins.

Charade Maniacs is a visual novel otome game with some drop-dead gorgeous characters and an intriguing story. However, with fewer choices than I’d like and numerous ambiguous endings, it may leave you feeling a little confused.

Digimon World: Next Order is very much a Marmite game, you’re either going to love it or hate it. In my case, I had a wonderful time, love digivolving my cute lil crew, and will definitely replay it for a third or fourth time at some point.

Grimm Guardians: Demon Purge is a competent and gorgeous Castlevania-lite with satisfying action and a great two-player mode. It’s also got its tongue firmly in cheek, and I had a fun time blasting through gigantic bosses and exploring this world. I just wish it offered a little more variety in gameplay and had a little more of what makes the Castlevania series so fun to explore. Maybe in the sequel…

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze continues the tough-as-nails platforming with new power-ups to help navigate the nastiest obstacles, as we’re treated to the best soundtrack in the series. However, the inconsistent difficulty makes for a less refined game and the bosses are dragged out to the point where fighting them becomes a chore.

Thomas Was Alone is a middling puzzle-platformer that overcomes its gameplay troubles by the sheer force of its charm.

While Dying Light doesn't win many awards for originality, it more than makes up for it with satisfying gameplay that will please even the most established zombie hunters.

Hitman 3 is a glorious finale to the World of Assassination trilogy, but its Switch version isn't the best way to experience it.

High speed chases and spectacular police take-downs provide plenty of thrills, but a lacklustre remaster, and a couple of annoying quirks let the arcade racer down.

A cute idea muddled by complex terminology, Randonautica is a novel experience if you're willing to stick with it.

A gorgeous look at the idea of memories and the importance of perspective, Moncage is a lovely little virtual puzzle box that may lack a bit of depth, but makes up for it with thoughtful design and engaging challenges.

While it takes its time to build momentum, once it clicks with you Mario vs Donkey Kong is a rewarding and enjoyable remake, and another win for the Mario franchise. The simple gameplay gets deceptively tricky, and is supported by wonderful visuals: just make sure you stick with it.

Nuclear Blaze arrives on Switch with extra content and provides a Metroidvania-like experience that gets immersion right. While the game world nearly makes up for what the story lacks, and the gameplay offers up the odd moment of frustration, this one easily finds itself in the better half of Switch titles of the genre.

Lone Ruin is a roguelike with style but it lacks in originality, making for an overall experience that’s worthwhile for fans of Hades and Diablo, but one that doesn’t quite match up to the epic scale of those adventures. Still, anyone with a love for dungeon crawling and fast-paced combat will have a blast here, and for the price, the replayability is a real boon.

Despite somewhat frustrating camera controls, and a sorely missed split-screen mode, Far: Lone Sails is a smart and enjoyable landship-management game.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 surpasses the original with a fun light-hearted story. Though slightly repetitive at times, returning fans will find more of the same casual puzzling fun.

A tight and surprisingly strategic shooter with an entertaining '80s arcade visual style that features disappointing and overly complex touch controls.

In terms of a free-to-play live service game, Omega Strikers is engaging enough to persuade new players and keep them scoring. While we’re hoping for new game modes and ways to explore the exciting roster of characters, things are certainly off to a solid start for Odyssey Interactive’s debut title.

While Coromon takes some of the needless complications of the Pokémon series away, it also leaves out some of the most engaging mechanics, and only stands on its own two feet in certain moments. It’s sure to engage anyone looking for a fix of old-school monster-taming RPG goodness, but don’t expect any innovative elements.

We had a ribbeting time with Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge as it offers a wholesome story with a goal to work towards - restoring the wetland and welcoming plenty of amphibians back to bask in nature.

While the game will win now awards for innovation, it takes the tower defence and real-time strategy genres, and turns them into a fun experience for Star Wars fans everywhere. Even if victory proves to be too easy at times.

A brilliant Apple Arcade exclusive with a killer battle system, let down by hit-and-miss visuals and a slightly naff plot.

Paleo Pines is a delightful, dino-filled romp through the farming sim genre that skillfully blends real paleontology with cutesy, cottagecore aesthetics and motifs. It’s a little wobbly on the Switch but it’s still full of wholesomeness and charm.

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore captures the intended retro charm with expert authenticity, warts and all. There's a great deal of energetic personality here, and the gameplay is straightforward fun, though the experience is slightly undermined by a lack of polish... but perhaps that's the whole point.

A long-awaited remaster of an iconic turn-based JRPG, the Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster finally brings the beloved title to modern consoles, allowing even more people to enjoy its charm. Unfortunately, the remaster falls short in some areas, and not every change is for the better, but it’s still a great time for fans of classic RPGs.

Road 96: Mile 0 is a fantastic addition to the world of Petria, and one that puts an emotional story of two teenagers’ friendship at its core. Stellar performances, an intriguing narrative, new musical ride segments, and a fantastic soundtrack help to bring everything to life wonderfully. However, performance hiccups and UI issues occasionally get in the way of the fun.

Teslagrad 2 is an iterative sequel that brings some smart new ideas to the table. Its stronger focus on speed, momentum, and platforming feels great, but it comes at the cost of more confined puzzles and often feels looser than I’d like. Still, the movement, presentation, and great use of Lumina’s powers make this another solid entry in the series.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition has a few technical issues that may infuriate those of you that are used to modern RPGs. However, the story, unique characters, and gorgeous art make it worth pushing through if you’ve never played this amazing JRPG in the past.

Princess Peach: Showtime turns the Mushroom Kingdom’s monarch into a digital Barbie, filling any role she’s given with personality and charm. Some levels place you on the edge of your seat, while others leave you praying for the interval. A very good game for a highly specific demographic - adult Mario fans, be warned.

Total War: Medieval 2 holds up, there's no doubt about it. It's still one of the best strategy titles ever made. But the concessions to fit this fiddly thing onto a small screen are clear, and anyone who's thinking of jumping in needs to ask themselves whether they just want to play the game again, or if they actually need it on their mobile phone. If it's the latter, then go for it. It's a good enough port.

A love letter to the music of Kingdom Hearts and a fab way to summarise the story, but it can get rather repetitive at times.

A remake of an iconic yet obscure horror classic, White Day: A Labyrinth Named School is an atmospheric survival spookfest with plenty of jumpscares and puzzles to explore. While it may rely a little too heavily on backtracking and frustrating chase sequences, it’s an enjoyable blast from the past and deserves a place in any horror fan’s Switch library.

Despite a slightly gimmicky appearance and card packs finally being pulled for all-out gacha mechanics, the well-executed risks of Cross Duel outweigh the issues by offering a selection of varied game modes, each with its own nuance, and a new way to play with the beloved cast of over twenty years of anime adventures.

Potato Flowers in Full Bloom has more than enough elements to keep you engaged, and they all blend together smoothly. There's nothing to shout about here, but if you're after a sweet, comfy dungeon-crawler, it might just be for you.

How We Know We’re Alive is a beautiful-looking and -sounding story that lasts around as long as a TV show. Just like an episode of TV, it draws you in quickly, but its brief runtime does mean that, by the end, you may not be invested enough for the payoff to hit.

Dragonheir: Silent Gods is an expansive fantasy RPG that’s probably the closest thing we’ll get to Baldur’s Gate 3 on mobile for quite some time. It’s got hundreds of unique characters, a deep story, and tons of dungeons to explore. Just don’t expect too much from the combat.

The Survivalists isn't a great survival game, but it does have the redeeming quality of being a fairly fun retro adventure to play with friends.

Romancing Saga Minstrel Song Remastered is a simple yet welcome rejuvenation of a classic JRPG. With no dramatic overhauls, just some additional content and quality-of-life improvements, it’s still a stroll through the past, but one that’s easy to access, priced reasonably, and packed with stuff to do. It never feels essential, but it’s still a lovely time.

It is a competent entry-level affair that nary puts a foot wrong. But in a world of Panzer Corps, Wars & Battles, Commander, and myriad other all-singing, all-dancing mil-sims, Frontline: The Longest Day doesn’t exactly pull a Fred Astaire. This is a bog-standard wargame.

If someone took the linearity of Candy Land, added smart decision points, traded its kitschy artwork for a modern, spare look, bleached its jewel tones, and blanketed it all with enough negative space to make a whiteout blush, the result would look and feel like Tokaido. But is the gameplay equally as blissed-out? And if so, is that such a bad thing? To both, I’d answer no, not really. It is a gentle stroll of a game, incredibly soothing to gaze at passively. It almost goes without saying, but to really enjoy Tokaido, you must really enjoy the journey.

Stalag’s problem is that it feels like it learnt too well the lesson that catch-up mechanisms need to be weak in order to allow the advantage of skill to matter. That’s true, but in a game with some randomness and a relatively low skill ceiling, advantages often come from luck.

We Are OFK is sort of a visual novel that presents itself like you’re watching Netflix. The story is good, the voice acting is great, the characters are excellently flawed, and the cast is effortlessly varied. However, performance issues, tacked-on gameplay elements, and the weirdly indifferent emptiness I was left with at the end made it struggle on a fundamental level.

Playing Caverns of the Snow Witch feels, for the most part, like stumbling around half-blind in a blizzard. But it’s one hell of a blizzard.

Overall, can I recommend this game to you? If you have been looking forward to replaying this game from your Gamecube days, then I would hold off until Square Enix provides controller support or better touch controls. However, the game is a free trial, so you can just play the free section and then decide if it’s worth the money.

Battle Worlds: Kronos is a fine, if somewhat unremarkable strategy title that does justice to the lineage. It doesn’t rock the boat, but might not do enough to float one, either.

Scoring this one is tough, especially since I have painted myself into a corner with my earlier Marmite comparison. Sensitive souls will be content to chill out and enjoy the story, maybe with a box of tissues close at hand. They will call the game’s detractors soulless wretches who are missing the point. So do we have a touching and emotive exploration of the human condition? Or is it an overly sentimental and mawkish cliché that doesn’t even qualify to be called a game? Personally, I'm certainly not the type of guy who thinks To The Moon is a pointless drivel, but neither am I convinced that it is the best thing since sliced bread - with or without marmite.

INKS. is a light and fun diversion whose only real fault is the lack of a sense of progression.

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakening continues to show why it’s heralded as one of the best mystery adventure games of all time, though its dodgy performance on Switch lets it down considerably. Still, I implore you to play the game on a different platform, where I’d happily score the game considerably higher.

In the world of home electronics, I’ve never been interested enough in apex experiences to bother with 3D, but puzzles are dearer enough to me that I’m quite glad to have played those final levels.

Cyber Hacker is definitely worth a try if you’re into (fake) cyber security or lite-sim games, or if you just want the barista at your local coffee joint to think you’re toppling “the corps” on your tablet over a nice espresso.

Tales of Crestoria is a gorgeous and highly-polished Gacha RPG that's marred by incredibly greedy microtransactions.

Mail Time shrinks you down and immerses you in a beautiful cottagecore wonderland, but its tricky platforming and dizzying navigation make for an experience that’s sometimes cozy but mostly confusing.

A clever dance to excellent music in beautifully colorful world. But over time this initially compelling and graceful experience deteriorates into a dissapointingly rote routine.

The game has got a couple of UI glitches, a tendency to crash, and a prodigious appetite for battery power. More abstract concerns arise from the basic limitations of the genre — these micro-session games are too far diluted from the formulas of Dungeon Keeper and Sim Tower to have any real bite to them.

If you’re willing to play it in small doses over a very long period of time, with either a lot of in-app purchases or a long grind, there’s absolutely a game worth playing here.

Bardbarian has a great genre-bending idea and amusing aesthetic but suffers in the execution.

I’d say there’s a great Sonic game here, and newcomers will find plenty to love. But if you own it already, maybe wait for a sale.

A strong sense of mystery, puzzles which are either inoffensively brief or intriguingly maddening, a considerate user interface, and a promise of future updates add up to a generally pleasing experience.

The Teal Mask adds a variety of interesting characters and Pokémon to the ninth generation, and while Ogrepon is the clear star of the show, there’s something to love about each addition. Plus, a focus on tradition and folklore add a richness to the area of Kitakami that is so great to see. But, wildly outdated visuals, inconsistent performance, and a litany of bugs mean that it’s genuinely hard to recommend this DLC, especially for nearly the price of a brand new game.

Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne HD Remaster has an intense, philosophical story with intriguing characters and fun combat. Unfortunately, the title definitely shows its age with outdated visuals and gameplay aspects.

Because the matches are so simple, the team management is necessarily also simple. King's League definitely has more of a 'mobile game' feel with its simplified gameplay. If that's what you're looking for, though, it might be a good fit.

In the time I had with it, I saw a lot of potential, but not too much interesting or challenging happening in the first hour or so. The slow pace is also a blessing and a curse: easy to handle with touch controls, but often dragging out basic movement in ways that kill the pace of the game. Your goals are also not entirely clear, which can be a motivation-killer in a wide-open game like this.

Satisfying first impressions are conflicted with a lasting impression of frustration, due to equally conflicting mechanics. Yet there is still enough here for a tentative recommendation.

The House of the Dead still holds up as a campy and action-packed pastiche of the zombie genre, but this remake struggles to bring the gameplay competently to the modern-day. Issues with performance and motion controls hamper what could be a dead-good reanimation of an undead classic.

Meganoid 2017 is an incredibly challenging game, but it is one that hangs on this challenge because of both intended design and poor controls. When you die from a laser that was off screen, it teaches you to tread more carefully and pay attention to your environment. When you slip off the edge of a platform into a spike trap due to the controls, it just leads just annoyance and frustration. I like certain elements about this game: parts of the presentation and level design, plus the large array of item, but I can’t see myself coming back to it anytime soon.

Stripped down strategy mechanics that are both interesting and fun, but the game is mired by a ham-fist attempt at comedy.

Galaxy of Trian feels very unpolished, but the core of what here is an enjoyable tile-based strategy game.

Like its predecessor, this is a complex game with a lot of interesting ideas — but possibly a few ideas too many.

It's the perfect way to kill some time while on your commute to work, waiting at the doctor's office, or any time you want to jump into an RPG-flavored world without the lengthy introductions, lore setup, or being forced into character roles you don’t want at the onset. For RPG combat on your terms, Battleheart 2 delivers in spades.

Despite being a tad beige and not hugely ambitious, The Trace is a palatable concoction of hidden object and traditional first-person adventure gaming. Worth trampling a crime scene for, if only to see where the series will go.

My Time at Portia makes for a strong mobile title with plenty of content and quality of life changes, but lacks charm and polish.

Not without faults, but a generous amount of free contact makes this worth trying if you are prepared for the significant time investment.

Initially quite fun, with some neat ideas, but the repetitive nature of the gameplay will soon irk all but the most patient of players.