Massive Chalice – with its dual-gendered cup, regents of all ages and both sexes, and heroes with a variety of skin tones – is perhaps the studio’s best example of diversity and representation yet. It’s welcomes all players.

It’s a party game more than anything else, and one that warmly welcomes just about anyone who can swing an arm. And while the Wii was rife with this sort of casual fare, the Switch could use a few more. That’s why Nintendo Switch Sports earns an easy recommendation for families looking for some straightforward multiplayer fun.

I want to love Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, but the best I can manage is to appreciate its aspirations and intentions.

Cutting to the chase, Skylanders Imaginators on Switch offers the same creative, co-operative fun as on other platforms, minus a portal but with the added bonus of portability. It is, however, noticeably inferior to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions in its visual presentation.

That’s also part of the problem: It’s merely reminiscent of greater works. It doesn’t have a voice of its own. Its hesitant, wavering tale of a boy and girl struggling together to dispel the dark doesn’t carry the weight of other poetic adventures. Like a frivolous pop ballad filled with vague notions of love and heartbreak, Rain left me in want of clarity, resolution, and a more distinct message.

Despite its finely crafted and quite enjoyable drawing and physics puzzles, I found Max: The Curse of Brotherhood to be more frustrating than fun.

Befriending (and perhaps even falling in love) with artificial humans is not an entirely novel premise for a story, but Benjamin Rivers approaches the idea thoughtfully and with tact, avoiding obvious pitfalls. What he has to say on the subject is worth a few dollars and few hours of any sci-fi aficionado’s time.

Each location along the way is filled with plenty of side-quests, clever puzzles, and secret locations waiting to be discovered. It adds a good dozen hours or more to the experience, making this fantasy world bursting with things to do almost seem like a much more whimsical kids’ version of an Elder Scrolls game.

Every aspect of the Assassin’s Creed formula has been taken apart and put back together again, all while existing in a world populated by impressive crowds of thousands. Sadly, the game pushes right up against the hardware limitations of the new-generation consoles and does not have the quite narrative ambitions or scope as previous games in the series.

If you’ve got an evening to spare and want to fill it with some great beats and alien-blasting action, LOUD on Planet X is worth checking out.

I’ve only spent a couple of hours with Disney Art Academy, but I was pleased with the quality of a Chip – or was it Dale? – drawing I was able to produce completely from scratch following instructions.

Much like Koru, The Last Tinker is made up of a little of this and a little of that, but it provides some good fun through variety and unique design.

I suspect most of my qualms wouldn’t exist had République been designed from the ground up for PlayStation 4, which is perhaps a point in favour of the hardcore crowd who raise their noses at mobile games. However, these problems are too minor to greatly distract from a game with a compelling dystopian story and stealth action that’s both pleasantly reverential and legitimately innovative.

It might not be my first pick if I were in the mood for something to put my grey matter to the test, but I don’t regret the time I’ve spent with it.

All of this is well and good. It’s what I’d expect of a Fire Emblem game on any platform, mobile or otherwise. And it’s plenty to keep me playing. For now. But my concern, as already mentioned, is what happens once I start to encounter anything that feels like a payment barrier. And I can see them coming.

The transition to true open world play may not be going as smoothly as we might have hoped, but the technical issues have yet to push me away. In the end, I’m really just here for the weird wildlife, and there’s certainly no shortage of that in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

While Rogue is overshadowed by Assassin’s Creed Unity‘s next generation marketing blitz, it’s a meaty additional chapter that provides greater depth to some fan-favourite characters.

Regardless of whether I stick with Fallout Shelter to the end, filling a bunker a couple of dozen stories deep with 100 bustling dwellers, I’ve definitely had some fun.

The transition to true open world play may not be going as smoothly as we might have hoped, but the technical issues have yet to push me away. In the end, I’m really just here for the weird wildlife, and there’s certainly no shortage of that in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Tomodachi Life might not have the lasting appeal of a title like Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but the game certainly offers up an interesting experience — one that will probably appeal for a longer period of time to a much younger audience.

This is Far Cry reduced to its core elements, both good and bad.

Running across a horde of freaks in Days Gone is a helluva thing.

It may lack new and novel features that we can use to easily define it, but Supremacy gives us something that might be even better: Some Advanced Warfare‘s most sophisticated and entertaining competitive and cooperative maps yet.

So Dungeon Rushers isn’t the most polished or finely balanced game you’ll play on your phone. But the combat and exploration is challenging, the characters’ banter sometimes made me snicker out loud, and – most importantly – it’s fair. That’s enough to earn my five bucks.

As with pretty much any Lego game (except perhaps Dimensions), what it really comes down to is whether you’re tired of the Lego game shtick, whether you happen to be a fan of whatever pop culture property TT Games happens to have on tap, and whether you have someone to sit beside you on the couch so you can play and laugh together – these games are always much more fun experienced with a friend of family member.

Hardline‘s release was smooth, and although it did feel like a modified BF4, it also plays like something novel and worthwhile all on its own.

Of course, the fun that players have with Scribblenauts Unmasked‘s activities will correspond directly to their creativity.

It makes me wish for the return of the good old days of game rentals. Because yes, Farpoint is worth a try if for no other reason than that it shows that a traditional first-person shooter can work in virtual reality – especially if you’re lucky enough to play with a purpose-built gun peripheral. But I doubt many people will get more than a night or two of fun out of it. And they’ll likely become pretty bored by the repetitive level design and unimaginative selection of enemies faced along the way. And frustrated by the wonky cover system. It’s hard to convince myself that might be worth $100.