Call of Cthulu is one of the better games based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and despite its visual shortcomings does a great job at commanding your attention from start to finish.

When Twelve Minutes hits, it hits hard. But I feel there’s, at times, such a disconnect between what it wants to do and say that it’s hard to reconcile its moving parts into anything I’d consider truly great. Performances waver as often as they wow, and that’s a result of a very ambitious game. Narratively speaking, it’s got the hallmarks of a Nolan film, and just like any good Nolan film, you’re going to boil the kettle and postulate into the midnight hours.

Although Tron: Catalyst doesn't capitalise on all of the potential of its many ideas, it does still present another worthwhile experience from Bithell Games. It's a joy to engage with their interpretation of this world and the ideas it represents, even if some of the execution falls flat.

Metro Exodus shows some heart, and it's clear the developers have poured a lot into this third chapter of Artyom's story. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that keep the game from hitting the standard set by its predecessors. Pacing is hamstrung by the ambitious misfire of an 'open-world', while performance issues and glitches mar much of Exodus.

Redfall is a gold dust-rare miss for what has been a very consistent deliverer of quality video games. If you are able to look beyond the game’s several questionable design choices, Redfall can serve up just a small bite of mindless fun beneath the island’s black hole sun.

Though the alternate history setting allows Steelrising to immediately separate itself from the bloated Souls-like genre in an aesthetic sense, its shortcomings prevent it from standing out in a way that truly matters. Some elements work well, and the accessibility options are very welcome; just don’t go in expecting Spiders to have reinvented the automaton.

Stripping away the flash with a bigger focus on the core basics, Madden NFL 23 feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s still a series lacking an identity right now, but this year’s entry is the course correction the series has desperately needed.

Metal Hellsinger’s rhythm-driven gameplay is something special, though it's marred by an uninteresting story and repetitive design.

What you will have to take note of, is the totally inconsistence frame rate. The game often chugs and gets choppy at certain points for no discernible reason, with some of the bigger set piece moments running fine, while regular exploration at high speeds can really have an impact on performance. I wouldn’t say it’s terrible, but definitely noticeable when they’re often unexpected, and happen often enough that you never truly forget about them.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 kept me interested throughout, though its heavy focus on character moments got in the way of forming a more cohesive main plot. I’m hopeful that all of the setup that’s been done will allow Tape 2 to fully explore the mystery behind Bloom & Rage’s ‘wild’ summer of 1995.

Dead Island 2 stands firmly besides its predecessor as only a marginal improvement. While there something to be recognised in the flexible skill system and satisfying dismemberment effects, Dead Island 2's lack of objective variety and uninteresting playable characters fall short of its potential. There's still some fun to be had for zombie fans, just don't expect a reinvention by any means.

The Medium is, without a doubt, Bloober Team's most ambitious game in terms of scope and scale. It successfully leverages fixed camera angles and strong sound design to inspire a horror experience that's unashamedly nostalgic. Despite its successes, it never really capitalises on its unique dual reality mechanic and ultimately feels the same as the team's previous games.

Through its picturesque presentation, Ravenlok definitely captures the reverie and spirit we’d expect from a coming-of-age fantasy. Sadly, the game’s one-note combat doesn’t offer a challenge worthy of its world, while the cliched story devalues its charming cast of misfit critters.

A Fisherman's Tale is still great four years later, but if you've played it before there's not much reason to pick up this barebones port to the PS VR2. It would've been cool to see InnerspaceVR take the opportunity to flesh out its recursive puzzle concept even more, but hopefully there's more still to come from this franchise.

While Overwatch 2 is still a good time, and an improvement over the original, it feels like less of a sequel and more of an update. There's some solid changes to the foundations of Overwatch, but a noticeable lack of new content, archaic game modes, and balancing issues leave something to be desired.

Battle for Bikini Bottom, despite offering a fair bit of fun, is a testament of antiquated design and, for better or worse, feels entirely like the game you remember from your childhood. There’s certainly a fun afternoon to be had ruining Plankton’s plot to rule Bikini Bottom while spotting the show’s many references with a keen eye, though ultimately Rehydrated is D.O.A.—dry on arrival.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an achievement for so many reasons. As well as being the little game that could, given the team’s real-world challenges, the game doubles down on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. way, delivering a sublimely realised sense of place with the Zone. Unfortunately, so much of the console experience is rendered so disappointingly undercooked.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is another good and worthwhile Souls-like with a rich setting and moreish combat. It might not capitalise on all of its potential, but it's an experience any hardcore fan of Souls will enjoy.

When it’s great, Daemon X Machina is a fast and frenetic mech action game with deep customisation options and a killer artistic direction that sets it apart from the rest. But when it’s not, it’s repetitive mission structure, nonsensical story and facile combat stop it from being the best it could be.

While I wish I could recommend Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, there's too many odd choices and caveats here to list. While it's always been a black sheep, the identity that feeds its reputation feels lost in this remaking, and it's new content additions feel out of place and in some cases, undermine what came before it.

Super Crazy Rhythm Castle makes a bold attempt at fusing basic rhythm gameplay with the kinds of asymmetrical co-operative chaos of something like Overcooked, wrapping it up in a deeply funny and genuinely inventive campaign. Sadly it undermines the fun at every turn with wild difficulty spikes, anaemic gameplay customisation and a frustrating lack of explanation of its own mechanics. There's something good here, it's just thoroughly underdeveloped.

While I sound down on The Precinct, it’s an enjoyable experience. There is something oddly satisfying and novel about playing on the other side of the oft-imitated Grand Theft Auto formula. But while all the building blocks are here for what I hope will become a franchise for developer Fallen Tree Games, it just feels like those blocks haven’t been put together in the best way.

Stray Gods might be a well-written, narrative-driven murder mystery that drags us to Olympus and back again, but it fails to deliver anything remotely close to an earworm after hours of forgettable melodies. Though Bailey and Baker do enough to earn their flowers, the production itself does little to land Stray Gods a place among the musical pantheon.

In many regards, LEGO Horizon Adventures accomplishes what it set out to do: it effectively summarises the story of Horizon Zero Dawn into an approachable all-ages adventure. However, in simplifying the mechanics of Horizon Zero Dawn, they have omitted what makes Horizon and LEGO games special. The Horizon world has been lovingly reimagined in LEGO but overly basic combat and a lack of interactivity hold it back. LEGO Horizon Adventures is salvaged somewhat by a gorgeous art style, a fun retelling of the story and well-executed cooperative features, but the pieces don't quite all click into place.

Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, like Old Man’s Journey before it, is a tightly-packed, hour-long adventure that lays bare the eco-terrorism that continually threatens these titular primates. While it doesn’t do anything particularly groundbreaking as a game, it’s a brisk, beautiful and, at times, terribly sad game that moves along at a rate of knots, even if that places a strain on the now-aged Switch hardware.

Like Evolution before it, AFL Evolution 2 is the best of the footy games. Of course, the bar isn't a high one, though it's fortunate in a way that it's the core gameplay experience that does the heavy lifting. Modes can be fixed, patched and reworked with less work, so knowing that the foundation is rock-solid is a bonus for Wicked Witch as they'll no doubt return time and again in pursuit of the holy grail.

Destiny 2: Lightfall is far from Destiny's worst expansion, but just as far from its best. For every step forward, there's another step back, and what you get out of it ultimately comes down to what you prioritize. It simply isn't as well rounded as The Witch Queen, but still offers many excellent gameplay additions and quality-of-life improvements that elevate the whole experience.

Funko Fusion is a brilliant take on the tried-and-true LEGO formula, but for a slightly older audience. The combat is fun, the humour is on point and the selection of characters is impressive. But limited multiplayer options and rough technical shortcomings keep it from reaching it's true potential. With time, it can absolutely get better, but for now, I'm willing to give 10:10 more time to cook, they're definitely onto something.