A thoroughly enjoyable side game that looks to offer familiar Like a Dragon action with a swashbuckling twist, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a flamboyant distraction between mainline entries. The story doesn’t compare favourably to the mainline entries and the new island areas quickly become repetitive, but the novelty of Goro Majima at the helm of a pirate ship never quite wears off. Stay for its frenzied action and jolly pirate ship battles and you’ll have a good time.

While the levels make no logical sense in true retro shooter fashion, they do make game sense, all having clearly defined layouts that expertly navigate you through some truly massive environments. One standout is an entire level that takes place within a canyon, with a foreboding level of verticality. The design knows just which cues to provide you, and actually finding where to go is no more challenging than with any other modern game. While many of the environments rely heavily on white tiled walls, as you progress further outside, more colour breathes life into the world, a most welcome change.

This refreshed iteration of Murder on the Orient Express is a joy to play. The inclusion of new content and the unique modern setting really make for a very fun time. Small issues can’t mar the fact that this is ultimately a very enjoyable case to crack.

It hangs around briefly, but Doodle Kingdom proves itself a worthy addition to the Doodle ranks.

While lean on content, Funomena delivers a bite-sized title that offers one of PSVR’s more meditative experiences. Extremely relaxing, the title’s puzzle, art, and music work in concert to deliver a title that had us smiling from beginning to end. The game has such a warm sincerity that it’s nigh impossible to not get swept up in its charm. If you’re on the fence, but have PSVR, the recommendation to pick it up is a no brainer.

Despite being so basic in its execution, it's hard to fault Final Fantasy. It remains a solid RPG with a strong sense of adventure.

Featuring improved graphics and more polished gameplay, .hack//G.U. Last Recode offers a fascinating look back at a classic JRPG series. While repetition can sometimes bog things down, the story and characters will keep you coming back to The World, determined to see Haseo’s journey through to the end.

The island is so cluttered with trees, rocks, and other objects that it can be difficult to see things on the ground. The game employs a clever visual technique where objects become transparent, allowing for a better view, but this only happens when you get close to said objects. As such, you'll find yourself stop-starting around the entire island when you're looking for specific bits and pieces. It's not a huge issue, but it does make the game feel finicky to play.

A jam-packed remake that looks and sounds brilliant, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a lovingly crafted remake of a much beloved kart racer. Online play and customisation bring it kicking and screaming into the 21st century, but for as fun as the zippy racing is, it sticks perhaps a little too closely to the original model. High difficulty and some unforgiving track design mean this feels slightly dated. However, it's hard not to crack a smile as you drift around familiar tracks, laying down TNT crates, and humming along to the music. Fans will love what Beenox has done, but for everyone else, just be aware of the game's retro tendencies before stepping behind the wheel.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a top tier remaster of a flawed and often comically awkward spinoff. But for all of its angsty melodrama, the story of Zack Fair is an endearingly daft tale that only adds to the world of Final Fantasy VII. It's hard not to enjoy the blatant fan service and completely over-the-top cinematics, while the overhauled combat system is infinitely better than it once was. A worthy second chance.

During our playthrough, however, we encountered several bugs with machinery getting stuck and items falling through the bar and not resetting to their default positions, making it impossible to complete orders. All the problems we found were solved with a quick restart of the level, but when it occurred multiple times it turned out to be quite the inconvenience. We also noticed the lack of any implementation of PSVR2’s newest features: headset haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and eye-tracking all appearing to be absent from this PSVR port.

You'll need the patience of a saint to break this curse, but if you've got the skills then Curses 'N Chaos can be a very rewarding game. Strong design and a surprising amount of depth offset some minor niggles, and thus with a low price tag, this is well worth bashing your gaming skills against.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series retains what made the earlier games such a success, for better or worse, and smuggles in upgraded visuals and a tight, well-told story. It's still classic Telltale at its core, but if you weren't a fan of those earlier games, this bold new direction isn't likely to make you a believer.

MotoGP 20 is unquestionably a good, solid racing game made by a passionate team. When you're weaving through a track at breakneck speeds, slowly mastering the tough but engaging handling, it can be great fun. The problem is an unapproachable first few hours; little to no guidance will easily put some new players off. However, if you can get past that initial bump in the road, there's a robust and challenging racer waiting to be conquered.

Days Gone’s survival horror underbelly gives it just enough identity to set it apart from the dozens of other open worlders already available. A dense selection of overlapping gameplay mechanics make for entertaining action, even if the title’s unremarkable mission design doesn’t always make the best of them. The story can drift, and the overall package isn’t quite as polished as its PS4 exclusive counterparts – but as far as gaming comfort food goes, you could feast on worse snacks than this.

Mega Man 11 is another rock solid entry in the long running series. The new presentation style and Double Gear system is largely a success, and aside from some particularly nasty areas and enemy placement, the level design is decent. The level of challenge is what fans will have come to expect of the franchise, but unbelievably strict collision detection can result in some harsh losses. It's a tricky balancing act to make a new Mega Man game for hardcore fans as well as newcomers, and Capcom has just about walked that tricky tightrope, but not without some small wobbles on the way.

Epic Mickey is still an enjoyable platformer with impeccable artistic talent driving it. The repetitive combat and exploration remains, but the Rebrushed updates go some way to remedying those shortcomings.

A surprisingly solid racing game, WRC 5's biggest undoing is its evident lack of budget. Kylotonn Games has put its priorities in the right place, delivering a slick handling model that captures the spontaneous nature of the sport well, but the presentation is fairly poor across the board - and the frame rate issues really detract from the responsiveness of the driving.

Enormous, open levels augment Sniper Elite 4 with some of the best long-distance shootouts that the series has seen thus far. The under-the-hood improvements – paired with the idyllic Italian backdrop – do give this entry the edge over its predecessor, but if you've played one of these games before then you'll know more or less what to expect. Nevertheless, as far as ball busters go, it doesn't get much better (or wince-inducing) than this.

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is an incredibly entertaining fighter that hinges on some brilliantly crafted team mechanics, so it's a real shame that the overall product is cloaked in controversy. Accessible yet open-ended and deep, Arc System Works' latest is slick and expressive, but it's the questionable DLC practices that ultimately muddy the waters.

Conga Master ensures pulling shapes on the PlayStation 4 is an entertaining past-time – even if you’ve got two left feet. Like any party this title eventually outstays its welcome, but while it’s in full-swing it’s hard not to get swept along.

Overall Rise of Industry 2 offers a refreshing challenge and will appeal to players who love detailed business and factory sims. However, the game is not for everyone, and its overwhelming complexity, micro-management and cumbersome UI make it unsuitable for more casual players.

God of War III Remastered delivers a masterful conclusion to Kratos' chaotic story arc – but this much was true when the original release brute forced its way onto the PS3 over five years ago. The bumped up resolution and significantly steadier framerate does improve the experience overall, but not to the point where it's worth paying almost full-price again.

The new features are welcome, and the game definitely looks nicer, but apart from that, it’s the same experience. If you had your fill of the title on the PS4, there’s not a whole lot to come back for. However, if you’re just diving into the game now, this is the version you want.

Omensight takes a lot of the ideas founded in Stories: The Path of Destinies and runs with them, successfully building on its predecessor with a very clever gameplay loop. While we doubt this repeating tale of the apocalypse will blow anyone away, Omensight is still a fine example of an interesting concept executed with style and confidence.

Riders Republic tries so hard to be cool that it deserves a roundhouse kick to the mouth, but Ubisoft’s technical chops come out to play here, with an enormous online sandbox stacked to the metaphorical ceiling with high-octane events to complete. This is a game that the French publisher has clearly designed to be built upon, but even day one, with its mix of disciplines and multifaceted Mass Races, it’s an entertaining ride. There are minor niggles for the French publisher to iron out, and we’d recommend muting the dialogue, but don’t bail on this if you have even a passing interest in extreme sports.

High on Life 2 is a great sequel that sticks to its guns and refines the best parts of the first game. The skateboard-shooting concept works excellently, elevating the gunplay and creating a more engaging and enjoyable moment-to-moment experience. But all of this is ruined by incredibly poor visual fidelity on PS5 and PS5 Pro that distracts from the release's overall artistic achievements.

From each individual line of dialogue to every jagged texture, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is so bad that it's actually pretty bloody good.