But like The Rookie, it kind of doesn't matter if you lose the thread a couple of times, because Lord, some scenes escalate out of all proportion either way. Judith's most reliable sidekick is her brother, a stoner crossed with an encyclopaedia, and he of course gets kidapped, Judith's grandad's journal is taken, there are more explosions. In some respects, this is par for the mystery course. But it's things like Judith musing that she needs to show the mysterious bad guy that she's serious, and the correct response being just to get out a pen-knife and threaten him in a room full of people, that really made me giggle. Like, sure, that's one way to do it, Judith. Hauma is a bit frustrating in its main puzzle process (i.e. smashing thoughts together seemingly at random), but boy howdy, like a Roman watching Russell Crowe behead an opponent in the arena, you will be entertained.

Gunbrella is a short and intensely fun little shooter, whose biggest fault is occasionally luring you into wanting it to be something more than it actually is. What’s here is a bouncy, blasty, highly original 2D platformer with a silly and interesting weapon at its core, set in a filthy dirty steampunk western world, with dialogue that’s cute but not too cute, a catchy musical score and a screen that shakes just right when you fire your shotgun into a guy.

All in all, I haven't been blown away by Mythforce. I was expecting something a little funnier and self-deprecatingly daft. But it isn't a badly crafted boney boy basher. A single solo run often left me murderizing for a happily thoughtless 30-45 minutes. That's likely to be shorter if you play with the friends I don't have, and embrace the hectic "kill stuff, get buff" attitude that comes from any reliable multiplayer game that is secretly just an excuse to chat. In this sense, Mythforce is less "Saturday morning cartoon" and more "Sunday evening co-op". It might not have the staying power or variety of others in the genre, but if greedy goblins and low stakes are enough to goad you into a weekend or two of battering baddies with buds, then go for it. I believe in you!

Altogether, Affogato does a reasonable impression of all three types of game it's trying to emulate here, but it also spreads itself too thin in the process. Each part of its demonic triumvirate lacks the full-bodied flavour that really makes them sing when they're viewed in isolation, and while I've enjoyed it plenty over its 15-odd hour runtime, it's mostly just left me hungry for the real thing. It will no doubt be someone's cuppa joe, but I'm not sure it's mine.

It's a genuinely impressive space game that hides its best bits, not in way that asks you to track things down but in a way that asks you to grid search in case you miss anything memorable. The more memorable bits themselves feel like they get cut off too soon, and the fun bits are kneecapped by the limitations inherent in making a game this size. Ambition does not have to mean making something literally larger than anyone else, and you don't have to build an entire universe to make a game last 130 hours. In fact, I'd rather you didn't.

There's certainly a lot to like about Sea Of Stars, and it does indeed capture those JRPG golden years to an absolute tee. But if you're less beholden to the glory of the genre's past, then you may wish its star burned just a little bit brighter.

After the initial thrill of learning to control your machine and kitting it out with bolder weapons, and the bombast of the power fantasy, ultimately one pitiful casualty or sacrifice follows another. Perhaps the repetitive AC battles and the waste pile of deadly hardware you accumulate are designed to bring home a gut-wrenching nihilism. If not, Armored Core VI is a frequently brilliant action game that makes the most of its mechs, but also curiously at odds with itself and a little overstuffed.

A short-lived yet slowburn sci-fi drama about two engineers exploring a spooky, beautifully designed Martian base that's let down by a general lack of inspiration and especially, a dissatisfying plot.

You know what I'd buy, actually? I'd buy an anthology collection called Tales From Aveum, that has stories about a carpenter who's building a mansion in the shanty town clinging on the sides of a giant bottomless pit, and the bored noble who's a secret magic assassin, and whoever it is who has to train new recruits in arm strength. Make it more focused, pick a lane with your tone, and baby, we'd have a stew going.

But it also feels like an exploration of themes, a pressure cooker for societies to organically adapt into the form seen in the far future of King Of Dragon Pass, where other games would just say "the empire united against evil the end". Although everything is familiar, it feels like it's developing as a series through a wealth of thoughtful, amusing stories and possibilities. There is, in a word, still nothing quite like it. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Perhaps that comes down to taste, as does Blasphemous 2’s mean and mysterious vibe in general. The cryptic parts will trip up some people more than others, but even as someone who fell flat on their face I can respect the deft weaving of systems into setting - which is, again, excellent. A few reveals made me say "Jesus Christ!" aloud, then chuckle at the appropriateness. I’d had my fill after the 12 hours it took to pay my penance, leaving a few areas unexplored and some mysteries that remain ravelled, but they’re there for those that want ‘em. By the hallowed murmuring of the sacred Archonfraternity: fill your boots.

Backed by that scene-stealing twist I mentioned earlier, and Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is simply an extremely good time from start to finish. It's not only a highly satisfying strategic stealth game in its own right, but its ruminations on memory, the past lives and decisions of its pirate crew, and the way it reckons with its own in-game act of forging and preserving new memories all point to a studio at the peak of their powers. This is a game to be treasured, and the only thing I could wish for now is to turn back to the clock so I can experience it all over again from the beginning. [RPS Bestest Bests]

It's by no means bad, but it's a disappointing game that fails to capture the appeal of any of its component genres, and fails to generate anything interesting by combining them.

It's an incredible world to get lost in, and though it may take you 100 hours, you will want to play it again and try new things. It is, in summary, the best Dungeons & Dragons game anyone has made, and probably ever will make - unless there's a sequel in another 20 years. [RPS Bestest Bests]

It's very much a middling time, in other words. Atlas Fallen fulfils the joy of picking up a pre-owned six-out-of-ten at GameStation and going with whatever happens on screen. You'll teeter on a knife edge mentally, as you accept its tedious fetch quests and just fine platforming fare, perhaps occasionally letting out your frustration with a quit to menu as boss fights take the piss, or a quest once again asks you to fetch yet more crystals. Still, the combat is surprisingly robust and its momentum schtick is a proper thrill once you've got the flow down. If anything, it's the combat that'll make you stick around. That is, until you realise there's a lot of other good open world games you could be playing instead of Atlas Fallen.

A few gripes aside, then, the 'roleplaying musical' concept has proven itself a winner here, and if Summerfall ever want to give us an encore – once more, with even more feeling? – a sequel would be wholly welcome. Plus, isn't it nice to hear those Last Of Us actors harmonising for a change, instead of pretending to kill each other?

Taken together, Videoverse is strong, powerful stuff that leaves a deep and tender impression, building on the same fascination with the perils of human intimacy as developer Kinmoku's previous game, One Night Stand, but on a much more impressive scale and accomplished canvas. Part of its appeal may well play on that nostalgia for a bygone era of social networks, but its beautifully observed cast of characters and interpersonal dramas make this a much more universal and compelling take on early interneting than Hypnospace Outlaw could ever dream of. There's a lot more to latch onto here, and so let it be known: the campaign for Videoverse to be the one true Twitter replacement starts here. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Although there are some elements that could've been improved with more time to bubble on the stove, Venba's visual novel-style conversations and gorgeous cooking puzzles complement each other perfectly. The result is a heartwarming love letter to immigrant parents, Tamil culture, and the food that raised us.

F1 Manager 2023 does a near miraculous job of simulating the business and strategic side of F1, but that also brings the inherent flaws of the sport to it as well. The teams aren't anywhere close to even, overtaking doesn't happen much (especially at Monaco), and real progress takes years.

Viewed from a certain angle, Lakeburg Legacies is a dystopian tale where the lives of the people of this small town are decided by a remote higher intelligence using algorithms and percentages, but one where the higher intelligence gets bored and hits ultra speed quite often until they have enough wood to build a hospital.

It won't be for everyone for exactly that reason. But like its realistic lasers, it is expertly calibrated to hit those of us in its niche directly in the heart. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Despite all this, though, there's still a lot to like and admire here. I can see why people loved it so intensely at the time, and even now Clash Of Heroes feels like a true original. There's simply not a lot else like it - although given how hard it is, I can perhaps see why. Still, even knowing what I know now, if I was faced with the prospect of popping down £15 on a game I'd heard so much about for the last decade and a half, I'd honestly probably still give it a pop, you know? Loading times and all. I'd be more sceptical if it were double that price, say, but fifteen quid is a lot more palatable, and not so high that it wouldn't satisfy my initial curiosity for it. And if its online scene takes off (as it did with the HD remaster), then just experiencing it through multiplayer might lessen the problems I encountered in the campaign. A tentative recommendation, then, although probably more for strategy die-hards than casual toe-dippers.

Every aspect of Remnant II is excellent, and I've only just scratched the surface. If you're up for round two, you can "re-roll" the campaign, which completely rebuilds the game with a random collection of areas and bosses. You also have the ability to reroll planets if you wish, for those who just want an extra dose of their favourite area. Remnant II doubles down on everything its successor did, and the result is an incredible achievement. I’ll be playing it regularly for years to come. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Full Void has just enough peaks and troughs to keep your interest, well, piqued. Its eye-catching pixel art and moody soundtrack set the perfect tone for this dystopian adventure, and its keen sense of challenge gives it the bite that so many other cinematic platformers often lack. Considering the developers' previous work has been limited to mobile and arcade game compilations, this is an impressive debut in a new genre for the team at OutOfTheBit, and I hope we get to see more from them in the future (albeit one that's hopefully not overrun by Vortigaunt AI monsters).

It's great to see this animation house have such a clear and strong command over their subject matter, and I hope Let's! Revolution! is but the first in a long new dynastic line for them. It may not be a game that can stretch to perhaps hundreds of hours of play time like some of today's roguelike heavyweights, but I'm having a grand old time with it so far, and right now that's enough. I cannot stop playing it, nor do I want to. So Let's! Give It The Attention It Deserves! [RPS Bestest Bests]

As for Exoprimal's dreaded live service elements, they are exactly what you'd expect: a battle pass filled with coins and dangly bits for your guns and zebra skins and dance emotes. A cash shop. All aggressively vanilla, but at least it's not pay-to-win, I suppose. Otherwise, there isn't all that much to chase aside from a couple of new mech suits or some fairly dull upgrades. If you're after a team based shooter where you zone out for a bit and don't care for much else, then you'll have a lot of fun here. Anyone else who's after a serious new hero shooter? Eh, it's not going to inspire anything other than mostly frustration. Here's hoping the devs at least remove the early story grind, then maybe, just maybe, it might be a path to something better... if it hasn't gone extinct by then.

Viewfinder is a puzzle game like no other. A reality-warping, mind-bending hook keeps it constantly interesting, and it consistently wowed me with the directions it goes in. It’s a game that makes me wish I could erase my memory and play it for the first time all over again. [RPS Bestest Bests]

I think it's a success. It's a strong push to move the genre beyond the model we've been stagnating in for years that still acknowledges the strengths of that design (so far that it copies some things I wish it wouldn't, like the godawful panic system). It will be divisive for that, and may alienate the most obdurate of the purists too, neither of which it really deserves. Tonally, it's mostly a miss, and aspects of its UI like travel, merc selection, transferring, and splitting inventory need another quality-of-life pass. But the combat / strategy / management elements are enough to carry it through those disappointments, and I suspect to keep me coming back for quite some time.

Just as Edwards Island looms in the distance behind Camena, the original game looms over its successor. Lost Signals shares a lot of elements with what came before it, and it does those things well (good for a sequel) but it also feels like it doesn’t really expand on those ideas either (not so good for a sequel). If you like playing games for their atmosphere, then Oxenfree 2 will certainly tick a lot of boxes for you, but for fans of the first one looking for more, it's best to keep expectations in check.

I can gripe about Trepang2's tone and I can shrug at its plot and I can pout about its length but that's all fine, really. Criticisms fade when I launch it to double-check a detail then get lost bursting heads for 20 minutes before remembering I have a review to finish. I already fancy returning to check out higher difficulty levels or the many cheats and modifiers unlocked after finishing the game (ranging from 'Only Headshots Kill' to 'Squeaky Voices'), or just to shoot faces all over again. Oh, I do enjoy shooting these faces! I'm hoping new missions might follow if it does well, or even that 2005 FPS staple, an expansion pack.

It's just such a delight to have Ghost Trick back on modern platforms. For returning players, it's a chance to revisit one of Takumi's best and most lively mysteries, while newcomers get to enjoy one of the finest puzzle games of the last two decades. There's still nothing quite like Ghost Trick, and that makes this resurrected remaster all the more worth saving. [RPS Bestest Bests]

I absolutely can’t blame Tindalos for wanting a game with such a recognisable and beloved license to court appeal outside of genre fans, but I also think that if you’re going to make a strategy game, you should probably make it full-heartedly. 2012’s XCOM felt like a genuine revolution in turn-based tactics, but Aliens: Dark Descent too often feels like a compromise, or, more accurately, a console-mise. If you’re thinking, wow, what a snob, then, congratulations. You get to enjoy something more fully than I did, which is much better than griping about things. Dark Descent is beautiful, engaging, and absolutely drips with authentically atmospheric Aliens goo. But, again, like those face huggers, it’s also just a bit too restrictive, and I don’t think it needed to be.

As I mentioned at the start, Dordogne is not a taxing game, and it won't challenge you or make you think differently about the world around you. But it is a very sweet and tender coming of age tale that's the perfect little mini-break for such a busy time of year, and I enjoyed the three hours I spent gawping at its truly gorgeous watercolour scenery. It's well worth a pop on Game Pass if you have it, but even if you don't, you'll feel much better about yourself at the end of it than spending the same amount of money on the latest Marvel dross at the cinema - and it will no doubt stick longer in the memory, too.

Park Beyond could use some tweaking, and some tidying up of building and especially demolition controls (it's possible to accidentally delete an entire rollercoaster with one click). Judging it as a business sim would leave it wanting, but would also be unfair. Its shortcomings there aren't so much flaws as signs that it's not primarily intended to be that kind of game. It's a creative, low-stress game first and foremost. Some minor bugs aside, it's a fun time with some cute ideas that I appreciate but don't quite love. It's not aimed precisely at me, but I still got caught in the blast.

Much as I loved trading in gossip, it’s just another distraction in a game where ultimately I’m here to find the love of my life, tentacled or not. I’ve greatly enjoyed weaving my own tales and following my nose exploring the Eldritch corners of this world, but I was hoping for more romantic endeavors seeing as it labels itself first and foremost as a dating sim. I’ve left the Neath with an anthology of tales, it’s just a shame that none of them included escapades of romance, flirtatious encounters, or straight-up monster f.cking.

As a returning Frictional fan it shook up a slightly ponderous series to make something exciting and new. This is Frictional back on imaginative, exciting form, and I'd be happy seeing them do other slightly more contained projects like this. I'd also, of course, love to see something new - but it feels like Amnesia is a pocket dimension they can visit again. If it's an idea as well-rounded as The Bunker, I'm happy to go with them.

If you're allergic to puzzle games, though, it's not a gentle introduction to the genre. Depending on the ending you get, it might feel a little abrupt at the finish, but there are some puzzles in there that feel revelatory to solve. You feel smarter than one of those sheltered Mensa kids whose parents force them to learn to play the tuba. I figured out that bit with the blood serums, godammit, I should be eligible for lifetime membership of your little genius-person club without any tests.

Part of the reason it's so easy to play hours of Diablo IV in one go, staring unblinkingly at the centre third of your screen until you feel your eyeballs turn into raisins, is that it's very well made. The different synergies of all the abilities and spells is extremely impressive, and the game kicks up a bit when you get your ultimate spells and special abilities. I got the ability to summon, rather than a team of skeletons, one huge Big Daddy-esque monster in their place - and even that came in three variants for extra build customisation. There are main missions, side missions, timed world events, an optional currency to buy mystery weapons, and hours-long dungeons to get Aspects for your character - themselves another optional addition to apply to your gear. It's a game that puts no friction between itself, and you mainlining it for an entire day. Whether you'll feel good afterwards is another question.

Although the performance issues take the shine off things, I can still comfortably say Street Fighter 6 is the most fun I’ve ever had with any fighting game on release. After the disastrous launch that was Street Fighter 5, seeing Street Fighter back on top form again just feels right - and I’m extremely excited to see what the next year of content updates can do for a game that already feels this mechanically polished at launch.

But if you’ve an appetite for space dungeoneering in the company of one of gaming’s most iconic and influential villains, you’ll find the remake cleaves close to that original pitch. This is the product of a team which, to its credit, believed in the 1994 proposition of System Shock and trusted it would still stand up today, in spite of a 30-year shift towards smoothing the player’s path. The result has proved them right. It transpires that our creepy, manipulative robot mother knows best. [RPS Bestest Bests]

But even these moments of spectacle can't hide what is ultimately a very dull game. It's also quite janky, and I spotted plenty of canned animation loops, characters getting stuck in scenery, and Gollum clipping or jittering through the environment on several occasions to name just a few. But even if it were technically sound, Gollum is simply a game that fails to expand the world of Middle-earth in any meaningful way. There are glimmers of something here, but like the ring itself, this is best chucked into the bowels of Mount Doom and forgotten about forever.

At the core of Miasma Chronicles, then, is a nugget of precious metal. It demonstrates a strong understanding of what makes turn-based tactics games tick, and when you get down to the nitty-gritty, it’s full of the knife-edge decisions and risk-reward gambits the genre is renowned for. But around that core there’s too much that doesn’t quite fit, or isn’t quite up to snuff. If The Bearded Ladies are going to stick to type in the future, their balance of stealth, tactics and post-apocalyptic fiction could do with a new strategy.

It does make me wonder, though, if this existentialist aesthetic was chosen for any particular reason or just because story mode necessitates the presence of a story and if you make the story’s theme “stuff sure is confusing” nothing really needs to make sense. As I said earlier, humanity’s puzzle mechanics are extremely strong, with each stage requiring a satisfying blend of intuition and experience to successfully complete. Its stage creation and sharing functions are similarly friendly and effective. The people could just as easily be water flowing through a zen garden or fish swimming through the sea, though, so why aren’t they? The fact that they are people and I am a shiba inu must mean something, right? Right?!

I’m really glad that I checked it out as, despite some issues, Boltgun is marvellous fun. It’s a highly entertaining shooter that had me grinning from ear to ear on many an occasion, and is one of, if not the best representation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe available on your personal cogitation device.

There's still plenty to like and admire about Planet Of Lana. It may not deviate much from the puzzle-platforming playbook, but its cinematic action sequences and environments are worth your six hours. It doesn’t quite reach the highs of Ori And The Blind Forest and Limbo and the like, but it’s a solid sci-fi tale and a wonderful debut from Wishfully. I'm excited to see what those folks do next.

In a way, it's fitting that HROT should repeat the mistakes of the games that inspired it, frontloading all the best bits into that first episode inherited from the shareware model, then following it up with level packs that have sparks of brilliance but lack the same coherence. I have zero regrets about playing it, those brown and twisty murder dungeons speak directly to my blackened husk of a soul. But this is a treat baked specifically for shooter enthusiasts, and probably not where you should start your adventure into an imagined FPS past.

Where 2KDrive shines is in its races, which ironically, feel freer than its open world.

I know the above's been pretty bleak and it genuinely saddens me that Redfall is a disappointment. I simply can't believe it's by Arkane Austin, the same folks behind Prey, and by the same minds who helped bring Dishonored's Dunwall to life (Dishonored 2 remains one of my favourite games of all time). It's not that Redfall's absolutely diabolical, by any means. There are moments of wonder buried away in Redfall, where Arkane's penmanship and architectural mastery surface. I just know that Arkane are far, far better than what they've put out here, and there's a sense that what's arrived is a game that was pulled in so many directions it couldn't cope.

It's perhaps unfair to slam it for its best parts apparently coming after many more weeks of experimenting and practicing (although I will slam its utterly tiresome ‘progression’ that has you unlock cosmetics and world generation options with points awarded after a campaign. It’s pointless time-wasting, but thankfully a great many worldgen options are available upfront, saving it from outright condemnation). I enjoy its city management, its freedom, and sometimes its battles. There's some solid, intricate design I can appreciate. but I never really connected with the factions, spells, or fighting of Age Of Wonders 4 the way the phrase "cursed toadlings" promised.

The fact this is all the work of mostly two developers also just blows my mind a tiny bit, too. I don't think it will convert those who have never enjoyed a Pokémon game before, and I can also see its in-depth elemental system being a bit too much like a GSCE chemistry lesson to capture the attention of those Pikachu-loving ten-year-olds. But for those who have felt increasingly like the Pokésphere just doesn't cut it for them anymore, there's definitely a lot to like and admire here. Pokémon will always likely be the dominant force in the monster-catching genre, but Cassette Beasts is a smart, evolutionary offshoot from the Game Freak family tree that I hope has a long and happy life ahead of it.

I was on a mission-critical infiltration to save someone's life with nice giant Bode, and I kept running off like "I know man, just, yeah, no it is, it's very important... yeah, no, one second, I saw something shiny over here and I'm not going to replay this level for ages". That doesn't feel very Jedi Knight. My repeated calls for every game to be at least 40% smaller go unheeded. Still, it's very fun rolling a Stormtrooper over your back and pinning him to the floor with a lasersword, isn't it?

Honkai: Star Rail is still in its early stages but it’s incredibly good fun to play. With the promise of more planets to come, more characters to fall in love with, and more twists and turns than anyone can see coming, this is one train that’s worth riding.

Stranded: AD may not contain an entire galaxy’s worth of possibilities, but it knows how to keep you curious about your little patch of land, and it's a pleasure to watch your survivors feast on the fruits of their labour–whether they be beefberries, graincob, or buttermelons.

Despite these missteps, though, Episode 2 was still exactly what I wanted from this game, and that's more Coffee Talk. I wanted an excuse to hang out with these characters again and check in to see how they're doing - a feat I've continued to do with Toshikazu Kawaguchi's now three (soon to be four)-strong Before The Coffee Gets Cold series - and Hibiscus & Butterfly absolutely delivered on this point. I wouldn't say it's a better visual novel than the first Coffee Talk, but it is more of the same ingredients, and that's fine by me.

This is a game that that understands its own entirely disposable nature, that knows it's landing at the tail end of overwhelming zombie survival fatigue. Instead of trying to resist that, it embraces it, resulting in a breezy, messy adventure that has zero nutritional value, but will fill your bloodstream with yummy, delicious sugar. Dead Island 2 is a stinky trash game, and this filthy racoon had a grand old time rolling around in it.

All of this could be fixed with future updates, but I think the devs have built themselves into a corner with the fundamentals of Minecraft Legends. Adding more content and complexity won't solve the issue of the awkward control scheme and lack of precision - something that all RTS games need in order to be great.

It's the second game in a row that I've reviewed and said I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a fan, but given The Awakened was Kickstarted (with some fund-raising incentives that I'm not really on board with to boot) I'm preaching to the converted. In as much as you, like me, might want to see Frogwares continue, both to exist and to keep making their weirdo Sherlock Holmes games, you should check The Awakened out.

It's a decent, fun game if you liked Road 96 and while I don't think it's essential, it's endearing to see a developer like their characters enough to want to do more with them. Nice, too, that they had the runway to do it rather than move on to the next thing. You get the feeling they wanted to do more, even so; there's a DLC in the form of an interactive e-book bridging the gap between Mile 0 and Road 96, which costs almost as much as Mile 0. It's nice to go back - but my gut tells me it's probably time we all left Petria behind now.

Approach Everspace 2 like a single-player arcade space shooter with a 30 hour shelf life, rather than a Loot-Spewing Space Diablo you will play forever, and it’s enormously entertaining stuff. It’s like playing Freelancer for the first time again, or Colony Wars: Red Sun on a chipped PlayStation with the lid propped open.

I deeply enjoy Wildfrost's bombastic builds, but I can’t help but feel that it’s trading in the promise of an exciting next run over making the current one more sustainable. Nevertheless, it’s still a genuinely fun game, with charming details and rewarding tactical combat, so I will, absolutely, be giving it more of my time.

The satisfaction of The Last Worker, then, comes from roleplaying the sabotage of an exploitative major corporation, and if you crave the sense of catharsis that comes from sticking a finger up to the man, it may well fill a hole. But that’s not quite the same as marshalling the human capacity to serve up real food for thought, or prompt us to imagine a better future.

I'm not going to begrudge the Dannys, both Glover and Trejo, a pension. I just cannot fathom the decisions that went into making Crime Boss: Rockay City.

I like Western Front, for sure. Its frustrations detract from a good experience rather than overwriting it, and it's more entertaining than the theme suggests, without feeling glib or shallow. It's a solid go at a difficult niche, blending tactics and strategy well, but is best enjoyed on its own terms, and with perhaps a little more patience than I have.

By the time I launched my final rocket from Terra Nil, I was happy to leave it behind. It certainly feels refreshing in the citybuilding genre, which is so often focused on creating infinite growth and bustling metropolises, nature be damned, but ultimately, it's still a game about chasing numbers, and filling meters that allow you to progress. That alone could be comforting, some much needed calm in a busy world as you create a lush landscape, but I found its repetitive nature was more frustrating than relaxing. Topped off with a level that shifts the focus from its previously hopeful tone to one of somber silence as you suck away the radiation, Terra Nil struggles to cement its identity as the calm, meditative puzzler that it seems on the surface.

I love a game that can get under my skin like this, but ultimately it's the steady hand that developers Black Salt Games apply to the rest of this ship that makes Dredge such a tantalising prospect. It casts a wide net, but in the process catches the best and most accessible bits of survival horror, management and exploration games and serves them all up on a glowing, eldritch platter that's simply too good, and too moreish, to ignore. It's a special game, old Dredge, so whatever horrible nasties you might find out there, don't let this be the one that got away. [RPS Bestest Bests]

I'd wager you'll have hunnerpercented Storyteller in two hours max, which will sound like mana from heaven to some, but may disappoint you if you've been waiting for Storyteller for over a decade.

There's a pure, authentic, passion for game development in Tchia that I’ve not felt in a long time. What a wonderful game. [RPS Bestest Bests]

This is not a replacement of the original game. Far from it. In my mind, it occupies the same space as its (exceptional) VR version. A retelling of a classic crafted on its own terms. A brilliant action shooter that is big and daft and brilliant. When asked what my favourite game of all time is moving forward, my answer will remain the same, only richer and more complex as a result of this excellent remake. Resident Evil 4, I’ll say, and whatever interpretation they think of will be entirely correct. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Minor puzzle misses and yucky subplots aside, Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjois is this year’s first major surprise. It really keeps you hooked until the end with its smart and subversive approach to horror visual novels, and its antholgy of ghost tales will give you major chills. A potential cult classic, for sure. Here’s hoping it gets the attention it deserves. [RPS Bestest Bests]

As you might expect from the makers of Bury Me, My Love, this is a game that cuts deep, and by the time I got to the end of Junon's journey, I really felt like I'd done some soul-searching of my own. Crucially, though, this isn't a game that mires itself in its own misery. It's not a laugh riot by any means, but there's an enduring dynamism and sense of optimism to be found among its emotional wreckage, and the more Junon discovers about herself, the more enthralling her story becomes. [RPS Bestest Bests]

As critical as I’ve been, considering its age, Fatal Frame really is an alright game. It’s the kind of thing I could see a younger me playing in windowed-mode while listening to a podcast, chatting on Discord, and eating a bag of sour candy in my dorm room. These days, though, I really only have time for games that bring a little more to the table, and Fatal Frame, like its protagonists, is very much stuck in the past.

Figment 2 is an overall solid game, but it’s just a shame that it feels like second violin to Figment 1. Even so, getting to peer inside the minds of the folk over at Bedtime again is always a treat. Playing Figment 2 solo is fun enough, but if you're after a fun co-op game with a young player 2 in mind, then it's a great shout.

Outlanders has a low detail, high impact art style, almost cartoony in how some people have big top heavy shoulders, and how older people become grey and bent over. I love seeing my leader strut around, holding a lantern at night as if checking everyone is in bed. I love the little flute trill that plays when you confirm or cancel an action, swinging up or down like a luxe slide whistle. I love that in this game about settlers building a new life for themselves, you can have a smoothie stand.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty may fall victim to the same pitfalls that snared its predecessor Nioh. Looting and levelling can be an overwhelming and confusing venture, to the point where it can be actively offputting for those who want to know, at a glance, that the greaves they're rocking and the spells they're casting are the best for their character. And yet, if you embrace the slight messiness of the game's backend, what you've got is a triumphant Soulslike and a showcase of Team Ninja's ability to make some of the best combat in action-RPGs. It's a streamlined Nioh, one with rhythmic action that may not always reward your efforts, but is rewarding in and of itself. And that's what will keep you coming back.

Fortunately, the bland campaign and narrative aren't quite dead weight, as Phantom Brigade's mechs are very satisfying to blow apart. Even melee, rendered incredibly unreliable by its utterly opaque timeline representation, becomes worth it for the times when you'll smash three enemies in one swing, then sprint off to flank another as a missile your other guy launched last turn lands in your wake. The replay controls are annoyingly inconsistent, but it's still a joy to watch them, and nailbiting to see your mech flee from a minigun barrage, or stumble from a lucky sniper shot. Phantom Brigade's personality may be lacking, but it doesn't get in the way of solving those chaotic tactical puzzles, or the timeless satisfaction of sitting back once everything's decided and watching your exploders do their thing.

Familiarity is the fear killer, and there are only so many caves you can crawl through before the monsters become obstacles to sprint past rather than terrors to flee from. If I’d been able to explore more naturally without the threat of excessive backtracking, maybe I’d have shifted to that mindset a little later on - though I still spent many hours quivering through the dark. Creating a Forest that can go toe to toe with Subanutica’s Ocean when it comes to dread is a huge accomplishment, even if the full package still has some leaks.

Sadder still is that this version of KSP2 is so foundationally shaky it actively discourages you from attempting to build anything too ambitious or complex, in case the game vaporises your efforts on a whim. There’s no sense of achievement when the odds you’re up against aren’t to do with mastering the complex physics of interplanetary space flight, but the game’s own half-finished code. A Kerbal Space Program that pours cold water on your ambitions hardly feels like a Kerbal Space Program at all...Shoved out of the Early Access airlock before it could put its EVA suit on, Kerbal Space Program 2 is in need of a rescue mission. [Early Access Review]

New Allies isn't for me, I'm afraid, and I couldn't speculate who it might be for either. But I don't want to end this review on a downer. Every creative biffs it once in a while. It's an unfortunate part of the process. So if you haven't already, I'd urge you to ignore this little stumble into the mud, and check out Blue Byte at their best by grabbing hold of the excellent Anno 1800.

With those bugs squashed, The Pale Beyond would be a stonking survival game. I love the attention to detail in the story and characters, which makes you want to hang in there not for the sake of beating the campaign, but because you genuinely want to spend more time with the crew - and find out the bigger mystery behind the missing ship. Next time I'm going to try and save every single person, and not just barely make it through with half my crew dead and the other half frostbitten and starving. I think it's going to take me a while, though.

And like Landlord Of The Woods, Birth is a short, sweet game that feels incredibly human, even though it features a world that, at first sight, couldn’t be further from our own.

At its core, Company Of Heroes 3 is a rip-roaring return to form and then some for Relic's much loved RTS, and its stirring orchestral score will have you beating your chest and yelling hoo-rah like only the best toy soldier fantasies can. If Relic can iron out some of those lingering campaign niggles, this could easily be an all-timer for WWII strategy buffs, especially once its multiplayer kicks off in earnest in the coming days. It might be the kind of beach holiday that's riddled with mortar shells, machinegun fire and tank explosions, but whichever road you end up taking, this is one trip that's definitely going to be for the history books.

Atomic Heart’s lack of satirical bite might just be one of the most consistent things about it. For every miserable onslaught of respawning bots, there’s an intoxicatingly tense run-and-gun battle. For every work of artistry in the sound design and environments, there’s a scene of utterly sub-par scripting. It’s glorious and tedious, polished and patchwork all the same time, and while there’s an anarchic part of my brain that wants more ambitious-yet-wonky games like it, stronger is my hope that Mundfish’s second game has a tighter grasp on its own strengths and weaknesses.

So yes, Like A Dragon Ishin isn't going to convert those who dislike Yakuza. It still carries some of the series' historic frustrations and feels like a bit of a step backward when you compare it to Yakuza: Like A Dragon's turn-based shake-ups and modernisations. Although, a step backward isn't a bad thing at all! Ishin feels most like Yakuza 0 (my fave) that's sure to please longtime fans, and its standalone nature means that it is, without a doubt, one of the strongest starting points for newcomers. Now excuse me, I best get back to harvest my radishes.

Despite knowing this moment is almost certainly in my future, and despite the slightly incredulous realisation that I’ll have spent another 80 hours playing almost exactly the same game I did four years ago, I've still had a good time with Octopath Traveler 2. There’s something innately enthralling about it, and while, deep down, there's still lots of things I dislike about it, cor, those battles are just the absolute business. It remains one of the most captivating combat systems in the entire JRPG genre, and it really does feel good to be back in its gorgeous HD-2D world again, reheated story leftovers and all (and I swear I’m not just saying that because we get another stonking Nishiki score to admire in the process, honest). It probably doesn’t need to exist, given how little it moves the dial forward, but I’m glad it does nevertheless – and hey, if you missed the boat the first time round, you may as well just start right here. One day, I’ll finally make good on my promise to give up this ludicrous, stubborn behemoth of a series, but for now at least, this is one mistake I’ll happily go another round on, grievances be damned.

Even with the stuttering though, I adored my time with Wild Hearts. This is a fierce competitor to Monster Hunter and a great starting point for newcomers to the genre. A small part of me suspects that a sequel will see the game’s ideas coalesce in a way that makes Wild Hearts essential, but even in this slightly rough form, Omega Force has created one of the finest games of the year so far.

Keep playing and each turn reveals with increasing certainty that this is a game totally at one with itself, from its audio-visual spectacle to its pinpoint control to its interweaving narrative and now its longevity. Unlike Selene, I keep coming back to Atropos by choice. Long may its immaculate, horrifying loop continue. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Has the world moved on from Pharaoh? You bet your dynastic ass. It doesn't have the complex AI interactions of storybuilders like RimWorld, you don't have loads of different advisors relaying tensions around the city, or worries about public utilities in the same way as a Cities Skylines, and it's probably not as inventive in some ways as the new class of city builders like Timberborn, Foundation or The Wandering Village. In 2023 any kind of Pharaoh, even one with an impressively rebuilt tomb, is still a very well preserved old king. But what a king it was, and A New Era preserves it very well. How can you not feel a bit magic building a giant statue of a cat in the middle of your desert city?

I don’t feel good giving Blanc a hard time like this. It feels like the equivalent of accidentally stepping on your dog's tail and then your heart breaking as they whimper because they don’t know what they’ve done wrong. The first half is genuinely brilliant. It completely understands where the fun's to be found in a co-op game, and I will never get tired of gawking at its gorgeous hand-crafted art style. It’s just a shame that it becomes such a slog in the second half, ending as a hard snowball to the face instead of a warm, melted heart.

I'm genuinely a bit gutted about Wanted: Dead. I really wanted the game to be a stylish hack n' slash romp with a quirky, cyberpunk edge. The result, sadly, is anything but. It doesn't know what it wants to be! And in many ways, it's bucket of ideas and force-fed zaniness only serves to make it feel both incomplete and directionless. Save your money folks.

That's the fundamental problem with Industries of Titan. It's a beautifully animated and scored game with the bones of a great city builder/slower-paced RTS, and the flesh of a management game full of dystopian satire and cheerfully amoral characters, but no tendons. Everything flopping about in a kind of cool but dissatisfying pile. I could complain about UI niggles, the excessive time spent waiting around, and the predictability of every map (discounting the visuals, which make it probably the prettiest strategy game ever). But none of those things undermine it so critically as the persistent feeling that it's far less than the sum of its parts.

Hi-Fi Rush is a fantastic cocktail of rhythm-based head banging and action-packed platforming. The combat system is surprisingly deep and malleable for any style of player and meshing it gently into the musical beat without putting pressure on the player is a deft touch. Its writing and characters might leave a little to be desired, especially when compelling narrative beats are so painfully overlooked, but that doesn’t stop the entire package from being a certified banger.

It certainly shows greater signs of life than Deliver Us The Moon (which I'd still recommend playing beforehand if you have the chance, even though it's not strictly necessary in order to appreciate what's going on here), and while it might not be as polished or glamourous as other space games launching this year, it's a worthy continuation of KeokeN's thoughtful sci-fi series nonetheless. The future it depicts may be bleak, but this is a world you'll be glad to escape to, even if it's only for a little while.

There's no incentive to actually fu.king do anything, and in between the things you can't be arsed to do are just vaste swathes of nothing. I'm convinced everything in Forspoken would be 100% improved if it was about 60% smaller. The world would be compact, but it would be dense, more interesting, and appropriately scoped. It might have characters in it beyond the same few urchins standing on the streets in Cipal dong one of three "I'm scared" poses, and cutscenes that don't have a fade to black every five seconds for no apparent reason. It's so annoying, because I think a lot of the core ideas here are very cool, and it's one of those games where I want a sequel where they do everything better. Given the nature of these things, I expect we never will.

Ultimately, Season is a mercurial game that will likely hit different for everyone who plays it. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Mahokenshi was just too much of a drag to be truly enjoyable. It has its moments, for sure, and those who thrive on the crushing rhythms of Soulslike games may get more out of this than I did. But when you know those sweet card synergies you just discovered will be brushed away again at the start of the next mission, you begin to feel less like the godly heroes you're meant to be inhabiting, and more like some wandering scrub blundering their way through the fickle realms of chance. Lady Luck is a cruel mistress in the world of Mahokenshi, and I could never quite shake the feeling it was holding its cards a little too close to its chest.

The best thing about A Space For the Unbound, though, is that it takes a supernatural teen drama gives it real heart. Mojiken were already masters of telling bittersweet stories in miniature, but I'm pleased to report that sense of longing, sincerity and earnestness hasn't been lost in their transition to making a larger game with a larger scope. A Space For The Unbound may be more ambitious than their previous work, but it still feels distinctly Mojiken, and that's something to be celebrated. What a wonderful start to 2023.

As it stands you’ll need not only a wealth of city building experience, but also - more importantly - a bottomless well of patience in order to fully enjoy this space colony sim.

Maybe Aquatico is more satisfying on higher difficulty levels and maybe campaigns will be introduced in future updates (though I haven’t found anything from the developers indicating that is the case). All I can do, though, is review the game in front of me: it’s pretty but lifeless.