So yes, Song Of Nunu won't win any prizes for ingenuity or platforming prowess, but it is very handsomely made, and I had a lovely, heartwarming time with it. It certainly feels like a step up from Rime, the game that helped put Tequila Works on the map for these kinds of soulful adventures, even if it doesn't wrench quite so violently at your heartstrings. If nothing else, it will remind you of simpler, perhaps happier days when every third-person adventure game wasn't just another grim Soulslike you had to endure, and that there's still plenty of joy and warmth to be found in a story about a boy looking for his mum with his big yeti dog friend. Whether you like League Of Legends or not, it's another notch we can add to the recent 'good character platformer' list.

Sonic Frontiers is a really bizarre video game. Don't set your expectations too high and it's a fun time zipping around a few open zones. Yet, it's a deeply annoying and incredibly janky experience if you want to inject some urgency into Sonic and get him from point A to point B with precision and purpose. In many ways, it's a great foundation for a sequel, as there's so much potential here which only needs a bit of fine-tuning to get Sonic from simple to super.

A Little To The Left surpassed my tidying expectations. Feeling that jolt of satisfaction never gets tired, and the sheer variety of puzzles keeps things interesting. It’s a game with lots of little surprises, right up until the very end where the game takes a surprising, but welcome, magical realist turn. With its charming visuals and playfuy soundtrack, its a puzzle game that feels like the complete package.

I really want to like Lords Of The Fallen more than I do. Sure, its bosses might not be spectacular or its maps brimming with character, but thrills abound when you defeat a tough enemy or finally poke your head into a crumbled house and see the cosy light of a Vestige. Moreso when you shine your magic lantern on a wall and it fizzles away to reveal a secret passage or a levitating platform that looks like the Adams Family's kitchen island. The lantern almost elevates it into special territory! And at times, there are flashes of a grand adventure to cleanse a kingdom of rot. But there are just too many little annoyances that prevent the journey and its umbral counterpart from ascending into Soulslike royalty.

Despite Sand Land being a game with an emphasis on traversal, I mostly used the fast travel, because there was never anything happening in the world that I was afraid to miss. It all made me feel listless and petulant - oh, but I don't wanna go there! - which is, I suppose, sort of in character for playing a young demon with limits on his gaming time. I'm going to watch the anime instead now.

For me, I think it was easier to be forgiving of flaws when I was so excited by the newness of what it was trying to do. If you’re keen to try a Quantic Dream game, I’d say Heavy Rain is still the one most worthy of playing, if you can excuse some of the over-the-top elements of the story. And if nothing else, it will be a nice reminder of how far story-driven games have come.

Vran does enough to make itself distinct, and it does it well enough to create the imperative to keep going and going.

This is stunning. It’s just so utterly beautiful, its bucolic scenes hiding extraordinarily lavish and enticing buildings. It’s smart but so modest about that, bulging with brilliant ideas. Movement is amazing and refreshing. And despite the guff, the place itself is fascinating to wander. What a treat. Just a slightly expensive treat. [RPS Recommended]

Endling is not the ruthless survival game I was expecting, but it does a great job of creating tension between the caretaking of your cubs and the dangerous world you need to protect them from. The daily routine of finding food, avoiding danger and returning to your den can feel like you're going through the motions sometimes, but the constantly changing landscape and mix of tender and tense story moments conjure a survival tale that’ll be sure to wrench your heartstrings.

Get Even is a true original, of the kind we all too rarely see made with this degree of gloss, and I found it deeply interesting for all its stumbles.

As someone who doesn't really get on with the source material, I find myself warmed by Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed. It's not all that challenging and sometimes a bit eh, but I liked that easygoing nature more than I resented it. You're free to splosh paint around and stumble into cool mechanical puzzles or simply remove the floor from an enemy and watch them plunge to their death. And while some of the side quests and optional tidbits don't amount to much more than, at most, an end credit sequence, I admire its adventurous spirit. You can tell it tries to do things a bit differently to the usual platformer and for the most part, it works.

With all of that said, technical issues aside, it’s a relief to be playing a Hitman game that is built around the idea of social stealth. The execution may be flawed but it’s aiming in the right direction and the disguise system, which now tips you off when a particularly canny NPC is able to look past your clothes and see the face of a stranger, is as good as it’s ever been.

But while all of the principal cast do a smashing job, Dave Fennoy’s Satan is probably the (morning) star of the show.

At its core, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is an excellent movement-based exploration game with a deep admiration for the games that inspired it. Up there with the best, even. But it never quite reaches the level of greatness it could have easily achieved. I wanted to love Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and in some ways I truly do, but it ultimately misses the mark a little bit more than I expected. Still, to let it pass you by would be a crime. That soundtrack! That level design! That visual style! What a treat, even if certain mouthfuls leave a bitter taste.

Gosh, it could be a lot better, but I really enjoy playing what it is.

Chernobylite's a genuinely good time, folks. The ease of the crafting and the management side of things might lack depth for some, but it does give you a constant sense of satisfaction as you bring goodies back to base and watch it grow. Similarly, the simplicity of its party management ensures balancing their needs doesn't detract from the fun roguelite loop it's got going on. The Chernobyl wilderness might be distinctly "bad vibes" here, but Chernobylite the game gets a big, irradiated thumbs up.

So no matter if the game's a bit of a grind, it's a rather gorgeous one, all things considered. And I know for certain that if I visit Akita, it'll be impossible not to think of Shin chan... and his bare arse.

It’s less dramatic than some of Dontnod’s other outings (and probably not for those with short attention spans given the pacing), but Tell Me Why remains a good entry in their the library of stories about families and sad magic – and it’s probably the most hopeful one yet.

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.

This is a good Total War game. I love Total War games. I could spend forever comparing every element of it against its corresponding point in previous Total War games, and we’d none of us feel any the wiser for doing so. I suppose the frustration for me is the thought of what sort of a mind-blower Troy could have been if it hadn’t needed to be a Total War game in its entirety, but could still have gotten away with copying the two-layer strategy format.

Even if the game’s final moments lacked the emotional wallop, South Of The Circle’s story, presentation, and visual direction hit every mark for me with the biggest surprise being the nuance and the way it handled its themes. It's a shame about the ending - but it’s about the journey, not the destination, right?

Iron Harvest is a throwback to one of the last golden ages of the genre, often feeling as old fashioned and crusty as that association entails, but frequently reminding us of the essential appeal of extremely large robots chilling out in timelines where they shouldn’t be.

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.

For a while, the front of my brain resisted a little, and I mentally changed terminology to things I was more familiar with, but eventually I stopped this. Things get lost in translation, and change in the retelling, and Black Book is clear that a precise choice of words is very important. Vasilisa is a koldun, she casts complex zagavor on a journey to resurrect her dead fiancé, and I’m absolutely there for the ride. Somewhere else, a long time ago.

Age of Wonders III does the big fantasy conquest thing if that’s what you’re looking for, and Stardock’s own Fallen Enchantress is worth a look as well. Sorcerer King deserves plaudits for being something altogether different rather than yet another iteration of a game we’ve been playing for decades.

Event[0] is probably too short for its own good, less because of (kill me) ‘value’, but more because it limits how far it can take its idea. What’s there is very glossy as well as clever though. Despite its sometimes very obvious limitations, Event[0] feels like the start of a beautiful friendship.

The result, for me, was anxiety. A low background hum of “did I miss something”, combined with the high notes of being unable to find the next new area. It was enough to shade my entire experience with Carrion, turning a pleasant enough Metroidvania with a one-of-a-kind protagonist into something I felt like I was struggling to escape from. Your mileage may vary. But for me, I was happier with the GIFs.

In practise mine was an entirely solo flight, but I enjoyed it. It's a little repetitive, there are some slight snags where the game might forget that you already hit that story beat and makes you do it again, but Flock is full of good-humour, freedom, and playfulness. It's the sort of thing you wouldn't play all the time, but could check in with after a long day. Tomorrow, you think, I must have a job where I email people. But tonight, I will hunt for that elusive Sprug that pretends to be a fruit.