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.