Gal*Gun Returns doesn’t quite reach the same heights as Double Peace or Gal*Gun 2, but it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable rail shooter, and one that’s far more subversive and clever than its infamy would have you think.

Cathedral is a competent metroidvania, made by a team that clearly loves the genre and knows well what makes it tick: it’s got a huge, detailed map to explore, full of secrets to find and upgrades that give you fun new ways to navigate the space. But it’s also an unremarkable game in a saturated space, and one that gets in its own way to often. Cathedral is an enjoyable enough game that will scratch that exploratory itch if you’re the sort of person who can never get enough Metroid (guilty!), but it won’t have much appeal beyond that niche.

Pacing issues aside, Hitman 3 is still a worthy conclusion to the World of Assassination trilogy, and one that still manages to keep a few surprises in store despite the inevitability of its end. A more serious tone means there isn’t quite so much of the playful humour that Hitman 2 relished in, but Hitman 3 makes up for that with some of the most intricate and detailed locations the series has seen, leaving the door wide open to all sorts of creative assassination setups. That’s what Agent 47 does best, after all.

Super Meat Boy Forever is no doubt going to be a controversial game, especially among Super Meat Boy purists. But its new ideas bring a world of new possibilities for precision platforming challenges and sheer level design creativity. Dying over and over again in an effort to master the precise jumps and perfect timing each level demands rarely feels as good as it does in Super Meat Boy Forever.

With its vibrant art style, playful atmosphere, plenty of cleverly-designed levels to solve, and some interesting, if uneven, new ideas at play, Drawn to Life: Two Realms is an enjoyable game, but it never quite manages to capture the magic of its predecessors.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is one of the best case studies in augmented reality I’ve seen yet, at least as far as pure entertainment is concerned. It’s the Mario Kart you know and love, but with your home as the course—something that could have easily fallen flat or come across as a shallow gimmick, but instead manages to hit every note near-flawlessly. There’s nothing quite like racing around your own living room, throwing shells every which way and hitting those boost pads while weaving through your furniture and trying to dodge the cat that keeps trying to catch your kart.

Sam & Max Save the World is a hilarious game that moves effortlessly between surreal screwball comedy, buddy cop sitcom, and sharp satire of American society. That’s reason enough for the new lease on life that comes with a remaster and a Switch release, but as one of Telltale’s formative works, it’s also an important part of videogame history that was at risk of being lost forever.

None of these are things that alter the story in any tangible way, but they make the player a part of what’s happening in a way that ties into that theme of connectedness. This isn’t your story, but you’re still part of it, even as a passive observer. It’s a story that will continue with or without you, but that doesn’t mean you’re not connected to it as part of the same Bigger Thing as the forest that’s telling the tale.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is the dramatic conclusion to a grand epic that’s been almost a decade in the making. It’s another chance to spend time with a bunch of characters that have become like family across three prior games, and the culmination of a nuanced exploration of the many faces of war. Most of all, it’s the sort of payoff that only hundreds of hours of meticulous, thoughtful worldbuilding can lead up to.

Some pacing issues aside, Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest is gripping adventure. It uses the setting of the Werewolf: The Apocalypse tabletop RPG and relatively recent real-world events for a fascinating exploration of environmentalism, activism, and Polish culture, backed by a clever mix of visual novel storytelling, RPG systems, and comic book influence.

Ocean’s Heart is a game that clearly comes from a place of deep affection for the classic Legend of Zelda games, and it does a fine job of channeling those. But with its gorgeous setting and endearing hero, it also finds its own place within the space of “Zelda-likes”.

Iris.Fall continues the trend of shadow-based puzzle games, finding plenty of opportunity to build on the core concept of moving 3D objects to create paths among the shadows cast. It doesn’t quite hit the mark with the sort of introspective, abstract storytelling it tries to deliver, but its clever puzzles and stunning presentation nonetheless make Iris.Fall a few hours well spent.

That final level aside, The Pillar: Puzzle Escape is a great way to just shut out the world and unwind for a few hours. Its colourful world, soothing music, and puzzles that, for the most part, manage to be satisfying without being overly taxing make for a chill, relaxing game.

Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy keeps close to everything that made the original Atelier Ryza such a wonderful game to begin with, while also finding ways to build upon those ideas. Sometimes that means little tweaks to fine-tune systems that were already excellent to start with, and other times that means bringing in a whole new Atelier riff on a Tomb Raider-style archaeological adventure. Most of all, it’s a chance to spend a few dozen more hours with Atelier‘s most loveable heroine and her merry band, enjoying those quiet, personal moments as much as the big adventures—that’s what Atelier does best, and what Atelier Ryza 2 does best of all.

While Yaga doesn’t always deliver on the potential that comes with its unique premise there’s still some good fun to be found. What it lacks in depth it makes up for in style and humour, wrapped around a decent, if uneven, action RPG.

Heaven’s Vault is truly remarkable. A complex, satisfying, authentic system of translating a forgotten language and a truly open-ended narrative structure in which your every action affects how the story plays out make for an deeply enjoyable game, but it’s how Heaven’s Vault puts those things into context that’s truly impressive. This isn’t just a gamified take on archaeology, but a deep dive into the role it plays in understanding a world and its history, and what “uncovering the truth” really means.

Unfortunately, a cute and thoughtful story isn’t enough to distract from Sword of the Necromancer‘s other struggles. There’s a competent action RPG in there, but it’s lost beneath a misguided attempt at a roguelike experience that misses most of what makes roguelikes exciting. Even something as unique as a system of reviving slain enemies to fight alongside you gets lost in the narrow constraints of the game’s other systems, resulting in a largely forgettable experience.

Habroxia 2 is a classic shoot-’em-up at core, complete with its pixel-art aesthetic and clear influence from the genre’s early kings. But with some fresh ideas and enough modern design sense to avoid feeling stuck in the past or overly derivative, it gets just the right balance between retro style and modern playability.

It’s that melancholy feeling that pervades every aspect of Olija that makes it so effective. This is a game about being lost, about being isolated, about being a stranger in a strange land where you looked down upon even when you’re not being outright attacked. It’s bleak, powerfully so. But it’s also a game about hope: a game about finding your own place even in such hostile and lonely world, and about how, sometimes, the most foreign land imaginable can end up being the place you call home.

Even with the added “help” features that Initiate Edition introduces, Cultist Simulator demands a willingness to fumble around in the dark–not only to see the best of what the game has to offer, but even just to come to grips with its basic fundamentals. If you’ve got the time and patience to meet its demands, Cultist Simulator can be a fascinating game, but an overcommitment to being deliberately obtuse robs the game of impact in what should be its strongest moments.

If you can take the time to master it, Glyph can be a rewarding game—in terms of both a wealth of collectibles and secrets to find, and in the intrinsic satisfaction that comes with expertly navigating Glyph through whatever deadly shortcut you’ve decided works for you. With its little round hero and ball-based physics, Glyph puts an interesting twist on the familiarity of the classic 3D platformer.

Even if it’s not loaded with extra stuff, Nioh Collection still has what’s important: the best versions of two of the best games of recent years, with the improved performance and extra graphical polish to really let Nioh and Nioh 2 shine their brightest. The obvious appeal here is for people who haven’t played a Nioh game before, but even if you have, Nioh Collection‘s improvements make it a great way to revisit them. And maybe, if you’re anything like me, it might even just let you find some new appreciation for what makes Nioh brilliant.

Bringing one of the best games of the whole Mario franchise to Switch, with a few little tweaks here and there, would have been enough to make a Super Mario 3D World repackage an essential part of anyone’s Switch library. But Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury goes a whole lot further, with the addition of what could just as well have been a whole new standalone game, and a brilliant one at that.

There’s a great game somewhere in Destruction AllStars. The concept is an original take on the “hero” trend, and could be a nice return for the vehicular combat genre that’s been quiet for a while. Every now and then, when everything clicks into place, you can see that potential on display. Sadly, despite its vibrant cast and unique concept, the lack of content and matchmaking woes prevent it from really delivering on that potential.

Turrican Flashback is still a solid collection. Super Turrican 2 is an odd and stark omission, but it’s nice to have the rest of the series readily available on current platforms, keeping their history and influence alive.

A deep, complicated, fascinating web of puzzle-solving that’s constantly playing with new ideas and finding creative interpretations of its basic rules. It’s a game that gets fiendishly difficult, sometimes to a fault—there’s a hint system, but it’s limited and often not all that helpful, and the game doesn’t always do a great job of introducing new ideas in a clear way. But the other side of that coin is a series of truly genius puzzles that make brilliant use of those core ideas, and are a true delight to solve.

Project Starship X is something unique in a genre that, for better and worse, tends to stick to the tried and true. Its roguelike elements add a fun, fresh twist on the shoot-’em-up formula, adding an unpredictable twist and a sense of chaos that goes hand in hand with its over-the-top presentation. The random aspect can sometimes be cause for frustration, but for the most part, it makes for a game that continually throws up new challenges and expects you to be ready for anything.

Astrologaster is a pure and utter delight. Between its creative interpretation of the strange real-life story of Simon Forman, its Blackadder-esque sense of humour, and writing and delivery that make every joke land perfectly, you’d have to have a face of stone to not at least crack the odd smile—me, I don’t think I went more than a few seconds at a time without bursting out laughing.

Marchen Forest: Mylne and the Forest Gift is a diamond in the rough, and as long as you’re prepared to put up with a bit of frustration, there’s something special here. It’s a surreal twist on the “Alchemist in training” tale popularised by Atelier, full of cute, sometimes creepy characters, quirky humour, and a story that is, by turns, both bizarre and grounded in humanity. If you can look past its rough edges, there’s a lot to like about Marchen Forest.

Even without a museum to sate that historian interest, Capcom Arcade Stadium is a fantastic compilation. The game list has a nice mix of familiar classics and hidden gems, with the usual quality of life touches, rotating special challenges to keep things fresh, and charming, nostalgic presentation. It’s also the collection that finally brought the bullet hell masterpiece Progear to console, and that alone is worth the price of admission.

That little complaint aside, Bravely Default II does a wonderful job of scratching the classic JRPG itch, while also subverting the genre’s tropes and conventions in fascinating, sometimes surprising ways. It’s a fresh take on the familiar tale of four Heroes of Light, full of charming characters (Adelle!), beautiful locations, and sharp writing, with captivating battle and job systems to go with it. Even if, for me, it doesn’t quite hit the same highs as Bravely Second, it comes damn close—and that’s high praise.

An exciting shoot-’em-up with plenty of depth, dressed up in a bright, colourful art style. In its story mode, Natsuki Chronicles cleverly balances the challenge inherent in the genre with a sense of constant progression, as it pointedly explores questions around authority and use of force. With arcade mode, you’ve got the pure fun of trying to perfect your runs and post the highest scores you can. In both, you’ve got a rock-solid shooting game that’s a whole lot of fun.

Its no-frills nature means Room to Grow probably won’t have much appeal for anyone who doesn’t enjoy the sort of eureka-moment puzzle design that it lives by. But those who enjoy going from being completely stumped by something that seems genuinely impossible to wondering how you could have missed something so obvious, there’s something brilliant here.

Loop Hero is something truly unique: you could fairly describe it as a sort of reverse tower defence roguelike deck-building strategy RPG, but that doesn’t really do it justice. It’s a game that takes all those pieces and combines them into something that isn’t quite like anything else out there. Sharp writing and a story that moves effortlessly between morbid humour and murky existentialist musing tie it all together nicely, but its in the fascinating experience of exploring the little details of its web of intertwined systems that Loop Hero finds its true brilliance.