Until Dawn: Rush of Blood may be a brief and silly spin-off, something far removed from 2015’s fantastic adventure game, but it’s the most fun I’ve had with a virtual reality game to date, and it’s just a brilliantly entertaining pop horror experience with enjoyable shooty-bang-bang combat.

I’m thrilled it’s on PC, and I’m delighted we’ll finally get to see the series continued – this prologue and two full-fledged episodes are great, but I really need to know what happens next!

Minor annoyances aside, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse continue’s Kirby’s hot streak of lovable, imaginative, joyful adventures. As shrewd as it is straightforward, HAL’s latest effort provides an afternoon of unassuming fun for a fair price, and no matter how much I try, I just can’t ever over how damn wondrous it looks!

As someone who has spent a lot of time with the Switch recently, and who loved the hell out of the Vita during that year or two it was getting regular games released on it, I really did find myself at times wishing this game had some kind of portable version. It just felt like the social life aspects of the game might have been more at home when I experienced them on the Vita in P4G...Still, the fact that’s my biggest complaint in 120 hours of JRPG says a lot. I was damn impressed by Persona 5, and will certainly be returning to it once I’ve had a few months to decompress from this super concise playthrough. I played 120 hours in just a couple of weeks and damn it was a lot of fun.

A truly great game that rises its head above its own hot water to proudly present a prosperous experience that only the most deliriously expectant could feel shortchanged by.

Centum is a gripping point-and-click trip, drawing players in with disturbing imagery and a disquieting atmosphere before laying on a terrific critique of generative AI - as well as the kind of people who want to exploit it. Striking a nice balance between enigma and clarity, it presents a world you can’t fully trust contrasted against sincere messaging. It’s so much more than freaky rat men drooling everywhere. It’s evocative and heartfelt, and has freaky rat men drooling everywhere! An algorithm couldn’t pull it off half as well.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is like a rapid firework display of ideas that never stops dazzling, throwing curveball after curveball and never lingering on a single concept. There’s something to be said for gameplay that doesn’t outstay it’s welcome, but often is the case that Wonder’s twists and tricks barely make it through the threshold before they leave, never to return. I’m impressed by what Wonder does, amazed at its drug-like wackiness, and left with a longing for some of that stuff to stick around longer than it does...There are worse things to be than a great game that leaves a player yearning for more.

Quantum Break is not the most revolutionary of games, and its cute time toys cover what is, at heart, a fairly standardized shooter. However, it carries itself with style and speed to create something genuinely fascinating to play, flavored by a story that, while failing to pay off in the final stretch, is more detailed and engrossing than most in its league.

If you’ve been frustrated by the state of some retro horrors, or even if you haven’t, this is a fine addition to the genre that deserves to be ranked highly among the modern examples. Aside from those bastard traps, it’s a damn good bit of body horror.

What a lovely game it is. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny has its faults, but it aged really well and it’s been a blast replaying a PS2 title I truly loved back in the day. A welcome throwback to a time where publishers would put out some genuine curios, ones that stayed with me for life.

DmC is a beautiful, bold, and supremely enjoyable videogame in its own right. It deserves to be praised...That’s what I said back then, and I’m sticking with it.

Battleborn constantly pops with a charmingly garish visual style, a small army of exotic characters, and disorderly combat with just enough strategic edge to keep it from being sloppy. While some may find the clashing colors and overall derangement to be a little too busy, I personally felt right at home with its special blend of stupidity and style.

I’m still waiting for things to kick into high gear and truly take hold of me, but chapter two of House Forrester’s tale leaves me in no doubt that such a moment is coming.

Aside from some problematic resource balancing and some unavoidable repetition, Hand of Fate is a clever game of risks and rewards that is well worth getting dealt into.

Injustice 2 takes a strong fighting game, delivers an incredibly rewarding and lengthy single player that feels like a priority rather than a tacked on afterthought, and considerably increases the scope of the game by adding in a vast number of well made additional characters to the mix. Sure it hits the uncanny valley a bit, and I’m not keen on the loot boxes or their DLc plans, but it’s hard to deny how much fun I had with the game at launch.

Far Cry Primal is a great example of trying new things in a smart and relatively safe manner, demonstrating how a popular series can keep itself invigorated. While other venerable franchises like Call of Duty are afraid to challenge themselves and make only halfhearted gestures toward invention, Primal plots a course through uncharted waters with a battle-tested vessel and actually commits to making its new ideas more than vapid window dressing. The result?...You can ride on a goddamn bear. Enough said.

If you’re sick of all the military shooters vying for your attention but still want an honest, straightforward FPS experience, Hard Reset has the cure for your fever.

Sony’s premier action adventure series is showing its age from a creative standpoint, if not a technical one. Recognizable story cues and shock attempts have become bromidic, and there are moments that had me rolling my eyes as Uncharted 4 expected me to be startled by twists anticipated from miles away. As cornball as it can be, however, Uncharted 4 remains a damn classy romp with a sensitive side, and fans are undoubtedly going to adore it.

It runs beautifully – I encountered one glitch across the eight-hour experience, and nothing deal-breaking – looks fantastic, and delivers that shameless, gratuitous action without feeling aged or tired.

Halls of Torment is more than simply Vampire Survivors wearing Diablo’s clothes. It’s a clever and engrossing Survive ‘em Up that uses RPG trappings to add a ton of versatility and rewarding complexity to what would still be a fun game without it. There’s a pile of quirky character classes and a massive number of ways to build them during each run, just a big pile of content and not a shred of it feels like padding.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a great little game. As well as availing itself of as many genre features as it could carry, it’s quite possibly the smoothest kart racer I’ve played and certainly one of the nicest to handle. With a cute set of gimmicks and solid customization options, its biggest problem is lacking enough modes and maps to quite cover a significant unlock grind.

It’s a fantastic example of how to do a free-to-play game correctly, and the fact it’s made so much money already through the carrot rather than the stick only goes to show what happens when you don’t treat your audience like cattle.

Gears of War Ultimate Edition is a blast to play, even if you’re like me and only really intend to get into the story campaign. The multiplayer is still damn robust, beautifully put together, and will be a thrill ride for those who love the Gnasher, but I can’t say I haven’t greatly enjoyed my time with the overall package, because the thing I most cared about has been remastered very well indeed.

El Paso, Elsewhere does nothing new as a videogame - the whole point of it, in fact, is to do everything old. Despite revolving around the nucleus of a Max Payne homage and flatly refusing to flesh out the mechanics of a game from 2001, El Paso manages to transcend its skeletal concept thanks to an arresting presentation and brilliant story. Incredibly written with themes that speak to me on a deeply personal level, it compensates for its weaknesses as a game by simply being a brilliant piece of media.

Cultic’s shameless revelry in gore is delightful.

While its intoxicated physics can lead to occasional despair, the overwhelming joy of the whole experience is a strong tonic, over the handful of hours it takes to get through, I couldn’t help maintaining a smile.

Crisol: Theater of Idols excels as a lower budget horror with high ambitions. It's got its foibles and I can nitpick all day, but so much style and effort has been poured into it that I just have to come away impressed. Fantastic visual and audio direction does a lot of the heavy lifting, taking this from a solid little homage to something more special. Creepy, intriguing, and with enough mechanical gimmickry to feel more different than it actually is, I’m certainly very glad I played it...Also, it’s stunningly cheap to buy for what it is. These days, that’s one of the most remarkable things anything can be.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker isn’t going to blow minds with its humble presentation and laid back puzzling, but it’s still got plenty of imagination and some really sagacious architecture in its level structure.

Reigns is shrewd and playful, with a straightforward interface and a handful of terrific twists thrown in for good measure. Whenever things risk getting too stale, a new event or set of cards can turn up to keep one hooked, and a single playthrough won’t uncover all the secrets, as well as the ways to meet some grisly fate.

If you were already a fan of the series, this remastered bundle will be worth picking up. Those who are a bit more cynical, as I was, may very well find themselves surprised by the time they’ve slogged through all three of them. Pleasantly so.

One of the finest games of its age, but still a 1992 title that has been bought and played eight million times. So, take that for what it is.

Thanks to the improvements made – and maybe the lack of anything like it outside of maybe Bayonetta 2 – it was a true pleasure to return to Capcom’s world of jacked up angels, plant dragons, and Dante hamming up every single delicious scene he’s in. Truly, it’s good to be back. It’s better to be back than it ever was.

Again though, I really must stress that this is a great game. It’s more serious, and suffers in comparison as a result, but its wealth of additional content, its few minor adjustments to an already terrific combat system, and the sheer excuse to enjoy Resident Evil 4 in another way makes this is a worthy title indeed.

Dredge reeled me in to the point I sunk hours into it, and even if my patience floundered at times, the net experience was fun to tackle. While its content isn't stuffed to the gills, it’s hard to be crabby with a gameplay loop that had me hooked, and the intriguing horror angle perched on top of a swimmingly good adventure is worth wading into. It doesn’t have to fish for compliments, but since I’m trawling for puns and you’re probably salty about it, I’ll wave goodbye and say that Dredge isn’t crappie. Sea you later!

While there are some disappointments and archaic clunkiness, Dead Rising 4 is a great time that makes smart improvements over Dead Rising 3. The comedic beats are surprisingly well executed, especially early on in the campaign, and while the conclusion may be hugely disappointing to some, I can’t fault the series its boldness.

Rhythm Heaven Megamix is a great jumping off point for series newcomers, collecting some fantastic games while adding a healthy portion of fresh material. Old hands will still find lots of love thanks to the remixed levels, added challenges, and scores of bonus content.

If anything, Dark Arisen reminds me just how much I missed my time with Dragon’s Dogma, and how I’d love to see another one in the works. Here’s hoping Gransys has more adventures for us in future!

Evil West is the kind of beautiful trash I wish we had more of. It’s a ridiculous game in service to a purpose no higher than smashing monsters to gloopy bits, and by God do I admire that. While at times combat balance is uneven, any such moment is made up for by a terrific weapon set, extravagant finishers, and an immediacy of offense that ensures the action never wavers. Refined? No. Elegant? Hardly. Fun as f.ck? F.cking yes.

This is not just another horror game. It’s a science fiction story with horrific shades, a game that ponders the human condition in an industry where “the human condition” has become an awkward dead horse of a phrase. A horror game that, curiously, would have benefited from a little less horror.

On PS4, the experience is further hampered, with slowdown in multiple locations for a game that can only handle an fps of 30 at peak. The upside is that, at least in my experience, these dips in performance occur in strangely unpopulated areas, meaning you should have a solid framerate when it comes to combat. Make no mistake, however, that console versions are inescapably inferior.

Sorry We’re Closed not only pays homage to classic survival horror, it provides a truly unique love story that delves into the very nature of romance itself. For all its theming and grisly imagery, however, there’s a script with a pointed sense of humor and a cast of fun characters to match. Combat has good ideas set back by some awkward implementation, but the moments of annoyance aren’t enough to pull down the sum of all parts.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a great time. The remake is faithful in the ways that count and adds enough new content to be well worth revisiting, even if that content isn’t universally brilliant. I could take or leave the theme park conceit, and I wish the Mecha ability was as good as Sand, but with an enjoyable epilogue campaign and a bunch of unlockable masks that I couldn’t stop thinking about, there’s no denying this is a remake that puts the work in to justify itself. I like it when things do that. Did I mention the game has masks? I can’t emphasize enough how important that is.

Starship Troopers: Extermination may share similarities with Helldivers, but it absolutely does enough to distinguish itself and I think I prefer it. With 16 players and massive hordes of Arachnids, the sheer scope of chaos is both intimidating and enthralling. Building a base from scratch is straightforward and lots of fun, as is trying to keep the thing from toppling over.

Firewatch is not what many people may have wanted, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Fans of interactive drama will absolutely want to give this a try, as it shows how you can craft a “walking simulator” while keeping players involved and intrigued as opposed to ignored and bored.

With the humor and silliness of Dragon Quest, a series of goals to keep players compelled, as well as the introduction of form and meaning in that everso popular survival crafting gameplay, Builders escapes being the cynical reskin it may at first glance appear to be. On the contrary, it evidences more love and care than could be expected.

Even though I famously hated Frontiers and still do, I want it to get a direct sequel because I want a version of the game I can actually love. That said, playing Sonic Generations X Shadow has me hoping Sega never forgets that kind of game either, because I’ve been reminded that when 3D Sonic platforming is good, there’s nothing quite like it.

While not a thoroughly outstanding game, BOXBOY! is an eminently pleasant, breezy little puzzle-platformer that offers some moderate challenge and focuses more on just having a nice time. A fuss-free, no-pressure adventure that takes a plain gimmick and showcases just how versatile it can be.

The game is still as great as it always ways, and despite the graphical downstep, it’s no less enjoyable on a smaller screen. I relished the excuse to play it once more, and have been having a blast as I once again alter futures, smash up robots, and indulge in a little private Reyn time.

The score I’m giving this game is highly conditional, relevant as it is to a particular niche of player. Those outside the niche won’t get it, and I’m not saying that to be smug - they’re right not to get it...Just this once though, I’m happy to be wrong.

The Sword in the Darkness sees Telltale’s Game of Thrones start to really hit its stride.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood continues MachineGames’ commitment to offering classic ultraviolence with some sensible modern concessions and a deeply buried philosophical side.

Those who felt turned off by the critically maligned Dungeons would do well to give Dungeons 2 a look. It evolves the dungeon management subgenre in a number of clever ways, and the hands-on strategy elements make for a fantastic compliment.

Dropsy‘s resolve to bring back the old school point n’ clicker is a success, though it’s perhaps a bit too successful, given the overreaching ambiguity in certain areas. Even in spite of its tendency to obstruct the player, it’s a beautiful, bewildering, unforgettable game of hugs, love, and hollowing sadness.

“Vampire Survivors but it’s an FPS” is a solid idea with so much potential to wind up as an ill-advised mess. Vampire Hunters does the concept justice with a thoughtfully produced game that not only serves Survive ‘em Up gameplay in a fresh format but pops a ton of clever little touches on top. Despite its name sounding like that of a videogame mockbuster, this is the kind of fresh flavor any overly saturated genre sorely needs.

Spider-Man 2 continues the high level of slickly presented entertainment seen with Insomniac’s first jaunt to Manhattan. Playing as the Spider-Men is yet to be anything other than beautiful, both figuratively and literally. Great as it may be, it's held back by some dodgy writing that fumbles its payoffs and dips too often into waffle. Between those moments of deflation, however, there is a truly gorgeous and absorbing game packed with delightful action where simply moving feels good.

RoboCop: Rogue City may not boast the high production quality of a top level “AAA” videogame, but it’s more fun and shows more sincerity than most of them put together. What it lacks in polish it more than makes up for in its provision of fuss-free action with immensely satisfying weaponry alongside the occasional glimmer of witty writing. It’s nowhere near as beautifully satirical as the film from which it sprung, but it’s still made with clear love for the original, as well as a ton of sincerity...Can’t wait to see which movie this outfit gets its hands on next. Please do The Thing!

A great game that would have been almost perfect if Capcom had gouged out the first thirty hours and put a plug in the pernicious verbal diarrhoea of a quest board masquerading as an NPC.

Even at its grindiest, Destiny 2 remains an oddly compelling adventure...While there's still plenty of room for improvement, I've got say Bungie put its heart into this one, and it definitely shows.

Shower With Your Dad Simulator: Do You Still Shower With Your Dad might not be a game you could explain away to a significant other, but it’s markedly better than any explanation could suggest...Plus those dads really do hang dong.

No game yet has quite captured the look and feel of the only real Transformers experience quite like Devastation. The fact they added a brilliantly entertaining combat system and an engaging bit of looting on top is a very welcome surprise.

It’s Jurassic Earth Defense Overwatch War Z and it looks like it should be bad but it isn’t. I can’t be anything but impressed by that.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 can be a mentally taxing experience by design, especially if one already has their own litany of mental health struggles. It is a necessary part of a game that explores its themes touchingly and tastefully, a beautiful and astoundingly stylish production. Like its predecessor, the presentation outstrips the gameplay, which suffers from repetition and a lack of escalation or variety. It’s a damn fine thing in totality though, one well worth digging into.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is a game that’s far better than its shackles allow it to be. Even as hampered as it is by online chicanery and distinctly “Nintendo” hassles, it’s still a great deal of fun and one of the best handheld online adventures you could undertake. It just requires some patience to get working, with a reward that’s well worth it...Also, come on… it’s gay as hell. And I kind of love that.

It’s a great game. One I almost hate. One I find spiteful and cruel and perhaps even somewhat abhorrent. A game that’s beautiful as well as hideous, that makes me feel queasy while keeping me thoroughly fascinated.

This is why Final Fantasy XV, despite significant and glaring problems, is still a lovely time that managed to make me like Final Fantasy again. It’s a character piece, and the characters we spend our time with are fully realized and play off each other so well. It’s a lighter journey that nonetheless knows when to get serious, spurred by a charismatic nemesis and a quartet of lovable, beautiful boys...And good God is it weird.

I love Lies of P until I don’t, but those less adoring moments are always followed by something that ropes me right back in. A slickly directed, beautifully presented game that takes the absurd concept of marrying Bloodborne to Pinocchio and commits so earnestly that it transcends the silly and just plain works. Difficulty spikes and dodgy pacing undermine it at key points, and some systems aren’t as useful as they should be, but none of that takes away from the high quality and the amount of imagination poured into what could’ve been just another Soulslike...Even at its most exasperating, I wouldn’t let it lie.

Despite a simple idea and a handful of maps, this eccentric shooter does – as the game’s irritating in-universe TV hosts declare – “stay fresh.” It balances strategy with anarchy in a riveting way, and nails the balance between instant gratification and heartbreak as players obsessively cover their world with color and have to watch as their hard work is consistently overwritten in a way that only makes one more desperate to hit back.

Despite the reduction of novelty as it progresses, Slayers X is nonetheless a fantastic idea executed very well. Retro indie shooters are a dime a dozen, but hardly any of them commit to the bit quite like this brilliantly stupid follow up to Hypnospace Outlaw...It’s the kind of nonsense I’m just incredibly happy to see exist in the world, and the possibilities it offers for potential future games set in this universe has me on the hook.

The plot’s driving forth at an effective pace, the characters are each growing in their own unique ways, and things end in a way that promises a lot of huge things for episode five. If you’ve been following along with the series up to this point, you’ll definitely be gripped by this one.

Atlas Mugged is pretty good stuff all around – not as explosive or hilarious as last time, but consistently entertaining nonetheless, with a handful of slick action sequences to keep things spicy. As far as the bigger picture goes, Tales From The Borderlands currently runs the risk of becoming my favorite Telltale game series.

Messy, dirty, and downright smutty, Onechanbara: Z2: Chaos is the very epitome of a guilty pleasure.

Sonic Superstars is the first decent mainline Sonic game since Sonic Forces (an objectively okay game as rated by civilized minds). A distilled descendent of the original lineage, Sonic Team’s rare display of restraint has resulted in a game that succeeds through the purity of its simplicity. However, the stark contrast of convoluted, tawdry boss fights offsets its positives significantly, contributing some truly offputting misery to an otherwise entertaining time...I’d love to see more of this if Sega could resist reinventing the wheel again next time.

RiME is certainly one of those games that prove how ridiculous it is to rail against linearity considering how a well paced, smartly designed corridor can be as enchanting, if not more so, than any massive open world on the market.

Her Story is a surprisingly rewarding experiment in game design. Perfectly presented, and with a beautiful soundtrack that creeps in at key moments of the investigation, this Sam Barlow presentation is most certainly memorable, and more attention grabbing than its passive nature might lead one to believe...It needs something extra to it to really stand as something special, but Her Story still kept me hooked long enough to dig out its secrets, and that’s definitely a success.

If only its laudably permissive tools were supplemented with more substantial material, it would be a top tier production. A weirdly large selection of unlockable fences just doesn't put any gas in the tank, but it really is a fun ride while there’s fuel.

ABZÛ is a lesser game than Journey, but since I consider Journey to be one of the more sublime pieces of interactive entertainment I’ve enjoyed, that’s hardly a damning indictment. While it struggles to be truly resonant, Flying Squid’s aquatic adventure is nonetheless enjoyable, alluring, and ultimately pleasant.

All things considered? Silent Hill 2 Remake is an almost excellent game that just couldn’t help itself. It does so much to impress, but the obnoxious elements are so consistent they ensure Team Silent’s masterpiece is far from bested...I never want to see another Mannequin again in my life.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle brings a level of authenticity you almost never see for videogames based on movies, even among the good ones...There are many things I can moan about, from the sometimes trivial challenge to the backtracking to the terrible UI, yet there are plenty of things I can praise in turn. The delightful impact of delivering blunt force trauma to a Nazi, the dense use of space, the sincerity of the atmosphere, and that amazing Harrison Ford impression. Sure, it’s marred by many little issues, but The Great Circle's a good bit of adventuring fun in the face of them.

Feeling both nostalgic and fresh at once, it’s an entertaining slaughterfest with a strange sense of humor, a gleeful celebration of comic butchery that takes some fairly dark material and makes light of it effectively.

Dying Light: The Beast benefits from a more focused approach than the series usually has. Its obligatory suite of repetitive jobs still wears thin during extended play, but overall I enjoyed this one more than the prior outings. It’s a leaner game with a better story and some nice touches. Some of the series’ long running flaws still need ironing out, and without them we could have a legitimately great game. On a personal note, it’s really nice to see this series improve as it has over time. Despite being a vocal critic of its shortcomings, I want to love Dying Light, and if this represents where future games are going, I may just get what I’m hoping for.

Final Fantasy XVI is all over the place. It’s a game of incredible highs and distasteful lows, boasting such a narrative trainwreck of disarranged ideas it’s borderline incompatible with itself. Endeavoring to tackle themes of fascism and slavery would be laudable if the result wasn’t inelegant at best and offensive at worst. The frustrating, exhausting nature of XVI’s miserable narrative is countered by notably enjoyable combat, impressive setpieces, and truly stunning boss encounters. When it’s not boring, it’s exhilarating. When it’s not exhilarating, it’s insulting. When it’s not insulting, it’s delightful...I love Final Fantasy XVI when it’s Game of Thrones with Kaiju. Every attempt to be more than that makes me like it far, far less.

It’s a delightful adventure, dripping in imagination. It’s a saturated mess, prone to tedium. It has a knack for redefining itself in truly engrossing ways. It has a mean spirit that facilitates truly vulgar environmental design. Its world is breathtaking and vast. Its world is hateful and myopic. It sounds incredible. It sounds unbearable. It’s intensely absorbing. It’s offputtingly self-indulgent.

Metroid Prime Remastered is a faithful beat-for-beat recreation of the GameCube classic with a comprehensively polished visual makeover. It remains a solid adventure shooter, even if its straightforward approach to player progress is a little unexciting these days. I’ve certainly not hated my time with it, though I do hate its refusal to properly credit the team that worked on the original...Maybe it’s the industry’s attitude toward attribution that could use a remastering.

At this point, playing The Elder Scrolls V is like putting on a comfortable old pair of sweatpants. It’s not exactly stylish, it’s frayed around the edges, it’s showing its age, and there might be a few old cumstains, but it’s warm and familiar and it just feels good to have around...The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is that same pair of sweatpants put through the laundry.

Although far from the highest quality Soulslike, Another Crab’s Treasure is an original, intensely likable one. Its sharp script is backed up with a fun gameplay conceit, wrapped up in a package with a whole lot of character.

As much as the games industry doesn’t want to acknowledge it, the existence of those alternative routes is an inevitable consideration, and that’s especially true for Suikoden.

Elden Ring Nightreign is worth taking out for a few runs, but the incentives to keep on running aren't quite there yet. The prospect of ending another forty minute expedition empty handed after an anticlimactic wipeout isn't quite coaxing enough.

It’s adorable, it’s got plenty of amusing content, and it’s cheap as dirt.

Gravity Rush 2 is a bigger sequel, but not necessarily a better one. While it offers more to play with and in greater variety, the lack of improvements to core features – as well as graphics that are far from impressive – hold it back from being something truly great.

It’s still as derivative as it ever was in terms of premise, but with a more convenient controller, worthwhile gameplay tweaks, a stack of extra stuff and a stable, populated online mode, Omega Force has turned it from an “okay” game into a pretty good one.

Ironically, if it had tried to be less of a game, it would have been a much better game.

While the strictly defined horror gameplay might not keep one hooked for hours-long sessions, The Outlast Trials’ style and atmosphere is worth several return journeys. It makes very few changes to the series’ usual stealthy scariness, yet the inclusion of three other players makes for a breezy version that’s pretty damn entertaining. Be aware that playing it alone makes everything take four times longer and isn’t particularly fun, but with even just one more player, some torture porny fun can be had...Plus penises.

It’s clear that China took the best bits of its larger siblings and added its own flavor – I feel the big budget work of Ubisoft Montpelier would be served well by returning the gesture.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is definitely a game worth playing for fans of the original despite my criticisms. Overall I enjoyed my time, thanks in no small part to a vastly superior second half. I lament the loss of better directed linear stealth in favor of a messier open environments, but the core of what makes A Plague Tale great - strong characters, bleak horror, and tons of squicky rats - remains firmly in place.

With Virginia, Variable State has created a grounded piece of interactive narrative, free of the waffling conceit of the genre’s worst offenders, but not quite evocative enough to be a true classic. Thanks to a savvy use of visual communication, a stirring soundtrack, and a tale that confidently communicates much in spite of its silence, Virginia is a good little game and a worthy contribution to the world of minimalist indie offerings...If you like that kind of thing, of course!

Angel at Dusk may not be up there with the most essential shooters, but its bonkers concept and sickeningly beautiful visuals help it to stand out while the aggressive combat provides plenty of fun. Well, until repetition starts to set in. An enjoyable time, especially if the average shooter isn’t enough like Videodrome for you.

As it stands, it’s a damn lovely game that nonetheless doesn’t need to be clamored for...Likable, yet not as lovable as it deserves to be...Now rest in peace, PlayStation Vita.

Stellar Blade is at war with itself in a conflict between style and substance. Sadly, style wins with merciless regularity, but there’s a strong core of genuinely good gameplay fighting through an ocean of bells and whistles.