Frustrating and confusing though it may at times be—it’s easy to lose track of what you were or should be doing, particularly in the game’s latter stages—abating the destruction of the human race is a quest worth pursuing, and the second of three planned DLCs feels like an enthralling and worthwhile continuation of this exorbitantly demanding city-building sim.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is still a quality version of the legendary game. It features all the action fans of the genre could want. Sadly, the Warthog controls abysmally, ruining a potentially epic climax. The environments toward the latter part of the game get repetitive and dry. But, as a whole, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a worthwhile play for fans of the genre.

The combat is so engaging that I'd often go out of my way to join battles I had no business joining in on – much to the chagrin of my teammates. Landing a deadly lightning strike on your foe, or sending a fiery shockwave through the enemy squad is just too empowering to pass up. Spellbreak has quickly become my go-to battle royale, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for this magical title.

Civilization 7 has completely surprised me. I was ready to hate the new civilization and age system, I was ready to grumble at the sneaking live-service features. Instead, I’ve fallen into a deep obsession with Civilization again. The game fills with me a warm fuzzy feeling that makes me feel like a child rushing home to play Civ 4 on a dusty old beat-up CRT with a packet of biscuits and no responsibilities.

Without a doubt, Warlords of New York looks to be a great step of what lies ahead for The Division 2 and should not be missed.

As someone who’s really enjoyed the AI series and loved each entry in Zero Escape, No Sleep for Kaname Date felt like the perfect hybrid for those who love weird mysteries and puzzle games. Despite the pervasive perversion from Kaname Date himself, the puzzles were fun and the story was wild enough to get me to forgive and forget in the name of a killer visual novel.

My time with Blacktail was frustrating. Not because it was a pain to play or that the writing was awful, but because there’s a strong game buried underneath some strange design decisions and disappointing performance issues. If you have the patience to see past some pretty major flaws, then you might get some enjoyment out of Blacktail. It’s one to skip for the rest of you though, and that’s a real shame.

Like a Dragon: Ishin is a near-perfect package for fans of the series. It weaves an intriguing tale founded in historical events that has you hooked from the very start and eager to learn more at the very end. There’s a wealth of lighthearted substories, minigames, and slice-of-life gameplay, which offer a nice change of pace from the dark storyline. The weapon-based combat is a much-needed reinvigoration for the series that offers fast-paced, bloody carnage in style. The only real letdown was the few graphical issues I experienced, which hopefully a patch will soon resolve.

The experience is a constant tug of war between its disparate good and bad qualities. But Digimon Story: Time Stranger thrives on its good, and save for the eyeroll-inducing DLC dilemma, its bad doesn’t feel intrusive so much as uninspired. A colourful cast of characters gradually comes into its own, resulting in one of the most compelling Digimon video games to date.

It'd be hard to classify something with this much emotional resonance, honesty, and maturity as "bad". However, it is a challenging game - the sort that you give a reserved recommendation, a real "it has some problems but I liked it" situation. If you're looking for a smooth, polished experience, then yes, you might want to leave this one sleeping with the fishes. However, if you're in the mood for a slow, moody mafia yarn with an excellent atmosphere and a compelling story, then Mafia's a decent contender.

Ultimately, the move to Switch makes sense for AVICII Invector Encore Edition, and it is a successful one at that - guided by Tim “AVICII” Bergling’s love for the genre. If you have the option, I’d recommend the console version of the game as a first choice, but if you’re someone who is constantly on-the-go (as much as one can be “on-the-go” right now), then AVICII Invector Encore Edition will be well-worth adding to your Switch library.

I suspect that most fans of the Soulslike genre will have a great time with The First Berserker: Khazan - especially if their primary focus is on the gameplay. It has some thoughtful approaches to easing frustration while maintaining that rewarding, Soulsian challenge. The First Berserker: Khazan may not be on the level of a Bloodborne or a Sekiro, but in the midst of combat, it can feel shockingly close.

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is a Borderlands game. It's not a spin-off, it's not inspired by, and it's not a mix of Borderlands and D&D - it's just Borderlands. It's a waste of a great concept, and comes with the typical Borderlands drawbacks of potentially grating humour, way too many guns, way too small storage space, and a lot of always-on characters who aren't given enough room to breathe. It's fun, but it's nothing special. The worst part is it could have been.

The Rising Tide is ultimately a mixed bag. Mysidia is beautiful, but you can feel the DLC’s budgetary constraints sometimes when some of the more important cutscenes are undercut by less involved animations than they’d have gotten in the main game. The boss fights are absurdly good, Shula’s a hoot, and there’s plenty else in there that’s worth your time. But the side quests are (mostly) still kind of whatever, and you’ll have seen everything there is to see in the setting’s village in, like, four minutes. Jill’s chance to shine is a partly-cloudy endeavor. That epilogue quest is merely serviceable. But the worldbuilding is rich, some of the new powers in Clive’s flashy array of murder tools are sublime, and Kairos Gate is a blast.

It's got some issues and bugs - both technical and actual bugs - but any game that lets you play as a wombat is at least worth a quick look. Lost Ember is an engrossing experience, and you'll be running, digging, swimming and flying to your next destination just to see how the story will turn out.

Sometimes, a game like Oath in Felghana is all you need. When you get home after a long day, you’re not making a five-star meal for yourself. But that doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy it. It’s something you’ve gotten so used to that it brings you comfort just to eat it. You’ve probably played hundreds of games like this before, but Oath in Felghana knows that. It’s not a groundbreaking game, but it’s not trying to be. It has all the basic ingredients you need, without any of the extra spices. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s comforting. It wants you to sit back and enjoy the experience, savouring every drop of its familiar flavour.

It teems with little story beats I’m not allowed to talk about that will make long-time Zelda fans reel with excitement, and its fast-paced, punchy combat is brilliantly belligerent. I haven’t gotten into the art much, because you probably know from the trailer that it looks like Breath of the Wild, but for what it’s worth: it’s gorgeous. It gives voice and agency to a variety of excellent characters who deserved them, and I think its narrative is shaped with a sense of finesse that, on close consideration, is quite endemic to Zelda as a series. It’s just a shame that it’s held back by the only hardware it’s playable on, both in terms of input controllers and screen resolution.

By comparison, the presentation of the Nintendo Switch Online games looks like a cheap bootleg, while Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro Brawler Bundle looks like the fitting tribute that some of the best games from the past deserve. Those in charge of Nintendo Switch Online should take note, as this is exactly how older games should be treated.

The game is well thought out, well-executed, and really enjoyable to play. The gravity mechanics are a quirky addition that keeps it interesting and the difficulty levels mean that gamers young and old alike can enjoy it.

Adios is the kind of contemplative experience that will stick with me for a long time. While I think Adios is a much better story than it is a game, I’m fully convinced this is a great proof of concept for bigger stories in the interactive theater genre. Adios could have been a one-dimensional story about a man who has nothing left to live for, but through a series of short, concise conversations, the game does an exceptional job of fleshing out this character, humanizing him, and giving meaning to his death. That’s a lot to do in just an hour, but Adios handles it beautifully.

I came in expecting a pretty big learning curve in figuring out how to not jump in a platforming game, but developer Redstart Interacting did well to squash any of those concerns pretty much immediately upon starting the game. To put it plainly, Get-A-Grip Chip has me hooked.

More importantly, the game has also renewed my interest in the fighting genre, making me want to figure out my main so that I can compete against the top players online, and maybe... just maybe... even become good enough to compete in the Granblue Fantasy: Versus tournament at EVO 2020. Hey, dare to dream, right?

Just like the first game, Shiro and the Coal Town highlights the joy in ordinary tasks like collecting bugs and getting to know your neighbours, but with its stronger cast of characters, array of side quests to complete, and well-developed trolley racing minigame, it has a lot more to offer and is a significant improvement on Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation.

Nightdive had almost an impossible task revitalising System Shock, and yet it’s done so effortlessly. The level to which it manages to remain faithful to the original while also very much being a modern game released in 2023 is impressive. It may be let down slightly by wonky cyberspace and some less-than-Shodan-level AI, but this is easily the best way for people today to experience one of the most genre-defining games of all time.

If you’re expecting completely remade games, this isn’t the remaster collection for you. But if you want to relive your childhood memories and frustrations with Klonoa, the Phantasy Reverie Series is the way to do it. Getting two cult-classics in one is a fantastic deal, and if you can look past the quirks and situate yourself firmly in 2001, you’ll find these games just as perfect as you remember them. And if you missed out on the Klonoa hype as a kid but enjoy early 2000s platformers and want to see what all the fuss is about, there’s no better time to dive into the dream than now.

These issues aren’t small, and I find it difficult to wholeheartedly recommend a game that only ‘gets good after X hours’. At the same time, with over 20 hours and counting, Metal Slug Tactics makes me want to get back to it, play a quick run, and try to unlock everything that’s here to unlock. This is far from the revival I was expecting for the series — and I’d still love a classic 2D entry — but if it catches the attention of new generations, I’m here for it.

Lost in Random is an okay 15-hour game, front-loaded with seven fantastic hours. It’s worth playing even if you don’t make it to the end, simply because there’s never been another game like it. Disney goths will delight in its charming blend of cute and macabre, and there are some legitimate thrills to be had with the combat system for strategy-brained players like myself. If it had continued to innovate with new battle mechanics and more cards to collect throughout the entire game, it would be an easy contender for game of the year for me. Unfortunately, it rests on its laurels too early, and the game as a whole suffers for it. I would be eager to return to Random were there ever a sequel, but I don’t think I’ll be revisiting Lost in Random again anytime soon.

If you want to train your brain in more ways than one, enjoy a murder mystery that'll keep you on your toes until the very end, and view some pretty wild 90s fashion designs, Murder By Numbers is the game for you.