Lego The Incredibles is a great kids game, but it doesn’t really reach the heights of many of its predecessors. Not quite incredible, then, but still pretty good.

Sometimes opposites attract, and Pode’s contrasting characters are a great example of that, combining to overcome the game’s environmental puzzles. While it’s a little rough around the edges, Pode is a charming puzzle game whether you play it alone or grab a friend to play alongside you.

Mario Tennis Aces looks and performs as well as anything you'd expect from the House of 'Tache, but its family friendly appearance disguises a brutally difficult single player experience that will surely alienate younger players. With a high skill threshold, it also loses out on the simple delights of pick up and play local multiplayer, but for those willing to put in the time and effort there's still enjoyment to be found in its surprisingly challenging, albeit embellished, take on the sport.

There is an incredible core set of mechanics and gameplay at the heart of Cross Tag Battle. It is fun as hell to play, and addictive and rewarding to try and master. Unfortunately, the package that this gameplay ships in is embarrassingly sparse, especially by Arcsys standards.

Of the many roguelites I’ve played over the last few years, Monster Slayers is perhaps the most successful in offering enough variety and options to prevent the annoyance and frustration that so often accompanies repeated playthroughs. The different classes and range of cards mean that there is a fantastic sense of improvement and development whilst the random layout stops runs from being too simple.

The MotoGP series has long suffered from a lack of obvious progression from one release to the next. This time, Milestone has at least tried to do things differently and switch game engines, but right now that hasn’t paid off. Last year’s game was already supposed to be a transitional one, yet here we are with a game that is a regression for a series that was becoming a bit stale.

Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn is everything the first game should have been; it doesn’t have to be “so bad it’s good,” and it features some good honest fun at its core. A Legend Reborn is definitely one to pick up if you’ve missed the beat ‘em up genre and are fancying something with a modern twist.

The fact that Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection gives players a thorough insight into Street Fighter II, III and the Alpha series is recommendation enough, but when they’re so well presented it makes this more or less essential for fight game fans. Add in the Switch’s portability, and on-the-go multiplayer opportunities (if you’re both willing to forgive the limitations of the Joy-Con) and this is everything a Street Fighter fan could hope for.

Unravel Two is everything a sequel should be. It stays true to the original but adds co-op which allows you to play and experiment together as you find your path through the beautiful environments. Unravel was already a very enjoyable game, but with co-op feeling as natural in this game as it does, Unravel Two is a delightful playground for fans of puzzle platformers.

Business management games don’t come much cooler than Jurassic World Evolution, and as subject matter goes it has done the the franchise proud. The dinosaurs look fantastic, the park building is easy and coherent, and the ensuing chaos when it goes a little bit off the rails can be frantic and enthralling. It’s pacing where the game struggles a little, with a few too many sedentary moments stretching your patience, but you’re not likely to get any closer to building your own park packed with once extinct animals than this.

My early impressions of Runner3 were that the original purity of gameplay had been sacrificed in the push for more sophisticated visuals and quirkiness. After a few deaths brought about by perspective transitions, I was starting to feel an unwelcome sense of disappointment. Fortunately, once I got used to these new additions and the classic flow of Runner’s gameplay loop got its hooks in me, this initial reticence was forgotten. At its best, Runner3 is the epitome of pure twitch gaming and, as such, is a fantastic addition to the series.

Just Shapes & Beats is the best EDM compilation album you can play, and assuming the music floats your ear-shaped boat, it’s an absolute treat. Challenging, engrossing and exhibiting a purity we so often forget, this is a genre mash-up where everybody wins.

Aragami: Nightfall adds a wealth of new missions and stories to Aragami that are worth checking out if you missed the game the first time around, and doubly worth checking out if you never picked it up at all. Some performance issues and technical faux pas still affect the game, but it’s overall a much more engaging experience than it was back in 2016 and worth giving a go if you’re at all a fan of classic stealth games.

Shape of the World isn’t a bad game, it just never quite hits its stride in the way a game like this needs to. There just isn’t anything that implores you to move forwards apart from the fact that there is little else to do, and while there are some very pretty moments, rarely is anything more than superficial achieved. Shape of the World fails to do enough to pull itself out of the abstract and ultimately just feels empty.

Martyr isn’t bad, but it feels like it’s missing that spark to be really enjoyable. When playing with hack-and-slash action you want to feel involved, but the fights in Martyr feel like someone else is playing the game. Sure there are some fun moments and maybe it will grow into a more enjoyable experience post-launch, but for the here and now, it probably isn’t worth your time.

There’s a little bit of everything in Onrush, from racers to shooters, from destruction derbies to sports games. If you were expecting a sequel to MotorStorm, Onrush won’t be for you, but give it a chance and its clever blend of different genres can draw you into its unrelenting vehicular action.

Much like its early 20th century setting, Vampyr feels like a bit of a throwback to a past age of action RPGs. In a time where the genre is evolving Vampyr holds on to past ideas for much of its tenure, and it doesn’t have a story strong enough to overcome that fact. The world itself is ripe for lots of stories to be told within, with Dontnod having done a good job with world building, but while Vampyr isn’t a bad game, nor is it as great as it could be.

The Piano is an ambitious and interesting project that doesn’t quite meet its potential. The setting, story, and atmosphere are well realised and show that the writers have talent, whilst the game itself illustrates what a small team can achieve. Unfortunately, the glaring design issues in actual gameplay hold it back, and it becomes another game that may actually have benefited from being more of a walking simulator. The combat is entirely unnecessary, the stealth can be wildly unbalanced and unfair, and the piano mini-games need some kind of actual musical mechanic to justify their inclusion.

Shio is not a game for the faint of heart. Tremendously challenging, it truly will push you to the limit of your videogame abilities. The stunning level design, clear visuals and wonderfully tight controls all ensure that the game is fair, but that won’t be enough to stop player frustration from ultimately setting in. Played in short sittings this is a taught, tight and compelling experience. Just have an extra controller nearby, you’ll need it to replace the one you just threw out the window.

If you called Owlboy a piece of art, I would nod my head and agree wholeheartedly. This game, in visuals alone, is a masterful achievement. For those breath-taking visuals to be matched by equally beautiful characters and unique gameplay moments just elevates it even further. The beginning of the game is a bit too slow, and sometimes the gameplay was merely okay, but those are minor blemishes on a video game experience that is absolutely worth your time, and definitely worth the decade that it took to bring it to life.

The mood, the setting, and the pedigree of the writing are all perfectly in line with my interests, but I found the combination of the card playing and having to sit at a PC never truly gelled.

Pixeljunk Monsters 2 is a very solid entry in the tower defence genre. The little things it has changed make for some really interesting choices when it comes to tower placement and co-op play makes it much more replayable. Graphically the game is stunning in it’s own way and will keep you invested in the tree-destroying, tower-building, funky-dancing gameplay as you progress through the increasingly tricky levels until the end. It suffers from the same issues prevalent in any TD game but is a solid entry nevertheless.

Horizon Chase Turbo is an old school inspired arcade racer that can be both fun and frustrating to play. When it is at its fun moments then the attitude of just one more race takes over as you become engrossed. When the game throws up its frustrating moments they can override a lot of goodwill. If you’re looking for an arcade racer then Horizon Chase Turbo is worth considering, but don’t let its charming looks fool you as you’ll face a tough challenge within.

A dark and twisted fantasy RPG which uses elements of survival games to great effect, Smoke and Sacrifice is a beautiful piece of indie software. Tonally and physically challenging, the artistry on display sets it apart from its peers, creating a foreboding world that’s well worth being drawn into.

Somewhere, deep in the heart of Subaeria, there is an exciting and action packed puzzle game. Unfortunately, just like the dystopian underwater world the game presents, it is so deeply submerged that you’d never see it from the surface. Rather than the deep blue ocean though, it is a roguelite structure that hides what works about Subaeria, rendering its achievements impotent with toxic pacing and progression issues. It’s a shame, as Subaeria showed promise.

Agony is, true to its name and intentions, a hellish experience. My excitement for the game was quickly quashed behind bugs, crashes and unbalanced gameplay, failing to live up to the potential of the game’s core ideas and outstanding visual design. I hope that I can travel back to Hell following some substantial patching but, as things stand, Agony is torture in all the wrong ways.

Yoku’s Island Express is a beauteous, aurally delightful treat that riffs off the Metroidvania template and pinball tables in a smart and playful manner. It’s somewhat tempered by the dual frustrations of the pinball mechanic’s need for constant precision and a lacklustre fast-travel system that leaves you having to cover the same ground over and over, ultimately taking what could have been an amazing game, and making it a good one.

Detroit: Become Human really is like sitting down and playing a TV box set. It's a technical masterpiece on PS4 with movie quality sound, lighting and camera work, which is backed up by some top quality action and a wonderfully evocative score. Detroit really worked for me; I was gripped by the story and connected with the characters, but I think some players may have a hard time relating to Kara, Markus, and Connor. That’s to be expected. After all, we’re only human.

It has a steep learning curve, it will punish you, it will reward you should you persevere. Dark Souls Remastered is perhaps the best point to jump into a franchise that has defined a genre, but in at least some ways it is the most definitive version we now have, even if some details still need refining in the lighting department.

Those wanting a great squad-based shooter or a truly essential Warhammer 40,000 game will have to keep searching. At a glance, Deathwing seems like a solid adaptation and it nails that distinctive Space Hulk look and atmosphere, but there’s just not enough variety or depth to keep players engaged beyond those first few encounters.

In the competitive world of online multiplayer, a game must be special to stand out from the crowd. Disco Dodgeball Remix stands out for all the wrong reasons. It proves itself to be a nice idea stretched to breaking point and beyond. I played it, so you don’t have to.

Unfortunately, obtaining that blessing requires a two-mile crawl on your knees through the jagged glass and thorny ivy that is the busted, broken, and simply not fun gameplay of Chamber of Time. Battles are aggravating and exploration is mind-numbing. For as brilliant as the narrative and artistic achievements of Chamber of Time are, it’s weighed down by unpolished game design choices that simply make it no fun to actually play at all.

As you play more of Conan Exiles and access higher tier items, it becomes more and more clear that there was serious potential here. The survival aspects of the game are fun, provided survival is your thing, and it brings some new ideas and features to the table. The thrall system in particular is interesting, but ultimately fails in its execution. Considering its price, I can’t help but feel the package and its quality is a little lacking.

If you’re looking for a compelling and atmospheric take on the zombie genre that’s more Walking Dead than Left 4 Dead, State of Decay 2 is an imperfect but enjoyable sequel to the superior original. The gameplay loop of scavenging, crafting and killing can begin to wear thin, but the human element is capable of pulling you back in. Tackling the world with others in tow may decimate the game’s carefully constructed atmosphere, but those multiplayer shenanigans will probably be wild enough to distract from the host of technical issues that simply refuse to die.

Fox n Forests is a really enjoyable throwback to its 16-bit inspirations. It takes the style, gameplay, and mechanics of early platformers and produces a game that both feels like a lost classic and remains fun and involving to play. Its main negative is perhaps an inevitable result of its close adherence to historical precedence as it is fairly short. It’s a bit short but there is increased longevity in finding all the collectables or playing through at harder skill levels, but the challenge is generally gauged well enough on normal that the latter didn’t appeal to me

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition takes a great game and makes it greater, though it’s fair to say that for anyone outside of Legend of Zelda or Warriors series fans it will undoubtedly feel less special. Combat and the rhythm of gameplay can become repetitive as you progress, but there’s obviously so much affection for the source material that it almost falls over itself as it strives to keep you involved. As a love letter, and as a merging of two iconic franchises, there are few games as thoroughly enjoyable as this.

Omensight scratches so many itches for me. I love murder mystery games and branching, time-manipulated narratives so much. Action games are some of my favorite games, and fantasy worlds that aren’t just more elves and goblins are so much more vibrant. Omensight takes all of these delicious ingredients and confidently tosses them into a boiling pot together. Some of the pieces don’t come together perfectly in the end, but the final dish is still unlike anything I can think of, and I can only hope Spearhead Games delivers just as great of an experience with their next release.

The Council’s second episode doesn’t manage to hit the highs of the first, which could be down to it being smaller in scale in comparison. Hide & Seek’s murder mystery does bring you in and advances the overall plot in a big way, but at the same time it feels like more could have been made of it. There’s some story threads dangled for you to grab, but those threads could have been expanded upon more within the context of this episode.

Looping back to the beginning of this review, we already have a solid stable of go-to VR shooters. Killing Floor: Incursion definitely makes it onto this list though, trails towards the bottom half. It’s a great adaptation of the series but lacks longevity, mainly thanks to its reliance on using the same swarms of braindead cannon fodder instead of adding more diversity to its firefights.

Consistently challenging but impossible to put down is certainly a cliche, but it’s a perfect description of this game.

With an awesome inspiration and some very cool ideas, it’s an immense shame that City of Brass game ends up being as dull as it is. With lacklustre combat, enemy design, rooms and movement, City of Brass feels like a chore to play. With the smorgasbord of Rogue-lites to play these days, some of which are among the best games you can play, City of Brass is an easy pass.

Azure Saga: Pathfinder is a competent but generic game that will likely only appeal to fans of the genre, to fall back on a reviewer’s cliché. The cutesy graphics and interesting ecological sci-fi narrative are effective and the combat mechanics skilfully bring together inspirations from across the history of the genre, but it does little to innovate the JRPG. I spent most of my playthrough ticking off an imaginary bingo card of genre clichés in my head and was ready to shout ‘House’ way before the final boss.

There’s so much wrong with Raging Justice that it’s easy to forget that it’s not completely unbearable. It’s an average romp through arcade-like levels and while the key gimmick doesn’t hit a home run, it at least is fitting with the theme. That said, this does sadly come off as a cheap imitator that misses the mark more often than not, and as I eluded to earlier, that hurts for me to say.

Capturing the essence of classic animated films, Forgotton Anne is a gorgeous game to look at and tells a whimsical tale of forgotten things come to life. As lovely as the style is, it also affects the substance of the game, with the low frame rate animations leading to awkward feeling platforming and some puzzles that are rough around the edges. If you can look past the flaws, there’s still a rather lovely and charming tale here to explore.

Laser League is phenomenal. It’s easy to pick up, thoroughly appealing in its style, and dangerously captivating.

A variable frame rate is an out and out killer for any racing game, and despite Trailblazers’ clear potential it’s impossible to see past that. The overall concept, of merging F-Zero and Splatoon, is a fantastic idea, but perhaps it needed a bit longer in development in order for it to be fully realised.

Membrane is an immensely enjoyable puzzle game filled an increasingly interesting use of it’s simple base mechanics.

Limited tools aside, the construction process is the best thing the game has going for it, while the multiplayer just seems to play second fiddle; there’s too much focus on the creation and not enough on making the game fun. I’m sure they’ll add things to it, but the progression is just a tad on the frustrating side.

Project Nimbus: Code Mirai is a frantic mech shooter that ticks all the right boxes, but is ultimately let down by a lack of variety. The combat never fails to set your pulse racing, and I’d love to see more from the team and the series, since, for a short while at least, this is the best mech combat we’ve seen in years.

A genuine joy of a game and one which is simultaneously approachable and impossibly deep, Deadfire is a fantastic sequel and one which you will be thinking even when you are away from its world.

A port that’s far more breathtaking in its presentation, even if it’s the same game from nearly five years ago. It’s a shame not to see anything new here for the gameplay, but the 4K visuals and orchestral soundtrack do a lot to drive home the point that VanillaWare make good looking and sounding games. It’s a decent sign that their next original project will be stunning in its design.

The tactics and tactility of a good tennis game remain amongst the purest of gaming experiences, but AO International Tennis is not a good tennis game. Overly complicated and bereft of any emotional resonance, the positive elements, including the detailed character creator, will likely be as swiftly forgotten as the game itself will.

As a building project, Labo displays a sense of ingenuity that few things do, and as an introduction to design and engineering it’s clear, fun, and solid. It’s a shame then that the game itself is a little too simplistic, though allowing kids to stomp around a city smashing things may not wear out too quickly in practice.

A really mixed bag. The overall story of the Girl facing her psychological demons and overcoming the traumatic experiences that stranded her in this fantasy dreamworld is interesting and well handled, and I really liked the idea of using the violin as a kind of magical totem to transform and manipulate the world. The switches between perspectives and moments of introspection point to a sensitive appreciation of the deeper emotional resonances of Distortion’s narrative, but it just isn’t that fun to play. Dated and unresponsive controls, needlessly obscure exploration, and frustratingly unpredictable enemy encounters mean that it almost works better as a Let’s Play watch than it does as a game.

If you’re after a 2.5D side-scrolling stunt game, the Urban Trial Playground is going to scratch that itch for you on Switch. Sure, it’s riffing off the Trials series, but it’s a fun and lengthy alternative that’s a good fit for Nintendo’s platform.

The game they ended up with is nothing like their original plans and you can tell this single player shooter has been created by hacking bits from their MOBA. Despite it’s many small flaws, it’s not a bad game, it’s not even dull, it’s just very rudimentary. A noble failure, I really wish I could score the game higher but sadly I can’t.

Penny-Punching Princess is a fascinating take on the usual capitalist impulses within loot based games and combines this with a fun and humorous cartoon aesthetic, but it just never really feels fun to play.

While Total War has often focussed on the big picture, Thrones of Britannia shows there’s plenty of scope for a series of Total War Saga offshoots to explore the smaller conflicts and civil wars through history. It’s also a great place for Creative Assembly to experiment with gameplay, and the changes to recruitment, tech trees and story elements give us a glimpse of what the series might hold in future.

It even blends two genres that theoretically shouldn’t fit together, yet somehow in this context and with the clever implementation of its gadgets, a far more enjoyable experience. It’s by no means perfect, but with great ideas it deserves at least a look for yourself.

The Sword of Ditto is a good looking, adorable and funny game that is held back a little bit by its time limit. I would love to explore the island and its quirky sense of humour at my own pace, but the constant ticking clock makes it feel like you’re being rushed through the environment. It’s fun and worth playing if you don’t mind time being a factor.

It’s clear that Crisis on the Planet of the Apes has a lot of ambition and it does get a lot right in this regard, but at the end of the day, all we have here is a VR tech demo. Climbing around here was the most immersive VR moment I’ve had to date, but the controls could sometimes took me right back out of it. As a showcase for what VR could do in the future, it’s another great example of things to come.

Dead Secret lasts for just a few sittings, but it’s a game you’ll walk away from satisfied. As bigger studios keep fumbling around for a VR blockbuster blueprint, indies like Robot Invader continue to fill in the gaps with smaller, more experimental games.

Whilst not as divisive as the film they are based on, The Last Jedi tables are certainly polar opposites. You’ll find an incredible cinematic pinball experience with the Last Jedi table, but the Ankh-To Island table just gives you good reason to keep on playing The Last Jedi table instead! Overall, with one good table and one poor one, this new pack feels too insubstantial to be a must have.

Though it’s rough around the edges, has difficulty spikes and very much feels like the foundations on which Harebrained can build upon, the core turn-based tactical gameplay of BattleTech is great. Micromanaged the tactical combat is gripping and tense, whether you’re crossing your fingers that the damage won’t pierce your armour, or laughing as your mech punches a hole through the middle of an enemy. This could easily grow into something special, and I hope it does.

On initial appearance Dusty Raging Fist looked like everything I wanted from a game, but that just goes to show you should never judge an anthropomorphic 2D side scrolling beat ’em up platformer by its gorgeous anime graphics. Unresponsive combat, atrocious platforming and game breaking bugs, crashes and frame rate issues ensures that Dusty and his cohort will soon be gathering dust on player’s shelves.

On the one hand it is a game that deserves a great deal of attention for its experimentation with traditional genres and mechanics, but it never quite breaks free of feeling like a prototype. In many ways, this is the curse of the truly original title – breaking new ground brings a complex mix of expectations and frustrations.

Deployment is a huge amount of fun and ultimately it’s just nice to sit down with a great gameplay experience and enjoy it.

There are several issues marring The Adventure Pals that prevent it receiving my whole-hearted recommendation. Yet, despite these problems, I very much enjoyed my time in its zany embrace. Its quirky characters, breezy story and colourful game world proved to be enchanting, while its solid platforming and combat mechanics, in conjunction with local co-op play, kept me on my couch till the end of the story.

This is the arcade game the 12-year-old version of you was always meant to play. Fast, frantic, outrageously challenging and with the sort of free-form play that requires and rewards player creativity. Infinite State Games have created something very special here. I’ll see you in the skies, just try and beat my high score.

A lot of what goes into God of War feels as though it was cherry-picked from the modern gaming zeitgeist. The semi-open world structure, loot system, and a much deeper narrative focus work well, but are all trends being pushed by most other big games. As a result, God of War can feel slightly homogenised in a way that some fans may find unappealing. Thankfully, a strong sense of setting and brutally satisfying combat help maintain that God of War identity. If it wasn't made abundantly clear already, this is the first in what will most likely be a new trilogy for the God of War franchise, and this first instalment serves as a pretty great foundation.

Humour is a tough aspect for games to get right, but Super Daryl Deluxe nails its dry, surrealist American-indie tone. Despite the inherent repetition of the RPGvania match-up, the writing, graphical style, and imagination that Dan & Gary Games have packed in here mark it out as a wonderfully weird indie gem.

I was blown away by the gorgeous character designs and illustrated portraits and the tactical combat also impressed me with unique systems that made it a bit more than just a cookie cutter tactical RPG. Unfortunately, for as much as I loved those aspects, hamfisted humor and clunky menu navigation on console dampened what could have otherwise been a magical experience. It’s hard to get past those issues, but if you’re able to, there some truly special stuff here in Regalia.

Despite the game’s pacing feeling a little off at times, Masters of Anima takes a solid formula and adds its own twist in order to deliver something that is entirely its own, wonderful, entity.

Extinction is a game that has large ambitions, but fails to be as exciting as it could have been. The Revanii look imposing, but are less threatening than the smaller enemies that accompany them, and with a mixture of lacklustre storytelling, repetitive action and some technical issues, Extinction end up a remarkably average title.

You will see all that Blasters of the Universe has to offer within an hour, but unlike many PSVR shooters there’s tonnes of replayability and it works really well as a party game if you have friends round. You’re going to need more space to play than most PSVR games, and also more stamina, as dodging, ducking, and flinging your arms in all directions really gives you a work out. Like the best arcade games it has a simple but addictive gameplay mechanic and is one of the best PSVR shooters to date.

The whole game feels like a build that has sat unreleased for 15 years and has finally been pushed out in 2018. If it were a low priced game aimed at the younger fans of the book series I might have been more lenient, but to release such a cynically shoddy game and then have the sheer cheek to slap a £30 price on it is inexcusable, and I wouldn’t even recommend picking this up at a sale price. It doesn’t even work on a ‘so bad it’s good’ level. Beast Quest is the gaming equivalent of Old Yeller, but without the emotional attachment.

Every minute of Chuchel’s short playtime is filled with delight and almost every interaction is guaranteed to make you smile. It is a distillation of interactive fun that is the best example of Amanita’s design philosophy so far. Chuchel is the total opposite of the games that dominate contemporary gaming and as such, deserves to be hugely successful. Just check out the trailer above and try to resist the charms of the little dustball of fun.

Octahedron is a great platforming experience with a unique identity, style, and gameplay. Its dozens upon dozens of levels are a tiny bit on the short side, but mastering those challenges is what kept me coming back for more. It’s one of the more distinct offerings as part of the Square Enix Collective and is something of a hidden gem.

Detective Pikachu is a deceptively small game with simple cases and not a heck of a lot else. As someone whose detective itch is usually scratched by the Phoenix Wright games, this felt like solving the really easy introduction cases in each, rather than challenging logic and reason. It certainly has the presentation chops, but the people who’ll get the most out of Detective Pikachu are diehard Pokémon fans and younger gamers.

Instead of being a full-fat adaptation of Survival Evolved, ARK Park is more of a taster, chopping that game into smaller chunks, then isolating them. This isn’t the same sprawling open world shooter – it’s something much smaller and less substantive, though still looks to capture that core ARK essence. It may succeed on some level though, needless to say, those players who pony up £30 and go in blind could come away deeply dissatisfied.

Sea of Thieves defies modern gaming conventions in brilliant and refreshing fashion, creating a fairly unique sandbox where you and your crew need to find your own fun. It might be in real need of more variety to the quests and activities, but Sea of Thieves’ curious charms are like a siren’s song that keep drawing me back for more piratical adventures on the high seas.

Exorder certainly has some potential, but it ultimately has a few issues with the UI and balancing of the campaign missions. Playing around in Skirmish mode was fun for a few minutes and the campaign certainly started on the right note, but the over-emphasis on escort missions spoiled the broth somewhat. With room for expansion, there’s perhaps something to Exorder later down the line, but it’s a difficult proposition at this juncture.

Scribblenauts Showdown is a fun game you can pick and and play at any time, but you may feel the novelty wear off without friends to play with. Despite this, Scribblenauts Showdown offers some great mini-games and game modes. It feels different to party games we’ve seen in recent times, but it’s also pleasantly familiar.

It’s rare that I can’t find positives to talk about in detail, and it’s a real shame that Fantasy Hero ~Unsigned Legacy~ game wasn’t improved in any way, but simply ported with no tangible improvements over the PS Vita original. Fantasy Hero has the occasional solid mechanic in place, but neither the story nor its gameplay boast any interest or originality. This game may have been considered pretty average upon its original release in 2014, but by modern standards it’s incredibly poor.

Vermintide 2’s co-op battling is nice step forward over the original. It’s gruelling at times, and that can sap the fun out when you’re failing missions and not making progress, with the weighty combat, the additional sub-classes and a long and deep progression of difficulty and loot, there’s plenty here for those that want to be in for the long haul.

Disc Jam is a good attempt at combining multiple sports inspirations into a video game, and for the most part Disc Jam achieves this by delivering a solid competitive experience with simple mechanics. The only things that I feel let this game down are its lack of real differentiation between playable character and lack of court designs. The game is good, but it feels a bit simple and safe.

Far Cry 5 is another improvement to a series that hit its stride quite a long time ago. It gets a recommendation not because of any of its individual features, but because they all combine together into a game that becomes paradoxically funny and horrifying, occasionally at the same time. It depicts a part of America lovingly with its tongue very firmly glued to its cheek, but when I close my eyes, I still see Joseph Seed staring back at me.

Jettomero: Hero of the Universe is a unique videogame experience and one that you will likely either love or hate. It is not a title that will challenge you with compelling play, but it will provide you with the chance to play. It’s attempts to be a ‘zen experience’ are only half-successful, thanks to some frustrating controls, yet there is an arresting charm to the game that cannot be denied. If you’re looking for a videogame to experience alongside your meditative or mindfulness training, then Jettomero is eminently suitable.

After Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, I came into A Way Out with expectations of a fraught and trying prison escape drama. That’s just the beginning though, and it soon transforms into a fun revenge flick. It doesn’t have the emotional impact of Brothers, and there’s some rough edges from the breadth of ideas that Hazelight include, but most importantly we just had a lot of fun.

Castle of Heart is a generic, infuriating, and ultimately underwhelming experience. It doesn’t even come close to emulating what made the old Castlevania games classics, as it just crams enemies and traps into levels and hope it works, rather than having coherent level design. If anything, all that Castle of Heart has done is reminded me of how good the old Castlevania games were and that this doesn’t fill that void that has been left behind.

Thanks to its derivative nature, Q.U.B.E. 2 never quite escapes the shadow cast by Portal. There’s too many similarities within its core mechanics, structure, and themes for it to stand alone entirely. And yet, once the player accepts that, they will find a compelling puzzler.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy my time with All Walls Must Fall. The fantastic setting, thumping soundtrack and original take on seduction mini-games are not matched by its gameplay mechanics. Everything felt too chaotic and the environments too lacking in variety to maintain my interest.

It has some neat ideas and is certainly a break from the norm, but Throw Anything is surprisingly old-school. Its difficulty and the constantly screaming NPCs that won’t shut up are chief among the game’s issues, but frantic chucking out junk will entertain for a short if challenging time.

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom may be vastly different, but it’s ruddy marvellous! Its many systems sure are intimidating at first, but things click into place very quickly, and there’s a lot to do in this gorgeous and well-crafted game. They say that it’s difficult to recapture the magic, but this is one more Level-5 game that has become essential. They may have moved on from Studio Ghibli’s tutelage, but the lessons learned have resulted in a phenomenally good JRPG.

Yakuza 6 is a beast of a game, and it sends Kiryu off in style. The graphical upgrades are mouth-watering, and the seamless interior exploration makes an already immersive world even more engrossing.

Attack on Titan 2 is one of the strongest anime video games I’ve ever played, not because of a perfect story mode or graphics, but because it creates a unique gameplay experience that could only ever be done with an Attack on Titan game.

If we ever try to colonise our red neighbour, it’s going to be one of the greatest challenges that mankind will ever undertake. Though Surviving Mars makes a game out of it, Haemimont have brilliantly kept that hard edge, as it constantly pushes and tests your ability to plan with survival in mind, especially with the unpredictability of the Mysteries of Mars. There’s plenty of ways to improve it and put more colony control in the hands of the player, but the first landing is already off to a great start.

Kirby Star Allies feels like a greatest hits collection rather than its own unique experience. It takes inspiration from the majority of classic Kirby games and while it doesn’t have quite the level of scope that Kirby Super Star had back in the day, there’s a great amount of fun to be had. It’s certainly more fun with friends and is well made, having plenty of nostalgia for the pink puffball’s fans, but it’s certainly the easiest Kirby game in years.