Where episodic gaming has usually left me nonplussed, King’s Quest has had an enthralling effect, leaving me in eager anticipation of the next chapter.

As far as Diablo clones go, it isn’t of the same calibre as Path of Exile due to its rather simplistic nature and the overabundance of the six primary enemy types, but it does feature some neat gameplay twists of its own. It’s worth a look if you are starved of action RPGs, with the emphasis on action.

Whether looking to relive a forgotten favourite or simply in the mood for an old school action platformer, The Legend Of Kay is more than just serviceable. It’s a fun, inspired take on the genre that plays well despite its lack of ground-breaking features.

There is some issue with the final portion of the game with a couple of spikes in difficulty, but overall Q.U.B.E Director’s Cut is a fun and accessible title that offers a fair challenge. If you’re into puzzle platformers then you should strongly consider picking this up.

There were several very powerful moments, with Dontnod’s mature approach to the subject matter and ambiguous decision making key, as they tackled the theme of life and death that ran throughout. Alongside some great puzzles and use of Max’s time warping power, this is the best episode yet.

N++ is a further distillation and refinement of what made N and N+ cult classics in the first place. Rather than replacing those games, it expands upon them greatly, with a bafflingly vast array of levels that come to test you mastery of the game’s pure platforming, and the tools to make even more.

In this madcap steampunk rendition London, a city of ludicrous buildings filled with robots and traps, the key is learning how to quit while you’re ahead. It’s all too easy to slip up and foolishly get spotted – and yes, the occasional glitch or quirk of procedural generation can feel unfair – but it makes each success all the more tense and rewarding.

Although its poor presentation and gameplay will grate on most gamers, there are still occasional glimmers of enjoyment, often derived from building up insane scores while nimbly dancing around the bull.

It’s hard to say whether this episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones series is a genuine standout piece of work amongst their other stuff, or is simply elevated due to some of the other episodes in this series being far less exciting. Nevertheless, it’s still a thrilling experience, and looks to be working towards a superb finale for the series.

Despite the welcoming gameplay and often outstanding graphical representation of the courses though, enthusiasts and series stalwarts may soon feel that while progress has been made in some areas, this may not be the experience they expected from the first PGA Tour of a new console generation.

It may not be the longest game, but if the supernatural intrigues you even a little, then this one case worth taking.

Tembo the Badass Elephant could have been so much more than what is offered. SEGA seemed to be searching for a successor to Sonic with Tembo but at the same time wanted to get a piece of the market for particularly hard games, forgetting to make it fair at the same time.

Despite the huge flaws, there’s still something that kept drawing me back to play a bit more, to destroy a few buildings or beat one more Kaiju. It’s not smart or clever, nor remotely modern, and it’s mostly repetitive and dull. But it’s Godzilla – a giant nuclear accident that is as likely to destroy you as protect you.

Astebreed is a remarkably well-built indie title, which nails both the mecha genre and its anime flavouring.

Cast of the Seven Godsends will find its audience among those wanting that Ghouls n’ Ghosts experience, but in its current state it is largely unplayable thanks to the frame-rate working against you all the time.

F1 2015 doesn’t have many of the features and game modes that we’ve seen over the years, and this feels disappointing given delays during development, but it gives a solid basis for future growth. With lush visuals, tight car handling, good racing and a sprinkling of fresh ideas, this is exactly the fresh start that Codemasters needed.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3: Generation V makes for a sound handheld role playing game. Although some will find it hard to connect with the characters and universe, it’s hard to fault Generation V’s fluid combat and presentation features.

Where this lack of complexity would usually hamstring many games, here it works as a boon.

While Whispering Willows is an interesting experience it is a short one at three hours.

With a little more refinement, Ronin could easily have been an enjoyable romp. It certainly looked the part and in the initial stages was a slick action platformer, but by the time the game reaches its conclusion, there’s little motivation to continue. It may be short, but finishing Ronin feels like running a gauntlet by the skin of your teeth.

MotoGP 15 is still an accomplished racer, but it offers little to draw fans in, compared to last year’s entry.

Manga die-hards are bound to get a real kick out of J-Stars Victory VS+. The level of fan service here is on point and there’s a solid fighting game to back it up. That said, after just a few hours it begins to lose steam, becoming less and less appealing as something you’d want to play for long sessions.

This was a game with a lot of depth and variety to the scenarios it put you in, and that’s great fun to play cooperatively. Though it still has its flaws, the added content and changes that have been brought together in the Crimewave Edition build upon the original release and mean that there’s plenty of reasons to sink back into a life of crime.

Batman: Arkham Knight is bigger and bolder than its predecessors, but it’s not better. The plot has some good twists and the exploration of Batman’s character is well done, but overall it doesn’t draw you in like the events of Asylum and City.

Having played literally dozens of Warriors spin-offs, sequels, expansions, and ports, Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 has perhaps been one of the most surprising. By dramatically altering its story-telling method and making a few welcome refinements, it stands out as the franchise’s best handheld instalment to date.

There’s nothing wrong with modernising older games. However, therein lies the problem for Miracle Cure: it’s just a modernisation.

Despite a few technical problems and design missteps, the variety, and thoughtfulness, of the myriad mechanics make it a pleasure, as you advance through each world exploring every nook and cranny.

LEGO Jurassic World strikes an excellent balance between delivering a nostalgic take on a beloved series of movies, whilst incorporating the brand new Jurassic World storyline.

Feel[s] more like a flashy RPG Maker project than an actual published title.

I genuinely feel that, while it’s not a perfect representation of drawing/painting, Art Academy: Atelier does an excellent job of teaching you the process of creating a piece of art.

As with any book, you’ll want to take Steins;Gate out and about without being tethered to a desk or sofa.

it’s a competent action game that has made a beautiful transition from its original PC roots and one that will no doubt garner a new console-based coven.

It’s hard to replicate Portal’s success, and in the process of following a very similar narrative to that which can be found at Aperture, Magnetic: Cage Closed loses its way on more than one occasion. Thankfully, the magnet gun is fun to use, and most of the puzzles are smartly crafted with a great sense of accomplishment, pacing and difficulty.

However, Sons of Winter is certainly a more enjoyable episode than the previous two, with some decent character development. It often gets to the point much quicker with a lot less filler in between, while also taking characters to new places and surprising you along the way as we head towards the series’ conclusion.

If you’re a fan of musuo combat and witty humour, and you don’t mind some repetition when getting your fight on, you could do a lot worse on Vita than Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed.

There are definitely plenty of similarities when comparing it to Pokémon, yet labelling Fossil Fighters Frontier as a clone would be perhaps a little too harsh. Its developers have made genuine attempts to spice up the JRPG blueprint with vehicles, mini-games, and other interesting features. However, many of these feel tacked on with no real impact on the overall experience.

Needless to say, those with a short attention span best stay clear, unless they have another monitor or tablet handy. That said, there is likely to be a pocket of (perhaps younger) gamers who will extract genuine pleasure from the game’s dreary pacing and lack of pizazz.

It’s an online game which is incredibly fun to play, and one which runs really smoothly despite tracking a lot of endlessly changing information. It’s backed up by a really enjoyable single player portion, and from here you can see how people can pour countless hours into this game. It’s all about covering the environment in coloured ink, and yet it’s also so much more than that.

A fun and engaging puzzler, with a likeable aesthetic that will keep you amused throughout its seventy-five increasingly challenging levels. It’s a relatively short experience, but the extra challenges and online leaderboards add length to an enjoyable indie package.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is easily one of the most engrossing games I’ve had the chance to play. The story and characters are well worth the experience alone, and the world expertly draws on the desire to explore with its massive scale.

A competent role-playing game that builds on Compile Heart’s previous successes. The combat system works well and there’s an absolute glut of content for those willing to stray from the beaten path. That said, it’s not a particularly stunning game to watch, looking more like a remaster than a title genuinely meant exclusively for PlayStation 4.

Ultimately Color Guardians is a bright, cutesy, challenging runner with some good ideas that falls through when it comes to keeping it interesting. Restarting from checkpoints over and over only getting a little bit closer to the end each time quickly grows repetitive, draining any drive there might have been to continue playing.

In the shadow of the incredibly powerful second episode, the midpoint in the series is a solid episode that felt for large parts like it was waiting for the next big thing to happen. Thankfully, Dontnod did just that with an almighty twist in its final few scenes that has you on tenterhooks with the seemingly infinite possibilities the story now holds.

Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark is an amusing game that has just the right amount of challenge to keep it from being frustrating.

Not A Hero is another great title from Roll7, and another must play title for fans of games that make you pull out your hair with their difficulty, but give you the best feeling imaginable when you clear a level.

Breach & Clear is playable and it is even quite entertaining. Clearing missions and customising characters is satisfying, and the sound design and music help engage the player. Everything else though, does the opposite. Low quality visuals, poor menus, a complete lack of story and game-breaking glitches render this game, at least on this platform, nearly impossible to enjoy in the long term.

It does that single screen shooting very well. I would have liked some variation in the level design, and the graphics can get rather muddled at some points, but overall it’s a polished little package.

There’s more depth to the game with more nuanced battles and more player creation options, and a very self aware plot and sense of humour. Though the fighting can start to feel repetitive, it’s a great fit for bite sized gaming on the go.

Although barren, its gameplay systems operate well enough, going hand-in-hand with developer Swordtales’ minimalist approach. That said, mechanically, it fails to do anything that truly immerses players any more than the game’s pretty visuals.

I found my time with Lost Orbit to be enjoyable, and I wish there was more to it outside of the three hour campaign and time trial mode. The fact that I want more speaks highly of Lost Orbit and how it managed to hold my attention all the way through.

Project CARS is an ambitious take on the racing simulator that brings a lot of fresh ideas and improvements to the genre. A number of patchable flaws hold it back, but with an innovative career structure and the challenging but rewarding car handling and racing, this is almost essential for racing fans.

Project Root is a frustrating game because there is a genuinely good shooter hidden under a number of poor design choices. It is rather like a Michael Bay movie in that when it works, it works really well, with explosions going off left, right and centre, hundreds of bullets and a genuine sense of excitement. However, it also shares the same problems and the levels are far too sprawling, the plot is terrible and sometimes you have no idea what is going on.

It’s simply a beautiful looking game, which offers several hours in the main mode and even more in the challenge mode. As a budget release, there’s enough content here to justify it, though perhaps not quite enough difficulty for platforming aficionados.

Despite having a perfect soundtrack and wonderfully creepy voice-over, Brawl’s single-player misses the mark thanks to its insane difficulty.

The exaggerated voice acting fits perfectly with the tone of the title and the story is surprisingly entertaining too. There’s never a dull moment in Guns, Gore & Cannoli, and it ends just at the right time too.

The historical and literary figures, married with the silver-age comic book visuals make for an engaging world which begs for you to be a part of it. The downside is that the tactical gameplay simply isn’t in the same league as the developer’s other work, rewarding drawn-out, cautious play above any more meaningful tactics.

After such a long wait, it’s a shame to see that Broken Age’s second act, while continually beautiful and charming and with much more challenging puzzles, doesn’t quite manage to live up to the promise from the end of the first.

A classic game to the present with a great deal of polish applied. In a way it is surprising just how well the gameplay has held up after twelve years.

The controls are relatively easy to grasp and once you’re done with the main missions, the extra modes put a different twist on proceedings, but as always with these games, it’s really at its best when you can share the nonsense with others.

It’s a game that Wii U owners simply need to experience, and one which other developers need to take note of when creating software for Nintendo’s unique console.

The motion controls aren’t the best and I wouldn’t recommend using them, while the stuttering on the loading screens also needs addressing. If you’re looking for a small game to play though, and like first person runners, then Infinity Runner could well be for you.

A decent change of pace for the franchise. The goals are more focused and deliver some great stealth gameplay across the approximately five hours it takes to complete. With all the open world distractions stripped away I felt like I was playing a proper assassin-based title, with the only focus being to take out the target.

I really enjoyed the time I spent with We Are Doomed but I cannot overlook the price and length of the game.

The combat is rock-solid, and offers a technicality that may surprise those with a low opinion of the series.

On the one hand the art style, atmosphere, and interesting story premise are things that are worth experiencing. However the pacing of the puzzles can be frustrating, especially when what would appear to be the obvious solutions don’t work in a world where regular logic usually applies.

One hit point, one arrow and one target; Titan Souls is an exercise in simplicity. It evokes memories of classic games, as you seek the satisfaction of striking that killing blow to a Titan.

Super Mega Baseball is one of the best baseball games out at the moment. Sure it may not be a licensed game like The Show, but the gameplay is as good as the official MLB game.

Krinkle Krusher is a game best played in short bursts, otherwise it feels repetitive very quickly. Despite the distracting voice acting and the early difficulty spikes, if you stick with it you can find that there is a solid game underneath, and plenty of fun to be had if you like the tower defence genre.

Overall, it’s a game of two halves that just doesn’t quite come together. Some, like myself, will no doubt find themselves engrossed in the story, only to be disappointed by the trial-and-error labours of combat.

If you’re pining for a Monster Hunter style game on console or simply waiting for Dragon’s Dogma Online or Deep Down to come along, Toukiden Kiwami offers more than just a stopgap.

The short length of the game doesn’t allow the story to get going properly, with the end coming just as things get interesting.

It’s a slightly more active, engaging iteration on the traditional Final Fantasy experience and one that works well, even away from its native platform. If you’ve been avoiding the series for a good few years then Type-0 is a great place to pick up the thread once again.

If you’re looking for a new local multiplayer game for you and your friends, then Paperbound might just be the right one, with its fresh take on the genre and brilliantly inspired aesthetic.

For this type of game, I feel like the combat and puzzle solving should be the strongest aspect on offer, but they ended up being the worst part of the experience. Outside of the lousy checkpoint system, there really isn’t anything too terrible about Rack N Ruin, it just doesn’t have enough going for it for me to unequivocally recommend it.

The gameplay will not be for everyone, with the difficulty and repetition a potential turn off, but if you are looking for a new challenge, Bloodborne is a fantastic choice.

The only aspect that really failed to shine was the labyrinth gameplay. The fast-paced combat and progression systems are fun to toy with but eventually grow stale as you’re forced to run laps around the same areas over and over.

Telltale’s take on Game of Thrones feels quite low-key compared to some of the goings on in the main series, but this episode begins to move away from that being a problem and starts using it to its advantage, as it shows you different sides of familiar situations. There’s still a lot of filler to get through, though, and it’s very dialogue heavy with little to offer in terms of unique gameplay.

It features an emotive story, strong characterisation and an engaging battle system, which combine with an approach to the genre that still feels fresh and innovative.

Aside from a few miscued points here and there with pacing or the game’s general presentation, this builds upon the first episode and draws you further into its tangled web of mystery.

If you’re a fan of Borderlands, you should be invested in this series, yet even if you aren’t, the characters and quirky world will do enough to draw you in.

This is a great little shooter that has aged well considering it’s over five years old, and actually feels more at home on Vita than it did on PlayStation 3.

Despite some of the flaws in the pacing of Metamorphosis, this remains a strong finish for the game as a whole.

I loved the art style of Aaru’s Awakening, I loved the story premise it had, and I loved teleporting. I did not love the rest of the gameplay decisions along the way.

Its difficulty might keep some from seeing the credits roll, but the sense of achievement and experiencing how the story ends makes any hardship along the way well worth the ride.

Chrono Stone will likely delight and enthral Inazuma fans, particularly with the new additions to the in-match gameplay, alongside its crazy plot, and the returning characters. However, some of the changes are not necessarily for the better, making parts of the game seem too easy, and the plot makes some traditional elements of Inazuma such as random encounters seem out of place.

Chrono Stone will likely delight and enthral Inazuma fans, particularly with the new additions to the in-match gameplay, alongside its crazy plot, and the returning characters. However, some of the changes are not necessarily for the better, making parts of the game seem too easy, and the plot makes some traditional elements of Inazuma such as random encounters seem out of place.

What new feature[s] Nightmare has to offer are intuitive and gel perfectly with Bladestorm’s existing mechanics. The demonic campaign is admittedly underwhelming in parts yet gives Bladestorm fans another series of unique battles to play through.

It’s easy to dismiss Hardline out of hands as being too far removed from Battlefield’s typical setting to be worthy of the name, but even as Visceral ride on the brands coattails, they’ve had the confidence to adapt that core gameplay to suit a new setting. That’s not just true of the multiplayer, but also the single player story and its compelling tale of drugs and police corruption.

Bringing the game to Wii U has meant a facelift and some nice new bells and whistles to fiddle around with. However, Mario Party 10 is much like the latest iteration of an established board game: although it may look different, love them or hate them, the rules are still very much the same.

Judgment continues the strong work that the first two episodes started, though it meanders a touch too much, and the increased number of puzzles tend more to hinder rather than genuinely challenge.

Defiant has done a fantastic job of marrying together two very different flavours of game, presenting it a stylish package that feels one part adventure book, one part action brawler.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is an entertaining game, at least for the majority of its play time.

Cities: Skylines might be Colossal Order’s first attempt at a city builder, but it already feels well rounded and complete. There are a few areas that need improving and others that are crying out to be expanded upon, but those will come in due course, and what’s already there lets you build vast cities to your heart’s content.

The level editor is a great example of empowering players with clear and solid tools, which allow you to to work creatively and effectively without being hampered by overly complicated systems.

The way fire spreads is pretty good, but the rest of the game falls a little short with the real killer being repetition. It’s just not random enough to maintain interest for too long, and that’s a fatal flaw in a roguelike with permadeath.

From the vibrant visuals and the pitch perfect 70s cop theme to the fast and snappy buddy cop action, LA Cops has a lot of great ideas, but hasn’t really done enough with them.

Fans of the series will appreciate the plot twists, whilst newcomers can get stuck into a well-grounded Resident Evil game that is so far living up to its heritage.

Inevitably, however, there will be those who simply don’t see the appeal of XenoVerse’s core gameplay, and it ultimately grates as it becomes repetitive no matter how much you enjoy it at first.