Warriors All Stars is a grand celebration of the history and popularity of Koei Tecmo. Unfortunately, the celebration fails to deliver a satisfying video game experience. Every time I had to re-unlock a character, or study three different menus to try and guess which missions I had to avoid so I could get the next proper story chapter, Warriors All Stars felt less like a celebration, and more like homework.

The streamlined gameplay and polished visuals haven't incurred any detriment, but compared to what fans will be expecting, 7XL misses the mark, it's failure only made worse by the steep launch price.

Loading Human is an interesting experiment that looks to explore relationships through VR. However in Chapter One these feel rushed instead of being built at a steadier pace. The price point may also be off putting, as a £30 game that lasts 3 to 4 hours, that is only the first part of a trilogy. Untold Games have crafted a VR world that looks fantastic for the most part but it is populated by characters that come across as two dimensional, and a story that might be better enjoyed once all the chapters have been released.

While the review here tends toward the critical, I didn’t hate my time with The 9th Charnel. It is definitely over-priced as a first-time developer’s project and I don’t think anyone will feel that its 4 hour runtime justifies a price close to that of Silksong. If this was around £5 then it’d be a different matter but I can’t really recommend the game as things stand. If Saikat Deb builds on this, however, and focuses on the gameplay over the confusing narrative then their next project might be more successful.

It’s still early days for Pirates: Treasure Hunters. Getting off the ground and building a community is hardest stage for any MOBA, but while there’s a number of ways in which it tries to break the mold, a pattern of common missteps overcloud the game’s prospects of a bright future.

Wicked Isle feels like a band releasing greatest hits albums to meet a contractual obligation. It's a remix of what came before, so if you just want more Atomfall for a future playthrough or haven't played the main game yet, this slots right in. If you were hoping for a narrative hook that keeps you invested on its own merits, you'll be disappointed. This is just more of the same, but without a compelling mystery to pull you in.

Hair-tugging difficulty spikes and a harsh entry barrier for newcomers are enough to drag White Knight Chronicles II from being a good game into the pool of mediocrity.

At £7.99 the Ryder White DLC will prove a hard sell for those who haven't already booked a timeshare in Banoi. Despite being fairly meaty in size the expansion lacks any sort of meta-game reward or replayability, not to mention the awkward integration and occasional issue with pacing.

Whilst the controls ruin the combat in The Baconing, this isn't actually all there is to the game.

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.

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice isn’t a bad game, it just isn’t a good Sonic one. It’s a solid, if bland, outing for a character that still deserves much better. Fans of the Sonic Boom animated series will still likely find something to enjoy, but younger gamers may struggle with the new-found emphasis on multiple abilities and gated areas.

8-Bit Hordes has attention grabbing visuals but little else on offer. This is Real Time Strategy by the numbers and entirely forgettable, though other developers would do well to remember and adopt the 8-Bit series control scheme. In that regard at least, Hordes might have some of its own ideas pilfered, rather than liberally borrowing everyone else’s.

It's exactly what anyone would expect of a film tie in game. Functional but underwhelming. The smattering of effective ideas is eventually overwhelmed by mediocrity.

It's difficult to sum up Conspiracy! On the one hand it's a great concept and the meta approach is fascinating. It's a game with many interesting things to say about online culture, the news cycle and how we perceive the world we have constructed. This is a game with lofty ambitions, but it also happens to be a dreary experience that, despite a short run time, was an absolute slog to play.

Whilst Train Sim World 4 does the train sim part quite well, the world part is incredibly lacking - it comes with only three routes in the base game and the others cost significantly more than you might expect. All of those routes are in North America or Europe, even the DLCs, which would make it a much smaller world than the one I live in. If you love trains and have plenty of train sim money, Train Sim World is a good option for running routes. Just be aware that you'll probably be paying more than is reasonable.

It’s difficult to recommend Arkham Horror Mother’s Embrace if you’re not already a fervent fan of the universe, and knowledge of what this game could have done with the source material will leave you yearning for a better digital implementation of Asmodee's tabletop tour de force.

Afterlove EP is a heartfelt project that looks to explore the theme of loss, grief, and moving forward after the death of a loved one. However, it is marred by some bugs that cause loss of key conversations, and you can get softlocked out from seeing the ending.

Realm of Champions has a lot of good ideas, but it's currently light on content. There's the potential to tell a superb tale set within the Marvel universe, but it's doing nothing with the story at the moment. Hopefully, this can change in time as right now, it’s mostly grinding with no real endgame.

While Hardware Rivals is fun to play in chunks it gets repetitive quickly, and its great visual design isn’t enough to cover the cracks.

Sadly, this isn’t the breakthrough fans were expecting. Omega Force took a pretty big risk with Dynasty Warriors 9, and while its open world integration can be seen as a small triumph, this newest entry is marred by its heavily outdated approach to combat design.

Too much of my time with Kiborg was spent thinking how much more fun I’d be having if the game dumped the roguelite elements and just went full old-school third person action brawler. So many of its failings could be ignored in that form. Instead, Kiborg is a slightly underwhelming rougelite that looks like it should be far more fun that it is.

Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is a disappointingly dull entry in the series. You have to wonder where CyberConnect2 will go from here.

I really wanted to like Hightower and I kind of do, thanks to all of the passion and cute touches that are peeking through the cracks. Whether it's the inclusion of old movie trivia that can skip a battle, some Charlie Chaplin footage, a scene where you're trapped behind a wall and more, it's clear there was a real vision here, and while it may not be fully realised, I admire the effort. The end product falls short on a number of levels, but I have a soft spot for it regardless and will be keeping an eye on the developer's future games.

Chimparty is fun enough to break out for an occasional bout of light-hearted multiplayer when you’ve got friends round, and accessible enough to cater for all ages, but its limitations soon being to show if you spend any extended period of time with it.

The card combat and deckbuilding of Neoverse is incredibly strong and if all you need to keep you entertained is deep card combat, it's got you covered. However, the lack of any kind of context and background to anything, just going from fight to fight, eventually takes the sheen off. The core of the game has benefited from a great deal of attention, care and creativity, it's just a shame it was almost squandered due to the lack of it elsewhere.

nGolf is one of those games that will fly by without much, if any fanfare. It offers a competent mini-golf game, but there have been others that have been more challenging and entertaining. It is not worth the full price, but at a steep discount it's a charming choice if you really need to play through some simple golf puzzles.

Aces of Thunder feels like it's missing some basics, like tutorials, feedback on hits, and an informative HUD. I know it's a sim, but what's the point of simulating me being in a plane and not knowing where to go? What kind of commander says there's enemies incoming, but with no further details, like direction? That, along with some frustrating issues with the controls and fiddly use of a DualSense while in VR just leaves me coming away from the game more frustrated than elated. If you've got the patience to get through the trial and error, you might enjoy this very realistic flight combat sim, but the multiplayer still won't be well populated without crossplay.

Mary Skelter 2 is a fun game at its core, but it surrounds that with a lot of elements that detract from the experience and make it almost unplayable in public, at home, or anywhere you think your screen could be seen. Fanservice isn't an inherently bad thing, but the characters are all way too young to be used in this way, and it's just not great. The customisation is good, and the combat gets great the further you press on, but it's hard to ignore the random instances of undressed girls sprinkled throughout the game.