The Cursed Crusade certainly had potential, and if Kylotonn spent more time on the flow and diversity of combat a number of the smaller issues such as the lack of a checkpoint system or stiff ranged gameplay could easily have been overlooked. However the studio decided to add variety through other means, unknowingly underpinning the rest of the game.

If Optimus and pals didn't show up now and then this could be any on-the-rails shooter. There is nothing exciting or original to see here, and the lack of enemy types is unforgivable when there are thousands of Transformers to use. Why aren't the Stunticons racing around the roads in the first couple of levels? A missed opportunity with an occasional hint of what could have been a good game.

Overall, despite the potential of an action RPG using a Dungeons and Dragons rule set and just how great the game should have been, Daggerdale falls short in most areas.

There’s nothing wrong with taking influences from classic franchises, but the very least one could do is make it transformative enough to warrant its own game. Oceanhorn: Monsters of Uncharted Seas is both mechanically too similar and at the same time somehow inferior to the The Legend of Zelda franchise. It has a lovely score, but there are far more original interpretations of the genre out there.

Martha is Dead wants to send a big important message, but the way it’s delivered is terrifyingly bad, not only in it’s writing but also in the shoddy gameplay.

Commander ’85 will go down as an interesting curio that fulfil its promise and is held back by bugs and glitches. It's difficult to recommend more than maybe checking out a Let’s Play of this unsatisfying game. Commander ’85 is another example of why we sometimes should leave the past in the past.

It’s a real shame that the first Touhou game to officially come out overseas is Touhou Genso Rondo. It really doesn’t capture the appeal or the magic of the mainline Touhou series, and there are plenty of other fan-games in vastly different genres that are at least much more mechanically polished than this one. Touhou Genso Rondo is a mild disappointment for fans of the series, but despite the broad marketing efforts of NIS America, it should simply be absolutely avoided by newcomers.

I persevered with Battle Hunters and finished it (admittedly after dropping the difficulty down) but there wasn’t really a point where I actually enjoyed my experience. The most frustrating thing is that there were moments when it nearly came together in tactical combat, but it was continually held back by the need to rest characters and not sharing XP to non-party members. As a result, this is one adventure in which too many heroes spoil the game.

It’s a shame because Kholat has one of the best horror game set-ups we’ve seen for quite some time. Not only that, the team at IMGN.PRO has clearly put effort into sculpting an spooky collection of vistas each dripping in atmosphere. Sadly, wedged between these tense moments is way too much filler. The mind-numbing map reading and navigation would have been easy to overlook if that only made up a small portion of the game. Instead, it forms this drab and unappealing bedrock that threatens to drag Kholat down whenever there isn’t something scripted happening on-screen.

You can have the most advanced drone piloting physics in the world, but if the tutorial is dull, the career structure nondescript and the racing lacklustre, I’m afraid the combined package does not enthral. A pity.

Super Bomberman R 2 should be great. It can do just about anything a Bomberman game could possibly be asked to do. If only it could offer a decent game of Bomberman. A real missed opportunity.

I'd love to be able to recommended Redeemer: Enhanced Edition to you. Its top-down shoot and beat 'em up combat is tremendous fun, and the local drop-in and out co-op mode is treat, but there's way too many game breaking bugs and glitches that hold up any recommendation. If these issues are fixed with a patch then feel free to add a few points to the score, otherwise you're best off looking for your gory thrills and spills elsewhere.

Tales of Symphonia Remastered isn’t going to win any awards. It’s a soulless cash grab that has come with as little effort by Bandai Namco as possible. If you’re a die-hard fan, there may be something here for you, but really you’re just paying for the nostalgia hit. Those who didn’t play the original and are looking to pick up and enjoy a slice of video game history should let this one go past — there will hopefully be another iteration of this in a few years’ time and maybe they’ll put more effort into that one.

Unfortunately, Omen of Sorrow feels like it’s taken a “quantity over quality” approach that results in a flaccid, broken experience. From the characters and art to the core act of fighting, nothing in Omen of Sorrow quite sticks the landing. There are a lot of incredible fighting games to check out this year, but Omen of Sorrow is not one of them.

Commandos: Origins is probably very good; an interesting historical setting, charming visuals, and deep and varied strategic options. You won’t notice any of that if playing on console however, you’ll be too busy wrestling with the terrible controls to be having much fun. That, and the buggy visuals, make this one to be missed unless you're on PC.

I love that FIA European Truck Racing Championship exists and I really hope such a niche title finds the right audience. Developer N-RACING has been faithful to the essence of truck racing, but it hasn’t been able to create the structure, close fighting, nor personality the series has to offer. Variety is good, and I really hope they can work on an improved sequel. For now, once the novelty has worn off, you are left with a pretty lifeless game.

The Wardrobe had the scope to be better, but a lacklustre plot and strange puzzle design make its hard to recommend for point and click fans.

Wrecked: Revenge Revisited simply isn't a battle racer. Yes, there are elements of the battle racing but this is more a time attack mode with few actual battle racing events. The multiplayer does have some fun in it, but it's only really good if played in short bursts.

Super Neptunia RPG makes an earnest attempt at shaking up the formula of the Neptunia series. Unfortunately, major technical issues bog this game down at every turn, and even if they were fixed, the drawn out story and over-simplified combat would fail to equate to an enjoyable game. Super fans of the Neptunia series might find something worthwhile in this experience, but it's sure to be buried under ten tons of headache and frustration.

Neverwinter Nights remains a fantastic RPG, but the Enhanced Edition on PlayStation 4 fails to recapture that magic. If you can look past the incredibly dated graphics, there's tons of classic role playing to get stuck into, but playing it with a controller and clunky UI is not particularly pleasant. Considering that this is playable on pretty much any computer you can lay your hands on, or even on your phone, I'd steer clear of this particular version unless you desperately want to sit on your couch with a controller to play.

After a thrilling opening, Alfred Hitchcock Vertigo descends into utter farce. This awkward attempt at a narrative adventure is hampered by ridiculously long loading times, terrible animation, and awkward vocal performances. Give this one a wide birth and just go watch the film instead.

Black Mirror is a good story that suffers from a dated application of game styles. While this is interesting in a meta way, it is not much fun to play. The narrative itself plays out fairly successfully. but it is hard to recommend it for this alone.

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.

There’s a good game lurking somewhere within Falcon Age. Interacting with your pet falcon in VR is an enchanting joy, so it's a shame that it's surrounded by a repetitive game structure, lacklustre visuals, and controls that are neither here nor there.

Gargoyles Remastered is a disappointing time. Fans of the original will delight in getting to play it on a modern system and the quick rewind helps to alleviate some of the more egregious design choices, but it also highlights how barebones this remaster really is. The rough and ready feel isn’t helped by modern visuals that look aesthetically worse and seem to add extra lag and imprecision to the controls. This is one oldie that perhaps should have been left to sleep in stony isolation.

Gensokyo Defenders, like so many Touhou spinoff games before it, is a low budget affair that fails to capture the same level of satisfying gameplay and unique artistry present in the original games. While the gameplay is functional and sometimes entertaining, every other part of the package serves to bring that enjoyment to a screeching halt.

The result of merging together Diablo and Golden Axe should have been brilliant. It’s a shame then that Moonfall Ultimate falls a long way short of that expectation. With more of a focus on explosive arcade combat this could have been a fun diversion, as it stands however there’s far too many frustrating issues to see you to the end of its limited run time.

You are never at risk of encountering anything unexpected when playing Zenith, but cutscenes are unpredictable and quite intelligently written (and even well directed at times), so they are genuinely entertaining. But the game is an action RPG by the numbers, and it gives the distinct impression that it is a vehicle for delivering the comedy. This would be fine, but that vehicle would need to be enjoyable and on this one, the wheels have fallen off.