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.

Hidden Dragon isn’t terrible, but it’s sorely stuck not one, but two generations in the past. The sidescroller is by no means dead, yet those working in this shrinking subgenre are either emulating its most celebrated champions or pushing the boundaries with something new and inventive. Hidden Dragon does neither, nor does it have the visual oomph that can often help overlook a game’s shortcomings.

Constructor HD was actually delayed multiple times, so System 3 presumably encountered some difficulties in development. Whether that is the explanation for the result, which just barely toes the line of average but gets pulled back down by its price and its launch day DLC, or if it was a bit of a cash grab is anyone’s guess. As it is, this is not worth purchasing.

Maybe it is just the way the game is designed, maybe it is because of the poor balance, but The Legend of Evil ends up feeling like a puzzle game. It doesn’t work as intended, or at least it doesn’t seem like it. Without better balance, or maybe just a better explanation of what you are meant to do, this game has an unplayable campaign, but an enjoyable enough ‘arcade’ mode.

Rugby 20 is like a Northern Hemisphere team's World Cup campaign. It's full of big ideas and good intentions, but a shock defeat here and an expected loss to the South's big boys there, and it soon comes off the rails. There's some fun to be had, but it's often at the expense of the game, not because of it.

When theHunter: Call of the Wild works properly, it’s still going to be a game that only those with the patience of a saint would enjoy. It’s very slow, full of barriers, and isn’t very exciting. That’s not to say it’s not completely without merit as it’s a stunner to look at and there are rare occasions where everything comes together to make a compelling experience. Just note that those rare occasions are few and far between.

Backbone had the potential to fill a bit of a void for a noir style game, but it comes up short. It opens with a strong prologue, but the story that follows tries to hit too many different themes meaning there's a lack of focus by the time it comes to a conclusion.

Although there’s a niche that will no doubt revel in the game’s eccentricity, those who cringe at otaku culture will find very little value here.

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

It feels like you are fighting the game every step of the way, and this is frustrating because of how much promise there is underneath all the problems. Given more time I’m sure Yanim Studio could have nailed this on the first attempt, but instead Red Goddess: Inner World’s bugs dominate against the gameplay.

As it is, this feels like it could just be a re-skin of any one of a dozen poor quality Wii shovelware titles that we all feared when Sony's Move controller was first showcased and we would have difficulty endorsing that kind of product to anyone but the youngest, most easily amused.

Tamsoft may have upped the ante on a number of fronts, yet it’s the core gameplay where this sequel suffers most. It’s all well and good creating an offbeat world in which to put players, but Onechanbara is missing the depth to keep them there.

It is difficult to recommend City of the Shroud. It offered so much but delivers very little.

I went into Autopsy Simulator with expectations and hopes for a game that confronted the messy realities of mortality and gave an insight into the neglected world of the mortuary. However, the game at present is so preoccupied with telling a hackneyed story that it is difficult to recommend. Hopefully the promised autopsy only mode will remedy this.

Fundamentally, it feels like the Kickstarter budget should have been a little higher to achieve what Anima: Gate of Memories clearly wanted to be.

If you like a very slow, difficult romp through a Hell-a-la-tattoo-parlour, Nadir's roguelike deckbuilding may be the game for you. But if you want something genuinely fun and interesting to play, you won’t find it here.

Turning the Terminator franchise into an enjoyable game experience should be doable, but not on the budget Teyon have tried to do it on. Last-gen issues make this a time traveller that nobody wanted to come back.

Gunscape is aimed at giving players the tools to create their own old school FPS levels and maps, but Blow Fish Studios’ attempt to carve out a little niche is lacking in its execution. What remains is a game that could be of interest while you roam through player-made maps, but will ultimately be left behind as actually playing them will quickly tarnish any glimmer of hope it had.

Harold Halibut looks great, like one of Aardman’s finest, only as a video game. Unfortunately, it’s the game part that underwhelms, offering a distinctly tedious narrative adventure that is a chore to play.

Frankly, Double Pug Switch is just not a fun game. It's meant to be challenging, but the worst of this comes from sticky controls and a buggy game. Coupled with the intentional disregard for the safety of cute things, this is a game which ends up infuriating. Maybe it plays better on the PC or other consoles, but I cannot in good faith recommend it for Switch.

Ogre tale is one of the most Marmite games I have played in a very long time. If, like me, you’re a Japanophile, you’ll probably be able to look past the flaws. If not, you’re going to hate the jarring dialogue jarring and incessant reference dropping.

Neptunia Game Maker (R)evolution is another stinker in a long line of disappointing Neptunia series entries. I love these characters and their world, but this is a flat action-RPG with a barebones management game bolted onto it that do not do them right by any means.

12 is Better Than 6 has good combat and a great art style, but is held back by technical issues, unpredictable AI and some odd design decisions. The issues hamper the gameplay and, whilst there is a story, it's entirely forgettable and delivered in awkwardly written dialogue. It's probably best to stick this game's obvious influences.

Smelter's opening cutscene got me very pumped for what was to follow, but what did follow left me despondent. I’d been set up and felt ready for an awesome 16-bit experience that, thanks to its promised smelting of genres, would feel genuinely fresh. The game that followed wasn’t fresh, it was past its sell by date and starting to smell like feet.

I hate being negative about a game but I found Evil Nun a soulless and unenjoyable experience. Even without the bugs and glitches the whole repeating loop is dull and derivative rather than immersive. If this is your kind of horror game then there may be something for you to enjoy but you should be playing Amnesia or Alien: Isolation instead.

I’m sure Wolcen could be a good isometric hack-and-slash adventure. The problem is, this console port does its utmost to hide all of Wolcen’s positive qualities with a constant barrage of crashes and performance issues, rendering a game that should be escapist fun into a frustrating slog. In time this might be worth your attention, but significant patching will be required for it to be so.

I desperately want to like Lords of the Fallen, but it's the first game all year that's actively annoyed me. I love the Soulslike genre more than any other, but this game took all of the lessons it could have learned since the original Lords of the Fallen and either forgot them entirely, or just misunderstood them so greviously that you'd assume it skipped a class.

Some games demand a remaster, to be brought bang up to date for an entirely new audience to find and enjoy. Asterix & Obelix XXL is not one of those games. In 2003 it was a solid, if unremarkable, effort. Now, seventeen years later, it just feels entirely unnecessary, with drab combat, pointless collectables and frustrating challenges. If you really need an Asterix and Obelix fix, best just go back and reread the comics I'd say.