A very good game. When you’re on a roll it feels very satisfying, but when you become stuck it can be frustrating. However, Stealth Inc just manages to keep you hooked to play on and beat it. This isn’t fun in the traditional sense but instead a worthy challenge to beat.

When the cogs start turning, Nobunaga’s Ambition becomes this intriguing spectacle as clans employ a variety of strategies in order to adapt, survive, and expand. Although far from perfect, this is likely the best grand strategy title you’ll find on a home console.

This is a cracking set of games, filled with fond memories and frustration alike, and is recommended to everyone from grizzled old fogies like us to those born into Generation PlayStation that fancy a look back on how things used to be. Brilliant stuff.

Planet of Lana looks and sounds as wonderful as its original reveal promised. While it doesn't redefine the adventure platformer, the adorable partnership between Lana and Mui, the gorgeous art direction and sweeping soundtrack make this well worth experiencing.

Elite: Dangerous is a phenomenal piece of simulation software, masquerading as a game. I felt like Mal Reynolds, Captain Picard and Luke Skywalker at various points, while at others I felt like a delivery man who was able to make a cup of tea whilst travelling to the next drop off. The emptiness of space can be overwhelming, and Elite: Dangerous revels in that a little too much, but for the brave, or foolhardy, it offers an experience that is unlike anything else on Xbox One.

Paper Mario: The Origami King is a solid, but unremarkable sequel. It's like a table of snack food at a party, where you'll happily nibble away just because you're stood next to it or feeling a bit peckish, but it's not exactly going to fill you up. The new battle puzzles and the boss fights in particular stand out, but the world and endless Toads fail to spark the same delight. This feels like a missed opportunity.

Ys X: Nordics maintains a lot of the qualities that this series has come to be known for. Some of those qualities aren't necessarily a positive, like the familiarly linear dungeon encounters and the less-than-impressive visuals of the game, but a lot of it works great. Combat is the best it's ever been, naval gameplay is a fresh and welcome addition, and Ys X: Nordics introduces refreshing character moments with Adol and Karja that I'm desperate to see more of in the next entry.

Escape Simulator 2 is a great sequel and an easy recommendation for puzzle game and escape room aficionados. There's some rough edges, but the environments are great, the puzzles satisfying, it's fun to share with others, and there's bags of potential for DLC and fan creations.

Darkwood is one of the most terrifying games I’ve ever played as it challenges you to explore and survive a dark and twisted world. Unravelling the mysteries of the night time horrors will consume you even before you try the permadeath mode. This comes highly recommended, but remember to wear your brown trousers.

The game offers such depth of not only styles of play, but also longevity: on your first play, some sections will be unavailable until you've unlocked the required characters; bonus levels open up on successful completion of each episode; and there's the multi-player shenanigans to become embroiled in. It's not only the complete saga, it's the complete package.

What you get out of Everything will depend entirely on you. You may get bored within minutes just as easily as you could spend hours wandering around alien continents as a slice of pizza. I’m not sure it can be described as fun in a traditional sense, and it sometimes feels like you are being forced to sit through through a complex lecture mixed with a dash of group therapy, but other times it can be utterly hilarious as you make baby tractors by dancing.

While I really enjoyed Lost Judgment, the mishandling of some of the core, and incredibly sensitive themes really did reduce the experience. I still think it's a good game, but my feelings about it have definitely diminished since the opening hours, which I'm rather disappointed about. Still, if you like the Yakuza series and its spin-off games in general, you'll probably love this.

DNF Duel is a ridiculous fighting game in the best way possible. Simple inputs and meaty one-button attacks provide an easy entryway for beginners, but the advanced defensive mechanics and powerful properties of your attacks create fast & frenzied action that I can't get enough of. More importantly, the simplified inputs don't sacrifice the skill-ceiling - this game is full of depth and a ton of fun even at the highest level of play.

Oblivion Remastered is the perfect nostalgia hit for fans of The Elder Scrolls eagerly awaiting the series’ eventual sixth instalment. It’s a revival that respects those gamers who loved the original, while sprucing it up enough to entice a new generation of players.

When the curtain finally closed on Thomas Was Alone, I couldn’t help but feel touched. Despite being two-dimensional in appearance, the game’s cast of characters exuded more personality and depth than that of some games propped up by millions of dollars of development funding.

It was a great concept, but the third instalment has disappointed. There really isn’t much depth to be found with Skate 3, due to the short career mode and lacking extra features.

I desperately want to give it a ten purely for its fantastic story, but a fantastic story does not a good game make – it needs the gameplay to back it up and that's where Enslaved falls down in places. What we are left with is a flawed masterpiece, but one that you definitely need to play.

Tales of Berseria feels like a Tales game made just for me. There’s so many games in the series now, and I’ll never play them all, but the characters and the narrative and the combat mechanics of Berseria just click with all of my tastes so well. For some, the lack of gameplay innovation might be a turn off, but for me, a classic Tales gameplay system combined with a unique narrative led to a fantastic experience. Fans both new and old would be doing a disservice to themselves if they didn’t check this game out.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is massive, yet at the same time a prime example of a sequel that’s bigger, but not necessarily any better than the original. Once again the Nemesis system shines, allowing players to forge their own unique stories, even if the game tries to do too much with it at times. Getting caught in its tangle of new systems and features can be frustrating, but there’s still a great open world game here.

Judgment is another great Japanese crime drama that will grab your attention as the stakes get bigger and bigger, but it's not quite on par with the Yakuza series. Some of the private detective busywork could make way for more of RGG Studio's trademark goofiness to cut through the seriousness of the main story, but anyone who has any interest in Far East crime dramas or the Yakuza series should pick Judgment up. Judgment has been judged and has been found worth playing.

Being a visual novel, If Found… won’t be for everyone, but those willing to give it a try will find a beautiful and endearing story of self-acceptance. The gorgeous hand-drawn art and the story coming directly from a diary really give the impression of an insight to someone’s life, and the gameplay idea of actually erasing history and identity creates an intensely emotional experience.

Tavern Talk is a wonderful window into a high-fantasy world that I never wanted to leave. Despite some repetitive gameplay, the unique tabletop spin on world-building and character interactions was an absolute delight.

Keeper captures the essence of Double Fine, packaged in a heartfelt and surreal world where you never quite know what will happen next. The gameplay regularly surprises, but the lack of challenge in even the more elaborate puzzles is a bit of a drawback, along with not being able to control the camera.

Compared to last year’s Superchargers, Imaginators is certainly a step in the right direction. Instead of bolting something onto the existing formula, Toys For Bob have instead gone for reinvention. Being able to construct and share your own Skylanders isn’t a massive game changer, but it feels far more considered than other gimmicks.

LocoRoco 2 Remastered certainly gets the job done and while it is shorter than the original, there’s a ton of side content present. Its charming, minimalist detail looks great on the whole and runs as smoothly as one could hope for. The omission to that is with the low resolution cutscenes, which is somewhat ironic considering the emphasis on 4K in the marketing, but LocoRoco 2 Remastered is more of the same, which can only be a good thing.

It’s clearly not perfect but it is a very enjoyable and respectably lengthy shooter that embraces its heritage while successfully striving to evolve its core gameplay in a new and interesting direction.

As an action game it holds up very well, as an RPG it will keep the average quest junkie enthralled, and as a fishing/karoke/arcade sim, it also manages to tick each of those apparently mutually exclusive boxes with a defiant stroke. As a whole, and, more importantly, as a game, it works.

Escape Academy captures the spirit of escape rooms in excellent fashion, wrapping up a string of thoroughly enjoyable puzzle-filled levels in a light and quirky story. Puzzle aficionados might find it a little easy, but it's a commendable first effort that left me wanting more.