Pokemon Scarlet and Violet feel like the awkward second evolution of one of its starters. It's growing into something resplendent, it's showing signs of an exciting second type, but it's got that weird vibe of a 20-something that hasn't quite figured out who they actually are. Add that weirdly stretched feeling to the constant technical oddities and you've got a game that's undoubtedly good fun, but it's still not even its final form. I can't wait to see what Pokemon becomes, but it’s not quite there yet.

Blackwood Crossing does a great job with telling a story, but it’s lacking in lustre as a game. The surreal setting, the believable characters, and the plot are all highlights of Blackwood Crossing, and if that is what you’re looking for to wile away a couple of hours, then I recommend it. If you’re focus is purely more on the gameplay side of things, it may be worth waiting for updates to roll out to address issues like movement and fiddly interaction. PaperSeven’s first release shows a studio that has promise in storytelling, but it just needs to fine tune the gaming side a little bit more.

Little Orpheus sets a new bar in mobile gaming experiences. Its rich, lush world is only surpassed by the fantastic narrative and voice acting and the stellar soundtrack composed by Jessica Curry and Jim Fowler. It does become a little repetitive by the end, but chances are you will already be gripped and engaged with the story, wanting to see how Ivanovich survives the fantastical dangers of this subterranean world.

9 Monkeys of Shaolin is so close to being a really good side-scrolling brawler that it physically hurts. Hurts worse than a rolling cartwheel kick to the soft and delicates. There's a truly brilliant, satisfying, fun and deep combat system here, but whether you can see it beneath the shadows, silhouettes, staircases and stupid Green Tea meters is another thing entirely.

Far Cry New Dawn isn't bad by any stretch, and judged on its own it's a pretty good game. Its combat is still satisfying, capturing outposts never ceases to be entertaining, but the issue is that it both isn't different enough from or as good as its predecessor. Far Cry 5 is a better game and New Dawn is too similar to recommend unless you literally just want more of the same, but with less vision.

There are glimmers of true excellence here; small stretches of Days Gone can be especially fun and polished. However, the assembly of these various parts suffers from the lack of an engaging story, compelling characters, or an open world that feels organic and worth exploring.

If you enjoy crafting and planning, while potentially starting a riot, then The Escapists could be the game you’re looking for.

A hugely entertaining game that can lead to a lot of entertainment and side-splitting laughter, especially if you play it with friends.

Spanning several hours and sporting a number of more traditional game features, Kona feels far meatier compared to your average walking sim. The combination of nonlinear design and survival mechanics certainly help to dispel some of the issues I have with the genre. That said, the vagueness surrounding some puzzles, frequent backtracking, and a somewhat dissatisfying finale left me with mixed feelings despite introducing some welcome changes to the formula.

Through all the little quirks and the awkwardness of the game on console, Portia remains a delight that surprises in so many ways. The world that Pathea have created is offbeat and quirky, wrapped in an art style that still works so very well, even at the Switch’s reduced quality. This is a big, sprawling slice of life simulation, and is an easy recommendation for fans of the genre on console.

A back-step for the series. Not terrible by any means, Armageddon is nevertheless a huge disappointment.

Wet Dreams Don't Dry is a collision of ideas that are thirty years apart. It's got a surprisingly liberal attitude to sex that doesn’t excessively objectify women from 2019, but controls, puzzles, and willy shaped chandeliers from 1987. The game has its 'sexy' moment, but the story is more concerned about highlighting how far we've come since 1987 and that's really hard not to like. I'm looking forward to the next game, maybe Larry will get the girl. Or boy. Or both at the same time. Or a llama.

Sand Land is all set to be your new favourite anime, with compelling characters, enjoyable combat and great anime visuals in video game form. You might just find that Akira Toriyama has saved the best for last.

It's by no means a brilliant game, but it is a good piece of interactive fiction and a new approach, which we'll happily welcome with open arms. Six of them.

Though somewhat repetitive, the game is teeming with content and plays well, especially when allied with three other online slayers.

Lego Marvel’s Avengers is another great entry in the brick-based franchise, and fans of both series, and in particular Lego Marvel Superheroes, will likely lap it up.

Compile Heart set out to prove they could do something different by making Death end re;Quest, and they absolutely succeeded. Unfortunately, the interesting ideas at the heart of the game are undone by the groan-inducing and lengthy dialogue that often tries too hard to be taken seriously. Edgy writing aside, Death end re;Quest has marvellous gameplay that kept me glued to my controller. It's a strong package for JRPG fans, but you might end up wanting to use that skip button during cutscenes.

The Fairy Tail franchise and the JRPG genre are a perfect match, and this game perfectly captures the silly yet surprisingly intense charm of the original series. It's a shame that the game often puts so little effort into adapting major story scenes, but that sacrifice is outweighed by the abundance of fun little character interactions and vignettes that are sprinkled throughout the game. Fairy Tail lets you live in the world of Natsu and co. like no other anime game has done before, and any fan of the series is sure to crack a smile at this dedicated RPG experience.

It's a brave way to use a trusted franchise, but EA have pulled it off and we can't recommend this more for hardcore Simpsons fans as they'll obviously get the most from the game. Everyone else can rest assured that this is well worth the cash.

You can see the passion and care put into Aragami from a mile away. Everything about the game shows a love for the stealth genre and the games that made the genre so great. Unfortunately, it isn’t until you get up close and start to play the game that you also see all the cracks.

We’ve still got the bulk of the game to go, but it already feels pretty clear where this game will land for people. If you enjoyed the first game and still adore Rick and Morty’s ad-libbed humour, then this is absolutely for you. This brings plenty more of that same tone, but there’s a sprinkling of new ideas and fun diversions that could make it appeal more broadly. [Review in Progress]

GRIP: Combat Racing is an unpolished gem that’s currently too flawed to fully recommend. When it comes together – particularly in multiplayer – GRIP is capable of providing some of the most engaging future racing this side of Wipeout 2097, but it’s all too easy for it to fall apart, especially when you’re placed in the hands of the game’s cheating AI.

Unit 13′s a pleasant surprise. It offers up a really smart level structure which caters for short burst gaming, but similarly presents hours of gameplay that'll take considerable time and effort to perfect and master.

A satisfying end to the story of Max and Chloe, Life is Strange: Reunion is a mature tale of the uncomfortable truth that you can’t truly go back, only learn from your mistakes and go forward.

With Farpoint, Impulse Gear set out to achieve a goal: to create a traditional first person shooter that works in virtual reality. In that respect, the game is a major success. Although not as fully-featured as its non-VR contemporaries, it captures those essential elements and makes them work in a space that doesn’t require overt tracks of handrails. The joy of cranking headshots and feeling like a real-life space marine is a novelty, but one that will eventually wear off. When it does, Farpoint becomes less remarkable, though its immersive Aim controller gunplay definitely gives it the edge over every other shooter currently available for PlayStation VR.

Rival Games started something very interesting with The Detail in the first two episodes. The story was immersive and the characters engaging. But because of budgetary constraints episode three undoes what the first two set up, with plot lines left abandoned and bugs that are very detrimental to a game based on choice.

While I eventually enjoyed Aporia: Beyond the Valley, the moments where bugs and glitches appeared took me right out of the experience. It’s a shame too, as the story is well told despite uttering no words at all, the premise is genuinely interesting, and the puzzles – when they work as intended – are a joy to solve. It’s certainly one to wait on for now while they tidy up all the bugs and glitches.

The recurring theme here is substance. On paper, creating a wave-based shooter doesn’t sound all that inventive or ambitious, yet Raw Data is just that. In a bid to capitalise on the VR gold rush, we’ve seen plenty of smaller, lacklustre shooting galleries, but Survios effortlessly puts them all to shame.