Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King truly stands the test of time. Having this PS2 classic on the 3DS, despite its slightly inferior presentation, is a mind boggling feat. Each new gameplay addition or tweak is smart, not taking anything away from the original vision.

Gravity Rush 2 is everything I wanted out of a sequel. It’s bigger, better, it’s drop-dead gorgeous and it never stagnates.

Cursed Castilla is one of the best modern retro games that I’ve played, successfully capturing the look and feel of its influences but also improving on the controls and level design. It feels just like the way I remember the arcade originals. Add in the extra challenges from trophies and you have a great retro title with bags of replayability.

Tyranny is in many ways the Hamlet of videogames. By which I mean it is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which human behaviour can descend into evil, featuring a lengthy middle section defined by delay and conversation, before everything suddenly ends in a flurry of violence and a disappointing final exchange. There is much to like about Tyranny, but the game itself doesn’t live up to its narrative strengths.

Drive!Drive!Drive! is a stylish and fun attempt to rewrite the rulebook on racing games. Sadly it’s not always entirely successful, with a relatively simplistic handling model and a lack of challenge on the standard setting, but for those willing to take a chance there’s still a lot to like about it’s unique take on the racing genre.

It’s hardly complex and far from essential, but Lethal VR is a fun and polished romp while it lasts. Shelf life may be a concern, but the minimal setup time needed makes Lethal VR easy to slip into whenever in need of some brief ballistics training.

It’s clear to see WayForward put their Kickstarter funding to good use. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero features some of the best platforming of recent years, and it’s easy to recommend to anyone that’s a fan of platformers or Metroidvania style games, though a couple more levels to combat the game’s repetition would have been perfect. Wayforward will have to settle for almost reaching that mark instead.

Despite the plethora of content on offer with 7th Dragon III: Code VFD, this is a dull game. What good ideas there are within the class system and the initial premise of the plot, they’re almost negated by the tediousness of the dungeon crawling that’s barely disguised, combined with a narrative that ticks all the RPG tropes. An utterly forgettable experience when compared to the best RPGs of the year.

While it’s not perfect, that extra time has given Telltale room to breathe life into a new and interesting cast of admittedly flawed characters, build new relationships and present them with new and immediate dangers, always with the threat of zombies in the background.

Whether you’re a returning fan, a lapsed player or a complete newcomer, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier gets off to a good and welcoming start, with more than a few twists and turns packed into the two-part episode.

Batman: The Telltale Series starts strongly, recreating and altering the Batman mythos in new and inventive ways, but can’t keep it up and fades towards the end of its run. It perhaps isn’t Telltale at their best, but still a series worth checking out for fans of their work and of Batman.

Rock Band Rivals marks the best edition of Rock Band 4, building on what was already a solid base and bringing in more features. Rockudrama does something different with the career mode that’s not only refreshing but often hilarious, while Rivals brings you into a bigger world of competition. The completion of the multiplayer modes is also set to finally round out what is still the best place to rock out with your friends, making Rock Band Rivals an unmissable entry in the rhythm-action series, though fans may still hanker for something more revolutionary.

I persevered through the issues on PC because I genuinely found things to like in Dead Rising 4. The silly, if somewhat hackneyed plot was light-hearted in tone and Frank is just as likeable as ever. Investigations are a nice way to break up the action, which is just as insane as it ever has been. However, it’s a ridiculously easy game thanks to a liberal slathering of healing items, and the diabolically bad PC port is frankly embarrassing to see in 2016. A reasonably solid game that sadly on PC is just out of frame.

There are a few oddities, like the online play requirement, and it would be nice to know if and when Nintendo plan to add more levels to the game, but Super Mario Run is a fantastic mobile debut for Nintendo’s most enduring and best known character.

The first few months of PlayStation VR have delivered a vast range of experiences, but I have to say that Werewolves Within is my personal favourite. It’s such a basic concept, but how it’s realised brings players together in a way that’s rarely done in videogames. The community is fantastic and helpful, the rules are easy to pick up, and soon enough you’re mixing it up with people from all over.

Pewter Games’s title has all the ingredients for a great game but it is let down by a plot that feels cobbled together and a very short play time.

Mekazoo is a familiar platforming experience that’s immensely fun. Zooming through the levels is a good time on your own, but really the game is designed for playing with a friend next to you. If you’re looking for an evening or two’s worth of entertainment for platformer fans, then Mekazoo is well worth the price of admission.

The game works best in how it empowers you to toggle between idle exploration and obsessive score chasing whenever it suits you. However, as time drags on, if that drive to make headway begins to wane, there’s little else to keep players hooked. Then, of course, there’s the ridiculous online-only policy that is bound to frustrate, adding a completely expendable layer to the year’s best winter sports game.

Playing pinball in VR almost feels real. It’s such a simple way to show off the capabilities of VR, and while everyone will have their own table preferences – not all are that amazing, to be fair – there’s such an immersive quality to Pinball FX2 VR.

An ungodly combination of Fire Emblem and Dark Souls, it delights in making you suffer, but every small step forwards feels like a massive achievement. It’s not for everyone, but if you enjoy the darkness and feel up to the challenge, you can’t do much better than enter the Darkest Dungeon. Just make sure that all your affairs are in order and that you have written a will, because once you’re in, you might not make it back out.

Final Fantasy XV is a unique offering, both for the franchise and RPGs in general. Placing the onus on the relationships of your party, rather than the narrative, has meant that this is a game that strikes not just an emotional chord, but a personal one. While Final Fantasy stalwarts will likely balk at the action-heavy combat, the spirit of the franchise remains, and is better served here than it has been in many years.

The Last Guardian feels meticulously pieced together and is easily one of the PlayStation 4’s stronger exclusive titles. It’s risky and unconventional, flouting modern design practices in a way that few other AAA game would dare to in 2016. Although far from perfect and a little worn from age, it’s a one of a kind experience and hopefully won’t be the last we see from Fumito Ueda and this enchanting world.

There’s a lot of love that went into the creation of The Dwarves but the glimmers of brilliance are dulled by the numerous problems with the combat, as well as the conflicting nature of the narrative with the few moments where you are able to make your own choices. Chances are those who will enjoy this game the most are fans of the books, but it’s a largely forgettable game for everyone else.

My complaints about the scenario editor and the slim number of bundled scenarios aside, Natural Disasters is great. This is another big step forward for what was already the best city builder around, lending it a fresh impetus and giving you more reasons to keep playing.

While the story is serviceable as a backdrop, it’s actually the environments that steal the show. Gliding around and exploring the levels is relaxing for the most part, apart from a couple of moments of disorientation. The artwork throughout is sublime and the music fits it all perfectly, though it sits along titles like Bound, where the art and experience also outshine the plot. If you have a PSVR and are keen to play something that doesn’t take too much effort while providing some great visuals then How We Soar is a worthy pick.

I find myself much more frustrated by Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS than I really ought to. If this had a different verb in the title and eschewed the notion of creation, if this wasn’t releasing in the wake of the outstanding Wii U version of the game, it wouldn’t be a problem, but this game strives for something and comes up short. It’s still worth picking up for fans of Mario games, but there are too many jarring limitations that I really hope Nintendo see fit to address.

Planet Coaster feels like a step into more modern times for the genre. There are bugbears when it comes to the camera and the subsequent patience required to build your perfect theme park, but should one have the stamina to intricately design features for their park, the possibilities are nigh on endless. Managing can feel simplistic at times, but for those who want to have the amusement park of their dreams, even if they use mods from Steam Workshop to supplement their masterpiece, Planet Coaster has it in spades. Now if only the rides could be viewed in VR.

All round, it’s a solid point and click adventure game that combines that familiar old-school formula with a couple of clever quirks. It has a decent story to boot as well, though there are slight issues with pacing, both in terms of the how the narrative unspools combined with some of the more obtuse puzzles. Together, these create a barrier that will stump players while ultimately holding Yesterday Origins back from greatness.