Outbound is a gently paced, cosy camper game encouraging creative home building and exploration in beautifully varied biomes. With developer, Square Glade Games, highlighting a roadmap of upgrades and add-ons to come in the next few months, there’s plenty of reasons to jump in your camper and join in the fun.

I had a great time with this return to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. This, to me, could go down as one of the very best game remakes, from the graphical upgrades to the gameplay and progression tweaks and the smattering of new missions. [Hands-On Impressions]

Luna Abyss struggles with crafting consistently rewarding gameplay moments, but even the dullest of shooting sections is worth getting through in order to inch further into the wonderfully weird world and unforgettable story of this game.

The Last Ninja Collection is a good option for players wanting to revisit their childhood or gaming historians wanting to check out a neglected part of the hobby’s past but it is difficult to recommend outside of those constraints. Unlike console titles that have simple controls that remain intuitive, The Last Ninja’s design has not aged well. If you can get past these issues then these are important titles in the development of gaming but I’m not sure they’re fun in and of themselves. Aside from IK+ of course, which is still a fantastic game.

There are plenty of moments that charm and delight through Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. It's not always the most obvious game to play, emphasising experimentation over platforming fundamentals, but the collection of weird and wonderful new creatures it contains invite exploration in a way that should delight inquisitive young minds.

Duck Side of the Moon is a great addition to the cozy game genre and one that adds more interaction than many other titles. It often feels like a fusion of modern cozy game and classic collectathons which makes for a fantastic feel-good time and one that I really enjoyed.

Kumitantei: Old School Slaughter has the potential to be a great murder-mystery horror title, and it has a lot of the key ingredients for that. It just needs to be a little more consistent in its leaps in logic and dial back on – or resolve – the other gameplay and aural annoyances. This is worth checking out for Danganronpa fans in particular, and I look forward to seeing if and how later episodes can improve on this entry's weaker points.

Quartet is a superb JRPG that takes the best of its influences and adds a welcome suite of quality-of-life improvements, from a built-in turbo mode to the removal of random battles. The story builds up well, the characters are engaging, and the regular drip of weapons and abilities keeps things interesting throughout. Quartet is an easy recommendation for JRPG fans in general and would also make for a good introduction to the genre for newcomers.

Motorslice is a game that needs a few patches to sort out some of the clunkier elements of its traversal, like the parkour and jumps not landing as they should. There is some awkwardness with dialogue choices but they can be ignored as they have no bearing on the story. The world itself is well designed but it needs more substance when it comes to enemies too.

Forza Horizon 6 is another excellent entry in an excellent series, from an excellent developer. Part of me wants more than that, but I've no idea how that would work.

Vultures: Scavengers of Death masterfully brings together the survival horror and turn-based action genres, losing none of the foreboding feeling while dialling up the tension significantly. A handful of bugs do little to detract from the experience, so Vultures remains a triumph. A bloodied, tense, and foreboding one, but a triumph nonetheless.

Underling Uprising is an exuberant old-school beat ‘em up throwback that absolutely nails the Saturday-morning-cartoon vibe, delivering a gloriously daft roster of player characters to boot. With a few friends sat on the same sofa, it’s the kind of loud, colourful, coin-op-like chaos that I have loved ever since playing Captain Commando in my local arcade. It’s just a shame that the input lag and framerate issues undermine much of what Dummy Dojo have achieved elsewhere. Still, provided there’s some solid post-launch polish, this has all the potential to be a cracking co-op party brawler.

Call of the Elder Gods is a very good puzzle adventure game that continues the narrative of the first game and adds some interesting new characters to the mix. At its best it contains some of the most engaging and enjoyable puzzles you’ll find, though there are some dips in quality that drag things down a bit. I would recommend the first game over this for newcomers, but if you've already enjoyed that title then you’ll get a lot out of this too, just don’t expect it to be quite as polished.

All of the inherent strengths of Indiana Jones and The Great Circle remain in place on the Switch 2, and it performs surprisingly well overall. If the team can improve some of the lighting and shadowing issues, it would be a nigh-on perfect port, of one of the best games of recent years. [Switch 2 impressions]

I found Clockwork Ambrosia to be fun, but not as fun as I was hoping. The weapons do get absurd, but it takes too long to get there, a lot of the exploration can end up feeling unrewarding, especially as most weapons feel like there's one or two best builds for them, and swapping between weapons feels too sluggish, minimising the overall customisation I was hoping for. I like it, but I don't think it's going to stick with me.

Super Alloy Crush is one of the most promising side-scrolling action games I've played in a long time. It's clearly a labor of love, and obviously in a very Early Access state of development, but I can't wait to see what it becomes as it heads toward a full release. [Early Access Score = 70]

Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes does a great job of wrapping the 2004 TV series aesthetic around a tense and fraught roguelite battle for survival.

Directive 8020 is by far the best Dark Pictures game, embracing more stealth gameplay, making the branching story feel seamless, and setting a new bar for the genre.

Dark Pals: The 1st Floor is a hugely enjoyable dose of mascot horror that takes the conventions and mixes them up to offer up a well paced and action-packed hour and a half of gameplay. Forget your Gartens and your Poppy Playtimes, Dark Pals promises to be the future of this subgenre and I’m all in.

Everything Is Crab is one of those games where you really get the whole game in the first run. If you like that first attempt, and the general vibe you're getting, then you're going to enjoy run after run. However, if you're hoping for more than what that first play session offers, you're going to find the game to be a little bit lacking. Still, it's a lot of fun if you're looking for a more pure arcade experience in your roguelike, and if you like seeing the horrifying monster your little blue blob can become once you've eaten half of a planet.

Mixtape is incredible. An indie narrative adventure that’s part game, part movie, part album, it captures the end of teenage life, of friendship and family, all while looking to the possibilities and unknowable potential of the future. It is, in a word, essential.

While there is some interest here for fans of cosmic horror and an atmospheric opening setting, The Shore is difficult to recommend for the frustrating second half.

Rumbral feels like it is just getting going when you hit the credits. There is a sufficiently good atmosphere and decent designs, but the lack of an engaging story to draw you in and some sluggish gameplay elements does let the overall experience down.

TerraTech Legion is an excellent entry into the world of Survivors-likes, and I'm so happy that it's actually adding something new to the genre, instead of just rehashing what we've already seen. Combat and driving feel good, building feels fantastic, and there's plenty of reasons to just keep mucking around with it, even if you do manage to complete all of the missions. It's just a joy, and one you shouldn't miss out on.

Adorable Adventures is a fine, cosy, laid-back experience. There's a good amount to do, from hunting scents to taking photos, and it entertains through the few hours that it lasts. It never really changes gear, though. Still, if you want a short and cosy experience, Adorable Adventures is worth considering.

Aphelion is a deeply frustrating mix of both brilliant and baffling design: part gorgeous, best-in-class narrative adventure. One boasting cinematic presentation backed by superb lead performances, further enhanced by the year’s most compelling, science-grounded sci‑fi story. But also, part dreary third-person action-adventure, undercutting the pace of its narrative with clunky platforming, tedious stealth and puzzle sections, and Thomas’ oxygen-management nonsense. In the end, this tight narrative adventure is stretched into an over-long slog. Sure, it’s well worth seeing through for the story, but with a sharper gameplay focus, Aphelion could have been essential.

Tides of Tomorrow is a good story that's alternately helped and hindered by its asynchronous multiplayer. It enables some compelling gameplay options but sometimes takes agency away from the player as relying on other players means you can't really do anything yourself a lot of the time. The story can also contradict itself sometimes due to the nature of the gameplay. It's enjoyable despite this, though it starts to outstay its welcome towards the end.

Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth is a lovely game. There are some fun quests to undertake in locations that have been designed well, with the added bonus of cutting paths through the snow.