Unto The End is a challenging game, but not overwhelmingly so. Each combat scenario is unique which keeps things fresh, while the world itself looks nice and hints at a wider world that cares little of your character's adventure. A handful of fights are frustrating and will hold you up, but Unto The End does not overstay its welcome and is easy to recommend to those who enjoy tough fighting challenges.

The Wild Eight is an accessible and rewarding survival game that works on so many levels. Considering that I'm not a fan of survival games, the fact that I enjoyed my time with The Wild Eight is high praise indeed. If only the combat wasn't such a bore, then I'd have no hesitating in giving it two thumbs up. As it is, one thumb and a pinkie will have to suffice. Or a seven if you prefer your scores out of ten.

Call of the Sea's original setting, narrative, and overall feel totally hooked me – even when I wasn’t playing I found myself working over the puzzles in my head. If you’re a fan of emotional stories and challenging logical puzzles then you should dive straight into this adventure.

Although purists may balk at Worms Rumble, I found Team17’s reinvention to be a welcome change in direction for the series. Real-time action wrapped around the battle royale genre works a treat here when combined with the zany, explosive world of Worms, but in order to become a multiple mainstay it needs more depth both in terms of strategy and player progression.

Submerged is a wonderful, melancholic exploration game, that builds a more defined and evocative world than many AAA games do.

Not needing to reinvent the wheel, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 delivers the same fun and brilliant mash-up of two of the best drop-puzzle games ever with a healthy dollop of content, both classic and new. The jury's still out on whether the new Skill Battles will change things up, but regardless, this is a great puzzle package for parties or pros, and hopefully a great jumping off point for newcomers to discover the marvel and skill of competitive puzzle battles.

Happy Ray Games succeeded in what they were aiming for with Ikenfell, I just wish they aimed a bit higher. The story doesn’t pick up for a long portion at the beginning of the game, and the battle system is interesting but nothing groundbreaking. There is still some enjoyment to be had with Ikenfell, but it feels like it’s missing some magic.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a great top-down Soulslike with the right mix of challenge and reward. It makes good use of the systems and mechanics it borrows from the genre staples and combines this with a darkly beautiful aesthetic and some memorable boss fights. It's not always clear how or the best way to progress, but if you’ve got a hankering for a bloody good time then you won’t go too far wrong with Morbid.

A compelling take on a Martian colonisation and terraforming project, Per Aspera also comes with a gripping mystery to unravel as you fight to survive and thrive. There's some muddled pacing and it's not always how you can proceed, but this is a thoroughly enjoyable sci fi planetary sim.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla effortlessly plants its banner as the best open world RPG available for the new consoles. This Viking epic flexes its gore-soaked, tattooed muscles when it comes to world-building, and medieval England wows with its enchanting untamed vistas. It’s also portioned out at a steady pace and, if not for the repetitive, limited combat, Valhalla could have ranked even higher among our favourite games in the series.

Partisans 1941 is an enjoyable take on the real time tactics genre, but too often your perfect ambush is then undone moments later by hyper-alert enemies spotting your squad. There's some balance issues (which will hopefully be improved with patches), but there's a solid tactical game here with an enjoyable story and some gameplay mechanics that we’ve not previously seen in the genre.

I really, really wanted to love Phogs!, but I simply couldn't. It really is a lovely idea, set in a lovely world and there's a simple joy to the game's opening. It's clear just how much love went into this game, right down to the Hollywood Bowl carpet at the bowling alley, but the execution just leaves you wanting. Between the repetition and the bugs, there’s just too much to get frustrated with, making the game, at times, an uphill struggle.

ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos proves that visual novels can work surprisingly well in virtual reality. The ways in which your mode of interaction are worked into the setting are clever and really help to increase the sense of immersion. It might not feel like many of your choices have an effect on the story, with most branches being a result of clear binary choices at set points, but I have enjoyed my time in the world of Lieutenant Chloe and will delve back in to seek out the last couple of alternative endings.

A handful of excellent new units, a much needed faction rework for the Wood Elves, Drycha's campaign, and a host of quality of life changes make The Twisted and the Twilight's lacklustre Vortex campaigns much easier to overlook.

Chicken Police is far better than I'd expected it to be, due in no small part to the way it nails the noir aesthetic. It's clearly had a lot of care and attention put into it, with puns, jokes and background information tucked behind every corner and in every bit of dialogue. It's a surprise, but Chicken Police is excellent and comes highly recommended to anyone whose egg it pickles.

Twin Mirror is in many ways the natural evolution of the Dontnod narrative adventure. It combines the reconstruction aspect from their debut, Remember Me, with the cinematic and narrative focus of Life is Strange. It is a very polished game, but it left me wanting more in a few areas and I didn't feel like I was having a true impact on the story's outcome. It will definitely appeal to genre fans but it never quite develops its own clear identity. Ironically enough, it feels like a hazy reflection of what it could have been.

Crimzon Clover: World EXplosion is a rare entry within the genre that manages to be inviting to shmup rookies, while also giving the hardcore veterans plenty of challenge to chew on thanks to its carefully considered mechanics and swathe of options.

Putting the obvious parallels to one side, Immortals Fenyx Rising is a thoroughly enjoyable game. The main character is very likeable, and the humour between the characters is great, while the Golden Isle looks fantastic and is filled with content without also feeling overwhelming. It takes a while for the combat to grow, and the end portion of the game drags on, but if you want a fun and compact open world game then Immortals Fenyx Rising is well worth playing.

Shut In is a short experience with a price to match and it's one that I mostly enjoyed. That said, I do have a particularly dark sense of humour and was able to separate the game from my own mental health struggles. The tone here is so mocking that it won’t be for everyone and I’m still in two minds as to whether it is hoping to raise awareness or simply using mental suffering for entertainment. I’m inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt, but your mileage may vary. Unlike our current situation, this is one period of isolation that isn’t mandatory.

We'd struggle to recommend Damsel: there's definitely fun to be found in its score-chasing gameplay though you have to take the good with the bad, grappling with its vexing mini-games, boring story, and grating level designs.

Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory could have easily been a simple rhythm game with nothing but a huge set of Kingdom Hearts songs going for it. The fact that it goes out of its way to emulate the visuals of the series and recaps major story moments elevates it to something more. It's a shame that the new story elements of the game are held off until the very end, and that Kairi isn't even a playable character despite being on the cover of the dang game. Those issues alongside a surprising amount of missing Kingdom Hearts 3 music and a tacked-on item system add some awkward wrinkles to an otherwise magical, musical, melodic nostalgia trip for Kingdom Hearts die-hards.

Tenderfoot Tactics’ uncompromising design and freeform structure might feel alienating to some, but persevere, and you’ll find a deeply thoughtful, nigh on meditative experience layered with creative, confident turn-based combat.

There's a lot to like about PAW Patrol: Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay, particularly when it comes to how accessible it is for its target audience. This is a game that even the most novice of gamers can pick-up, play and enjoy. It also looks great, my son delighting in seeing all the pups and their vehicles. On initial play my son declared he "super loved" it and gave the game two thumbs up, but over the course of only a couple of sessions, the game's obvious flaws began to dampen both his, and my, enthusiasm. Far too soon, this latest Paw Patrol video game had been entirely forgotten about as we've gone back to playing with Lego instead.

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.

The Signifier is almost an essential experience for anybody looking for a sophisticated and complex meditation on the effects of technological progress on the nature of humanity but as a game it doesn’t quite hang together. Even more frustrating is the fact that its short running time means that it ends just as it's starting to find its feet. As a result it’s a title that I am really glad that I have played but can’t fully commit to recommending it.

Shadow Fight Arena is another case of a perfectly good game that would be better if it wasn't free to play and loaded microtransactions. In spite of this though, you can quite easily ignore them and play the game, you'll just progress and unlock fighters much more slowly. The combat gameplay is still really enjoyable though. Carefully dodging a few attacks and responding with a perfectly timed blow to finish a match will never get dull.

Beyond Light isn't going to change anyone's mind about Destiny 2. Either you love the weekly grind, the increasingly complex lore, and pushing your mates off a ledge in a Raid, or you don't. For those who do, there's a lot to discover and plenty to grind for with the added benefit of the reworked game engine. They, like myself, will no doubt be sinking hundreds of hours into this over the next year. A solid, well executed update to Destiny 2, with even more content on the horizon.

Was Uppers worth the years-long wait to be able to play it in English? Probably not. Even as a fan of the titles Honey Parade Studios puts out, there's something disappointing about the way Uppers is too scared to fully commit to the gritty, hot-blooded front that it puts up. By having one foot in there and another firmly planted in the same-old T&A antics of the studio, it fails at truly capturing either aesthetic successfully. It's still a fun brawler with satisfying combat, and it looks amazing on PC, but there are plenty of areas where it could be improved on.