Octopath Traveler is a wonderful collection of adventures and stories, but the quirk of storytelling that lends it its name is both its greatest strength and weakness. While the turn-based combat and ‘breaking’ enemies makes practically every battle engaging, the eight tales this game tells don’t really feel like they need to be told together. It’s a little unbalanced because of this, but this remains a charming, beguiling JRPG.

The Banner Saga 3 closes the book on an incredible saga of turn-based action and dark, haunting storytelling. It’s hard to make player choices and branching narratives successfully payoff over the course of three games, but Stoic Studios have done just that. It’s a shame that they never tried to revamp or update the sluggish combat speed along the way, but that’s a small price to pay for a once in a lifetime narrative experience like this.

While having both 1 and 2 may be necessary if you are completionist or if you adore the series, the second one is so much weaker that it is very hard to justify.

Mega Man X Legacy Colletion 1 is a great set of games with some really interesting new features that will have you bashing your head against a cyber wall and somehow loving it.

Sleep Tight has some very interesting ideas, but unfortunately fails to captilise on them and falls into the depths of mediocrity.

Semblance is an astoundingly enjoyable puzzle game that never outstays its welcome.

In The Persistence, the team at Firesprite have concocted a rogue-lite survival horror whose atmosphere and hard hitting combat feel fantastic in VR. Thanks to an impressive array of comfort options it’s also amongst the best PSVR experiences we’ve had, and for owners of Sony’s headset it’s damn near essential.

A triumphant return overseas for an iconic JRPG series. It has solid foundations in the usual JRPG business of fantasy kingdoms and amnesiac warrior boys, but it builds off of that foundation with charming characters and gorgeous art to create a pretty unique identity for itself. While some aspects of the game are a little unpolished, it’s still a standout JRPG worth standing alongside any of the other big players in that genre, and worth checking out by anyone who calls themselves a JRPG fan.

Blacksea Odyssey suffers from a poorly implemented rogue-lite structure. Putting aside the duff controls, the main hindrance to your enjoyment will be having to suffer through levelling up the player character in a near endless slog until the game finally becomes fun.

But for a dash of repetition, both in gameplay after a long period and the slightly disappointing variety of enemies, Mothergunship is really a great game. The story takes a back seat to the gameplay, so if you’re looking for a story focused experience you’re in the wrong place. However if an FPS rogue-lite with gameplay in the vein of Quake and the ability to create a gun that shoots both lightning and floating grenades is your thing, you could do a lot worse than Mothergunship.

I have spent countless hours playing TxK on Vita and it’s one of my favourite games, so I’m disappointed that Tempest 4000 doesn’t really add anything new, especially considering the higher price. It’s still a great game and hopefully a patch will tone down the overzealous use of effects. This is worth a look if you are bored of cut scenes, collectables, and other frippery that clog up video games and want some serious old school arcade action.

I’m all for taking the spirit of a beloved classic and bringing it up to date, but you have to be prepared to be judged utterly against that original game. Under the right circumstances Earthfall is capable of capturing the frantic teamwork of Left 4 Dead, but there’s too much wrong here to maintain it for long.

For fans of Ward, Sperry and Ross’ previous work, Danger Zone 2 is the closest we’ve come to a new Burnout experience in years. Crashing into things hasn’t lost any of its base appeal, and while we’re waiting for Dangerous Driving to bring things full circle, this is more than worthy of your time.

Despite its issues, All-Star racing is an original take on the kid-friendly kart racer which offers a wonderful selection of fruit themed content to keep both children and adults entertained. It might not get everything right, but it’s a beautifully juicy start.

Nintendo’s continued run of Wii U ports has to have a finite end, but while Switch players are getting games like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker then its best just to bask in it. Gloriously cheerful, charming and enthralling, it’s only diminishing features are its slightly short length and lack of difficulty for seasoned players.

Antigraviator has tons of potential, and there’s every chance that it could attain it a few updates down its spiralling road. However, as it stands there are too many problems with the game’s underpinnings that the fantastic visuals can’t quite cover up.

Despite how hard this game is, that isn’t a mark against it – very much the opposite in fact. Megaman games have always been incredibly challenging and anything that tries to give the same feel as those needs to be just as difficult. 20XX does an incredible job of balancing this given its roguelike nature. It’s a worthy successor to any of the old games, it is the game that Megaman fans have been waiting for, and quite simply it does what it does spectacularly.

As far as hybrid genres go, this is an interesting one. The combination of walking simulator and the integration of the puzzles is very well done, while the drip feed of the story is steady enough to keep your focus, driving you through the small niggles that arise throughout a play through. The whole thing is tied together with some great voice acting and great music. Overall, The Spectrum Retreat grabs hold and refuses to let go, while its clever combination of pure puzzling and story telling makes for an enjoyable and unique experience throughout.

If you’re a fan of Just Cause or Saint’s Row, then Red Faction Guerrilla might well tickle your fancy. In the days of sprawling open world titles with hundreds of missions tied together with awful stories, the simplicity of this game makes a welcome change. Violence is not big, hard, or clever, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun. Red Faction Guerrilla Me-Mars-tered is the remaster no one was asking for, but has turned out to be a welcome surprise.

The Crew 2 is a fun game in a lot of ways, but lacklustre in others. For every enjoyable event there may be another that is frustrating or simply a little boring. The open world can be great to explore, but thanks to being able to fast travel to every event you don’t ever actually need to physically cross the USA. Ubisoft should be commended for really taking a risk with The Crew 2 by adding so much and taking proceedings less seriously, but while The Crew 2 is a good arcade racer it still doesn’t quite rank among the best.

Whether you’re a Sudoku enthusiast or a new player, Hexologic is a puzzle game that’s easy to pick up and learn. If you’re looking to pick your brains at clever numerical puzzles, this game will keep you busy with its wide selection. It may not be one to try and beat in one go, but it’s definitely worth picking up if you like your Sudoku with a twist.

This is by far and away the best MXGP game to date, and the result of developer Milestone finally getting to grips with the Unreal Engine — despite the recently disappointing MotoGP 18. MXGP Pro still lacks technical polish and misses the magical ‘wow’ moments that the best racing games feature, but this is now a great platform that they can build upon for the future. The difficulty curve will not be for everyone, but MXGP Pro is all the better for it.

If you enjoyed Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, then picking up Donkey Kong Adventure is a no-brainer. In some ways it’s even better, with Donkey Kong and Rabbid Cranky two great new characters that work so well together and even more flexibility in battle. If the main game’s main meal was a lovely mushroom risotto, then Donkey Kong Adventure is a large serving of banoffee pie for dessert.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station is a unique take on zero gravity that feels fairly true to what it would be like. The trouble is this makes for a dull experience when not in VR. [Non-VR Review]

Having the original Lumines soundtrack on modern consoles is a nostalgia trip for fans of the 14-year-old PSP puzzler, but the core block-dropping gameplay hasn’t aged a day. It’s still just as addictive now as it was back then, but it’s a shame that as a remaster it ignores some of the game modes introduced in later games. As remasters go, Lumines is impeccable, but then it was always going to be.

I’m truly sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I am. I had wished and wished for years that Bandai Namco would give Gundam fans outside Japan a proper way to experience some of the amazing games they’ve developed in the series. Today, this wish has come true, but like a cursed monkey’s paw, it has come with a terrible price. New Gundam Breaker is available in Europe and America, yes, but it is also terrible. It is not fun to play, look at, or think about.

It’s clear how much of a labour of love Rainbow Skies was. The game is packed to the brim with mechanics and ideas that call back to a dozen different classic RPGs and strategy games. For all the love that went into the game though, there’s a frustratingly low amount of polish and quality design, especially when it comes to the visuals and writing. Rainbow Skies is a love letter to classic RPGs hastily written in crayon on notebook paper.

Light on actual awesome adventuring, but it certainly has the spirit of Life Is Strange throughout and shows a notable maturity and nuance in its depiction of a troubled household.