It may not manage to bring a ton of new elements to the mining landscape, and the initial scene setting components see early progress a slow one, but once it opens up and the skills and abilities come into play, you’ll find a wonderful Metroidvania themed experience that is well worth taking in.

You can’t deny the intelligence of Life is Strange 2 – or any part of the entire Life is Strange franchise for that matter – but I feel that sometimes this at the expense of entertainment. It would be great to play at least a small portion of the game as Daniel, so you get to experience using his power – this would add a welcome new dimension to the gameplay.

If you like The Grand Tour, then this is an easy sell. It puts you pretty much in the show, doing what the presenters have just done and allows the chance to drive the very expensive cars in a stupid way. If you hate the show, or aren’t a fan of Clarkson et al, then this isn’t strong enough to make sense as a standalone purchase.

As an experience it’s completely original; a taxing and emotional rollercoaster that questions the whole process of demonstrations from both sides of the line. As a game, and well, it all comes across as a bit of a mess while playing, and it’s really hard to control or work out what is going on at any one time.

Collecting all the characters, finding all the weapons, and exploring the depths of the character screen alone will keep you busy for many hours, and with an extra chapter to unlock after you have defeating the Archfiend, there’s plenty of content to get involved with. Apart from the dreadful walking controls, this is a game that I can recommend to fans of the genre.

Should you be after a very cheap afternoon of something bright, cheery and filled with tons of easy achievements, you can’t go wrong by strapping on your best adventuring hat and entering the world of Heroes Trials.

Resident Evil 2 remake is a pure masterclass in game design. With ingenious puzzles, enjoyable gunplay and a captivating story to get stuck into, Resident Evil 2 shows just what has been missing from the survival horror genre in recent years and with the graphical prowess creating some truly frightening environments, this is one game that will live long in the memories of both newcomers and veteran horror enthusiasts.

This isn’t a game that reinvents the wheel in any way, and many of you will have likely seen something like this before, most notably in the Trials series. But the undeniably unique brand of strangeness found in Animal Super Squad, and the inclusion of the online community options ultimately makes it a risk worth taking.

I would say that if you have a subscription to Xbox Game Pass then it’s an instant download, if not then it may well be best to hold off for the price to go down a little. Whatever though, if you fancy something different and are a fan of hand to hand combat then get into the world of Absolver for a good old punch up.

Whilst initial moments are slow to take hold – and your first few runs will end in confusion and disaster – should you be prepared to throw everything you have at it, and are ready to take a good few hits in the process, then you will easily be rewarded by a mammoth game that delivers ship building elements, gunplay options and exploration in spades.

My Little Riding Champion on Xbox One is a pretty terrible offering all-round. Its main draw of being a horse riding champ is over in the blink of an eye, whilst the additional missions are uneventful and boring. The large open-world is so drab and empty that it comes across as merely a cheap way to make missions seem longer by having the ability to send you far away. Even the horse jumping mechanics aren’t up to scratch, with any failing occurring at no fault of your own. Add in the bugs, the awful acting and the shoddy visuals, and there’s not much good to be found here.

Sundered: Eldritch Edition is addictive and fun. Together, that makes this game really great. It doesn’t execute things as brilliantly as Symphony of the Night (but what game does?), but it will absolutely be in the conversation of recently released excellent Metroidvania’s for years to come.

The Hitman HD Enhanced Collection costs £50, and whilst this may be for two games that are now in HD, they have not had the type of overhaul that would usually warrant such a price tag. If you enjoyed the original titles you’ll love these, but this release won’t do anything to convert critics of the series.

The vast majority of Super Pixel Racers proves that there is still plenty of life left in the old arcade racing dog yet. It’s a shame that the online scene is totally dead and buried, but if you are looking for a new racer that delivers a huge career mode, or occasionally have some mates round for the odd gaming session, then I’m not sure you’ll find any retro racing that is much better than what is found in Super Pixel Racers.

Aftercharge on Xbox One is a fun game. The matches are relatively short, there aren’t a lot of confusing upgrade tiers to worry about, no grinding needed to unlock weapons and gear, and plenty of opportunities to try new strategies to win the match.

Onimusha: Warlords reminds me of simpler times; when games focused on the aspect of fun, instead of pure realism. Hence, the Inabayama Castle is a welcome destination for anyone who longs for the good old times.

If you enjoy taking charge of a sphere and wish to spend a little time with a simple but fun side scrolling platformer, then you’ll probably like what you find with On A Roll 3D… especially when you consider the low price tag that is attached.

Learning tactics, grabbing special abilities while fighting and luring your enemies to their destruction will always take a while to get stale. What is more problematic is the lack of game modes and variety of things to do; this is certainly a game that will need a strong community to allow it to work online.

Nippon Marathon can certainly be described as a marmite game; you will either love it or hate it. Find a group of friends that all love it and you can easily laugh away an entire evening attempting to out run each other. But it isn’t for everyone, and it is easy to understand why. What to some will look like shoddy game design is actually a very purposeful and conscientious element of the design, but that won’t necessarily sit right with those that like nothing left to chance.

Surviving Mars – Space Race is a small piece of DLC relatively speaking, in the sense that it is an added feature. As such, I feel the price tag of £10.39 is a bit on the expensive side. What it adds is certainly a substantial new gameplay feature, but for the most part it is much the same as the game you would play beforehand.

It’s a very slow paced game overall, so whether Valkyria Chronicles 4 is for you depends on how patient you are and whether the deep story can cover over the gameplay drawbacks.

An absolutely fine RTS game which has things to like about it, but that is all that 8-Bit Hordes is. It does not venture beyond this mediocre territory because of its limiting gameplay, uninteresting factions, poor interface and difficulty spikes. I wish I liked it more than I do, but I don’t.

The looks and soundtrack are really interesting and the mind testing puzzles are a delight to attempt. The humour of the English Inventor tackling space travel, but still needing the perfect cup of tea in the process, amused me a great deal, and whilst I do think you will have a ball with a friend in local co-op, the single player is still fun.

Steamroll is a cleverly designed puzzler which isn’t short on ideas. To say this is Antico’s first independently developed game, they’ve done a great job. The gameplay is tight, easy to grasp and layered effectively with complexity, and despite a few rough edges, Steamroll is a thoroughly enjoyable experience and worthy of a place in everyone’s game library.

It’s bigger, it’s better and it’s a joy to play and there is no reason why you wouldn’t want to jump in with one last hoorah with the Strange Brigade.

It may not appeal to everyone, but if you’re a plane enthusiast looking for a game to truly bring excitement to the skies, not only is this the game you’ve been waiting for, but it’s the game the series’ 20+ year history has been building towards, pulling no punches in bringing the ultimate experience.

Farm Together really is a huge and extensive game, happily providing many hours of varied gameplay.

While the RTS elements feel a bit redundant at times, and the soundtrack has little variation, Hive Jump’s gameplay is what will keep you coming back. It may not be a ‘Master of All’, but it is a great homage to many series that warrants the $9.99 it asks for.