We hoped something would shake Brave Soldier - Invasion of Cyborgs up and give it some zest. Bosses and explosive barrels tried, but were never going to be enough.

It’s a strategy game for people who’d rather they didn’t have to do much strategising, and a resource management game where the ‘management’ comes in inverted commas. If that sounds like your thing, kick back, don your gardening gloves, and partake in some armchair gardening with Garden City.

Shukuchi Ninja isn’t anywhere near as good as the games it’s closest to - namely Party Golf and Angry Birds. Instead, it’s everything that a ninja isn’t. It’s clumsy, awkward, and more likely to hurt you than the enemies you’re aiming for.

Gruta is saved by some effective art, an impressionistic story, and controls that are so tight that they manage to make the unremarkable levels somewhat remarkable.

Herodes didn’t stick. We felt like we were being regularly flushed out of its system. The difficulty was one thing, but the erratic pacing and identikit enemy waves were too much.

Little Disaster is one that we can recommend, but you should be wary that it could explode in your hands at any point.

Dordogne is an imperfect package, then: a beautiful porcelain plate of a game that has cracks in it. The plate is unique enough to warrant purchase, but we wonder what it would have been like with more gameplay care.

If you are still to play Layers of Fear then you are in for a treat with Layers of Fear (2023). And even if you have played it before, you should head back in and be terrified once more.

Diablo IV is a blinder. The story, the visuals and the sheer freedom to go and do whatever you want, whenever you fancy it, all add up to make a game that is an essential play.

One of the best games of 2023 so far, Star Trek: Resurgence deserves to be spoken about as discussions surround the best Star Trek storyline of all time. Yes it is that good.

Kingdom Rush Origins is a little more expensive than its predecessors, but it’s still terrific value for money and you’ll quickly become addicted to its strategic gameplay.

Is thirty minutes of a good thing enough? We’d say so. This adrenaline booster to the heart had us gripped. But just as we were getting good, nimbly leapfrogging any and all obstacles, Steel Defier was over. It needed to be about triple the length for us to nod sagely and say ‘that’s about right’.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 takes what made the original an absolute belter of a game and improves almost everything. The turn-based action will keep you on your toes and ensures excitement in every encounter, while the charming yet gritty story hits you in the feels all over again.

MLB The Show is still the undisputed king of baseball games. Super Mega Baseball 4 is there for the casual or younger players, but it’ll be hard to keep eyes on this for very long. It feels quite soulless and devoid of personality.

For all the collision weirdnesses and lack of treats for racing well, there’s a sturdy racer in Final Apex. It feels fast, it drifts well, and there’s surprising heft to the cars. Some driving games would give a front axle to control as well as Final Apex does; we just wish there were more satisfying things to do when you’re in the car.

Loop8: Summer of Gods is a delightful visual novel with decent RPG mechanics that’s let down greatly by repetition and below-par battling.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a hugely enjoyable title; one that will appeal to those who love Warhammer, as well as being just as much fun for those that aren’t into the franchise. No back reading is required here - just a happy trigger finger. Playing as a love letter to the shooters of the past, it manages to smooth things out via modern controls, fun gameplay and satisfying action.

LASERPITIUM must be a marketer’s nightmare. It looks bland and has nothing fancy to shout about. You could be brutal and call it generic. But it’s so ruthlessly efficient at what it does. Writing it off would be a premature act. In its complex levels and juiced-up weaponry, there’s more than enough to keep a shoot ’em up fan quiet.

Zombie Derby 2 looks to address the grind of the first game, but only ends up changing the flavour of it. It ends up being a three-point turn that takes it back to where it started. But still, there’s a couple of hours of joy to be had in flying off ramps and landing on a zombie’s noggin, should that be your thing.

The depth and the difficulty of Age of Wonders 4 - and this is properly hard, be in no doubt - as well as the sheer amount of things to do, ensures this is a great way of losing a few hours, days, weeks or maybe even months.

Our requests have been heard with Kao the Kangaroo: Bend The Roo'les DLC, but not without small print. The levels are just as difficult as the challenge wells, and come with all the frustrations of the main game. We are thankful for what Kao the Kangaroo: Bend The Roo'les offers, then, but we’d liked to have pulled our hair out a little less.

The Royal mode and Live Campaigns are good additions, but ultimately, Trackmania feels a bit too restrictive for those simply wanting to enjoy even just the core experience.

DRIFTCE may be too demanding for some, but for others, the sheer challenge will spur them on. If you fancy yourself as a Touge master, you need to play DRIFTCE.

We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie doesn’t add much more that Katamari Damacy REROLL hadn’t already added, making it the second best of the experiences on the Xbox. But you really shouldn’t sidestep it either, as more of the same is ‘super-dooper’, as the King of the Cosmos would say, since the same is so instantly charming.

A bursting-at-the-seams package full of things to discover, all while welcoming newcomers and pleasing veterans, Street Fighter 6 is most certainly a game of the year contender. This is the perfect fighting game.

Paper Flight - Beyond Time is a good-natured attempt to reinvent the franchise, but it doesn’t half feel like someone gave up halfway through that attempt.

A Building Full of Cats is a great use of your cash. That money goes to promoting animal adoption over purchasing them, so you can feel warm and fuzzy about improving the world… before enjoying the double-benefit of some hidden object gaming. What’s here might not be revelatory, but it’s an adorable way to pass the hours.

Although not a fully fledged sequel, Supraland: Six Inches Under is a technically impressive and wonderfully creative follow-up adventure for new and existing fans alike.