The quirkiness, presentation, strong voice acting, and characters help push past the simplistic gameplay and the narrative the game tells is surprisingly engaging.

The improvements this year are great, but depending on your tastes may not be applicable. If you don’t like RTTS and/or are a hardcore Diamond Dynasty player, then you might not fully appreciate what MLB The Show 18 has to show in terms of improvements this year. And, old problems such as lag, and dry commentary still exist.

The allies mechanic rarely feels like it’s enhancing the gameplay, and at times, drags it down.

Despite its issues, episode 5 of Batman: The Enemy Within stands tall as one of the very best and most well thought out episodes we’ve ever seen from Telltale.

Far Cry 5 is exactly that - more Far Cry. If you've never been a fan of the series, this doesn't do anything to change your mind. If you loved liberating outposts and blowing shit up in the Himalayas, you'll enjoy doing it in Hope County, too. Its sprawling world, varied missions, and memorable characters all make for an incredibly entertaining experience, and helped me to overlook the niggling technical issues and occasional frustrating fetch quests in my 30+ hours in Montana.

Having fun in Sea of Thieves is a slow burn at the moment. Most of the game involves you just chilling on your ship while looking for other pirates to steal from, or for the raids to start. It’s not a game that you can play every single day for hours on end, and most people will certainly tire of it after seeing all of the PvE content available now. Even so, Sea of Thieves is incredible in the way you can interact with players and be whatever kind of pirate you want to be.

If you're not a fan of linear games, you should probably play A Way Out anyway. The game's presentation of a truly co-operative story is sublime, and it makes full use of the video game medium as a method to punctuate the dramatic moments and develop its characters. Like Brothers, A Way Out presents a unique twist to the cinematic story formula, and it sticks the landing.

An astonishing experience. Once again, Level-5 has risen to the top of a previously floundering but increasingly revitalized genre. Ni No Kuni 2 pushes the envelope and reinvents the wheel while staying true to its JRPG roots.

Shay is an interesting character, offering a maturity we haven’t seen much of in the series, his story is engaging, and the naval combat is still great fun, but none of it is enough to counter the frustrations that we thought the Assassin’s Creed series had left behind.

While it doesn't do anything new in terms of narrative direction, it somehow gets the foundations that made the first game so fun and makes them even more enjoyable, this time adding a level of depth that makes players feel important. It thrusts people into the heart and soul of the franchise, making it one of the best anime games this gaming generation has to offer.

Surviving Mars is a fantastic simulation and strategy game. Again, it might be off-putting inexperienced players, and advanced players will likely need to find their own fun in the long term by creating obstacles for themselves to overcome or to seek out mods, lest it gets repetitive. Those small, potentially limiting gripes aside, Surviving Mars is a very enjoyable sim game that effectively mashes together individual sim micromanagement with larger macro concepts seen in games like RTSs.

It's definitely a more condensed experience than the content-stuffed Yakuza 5 or 0, but the trade-offs are worth it. Whether you've been following this series for years or only have minimal experience with it, Yakuza 6 is an entry worth playing.

The Sims Mobile is definitely worth your time for free. If you’re a commuter, a bad student, a daydreaming worker, or simply someone looking for something to play while you use the bathroom, you’re going to have a great time living out your sim’s life in the game. It’s not going to replace The Sims 4 for you, but it will scratch that itch you need.

If you’re an absolute die-hard fan of Life Is Strange, which you likely are if you’re considering the deluxe edition, then jump right in and say your own goodbyes to Max and Chloe. However, if you’ve not played both the original series and Before the Storm in their entirety, Farewell likely won’t resonate with you in the same way.

The 2-player mode is substantial enough that it feels like its own game. If you’ve already played the original to death on another console, I’d still recommend grabbing the Switch version.

Into the Breach is brilliant in how it approaches the strategy game genre. By giving the player all the information they need, it’s easy to see where exactly you went wrong, and what you could’ve done to prevent it. Failure itself becomes the core gameplay loop. Every death is a valuable lesson learned, every pilot lost is a scarring reminder of what happens when you’re too impatient with your moves.

An engaging text-based adventure featuring excellent writing, fleshed out characters, a compelling detective story, and a world with the potential to tell many more tales that would be perfect as a single evening’s entertainment.

In the end, however, despite the flaws, there’s enough charm, compelling storytelling, and immersive atmosphere to see it through.

Survive is a serviceable game, but its story and writing lack the one thing that drew fans to the series in the first place: heart.

Jungle Adventure for The Sims 4 is a breath of fresh air after Outdoor Retreat after all.

If you have a PlayStation VR, I cannot recommend Moss enough. Though its $40 price tag for a roughly four-hour adventure may still seem a little steep for some, it’s an adventure more than worth taking.

Despite promising a fresh take on the farming genre, the execution just falls short. Decent farming mechanics aside, the clunky combat and slow burn of a story really just take away from the experience.

Bayonetta 2 may not be appealing to everyone. Its sexuality and over-the-top tone may be a frustration to some. However, from a design and gameplay point of view, it is up there with the best in its genre.

Over its five hour or so playtime, Legendary Gary managed to be one of the strangest gaming experiences I’ve had. I was initially enamored with its hand drawn art and goofy writing but eventually found myself genuinely invested in the story and floored by the ending. There’s a clear boatload of love that has gone into this tale of responsibility, demons and supermarket checkouts, and while its gameplay can feel a little repetitive at times, it more than makes up for it in irresistible charm.

Hopefully one day we can get a decent sequel in the series with the tight controls, intelligent AI, and fun city-building mechanics we deserve.

If you’d like to experience what makes Secret of Mana so great, you’ll find little in this remake. Stick with the original – that’s where the real legacy lies.

This is a defining moment in the series' history, and I really hope they don't decide to drop this entire idea altogether. Instead, if Omega Force polishes the game even further, this niche series may finally open itself to the mainstream market.

A worthy expansion. There’s a lot to sink your teeth into and keep you more busy than ever while playing, even if some of it is a bit more on rails than you might ideally want it to be.