Scars Above offers a great shooter experience that's a bit rough around the edges in some areas when it comes to realizing its vision and potential. While these problems are noticeable, I don't feel like it takes too much from the full product while offering a haunting survival horror experience with a unique gimmick that makes players think about the best approach to the way they face the environment around the enemies.

2017 is the year the Sonic franchise stops running from itself. Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces celebrate different eras, but they both take the same shameless “all-in” approach. Sonic Forces is a confident game, serving up a story and stages that go for broke while dodging the pitfalls of the past. As long as you’re not a hardline 3D Sonic hater, this earnest, entertaining adventure is worth a spin.

Geared towards a younger or perhaps less experienced player base, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin carves off a big piece of hunting joy while trimming away the fat.

The new Battletoads is almost as beefy as its musclebound heroes, serving up a substantial 5-to-7-hour campaign as well as additional collectibles and high-score challenges. Not bad for $20. Battletoads 2020 probably won’t be quite as durable as the NES original, but you may find yourself hopping back into the game more often than you expect.

Age of Wonders 4 offers a rare and refreshing level of flexibility for a 4X game, allowing you to customize your leader, people, and realm to an impressive degree. This can be a bit bewildering at first, and the level of complexity threatens to overwhelm the game’s limited tactical battles, but it all comes together as a satisfying package after a bit of trial and error. Age of Wonders 4 may not be the perfect potion for all turn-based strategy fans, but it should enchant a good portion of them.

While it doesn't add anything substantially new to the experience, Lies of P: Overture expansion is a more than worthy expansion, delivering an engaging story delving deeper into the base game's lore, featuring some of the best bosses in the entire game, and adding new weapons that can significantly shake up combat. Its lack of innovation and unfair difficulty may turn off a few players, but all those who loved every second of the base game will have no trouble falling in love again with one of the best Soulslikes of the past few years.

Lost Ember is a game that wants you to take your time and take in the beauty around you, and it absolutely nails these goals. The entire design of the game is used perfectly to awe-inspire the player and give them the chance to explore at their own pace.

Below is a game that will keep calling you back. With its challenging gameplay loop, beautiful design and polished mechanics, it's a game that could easily become a classic of the genre over time.

DiRT 4 is a very good game, that much is certain. Retaining the fantastic control of cars from DiRT Rally, albeit made somewhat simpler, it offers almost endless rallying with a procedurally generated track system and a number of changing online challenges. Not without its flaws, including an oversimplified gamer control scheme and anemic career mode, it's still a worthy entry of the core DiRT franchise.

The World Ends With You Final Remix is a port with problems, that much is certain, but I can't help but feel it's still a game well worth playing. I genuinely expected to be disappointed with how the game plays, and while there are some frustrations present that you shouldn't have to deal with, it's still such an enjoyable venture that I have to recommend it to JRPG fans. Oh, and the music is amazing.

They say an artist's work is never truly done, but with Layers of Fear, Bloober Team and Anshar Studios have completed the Master Opus started back in 2016. With superb UE5 powered visuals, improved writing and some new gameplay mechanics, these journeys into the darkest recesses of the human mind have never been so immersive, although some issues prevent Layers of Fear from being an absolute masterpiece.

Galactic Civilizations IV is another satisfying space-faring extravaganza that introduces some smart tweaks to the long-running series’ formula, although a lack of guidance, bloated tech trees, and some other minor lingering issues hold the game back from true top-tier status. Hardcore sci-fi strategy fans will undoubtedly find plenty to enjoy here, but this game may not quite have the gravitational pull needed to separate you from your 4X favorites long term.

Project Cars 3 is going to annoy some people and I completely understand why. This is a huge deviation from the series that people are aware of, it honestly is like the series has lost its identity. However, this doesn't mean it's a bad game. An undeniably less sim-like experience, this is infinitely more accessible than earlier Project Cars titles and it doesn't completely drop the elements that made the series great, featuring a massive number of cars and tracks with a huge amount of customisation and detail throughout. It isn't without flaws, such as the first third of the campaign, but the pros far outweigh the cons and this is, simply, a very fun game.

As close to true call of Duty as you're likely to find in recent years, for better or for worse. The campaign does branch out a little, offering you side-missions that are unlocked through evidence gathering, which is fun. It's also engaging, featuring a good number of entertaining set pieces. However, it's also insane and has way too many throwaway 'features'. Multiplayer, and the zombie mode, are both very enjoyable to play and multiplayer has been made more engaging for those who used to struggle to get massive kill streaks. However, there's no doubt that the multiplayer is seriously lacking in maps. Also, the game needs some technical polish. Still, all in all, this is still a strong FPS and one that will keep fans coming back for more.

F1 25 is a good game, make no mistake about that. With a near flawless presentation, improved my team mode, and additional features, there's a lot to do. There are a few pitfalls here and there, but nothing that takes away from what is another genuinely good release by Codemasters.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong may lack the razzle dazzle of its stars’ more recent games, but this remake still has the power to hook players with its tried-and-true retro platforming and a finely-tuned difficulty curve that culminates in some challenges that will truly test your mind and reflexes. Those who have played the original Mario vs. DK to death may not find quite enough new content here, but lapsed fans and new players are in for a barrel of fun.

Mafia: The Old Country aims squarely at being a narrative experience, and largely succeeds in that while also providing solid gameplay. It is a bit of a shame that we don't get to truly explore Sicily in this game, but if you're into Mafia narratives, this is among the best you can find in games, and the entry price isn't that high either.

Regalia: Of Men And Monarchs does quite well what it sets out to do, tributing classic JRPGs by mixing a variety of features and mechanics. While not overly original, the game developed by Pixelated Milk manages to be quite entertaining thanks to the charming characters, lighthearted tone, and challenging battles. If you loved JRPGs back in the 90s, early 2000s, you will find plenty to like in Regalia: Of Men And Monarchs.

Super Cloudbuilt is a high speed, low gravity platform game featuring an excellent level design, a lot of additional content and some online modes that help make the experience never feel dull. Controls may take some time to get used, but after a few stages, players will be able to fly through stages in search of the fastest way to complete it and score a high place on the Leaderboards as if it were second nature. Highly recommended to platform game and especially Sonic the Hedgehog fans.

A second series of serial killings is fair game in AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative, a title focused around the established world of the prior game with newcomers that are just as hungry for the truth as Kaname Date once was.

With its engaging story, charming cast of characters, and solid RPG mechanics, Mato Anomalies is a game that all role-playing game fans will enjoy, especially fans of the Persona series, by which the game is greatly influenced. Lack of innovation, dull turn-based combat and a wonky English localization impact the experience, but not enough to make it unworthy of a look from fans of the genre.

Judgment is an excellent Japanese adventure that feels incredibly familiar, yet engrossing all the same. With Judgment, RGG Studio has managed to create an excellent entry point for the Yakuza series, and a fantastic standalone adventure. While it's familiar to myself and Yakuza fans, if you're new to the series this might just be the very best place to start. A wonderful, though sometimes slow, adventure from beginning to end.

With its gripping story, wacky characters, solid action role-playing game mechanics, and masterfully crafted immersive simulation features, Weird West is one of the very few role-playing games on the market where players truly shape the world with their choices and actions. Some balancing and technical issues damage the experience, but if you're looking for a truly immersive RPG to play, you won't find anything better than Weird West.

Song of Horror is a genuinely atmospheric, creepy horror game, with the major selling point of an enemy that you're never actually sure about. The advanced AI system of the horrors you face, combined with sound, visuals and other game mechanics make for one of the more engrossing and captivating horror titles of recent memory. There are some faults, such as backtracking and a bit of adventure game logic when trying to solve puzzles, but these do nothing to stymie everything Protocol Games are bringing to the table.

Zombie Army 4: Dead War isn’t the perfect Left 4 Dead successor fans have been champing for, but it’s one of the better attempts to date. What the game lacks in raw thrills, it makes up for with depth, challenge, solid tech, and devil-may-care craziness. If you’re not already tired of co-op zombie shooters, there’s a heck of a lot of fun to be had taking on Hitler’s hellish hordes.

Genesis Alpha One is a great indie roguelike that offers a combination of first-person shooter, ship-building and management elements.

Back 4 Blood isn't Left 4 Dead, and it doesn't even try to be it, doing away with the classics' straightforward campaign in favor of a more modern experience that rewards progression and offers plenty of replayability. The excellent map and mission design, the huge variety of builds made possible by the card system, and satisfying gameplay make the game by Turtle Rock Studios the one to get for those who have a team of friends ready to take on hordes of undead, but those who are looking to play the game solo would do better to look elsewhere, as Back 4 Blood doesn't offer much for those not too keen on teamwork.

Gang Beasts is a game for friends. It's funny, silly and inconsequential. With a huge array of costumes to wear and places to brawl, you can play one game or ten and have a great time.