The Sinking City is probably the Lovecraft inspired game currently available on the market, thanks to its oppressive atmosphere and its story, which utilizes the lore masterfully without deviating from the canon. AI and technical issues, as well as the clunky combat, are often immersion breaking, but the excellent investigation mechanics and exploration features make it easy to look past these issues. Highly recommended to survival horror fans and those who live and breath Lovecraft.

Steel Division 2 is a game with some excellent ideas, such as the Army General campaigns, the attention to detail and the sheer size of battles in multiplayer and, to a lesser extent, skirmish. Also, it looks great and, despite the sheer size, can be really engrossing to play. At least for the most part, with the game being let down by an incredibly high barrier for entry, offering no help because the tutorial is a sheer Berlin-wall of text and an AI that seemingly decides it's only fair for it to cheat, all of which can take you out of the game.

Cadence of Hyrule ends up being a shocking blend of a rhythm game, action game, puzzle game, dungeon crawler, and roguelike, all in one. It's actually pretty stunning how well the developers have managed to blend all of these elements together and still come out with a cohesive and refined experience. The game looks amazing, plays marvelously, and the music is not only the most important part, but it's the part that delivers the best. The Crypt of the NecroDancer formula isn't for everyone, but this game is borderline unmissable.

Outer Wilds gets most of the “big picture” stuff right. It boasts a solid structure, wonderfully imaginative planets, and an involving slow-burn mystery. Unfortunately, clunky controls, a few irritating design choices, and a multitude of other little issues bring the game back down to earth. If you value originality over execution, Outer Wilds is worth the ride, but expect some turbulence.

Driftland: The Magic Revival offers an interesting turn on strategy games, both with a unique setting and interesting hands-off control system, which can offer some especially compelling gameplay online and in a skirmish. However, despite the interesting setting, too little is used from it in what is an anaemic at best campaign and a very much limited and shared asset pool between factions. Despite these issues, there is an enjoyable time to be found here, especially for strategy fans.

Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland is one of the best entries in the Atelier series. While the story is not particularly exciting, the charming characters, enjoyable world and streamlined game mechanics can keep players engaged for a very long time. Highly recommended to fans of the series and to those looking for a nice JRPG that's not too demanding.

Draugen is an enthralling series of mysteries wrapped in a beautiful, haunting landscape. Although some of the game might leave you stumbling around or questioning its direction, it's hard not to play it to the end to find out what happened.

Zanki Zero drops the investigations for average survival RPG gameplay and explores themes of life, death, and rebirth with a sadistic story that goes places that Danganronpa wouldn't dare explore.

Conan Unconquered isn't the most polished RTS to be released this year, but it is filled with unique ideas, challenging enemies and fun emergent moments.

Unruly Heroes is a decent action-platformer that has a fantastic art style and genuinely looks beautiful. The platforming and combat, for the most part, is sound, with a huge amount of variety to find in the levels. However, the controls can be a little unresponsive and the game does have issues with some very forced 'comedy', though comedy is always subjective. Is Unruly Heroes worth buying? For what is a reasonably low price, it is a decent title to pick up and is worth spending some time with.

Blood & Truth is a fantastic roller coaster ride from beginning to end, coupling together an actually decent crime story along with two-handed gunplay that could only work in VR.

Layers of Fear 2 is an extremely gripping first-person horror game that keeps players engaged from beginning to end thanks to its story, which touches some very interesting themes. The game, however, is far from a masterpiece that could appeal to a wider audience due to its simple gameplay mechanics, linearity and excessive similarity to its predecessor. A solid game and a must-have for fans of psychological horror stories, but definitely not for everyone.

I thought I would enjoy Pathologic 2, but its needlessly mundane and cruel systems take too much away from its otherwise interesting and strange world.

Life is Strange 2 - Episode 3 continues to impress in terms of soundtrack, setting and character development. It's not as fast paced as the others in this series, but it works perfectly for the emotional narrative underpinning the overall journey.

Team Sonic Racing is a shadow of the All-Stars Racing Franchise, losing more than just a fun cast of racers in the transition. There's still some fun to be had in this derivative kart racer, but you're better off seeking two other racers to join you on the track.

Observation spins a solid sci-fi yarn steeped in ominous atmosphere, but it fails to live up to its intriguing “Play as HAL 9000!” pitch. Too much of the game feels like irritating busy work as you wait for something interesting to happen. Folks who care about story first and foremost will want to give Observation a look, but those hoping for both an engaging plot and mechanics may find this space odyssey a drudgery.

Surviving Mars is a management game that's really simple to pick up but hard to put down, and Green Planet continues improving on the tested formula.

Total War: Three Kingdoms is as close to flawless as you'll find, with a fantastic balance of 4X strategy and character-focused development and emergent storytelling. The battles are frantic, with increased tactical opportunities through duelling. City development is more intuitive and less restrictive, though still requires thought and all of this takes place on a China that looks downright fantastic, where even the UI and menus look great. This is the Total War experience and a new high for the series.

Ghost Giant is easily one of the most accessible PSVR puzzle games available in 2019, despite the control issues I encountered during my playthrough. There is a deep story about mental health here, but its impact is certainly softened by the cartoony adventures of Louis and his oversized ghost friend.

Rage 2 is ugly, silly, and dated, and yet, I still enjoyed the hell out of most of my time with it. The game delivers the kind of low-stress, high-satisfaction fun you don’t often get from big-budget games these days. If you’re willing to check your brain at the title screen, I suggest you jump into this apocalypse now.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is definitely among the gaming surprises of 2019, exceeding expectations in the best possible ways. With its gripping tale, charming characters and solid gameplay mechanics, the game is a must-have for those who like single-player games with a strong focus on story and character development. Even if the tale does not take in you, A Plague Tale: Innocence still offers a compelling third-person stealth experience that fans of the genre will surely appreciate.

Were it not for the lack of resources and having to push the game out, I can honestly say that Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey could have been a very good game, though not without the known issues of the tediously slow movement. All in all, if you want to play through an interesting story with a compelling core cast of characters, masterfully voice acted, then you could do a lot worse than Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey.

All things considered, though, I would heartily recommend Close to the Sun. With some fantastic world-building, an incredibly well detailed and atmospheric setting that's enhanced by a cast of interesting characters with great voice acting. The real issue comes from the lack of replay value, though for those who like to explore the world and story, there are reasons to go back.

Konami's first anniversary collection for their 50th anniversary contains some notable arcade classics, but the fact they've been previously released digitally with more options should appeal to only the most ardent of nostalgic fans.

Rise of Industry is fundamentally sound, but it goes from boom to bust too quickly. Poor tutorials make the game hard to get into, and once you do get the hang of things, you’ll find the magic is short-lived due to a lack of depth and polish. There is fun to be had with Rise of Industry, but budding tycoons concerned about value may want to invest elsewhere.

FAR: Lone Sails is a remarkable game that attempts to convey a message through its presentation and gameplay, without using any words, and totally succeeds in doing so. The experience may be on the short side, but if you're looking for something truly artistic and beyond much that has been done so far, look no further.

Dark Devotion looks good and clearly has a lot of imagination behind it, but the systems that keep repeating throughout the game don't do much except getting you lost, confused, or frustrated.

Boxboy + Boxgirl is perfectly pleasant platforming that anyone can enjoy. If you’re looking for a new puzzle game to play on Nintendo Switch in bitesize chunks, look no further than Qbby and his new friend in Boxboy + Boxgirl.