Donkey Kong Country Returns HD still delivers its share of scintillating simian escapades, but aside from a visual spit shine, not much has been added to the game to keep it competitive with the many excellent 2D platformers that have hit the scene since 2010, including its own sequel. DK completionists and newbies looking for a surprisingly stiff "Nintendo hard" challenge will be happy with this package, but others might want to wait until the big ape has something truly new to beat his chest about.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk doesn’t strive to expand upon Koei Tecmo’s signature style in any meaningful way, but for longtime fans of the genre, perhaps there isn’t much need to innovate. Being able to relive Guts' early adventures during the Golden Age and beyond is sure to excite fans of Kentaro Miura's epic.

Accel World vs. Sword Art Online is a competent action role-playing game offering a simple yet solid combat system, good story and characters and plenty of content. Due to the very bland exploration and a couple of other issues, namely technical and controls issues on PlayStation Vita, the game can only be recommended to fans of both franchises.

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy is a decent culmination of the series. The game offers plenty of mind-bending puzzles and still respects its platforming roots. While the combat still feels somewhat clunky, the game's visuals and puzzle difficulty more than makeup for it. The game is much more enjoyable with friends as they can solve puzzles more inventively.

Rematch is arguably the best sports game I've played in years, and that comes down to the air-tight mechanics at the core of its gameplay, and how good it feels to dribble, make a pass, take a shot, or make a save - all of which wonderfully balances its 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 game modes. It's tackled at the knees by everything around that core gameplay, from its poor UI/UX menu design, to its uninspired visual style and the fact that it currently lacks any offline game modes, and, at least at launch, the several networking issues and bugs that plague the experience.

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is a more streamlined, sleeker and quicker Total War than those before it. However, the changes to make it like this offer new opportunities and one of the more tactical campaign maps than ever before. While it still suffers from some issues, like boring end game and being altogether too easy, there's still a whole lot to gain from playing Thrones of Britannia.

Outriders is a fun looter-shooter game where both the action and RPG parts of the formula are exceedingly well done. It does falter at the endgame, though, and it comes with a myriad of technical issues, not to mention an antiquated world structure; bear all of that in mind if you're looking to purchase at full price.

Knockout City plays with some interesting ideas to turn Dodgeball into a simple competitive shooter, but it's clear Velan Studios has spent more time building a robust microtransaction system than appealing content.

For fans of The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, it’s been a bittersweet twenty years. Those who have been on that journey all this time will enjoy the chance to send those characters off one last time, although newcomers might only get to understand parts of the story. Cameos and past events fill out a majority of Dreamfall Chapter’s setting, but there’s still an entwined story beneath it all that can be enjoyed by newcomers nonetheless. Although the Unity port’s performance doesn’t handle particularly well under pressure on the Playstation 4 Pro, the journey is still worth taking just to see Kian and Zoë’s stories come to a close.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled doesn’t break any new ground, but the 20-year-old game at the heart of the package holds up well and Beenox has done a commendable job of updating it for the 21st century. Unfortunately, most of the extras that have been added, including Crash Nitro Kart tracks and the usual pile of unlockable cosmetics, aren’t terribly inspired, making Nitro-Fueled feel less essential than other recent Activision remakes. Hardcore CTR fans and those looking for a surprisingly-stiff challenge should give Nitro-Fueled a shot, but others might find it runs out of gas surprisingly quick.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok is a solid expansion that introduces some interesting gameplay mechanics and plenty of new content that, at the end of the day, doesn't change how the game is played in a significant way. After a long base game and two expansions, Dawn of Ragnarok definitely needed to be something more to become an essential purchase, as only those who haven't had enough of Assassin's Creed Valhalla will fully appreciate the coming of Ragnarok and the end of an age.

Trying to cross the genre of Souls games together with the random nature of roguelike games is a task that’s difficult enough to make work, let alone infusing it with a free-to-play system that punishes the player for dying. Let It Die somehow manages to find a very thin line bridging the three together and makes it work with a quirky infusion that stands by Suda’s game development. While some mechanical aspects, and yes, the freemium components, prevent it from being a perfect experience, fans of Souls games owe it to themselves to download this free-to-play title and give it a shot. Win, and see yourself standing at the top of the Tower of Barbs; die, and become just another Hater filling its halls.

Halo Wars 2 is an ideal strategy game for beginners. There's little doubting that the action is solid and it looks fantastic, but other strange choices mar what would be a great title. From downright bad writing, to the inclusion of pay to win microtransactions in a premium game, there are some absolutely perplexing decisions.

Outriders: Worldslayer provides an exceedingly brief albeit intense story campaign, though its meat is clearly in the vastly improved endgame experience. The Trial of Tarya Gratar, the Apocalypse gear, and Ascension and PAX systems all contribute to a better, deeper endgame. Ultimately, though, the game plays exactly the same as the original Outriders and is unlikely to win over any new fans.

State of Decay 2 is every bit as fun and rough as the first game was in 2013. It feels like a game that would have massively benefited from additional resources during development given its numerous technical shortcomings, but even so, its core (improved in this sequel) remains unique and fun to play, especially with friends. It's one of those titles that can be described as being more than the sum of its parts.

American Fugitive is a fun romp through a colourful, top-down GTA-inspired open-world crime-fest. While the game has some issues, such as repetitive missions, as well as stability problems on the Switch, it doesn't stop it from being an all-around fun and engaging title when you're actually playing. The freedom to explore a world of a decent size where there's actually a fair bit of content to go through, including side-elements like finding stashes, doing stunt-jumps and time trials. Is this the next GTA? No, nor was it going to be. Is it a fun, engaging and altogether decent title at a very reasonable price? Most definitely.

There might have been plenty of co-op shooters since Left 4 Dead, but few managed to wrangle the same fun, fear and frantic combat as Earthfall did.

The game's simple nature binds a Little to the Left, but it achieves its aims very well. Even when testing your brain with a puzzle, it is a calming game. It offers various puzzles, some with multiple solutions, a daily puzzle to keep coming back to, and a little amusing narrative in the background that all cat owners will find familiar. This is a game I've enjoyed, and I can find myself returning to it, offering an excellent refresher and palate cleanser.

World War Z is a surprisingly fresh take on the well-trodden Left 4 Dead formula. While a bit rough around the edges and nowhere near as groundbreaking as Valve’s series, World War Z is a confident co-op shooter that turns the intensity to 11 without being overwhelming or obnoxious. If you think you’ve got the stamina, this war is worth enlisting for.

Overcoming some fan criticism from last year's release, Dead Rising 4 Frank's Big Package is a celebration of how silly zombie killing can be. It still doesn't manage to be as good as the first Dead Rising, though.

Both a beautiful character design and meaningful focus on the action aspects, both in battle and traversing around in Indivisible are so good that the weaker aspects only stand out more.

Styx: Blades of Greed is the definition of a solid 'AA' game. It struggles under the weight of its own ambition and some Unreal Engine 5 optimization woes, but its charming main character and quality of its sandbox level design make it a game that those looking for an almost pure stealth experience will love.

Cities: Skylines - Natural Disasters is a good, albeit slightly expensive addition to the core game. One of the huge features being given free as part of a patch detracting from the DLC seems unfair to say, but it's true nonetheless. However, the disasters add a whole new element to the game and the addition of helicopters make for a very interesting and useful expansion to your emergency services.

Harold Halibut is an extraordinary accomplishment in a lot of ways, presenting a gorgeously-realized handcrafted world and a story swimming with unique sci-fi ideas and affecting emotional beats. Unfortunately, a lack of stimulating puzzles or gameplay results in a title that delivers quite nicely on a surface movie-like level, but doesn't dive as deep as you might expect.

Despite all the complaints though, I can’t help but recommend Fire Emblem Warriors to Warriors fans. If you enjoyed Hyrule Warriors, you’ll enjoy this just as much, and if you’re not really a Warriors fan, then this probably won’t convince you, even if you adore Fire Emblem.

The Council Episode Two brings a lot to the excellent first episode, but some of its experiments don't pay out like they should have. The story is on point, but the puzzles needed a little more work.

Earth’s Dawn has the genuine feel of being developed by people that have played other similar games in the genre and have established the groundwork for a successful action RPG. Unfortunately, their execution fails to hit the mark in a number of instances that quickly add up to work against it. Perhaps by drawing too much inspiration from the likes of Odin Sphere, Earth’s Dawn ran the risk of riding the success of the recent Leifthrasir instead of being celebrated as a unique infusion of genres.

At first I was rolling my eyes at a blatant rip off of other fantastic games, but by the end I realized this is a great game in its own right.