Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV represents a marked improvement on recent outings from the franchise, offering great strategic gameplay and strong characterisation. All of this is done with a strong focus on ease of access, made easier by a clean UI that allows people to pick it up easy. There are downsides, however. With adequate at best, though often poor AI and a collection of bugs, some that are game-breaking, there is still room for improvement and a dire need for patches to fix the bugs and optimisation issues.

Warlander offers a very interesting spin on the Dark Souls formula, featuring a deep stamina-based combat system featuring limb cutting mechanics, interesting setting and progression mechanics inspired by roguelike games. Sadly, the general lack of polish and low amount of content damage the experience in the end, making Warlander a game that can be recommended only to the most die-hard fans of the Souls series.

Hunt: Showdown is at first absolutely terrifying, but as you adjust it morphs into a smart, tense, and rewarding shooter that is best played with friends. It has slow moments and losing your hunter and progress can be incredibly frustrating, but those moments are all forgiven when you take down an enemy team with your sniper rifle. A fascinating shooter which isn't for everyone, but might be for you.

Dreams builds upon that premise of LittleBigPlanet that 'if you build it, they will come'. MediaMolecule has outdone themselves with this suite of creative tools and I look forward to seeing what Dreams may come over the next year.

The Last Autumn is new but difficult. With more challenges to overcome and new systems to wrestle with, The Last Autumn manages to capture the exact same feeling of Frostpunk without feeling like it's rehashing old ground.

The Suicide of Rachel Foster tackles challenging subject matter and bravely invites comparisons to recent indie favorites, but all the ambition in the world can’t make up for an unengaging story, clunky gameplay, and some unfortunate tone-deaf moments. If you loved Gone Home or Firewatch, you’re better off just playing them again – Rachel Foster is a ghostly shadow of those classics.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics is, at its very best, a mediocre game with some decent ideas - these primarily being the character customisation/job system and a few different types of battles thanks to map changes or interesting bosses that require tactical planning. However, any positives are bogged down by the silly decisions like requiring multiple clicks for every single action, even the basics, ignoring decades of turn-based tactics innovation and progression. Add onto this a barely-scraped story and an average, often lifeless, presentation and you have a game that can play well, but mostly plays slow.

At only ten hours long, Arc of Alchemist won't waste much of your time. This wasteland has seen better days and couldn't come as recommended to any but the most ardent of Idea Factory fans.

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.

Warcraft III: Reforged isn't the game that was promised, but is still a valuable reconstruction of one of the most influential titles in the history of video games. This release is, sadly, riddled with bugs as well as marred by the terrible decisions of Blizzard, particularly that of the false advertising that persists now even after launch. However, despite this, there's little doubting that Warcraft III: Reforged has a compelling story that, even eighteen years on, remains one of the most engaging in the genre. The gameplay holds strong to this day and with the tweaks and upgrades, this is an undeniable diamond in the rough.

The Re:Mind scenario is only appealing to two types of fans: players that haven't played Kingdom Hearts III yet or those that already mastered the game and want to challenge themselves on the hardest bosses in the series.

Kentucky Route Zero is a fascinating story with a thick atmosphere and themes which will leave you thinking long after playing each act. It's one of the best stories I've ever played or read in a video game, and I implore everyone to play it. Kentucky Route Zero is something special.

Anybody pining for more Metroid Prime needs to put Journey to the Savage Planet at the top of their list. The game has a few rough edges and its sense of humor might not be to all tastes, but it captures that inviting, adventuresome Metroid spirit better than anything I’ve played in a while. This Savage Planet will pull you into its orbit if you give it half a chance.

EarthNight has some novel ideas when it comes to making an auto-runner worth coming back to time and time again, but the inconsistent difficulty spikes and RNG elements can quickly put an otherwise good run into freefall.

The Surge 2: The Kraken offers a new area to explore, new enemies to fight, new items to find and new side-quests to complete. Sadly, the new content is not particularly meaningful, and the short length makes the DLC a worthy purchase only for those who love the main campaign.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a mixed bag. If you're a Dragon Ball fan, this game will offer so many nice moments and make you occasionally beam from ear to ear. But then during exploration and combat, things quickly become tedious. At full price, it's hard to recommend this game, but when it becomes affordable in a sale, it'll be hard for fans to resist.

Eclipse: Edge of Light has a few neat ideas, but nothing that isn’t done better anywhere else.

Mandate of Heaven is a strong DLC for Total War: Three Kingdoms, offering a selection of new mechanics for particular factions, a host of new units and a brand new scenario for you to begin with, one that seamlessly fits in with the rest of the game. There are a few issues that have been exasperated, such as diplomacy and the AI can't seem to handle the new mechanics well, but overall the DLC is still well worth picking up as for the most part, it offers even more engaging stories that allow for emergent gameplay and just more of Total War: Three Kingdoms, one of the best strategy games ever made.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore is definitely the definitive version of the game - who needs the Wii U GamePad, anyway? JRPG fans and those who love idol culture will find a lot to love here, but this certainly won't convert anyone who hasn't liked JRPGs in the past, like Persona 5 and other games might. A great title to have in your Nintendo Switch library.

AO Tennis 2 is most certainly a great step in the right direction, with large improvements to animations, physics and general gameplay. In addition to these improvements, the career mode here is one of the more personal and engaging career modes you'll find in a sports title, up there with any other sports title, especially thanks to the extensive character customisation which lets you create just the person you want. AO Tennis 2 isn't perfect though, there are still some issues with the general feel of the fall and some game mechanics like movement being tied to the aiming of your shots, causing an overlap, but the improvements are there and there's no doubt that Big Ant Studios are making large strides.

Unity of Command II makes for one of the most tactically engaging and challenging strategy games ever, enhancing an already excellent original with new features such as special attacks, a headquarters system which adds a levelling up system - working with the myriad of side objectives - and a very different type of war found on the western front to the east. It has quite the learning curve and may seem as impenetrable as the Maginot Line, but with a little time you'll come to love exactly how it works.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries tries to be inclusive, but unfortunately makes the mainstream issues with the genre all the more apparent without doing anything truly new or exciting to really draw the player in.

Railroad Corporation is a mixed bag, to be generous to the game. While it has certain strong points like the corporation building aspects, featuring a large variety of structures and businesses to supply and even own, as you utilise them to expand your corporation and develop the towns and cities around you. These cities react to your network of railways and businesses, creating the feeling of a living world. The problem, however, is that fundamental basics like even building your tracks is finicky at best, most of the time just annoying. Railroad Corporation can absorb you into it, it's certainly stole hours off of me, but the best I can say is that it's left early access too early and could certainly have done with a little more time.

Rune II lacks the imagination, experimentation and fleshed out mechanics that would have made stomping through the Viking end times a fun experience.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a six year old game that is showing signs of its age, and has not been brought in the modern generation gracefully. The visuals are often ugly, and the gunplay is below the standard seen on Nintendo Switch or anywhere else. For your money, you can play a much better game on this console. I could only possibly recommend this game for people nostalgic for the game, but even then it's likely to ruin those rose-tinted memories.

Transport Fever 2 is a toothless but still ultimately enjoyable simulation of all things infrastructure. As you set up resource lines, passenger routes and more, you'll see the world develop and grow around your inputs and influence which is enjoyable and even an addictive thing. Simple and easy to get into, the core problem is that it takes simple a little too literally, with the game offering no real challenge throughout any game mode. Still, if you enjoy this sort of game, you could do a lot worse than Transport Fever 2.

Alien Isolation is an essential horror game, and the Nintendo Switch version might even be the very best place to play it, as long as you can ignore the caveats mentioned above. With excellent picture and audio quality, thick atmosphere, and a beautiful aesthetic, it is one of the most interesting licensed games ever released, and a great stealth horror title to enjoy.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York left me feeling hungry. The game is certainly well-written, but its truncated story doesn’t quite do its complex, captivating world justice. If you’re a dedicated VTM devotee, Coteries of New York is a solid appetizer, but you’ll have to wait until next year for something to truly sink your fangs into.