Removing the combat from a shoot ‘em up is a bold choice that manages to pay off with Swordship. The fast and responsive movement and reliance on wit over brute force create an additive and challenging gameplay loop that kept me coming back time and time again. The occasional frustrating moment can be found when the RNG decides to play rough, and defaulting to one life feels a bit savage, but these are minor gripes when all is said and done. Swordship is a fantastic indie arcade title that will have leaderboard chasers salivating.

With a striking hand-drawn art style and challenging puzzles, Children of Silentown is a decent romp for those adventure game fans seeking a dark journey.

With fun exploration and an enjoyable world to get lost in, Blacktail is a whimsical journey of self-reflection through our favourite fairy tales; not too hot, not too cold but just right.

An unsatisfying shooter brought even lower by an exhausting and all-encompassing script, High on Life can’t commit to its satire or ideas long enough to do anything of value.

Ys VIII remains a fundamentally great action JRPG that looks its best on PS5, but its underwhelming DualSense feedback is a huge missed opportunity.

Need for Speed Unbound sees Criterion put its spin on the formula laid down by its predecessor and the result is a stylish racer that is mostly fun but sometimes frustrating.

Melatonin is a short but kind experience, a hint of melancholy and a splash of retro vibes. It’s less about the challenge (though it's there for those who seek it) and more about chilling out to some cool tracks across some fun levels, with accessibility that should be applauded.

It does feel a little patchwork in places, but Crisis Core is a reunion worth going to. The emotional gut-punch of a finale remains one of the best in the long running series, and that alone is worth the price of admission.

If one were to look at Darktide as a foundation for Fatshark’s newest co-op shooter legacy, you’d be impressed at the sheer girth of it all. This is a title that comes with a fat promise of more great things to come, while already awash in a sea of great things to see and do. Short of some critical failure on Fatshark’s part, I really can’t imagine a future where Darktide doesn’t establish itself as another fantastic team shooter experience for fans to enjoy for years to come. It is a great many things – gorgeous, fun, rewarding – but one thing it is not, is lacking ambition.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet offer a unique and incredibly engaging experience that the series has desperately needed since its transition to 3D back in 2013. Unfortunately, it has also been released in an incredibly unoptimised state which sours the whole experience.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet offer a unique and incredibly engaging experience that the series has desperately needed since its transition to 3D back in 2013. Unfortunately, it has also been released in an incredibly unoptimised state which sours the whole experience.

A tight card-driven skirmisher is the beating heart of a deeply troubled Marvel game, burdened by feature creep and endless hours of terrible dialogue.

FIFA 23 signs off on EA and FIFA’s partnership with another solid entry that brings the gameplay experience closer to the real thing, but it’s once again sullied by its Ultimate Team monetisation.

Star Ocean's 25th-anniversary title celebrates its beloved PS2 classic with a spiritual remake, but its adherence to archaic series’ design will ward off new players.

Gungrave G.O.R.E is a thorough examination of what games offered us before they transformed into 40-hour cinematic masterpieces. While its appeal may not be broad enough to interest everyone, it establishes itself as a love letter to a time when your gaming experience was absolutely about bombastic style, personal fantasy and massive high scores.

Evil West might wear old-school clothes, but under the hood it's a modern stunner. Gorgeous and gutsy, the tale of Jesse Rentier paints a dark world where the best way to illuminate your path is by way of a shocking Tesla-powered knuckle duster. It deftly navigates some of the pitfalls that are to be expected when forging a new IP and drops a winning hand that is more aces than eights.

After a slow start to the series, The Devil in Me is a satisfying end to The Dark Pictures’ first season with its fascinating setting and improved gameplay leaving me excited for the second season.

Goat Simulator 3 not only recaptures the crazy fun of the original, but it expands and improves on everything that came before, resulting in a big, stupid sandbox experience that made me smile from start to finish.

Somerville is a fantastic debut for Jumpship that should be commended, but a little extra polish in some key areas would have made an already great game even better.

A gorgeous, towering watermark for choice-driven narratives, enlivening a heartfelt medieval saga to surpass the greats in prose and play.

A Little to the Left perfectly captures the cosy and softcore vibes you’d want from a game primarily about the cute-ification of everyday cleaning tasks, with great approachability options and puzzle variety to boot. But its simplicity may leave you feeling a bit listless in the end.

Rose is a fascinating character that deserves her own, full-blown sequel, but for now Shadows of Rose is a worthwhile adventure for those looking for a little more from an already brilliant Resident Evil tale.

While it may be far from perfect, Sonic Frontiers is a colossal step in the right direction for the future of the neon blue needlemouse. Its issues are more stumbles than falls, with the action and exploration creating a memorable experience for everyone's favourite Hedgehog.

Redeeming a fantasy metropolitan police department is a strangely pedestrian setup for a JRPG. Forgettable plot aside, Zero features some of the best writing and character narratives in the genre.

Ragnarök chooses iteration over innovation, but continues to operate in a league of its own in terms of its nuanced gameplay and otherworldly technical execution. This is the new posterchild for what the PS5 is capable of, and the passionate product of a development outfit that can seemingly do no wrong.

Almost like an alternate universe cosplay, Ghost Song is a game that aims to appeal to your nostalgia for the old school Metroid series, while mixing in some additions from recent iterations of the genre they spawned. A few minor missteps don’t detract from an otherwise sensational package, which has a giant, charming and weirdly adorable heart.

The Switch has had a good run of major ports lately, and Persona 5 Royal is no exception. It may have taken a while to get here, but the journey is more than worthwhile for new and returning Thieves. And now, Smash fans will finally know who Joker really is.

Signalis is a kaleidoscope of horror tropes and foundational mechanics elevated by insightful tonal work and tightly constructed core gameplay. Even more surprising and thrilling that this is rose-engine’s first commercial release, signalling a tremendous command of systems, aesthetics and, most importantly, intent. Signalis is independent game development at its best, reverential to the past but unafraid to infuse classic genre work with exciting, and deeply personal, new blood.

By pure chance alone, Bayonetta 3 feels fit for the moment. At a time when loving Bayonetta feels *complicated*, Bayonetta 3 is a relentless, unashamed celebration of Bayonetta; of this character, of her companions, of the demons she fights alongside and of the outrageous spectacle that is the hallmark of this series.

Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef is a title that revels in the simple joy of carnage for carnage sake – with a story exactly as shallow as it needs to be, it breathes refreshing life into a dark, dystopian future that we’d rather visit than live in.

Airoheart attempts to recreate the magic of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in its own image, only to see itself let down by its painfully average storytelling and lack of direction in its dungeons.

Flaws and all, Ghostbusters has always been one of my favourites, but its video game history has been spotty at best. Luckily, Spirits Unleashed is easily one of the best iterations of the brand, an engaging multiplayer experience that both makes you really feel like a Ghostbuster but makes the task of being bad guy just as fun if not more so. It isn’t perfect, nothing across the history of busting ghosts has ever been, but the inclusion of bots and hopefully some future content updates means this isn’t going to die an unfortunate early death and become just another entry in Tobin’s Spirit Guide.

Gotham Knights sets itself apart from the Arkham series in all the wrong ways, leaving players with a disappointing action-RPG that’s in desperate need of refinement.

With a narrative that offers more hits than misses, New Tales From The Borderlands is a modern, gorgeous glimpse into what the nobodies of the Borderlands universe get up to on their shittiest days.

While the needle wobbles between fun and frustrating, Camped Out! is still a memorable multiplayer title that easily captures an undiscovered need to be the very best at camping anywhere you can, be it an abandoned mine or a spooky beach.

With stunning visuals, incredible performances and a poignant and grim narrative that hits hard, A Plague Tale: Requiem is a truly compelling journey even if it buckles under its own ambitions along the way.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope expertly toes the line between Nintendo’s penchant for accessible titles targeting younger audiences and Ubisoft’s matured gameplay systems to create an experience like no other.

Scorn is a feast for the eyes, a buffet for the mind but not for those of a weak stomach. It satisfies the morbid and the curious with its odd forms and sombre tapestries.

Soulless yet almost serviceable as a light hack ‘n slash Valkyrie Profile spinoff, Elysium is a 15-hour chore of ugly visuals, repetitive combat, and a mundane plot.

With a revitalised gameplay experience and tighter combat, the actual moment-to-moment gameplay of Overwatch has never been better. Let’s hope the monetisation strategy relaxes a little.

The DioField Chronicle's interesting mix of strategy and tactics just barely keeps afloat a bloated package of repetition, achingly dull characters, and eye-rolling writing.

Your experience with The Tomorrow Children will vary, especially if you don’t get any players visiting your space. But when everything clicks like a well-oiled machine, there’s a strange sense of appeal here that makes it intriguing enough.

Moonscars brings a deeply satisfying core combat loop and exciting art direction to the Soulslike genre, even if it has some teething issues with its overlapping systems and narrative.

An ambitious blend of genres that winds up a jack of many trades but a master of none, Sunday Gold deserves credit for its aesthetics and goals but it’s difficult to recommend this trip to the races.

Return to Monkey Island is a nostalgic and fun swashbuckling experience that delivers an adventure that fans of the series and genre have been waiting years for.

The best video game adaptation of the wildest manga property gets a better-than-average port. For Jojo's fans only, though.

A playable vacuum is enough of a sell for me. Still, the goofy premise, excellent level design and entertaining gameplay ensures that Justice Sucks will strike a chord with anyone who enjoys chasing a high score.

Beacon Pines is a title that I will find myself recommending to people with as little context as possible – a gorgeous and charming example of unique storytelling that simply must be experienced blindly to fully appreciate its cute and quirky tale of curious conspiracy.

It’s a chaotic push and pull between ecstatic fun and dull annoyance that honestly drives Soulstice, but it’s nonetheless worth checking out.

Wylde Flowers is a pleasant place to exist, the kind of game you can simply relax with and appreciate its colour and let the stress of the real world slip away. Come on by for its cast of inclusive and engaging characters, stay for its simpler take on the lifestyle genre with a clever, magical spin. Some might prefer a little more detail or options to really make it your own, but it’s an island worth visiting if Tom Nook’s insistence on spending more nook miles has become an annoyance.

Without a focus on MJ’s career, 2K23 doesn’t offer too much more than last year’s iteration. It’s a serviceable experience for newcomers and pros alike, it’s just a damn shame it’s becoming more and more a marketing tool than a game. What concerns me is, where do they go from here?

With its eccentric elderly cast, intricate themes, unique agency mechanics and narrative structure, Wayward Strand is a compelling experience that reels you in and leaves you wanting to call your grandma.

Metal: Hellsinger enlists some all-star musical talent to bring its dream of metal-based FPS mayhem to life, but stumbles in finding its gameplay rhythm.

Steelrising makes some welcome changes to the genre formula but its best qualities are blurred by its lacklustre writing and world design.

If you’re in it purely for the single player content, you’ll find a lot to love in Splatoon 3. It’s disappointing that there’s pretty much nothing else for you if you’re completely offline – without live servers we haven’t even been able to access the included Tableturf Battle card game or spend any time customising anything – but we’ll have more to say once we can actually get stuck into the rest of the game. [Review in Progress]

Riko and Reg's descent to the netherworld is a classic in existential dread and worldbuilding. Playing in this broken world imparts an even worse sense of dread.

While the original will always have its place in the hearts of many players, The Last of Us Part I is the definitive way to experience the beginning of Joel and Ellie’s journey, even if the price is a little steep.

A true achievement in game design and interactive fiction, Immortality is a gorgeous and haunting magic trick that sets a new standard for the medium.

To finally have proper, unspoiled versions of TMNT Arcade and Turtles in Time that I can play whenever I want without having to spend hundreds on a replica arcade machine makes the TMNT: Cowabunga Collection worth it alone. Everything else is a welcome bonus.

The mix of point-and-click and beat ‘em up gameplay with a 90s cartoon aesthetic makes BROK the InvestiGator a unique adventure game that should not be missed.

A glossy and streamlined remake of a cult classic faithfully updates the experience for modern audiences but struggles to make much of an impression nearly twenty years after the original release.

There’s nothing abhorrently wrong with Soul Hackers 2, it’s a solid JRPG with plenty to like, but nothing here feels as unique or creative as it could be given the source material. Fans will no doubt still enjoy it, but it’s a missed opportunity to push the boundaries further.

Unambitious, dated, and dreadfully lacking in polish, only series fans eager for more classic Saints gameplay need apply.

With combat that’s as brutal as it is satisfying and a progression system that truly makes you feel like you’re mastering you’re the craft of kicking arse, Midnight Fight Express is a brawler that surpasses most and challenges those at the top of the genre.

If you loved the original Life is Strange, We Are OFK should be on both your list of games to play and most definitely on your music playlist. It’s a banger, though it should be said, Debug deserves its own game.

Blending the momentum of an extreme sport with the action of a third-person shooter, Rollerdrome creates a unique experience that will resonate with those who love to chase a high score.

Thymesia understands the core of what makes the action genre so satisfying but fails to meaningfully execute on its ideas and world.

South of the Circle beguiles with its polished presentation and top-notch performances but often forgets to make itself a compelling game in the process.

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered swings onto the PC platform with grace. Its pricing is a little high, and its optimisation needs a little work but the customisation options encroach on setting a new standard for the PC gaming industry.

Lean, light, and pleasingly presented, this is a perfect snack on the Switch when travelling on your next exciting adventure.

Cult of the Lamb stands as a true masterpiece of not one but two genres. I just couldn’t find any issues that got in the way of my enjoyment of its various mechanics, and the love I have for my clan will continue long past the final boss encounter.

With a strong initial roster, great visual presence and focus on cooperative combat, MultiVersus carves out a distinct spot for itself in the platform brawler genre.

Charming, witty, and hard to put down, Two Point Campus scores an approachable A for the armchair administrator.

For the small audience looking for a romantic World War 2 satire featuring a harem of loli leaders, My Little Dictator will entertain for dozens of hours. Just skip the combat.

It's not perfect, but Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a confident sequel that's best-in-class in the ways that matter most. Your favourite bits of the first two games are here, cherry-picked and placed into a narrative with a tasteful balance of earnest ideas and anime bullshit.

Lord Winklebottom Investigates is a fun, gorgeous and often funny point-and-click adventure that is a solid addition to the genre’s library.

Mothmen 1966 is a welcome first entry to the ‘Pixel Pulp’ series of interactive retro adventures, telling a quality story about the Leonid Meteor Shower of 1966 and the strange events that surrounded it. Unfortunately the gameplay fails to be anywhere near as interesting, but the package is not without its charm.

Repetitive combat and exploration pad out this wonderfully remastered cult JRPG experience that falls just short of a recommendation.

Stray is everything I wanted from it, an enjoyable and engaging journey across a well told tale that is every bit as cute as it is mysterious. More importantly, it made me feel empowered and brave in the face of uncertainty – I can’t remember the last time I’ve audibly cried out in delight so many times in the space of a few hours. Cuteness overload, no doubt.

This interactive crime drama packs a unique visual style and some gripping moments dealing with mature themes. The choices you make are crucial to the fates of two families, but the impact is more keenly felt in the first act than the second.

While it’s built around an interesting mechanic and features tense, sometimes terrifying moments, MADiSON is frequently derailed by tedious puzzles and an irritating amount of backtracking.

A brilliant new playable character makes re-experiencing the beautiful brutality of Cuphead a worthwhile prospect. The expertly designed bosses are a delight, even if the experience ends up being a bit of snack rather than a full meal.

Expanding on the already fun combat while offering a new and improved endgame mode, Worldslayer is worth heading back to Enoch for, even if the story told on the trip is a forgettable one.

While it’s not as immediately vocal about its changes and improvements, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak still offers a great deal for fans of the Monster Hunter series.

nirvanA Initiative combines the best of AI: The Somnium Files’s presentation with the sharpest puzzles and best writing across Team Zero Escape’s catalogue.

Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel lifts liberally from the best of the horror genre but its unsatisfying core gameplay loops leave you out in the cold. A nifty camera mechanic allows for some entertaining time-bending exploration and the game has a solid grasp on 2000s grunge aesthetics, even if the story at its heart is a little old hat.

Worth milking every drop – the steaks have never been higher.

Born Punk is a solid point-and-click adventure whose overly faithful homage to the classics slightly hinders its enjoyment.

High Isle offers a number of fun, entertaining experiences. However, it focuses on mostly delivering more of the same rather than building and properly expanding on the game’s core ideas. It’s completely fine that it does this, but I just personally wish it strived to be a little more.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes succeeds admirably as both a spin-off stacked with fanservice that truly understands the source material and as a compelling take on the Warriors format. It's not going to win over any detractors of musou-style gameplay and it starts to buckle under the weight of repetition by the end, but if you're a fan of Three Houses and can handle that, you're in for a treat.

It still amazes me that TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is real, but the eight-year-old within me is incredibly glad it is. Reliving the classic arcade games with a whole new lens made me smile from ear to ear, but newcomers and youngsters alike should find Story Mode a good way to introduce themselves to the wild, brawler antics. It’s a must play, even beyond the wonderful nostalgia factor.

With a stellar cast, compelling story and a ton of replayability, The Quarry is a love letter to 80s and 90s teen horror that makes for a cracking and tense time.

Neon White perfectly captures the sense of speed without compromising on accuracy or enjoyment. It’s a ride that’s worth playing, whether to appreciate its finely tuned level design, its enjoyable narrative or that sense of accomplishment when you best a run on the first try.

Mario Strikers: Battle League Football excels on the field, but it struggles to make a compelling offer for solo players or anyone not willing to invest time in forming and maintaining a Strikers Club. It's just pick-up-and-play enough to work as a party game with mates and it's compelling to watch in action, but the lack of embellishments is sure to hurt its long-term appeal.

It’s the most fun you’ll have from a comfortable vantage point of shuffling cards and pouring wine.

What Corpse Factory lacks in subtlety it makes up for with an unnerving commitment to its absurdly morbid theming and story. The production value of Australian team Crow River Studio’s latest visual novel is remarkable in both its visuals and fully voiced dialogue. The lack of meaningful decisions and its three endings offering the coldest of closure does little to shake this title from being an easy recommendation for fans of edgy psychological horror.

Silt feels reminiscent of iconic puzzle adventures like Limbo and INSIDE, but its lack of originality and story see it fail to be as memorable.

It’s just disappointing that a lack of polish and modern sensibilities hinder the product at all turns, leaving what could have been a chunky and ambitious slice of indie action horror down a path forgotten and overshadowed.