Capes makes a great first impression as an original superhero tactics title that feels fresh, tight, and responsive. The turn-based battle system controls well and is easy to pick up, while also being so confident in its smooth player induction that things quickly start getting spicy. The roster of cape-less heroes all look, sound, and play satisfyingly distinct from one another and make choosing your four heroes for a given mission a daunting task. Players who like their turn-based XCOM-like titles to be lean, mean, and brain-meltingly precise will be sucked in for the first six-to-nine hours. After that, the tactical puzzles give way to what are essentially trial-and-error horde-survival missions that betray this title’s ambitions of doing anything interesting with the systems or story.

TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a fun diversion for any fan like me that missed it the first time around. I didn’t mind it, despite its obvious flaws, but this console port should have done more. I’ll happily acknowledge that the original team behind the Wrath of the Mutants arcade cabinet did a solid job at the time to rekindle much of what made the originals so fun. It’s just, given the modern world we live in where Shredder’s Revenge exists, the timing on this port is unfortunate.

Set against beautiful landscapes populated by a cast of wickedly cool deities, Diets and Deities is a short multicultural rhythm game which seeks to make your body move, your tastebuds dance, and your heart engage with its casual gameplay experience combining deep story themes exploring cultural preservation and consumption.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is a fine enough remaster if you have fond memories of the original. It looks and sounds great, but stumbles in its translation and will likely do more to frustrate newcomers than convince them the Master System classic was any good.

The Night is Grey is a serviceable point-and-click experience that sees its gorgeous art style and animations overshadowed by a disappointing ending and frustrating puzzles.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 & 2 rock and are arguably better games for their age that are best experienced with a Pro controller or even a beefier platform, just ignore Razor’s Edge.

No More Heroes III is a game of a different time. While its simple combat and its unique style still set it apart, its hidden age does more harm than good.

Avowed moves Obsidian Entertainment even further toward the action side of Action-RPG with a satisfying combat system and vibrant world stapled to an unengaging narrative and surface level roleplaying systems. Despite its initially promising setup, Avowed never rises above a binge and forget experience.

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.

Which is the overarching tale of Senua’s Saga– for almost everything it does well, there is a better counterpart in its predecessor, the remaining new additions never fully realised. It is painstakingly crafted yet thoroughly unengaging, its ruminations on the human condition are not unwelcome but presented with unearned profundity and housed in gameplay that is apathetic to the player at best. Senua’s Sacrifice was a crunchy experience but, in its limitations, and focus, it blossomed into a striking, contained reflection of emotions through systems. Conversely, Senua’s Saga is undeniably gorgeous and well intentioned, but exhaustively preoccupied with its own reflection.

Bloated, buggy and with its best ideas in the back half, Neocore's grimdark tactical King Arthur spin-off is halfway decent might and magic.

Enjoyed in the same vein as a Saturday morning cartoon, Persona 5 Tactica is welcoming to all and has a pleasantly casual air about it. As a game of two halves, dialogue and turn-based tactical battles, there is little fluff standing in the way of players assembling their team of three Phantom Thieves as they gun their way out of the Metaverse. While Tactica makes no big mistakes, it forgoes bringing new ideas to the table and mostly presents a mundane experience for genre fans.

With Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Konami has crafted a visually arresting re-release so fawning and reverent that it reads entirely incurious. Fans of the source material will no doubt relish the opportunity to play a more modern-feeling take on a generational piece of art, but such a seemingly important work should inspire more.

Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia feels a little antiquated, nailing the fundamentals of the tactics genre but leaving a lot to be desired.

With like-minded cleaners and a weekend spare, Back 4 Blood is a hoot. Lacklustre modes and a lack of identity dampen its long-term appeal.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical has a sharp eye for aesthetics and a kind heart but its ambitious concept buckles under uneven implementation and a lacklustre sound.

Where the Snow Settles tries to tell a story of substance but the game’s short runtime means that players never build a vested interest in Aurelia's journey.

Charming and occasionally engaging, Darwin’s Paradox! Is an uneven and sometimes irritating stealth platformer with a few too many quirks and inconsistencies to outright recommend.

A collection of cool shit laid out on a shaky foundation, Romeo is a Dead Man is as admirable and occasionally brilliant to witness as it is borderline boring to play. It’s a punk rock demo tape, an imperfect showcase of violent profundity scattered amongst a bunch of noise.

Blending together soccer and martial arts in a fun party game, KungFu Kickball is a decent game to break out when you're mates are over, though the lack of content and high price might cause you to look elsewhere.

Despite an intriguing alternate universe and a decent story, Paradise Lost fails to reach its potential due to poor voice acting and tedious gameplay.

Cris Tales is an enchanting story wrapped in a gorgeous visual style, but lacks sustained imagination in gameplay. JRPG players will find enjoyment within, but those less patient may be turned off after a few hours.

Wanderstop is a well-intentioned take on the personal weight of societal burnout and the issues typically found in the cozy genre but struggles to find much ground beyond its initial premise as surface-level commentary and frustrating, awkward gameplay spoils the brew.

RKGK / Rakugaki offers a visually stunning world with great music but struggles with slow pacing, flat interactions, and frustrating gameplay mechanics. The game has potential, but it needs more polish and variety to truly shine.

While it might seem like I actively dislike Flintlock, that’s not the case– the truth is far worse. The reality is that I just don’t have particularly strong opinions on the game, purely because it hasn’t left much of an impression on me, negative or otherwise. The setting and mythos that A44 created has potential, and I can see the makings of something worthwhile in a handful of the systems, but this attempt hasn’t landed. There’s nothing here that’s outwardly terrible or broken, it’s just lacking life in many vital facets. Even if I were to excuse the shoehorned Soulslike systems thrown into the mix, there’s still no compelling reason to play The Siege of Dawn.

AWAY is a beautiful and educational adventure like no other, but major gameplay mechanics are poorly executed and take away from it being a standout title in the survival genre.

Much like Bloober Team’s previous horror efforts, The Medium features an interesting story in a compelling and creepy world but is let down by often boring and dragged-out gameplay sequences.

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.