While it’s commendable that OTXO attempts to freshen up the top-down shooter genre by mixing in roguelike qualities and a time-bending mechanic, the result, unfortunately, feels at odds with itself.

The Last Stand: Aftermath is a blast from the past and enjoyable rogue-like that is unfortunately infected with bugs.

So who is this game for? I can imagine cosy gamers being delighted by the intricacies of the puzzles as I was, but others might feel this interrupts the simplicity. I can also see how a game like this could spark delight and long-term nostalgia for someone before finding games that incorporate its elements a bit better. Maybe escapism shouldn’t be the marker for a successful cosy game. Maybe it was necessary for me to play something so casually at the end of the year, so that my mind could be freed up to contemplate the wins and losses of 2024, and the resolutions to be attempted in 2025. Critter Café, with its flaws and subtle successes, is at least a fittingly weird game for the end of a pretty weird year.

Foreclosed features a masterful comic book art style and pumping sci-fi soundtrack, but its average action and failure to capitalise on its cyberpunk themes make it a hard sell.

While Frontier of Pandora's open world is an audio-visual feast, the formulaic structure of its gameplay and the tools it give you to wade through it feels far too familiar to make it worth visiting for long.

MacGuffin's Curse is a product of a simpler time, but manages to stand out with its charming writing despite a difficulty in escaping the trappings of its ancient genre.

Despite my issues with The Casting of Frank Stone, I had a decent enough time during my six hours. The story may not have had the payoff I was promised at the start, but I was intrigued enough until the end, even if the gameplay did its best to take the sting out of the experience. Maybe my lack of Dead by Daylight knowledge hindered my enjoyment, but fans of Supermassive’s games will likely have a good enough time. Just don’t expect its best work.

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.

Hood: Outlaws & Legends has a strong premise on paper and at times is fun and exciting, but its gameplay shortcomings mean that it never reaches its full potential.

Code Vein II picks a little from the best of the Soulslike genre, but doesn’t go the distance to innovate or execute on these ideas well enough. The Blood Codes-fuelled action is where the gameplay shines, but the confusing writing and performance issues on PS5 suck the fun out of this anime vampire sequel.

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.

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.

Verne: The Shape of Fantasy isn’t a bad game by any stretch. There are some neat moments and ideas, and the pixel art style is a delight, but the overall experience does little to stand out among the crowd in a genre teeming with creativity.

I really wanted to love Forever Skies and I’d hoped that it would recapture the magic I felt when playing Subnautica for the first time. The foibles that I’d been prepared to overlook during Early Access became disappointing features in the final release and to be honest, I walked away wishing that the developer had taken more time to polish the experience. It’s been working hard to squash bugs since release and has promised a content roadmap going forward, so by the time you read this some of the issues I’ve outlined may be addressed. All in all, I did actually enjoy my time with Forever Skies and I recommend checking it out if you like these kinds of games, just don’t do what I did – and temper your expectations going in.

Conceptually, Silent Hill f is every bit the fascinating, uncomfortable step forward the series has needed for a long time. Its deployment of iconography, theme, and tone is both in keeping with what makes the Silent Hill titles so endearing and radically subversive for the genre space (at least within games). To balk at its gendered tale is to balk at the idea of Silent Hill itself. But Silent Hill f needs to exist beyond its concept; its ideas and commentary too weighted to celebrate for simply being there, and its systemic failures too omnipresent to not feel all the while. Silent Hill f is the step forward Silent Hill needs; it’s a shame it was onto such unstable ground.

Elderand feels like a game that would have thrived in a previous generation of gaming. It holds onto some mechanics that just don’t feel that great compared to what the Metroidvania genre offers in the modern day. It’s not all bad, but there are better games in the genre that you can play.

When the game makes you feel like you’re in the world of A Quiet Place being pursued by Death Angels, The Road Ahead is an immersive and tense time. It’s just a shame that the game’s mechanics and its 8–10-hour journey ultimately come at a cost to the tension and overall experience. As a result, fans of the franchise and the first-person horror genre will likely find more to like here than most, even with its budget price tag.

I wanted The Sacred Acorn to be more, to really hone in on what a squirrel hero could be. What’s here is mechanically sound, enjoyable animations and a world worth visiting, but at every corner it just manages to miss the mark. Cuteness aside, a few layers of polish or perhaps a rethink of its systems is all that stands between it and a successful breakaway from the norm. Instead, it punches above its weight and puts in an admirable performance, but unfortunately falls short of successfully navigating its way through the minefield.

Playing through the thoughts and emotions that Izzy's feeling during a difficult time in her life is confronting and heartfelt in equal measure, making it all the more disappointing that Lost Words' core mechanic lets it down so much.

The Occultist has a strong premise, interesting narrative, and engrossing atmosphere, but unfortunately it fails to capitalise on this with some pretty tedious gameplay, a lack of scares, a boring protagonist and out-of-place voice acting.

The Wild Case is a stock-standard point and click adventure that never excels or fails in any particular area but does enough to warrant a playthrough for fans of the genre.

JETT: The Far Shore has moments of brilliance, but they're buried under an overload of mechanics that aren't enjoyable and a general lack of polish. Similarly any philosophical value in its narrative ideas is ruined by needlessly obfuscated dialogue. There's something to be discovered here, but it's just not worth the trip.

In returning to its narrative adventure roots, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage feels like a retreat for Don’t Nod. Draped in nostalgia for both the 90s and Life is Strange, Bloom & Rage struggles to find itself among uneven pacing, tonal inconsistencies, and an uninteresting cast of characters. Despite some neat visual tricks with its VHS overlays, there’s little on this first tape worth a rental.

Perhaps Ubisoft's most mediocre new IP launch to date, eliciting neither excitement nor offence.

Despite a decent story and atmosphere, Winter Ember is a flawed experience that suffers from poor combat and even poorer voice acting and writing. Super fans of stealth games may find some joy here, but for most there are better stealth games out there.

Conway: Disappearance at Dahlia View feels like a paperback mystery novel you might find at the back of the bookstore. It’s not exactly a hidden gem but it does contain the occasional glint of something special. Perfunctory writing drags down the tension and a limited range of puzzles and interactivity struggles to pull it all back together. Worse though, Conway’s brutish ways filled me with unease from the first snap of the camera, rather than filling me with the joy of a good detective story, I just felt like an intruder.

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.

While Harold Halibut doesn’t quite hit the heights it sets out to reach, you have to admire Slow Bros.’ unwavering commitment to its vision it spent 14 years bringing to life. Unfortunately, Harold Halibut’s stop-motion visuals do the majority of the heavy lifting, with the game’s repetitive and shallow gameplay reducing the overall experience to a tedious trudge through underwater space.