Monster Jam Showdown is a fun, action-packed racer letting us control the wildest, most over the top vehicles there are. A few quibbles with the controls for stunts aside, if you’re simply after a fun time, then this is an easy recommendation.

If you’re starving for more Star Wars nourishment in videogame form and you haven’t given Star Wars: Bounty Hunter a whirl, there are far worse games that make use of the Star Wars license. It can be a blast to blast around linear levels with Boba Fett and his jetpack while repelling galactic grunts, but no matter how slick the remaster job is, it cannot hide how old this twenty-plus year old game is, and the frustrations inherent within it are too apparent to ignore. So Bounty Hunter isn’t the worst Star Wars outing and the remaster doesn’t do a bad job, but just like the original game, it might be worthwhile for Star Wars geeks to froth over, but it’s otherwise a despairingly middling affair. So go give Jango and go, but this one doesn’t steal the show and it sorta blows.

Solo players will definitely find some challenging fun here, and I have found myself trying to beat a few of my own times, but I’m not sure how much I’ll return to it over time to test my skills. Some of the tracks I cannot see how I can go any faster, and unless some of my online pals pick it up and get into it the online random leaderboards aren’t enough to keep me coming back.

Where Dustborn works – its characters and story – it really works. Leaden combat and side-missions leave it a little lacking.

I’ve been jonesing to play Kena: Bridge of Spirts since its release on other platforms so I was super excited to finally get to play it. Luckily, I think it lived up to the hype. I really only had the visuals to rely on and they are some of the best in gaming. The combat was something I didn’t look into beforehand but ended up enjoying how simple it was. For those who enjoy beautiful action-adventure games with a high emphasis on storytelling, I can’t recommend Kena: Bridge of Spirts enough.

Players looking for a short, snappy precision platformer would do well to at least entertain the idea of Cattie, even if it misses the mark in a few areas.

While I’m sad that this will be the last we see of Sam & Max, The Devil’s Playhouse does an amazing job of wrapping up the story of my favorite duo. The remaster has been done with care and looks terrific. It’s important that if you want to jump into the playhouse, you need to play the other two games first to understand some of the topics being discussed. You won’t be disappointed. Saddle up little buddy and get ready to ride with the Freelance Police for one last time.

Parkitect is a great little game that didn’t quite let me relive the glory days of the 90’s Theme Park game but it came closer than most. There’s tons of content to get stuck into for any wannabe theme park architect.

Cat’s Quest III is a worthy sequel. Fans of the previous game will have a blast and enjoy being back in the world of cat-puns.

What can I say? SteamWorld games don’t miss (with me at least) and SteamWorld Heist II is no exception. This is a special treat for the Xbox ecosystem, as this is our first foray into SteamWorld’s take on the tactical strategy genre. Thunderful have made another game to show and help gamers how to branch out into other types of genres that they may normally not play. If you like this universe but do not typically like this type of game (or don’t know if you do), I would still implore you to give it a chance.

Roguelike fan or not, there’s a lot of fun to be had in Deadlink, with explosive action that encourages us to experiment with the full arsenal, and makes even our failed runs feel rewarding simply by being so damn joyous the play.

Wizardry has made its mark in the development of RPG games in inspiring the next generation to kick on. A re-hashing of a text adventure and making it more graphical does sound very appealing but it only works if you make it more inclusive. I understand the older games were tough as they had to be to provide longevity but the new modern gamer may not have the patience for games as tough as this that require a lot of repetition and overcoming of frustration.

A wonderful surprise mid-year. Nobody Wants to Die is a tightly woven walking sim, with gorgeous environmental art and a compelling story. Anyone interested in this kind of story telling should definitely pick it up.

Dungeons of Hinterberg proves that it’s always good to step outside of your comfort zone; it went from being not on my radar at all to winning me over almost completely. With brilliantly crafted dungeons, a surprisingly effective social-upgrade mechanic, and some genuinely fun powers to use, there’s a lot to like here once you get past the slower opening sections.

If you loved the original form of Shin Megami Tensei V, then Vengeance is a fantastic complement to it, with a strong second story arc, excellent quality of life improvements, and a generally refined and improved JRPG experience fans of the genre will lap up vigorously. Yes, it’s still perhaps existing in the shadow of the Persona series with its litany of similarities, and doesn’t quite have the grace and style of its brethren, but it’s a hardcore RPG that blazes its own path (mostly), and does so with conviction and poise. Vengeance is therefore fully worthy of your attention and the amount of hours you’ll no-doubt pour into it.

F1 Manager 2024 is the most feature rich experience to date in the franchise and just like last year I can see Team principles being glued to their chair once again trying to improve their team’s fortune. Whether it’s creating your own team or taking charge of one of the current Formula One teams, F1 Manager 2024 is close to being a 10/10 experience for any sports management game.

SCHiM is a delight of a game. Taking a concept that some of us may have played out in our heads as kids, imaging something jumping across the shadows or us jumping ourselves, and have turned that into a beautiful game. Without words, without facial expressions, and limiting color palettes, SCHiM manages to make something really unique.

CLeM maintains Mango Protocol’s track record of quirky, inventive, and slightly hampered-in-places gaming, with a great central premise and gameplay mechanics that are only really held back by slow movement and occasionally frustrating moments.

Kunitsu-Gami continues the trend of gameplay excellence that has blessed all of Capcom’s recent releases. There are just some parts outside that feel like they should be more streamlined.

An engaging sci-fi comedy with a lot of laughs. For fans of the point-and-click genre this will be a blast, despite some minor foibles.

I had a fun time with Blacksad: Under the Skin. The immersive soundtrack and engaging story never out stayed its welcome and for me I’d say it rivals Telltales The Wolf Among Us as one of the better detective story games out there.

Lifeless Moon has its moments, but lacks any real excitement or interest that would have me recommending it to others.

All in all, chances are if you enjoyed the cozy puzzling of A Little to the Left, you’re absolutely going to enjoy Seeing Stars. The new levels are all brilliantly designed, offer multiple tough solutions, aided by a generous and fairly implemented hint system.

The long and the short of it though is that Beyond Good & Evil is still a bloody fantastic game, from its setting to characters, story, gameplay mechanics, and everything else. It’s showing its age in some quality of life aspects, but there’s nothing here that should prove too tricky for anyone to get over. It has become the best way to play BG&E, and we can only hope it spurs on any news at all of what comes next.

Horror Tales: The Beggar has its moments (mainly thanks to some half-decent world building) but the introduction of combat, and its slow moving puzzles, underwhelmed me completely. Go and play The Wine instead, and hope we get more of that for the next outing.

The Hong Kong Massacre hits all the right mechanical and visual notes and should be considered one of the best in its genre. Great controls, superb style and a cracking soundtrack. However, it has two glaring bugs that detract from the overall quality.

Phantom Fury is an incredibly fun throwback shooter, with awesome weaponry and brilliant encounters throughout that are undermined by a plethora of bug and issues that hampered my time with it far more often than it should have. In terms of my enjoyment in the moment, this has entered the top end of my games of the year so far, but those issues mean I can’t recommend it without heavy caveats.

There’s something satisfying about playing a modern game but pulls on those nostalgic strings and #BLUD does that with its stylistic choice. Harkening back to the late 90’s I was instantly pulled into the game by its looks. Once I was there the story, combat and characters kept me involved to see it through the end and it ended up being an enjoyable time. I wish I could figure out some of the side quests, whether that’s how to do them later in the game or find ones I missed but doesn’t take away from a good time. If you dig action adventure, dungeon “crawlery” type games, check out #BLUD.