In Ravenlok’s well-paced narrative and gameplay structure, I’m sad to say that I didn’t find the game to be very compelling. For every fun puzzle there was another quest or dull combat sequence that I button mashed out of with ease. Still, I could appreciate the expectations the game places on the player to simply figure things out on their own and having a straightforward, no-nonsense plot. A lost art in gaming (and arguably other mediums) today.

Slitterhead has a weirdly intriguing plot and cool art design wasted by endless repetition and outdated game design. There’s something here. I found Slitterhead pulling me during the first few hours. It was the last 80% of the game that was a dreadful experience.

NBA 2K24 continues the series’ strong basketball simulation elements, but some egregious monetisation this time around and changes to progression make this entry a little more frustrating than it has to be. Still, the ‘Mamba Moments’ mode is a super cool tribute to an awesome player and for me, quickplay with family is where it’s always at.

Broken Mind can sometimes be a fascinating experience with some interesting story beats and curious playable segments, but it’s sadly hampered by formulaic puzzles, clunky combat and uneven technical polish. The game is still worth a shot for those looking for peculiar horror games.

Atlas Fallen is close to being damned good. It is let down by a lack of variety in enemy encounters, poor side quests, and dreadful writing. Still, the combat quickly becomes damned fun and with the option of co-op, it’s well worth checking out if you want some God of Crackdown-style action platforming adventures.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is the best SpongeBob game ever. There’s a lot of love that went into this project and you really feel it as you jump, swing, and kick about. A solid pick up for platforming and SpongeBob fans alike, this game is an example of what game software for children (and licensed property) should strive to be.

At launch, I cannot recommend The Lamplighters League on Xbox. It runs terribly, while looking ugly, and is a broken and buggy mess. Once this game is patched up and fixed though, it’s a gem. Great gameplay, a deep meta-game, intriguing story, and one of the best videogame soundtracks I’ve ever heard will be there waiting for you (and hopefully still in Game Pass).

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is a fun game with some serious looks and performance issues on Xbox Series consoles. If it’s cleaned up at all by a day one patch then it’s an easy recommendation. Available Day One on Game Pass it’s a solid solo title and one that’s a ton of fun with friends.

Spray Paint Simulator is decent fun. I do not know if the devs have any DLC planned post-launch. As is, there is enough here once you’re done, I think most will have enjoyed their time and be ready to move on.

Ultimately, I walk away from Painkiller with somewhat mixed, but overall fairly positive feelings. The gameplay is fast, satisfying, with rock solid peformance and excellent graphics making for a blast of a shooter. It is, however, Painkiller in name only, as not only it loses the series’ core aspects, but also is rather uninspired all around. Very few memorable moments in the raids, generic enemy and arena designs, and not quite the depth needed for such a co-op experience to last you long. Still, if you crave for more shooters in the style of modern Doom, do give Painkiller a fair shot, as it can be a ton of fun both solo and with two allies by your side.

Somerville feels like great ambition being stretched a little thin, and fundamentally, the way it feels to actually play makes me wish it spent a little longer in the oven, refining and polishing the best parts.

Beyond Blue: After the Storm is an enjoyable little underwater adventure that gives insight on man-made disasters along with the lovely living things beneath our feet. Though their importance is stressed, information comes off slim at best and paired with a decent VR experience at the very least makes this game a fun edutainment journey for all ages.

Quarantine Zone: The Last Check is a fun, repeatable, relaxing time. Few games let you stare so much before blowing a hot load of lead directly into the target of your gaze.

For me, once the novelty of the cuteness wore off, I found the mechanics to be a bit boring, and in parts very frustrating (mostly due to the lack of a map when trying to find items I needed). For veteran players, the only stand-out feature here is the way the game looks and the ‘cosy’ style of play. Does this make Winter Burrow stand out in its genre? I’m not sure that it does, and honestly I’m not sure it has endeared me to this type of game at all.

High On Life is absolutely fantastic, and you should play it.

Raccoo Venture isn’t a chore. It’s beautiful and the music is lovely. I loved the environment design and when you do find challenges, they are fun to tackle. I do think that Raccoo’s jumps get too tight later on, having the player jumping off specific angles to make jumps isn’t fun especially if they’re not part of the beaten path. The game performs amazing on a wide variety of systems, too, and that’s impressive given it’s just one man making this game. Raccoo Venture has its landings, you just need to get used to them.

Sword Art Online: Last Recollection is one of the better games in the franchise’s history. The combat mechanics are solid and questing can be fun, plus it’s good fan service. It’s a bit of a shame every other aspect drags the game down, but that won’t stop you from enjoying Last Recollection especially if you’re looking for a simple, single-player MMO-style experience.

After a slow start Loot River really grew on me.

Technically, the game does look the part, with solid graphics especially on Xbox Series X where the game was tested, albeit there’s noticeable and rather annoying framerate drops whenever the game loads new players into our session. In the end, I find myself having a good time with Shredders, but there’s still plenty to iron out in its design before it has the chance to be remembered as one of the great snowboarding titles.

Alone in the Dark has come a long way from its initial showings. Clever writing, great performances by its two leads, and solid gameplay come together to give the franchise a new life.

Mia and the Dragon Princess is worth a look if you are a fan of this type of game. Impressive acting talent is present although they are in full-on ‘hamming it up’ mode, the fight scenes are well choreographed and there are a few killer lines of dialogue. If the idea of a children’s TV drama mixed with a brutal British gangster film appeals to you, this could be a dream come true.

It’s a good-looking, if not very well-performing Unreal Engine 5 game that shows us a cool world, it populates it with an interesting lore and rich characters, and gives them just enough meat to get through a couple sessions’ worth of single player third person action adventure campaign, with a combat that is just enjoyable enough to last the ride. If that sounds like your jam, it’s cheaper than most AAA games of this kind, launching at under 40USD/EUR, with even a 10% launch discount. The lower budget is felt in a lot of areas, but fans of the genre who can close an eye on such things should have a good time with Echoes of the End.

I think a lot of us often struggle with something, and A Pizza Delivery does itself few favours by stitching together a random set of experiences under self-doubt and confusion. But life really is just a road of things happening until it’s over—self reflection may be in order, but there’s no point wallowing in it. I really liked this game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is an absolute riot. It’s not afraid to rely on copious amounts of nostalgia, while also pushing the series forward in the most logical direction. Treyarch have looked back at Black Ops 2 and 3 for inspiration, and have delivered a fantastic Call of Duty, full to the brim of incredible content.

Atomic Owl is an enjoyable little romp that has some good ideas and even goes as far as to trust the player right off the bat with the protagonists full arsenal. The visuals are lovely and the music was probably the highlight of the game. But middling level design, uninteresting boss fights, and a lack of polish do drag down what could otherwise have been a really good game.

AEW: Fight Forever rekindles the flame of the classic N64 wrestling titles. Featuring a fantastic mix of nostalgia and new it is only let down on occasion by budget and scope constraints. I hope this is the start of a new, long-running series that takes this excellent foundation and adds more variety on top of it for years to come.

Saints Row is a big, over-the-top, extremely fun game and if they can sort out the bugginess quickly it’s an easy one to recommend.

Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is a tough game to rate. At its core, the driving is sound, the graphics are decent, the game mechanics are interesting, and the career is meaty enough to bother. It even offers a 60 frames per second mode, something previous episodes did not – at least, on Nintendo consoles. On the other hand, it has various important flaws related to the overall racing, and the lack of online multiplayer is a huge step-down from the previous game which did, eventually, add said feature. What we’re left with is a mostly competent, not particularly memorable arcade racer with a handful of highs, but some baffling lows as well. It is a fun game, and on Switch 2 there aren’t too many better alternatives for this kind of racer. But if it follows the previous episode’s path, it may get new content, proper multiplayer and astonishingly deep discounts before long. Perhaps you’re better off waiting for all of that to happen, before jumping in.