Combining a gorgeous art style, intriguing setting and a surprisingly old-school yet welcome nod to platforming of the past, Jusant is a terrific adventure full of accomplished set-pieces and smart design throughout.
Treading the path well-traveled, Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name - far from the most radical of entries in the series - remains a delightful example of Ryu Ga Goktoku's knack for high drama, wild antics and all-round time thoroughly well spent.
Though an occasional lack of polish and size for size's sake approach doesn't always prove beneficial, a brilliant assortment of puzzles nestled amidst a thought-provoking but compelling narrative still grants The Talos Principle II status as a sequel well worth the near-decade wait.
A far more confident and competent iteration of the Souls template than what came before, Lords of the Fallen's all-round impressive design is marred by occasional technical issues and all-too-frequent questions on its very philosophy around challenge.
Briefly enticing the mechanics governing Morale might be in and out of combat, Long Gone Days' inconsistent tone and unconvincing meshing of visual styles doesn't pull through for a narrative deserving of a more refined focus.
Geometric Interactive's debut in Cocoon, though lacking in the kind of imagination and surreal creativity its premise might entail, still winds up a pleasant and solid-enough first attempt.
Despite its smaller and unfortunately limited pool of content, F-Zero 99 still stands not just as another terrific application of the 99-player Royale format, but one that goes as far as to redefine any and all prior knowledge people may have had of the original SNES debut.
Less a case of reinvention for reinventions' sake, it's the mix of familiar genre staples with a widened focus on smaller details that ends up with Gunbrella proving to be a brief, yet highly-satisfying entrant for action-platformer fans.
A constantly-rewarding, brilliantly-structured and simply mind-blowing series of rug-pulls, Void Stranger isn't just special, it's a phenomenal showcase of what might be some of the best design in a puzzle game for some time.
Less a case of biting off more than it can chew, Immortals of Aveum instead serves up a mixed bag of notable creativity, dragged down by issues both narrative and technical alike.
A platforming-puzzler with a keen eye for intricacy and trickery alike, UFO: Unidentified Falling Objects' addictive nature is somewhat dragged down by its occasional lack of appreciation for a players' own time.
Surprisingly effective it may be at crafting a simple-but-enticing loop of gameplay, Exoprimal's shallow variety and unclear methods of progression land Capcom's latest in a middle-ground of being both entertaining and heavily flawed.
Building on everything that was great about the original - from enemy variety to boss design to the means by which one can customize their play-style - Remnant II just about scrapes by with a follow-up that befits the mantle of "bigger, better, bolder" in numerous ways.
Some occasional frustration with mechanics and personal expectations not met aren't enough to prevent Viewfinder from winding up an all-round terrific debut from Sad Owl Studios. Crafting a game that is confident not only in the ideas it wants to explore, but in the execution that underpins it all.
A feature-rich (at times astonishingly so) package of content - major, minor and entirely optional alike - Nihon Falcom have proven once again with Trails into Reverie why they remain one of the best and most renowned RPG developers still going.
Blending an absorbing tale across worlds, with a novel but mechanically-engaging interpretation of player-choice, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie sets a new standard for Don't Nod with what might be their best, most rewarding work to date.
Far from the most inventive or unique take on the puzzle-platformer formula, Planet of Lana mitigates its relatively-safe gameplay with a striking visual style and a surprisingly compelling use of music alongside.
From a studio having delivered far better and should in all likelihood have done so once more, Redfall is an uncharacteristically poor and cobbled-together brand of tedium.
Nearly a decade on, Teslagrad 2 strides into view where the original left off, with a modest but still entertaining palette of magnetism-based gameplay and precision-platforming alike.
For those more than happy with a brief game with a singular-though-solid concept at its heart, Storyteller serves up a pleasant, though far from extraordinary, take on the art of narration.