A fascinating, fantastical world let down by plodding pacing.
Crisp combat let down by boring enemies, repetitive missions and a disconnected story.
Sekiro has the best swordfights in any video game. It leans too heavily on its mediocre stealth, but its satisfying combat will keep you going through hundreds of brutal deaths.
An occasionally brilliant immersive sim blighted by bugs and a restrictive save system.
Punchy combat and a pretty setting can't hide Darksiders 3's flaws.
The strength of its new dinos will pull me back now and again, if only to float around aimlessly on my favourite Gasbag. But as the last of the planned expansions for Ark, Extinction is far from the swan song that I was hoping for.
A mediocre detective game with predictable stealth and a surreal story that runs out of steam near the end.
Its platforming is clunky, its animations stiff, and you eventually tire of its repeating puzzles—but I'll remember J.J.'s story, and her inner struggles, for a very long time.
19 is better than FIFA 18 in almost every way, and it's more fun to play than any other football game right now.
Elea's first instalment gets less interesting as it goes on, and if that trend continues then Episode 2 could fall flat, especially if bugs and performance problems remain. But it sets up a fascinating world that promises a deeply personal story, and it's not afraid to switch gear and throw odd, dream-like sequences at you. By playing with your expectations, it makes you want to push on just to see what's around the corner.
A mostly fun, realistic football sim with wonky AI.
Ambitious ideas and a twisting story are marred by bad design choices.
The improvements over the original make Super Mega Baseball 2 the best on-field baseball sim on PC.
Flat writing and a confused plot fail to deliver on some promising ideas.
While ARK can be a lot of fun – grabbing another player off of a raptor with an Argentavis feels bloody brilliant – it's rarely worth the hours of tedium. If you can spare the 100 or so hours it takes to get your teeth into it then I'd recommend you spend them elsewhere.
Its zero gravity segments offer something that no other FPS can, and everywhere else it's a solid, polished shooter. If you like the sound of it then I'd jump in now and build up some experience.
Hellblade is brave for tackling psychosis so directly, and braver still for pouring so much of its efforts into its narrative. It's unlike anything else I've played this year, and for that reason it deserves a slice of your time.
Splatoon 2's formula no longer feels original, but it looks great, its controls are tight, and there's enough variety to give you dozens of hours of multiplayer fun.
It's not the most polished shooter but it does shine in all the right places, and it builds on the huge potential of Red Orchestra, which I loved. There are very few games that can match the feeling you get when you watch an artillery strike destroy a treeline and push up with your squad mates under the cover of smoke and deafening explosions. If you're after a slower-paced shooter with tactical combat and tense moments, then it's time to enlist.
Despite its flaws, Tales of Berseria has numerous interesting stories to tell. If the developers had cut the flab and focused almost exclusively on the cast of characters – with some combat thrown in – then I think this would have been a must-play. As it is, I think it’s still worth playing if you’re a fan of story-focused JRPGs, as long as you know you’re strapped in for the long haul.