Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is the perfect example of one decision ruining any chance a game had of being reasonable.
Kingdom Under Fire II is one of the most internally divisive games I've ever played. Some parts are genuinely fantastic while others are mind-numbingly horrible.
Skybolt Zack is an action-packed, engaging but all-together a little too unforgiving action-platformer-rhythm-thing. Despite its unforgiving nature, It is a game that even the most useless of people (me) will have fun with and will offer a huge amount of replayability for those looking for a challenge due to the unique difficulty system. Looks, sounds and plays great, the first outing from Devs Must Die is one well worth giving a go.
Football Manager 2020 is the purest, most engrossing and also the most accessible football management game yet and marks yet another high point for the series. From improved accessibility and usability to improved AI and long-term gameplay functions in new features like the development centre & club vision, this is a game that takes a longer more realistic look at the beautiful game than any before it. Slight issues still prevail, but this is the closest to perfect the series has ever been.
This is what the original Age of Empires: Definitive Edition could have been. As a standalone title, it's fantastic and one that I'd recommend to anybody and everybody.
Cricket 19 has enhanced beyond Ashes Cricket, Big Ant Studios previous outing and then the best cricket video game around. Enhancements to AI have further improved this, though doesn't completely perfect the game with a few issues here and there. Altogether though, this is still a very strong and polished game and one that any fan of cricket should be interested in.
Dawn of Man is a competent city building game set, as the name explains, during the dawn of mankind. Moving through the ages, the slow progress early on leaves a real sense of achievement, made possible thanks to a strong resource system and the way knowledge is gained, working with the rest of gameplay to create an enthralling gameplay loop. Sadly this does falter towards the end of any game, even becoming boring at times, but for the most part Dawn of Man is one city building game that fans of the type won't want to miss, despite any flaws it has.
Song of Horror is a genuinely atmospheric, creepy horror game, with the major selling point of an enemy that you're never actually sure about. The advanced AI system of the horrors you face, combined with sound, visuals and other game mechanics make for one of the more engrossing and captivating horror titles of recent memory. There are some faults, such as backtracking and a bit of adventure game logic when trying to solve puzzles, but these do nothing to stymie everything Protocol Games are bringing to the table.
Ancestors Legacy is a genuinely good console strategy title, with Destructive Creations having ported the game over well with improvements to UI and controls to make it as playable as possible on a gamepad. As for the game itself, while simplistic compared to other strategy titles, it offers a great jumping-in point for those new to the genre. Even those familiar will find something enjoyable within, with a well-balanced (albeit small) roster of factions supports a strong multiplayer, even a decent, albeit repetitive campaign.
Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighbourville is a fun, engaging and content-filled game that, in addition to offering a strong online player-vs-player component, is packed full of content that will keep even the most ardent of solo-players engaged. Proving that Electronic Arts can get live service games right, because this will be a live service game thanks to the pending premium currency store, this is still one game that has taken me by surprise and I can do nothing but recommend to anybody and everybody.
Pride Run is a catchy, engaging and altogether good rhythm action game that's let down by one thing, the game doesn't tell you to follow the beat - rather, it misleads you by not mentioning it at all. Once you get into the swing of things and follow the music rather than simply pushing buttons, the game is at its best, with a funny, even self-deprecating sense of humour. Also, it just looks and sounds great. While not perfect, this is certainly a game worth picking up.
By far the best outing every by KT Racing/Kylotonn and in the WRC franchise as a whole. With a well-defined career mode, backed up by a wealth of stages, set across a variety of places within the world, all of which are well designed, WRC 8 offers a lot for fans who want yet another strong rally game to jump into. While not quite alongside DiRT Rally 2.0, it's certainly coming close.
GRID is, by and far, one of the best times I've had with a racing game. Thanks to a great mixture of arcade and simulation, with a wide variety of options to let you cater the game to you, it's suitable for everybody. Not only that, thanks to the nemesis system and AI race-master, as well as the 400 unique AI personalities within the game, each and every race genuinely feels different. Simply put, GRID looks, sounds and plays great and is arguably the best all-around game from Codemasters.
Dry Drowning is an intriguing, engaging, if flawed visual novel. While it's more expansive than traditional visual novels, it still lives and dies on the story, character and writing, which are strong and interesting, though let down by a rough localisation. However, even with this, it's well worth checking out, looking and sounding both fantastic, with an outstanding soundtrack that really adds to the game.
Blasphemous is a fantastic souls-like Metroidvania, featuring an exceptional aesthetic design that adds to what is one of the most macabre worlds in gaming today. In addition to this, outstanding combat and a range of interesting enemies, bosses and more - supported by some great level design (with some issues in navigation), this is a game that I can do nothing but recommend to anybody and everybody. It's difficult, challenging and most of all, fun.
American Fugitive is a fun romp through a colourful, top-down GTA-inspired open-world crime-fest. While the game has some issues, such as repetitive missions, as well as stability problems on the Switch, it doesn't stop it from being an all-around fun and engaging title when you're actually playing.
Gensokyo Defenders is a tedious game at the best of times, constantly throwing walls of text at you, most of which is littered with mistakes and also incomprehensible if you don't have a copy of the Touhou Project Wikia memorised. The gameplay is decent enough, to a point, though features a stupidly steep difficulty curve and suffers from the aforementioned tedium. Unless you desperately want a tower defence game, give this a miss.
They Are Billions offers an almost perfect gameplay loop, mixing tower-defence with city building and exploration, as you balance resource-management, defence and offense, all against your ever-impending doom at the hands of a world infested with the undead. The only downside to a game that looks and sounds great, offering a tense experience in a compelling setting, is a campaign that doesn't fully make-use of the gameplay loop perfected by Numantian Games, leaving the campaign feeling weak, compared to the survival mode, which is the real draw.
Stranger Things 3: The Game is a decent throw-back to older titles and a strong tie-in to the current third season to the show.
Anno 1800 is a visually stunning, incredibly compelling management-strategy game. One thing of particular note is just how great and addictive the gameplay loop is, hooking you in as you watch your cities develop and expand, made all the better as you unlock and build a wide variety of buildings. There are slight issues though, with an unintuitive UI and trade system, which due to the way resources are spread around the game can be irritating. Simply put, Anno 1800 is an incredibly addictive and engaging game, with a few flaws, but nothing that stops it from being a great entry in the series.