There are some fantastic environments and old school style puzzles in Resi 7. The final section stops being survival horror and becomes a bit of a clunky linear shooter, but the first few hours are scary enough to put you off Louisiana for life.
A short but sweet point and click puzzle adventure that takes you from dairy farming in Norway out to the stars and beyond. Godspeed, Ruth, you were a joy.
Beautiful, unsettling, challenging. The fungal growths in it are cute little creatures rather than mushrooms (which are horrible). What's not to like?
Knee Deep's swampy noir mystery play is one of the most interesting and entertaining ways to frame a game you'll ever see. Just a shame the final act doesn't rise to the humid, neo-gothic heights of the rest.
A platformer that makes great use of shadows and light. You'll get emotionally attached to the candle as he burns through some lovely environments and tough platforming, but the ending is a bit of a damp squib.
A short, calm exploration of a beautiful island, where the conversations are like talking to real people. As an introduction to the larger world of Eastshade it's great, but Leaving Lyndow doesn't quite manage to stand on its own feet as a separate game.
For Honor's multiplayer is special, but as a whole it's let down by the less good single player, sometimes dodgy matchmaking, and a surfeit of microtransactions. The combat, though, is fantastic — it's gutsy and weighty, and you feel like a badass.
The attention to detail and beautiful flat colour design really shine in this metroidvania about a brave probe exploring an alien planet. Though the difficulty curve can spike frustratingly, fans of Ori and the Blind Forest should enjoy Forma.8's travels
Great writing and environment design, combined with an epic story and wide range of player choice, make Tides of Numenera a wonderful RPG. The reliance on text won't be for everyone, but fans of the genre are going to love it.
You know when you were a kid, in the summer, you used to have huge pretend adventures in the back garden with all your mates? Where the shed was a castle and the hedge was a jungle? And it was like really having an adventure? This is sort of like that.
Performance issues are a huge let down, and it feels more Dragon Age than Mass Effect. But if you like open world exploration with fast paced gun fighting, and a hero story like an OTT Hollywood action movie, you'll probably like Andromeda.
A point and click adventure for the now, Thimbleweed Park takes everything great about classic Lucasfilm games and leaves out the flaws. You might not love all the central characters, but this is as weird and compelling a town as Twin Peaks.
The secret stories Father Lafcadio uncovers are lovely, but you won't always enjoy the process of uncovering them. Still, a series of elegant murders, with elegant stories, in an elegant mansion is enough to show anyone a good time. Time and time again...
A nice, weird walk and a philosophical lecture, both unfortunately ruined by how hard the game drives its point home. Everything would be cleverer if it wasn't seemingly trying to be so clever.
Little Nightmares is frightening, in a way that gets under your skin. A way that whispers in your ear that you won't sleep well tonight. Little Nightmares takes things you were afraid of when you were a kid, and reminds you you're still afraid now.
Outlast 2 has some great design elements, and the night-vision handy-cam mechanic is still scary. But the jump scares and gore don't mix right with the elements of psychological horror, and the story retreads horror tropes that didn't need retreading.
Fast, satisfying combat and the most ambitious single player for a fighting game yet, Injustice 2 is a great game elevated further by its attention to detail and Cavill-esque good looks.
The high-energy fun of Victor Vran means it really is a romp, if one that occasionally stutters. While the slightly repetitive nature grates, you can easily see a few hours dissolving into Victor Vran before your very eyes. Like a vampire in sunlight.
The frenetic fighting and over-the-top fun of Tekken 7 is great, but it's let down by light offline modes and online matchmaking that, right now, simply isn't working well enough.
The Town of Light has an interesting premise, but, however worthy an enterprise it is, the story is just too confused a journey to leave a real impact.