A town management sim with some good design ideas, but despite trying to make Love a key resource it has somehow pushed me to becoming a joyless optimiser.
Amnesia: The Bunker is a compact, focused and refreshing horror game that brings new excitement to one of horror's modern classic game series.
The Tartarus Key has puzzles so hard it's basically an immersive sim. Puzzle haters will baulk, but for genre fans it's a weirdo breath of fresh air with distinct and careful design.
Diablo IV is a beautiful, frictionless grey toybox that puts nothing in the way of you playing it for hours and wondering what you've done with your life.
A slightly janky Lovecraftian Holmes adventure in neo-classic Frogwares style, offering decent fun for fans of the studio's work.
An undeniably fun Star Wars sequel with a suitably epic story and smart combat, but a hell of a lot of busywork alongside it.
A surprising prequel that does interesting stuff with rhythm-action and fun for fans of Road 96.
A sloppy, buggy Payday pretender whose USP of using 90s movie stars is probably the worst thing about it.
Storyteller is a lovely, literally story-driven puzzle game with surprising complexity that'll charm you, but it's quite short - whether you like that or not.
The slow pace of Outlanders gets a little too slow at times, but this is a genuinely charming town builder with a modern sense of humour, and a great antidote to towering skyscrapers or technological arms races.
Pharaoh might be a little out of date in 2023, but A New Era is the definitive way to play an absolute classic city builder that nails the fundamentals
Squeenix's epic-ish isekai game has cool magical combat, but it's far too big for its own good, and that scale leaves it feeling empty and disappointing.
The Callisto Protocol isn't that scary and has potentially annoying combat, but it would still be pretty fun if it didn't run like your three day old reheated takeaway.
The Chant has some good enemy design and interesting resource management, but its psychic-horror weirdness just doesn't get weird enough.
Saturnalia is a pulse-raising, shiver-making, dark little whisper; a beautiful horror game, and you won't have played anything like it before
You wait 8 years for a sort-of sequel to your favourite Borderlands narrative adventure game and when one finally turns up it's an unfunny disappointment
Scorn's dreadful bio-mechanical world is a fantastic example of horror design and level design alike, but its lovely mess of flesh is let down by messier combat.
There are some early access bugs, but Coral Island's slightly kinder, eco-friendly farming world is a compulsive treat full of beautiful details.
The Excavation Of Hob's Barrow is a short, mostly easy puzzle adventure more notable for it's a wonderful atmosphere of complete dread.
Return To Monkey Island might be playing the entire nostalgia hand, nevermind the card, but it's also a very good modern point and click game that makes a perfect new entry to a beloved old series.