Richard Seagrave
Thank Goodness You're Here! is a game that's quintessentially British, inviting players to explore a Northern English town and rub shoulders with its bizarre locals. It's weird, it's clever, and it's utterly surreal at times, but it's always entertaining. It's just a shame that your visit is over so soon, but there's perhaps reason to return to it a time or two. In any case, it's an absolute delight while it lasts.
Roguelike fans who love fast-paced first-person shooter action are in for a treat with Deadlink. Its combat encounters take heavy inspiration from DOOM Eternal, and with four combat shells to choose from, along with a wide range of upgrades to acquire, there's plenty of variety to be found from one run to the next. A new time trial mode complete with global leaderboards adds even more fun into the mix.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a unique game that brilliantly blends together action and strategy, resulting in a game that makes you think and keeps you on your toes. Add in sublime enemy design and a wonderful soundtrack, and you have a game that rubs shoulders with the best of 2024 so far.
Anger Foot is essentially Hotline Miami played from a first-person perspective, with your foot being your most valuable asset. As fun as kicking things with a variety of effects is, however, the action gets repetitive pretty fast, the difficulty feels unfair at times, and the soundtrack may drive you up the wall.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door looks great on Switch, making it exciting to move from one location to the next, each interesting in its own way. Its writing is brilliant, too, with some genuinely funny jokes that will have you grinning as you play. It's just a shame that its turn-based combat gets old quite fast, and is devoid of challenge.
EA Sports F1 24 is undoubtedly the most authentic representation of the sport yet, with stunning visuals and responsive handling. You can play as Icons for the first time in career mode, too. But versus last year's release, the improvements are slight, meaning some might want to sit this one out.
Inspired by horror classics such as Silent Hill 2 and Eternal Darkness, The Glass Staircase is Puppet Combo's most ambitious release yet. This surreal and atmospheric experience will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entirety of its brief playing time, though checkpointing and aiming issues may frustrate a little.
A 3D platformer with an exhilarating techno soundtrack and stunning graffiti-inspired visuals, RKGK will win you over with its fluid movement and challenging gameplay. It's destined to be one of 2024's hidden gems.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 improves on its predecessor in numerous ways, making it a must-play for fans of dark, cinematic adventure games. Visually it's unparalleled, offering photo-realistic characters and environments, and its audio design is spectacular, too. It's just a shame that its combat gets repetitive all too quickly – but in the grand scheme of things, it's a small price to pay.
Inviting you to be the star of a vintage anime, Mullet Mad Jack is a fast-paced first-person shooter with roguelike elements that's basic at its core but still manages to be captivating — partly because of its impeccable presentation, and partly because it's simply so much fun to play.
Sclash is a simple fighting game featuring samurai that can beat their opponents with just one hit. Battles are tense and exciting as a result, but disappointing single-player options and a lack of overall depth let it down somewhat.
A massive improvement over its predecessor, The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication is an absolute treat for horror fans, combining tense exploration, enjoyable puzzles, and some effective scares.
Heading Out doesn't fulfil its true potential. But while its story isn't as gripping as it should be, and its driving mechanics aren't anything special, together, along with an eye-catching black and white comic book visual style, they make for an enjoyable time on the whole.
Indika is one of the most surreal games we've ever played. And while it's short, it's easy for us to recommended thanks to its dark and unpredictable story and thoughtful, engaging puzzles.
Some players will find Pools relaxing. Others will find it unsettling. Whatever the case, it's compelling from beginning to end. The only disappointment is that it's so short.
More than just a Soulslike with a protagonist to serve as eye-candy, Stellar Blade has far surpassed our expectations, offering varied gameplay, outstanding visuals, a sublime soundtrack and an engaging story. It's a must-play for action game fans.
Inspired by Turtles in Time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants certainly plays like a blast from the past. After Shredder's Revenge, you'll likely find its gameplay too basic, however, and it fails to impress in other ways, too.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a Metroidvania full of heart and soul. With its engaging combat, sublime soundtrack and story that grabs your attention from the get-go, fans of the genre should consider this a must-have.
As a spiritual successor to the Suikoden series, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes gets a lot right. It's just a shame its story lacks emotional impact and in some ways it's a little too old-fashioned.
This Maid of Sker spin-off goes all-in on intense co-op action, and fans of the Zombies mode in Call of Duty are likely to lap it up. It's just a shame that Sker Ritual can be a little too overwhelming at times, and that it has some unfortunate technical issues that mar its performance.