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MIO wears its tough-as-nails metroidvania influences proudly, but spends enough time contorting familiar ideas into punishing gauntlets and rewarding patience with dazzling artistic spectacle that it truly comes into its own.
After giving The Bee Hive a chance, it unfortunately proved to be a dull experience full of bugs and glitches. Despite its potential, there are too many ideas that simply do not stick the landing.
Like its adorable amphibian hero, Big Hops is charming and scrappy in equal measure. For all of the issues I faced during my playthrough – some squashed by patch work and others more fundamental – it's ultimately one of the most charming, playful, exhilarating and deeply funny adventures I've embarked on in some time.
Ambitiously creative, Skate Story delivers an offbeat and artistically memorable narrative adventure with some excellent technical skating sequences. It's not without some issues, but its strengths and individuality make it well worth a look.
With a truly spectacular retrofuturistic aesthetic, Routine delivers an immersive sci-fi horror that is incredibly tactile to play, impressively creating tension amongst the silence, but a disappointing ending, frustrating design choices and gameplay repetition stops it from reaching the stars.
Morsels is an ambitious indie roguelite that just doesn't deliver. The game shines with a distinctive aesthetic identity, but between shockingly unclear mechanics, poor game balance, and unsatisfying moment-by-moment gameplay, it otherwise has little to offer.
Ubisoft have built upon the foundations of its immensely satisfying city-building blueprint with a winning retheme, but a few too many technical and interface issues mean Anno 117: Pax Romana falls just shy of a recommendation.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond risks missteps in its attempt to modernise a cherished formula, but for the most part it all coalesces into an entry more than worthy of the series. Even the most vocal diehard fans should be pleased by the fundamentals, and for those willing to accept them, the new wrinkles iron out nicely.
Beautiful yet flawed, Possessor(s) misses the mark with its blend of Metroidvania exploration and brawler combat, resulting in an unfortunately frustrating fusion.
Hymer 2000 eschews traditional storytelling, instead offering players the opportunity to piece together a fragmented narrative using the very computer terminal that you have been sent to decommission. A starkly haunting exploration of what it means to be human, the experience will stay with you long after its end.
As oddball as the puzzling puffball on the cover, Kirby Air Riders is a spectacular example of twisting preconceived expectations into something weird, wonderful and altogether incredible – inviting you to go fast and kick arse in equal parts.
With a captivating story and cast of characters, wonderful art style and soundtrack, and some truly genre-redefining design, Foolish Mortals is an outstanding point-and-click adventure that plays like a modern classic.
Dead Static Drive has glimmers of interesting Lovecraftian art, but fails to captivate with floaty driving, broken quests and game-breaking bugs further brought down by a general sense of aimlessness and lack of cohesive vision
AdHoc Studio have knocked it out of the park with its comedic take on the superhero life. Thanks to its high-quality graphics, voice acting, story, characters, music, and gameplay, you'll be immersed the entire time you uncover the incredible story of Mecha Man and the Z-Team.
The HD-2D Remake renaissance is, gladly, here to stay. This glowed-up pair from Dragon Quest's origins look, sounds, and feels fantastic while balancing innovations and classic frictions.
A clear and cohesive fusing of Tears of the Kingdom's eons-spanning story and recognisable gameplay with the typical musou trappings means Age of Imprisonment is not just a fantastic Warriors-style game, but a genuinely great The Legend of Zelda title.
Despite a slightly tangled narrative and some very uncomfortable sexualisation of female characters, Majogami offers an engaging action adventure that drips imagination and flair. Once you've gotten the hang of combat, prepare for some impressive boss fights.
The lack of chatty treasure chests continues to be a missed opportunity in this otherwise immaculate remake of the Trails saga debut. Falcom is on fire.
It's not a particularly ambitious follow-up, but PowerWash Simulator 2 earns its sequel status through effective upgrades and thoughtful improvements across the board. It's a big uptick in looks, feel and play, and still the most fun you can have doing a chore.
It sticks hard to the formula established two decades ago, but Once Upon a Katamari's tumble through history has enough new ideas and relentless charm to make it a worthy entry for fans old and new.