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At its core, Outer Wilds is a game about exploration, knowledge and experimentation. It's the sum of all those parts and more, perfectly blending them together to create one of the most fascinating games of this generation. Outer Wilds proves a micro - as opposed to a macro - take on space exploration works just as well, if not better.
Pitting you against wave after wave of alien attackers, Super Mutant Alien Assault's randomised levels will put your action platforming skills to the test. It can be a bit short if you're just going to play the campaign, though endless mode and co-op can offer a bit of a distraction beyond that. It might not have too much longevity, but Super Mutant Alien Assault is a fun little game to challenge yourself with.
Kill La Kill -IF- may just be the perfect anime video game. It almost flawlessly manages to embrace the style and energy of the original anime, and translate that into an enthralling arena fighter that is just as much fun solo as it is competitively. The art is incredible, the music is astounding, and the story mode goes above and beyond to deliver a fresh narrative that fans of the anime will eat up. Whether you're a Kill La Kill megafan or just a fighting game enthusiast, this is a must play.
We've seen some bad permutations of the battle royale genre, but this one takes the dog biscuit. Don't Even Think is an opportunistic trainwreck that, while free to play, will leave you feeling emotionally out of pocket.
Blazing Chrome is so close to achieving what it's sets out to be – a fun retro 2D arcade shooter. There's sadly just too many issues to be overcome by the player to find the fun. If the development team are willing to put additional time into Blazing Chrome with patches and updates, then this could be well worth a punt. As it stands, Blazing Chrome is both too limited and too frustrating to recommend.
It was hard for me to imagine a way to expand on a game that was already so god but Dragon Quest Builders 2 has managed to do just that. A bigger story, new things to build, multi-player and more make this an absolutely jam-packed experience. Building game enthusiasts will love the blend of crafting and survival management, while Dragon Quest fans are sure to love the unique spin on the long-running JRPG franchise, and if you're a fan of both? Well, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is the must have game of 2019.
They are Billions is a great game that is lacking in content. The idea behind it – a survival strategy with "realistic" zombie mechanics – is fantastic and the actual mechanics behind it are well thought out and make for a deep and enthralling strategy, if one that may be a little too challenging for some. If that sounds great to you then being light on content may not matter, as there aren't many, if any other games that fit into this particular niche.
Senran Kagura Peach Ball is a pinball gaming masterpiece, but it's also incredibly light on content. There's just five characters and two tables, which really isn't a lot. Still, the content that is here is incredibly polished, gorgeous and addictive. These two tables are some of the most fun and jam-packed video game pinball tables I've ever experience, and if the game had just a few more of them, it would be a must-have for any pinball fans looking for their next adventure.
Vacation Simulator goes well beyond what we originally expected from this sequel. It cleverly expands on just about everything from the original game while bursting with the same lighthearted humour and the kind of immersive interactivity other VR devs could only dream of achieving. It's a lot cheaper than a real holiday too, and involves less time sharing sweaty metal tubes with other humans, which definitely helps.
Clever, emotional and raw, Sea of Solitude is a personal journey that at times you feel like you're intruding on. It is resolutely truthful and, just as Kay turns aspects of herself inward and outward, you can't help but consider your own place, both amongst the people around you and inside your own head.
Slay the Spire takes the best parts of roguelites, dungeon crawlers, and card games, and mixes them together into an unholy, but absurdly enjoyable game. It's the kind of game that gets under your skin and uses it like a tent, just camping out and reminding you that you aren't playing it. It's the kind of game that you can jump in for one quick run and suddenly realise that you've been playing for five hours and should really be asleep. It's the kind of game that is easy to play, hard to master, and impossible to put down. What more could you want?
World End Syndome is a visual novel masterpiece. The story is gripping and evocative, blending fun romance and tense murder mystery together incredibly well. The characters are sharp and beautifully illustrated, and the way their personalities and backgrounds developed over the course of the game was equally well-done. Best of all is the smart save system that keeps track of your progress and does a great job of encouraging you to keep coming back for the full story. It's hard to find any faults with a visual novel game like this that so successfully blends beautiful art and storytelling with satisfying game mechanics.
We. The Revolution is a stand-out recreation of the nightmare that was the French Revolution. Despite the turn based strategy mechanics falling flat, Polyslash still manage to put you on the edge of your seat by performing the near impossible feat of making resource management exciting. This is a game that demands you keep your head, when everyone else around you is losing theirs.
Wet Dreams Don't Dry is a collision of ideas that are thirty years apart. It's got a surprisingly liberal attitude to sex that doesn't excessively objectify women from 2019, but controls, puzzles, and willy shaped chandeliers from 1987. The game has its 'sexy' moment, but the story is more concerned about highlighting how far we've come since 1987 and that's really hard not to like. I'm looking forward to the next game, maybe Larry will get the girl. Or boy. Or both at the same time. Or a llama.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is a card collector's dream thanks to the astounding volume of cards and characters in the game. Unfortunately, bringing those cards into battle isn't nearly as satisfying as collecting them, as long-winded duels and shoddy enemy AI ruin the simple to learn yet hard to master nature of the card game. Fans of Dragon Ball will still have a good time here, as long as they're willing to put up with a lot of waiting and repetition.
War Tech Fighters is raw, unadulterated robot action. The flashy combat and easy to master controls make it a blast to dive in and play. The design aesthetic and narrative are lacking massively, which makes it hard to stick with the game for a long time, but if all you're looking for is some simple robot blasting action, War Tech Fighters will be right up your alley.
The Sinking City promises a nightmarish journey through a Lovecraftian townscape filled with monsters and threatening cults, but too often falls into a loop of forced combat and resource hunting. The investigative parts are excellent, and this is probably the best Lovecrat adaptation since Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth, but it still never really lives up to its potential. Close, but no Shoggoth.
Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka With Love is a good point and click adventure game with sense of humour and some challenging puzzles. The Switch version does have some technical issues and there's a little bugginess, but Irony Curtain is a fun little send-up of spy thrillers.
Super Mario Maker 2 is all that the original was and more. The Story Mode feels like a proper campaign, demoing all of the old and new feature and barmy possibilities found in the intuitive level creator. It's a shame that it features some typical Nintendo online stumbles, but it shouldn't be long before that's forgotten in the face of the boundless creativity of the Super Mario Maker community.
EDF: Iron Rain is big, it's dumb and it's also a ton of fun thanks to fantastic split-screen and online multiplayer. Pack your biggest auto-cannon, switch your brain off and you'll be chanting 'EDF! EDF! EDF!' in no time.