Naiad is, yes, sometimes pleasant. It's an easy listening, acoustic cover of a song, and some will praise it for having the notes in the right order. Maybe they find that kind of muzak relaxing; for me, it just makes me feel like I'm on hold.

I am in real danger of sounding ungrateful, because jeopardy was something I wanted more of in Gris. It's present in Neva, but the nuts and bolts need tightening before it hits an Ori And The Blind Forest, game of the year, orchestral tour sort of level of greatness. That aside - which in fairness is quite a big "that" in an action platformer - I think Neva is a step above Gris. The experience as a whole is engaging and bittersweet enough that I'll even forgive the 'it was all a dream' switcheroo.

Despite their respective annoyances, you can't help rooting for Angela and Trevor, and especially Trevor. He has, as he points out, not actually done anything wrong except to not be an awful fitspo influencer, like American Arcadia's most popular resident. By the end of the game you're catharting as hard as anyone at the prospect of victory at the entertainment company at the heat of the show. It's especially great to see how Trevor's concept of what victory in his own personal context means.

I guess I only want to play old school racing games now

Super Woden GP 2 confirms it

So yes, Song Of Nunu won't win any prizes for ingenuity or platforming prowess, but it is very handsomely made, and I had a lovely, heartwarming time with it. It certainly feels like a step up from Rime, the game that helped put Tequila Works on the map for these kinds of soulful adventures, even if it doesn't wrench quite so violently at your heartstrings. If nothing else, it will remind you of simpler, perhaps happier days when every third-person adventure game wasn't just another grim Soulslike you had to endure, and that there's still plenty of joy and warmth to be found in a story about a boy looking for his mum with his big yeti dog friend. Whether you like League Of Legends or not, it's another notch we can add to the recent 'good character platformer' list.

Perhaps that comes down to taste, as does Blasphemous 2’s mean and mysterious vibe in general. The cryptic parts will trip up some people more than others, but even as someone who fell flat on their face I can respect the deft weaving of systems into setting - which is, again, excellent. A few reveals made me say "Jesus Christ!" aloud, then chuckle at the appropriateness. I’d had my fill after the 12 hours it took to pay my penance, leaving a few areas unexplored and some mysteries that remain ravelled, but they’re there for those that want ‘em. By the hallowed murmuring of the sacred Archonfraternity: fill your boots.

As I mentioned earlier, Endling is not the ruthless survival game I was expecting, but it does a great job of creating tension between the caretaking of your cubs and the dangerous world you need to protect them from. The daily routine of finding food, avoiding danger and returning to your den can feel like you're going through the motions sometimes, but the constantly changing landscape and mix of tender and tense story moments conjure a survival tale that’ll be sure to wrench your heartstrings.

These multiplied the further into the game I went, particularly after the time skip that was touted as part of the game’s big 1.0 update. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much about it, because not long after mysteriously being flung centuries into the future, the main quest appears to have bugged entirely for me. This is annoying not just because of the review, but because I really want to finish the game. The Waylanders charmed me even where it struggled, until it struggled so hard that I literally could not continue.

And Deflector might’ve launched into early access, but it sure has a lot of bugs to iron out in its early access lifecycle. I sadly encountered a litany of game-ending bugs throughout Deflector, where reward objects required to proceed wouldn’t spawn, or overcoming a room would see every reward spawn at once and follow me through the rest of the run. It’s unfortunate that Arrowfist Games’ venture has launched in this state - but on the other hand making improvements is what early access is for, and it’s clearly an iterative game that’ll see more updates and patches further down the road. Hopefully some of them will rebalance the core of the game a bit, too.

As is, the sections focusing on the villain are basically just a psychopath simulator. There’s definitely some dark stuff in there and the characters have a real spark of life in them, but it doesn’t quite stick the landing - and that’s kind of how I feel about Vertigo as whole, too.

 When a game provokes these kinds of feelings in me, I don't mind so much if the choices I'm making are actually a little bit fake. Grotto stands on its own as an engaging story about the way we communicate with others and how their meaning can be polluted and morphed over time, and I reckon fans of such things will likely enjoy it even if the game-y aspects of it feel a little undercooked. If it's a meaningful, branching narrative you're after, though, then you'll be better off finding a different rabbit hole to hunker down in than Brainwash Gang's Grotto.

Still, if you’re the type of player that got all the Tenchu feels during Sekiro when hardcore own-name enjoyer Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa called his horse ‘Onikage’, I reckon you’ll have a cracking time with Aragami 2. It really does remind me of PS2-era stealth, just with fantastically responsive, flowing movement, and snackable pace. Again, it’s not a sim: it’s a toy. And that’s just peachy. We all need to grab a plastic katana and leap around the house like a dickhead sometimes.

Temtem is a treat for Pokemon fans on PC, innovating on the formula in meaningful ways while staying close to its roots. That's not always good, as Temtem has a lackluster story and an endless churn of wild battles that feel inherently Pokemon, but it's still the best take on the genre in a long time. However, the best part about Pokemon is that I can whip out my Platinum cartridge and return to Sinnoh in a heartbeat with all my old mons lying in wait, and whether Temtem can stand a similar test of time remains to be seen. For now, though, it’s a fabulous creature-catching experience that you need to try. There's a chance that Temtem might even become your favourite Pokemon game yet.

Overall, despite all the frustrations, I enjoyed being a broody detective cat. I just wish the game itself was as strong as the story it was trying to tell.

Getting a tidy markup on liquor and toys is not enough to entice me back, though. Not even to get another of the ten different endings. I’d happily give it another shot if it gets all its if-this-then-thats working, because it seems like it could be very good and fun and interesting, but right now I’m quite unwilling indeed.

It may not be a long game, for a faster-witted player than I would get through it in an afternoon, and pretty games may not be all that scarce… but this is more than just pretty. It’s a carefully directed, genuinely beautiful game well worth your time.

I’m going to give the game a Bestest Best sticker

Classical education standards aside, this is certainly a mixed bag, but a very interesting one, and I’m certainly very pleased to have played it. If they could have ditched the dullest puzzles for more of the smartest, and had that jump feel a little less awkward, I think it would have shone. But it still glimmers rather nicely, and for a price that makes it worth it.

n the end, the relationships between the children could have saved it all, but they’re just non-existent. It relies entirely on your nodding at the archetype and just agreeing that’s enough, and it clearly isn’t. The reliance on reading off a list of films and TV shows you saw in the 80s (and somewhat confusingly, often the 90s too) inducing a state of nostalgic bliss might work for some, but not for me. I wanted this game to do some heavy lifting too. That it ultimately collapses into a string of unpleasant platforming sequences that the core design simply can’t sustain means I grew to loathe Crossing Souls, once it entirely abandoned its redeeming features for everything it couldn’t get right.

If you’ve any interest in transhumanist philosophy or even ethics in general, then you owe it to yourself to pick this one up. If you don’t, then The Red Strings Club should still hit the spot – and you might find you have more to say the next time someone asks you about the nature of happiness.

This is the sort of game that makes my frustrated trawling through the Steam mire a worthwhile endeavour. Sweet, splendidly delivered, and a bargain for a game you’d not heard of until just now.

I have no interest in finding out where the plot goes, because so far it’s Arbitrary Events In The Lives Of Wooden Characters, but I do want to find out which dramatic places it will show me next. It’s also not impossible that Blues & Bullets might find its stride now it’s got initial over-excitement out of its system. I’m frankly amazed that there aren’t more rivals/homages to the Telltale style, but at least part of that is because Telltale games are sold more on license than style – and most small studios couldn’t bag a big license. Blood & Bullets has free reign to do what it wants, and in some respects it makes the best of that. Again, it could be fantastically interesting with better pacing. I just hope its later episodes can spend more time on the basics – characterisation, movement, animation, interactions with purpose – rather than burning everything on overblown sets. Blues and Bullets’ ambition is untouchable, but for its own sake it needs to calm right down and focus on what matters most.

It’s such a shame, because a complete game would get a recommendation from me. It’s a troubling game in many ways, but without ever being overtly dickish about it. The hipflask is perhaps a little trite, but the grim undertone of its breezy and delightful animation makes for a splendid cognitive dissonance. There was one moment in there near the end that is certain to upset some people – for me it merely had me say “Oh my God” out loud, and then move on. I was far more offended by the whole thing being a wild goose chase ending with the words, “GET READY. THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.” Nope. It was the ending, and it was bloody annoying.

So it’s such a galling shame that the game lets itself down so badly. A collection of poor puzzles is frustrating (one in particular required me to email the developer to get past), but forgivable in this lovely daft genre. But not going anywhere – that’s not okay. This isn’t the first chapter, and doesn’t end with a “to be continued”. That’s it. The story, everything you’ve invested in over its ten or so hours, isn’t going anywhere. It announces what needs to be done to save the day, prepares your character with a process of self-realisation, establishes the plot threads that will lead to an eventual dénouement… and then stops.

Qvadriga is a fine game and a strong proof of Turnopia's approach. Built on easily understood mechanics, the game involves a dissection of a complex activity and then reconstruction as a process of distinct phases and actions. A few decisions and interlocked mechanics become a convincing recreation. Gladiators next? Or perhaps early motorsports and an eventual turn-based history of vehicular competition.