Inside is dark, deep and deliciously bleak. Its ominous world speaks continually - even if it's never entirely clear what is being said. Its puzzles aren't mindbending, but they're duly affecting - extending the mechanical and thematic nuance nudged at by Limbo.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is every bit as vicious, epic and dramatic as its predecessors in the Ninja Theory library, but interweaving a delicate storyline through simple, yet ruthless mechanics makes it one of the most visceral portrayals of psychological turmoil in recent video gaming.
Hyper Light Drifter fuses old-school combat and attentive world design with unique sensitivity. Its world owes almost entirely to the SNES era, but this game is a tale of individual intelligence - even though it's never really told.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap doesn't always put enough distance between itself and its Master System roots to fully appeal as a modern platformer, but it's so brimming with charming, challenging discoveries that dated design choices don't infuriate anywhere near as often as they reward.
Oneshot won’t likely have you screaming for its approval as a ‘revolutionary game’, but it’ll almost certainly surprise you. And though it achieves a similarly disquieting tone, the meta approach to puzzle-solving and self-aware narrative validate Oneshot as a distinctive, sympathetic adventure that consistently matches its tone with (though not wholly original) still quite novel mechanics.
Pony Island is clever, creative and veritably ludicrous. It's not heavy on mechanics, and puzzles can slow down the experience, but its satanic tendencies and cultural observations endures far beyond its prompt closure. Neither for, nor about ponies.
The Final Station pays its respects with an appreciative concision. Tough stages and scarce resources lend heavily to its survival-horror status and though the narrative can feel flawed, it offers numerable nods to the zompocalypse genre with a subtle, reflective tone.
Less a Gaiden successor and more a general love-letter to its look and style, The Messenger allows fans to hop gleefully between cheery gaming memories without being bound by the rigid controls and punishing precision of a prior era, while somehow managing to remain entirely accessible to newcomers as a fun, unmistakeably wholehearted 2D platformer.
With an unrelenting sense of character, Chasm successfully works the Metroid formula into a procedurally-generated fantasy platformer, producing an intricate, challenging and enduring treasure hunt that more than justifies its five-year development.
The Count Lucanor's patchwork of previous gothic titles might strike as unoriginal, but its own merits shine through as a contemporary play on the classical fable. The hidden choices and nuanced characters offer a thematic narrative uncertainty, and an ever-present sense of threat overrides the conventional 'jump scare'. A folk tale in the guise of an adventure-RPG.
While ultimately 'for the fans', Activision and Vicarious Visions successfully bring nostalgic PS One classic romping back into relevance, while including some extra bells and whistles that (save for some control slips) allow the originals a greater depth.
Garage: Bad Trip is an unrelenting barrage of camp horror and ridiculous action sequences whose grungy VHS aesthetic will likely appeal to cult-movie enthusiasts, while also managing to be well-structured, accessible top down shooter with its very own grotesque thrills.
While most players will likely see where its influences lay, the dystopian world of Black The Fall succeeds on many occasions in creating a distinctly disquieting atmosphere, while a trial-and-error-based puzzle design offers just enough interactivity to keep its spooky narrative kicking.
Though not entirely devoid of the repetitious, occasionally aimless gameplay that afflicts several narrative-driven adventures, Last Day of June quite often redeems its down periods as a filmic, affecting examination of grief.
Jumping Joe and Friends embraces simplicity, requiring enduring vigilance as it challenges the player to accumulate as many points as possible. The result? Not only a tense arcade platformer, but a reasonable party game that suits the Switch's pick-up-and-play charm.
Plasma Puncher doesn't look to revolutionize the modern beat 'em up, but its punchy character controls and tough, wave-based combat offer an addictive few hours of amoeba-murder that ultimately makes that okay.
The occasional design issue aside, restoring Hob's ramshackle world is satisfying, with its cel-shaded art style and tech-infused nature concealing a complex network of pulleys, valves and hidden paths.
If you'd like to experience the sense of flow of iOS rhythm games or runners without the touch controls, Lost in Harmony's isolated keys and horizontal scroller may prove attractive on the PC. But alas, it's better suited to the smartphone, and with its rich, painted aesthetic and surprisingly grounded story, it's probably amongst the strongest on that market.
The Greater Good may not appeal to those scouting for intense systems, strategic play or hefty challenges, but like it did me, it just might win you over in spite of its technical hitches.
LEGO Dimensions can be repetitious and expensive, but mingles clever, nostalgic crossovers with imaginative puzzles and opportunities to create. This is a game about fun both on and off-screen.