by Sam Sant @SlamShotSam Developer: Passtech Games Publisher: Focus Home Interactive ​Platforms: Xbox One, ​PS4, Switch, PC ​Players: 1

Set in the whimsical world of Spark, Zahr the Banished has sundered Otto’s beloved Ana, splitting her into three pieces and scattering them around the realm. You’ll use your skills as a Shaper to harness the magical powers of Anima and summon a range of Guardians to command in your battle against Zahr and his Golem fighting force, all in order to reunite Ana’s heart, mind and body. It's a simple story, but a relatable one that serves as a solid central conceit thanks to some amusing writing and endearing voice work. Just as delightful are the hand-illustrated cutscenes and colourfully cartoonish art style, enhanced with Xbox One X support. An accessible control scheme makes Masters of Anima’s gameplay similarly inviting, allowing you to micromanage units with ease. There are five breeds of Guardian, each boasting their own unique strengths and weaknesses, summoned at the cost of the titular mana resource. Up to 100 Guardians can be spawned onto the field at once - provided you’ve acquired the relevant upgrades - with your elemental army then set to aid in each of the game’s three key pillars in exploration, puzzle solving and combat. Excellent balance is struck between the three, as engaging environmental puzzles and challenging skirmishes spatter sprawling and varied (both geographically and mechanically) levels overflowing with optional paths, collectibles and quests. Combat encounters are very much the meat of the experience though, presenting Masters’ tactical elements front and centre. Taking a varied spread of the five Guardian classes on offer into the fray is generally a good idea, but not universally so, due in part to the fact it'll take longer to direct your legion the more sets of units you have in play. Whilst enemies display distinguishable attack patterns and blatantly telegraph blows, you're not always afforded the necessary time as you juggle (in real-time) directing each type of Guardian to attack according to their strengths, running defence for both Otto and his summons, and launching your own melee offensive courtesy of Otto's staff in frantic-but-considered fashion.

Excellent balance is struck between the game's three key pillars in exploration, puzzle solving and combat.

by Sam Sant @SlamShotSam Developer: Big Boat Interactive Publisher: Rebellion ​Platforms: PC ​Players: 1 - 14

Rather than playing from an aloof position, as is the norm in an RTS, Combat Commander fittingly places you in the thick of the fight. From the cockpit you’ll spearhead assaults whilst issuing commands to a range of defensive, utility and offensive units to achieve the tactical advantage. This results in a frantic workflow that takes time to master, but is constantly satisfying. Hotkey shortcuts make management relatively simple as you establish a base and expand outwards by building structures, along with nodes to power them, at the cost of Biometal, a gradually mined resource. Once you have and utilise the means at your disposal to establish a defensive perimeter, select a player loadout and amass a small fighting force, the race is on to find and destroy your opponent’s base before they can do the same to yours. So far so familiar, but it’s in rolling out into the field that Combat Commander comes into its own. While unit management isn’t quite as elegant as in a dedicated RTS, due to the fact your mouse is otherwise occupied with shooting, it’s a worthy trade-off when the ability to actively engage in battles serves to make the core experience so much more compelling. Though we’re definitely undignified enough to suggest that an increased level of violence would improve a game of chess, getting your boots on the ground - often literally - actually poses new strategic opportunities for the opposing purist. Utilising cover and terrain to your advantage comes naturally, whilst the ability to seamlessly hop out of your craft and use a sniper rifle to pick off enemy pilots and instantly disable their turret/vehicle is an absolute blessing!

Combat Commander’s remaster shows a few cracks, but an intriguing blend of RTS and FPS mechanics still make for some uniquely exciting skirmishes.

The game simultaneously looks sharp and slightly retro, which there’s a certain charm to.

by Liam  ​Andrews ​@liam_andrews5 Developer: ​Red Hook Studios ​Publisher: ​ Red Hook Studios ​Platforms: ​Switch, PS4, PS Vita, PC, iOS Players: ​1

For the uninitiated, Darkest Dungeon is a side-scrolling, turn-based roguelike RPG where combat and exploration take both a physical and mental toll on your heroes. Your mission is to claim back your birth rite - a decrepit mansion and its grounds - from bandits and monstrous creatures that spilled forth from a mysterious portal following a misguided attempt to harness its power. You’ll be doing this with the help of mercenaries - a mix of brigands, occultists and warriors all looking for a slice of the glory - that show up in the small, hub-like hamlet outside of the sprawling, titular structure. A visit to the hamlet affords players the opportunity to upgrade armour and abilities, recruit fresh meat, and soothe the troubled minds of their hired muscle with a healthy mix of piety, booze and debauchery. Up to four recruits can be taken on a mission, each of which vary in length and objective. Some only require you to scout a certain number of rooms within the dungeon, while others task you with clearing every encounter on a procedurally generated floor. Harder missions open up as you progress, gradually building towards challenging boss fights. ​Managing the mental state of heroes is key to emerging victorious, as is making sure you’ve brought enough food, torches and medical equipment to last a sortie into the ruins. If a hero becomes too stressed - as a result of a combat encounter, a lack of supplies, or the slowly encroaching darkness that boosts enemy attributes - their resolve is tested, potentially unearthing negative personality traits that can hinder further progress. Push them harder still and they’ll keel over from a heart attack, ending them permanently.

Outside of a PC, this has to be the best way to enjoy the game.

Darkest Dungeon and its blend of gothic horror and engrossing fantasy adventure is an excellent and most welcome addition to the Switch’s rapidly expanding roster.

by Sam Sant @SlamShotSam Developer: Defiant Development Publisher: Defiant ​Development ​Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC ​Players: 1

As mystery cards from a deck of your design are dealt face-down onto the tabletop, you move a player token between them, revealing and tackling the unique tasks they each pose in the process. You do so with the aim of reaching and besting a culminating boss encounter, 22 of which place the exclamation points on the self-contained stories that comprise Hand of Fate 2’s larger narrative. Intentionally light on that front, the game opts simply to pose a variety of scenarios and leave you to carve your own path through them, which, coupled with some evocative penmanship (despite the final script needing another proofread), makes each campaign engaging and memorable in its own right. Rewinding just a tad, there’s plenty to consider before you set foot on an adventure. Though you can automatically generate your deck, consisting of companion, encounter, equipment and supply cards (all fairly self-explanatory), taking the time to craft a considered deck befitting the challenge at hand pays dividends. After the five introductory challenges things very quickly get quite difficult, so you'll want to devote a good chunk of time to pre-production, lest you live to regret it an hour later when you die and get sent right back there. ​ You don’t get to choose every card on the board however, injecting an element of unpredictability and preventing players giving themselves the same cushy set-up ad nauseum. That tactic isn’t too valuable anyway, as implementing new cards into your deck and meeting them in the wild is the only way to discover their attributes, good or bad, and gain access to their ‘sequels’. The inherent risk is most definitely worth taking in order to gain access to - and glean vital information from - cards that are necessary to building the perfect deck for any given situation. Cards in hand, you’ll soon encounter the game’s suite of luck-based mini-games that serve as traditional skill checks. The odds can be tipped in your favour, provided you’ve brought the right loadout, but if you’re averse to random chance playing any part in your success or failure, consider this a warning.

The game poses a variety of scenarios and leaves you to carve your own path through them, which, coupled with some evocative penmanship, makes each campaign engaging and memorable in its own right.

by Liam ​Andrews @pass_controller Developer: Ubisoft San Francisco Publisher: Ubisoft Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC Players: 1

Set not long after the previous game’s conclusion, Cartman and the boys have abandoned fighting over legendary branches in order to cash-in on the lucrative superhero business; namely the making and selling of their very own film and TV franchises.   The change in direction not only serves to parody the abundance of hero flicks that have been doing the rounds on our screens for the past few years, but also gives every player a fresh start, meaning those who never played The Stick of Truth can jump right into The Fractured but Whole without feeling lost.   As a newly initiated member of Coon and Friends, one half of the town’s two rival superhero factions, it’s your job to help track down a missing cat and claim the $100 reward the team believe will go a long way in getting their franchise off the ground. What starts out as a simple enough task quickly escalates as the gang inadvertently get caught up in a more sinister plot that incorporates the local mafia, crooked cops, and, of course, sixth graders.   It’s classic South Park stuff - intentionally basic visuals and all - packed with the sort of crude humour, plot twists and biting satire that fans of the show know and love. While it’s also full of knowing references, you don’t necessarily need to be a diehard to appreciate them, allowing even casual observers such as ourselves to enjoy their comedic effects. Though some gags might miss the mark if you’re a complete South Park virgin, there’s still plenty here to enjoy, thanks to the role-playing game’s revamped combat mechanics and a deep, yet accessible, progression system.

It’s classic South Park stuff - intentionally basic visuals and all - packed with the sort of crude humour, plot twists and biting satire that fans of the show know and love.

The Fractured but Whole was always going to be packed with comedy gold, but buried underneath all the fart jokes and political incorrectness is an engrossing and hugely enjoyable strategy RPG.

by Sam Sant @SlamShotSam Developer: Tarhead Studio Publisher: Tarhead Studio Platforms: PC Players: 1 ​- 4

The current Steam Early Access build is somewhat content light; just one mode is playable across a sparse three maps, but slim pickings don’t prevent the competitive 2v2 multiplayer battles being fun, challenging, intimate and intense. Fast-paced, action-based combat sees ranged spells perpetually flung and dodged in an isometric dance of death that marries Super Smash Bros. and SMITE; it’s simple to grasp, hard to master, and highly customisable. You’ll need to get stuck into the latter before seeing any action, first choosing one of three anthropomorphic characters to play as, each of which boast their own unique statistics, passive traits, and fancy armour pieces with positive and negative attributes to keep things balanced. In their base forms the creatures slot nicely into traditional roles, but by the time you’ve tweaked the above, selected a weapon that dictates your basic attack, and opted for any combination of four cooldown-limited special abilities, which can uniquely be applied across any character, they start to stray from these archetypes and become your own. Tinkering with the multiple systems is an exciting and rewarding learning experience that sees you discover not only a personal niche, but devastating combos and ways to synergise with partners. While the aim of the game is to kill off the opposing team in three separate rounds and claim victory, there are more effective ways to go about doing that than merely a direct assault. Blast Out’s arenas transform to introduce environmental hazards at set intervals - like an encroaching storm that shrinks the play area, or an eruption that splits the map in two - and these dangers deal far more damage per second than even your best shot. As a result, intelligently picking and utilising your abilities to force opponents into contact with hazards through knockbacks, pulls and status effects is integral to the game’s strategy.

Fast paced, action-based combat sees ranged spells perpetually flung and dodged in an isometric dance of death that marries Super Smash Bros. and SMITE.

​​by James Michael Parry @James_Parry Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Platforms: Nintendo Switch Players: 1-2

Kingdom Battle begins by introducing you to a character that serves as the catalyst in bringing these two worlds together. The passionate inventor proudly demonstrates her SupaMerge, a device which combines two objects to create a third. Alarm bells soon start to ring as the phrase “overheating problem” is uttered. From there, with a little help from the rabbids and a space-time continuum-manipulating washing machine, you’re thrown into the colourful Mushroom Kingdom we all know and love, only with an added tinge of mayhem. For many the setup isn’t that important, but the time and care put into it by Ubisoft really puts across what it meant to them to be able to work within the Mario universe. Now, if you haven’t met the rabbids before, think of them as Minion-like agents of chaos who enjoy a bit of mischief and have somehow managed to release nine games since they span off from Rayman back in 2006. A neat touch here is that the levels in Kingdom Battle manage to reflect some of the motifs of that series by having elements of the setting contribute to the soundtrack, whether that’s through flowers that look like trumpets or creepers (the plant, not Minecraft’s explosive enemy) that pluck strings like a harp. In fact the soundtrack overall is notable for how perfectly it slots in, to bring the two universes together. Visually and creatively the worlds which make up the bulk of the game, outside the hub around Peach’s castle, are properly stunning. Perhaps not brimming with ingenuity as we’ve seen in the likes of Rayman Origins or Legends more recently, but perfectly put together to expertly convey what the game’s going for. ​A big part of the game’s overall feel also comes from the personality of Beep-O, who’s essentially a Roomba (one of those little robot vacuum cleaners) which sprouted bunny ears as a result of the world collision and now serves as the character you control when exploring and puzzle solving between battles. His (its?) frustration and sarcasm at the situation, as well as the pun-tacular observations thrown out as you stumble across rabbids doing trademark random acts, is more than enough to raise a smile.

For many the setup isn’t that important, but the time and care put into it by Ubisoft really puts across what it meant to them to be able to work awithin the Mario universe.

Combat begs comparisons with fellow tactical, turn-based strategy game XCOM, and disappointingly misses the opportunity to poke fun (as far as we noticed).

by Chris  Brand @SuperCrisco Developer: Mouldy ​Toof Studios Publisher: Team17 Players: 1-4 Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC

For those new to the series, it marries elements of time management and strategy while tasking you with escaping various prisons. You'll need to buy, steal and craft a multitude of contraband items such as disguises, tools and weapons to do so; you can take a job or complete favours for inmates that reward you with cash and items to help in that pursuit, but some errands could land you in trouble if you're caught. Whichever path you might take, you’re also required to keep to a schedule to avoid raising suspicion. Each prison has different timings and security measures, and learning them is crucial; if you alert the guards you risk getting knocked unconscious or having sniffer dogs find your secret stash, both of which result in your illegal items being seized and scupper your escape plans. ​ The first change you’ll notice is The Escapists 2’s improved graphics. It's still played with a top-down isometric view, but the sprites are more detailed and the animations are a lot smoother this time around. There's a greater range of customisation options for your inmates, and even the in-game menus are notably improved, with a lick of paint now making it possible to view every craftable item and the ingredients you'll need to create it. One minor irritation on this front is that it's not always quite so obvious what’s required when multiple steps are required to construct the desired piece of kit. ​As veteran escapees, we were confident that no prison could hold us and we’d be feeling the hot sun on our pale skin in no time. The slightly altered controls delayed our first escape, but, fortunately, I did have a personal secret weapon. I enlisted my son to help, who would offer a rundown of how things were going to proceed and helpfully remind me which direction was which. He recommends the game, by the way, "Because it's good”.

Level variety coupled with a steady progression in difficulty helps to keep The Escapists 2 engaging throughout.

by James Michael Parry ​@james_parry Developer: Epic Games Publisher: Epic Games Players: 1-4 Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC

While generally we agree with Jessie J, it’s indeed not about the money (money money…), in this case the price is important to note as Fortnite plans to go free-to-play in 2018 - making the current cost a means to a microtransaction-supported end. That said, you can still buy the game’s paid currency, V-Bucks, as it currently stands, so it will be interesting to see how the economy changes come next year. But what about the actual game? Fortnite is a twist on the familiar tower defense experience, taking inspiration mostly from Orcs Must Die in that space, while also throwing Minecraft-esque resource gathering and Fallout 4’s base-building into the mix. Put simply, you construct an elaborate fortress and litter it with traps in order to protect an objective. Unlike the colourful variety found in the games that inspired it however, Fortnite feels held back by its more pedestrian weapon and character set. According to the lore laid out in the opening cutscene and tutorial missions, you play as a Commander, controlling your character as an ethereal presence looming over their shoulder. ​Each mission begins with a search for materials, which involves smashing everything in sight with a pickaxe to give you one of a handful of basic materials - as we know cars are effectively just piles of metal waiting to be carved into equal-sized sheets. The pickaxe can be upgraded via the skill tree, which you’re introduced to towards the end of the tutorial, making it possible to shortcut some of this busy work, but when the time comes you may find your attention has already began to wane. The build phase fares better. Developer Epic Games have been working (and, again, they still are) on Fortnite for years now - six, to be exact - and it’s clear to see where much of their time has been and is being spent. They’ve done a great job organising and breaking down the different building tools for use on a controller. It takes some getting used to - the pick and go approach of Minecraft is, at times, more straightforward, but always more limited - but soon you’ll be tackling multi-storey structures with relative ease.​

Without a cohesive team dynamic, meeting even basic build objectives - such as “don’t overbuild” - is difficult.

​by James Michael Parry ​@james_parry Developer: Digital Continue / 5th Cell (Original release) Publisher: THQ Nordic Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC Players: 1

The journey of a hero often starts with family, and, for titular protagonist Lock, that’s tragically the case here. After losing his parents before the game begins, his sister now finds herself facing danger when the clockworks - clockwork robots - attack their village, leading Lock and the player into their quest to rescue her.   At first glance, Lock’s Quest has an isometric, 8-bit aesthetic familiar from countless indie titles and games of yore. It pulls it off fairly well, though the visual upgrade between the original release and now is marginal; even the opening cinematic, which sets up the world’s clockwork-battling history, hasn’t had much love, and seems jumpy despite the very basic visual style. It definitely isn’t a power issue, now that the game has found a beefier home, so it’s a little disappointing to see these issues.   In game, performance is far more reliable. Gameplay is split into Build and Battle sections, and you begin by putting up defences to hold the evil clockworks (commanded by bosses with names like Pain, Beast and Lord Agony) at bay - then you get to see how your preparations fare as you try to use Lock to keep everything in one piece for as long as possible. The experience is somewhere between the wave-based, ever-escalating panic of something like Gears of War’s Horde or Plants v Zombies’ Garden Ops and the methodical strategy of Civilization or Command and Conquer. Despite being simple in principle, it certainly takes a while to get the hang of, with plenty of days ending in failure as the clockworks reach your Source well - the place where the blue glowing energy of this universe, Source, comes from.​

Most of the time, NPCs are responsible for defence up until you arrive, at which point they seemingly pop to the pub.