Entwined | PS4 | Download only | $11.95 | In the history of allegorical storytelling in video games, one might not go so far as to call Entwined particularly important, but it is one of the most pure representations in recent memory of the kind of storytelling that can only happen in games.
Two vibrantly colourful animals fly and swim through varying electronic landscapes, and you need to position them as they go (via, it must be said, a frequently awkward arcade-like control scheme) to connect with colour-coded gates. Though they clearly want to be close together — glowing green if you push them near — the reality of their needing to hit the gates to progress means they're never together for long. The story of course has a happy ending, as the end of each level sees the two combining to become a dragon and give you free control to fly around and create art with all the energy you've collected along the way.
EA Sports UFC | PS4, Xbox One | Retail and download | $99.95 | Graphically jaw-dropping and filled to the brim with realistic versions of the most prolific guys and girls of the ultimate fighting circuit (plus Bruce Lee, for some reason), this latest UFC video game is sure to appeal to a wide audience.
Unfortunately anyone hoping to really get their money's worth here is going to need to be willing to put in such an amount of work that they could almost juice up and train for the octagon themselves in the same time. The intertwined stamina, blocking, striking, submission and positioning systems really only slide into place in the hands of someone who's spent a lot of time studying both the game's mechanics and the sport itself.
Similarly, whether or not you're impressed with the amount of gameplay options and fighting styles boils down to how big a UFC nerd you are, as the laundry list of slightly different holds and strikes do tend to blur together to make every fight look more or less the same.
Blood & Laurels | iOS | $3.79 | On the surface a theatrical and excellently written choose-your-own-adventure story set in ancient Rome, Blood & Laurels is much more than meets the eye. It is actually the first game built on the Versu interactive fiction engine, a powerful tool that allows literary characters to be controlled by AI that responds to and is influenced by the main character, who is controlled by the reader.
As a poet in the service of a would-be usurper at the tail-end of Rome's glory days, you choose when and where you will express your opinions, what actions you'll take and how you feel about the surrounding characters. They remember your responses and the story progresses accordingly.
Although obviously not as visually exciting as many games available on the app store, Blood & Laurels represents a true melding of literature and game systems, not merely branching but actually fully interactive.
Tomodachi Life | 3DS | Retail and download | $59.95 | As with so many life-simulator games, you get out what you put in with Tomodachi Life. Mii characters you pour into the game are given specific personalities and hilariously severe computer synth voices, to live together in an apartment building.
From there you play the part of a god-like voyeur, passively watching as your Miis build relationships and live their lives, influenced on occasion by your advice and the food, clothes and furnishings you force upon them. The game is designed for you to check in from time to time to see what the gang are up to. Maybe your Neil Armstrong Mii has an important news bulletin to deliver about apples, or maybe your boyfriend and the anthropomorphic Mii version of your cat have started a thrashcore band.
The quality of your experience depends almost entirely on the Mii characters you use, whether you make them yourself or grab them from anywhere on the internet by scanning a QR code, although regardless of your input the seemingly random events will eventually repeat themselves. Check out Jason Hill's full review here.
Pullblox World | Wii U | Download only | $13 | Adorable sumo Mallo returns in this big-screen sequel to one of the cutest and most infuriatingly difficult puzzle games on 3DS. Like a mix of Tetris and sodoku, Pullblox presents a tall structure made up of various colourful blocks and makes you pull or push them around to create a path to the top.
It's more difficult than it sounds, as you'll need to visualise where you're going to stand and whether or not you'll have room to manoeuvre on the way up. Finally figuring out the solution to a tough puzzle is hugely satisfying, but always immediately followed by the soul-crushing appearance of an even more complex and baffling design.
In addition to hundreds of brand new puzzles, Pullblox World also introduces a "world fair" where players can create their own puzzles, or play and rate puzzles designed by others, making the potential content all but endless.
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