It feels weird to buy a peripheral in order to play games you don't own. I'm generally very positive about the Nintendo Classics offered through the Nintendo Switch Online membership (and the classic Mega Drive games). I know I'll lose access if I stop subscribing, but it feels like a reasonable fee to get these on top of other benefits. But, just like I have never bought DLC for a game I don't own, I find the idea of needing to buy a peripheral to play the newly added Virtual Boy games a little hard to swallow.

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I'm going to spoil the opening of Despelote here - an opening which I think, as you can probably tell, is pretty glorious. It's not a spoiler so much as a contaminator, a finger on the scales of something it'll feel wonderful to go into unweighted. So go away right now if you want to experience it for yourself.

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I've got an issue with people saying 'turn-based games are back, baby'. For those with the eyes to see, they never went away. Yes, Metaphor Refantazio and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might have reminded the masses that tactical min/maxing is video game catnip, and that there are so many brain-scratching things you can do with the formula, but the past few generations has been rife with gems in the genre: Dungeon Encounters, the Shin Megami Tensei series, Sea of Stars, Chained Echoes, and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes immediately spring to mind, but there are dozens more, too.

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As Metroid Prime 4: Beyond hits storefronts, I'm pretty sure you're going to see a whole lot of fevered debate online about the game's curious choice to place Samus, famously quiet Bounty Hunter, as the de facto head of a squad of Galactic Federation soldiers. Does it still feel like Metroid, famed for its sense of creepy, atmospherically rich isolation, if Samus has a buddy in her ear or - worse - alongside her physically? Or does the presence of friendlies ruin that Metroid magic?

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I realise I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't love Bluepoint's approach to remakes. Sure, they're pretty, they're technically accomplished, and mechanically faithful to the originals, but the studio's artistic liberties too often rankle. I admit I'm a purist and grumpy old man in the making who hates change, but I still think remakes should, fundamentally, play within the boundaries of the original's creative vision. A colour palette shift - swapping the bleached-out ethereal hues of Shadow of the Colossus on PS2 for a more natural lighting, say - might add a bit of beautification, but it can radically alter the intended tone. More egregiously, Bluepoint's decision to redesign chunks of Demon's Souls using a completely different architectural style isn't just an artistic choice, it has significant ramifications for world-building.

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Turnips! Everywhere! As far as the eye can see! Well, not quite, but The Séance of Blake Manor certainly has a lot of them. This might seem like a strange place to start when talking about developer Spooky Doorway's brilliant new supernatural detective mystery, but it actually says quite a lot about what makes it so good. Here, a fun historical footnote - that jack-o'-lanterns were originally carved from turnips - is turned into a feature, as glowering turnip faces leer from shadowy corners and sit in ghoulish formation along the sweep of an imposing staircase. In the grand scheme of things, a minor detail - but it's also one that lends this spooky deductive yarn an air of historical authenticity that sells its supernatural premise so much harder.

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