Classy gaming to brighten up your winter I

THINK it’s fair to say that January is the bleakest of months. The promising lights of Christmas are back in the loft, pay day is a lifetime away, and the dark nights, just like Batman, are increasingly bitter.

And adding to the misery is the barren wasteland of new game releases.

But fear not, there are a few glimmers of hope on the horizon. MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD PS4, XBOX ONE RELEASE: January 26 THE Monster Hunter series has been something of a cult hit since it first emerged on the PS2 back 2004.

Developed by gaming giant Capcom, the fantasy-RPG became a massive success in Japan - and has garnered a huge following in the west.

As the name of the series suggests, the game is all about hunting monsters.

Starting out as a novice, you gain skills, weapons and attributes as you slay your way through an increasingly difficult variety of weird and wonderful beasts in increasingly tense battles. ALBERT & OTTO: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS XBOX ONE, PS4, PC RELEASE: January 10 THIS beautiful indie game was drip-fed on Steam in 2015.

With art inspired by the stopmotion animation of Tim Burton, it tells the story of Albert and a magical bunny Otto.

Set in pre-World War II Germany, Albert sets off to find his kidnapped sister Anna with the help of her beloved stuffed bunny. One menacing mansion and a VR headset and you are in line for a terrifying experience with The Inpatient

Traversing the haunting world you’ll find unique ways in which Otto can help to solve puzzles. From levitating sheep, turning them into torches or using them as wolf bait, he helps Albert make his way through an increasingly dangerous landscape. Simply beautiful, and surprisingly hard. THE INPATIENT PS4 VR RELEASE: January 24 VIRTUAL reality can help you experience some amazing things – and some terrifying ones too.

Hinted at at E3 in June, it’s surprising to learn The Inpatient is actually a prequel to 2015’s Until Dawn.

Set 60 years before the events of that game, you play as a patient with amnesia in Blackwood Sanatorium.

With no memory, it’s up to you to find out how you came to be at the medical facility, and uncover the chilling conspiracy lurking within its foreboding walls. STREET FIGHTER V ARCADE EDITION PS4, PC RELEASE: January 19 WHEN Street Fighter V was released in 2016 it was to a mixed reception. While the graphics and gameplay were praised, there was little love for its extraordinary lack of content, and pitiful number of characters.

Much has been done to address this issue over the past 12 months, resulting in the release of Arcade Edition.

As well as the core game, this includes codes for all the DLC characters from seasons 1 and 2, as well as new interface graphics.

There are also two new gameplay modes – Arcade Mode and Extra Battle Mode – and one more V-Trigger has been added per character.

There’s even better news in that if you already own the game, then Arcade Edition is a free downloadable update.