And that’s what GT7 reminds you of throughout your journey -- that this series has always held car and automobile culture as its anchor point, and in return has become a part of that culture itself. To some, there may be aspects of GT7 that feel static or sterile, but Polyphony Digital isn’t the fun uncle, it’s always been the serious one. And in Gran Turismo 7, what we get is a serious dose of incredible, be it from an historical and cultured perspective, or in learning how to just drive.

Elden Ring is among my favourite games ever. Those frame hitches, while significant, marred mere moments in my playtime with From's masterpiece. I played 95 hours of Elden Ring, and I could have played oh-so-much more. I will, probably. I railroaded myself with my weapon choice, but I found dozens of amazing looking spells that I'd love to try out. And I can't PVP at level 150, so I'll need to start a new character if I want to invade people. And there are two other endings that I didn't achieve — you aren't thrust immediately into NG+ in Elden Ring once you achieve an ending, but I don't think you can achieve other endings later. I already kind of know how to do them, I think. Well, I think I know, anyway. But I don't know what I don't know, so…

Shadow Warrior 3 left me wanting more on the account of the relatively short campaign being the entirety of the experience. But there’s something to be said about that. A repetitive shooter that structurally doesn’t change over the course of several hours yet doesn’t grow old or feel tired. A gem of a first-person shooter, an interactive rollercoaster, and one hell of a good time. So much so it’ll have you lining up to go again.

Deep, complex, and approachable, Total War Warhammer III is an intense, engaging triumph.

As an action-adventure, an RPG, a narrative, and open-world sandbox, and a way to simply spend time exploring a breathtaking world – it falls short. Engaging at times, thrilling too, but also disjointed, clunky, and unfocused in ways we didn’t expect.

And so what looks like a fun, cartoony jaunt on a skateboard, that can actually be played as such, early on, can also very quickly turn into a deep and unforgiving monster wrought with indomitable challenge and pedestal moments brought on by death-defying triumphs. It’s the sort of slowburn game communities build around, in league with titles like Super Meat Boy, the Trials series or Cuphead, to name a few. Games where challenge is key, but bragging rights are better.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Expeditions: Rome. The tactical combat held my attention throughout. It has some weaknesses elsewhere, for sure. But like an effective party, they work to offer support. Tinkering away in your camp, or shuffling pawns across the strategic map might not get the pulse racing, but it provides an opportune moment to catch your breath, to rest and recuperate before pulling on your armour and once again striding onto the battlefield where you belong.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human’s greatest achievement is its freedom of movement, and the playground Techland has designed for you to best leverage that is a triumph of what feels like infinite proportions. At its most fundamental core, at the headiest tine of it all, the game’s promise of an open-world with zombies and near limitless freerunning opportunities is delivered to the letter. Unfortunately there’s much around those three pillars that simply isn’t delivered to the degree it’s obvious the studio would have liked. Whether it’s in performance, pacing or overall balance, across every system Dying Light 2 has cracks in its seams.

As a slice of classic top-down action-RPG goodness, Nobody Saves the World is the first surprise gem of the year. The fact that it’s available on Xbox Game Pass on PC and Xbox makes it something of a must-play if it's the style of game you dig. Then again there’s enough uniqueness and charm with the class-based Form system to warrant a go for even the most casual of RPG players. Fun, funny, and just all-around great.

As a Rainbow Six Siege spin-off it’s fun to see all of the gadgets and mechanics of that game make their way over into the co-op space. The gun-feel is also on point. The ease at which you can throw out a recon drone or line up a head-shot through a wall is endlessly satisfying. And with all of its tactical stealthiness, Extraction plays unlike anything else we’ve seen in the co-op space. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to give the experience a true identity it can call its own.

God of War remains an utterly brilliant action-adventure, where the former is as good as the latter. The bond between Kratos and Atreus is wonderfully handled, nuanced, funny, and heartfelt. A sentiment that speaks to the overall narrative, an engaging slice of Nordic mythology that also paves the way for the sequel - God of War: Ragnarok - due later this year on PS5. Really though, all you need to know is that one of the best games of the last decade is now available on PC.

What we get when all’s said and performed in step with The Gunk’s level design, is a fleeting experience really only good for the Achievements (your first G is a whopping 50, and this rarely lets up), or for a chilled and relaxed romp through an alien world whose FernGulley storyline is face-slappingly on-the-nose. I mean, it’s actually quite fun, despite Rani’s overly contextual Mepsipax design, which is entirely at odds with everything I’ve gunked at you here, but it did suck me in.

When viewed through a cinematic lens, White Shadows becomes an easy experience to recommend. The wonderful art direction, cinematography, animation (for the most part) and other elements do come together to create a cohesive and visually surprising journey. There’s variety here, quite a bit of it considering the very short runtime. So even though it doesn’t quite emerge, fully formed, from the shadows of Limbo, Abe’s Odyssey, or Another World, White Shadows certainly makes its mark. However fleeting that might be.

It’s very much the spiritual successor it purports to be -- with forward thinking design and elements that flow in a way that reminds you of the timeless nature of the fluid, stylish combat of old. The lack of co-op is something you feel, but in terms of cinematic spectacle this is the Master Chief carrying the flag once more for Xbox. Albeit in that new-school form of being able to jump in and, well, play anywhere.

This is one of the best detective titles you’ll play and its story and voice-acting is a pure joy. Just don’t go in expecting any high level of visual sheen, or system fluidity.

Tavern Master is a pretty simple and straightforward game at heart. There's not much in the way of frills, and it would likely benefit from some injections of personality. If I was playing backseat designer, I'd love to see the addition of conversations with regular patrons or some extra narrative dressing around the special events. At present, while on Tuesday you play host to a wine tasting and on Friday there's an executioner's meetup, the only real difference is for the former you have to put cheese on the menu. Still, with the sun rising over the castle walls, the stream gently gurgling in the background, and the birds chirping away in the nearby woods, it really is a lovely spot for an executioner's meetup.

The real lesson here is to stop releasing unfinished games, whether that’s server woes, optimisation issues, immersion-shattering bugs or, as is additionally the case with Battlefield 2042, an undercooked core gameplay offering that would have benefited from at least another year in the oven.

Even with a lacklustre Zombies experience, Call of Duty: Vanguard is Sledgehammer Games’ best Call of Duty to date. The studio is finally hitting its stride in getting its vision of the series to where it should be. The campaign is a rip-roaring five hours of fascinating character stories mixed with memorable locales, while the new additions to the admittedly by-the-numbers multiplayer are more than welcome. While it may not change the formula in any meaningful way, what you’ve got here is a great Call of Duty game.

There’s an upgrade system to offer up replayability and variation, but there’s just not enough about the world, characters, and story to elevate it above anything more than a fun tech demo to put your new GPU through its paces.

Forza Horizon 5 is so stacked it’s hard not to feel a little overwhelmed with options. But there’s never really a sense that you need to do any of it, or progress through a series of checklists before moving on to the next thing. And in the end this might be the genius at the heart of Horizon, you’ll want to keep moving, keep driving, simply because you want to. Because it feels right. And in creating a vast, beautiful open-world in which you can do that very thing, Playground Games lives up to its namesake.

There’s no cash-in on the overall success of the MCU here, or on the Guardians of the Galaxy movies in a standalone sense. This is a pure videogame born from the paper and ink flesh of the comics before it, imagined as an interactive slice of the IP’s universe. And it absolutely works. The action-RPG lite approach was conclusively the right decision to make, which allows the game’s absolute strength: its story and characterisation, to truly stand out. This is a surprise hit for me, and one of the most enjoyable games from a written and performed perspective you’ll play this year.

Age of Empires IV isn’t something strictly for fans, there’s no accrued history you need to know before jumping in. It does however feel like a natural extension of Age of Empires II’s brilliance -- and for that does feel like the return of something great. What you’ve got here is a modern progression of the age-old, well, Age of Empires formula with all of the style and depth you could hope for. As a foundation for more campaigns, more maps, and more of everything to come it’s exciting. The documentary approach to the four campaigns on offer is not only a winner, but a confident step forward for the series. Historical warfare with an eye toward the educational. Age of Empires IV is not only one of the very best slices of real-time strategy gaming, period, it’s a candidate for best game of 2021.

A great concept with the right amount of heart, that simply loses its way too often in so much broken form.

With Back 4 Blood available on Xbox Game Pass on PC and Console there’s reason to jump in if you’re looking for something new to play with friends. The look and feel is familiar and the action is engaging and chaotic when played with a group. For a while that is. Thanks to the sameness that permeates across most levels and backdrops and the predictability of the pace, it doesn’t take long for this Left 4 Dead spiritual successor to wear a little thin.

The real test of whether or not Tales of Arise is for you will be in your desired level of investment, because the requirement for here, is nothing shy of massive. But what you get is a charming game built from tentpole JRPG, anime and manga tropes, glammed up the wazoo, and pegged down with a solid fighting and combat system, stunning animations, a unique art-style and maybe the best presentation in the series yet. I for one loved my time with the game, even at its cringiest, because the payoff for growth in power and the game’s pure characterisation is worth watching the handful of Alphen skits being a big dumb idiot.

The themed levels are fine, but leaning into more SEGA history would have definitely added to the celebratory feel of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. A fine return to monkey-in-ball form, by the way of past glory and frustration.

This is no Metroid Prime, and that’s a good thing. Rather, this is a reminder of what it means for a game to be of the Metroid half of a Metroidvania, and then some. That this IP exists in both the first-person genre-defining Metroid Prime series, and in its traditional 2D side-scrolling self is a testament to its flexibility and EMMI-like defiance of not being confined to a single shape...And in Metroid Dread, you’re not only getting arguably the best Metroid game to date, but maybe the best game of 2021.

Despite some of the zannyness of the overall experience, the meaty “gritty and grounded” story content is top shelf, and it’s difficult to not just want more and more of Esposito’s Castillo. And you’ll definitely be playing awhile, especially if you choose to go all-in on the game’s many treasure hunts and other game-world challenges.