Kirby Air Riders is a surprise contender for kart racer of the year. Excelling well beyond its cult predecessor, the pink blob’s latest adventure is filled with some excellent and surprisingly deep racing where your skill, expertise and management are what put you ahead of the pack. Its courses are gorgeous and intricate, City Trial is aptly chaotic, and the brand new Road Trip mode is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure filled with strategy and risk vs reward events. With a lot to see, tick off and do, along with accessibility options to refine your experience, Kirby Air Riders is crafted to be the kart racing event of the year. Eat its dust, Mario Kart World.

The Berlin Apartment is certainly a nice tribute to the history of the titular city. With gorgeous scenery evolving through time that tells the tales of its residents, the apartment is a delight to explore. However, a more intriguing main narrative or engaging gameplay mechanics would’ve been a massive boon for the game. A gorgeous art style and heartwarming sentimentality make The Berlin Apartment an enjoyable experience, albeit one that struggles to stand against the genre’s best.

Demonschool gets high marks for its inventive and tightly designed combat system, but what really sets it apart from the rest of the class is how assured and cohesive its overall design and presentation are. While its attempts at variety and RPG depth come up a little short, Demonschool is nonetheless a vivid, stylistic mesh of Argento and Persona that, alongside strong writing and a fun cast, was a great companion over a semester of time. Come for fun innovations in turn-based tactic design, but stay for the humour, aesthetics and characters.

News Tower is a game that takes you back to a time when journalism was a bustling career. You will micromanage your newsroom to ensure you’re the best in all of New York, while also covering real-life stories, avoiding bankruptcy, lawsuits, and the mob. The automation system is pretty finicky, and restructuring the office might hinder your progress. Still, with enough practice and learning the kinks, you’re able to build a thriving, well-oiled machine newsroom that feels reminiscent of the good old days.

Possessor(s) is hauntingly beautiful. It’s a stunning world that begs to be delved into with curiosity. Luca and Rhem’s dynamic is an absolute standout, with an excellent balance of snark and heart between the two. It’s almost to the game’s detriment, as every other NPC (besides the antagonist and one of the eye holders) falls flat in comparison. Movement feels great, as does combat, for the most part. Some unfair enemy design and stun issues drag the experience down, alongside moments where progression stalls, especially if you miss the unclear whip skill interaction. Despite this, though, Possessor(s) still manages to shine with genuine merit and contains a beautiful story well worth seeing through to the end.

Lumines Arise takes a now-iconic formula and revamps it in a way that truly stimulates the senses. When you’re in a flow-state, headphones in, matching blocks, vibing with the gorgeous soundtrack and being mesmerised by the dazzling visuals, time simply melts away. It’s the most diverse and interesting the series has ever been, punctuated by a killer tracklist from its talented composers. Sure to be a regular puzzler to pick up in anybody’s library, there’s simply nothing else quite like Lumines Arise.

Whether it was through lack of resources or lack of effort, Syberia – Remastered woefully falls short of the modernised experience it promises. Beyond the improved 3D environment that brings justice to Benoît Sokal’s imaginative world, there’s very little to recommend to returning Syberia fans and new players alike. Awkward controls and bare-bones UI makes it difficult to see what made the game so beloved to so many in the first place.

Foolish Mortals is for the 90s point-and-click kids; the kids who loved Telltale and LucasArts games, the kids who would, before the internet, call their friends and excitedly tell them they’d cracked the puzzle they’d both been stuck on. With its gorgeous backdrops, spooky vibes and a narrative filled with twists and turns, this is a point-and-click adventure that fans of the genre would be foolish to miss.

Bittersweet Birthday is a mix of elements that I wish had more room to breathe. It features a compelling narrative that quickly becomes confusing and a cast of charming characters that I wish we spent more time getting to learn about. Some puzzle rooms, especially those with time-based puzzles, can feel unfair rather than actually challenging, which slows the pacing down in a negative way. While Bittersweet Birthday has its flaws, it definitely has strengths too, with an in-depth Souls-like combat system and boss rush mode allowing players to customise battles with collected memories to change up each fight, offering a strong level of replayability.

As an action game and a roguelike, Forestrike is a satisfying, if challenging, experience. By allowing the player to foresee fights and predict their foes’ next moves, it turns what would be a by-the-numbers 2D fighting game into a more thoughtful experience built around memorisation, timing and strategy. While it drags anytime you have to claw yourself back following a game over, Forestrike makes up for it with its varied combat system and appealing aesthetics. If you’re a roguelike fan or an action fan, there’s a lot to like about Forestrike, and it’s certainly worth jumping into.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is the best feeling Musou yet, with a plethora of satisfying hack and slash combat, character synergy and chaos to revel in. It’s not without its issues (namely, its narrative and content variety), but it’s worth it for the power-trip of taking on thousands of enemies and mooks with almost two dozen playable characters. It’s dazzling with its flashy combat and particles that erupt across the screen. It’s a beautiful dream of goals and refinement to chase for the completionist freaks out there, with plenty to upgrade, see and do. Crucially, it’s Hyrule Warriors, with Zelda in the limelight. Do I really need to spend any more time convincing you how much of a delight it is?

Jurassic World Evolution 3 brings new ways to view the dinosaurs you bring to life. Crafting your own island and building your park on top of it is an immersive experience that’s hard to match. That said, the constant worry about something going wrong got old after a while. If taking pictures of dinosaurs and creating the perfect exhibits is something you enjoy, this is the game for you. But like every Jurassic movie tells us, something can go wrong when you least expect it.

Goodnight Universe is an incredibly immersive, masterfully told, and cathartic game that left me bawling my eyes out on multiple occasions. Accompanied by a soundtrack that beautifully expresses each emotional moment, a vivid animated art style, and a mechanic that directly ties the player’s actions to what is an undeniably moving, human story about love and family, it is perhaps one of the most truly evocative experiences I’ve had playing games this year.

The Sacred 2 Remaster is quite lacklustre, feeling like it could have simply been a toggleable update to the original game. With performance issues being addressed, an overhaul of some unbalanced combat builds, a visual UI change and updated graphics being the main updates, it made me wonder what the point of this remaster actually was. In an attempt to ‘respect the original’, they’ve refused to bring the game into this new world of gaming, alienating a whole group of gamers by not adding any accessibility options, removing multiplayer from the console editions, and with no plans to add any new language translations. Overall, it just doesn’t offer enough to feel more than the original plus a community patch.

Bandai Namco Entertainment proves that it wasn’t just first-time luck successfully bringing back classic Tales of games. Tales of Xillia Remastered delivers a thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish. And despite some of the structural faults that remain from when it was stuck on the PS3 for the last 14 years, and the new errors of overrelying on AI upscaling, it remains an excellent and faithful remaster. Newcomers and fans alike will find themselves enamoured with its engaging battle system, captivating cast of characters, and the sheer charm that it is packed with from top to bottom. What little faults there are do not hold this game back from being a great entry in the Tales Remastered Project.

The journey is often more important than the destination, but Dead Static Drive fails to live up to its premise across the board. From unbearable driving and combat mechanics to a wasted chance to build a truly unique world, there isn’t anything to propel you to journey across this iteration of 1980s Americana. A disappointing end to years of promising development updates, Dead Static Drive feels like an early access release 11 years in the making. I looked forward to finally getting in the driver’s seat, but looks can be deceiving.

Bounty Star: The Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem is deftly written Western, lovingly delivering on the conventions of the genre to weave a tale of judgment and redemption. The mission-based mech combat gameplay loop is supported by interesting and meaningful customisation when it comes to weapons, gadgets and addons for the Desert Raptor MKII, but non-combat systems are somewhat lacking, with limited farming mechanics that don’t feel impactful or necessary to gameplay. Bounty Star is not exceptional, but is thoroughly enjoyable when taken for what it is – a classic Western, as told from the cockpit of a kickass robot dispensing frontier justice.

David Gaider and Summerfall Studios have crafted an immersive world of humans and demons in Malys that is easy to get invested in, even if the story’s delivery could benefit from more animation or voice acting. Its unique gameplay, built around sacrificing cards to power up your hand, is intuitive and fun to play around with. While the lengthy runs and lack of meta-progression systems make getting a game over an hour into a run highly frustrating, it was never enough to deter me from further playthroughs to uncover all that Malys had to offer. If you like roguelikes, deckbuilders and/or detailed narratives, you’ll find a lot to love about Malys.

Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake faithfully recreates the experience of the original titles in this iconic JRPG series, polishing their roughest edges for a modern audience without losing their unique magic. From the simple compelling grind of the original Dragon Quest to its sequel’s broad character-centric adventure, both titles are lovingly realised in a colourful, vibrant art style and brushed up with a number of quality of life enhancements. While not all changes will please the most diehard fans, this is undoubtedly the definitive way to experience these classic titles.

Escape Simulator 2 doesn’t carry over the visual charm of its predecessor, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. As a stand-alone game, removed from the first, it’s a solid experience. Each room feels like it was designed with a lot of care, and all of the puzzles are unique. Unfortunately, Escape Simulator 2 doesn’t feel like it was designed with co-op in mind, despite boasting the ability to play with up to 8 players. With a lack of content at launch, all the puzzle rooms can be completed in around 10 hours, though player-designed rooms and DLC are sure to come with time. Hopefully, future content will be geared more towards a more refined multiplayer experience.

Simon the Sorcerer Origins is coming out of retirement, and fans couldn’t be happier. There are some great visuals, to the point where the art team truly outdid themselves, and the music is downright fantastic and fits right in with the world. Though the puzzle difficulty isn’t forgiving, and unfortunately, they don’t offer a hint book for those who need it. Chris Barrie, the voice of Simon, voices a bratty kid well, but he’s not believable enough that he could be an eleven-year-old. With all that said, Origins is filled to the brim with a lot of humour and genuine laugh-out-loud moments that made me want to push through the punishing puzzles to find out what Simon would say next. Hopefully, there’s a chance for a remaster of the original two games from Smallthings Studios, and I cannot wait.

Painkiller is a serviceable co-op shooter that doesn’t live up to its namesake. It gets the satisfying gunplay mostly right, but the rest is unremarkable considering its short length, repetitive objectives, grindy upgrade mechanics and lack of any kind of proper engaging narrative or satisfying conclusion. While it’s hard to call Painkiller bad, I’d also struggle to recommend it to anyone aside from hardcore fans of co-op, while DOOM Eternal exists. If you want an excuse to mow through rooms of demons with two friends, then Painkiller will serve you just fine, but fans of the original will probably have more fun with any of the large array of single-player boomer shooters available on the market.

After my time with Pokémon Legends Z-A, the overall impression I am left with is “good, but with room for improvement.” It achieves that addictive urge to explore and catch ’em all, but the world map is small and doesn’t do enough to make up for it. Real-time battle mechanics are a fresh twist and are the game’s stand-out achievement, but it is a little chaotic and cluttered in its current form. The game looks better than previous Pokémon titles, but continued half-hearted attempts to give itself a high-definition look seem to come at the expense of deeper, more complex content. It’s easy to ignore these cracks, complete the satisfying gameplay loop and vibe through Z-A’s Pokémon adventure, but I know Pokémon is capable of more than this.

When the game commits fully to these funnelled environments, it does result in some spectacular set pieces. The mangroves are a charming calm down after a climactic battle, yet still tense thanks to Mangrove Jack. Another frantic escape from flames cemented itself as a highlight of the whole game for me. While I wish the open and linear levels learnt from each other, both still manage to deliver exciting snippets of gameplay.

The Lonesome Guild is one of those games that completely sneaks up on you. It’s a heartfelt journey wrapped in charming art and great writing. Even when combat drags and abilities feel underdeveloped, its sincere core shines through, doing well to make up for its shortcomings. It’s just so easy to fall in love with its characters, their backstories and the way their personalities come alive in conversations. Watching them rely on each other and tackle their feelings together felt genuinely meaningful. It’s a touching reflection on the strength found in friendship, even when things feel bleak. At the end of the day, maybe it was exactly the kind of cosy game I needed.

This sophomore entry in the science fiction series punches above its weight in crafting a wide-ranging story of adventure, choice, and consequence. With a widened scope for their satirical take on society in the space age, deep RPG systems, and a finale that hints at even grander aims for the series, it is hard not to be excited for the future of The Outer Worlds. While some minor issues hold it back, Obsidian has carefully crafted yet another RPG banger.

Minor grievances aside, Once Upon a KATAMARI is a surprise delight and the best the long-running arcade adventure series has ever been. I’m shocked that all it took to innovate the already fantastic series was some apt theming and missions that run the gamut, rolling across Ancient Egypt and the Stone Ages, but they damn well pulled it off this time. Meaningful inclusions like pickups and a higher emphasis on collectables and customisation also help to make missions require all the more strategy and replayability. The charm’s still there, as is the new soundtrack that’ll earworm its way into your heart and soul. 21 years deep into the beloved Japanese franchise that could, and I’m obsessed with rolling up cows, people, houses, skyscrapers and the universe all the same. Katamari is back, baby.

PowerWash Simulator 2 is a refinement of a modern comfort classic. Every addition, from the home base to the abseiling harness, feels thoughtfully designed to deepen the relaxation loop rather than distract. It’s bigger and cleaner, but still surprisingly heartfelt. If the first game helped us survive the chaos of 2022, this one feels perfectly timed to help us slow down again in 2025.