While there's still a bit of a steep learning curve for newcomers, NBA 2K17 offers up everything an NBA fan could ever want in a single package.

One of the core debates within Observer: System Redux is whether augmentation makes recipients more or less. In the case of this enhanced edition of the acclaimed, dark cyberpunk tale, it’s definitely a case of more. Barring a few graphic and gameplay niggles, the developers have taken a cult indie classic and improved it further, providing a better balance of mystery thriller and psychological horror to accompany the brain-spearing next-gen visuals.

A slight downgrade in some visual effects and audio quality do little to hold back what is otherwise a great and smooth port of Dark Souls.

As we got with Crash Bandicoot and Spyro's recent remakes, Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled is a loving remake of the Playstation's best kart racer. It's still as fun to play today as it was twenty years ago.

If you don’t mind the lower resolution and slightly less crisp visuals, then the Switch version is incredibly easy to recommend, especially as it gains portability. It’s a cracking port of one of the best remasters around. It's odd to say, but it almost feels like this should be Crash's new home.

Don Bradman 17 is an improvement on Don Bradman 14 but it's no giant leap for cricketing kind. If you're a cricket fan and want to experience your sport in a video game this is by far your best option.

Dynamic and dangerous, there’s no other fighting game like Samurai Shodown on the market. After a decade away, this latest chapter proves that idea once again with the sharpest swordsmanship combat around that manages to unleash a barrage of modern cuts while still retaining the magic of the original game.

More than twenty years after the manic marsupial first graced the PlayStation, the return of Crash Bandicoot isn’t just welcome…it just feels right. A throwback to a more positive time, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a testament to timeless game design and an example of a remaster done right by two studios split across two eras.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue is a great ending to the American saga of the franchise, and a great game in its own right. Ubisoft has also done a fine job with the PC port, making it an easy recommendation to any fan.

Story pacing issues aside, World of Final Fantasy is an absolute joy to play through. The game may look tiny, but it has a massive heart.

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX is the definitive collection of 4 classic JRPGs. The story might be the weapon to surpass Metal Gear in terms of convoluted storylines, but its cast of endearing and human characters more than makes up for this.

If you love those old-school games that rewards practice and patience through trial and error, Cuphead will likely delight. Yes, Cuphead is brutal and death is a regular occurrence, but it packs in that old-schoool arcade ethos that makes you want to keep trying.

An enjoyable romp, a ludicrous explosion of colour, fun and ideas wrapped up in some tight visuals and acting. If you’re stupid enough to dismiss this as a bad DMC game because it’s too shallow for your tastes or not Japanese enough, then you’re also being ignorant and too dismissive to appreciate a damn good action game at least.

The original Super Mario Maker is an enduring bit of software, but this makes up for just about every one of the original’s transgressions and adds a full-fat campaign to boot. It’s lovely stuff, offering a world of infinite Mario that has a little something for everyone.

Ireland is beautiful beyond words, the hidden secrets make exploring the Emerald Isle more fascinating than the paint by numbers main campaign, and if you're looking for plenty of familiar bang for your Hiberno-Norse coinage, Wrath of the Druids certainly has all that and more.

It's your typical Battlefield experience, filled with vehicle and infantry warfare as well as large, destructible environments. If you're a fan of the series, you will not be disappointed. If you're not a fan, this might just make you one.

Subnautica: Below Zero presents the player not only with a harsh tundra to live in but the icy depths underneath it all. It’s tense, challenging, and always engaging, pushed on by a surprisingly in-depth narrative and characters that make eventually leaving behind all those magnificent alien animals all the more challenging when you eventually roll credits.

Destiny 2: Forsaken returns the story that Bungie began back to its roots: A power fantasy with a more sombre story, that retools the sequel to once again feel like a hobby that’s well worth investing in, even if some rough edges do still show in this adventure to enact some old school justice on some new school enemies. Exciting, mysterious and always engaging, it’s good to see Destiny 2 back on track.

Dragon Quest 11 falters in the pacing of its story and features an unimpressive OST but at the end of the day, this game is like getting together with an old friend and hanging out on a cool summer’s day; it’s familiar and oh so comforting.

A stacked package of single-player and multiplayer offerings, Call of Duty Modern Warfare may not hit every mark that it fires but this ballsy reinvention of the franchise is still the blockbuster benchmark that is thrilling, thoughtful and terrific.

Fallout 4 carries over a number of problems from the past, and some of the more streamlined changes end up hampering the experience - but despite all of that, it’s a fantastic game that delivers one of the most compelling and addictive worlds this year.

Despite some minor technical quibbles and uneven voice acting, Observer is a nightmarish gem. Drawing heavily on seminal sci-fi film Blade Runner for its overall cyberpunk aesthetic, this new game from Bloober Team adds fantastic game design and an engaging narrative to keep you coming back despite the terror it induces.

More of the things that made Watch Dogs 2 great, Human Conditions is a whole lot of fun even while tackling some important issues. Just don't expect this DLC to drastically change things, as the minor gripes from the core game persist in the extra content.

Whether you’re a long-time Yakuza fan or just coming to this series, Judgment is well worth the investment. Boasting a cracking story, oodles of content and a fantastic fighting system, this spin-off can keep you glued for days… possibly months.

It’s also the work of a studio that’s obviously comfortable and confident with VR, who knows what works and what doesn’t in a medium that’s not completely opened its wings. It lets you tinker and play around, gesticulating and gesturing (even letting you flip the bird), with the realisation that immersion’s at its best when that sort of irreverence can be embraced. The whole affair’s buoyed by incredible performance capture, great voice acting and facial animation – plus a Grime soundtrack that captures the essence of London’s dirtier underground.

Not Tonight is a bold puzzle game that’s unafraid to shy away from very serious issues while delivering a strong narrative, cathartic gameplay loop and consistently pretty presentation.

A calm and restrictive level on first glance, episode six of Hitman is teeming with poetic kills, intricacy and intrigue as it sets up a subtle tease of things to come in future seasons for Agent 47.

Every bit the genre-defining, captivating adventure that it was 13 years ago, Shadow of the Colossus reminds you yet again just how masterful design and keenly focused art direction never age. But it’s Bluepoint’s respect of these elements and the smart decisions to tweak and improve them that make this the most definitive version of the Team Ico classic you’re likely to ever get.