EA Sports FC 26 makes some big changes to its systems, modes and gameplay. The most obvious of these are quite effective, and even those that aren’t seen are surely felt. The fresh additions to Career Mode are a step in the right direction, while the on-field adjustments and introduction of Authentic and Competitive modes serves to freshen things up just enough for another year. Long-time players will likely still have some recurring gripes, but the best compliment that can be paid to FC 26 is that it’s fun. If this was developer EA Sports’ sole aim, then mission accomplished.

Meteorfall: Krumit's Tale takes the huge task of evolving a well-established genre and putting its own twist on proceedings, and it does so with flying colours! The game balance is wonderful, the gameplay is stimulating all the way through a run, and most importantly, it's really fun and full of opportunities for player agency throughout. Never has it felt like a loss was inevitable because of "bad luck", but rather because poor choices were made. That is something rare to say about games in this genre, and even rarer for one that took great risks and experimented with the formula. Besides the fact that the Switch has to be taken out of docked mode, there are few negative remarks to be said about Meteorfall: Krumit's Tale. It is simply a great digital deckbuilder that any fan of the genre or puzzle games should give a try!

A rough early game and poor first impression hide a true gem filled with clever level designs. It would be a true pity to judge Candy Rangers by its first hour of gameplay, but due to how brutal the first hour is with required hidden collectibles and a steep learning curve, anyone but a full-blooded masochist would not be blamed for putting it down before getting to the good part. However, if there is one message that should be remembered from this review, it is this: the good part is coming soon, and it is truly worth the rough journey there. Give Candy Rangers a try; it is one of the more innovative games in its genre, and once mastered, the foreign controls will become second nature.

Past all of the cringe dialogue and turgid gameplay, perhaps Dustborn’s biggest sin is feeling more like vacuous agitprop than an actual story. Whatever fight against fascism Pax – and by extension Red Thread Games – had in mind, it's an unintentionally hilarious one since her words feel as plastic as her bat.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 makes some great improvements to what came before and provides the same great gameplay experience. Where it bails is the nostalgia factor for fans of these in their original format. That nostalgia isn't here personally but it's still hard to ignore. A remaster should maintain all the things that made the original great and for not doing that, should probably have another point taken off. If looked at objectively, however, this is another excellent addition to pick up and play. Maybe just leave the rest before we have to buy another USB board.

Even after several updates, Star Wars: Hunters can’t capture the verve nor engagement of other Hero shooter/brawler hybrids. The end result is a surplus of characters, modes, and cosmetics that’s swamped by lacklustre design, aesthetics, and mechanics. For this sub-genre, calling it mediocre feels too generous. For a new-ish Star Wars game, it ranks among the weakest efforts since Disney took over.

There are so few games for those who love really deep character customisation, and that is for a good reason. They usually tend to lock out less system-oriented players, as it is difficult to create a game with such depth without making the system mandatory or feel truly pointless. However, Cladun X3 manages to do this in a wonderful way, and in the process, creates a JRPG that can be enjoyed by all fans of the genre, regardless of how many systems they want to delve into. In the niche Cladun X3 occupies, it is among the best the industry has to offer and does not force its systems upon players until they are ready for them. This is a title that developers of non-linear RPGs should take a look at when designing their games, as Nippon Ichi Software really is onto something here!

Folly of the Wizards looks like a beautiful and competent roguelike at first glance. The first couple of playthroughs promise a fun title that will offer hours of entertainment and surprises to come. However, after a few hours, none of those promises feel fulfilled; rather, it gives the feeling that players have spent hours with a demo or early access for an okay roguelike instead of a full game. Bugs, poor descriptions of items, and menus that feel unfinished are all that are to be found under the pretty cover, and it feels like folly to have ever expected anything else. Even for fans of the genre, this is an easy pass.

It's not perfect, but what Cronos: The New Dawn does right is done so incredibly well. Across the runtime of the game, the battle arenas can be a little tiring, but the bread and butter of the exploration and moment-to-moment combat carry it through easily. This is a very competent, scary and exciting horror title with some amazing, unique visuals. Get on it, horror fans!

By speedrunners, for speedrunners, Bloodthief is a mostly fun, adrenaline-pumping game tailored almost exclusively to those who take pleasure in trying a level a hundred times just so they can decrease their time by about five seconds. It offers a punishing, high-speed experience that demands precision and quick reflexes, packaged in a nice and simple, retro-looking, dark medieval fantasy wrapping. The lack of accessibility for non-speedrunners, combined with the slightly inconsistent mechanics and a somewhat tedious level design, makes it a tough sell to a broader audience.

Those eager for another compelling, robust and utterly pleasant farming sim will find a wealth of fun to be had in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. This remake of the title that started it all is impressively complete and has a few new surprises in store, making it essential for genre fans. The bazaar mechanic further ups the ante and ensures every in-game week culminates in something exciting, making this one of the freshest and most enjoyable expressions of the classic farming sim experience.

The variety of gameplay in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance makes for a top adventure. This is an excellent side-scrolling return for the series, with a little bit of everything for anyone seeking satisfying combat, plenty of collectibles, and challenging optional platforming segments. The thrill of battle never gets old, although some stages can get a little drawn out by the non-linear moments that could have been trimmed.

An immersive journey with plenty of immersion-breaking flaws, Above Snakes is a survival/crafting game that dares to slow things down, trading adrenaline for atmosphere and complexity for calm…though it may have gone too far. For those tired of dying repeatedly in brutal roguelikes or grinding endlessly in barren sandboxes, this is a welcome alternative. If you’re looking for a chill experience with a unique world-building mechanic, then this is worth trying - especially on sale. If after something that will test your skills, however, this isn’t it.

Zoe Begone! is the perfect example of a modern arcade game. It takes the best from modern gaming tools to add a wonderful polish to its graphical style that those from the days of arcade halls couldn't. It stays close to its roots with a gameplay cycle that will take 5-10 minutes before the game over screen appears, before players last half an hour as they learn not just to beat the game, but also chase high scores. It is so refreshing to see a game dare to go in this direction and even make the easy difficulty level challenging for real, obviously not being meant to be beaten easily. The only thing lacking to make the arcade feeling 100% pure is an actual arcade cabinet.

There’s something magnetic about Karma: The Dark World's unhinged ambition. It's a debut that dares to be weird and weighty, even if it trips over its own complexity. Karma is a flawed and very interesting gem, a game that’s as haunting as it is stupefying. Xbox Series X|S owners, beware of the atrocious stuttering. Anyone who is drawn to narrative-driven horror with a cerebral bent, it’s a journey worth taking, but don’t expect every step to feel steady.

Hell Is Us takes some welcome risks by refusing to resort to handholding in its mechanics, and is made all the more enjoyable for the trust it puts in its players. This brave design choice — alongside an exceptionally crafted and well-realised setting — more than warrants a visit for players looking for an immersive, lovingly crafted adventure through a bleak but compelling world. An enigmatic story and compellingly written characters round out the pros, but disappointingly shallow combat, a lack of enemy variety and an uneven final act ultimately let it down. Regardless, Hell Is Us is a labour of love, and the passion that’s gone into its creation shines through despite its weaknesses.

A great game somewhat marred by publisher distribution decisions and a lacking online userbase, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S is a solid and vibrant puzzler with effectively implemented Switch 2 features, a large selection of modes to play, and endless hours of multiplayer potential.

Katanaut delivers a stylish cosmic horror atmosphere and hints at an intriguing story inside a space station full of mutated horrors, but those elements never get enough room to grow thanks to the game’s relentless, fast-paced combat. While swordplay and gunfights are satisfying, the speed and constant action kill any sense of tension or dread that the setting tries to build. Players looking for scares or deeper lore may wish the game was slowed down to explore its world, but fans of quick, action-heavy roguelikes will find the mechanics solid and replayable. It’s a technically impressive indie with promise, though its horror gets overshadowed by non-stop adrenaline, making it a slightly above average experience in general.

Hirogami is a game of fleeting brilliance, where moments of joy like leaping as a frog through a papery forest or uncovering a hidden shrine are undercut by clunky mechanics and unpolished edges. It’s a heartfelt effort from a small team, and the art direction alone makes it worth a glance. Like a sloppily-folded origami crane, though, it collapses, caught between ambition and execution.

Bad Viscerafest is not. It’s a niche kind of deal: one that targets a narrow audience of retro shooter veterans looking for something different, challenging, and unapologetically weird. If you’re willing to embrace its quirks and stomach its many flaws, there’s a satisfying experience buried under all the noise. For most, however, irritation will outweigh the fun. This is an arena shooter-flavoured FPS with heart, but also a whole lot of headaches.

Even for a laidback fan that has had very little experience with basketball games, it is easy to see the quality of NBA 2K26. Matches are end-to-end score fests that satisfy in both solo and multiplayer matches, but it can be an overwhelming experience for the newcomer. Dedication and patience are required to fully enjoy the depth on offer. Although the Switch 2 edition is comparatively less impressive in visuals and framerates as other versions, this is far from a massive issue for anyone keen for a top portable sports simulator. Sadly, the pay-to-win mechanics for online modes are a huge blight.

The systems of Class of Heroes 3 Remaster are some of the most thought through in the genre. The classes are creative and diverse, and there is always a new reward around the corner. However, the early game feels like an early Etrian Odyssey game, while the rest of the main game feels like a more recent Etrian Odyssey game on picnic mode. While neither is bad, those who enjoy the latter would have already been thrown off by the former, and those who want the former will be bored by the latter. In addition to this, the poor translation makes it difficult to recommend it to people who are not massive fans of the genre, and even then, the easy difficulty level will likely make it a bad match for those players as well. For dungeon exploration alone and tinkering with menus, Class of Heroes 3 Remaster is one of the best in class. However, none of the menu tinkering truly matters in terms of actually beating the game.

While on the face of it Beatable looks like just another Beat Saber pretender, this table-slapping experience offers enough of its own mechanics to stand on its own two feet. Sometimes it is nice to have an experience in VR that is a bit more chilled than a calorie-burning dance workout and Beatable offers that, with the ability to sit down at any table and still enjoy the game. At £7.99 it is also on the cheaper end of VR titles and offers hours of fun learning the two-dozen tracks and their multiple difficulties. While it would have been nice to have a few more instantly recognisable songs to bop along to, the selection across a wide range of genres still provides a lot of variety, there is always the potential for more music on the horizon, and the custom song creation from users will also increase.

Triangle Strategy’s story and characters aspire for mature, player-driven storytelling. The branching paths, moral grayness, and debate-driven plot deliver moments of brilliance, making Norzelia feel alive and treacherous. However, the sluggish pacing and uneven character focus come off like the writer loves his own voice too much. It’s a tale worth experiencing for its ambition, but one that could’ve cut deeper with more restraint and polish. The nitty-gritty of the combat and customisation will keep gamers enthralled, and while it doesn't reach the heights of the genre's best, fans of the classics will find there is a lot to love here.

The root of the story is legitimately interesting, but the problem is that there is a lot of work to get there. Between various platform issues and a meandering plot, the payoff often isn't worth it - which is unfortunate as some aspects really stand out. While the overall premise of the story is memorable, everything it takes to get there is not.

Just Dance 2025 Edition doesn't reinvent the groove, but it delivers another fun-filled compilation with broad appeal. The core experience remains charming, though the limited song list and heavy reliance on a subscription may leave some dancers wanting more. Optional camera controls (via app) are fun, but the game doesn't go too far beyond being just another compilation.

Get ready to defend your keep from merciless enemy waves, or die trying, in an RTS that’s far from a walk in the park. Success requires precise planning and plenty of patience, as maps often last longer than they should and failure lurks around the corner, ready to ruin hours of work. Diplomacy is Not an Option is rough around the edges and certainly not a casual-friendly strategy title, but it’s also tons of fun, with an unappareled feeling of satisfaction when everything goes according to plan.

For a publisher so eager to revitalise its long-dormant franchise, it’s impressive how Konami’s first shot winds up being a miserable own goal. Even with considering its rare positives, The Short Message’s blunt-force sermonising feels anathema to the series’ core identity. Combine this with game design vacillating between bland or annoying and all that’s left is dingy world design. As a free title, it shares an interesting heritage with P.T.; unlike its precursor’s legacy, it's destined to be forgotten once credits roll.