Ōkami is truly one of the most incredible games ever crafted, and you're doing yourself a disservice if you look at it as a "Zelda clone". Look past that and look closely at the story it's telling, the symbology, and where the game got its ideas from. Ōkami is to video games what something like Spirited Away is to film; it's not only beautiful and powerful, but it speaks to the very core of the Japanese soul, and because of that it's hugely educational to anyone that has an interest in the country and its culture.

The man is a genius and he will be remembered as the game industry’s first real auteur. Miyamoto and many others were great game developers and artists before Kojima, but Kojima is a true, bona fide auteur. Death Stranding 2 doesn’t harm that legacy in any way.

It’s the grandest vision for the series to date, and adds an entertaining dash of culture shock to the exceptional, and unique blend of the best noir this side of Raymond Chandler and the surreal, offbeat, sharp humour. Once again, it really should be the last adventure for these heroes, and yet if the writers at Ryu ga Gotoku have more plans for them yet, be that somehow more sequels, prequels, or spinoffs, I am quite sure they’ll be able to hook us in all over again.

I thoroughly enjoyed each separate segment (except one) as discrete gameplay units and distinct slices of Resident Evil history. But as a coherent overall experience and statement of intent, Resident Evil Requiem is a mutated beast left to exsanguinate on the floor.

BioWare achieved everything that it needed to with Dragon Age: Inquisition. It revitalised a series that had suffered real brand damage in Dragon Age II, and easily stands as the best RPG we've seen in years. There is absolutely no reason to miss out on this one.

The creative team needs to find writers willing to back up the narrative context with a story that has meat, and the gameplay designers need to dare do things differently to what has come before. Horizon is a remarkably refined and technically brilliant game, but Guerrilla has yet to prove that it can take that next step and produce a genuine classic.

Superficial elements aside, Pike & Shot is a rock-solid simulation of an era of military conflict that is ignored by most developers and publishers.

Severed is the kind of game that I hope ends up on school and university “reading list.” Not because a particularly well made game (though it assuredly is), but also because it’s a masterpiece of theming and ambient storytelling. Games this evocative are rare and special indeed.

What FTL boils down to is a brutally difficult and very rewarding roguelike and it is one of the finest examples of the genre.

I strongly expect that this game will be used for years to come as a ‘textbook’ case to educate developers about how to compose a story by not resorting to screeds of text or long loops of audio (in the form of simulated manuscripts, letters, voice recordings etc.); almost tauntingly, in one story, the letter-being-read crutch is used, but subverted ingeniously through the gameplay.

The brevity and minimalism do make it hard to take Dark Echo as more than just a novelty, but it's no doubt that the game's dark corridors hide some bright ideas.

Another decent, if unspectacular effort from Nintendo. The series needs better balancing if skill is to ever become a factor again and the single player mode may be a total slog, but Mario Kart is still a hit where it always mattered: with friends.

A remarkable game that only just falls short of what many have been dreaming of for 30-odd years.

Put simply, NieR: Automata is the greatest game ever made. It’s not just that it is the deepest and most narratively potent game ever developed - and it is a truly deep narrative experience - but more than that, Yoko Taro has finally found perhaps the developer on the planet capable of doing his visionary work justice. This game is a true, genuine work of art, and anyone who wants to prove that gaming does possess an equivalent to the greatest novels, operas, theatre plays, or paintings, now has that very game to point to. Yoko Taro is gaming’s Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Welles, all rolled into one.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is frustrating on one level because it’s so completely in thrall of the blockbuster system that you can feel the creative frustration on several levels through the game, from its storytelling through level design. That frustration has resulted in a blockbuster that almost breaks free of its limitations at times, and it’s certainly an enjoyable game. It’s just that it would be interesting to see what the developers could come up with if they had a more limited budget (and thus lower sales expectations, allowing them to go after a more specific audience with a more focused game).

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a superb blockbuster game that hits its brief perfectly. It shows a meticulous eye for detail, throws one brilliant action set piece after another at the player, and is the best showcase yet for the PlayStation 5 hardware. Sure, it's as shallow as a pool of water on Venus, but I've no doubt people coming to this game are simply looking for a vividly entertaining product, and that's exactly what they'll get.

XCOM has once again proven that it is a powerhouse when it comes to tactical gameplay.

Survival games have never really been my cup of tea. However, Minecraft somehow transcends its peers, providing a creative outlet that goes well beyond its simple yet charming visuals with surprisingly deep mechanics when constructing things.

Last year, Divinity: Original Sin was one of my favourite video games when it released. The new Enhanced Edition reminds me why, but it it not content to simply sit back on prior success. Meaningful changes were made in thousands of large and subtle ways, and the result is one of the best RPG experiences that can be found on either PC or console.

I have deep and irresolvable issues with Horizon: Forbidden West, and it largely boils down to the game being an empty blockbuster that will chew up a lot of your time, but not do anything meaningful with it. However, that's all Horizon ever wanted to be and criticising Horizon for not being a great work of art is like criticising a reality television dance show for not being ballet. For what it is, Horizon is impeccable. Most importantly, it builds on the success of the first game in a way that I am quite certain that those who loved Aloy and her first quest will find even more to love about this one.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is lengthy and complex, particularly if you really want to understand every little nuance of the story. The story might not feature player agency, as it has no branching choices or bad endings (and I’d argue that this is a strength of the game, that it’s determined to tell one story and tell it well) but even then the narrative alone will take at least fifteen hours to see to the end. Add on a few hours of the strategy RPG and you’ve got a hefty title on your hands. Ultimately though, I stuck through with 13 Sentinels because it’s paced immaculately – the mystery of the narrative gets its hooks into you and rushes you through an intricate web of conspiracy, discovery, and self-reflection. It got me to laugh, to gasp, and to view the world differently. We talk a lot about the potential of interactive storytelling to deliver experiences beyond film or print, and yet not many games do – but here is Vanillaware making it look effortless. Here’s hoping that 13 Sentinels is remembered long afterwards for all it has achieved.

Fire Emblem Fates still approaches war from a largely idealistic standpoint, but it makes a quantum leap forward by representing a broader range viewpoints along the way. For a series that has changed incrementally over the last 25 years, this latest entry is a refreshing reinvention.

Deathloop is a game that takes the ideas driving the immersive sim genre to new heights. Purists may take issue with the way it breaks from some of the genre's traditions, but what it offers instead is something unlike anything else out there: a cleverly implemented time loop system that feeds into everything else, and opens the doors to a whole lot of new opportunities for the creative problem solving that sits at the heart of these games. That it does it all with a sense of style and confidence that few other games can match is icing on the cake.

I cannot in recent memory think of a game that has moved me as much as Ori and the Blind Forest has. The art style, soundtrack and design of the game are all breathtakingly beautiful. On their own they stand strong, telling the story of the forest and its destruction in a way that is more powerful than a text prelude could ever be. Together, they combine into something that feeds off each other to create one incredible game experience.

I left Metroid Dread feeling quite conflicted about it. On the one hand, I do think it is fundamentally well designed, and the main gameplay element - the robot stalkers - are woven into the Metroid formula beautifully. On the other hand, that Metroid formula is getting long in the tooth and Dread doesn't do nearly enough to revitalise it. Dread is fine. It's not just nearly memorable enough for a game that fans have been waiting so many years for now.

I really wanted to see a bigger improvement from the original Super Mario Maker to this sequel. The features that Nintendo has added in are nice, but with only one additional game environment to play around with in Super Mario 3D World, Nintendo is underselling the own rich heritage that it has to work with. With that being said, anything that encourages people to create, rather than just consume, is a noble cause, and Nintendo has managed to build something completely accessible despite giving users absolutely everything they need to recreate any Mario level. That's surely the holy grail of the creator genre.

I really do love Monster Hunter. I might be terrible at it, but to me, that's secondary to the fact that it's a gorgeous, authentic bit of Japanese art. It’s like a modern take on the philosophy of ukiyo-e. It might be aesthetically different – completely different, in fact - but the ideas, storytelling tradition, and sense of wonder and awe at the natural world all translate across. In many ways, Monster Hunter Rise represents the purest execution of that idea, and from my perspective that makes it the best game in the series to date.

At its worst, Civilization VI is a game with a handful of bugs and a somewhat lacking AI that is wrapped up in a somewhat cartoon-like package. At its best however, Civilization VI is an engrossing 4X strategy game that has more depth and features than ever before.