Dressed up for the present, old strengths preserved, a perfectly executed balance of trash and elegant horror shooter. Resident Evil 4 is still the most straight-up fun outing in the series.

If you get involved with No Man's Sky, you can expect a phenomenal space adventure. Something I certainly wouldn't have said with such enthusiasm about the game that was released under this name in 2016. I'm sure it can be said often enough how much Hello Games put into this to take you into space the way they imagined it. But I haven't said it often enough yet, so I do it once more.

The best JRPG in years - despite coming from France. Hard-hitting, well thought-out and utterly rewarding, Clair Obscur is a beautiful reminder of what truly matters.

Take it as an old-fashioned, well-known fable. It might not make the grandest strides to evolve its formula, but for many, many players this will be a very pleasant homecoming, indeed.

You'll get everything the fantastic console version had: a feeling of insecurity, respect for the apparently insurmountable, an unparalleled combat system. A nigh on perfect game.

A game that almost only Nintendo can make. Colorful, entertaining, and always a little crazy. Bananza is bursting with creativity and ideas.

A great port of an incredibly strong sequel – an experience quite unlike anything else. The only question is whether Kojima’s idiosyncratic post-apocalypse can hold the PC community's attention, with Crimson Desert out on the same day. Regardless of its commercial fate: if this is the final nail in the coffin for PlayStation games on PC, at least it’s a really pretty one.

This is the rare case of an archetypical PC game that hasn't lost any appeal in it's translation to console. Colour me impressed.

Silksong spins yarns of pain and freedom into a breathtaking Metroidvania fill of surprise and secrets.

It relieves its predecessor from the position of being the best skill-based game on this platform with honors. And that is a remarkable trick in and of itself.

Split Fiction starts strong and gets better and better, only to leads to an unexpectedly profound story. Hazelight's new co-op game shines with terrific, inventive gameplay, and really ups the ante in an epic finale.

Overall, though, some of its fights dragged on a bit and I found the plot stronger in the first two-thirds than towards the end. But all in all, Insomniac continues its run of immensely entertaining and impressively robust games in formidable fashion with Spider-Man 2. Few Studios mix cinematic spectacle and systemically satisfying freedom so deftly.

If you own the original, this is not an essential buy, let alone a reason to get a Wii U. It is basically the same fantastic game that crowned one of the best years of the GameCube's run. If you're new to this particular iteration, though, by all means, get this. I kind of envy you, because I will never be able to experience it with that set of fresh eyes again. Don't let this chance pass you by.

Controlling the game with mouse and keyboard doesn’t quite hit the mark, but with better lighting and frame rates as well as more consistent and crisper detail Rebirth looks best on PC.

Clean, unadorned and never pretentious or ponderous elegance. It's an unapologetically modern game in a classic guise.

Given the state of our world today, a game about the mechanisms by which violence reproduces itself uncontrollably is even more difficult to digest, but arguably all the more important. It's an ugly, mean game in all the right ways: a blockbuster that has no desire to pander, putting its message above the will to please. Daring.

And the prize for the 'Most Game 2023' goes to South Korea: Dave the Diver tirelessly surprises with new ideas and keeps its catchy basic elements as fresh as good sushi. One of the year's most addictive games.

Puristic stealth, thinking instead of simply reacting, having a plan and seeing it unfold thanks to near-perfect controls – that's how Mark of the Ninja creates its own little sense of addiction.

Let us hope that the next generation of consoles will bring back games enchanting and inventive like this one, marrying the joy of being different to the tradition of good, sturdy game design. Until that day, buy this one!

In terms of action, it is in a class of its own, while in terms of substance it is ahead of almost everything else that video games have to tell. Few others reach a similar level in their own way. In my opinion, none is better.

Well, complete success. This is the return of classic Street Fighter in its entirety. Arcade, Vs, fun modes, online matches, team battles, it's all there, all against friends locally, online or against the CPU. The new style is chic - at least I like it - the stages look the part, and with the different control modes, maximum accessibility is practically guaranteed.

If you're willing to put in the effort, you'll get a game with unparalleled depth and competitive fun. This one has one hell of a learning curve, but climbing it, you'll find, is a huge pleasure in and of itself.

So, is Guild Wars 2 the MMO messiah everyone is waiting for? Maybe not. What it is, though, is the first MMO in years that really does the "massively multiplayer" part justice. This is a gigantic, sprawling world for explorers, with countless wonderful stories and characters, all backed by a gameplay concept that treats all players as equals. And that's just the basis of what Guild Wars 2 is.

Pullblox is not only an extremely clever little puzzler, but also incorporates the 3D-effect in a neat way to support the gameplay itself.

I couldn't wish for more. The faster pace really does wonders for FIFA 13. It might take a while until you get used to it, but that's a couple of hours well invested as you get much more dynamic, tense and unpredictable game of football.

Not only does Tekken 8 give its spirited martial arts show additional momentum by using the heat energy as a call for a stronger offense. It also looks great after the graphical redesign and is packed with game variants and training options as well as clever ideas.

Even though authenticity-wise Visual Concepts seems to have maxed out this console generation a couple of games ago and big new additions are scarce, NBA 2K13 sits firmly amongst my favorite games this year. I'm excited to see the makers shed the shackles of the old consoles and lead the way into the new generation next season.

And that's just what it is: incomparable. A confusing, but incredibly fascinating mess of a game. It knows the power of having you question your senses and the timing of a well-placed floorboard creak as well as the lure of a question without an answer or the rush of spine-tingling ghostly shootouts. Whatever the Remedy-verse has in store for us after Alan Wake 2, I'm insanely looking forward to it.