An even faster and bloodier but slightly wayward follow-up to a thunderous shooter reboot.

This is a joyous fairy-tale that, like the best fairy tales, transcends the fashions of the day. [Recommended]

This glorious game about movement and adventure also feels like a rumination on something deeper and more personal. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A brilliant musical puzzler that sends you out into the world enriched and filled with curiosity. [Eurogamer Essential]

A CRPG of unparalleled breadth and dynamism, Original Sin 2 is Larian's masterpiece. [Essential]

A serene, quietly uplifting afternoon's entertainment for urban explorers and platform fans alike.

Hiroyuki Ito returns to the helm for the first time since Final Fantasy 12 in another brilliant examination of RPG fundamentals. [Eurogamer Recommended]

This cosmic point-and-click looks and feels like no other game out there. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Playing out like an interactive episode of Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, Pikuniku is a perfectly formed three hour adventure. [Eurogamer Recommended]

David Jaffe returns with an obnoxious, sketchy shooter that packs a surprising - if not entirely pleasant - punch.

PixelJunk Monsters 2 isn't as fresh as the original, perhaps, and it's not as gloriously dark and confusing as The Tomorrow Children, but it is precise and clever and it asks quite a lot of you when you're playing. For me, that was enough to win me over.

An homage to the genre-blending classic ActRaiser that never quite gets off the ground.

Generous and inventive, this 3D platformer is filled with charm. [Recommended]

Soulslike thrills combine with sky-high production values to make Path of Exile 2 a hugely impressive package, even in early access. [Early Access Review]

The lesser spotted aerial combat genre makes a glorious return in this heart-pumpingly exciting game. [Eurogamer Recommended]

An earnest eco-platformer that is at once under and overcooked.

A classic tower defence game gets a makeover, and a welcome touch of physics.

There's witty and satisfying puzzling here but it takes patience to get through it.

Stephen's Sausage Roll is a design masterclass. It's also a game about the joys of getting stuck. Don't savour the victories. This is about the precious moments of being absolutely lost, stumped and clueless within a tight, beautiful thing that defies any sense of how it came to be.

The west is an empty, lonely place in this well-timed release - but that's not exactly what you're after from an MMO. [Avoid]

This hardcore off-road driving sim is focused and compelling, but just a bit too austere for its own good.

Compact and terrifying, this score-attack shooter feels like it's come from the future. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The Omega Collection is a wonderful reminder of those heady times, as well as a reminder of the potency of the formula concocted by a small team in Liverpool. When WipEout clicks - when the track falls away in perfect tandem with the bassline, sending your stomach turning as if a Mitsubishi Turbo has just spun into action as you take your first step onto the dance floor - there's nothing else like it, and given the premature demise of Studio Liverpool it's quite likely there'll never be anything like it again. There may well be other, better futuristic racers out there - but there are none that can boast this much style. [Recommended]

A beautiful if brief puzzle platformer that invokes the spirit of Flash gaming.

It is a Viking saga which does at times struggle a little in reaching its destiny, and in its efforts to evolve the series has made some sacrifices to tell a stronger overall story. But it wins through, in the end quite easily, as it continues the Assassin's Creed saga for a new generation. [Eurogamer Recommended]

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is ground zero for battle royale games in the way that World of Warcraft was ground zero for MMOs or League of Legends was for MOBAs - not the first, but the one that made it. [Recommended]

I like WarGroove but I don't love it. Generous as this game is - and it is absurdly generous - love is reserved for the real thing.

The Papers, Please creator offers up an intricate and mesmerising puzzle game with a rich and detailed sense of place. [Eurogamer Essential]

Action-packed dungeons make Lost Ark's early stages a real romp, but without a convincing hook beyond the combat, things get a little stale.

Despite some added substance and structure, eFootball's good ideas are still buried beneath matchmaking issues, weird decisions, and major gameplay bugs. [Eurogamer Avoid]

With smart additions that move the series forward, this is the most accessible, deepest and simply very best Monster Hunter to date. [Eurogamer Essential]

City 17 provides the setting for a VR adventure filled with brilliant detailing. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Clearly not a wholehearted recommendation for shooter aficionados then, but as a lifelong fan of Space Hulk who's been eagerly awaiting a 40k shooter that plays to the strengths of the lore rather than tries to fit the lore into the standard shooter template, I'd probably ignore my own advice and buy the game anyway.

Phogs! is playful and wholesome and stuffed with adorable creatures in a world where everything's larger than life and just a teeny bit odd. There's barely a story, but it doesn't matter as you slip around this peculiar place with its peculiar people and a peculiar, if perfectly happy, two-headed doggy that adores being petted by friendly townsfolk. Bright, bold, and wonderfully accessible, Phogs! is phantastic stuff. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A blatantly unfinished and uninspired nostalgia project that sheds a certain, peculiar light on the immersive sim at large. [Eurogamer Avoid]

There are missteps and a few bumps along the way, but this soft reboot of a long-running series emerges a triumph. [Eurogamer]

War of the Chosen is a generous expansion that's bustling with brilliant new systems that's a must for anyone who's completed XCOM 2. [Recommended]

A spectacularly stylish shooting game that evokes Treasure in its pomp. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Super Mario Run? This is Mario, for the first time in an age, running on hardware that was not designed by Mario's people. And you know what's frightening? When Mario's people are involved, they make the hardware feel like they designed it anyway. Super Mario Run's not just ingenious and demanding and infuriating and delightful. It's a game born of a deep understanding of its platform.

Weather its bugs and lacklustre stealth, and Ghost of a Tale is a quietly ravishing potted epic with a serious subtext. [Recommended]

It's fun, I think: a budget Kirby about rolling around and annoying your friends, an amuse bouche, which may or may not be how that phrase is spelled. I worry it won't be too long before this sinks down the rankings in our house and disappears from the main Switch screen, but it will leave some lovely sugary memories behind. And the subconscious desire, perhaps, to eat an awful lot of strawberries.

Frogware's most ambitious title to date sees it take on the Cthulu mythos, but unfortunately it makes for one of its most flawed games too.

But after the dismal Ultra Smash and the lacklustre compilation that was Superstars, Mario Tennis Aces is a return to form for Camelot, even if it's not quite the equal of this series at its very best. It's a good game, if never quite a great one, and one that's still capable of some real magic. This is Mario Tennis serving up a much more full-blooded spin on the sport than we've seen in quite a while, even if its new depths have been pursued to a fault.

You can't fault the craft of this painstaking remaster, and the game itself still has an ornery magnetism - but Diablo 2 is showing its age.

The motion controls of the Wii original are stripped out for this remaster, leaving an entertaining if not quite excellent outing.

A decent Fast & Furious tale is undone by a disaster of a game. [Eurogamer Avoid]

A kind and gentle adventure that's filled with vivid life. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Like a playable poster for an iconic rally event, funselektor's top-down racer is a blast. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A survival strategy game that might be too uncompromising.

The follow-up to Mothmen 1966 is another fascinating, spooky treat. [Eurogamer Recommended]

DICE goes big in a Call of Duty-baiting package that's as maddening, uneven and spectacular as the Star Wars films themselves.

Sam Barlow's epic mystery of self-reference and cinema is an elaborate, ingenious enigma - one that would be even better if it didn't want to be solved.

Frozen Wilds' wintry wasteland looks awe-inspiring, but its story breeds the same disappointment as a melted snowman on Christmas morning.

If you can ignore the story, It Takes Two has some of the best co-op gameplay in years. [Eurogamer Recommended]

We. The Revolution is a fascinating and provoking descent into a judge's buckled shoes during the French Revolution. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A brisk running time and lower stakes do the Uncharted formula no harm at all - even if this spin-off sticks a bit too close to the script. [Recommended]

Zelda gets the Dynasty Warriors treatment once more, folding in inspiration from Breath of the Wild for the best musou spin-off yet. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Infinity Ward rekindles the Modern Warfare magic with a more tactical first-person shooter - for better and for worse.

Moss: Book 2 is without a doubt a game that deserves to be played, especially if you fell in love with the original. Its staggering beauty is reason enough to dust off your PSVR for one last adventure before the PSVR 2 comes out, even if I wouldn’t blame you for holding out in the hope of a PC VR or Quest release - or some kind of bundle for the launch PSVR 2. Both Moss games are as short and sweet as their mousey protagonist, but I feel like Quill is worthy and capable of going on an even more epic adventure. [Eurogamer Recommended]

So much of this promising collaboration between id and Avalanche is unremarkable - but it's salvaged by bloody, brilliant combat.

It all adds up to an underwhelming return. MercurySteam now has the curious distinction of being the one developer to have worked on both Metroid and Castlevania on the 3DS and fallen wide of the mark on both. This isn't quite the disappointment that was Mirrors of Fate, and there's a hard-edged gem to be found in what was always going to be a troubled exercise. Samus Returns is ultimately a noble remake that fixes so many of the original's problems, but it doesn't do so without introducing a handful of its own.

Taking inspiration from RPGs breathes new life into Age of Wonders 4, which balances exciting breadth and surprising approachability. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Dragon Ball FighterZ feels like playing a Dragon Ball game built by the anime's biggest fan. For me, Dragon Ball FighterZ is the best tag-based fighting game since Marvel vs. Capcom 2. I can't think of higher praise. [Essential]

Arcade Paradise made me think of Outrun and GTA and Mr Driller, and also my own working life in my teens as a dishwasher and a double-glazing salesperson, sure. But it also made me think of those mazes tiled on the walls of Warren Street tube. Warren Street! Get it? Little puzzles made to be solved between trains, but tricky enough to encourage you to miss your train in the first place. Then you solve the maze and you're off into a wider maze of the underground network. And maybe, who knows, there's a maze beyond that too. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Wonderful, lo-fi sounds and hand-crafted visuals make A Musical Story a clear a labour of love, sadly let down by its rhythm mechanics.

Darksiders' schlocky action makes a welcome return, though it's not enough to shake the feeling you've played this before - and better.

One of gaming's great neglected oldies gets a spiritual successor crafted with care and imagination. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Enjoyably traditional, if a little tatty in places, this is a shooting game that still stands apart from all others.

Explore an endless wetlands in this glorious study in nature and solitude. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Criterion takes the reins once more for an arcade racer that’s capable of going toe-to-toe with the all-conquering Forza Horizon. [Eurogamer Recommended]

I Am Dead, with its ghosts, its world of objects, large and small, curiosities charged in some ways by the people who owned them, speaks to this very clearly, for me at least. It speaks of the ways that conversations with the dead go on. The way rituals and responsibilities take on new and perhaps confusing dimensions. More than anything it is a reminder of that bright contradiction - that death has absolutely everything to do with life. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Chaos is actually choreography, as an unreleased Atari arcade game gets the full Minter treatment. [Eurogamer Essential]

Savage satire that's backed up by some exquisite writing and fascinating mechanics. [Eurogamer Recommended]

More Hitman: Season 2 than an experience in its own right, but a couple of great maps plus a fun competitive mode make for a solid fan pick.

All the verbal artistry of Sunless Sea scattered across a gorgeous steampunk cosmos that's a little easier to navigate and thrive in. [Eurogamer Essential]

A smart sci-fi that isn't without problems, though they're balanced out by an incredible amount of style. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Gentle storytelling and challenging puzzles on an island of intrigue.

A fascinating experiment in narrative techniques, even if there's some tonal whiplash along the way. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Beneath the bland mascot lurks a decent arcade game.

As someone who initially dismissed The Crew but eventually fell in love with it, I dearly wished to see its promise fulfilled and its incredible map brought back to life. The Crew 2 can't manage either feat. It is a sound enough arcade racer as it is, and there's every chance that it will eventually flower into a great game. But it is a much smaller, less ambitious and less exciting game than it pretends to be, or than it could have been.

Codemasters delivers a detailed, deep and passionate take on motorsport's top tier that might be even more enjoyable than the real thing. [Recommended]

What a game. A tangle of motives, rendered all the more thrilling by memorable characters, some of which slyly subvert stereotypes, by moments of whimsy, by static art that has a particular flair for eyes, and for the way that eyes can reveal the interior life of a person. And that setting! One night, and one grey, drained-away day in Tokyo, the buildings sheer walls of bleached concrete, the sky latticed by power lines, telephone lines, by the webs of all that information zinging about. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor remains fundamentally really fun. Cal's platforming skills expand even more, and Jedi: Survivor's set pieces have become even more elaborate. There's a whiff of Force Unleashed at times, with the angsty but wonderfully over the top sense of action and melodrama. It is always enjoyable to ping yourself around runnable walls and ziplines and now grapple hooks (I know) like a human pinball. It is much more desirable that Star Wars games have a little goofiness, from genuinely funny companions like Greeze to the sheer amount of Jedi Suspension of Disbelief you have to harness throughout, than it is that they become too self-serious or stoic. UItimately this is the almost impossible tradeoff Respawn has with Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. Its lack of focus is what holds it back - and also what makes it such a blast.

A witty and smitten recreation of a time gone by, which you'll forgive tedium if you share in the nostalgia. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A perfectly horrid, wonderfully thought-out mixture of Majora's Mask-style time rewinding and Metroidvania exploration. [Recommended]

Years pass as tales are written in this dazzling game of tactics and narrative, choices and memories. [Eurogamer Essential]

A new studio in charge sees Dirt retain some of its old swagger in a fun, frequently beautiful but occasionally hollow arcade racer.

In retrospect, I think Nuts is a game specifically tailored for the plodders, but also the catastrophists. It's for people who shuffle through life methodically, but have minds forever spiralling outwards with plans of possible chaos and misfortune. People who watch squirrels and are maybe a little jealous of their obvious agency, of the glittering clarity of the world in which squirrels seem to operate. Nuts, at times, is a real trip. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A new studio in charge sees Dirt retain some of its old swagger in a fun, frequently beautiful but occasionally hollow arcade racer.

Sumo Newcastle's debut is an engrossing but substanceless heist game - and an interestingly grim take on Robin Hood.

Arms does for fighting games what Mario Kart did for driving games, and the results are absolutely splendid. [Recommended]

An already sterling fighter gets a new coat of paint and a few new tricks. It's not revolutionary, but it's the best Nidhogg has ever been. [Recommended]

Improvements abound, but Knack's adventures still suffer from a lack of charm.

An eccentric and charismatic B-movie of a game. The Bard's Tale 4 is an ideal place to puzzle in. [Eurogamer Recommended]

This is a special game. I am horrible at it, and it, in turn, is horrible to me, and yet I keep pushing on, returning to Gods Will Fall again and again. [Eurogamer Recommended]

You know that moment in a good roguelite where you've overextended yourself, but you've also won riches that you don't want to lose before you can bank them? This is what Loot River is built for, ultimately: I race around the world, dashing from one tile to another, breaking off from a little continent, an archipelago of burning wood and then searching, searching for the level's exit as I eye my tiny health gauge with fear. A procedural dungeon-crawler where you can rescramble the once-scrambled levels? Gary Chang would be proud. [Eurogamer Recommended]

[A limp arcade action game amidst a sea of mindless references, Travis Strikes Again fatally lacks the style of its predecessors. [Eurogamer Avoid]

In a way, it makes me look on those cinematic action-adventure games a little more kindly. I see the craft that the developers tried to hide, and I can enjoy the gaps between what they were hoping would happen and what often happened instead. But that's a fleeting thought, really. Mainly when I play Automatoys I think about Automatoys. I think about getting that ball from the start to the exit, and when one machine is done, I cannot wait to see the next. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A brief, frequently beautiful meditation on mental illness that can be overly blunt in its messaging.

While it's unlikely to make fans of those of you who've sampled the shooters that came before it and left unsatisfied, as a die-hard Guardian and card-carrying fangirl of the genre, Outriders tickles me in all the right places. Offering gunplay that feels solid and satisfying and an array of additional powers and abilities to keep combat fresh and exciting, I can only admit that Outriders has surprised me in all the right ways. Maybe it'll surprise you, too.

Bleeding Edge could be on to something with meaningful updates, but at launch it's Xbox Game Pass filler at best.

Despite the monochrome palette and simple, wholesome story, Minit's world is stuffed with charm and character that belies its lo-fi presentation - and it's a lovely way to while away a few spare minutes of your own. [Recommended]

The gameplay isn't overly complicated, and the story is dreamy enough without being overly stuffy, making it an alluring option even for people allergic to fantasy altogether. Put me down as a successful LoL convert - or at least a willing entrant to its world, if not the main game itself.

A brave VR murder mystery experiment inspired by immersive theatre, but the asking price is too high.

Sega's marriage between its best-selling series and the cult anime ends up sloppy and half-hearted.

A trashy, overwrought psychodrama with the odd inspired touch that alternates between simple forensic puzzles and gimmicky gunplay.

A splendid, moody elaboration of what makes Outer Wilds so special. [Eurogamer Essential]

Resident Evil 4 meets the Truman Show in an entertaining but unremarkable follow-up, held back by tepid stealth and warmed-over scares.

A slightly dated reintroduction to one of Capcom's hack-and-slash greats.

An entertaining slice of Pokémon sleuthing set within a vibrant version of the series' world. [Recommended]

A brilliant timeloop shooter that gives Dishonored's best tricks and techniques more opportunity to shine. [Essential]

The all-star fighter returns via the arcade for a deep, characterful game that struggles to endear itself to fans and newcomers alike.

Sega's brilliant puzzler Puyo Puyo makes a long overdue return to the west as part of this outstanding package. [Recommended]

Disintegration's campaign is a robot-smashing romp, but multiplayer appears to be dead on arrival.

An unlikely revival that's spirited in its return to the genre's arcade roots, but that is uneven in its execution.

Lost Sphear is a more ambitious JRPG than its predecessor, yet it risks abandoning its purpose to return to the genre's simpler days.

A beautifully realised old school JRPG whose only downfall is its story of all things. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A gleefully gory throwback to 90s shooters wrapped in a rogue-like shell, Strafe is let down by uneven pacing and underwhelming guns.

A couple of omissions grate and it's hardly cheap, but this is a sumptuous collection for the grandest of shmups. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The reverse city builder is trickier than it appears, but utterly committed to its environmental vision, taking the genre - and every level - to new places. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The worst of pretentious story games and brainless beat-em-ups combined - with an insulting gimmick that's all its own. [Avoid]

Wrath of the Druids is a meaty expansion which succeeds in taking Valhalla to new shores, even if the path sometimes feels familiar.

A brisk free-roaming action game with a clicker-ish heart.

Playing Phoenix Point has been a powerful propulsion back through my past, pinballing me through 25 years of alien-fighting nostalgia. And if I still find myself returning to it again, keen to blow the floor out from under another tentacled terror the moment I finish this review, then you know it's got much more right than wrong. Even if I never reach the end, I will still have enjoyed the journey, and the friends (soldiers) I met (renamed as my friends) along the way.

Instead of challenging the Dark Age it reinterprets 615 years later, the game seems to delight in it. Instead of seeing notes in the margin of a history book, we get what feels like a glossy pamphlet advertising an escape into an oddly romanticised past. And it's that, ultimately, which makes me too uneasy about Warhorse's work to be able to recommend it.

Hypnotic art, otherworldly audio and captivating writing meet in an undersea exploration game that wants you to take your time. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A melancholy masterpiece is reborn in this faithful and breathtakingly beautiful remake.

There's plenty of multiplayer fun in this game of benign wrecking balls. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Housemarque has just made the game of its career. [Essential]

To me, Kena: Bridge of Spirits very much has first game syndrome - something with all the right ideas, weakened by their execution. If it does well - and given the fever with which it's been followed leading up to its release, I expect it will - it'll be because we often value AAA looks and mechanics more highly than attempts at innovation. I'm sure with this foundation Ember Lab has a great game in it, but this isn't it just yet.

A suite of enhancements help bring the virtues of this staunchly traditional RPG into focus. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Monster Hunter opens up for the most accessible, most detailed and most magnificent entry yet. [Essential]

Quotation forthcoming.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is, ultimately, just fine, but it feels like a last-gen game visually and in design. You can see it in every door you have to press a button to open, in every recycled enemy, in every spotlight you wait to pass, in every move-block-to-the-right-pad puzzle. Some of my colleagues said it reminded them of one of those late 2000s superhero MMOs, and I get that. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 launches 10 years after Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, but it feels like it could easily have come out just a year later, when the Xbox 360 and PS3 were still going strong. I suppose this is exactly what some had hoped for from the game, but I was hoping for a bit more.

An inventive platformer with an unforgettable sense of style and wit. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Inspired as much by Pokémon Go as it is Breath of the Wild, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is flimsy and compulsive - and exhilaratingly new. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon DX is pleasant and cheery, but for every moment of depth there's an accompanying frustration.

With a deep love of classics such as Thunder Force, Gradius and Darius, this horizontal shmup goes well beyond a simple cover version. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Despite eye-catching changes, the heart of this series remains gloriously unaltered. [Recommended]

This basic puzzle-platformer captures none of the depth and panic of Miyamoto's surreal strategy games, but a good deal of the charm.

Marrying some frightfully clever time-scrolling with a captivating look into its characters' lives, Eternal Threads is a nosy player's dream. [Eurogamer Recommended]

An elegiac, memorable and affecting tale of the misfortunes suffered by the members of a deeply eccentric family. [Recommended]

Sprightly platforming action marks a change of pace for The Chinese Room in this bold if brief adventure. [Eurogamer Recommended]

An overdue but much appreciated remaster of one of the GameCube's - and the early 00s - very best. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Folklore powers a heartfelt game of exploration and empathy. [Eurogamer Recommended]

GreedFall has more than its fair share of faults, and its curious mix of the sweet and the sour is far from a roleplaying revelation. But the elements that matter have been imbued with such love and care - so much so that I quickly forgave this ambitious RPG its shortcomings. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The FMV thriller is fully exhumed in this splicing of game and cinema, where high production values fail to obscure the creative fissures.

An eccentric action puzzle game sits a little uneasily in this full-fat package.

Honestly, it's a dilemma. Technical issues are often passing, but what lingers is the lack of readiness, in the wider sense. The lack of requisite care. The story is a marvel, as is the sheer, red mist hostility of the world that houses it. The promised depth of systems are there, but mishandled. The maturity - and recall CD Projekt describing Cyberpunk, on announcement, as "a mature RPG for a mature audience" - is often not. Maturity in the immature sense, maybe: the teenage idea of it, that 'maturity' equals Rated M and can be found in nakedness, coarseness, blood and guts, when in actuality it's closer to something like the forced perspective gained from time. My lingering impression of Cyberpunk 2077 is of a game that's shouting over itself, relentlessly at odds with its own creative voice. Amidst it all, the nuance that does exist in Cyberpunk 2077, the intense, intoxicating humanity at its heart, is so nearly engulfed by all the noise. But I think I can still hear it, just about. [Eurogamer Recommended]

This isn't even the 3DS' best Fire Emblem, ultimately, but it's certainly one of the most interesting entries in the series' long history, an eccentric offshoot with an identity all of its own. It forgoes the soap opera of recent games and delivers a different brand of strategy that's remarkably refreshing - and it's a chance to spin back the turnwheel and see what might have been. [Recommended]

Don't bother with PES 2021 if you can option file PES 2020, but if you're coming in fresh, PES 2021 is a decent shout at a decent price.

Capybara Games makes a triumphant return to colour-matching with this gratifying, tactical splatterfest. [Eurogamer Essential]

Mesmerising and thrilling, this is a puzzle game for the ages. [Eurogamer Essential]

A wasteland you'll love to wander, but not a game you'll necessarily relish, The Signal from Tölva is a dark, frustrating work.

Playground Games delivers yet another gorgeous and enveloping pocket holiday, smartly restructured but reassuringly unchanged. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Quotation forthcoming.

A rock-hard procedural tinder box brimming with imagination and chaos. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A beautifully crafted exploration game brimming with combat and puzzles. [Eurogamer Recommended]

There's an end-of-pier charm to it all, the showmanship of the arcade matched with Nintendo's time-proven ability to take something - here the humble pilates ring - and imbue it with a sense of play and wonder. Ring Fit Adventure is that and then some, boasting all the inventiveness of last year's curio Labo and matching it with a video game that compels you to come back for more. This might not have the show-stopping pull of a Mario or Zelda, but I can guarantee that it's the purest Nintendo experience you'll play this year. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A charismatic and enjoyable gangster sim that gets a big bogged down in admin. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Innovations in the right places keep an old veteran match fit. [Recommended]

And yet for all that, I kind of adore Balan Wonderworld, to a degree that's surprised me. Maybe it's just come along at the right time, when I needed a colourful comfort blanket of a thing, a nostalgia strip as strange and insubstantial as watching a YouTube compilation of 90s TV adverts. Maybe it's because my expectations were low - Sonic Adventure has always been the game where the scales fell away from my eyes when it comes to Sega's mascot, and to Sonic Team, and I can't say I've ever enjoyed too much of the series since...Or maybe it's just because this is how games used to be, and sometimes it's comforting to slip into a 90s netherworld, and back into the old ways. When games were often clunky, unexplained, awkward and often downright frustrating. Balan Wonderworld is all those things, an almost too exacting facsimile of a type of second tier 90s platformer that never quite achieved greatness, even if it's fascinating all the same.

A neat little curio that channels a cult piece of hardware, and some of the fighting greats.

Milestone delivers its most comprehensive, accessible and enjoyable racer yet - though it still suffers from some of the same old problems.

Supermassive's dour whodunnit is a poor vehicle for PlayLink's experiment in multiplayer narrative - a woeful mismatch of genre and form.

Level-5's latest multimedia outing makes a belated western outing in an RPG that's eccentric, exuberant and more than a little clumsy.

A predictably grim spin on a legendary action license that really deserves better, Predator: Hunting Grounds is unworthy prey.

Despite an endearing commitment to its relentlessly positive tone, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands almost feels designed by a dice roll.

Housemarque widens its lens with a take on 90s run and gunners, resulting in an enjoyably chaotic if overly slight adventure.

A conventional, easygoing scifi RPG with slightly wasted satirical elements that fades very quickly from the mind.

Treyarch delivers an impressive package considering the circumstances, but Black Ops Cold War feels like a step back from last year.

A breathlessly brilliant tactical RPG, it's just a shame that Valkyria Chronicles isn't quite as assured off the battlefield.

Ubisoft's late-stage toys-to-life entry is pretty, derivative and slightly lacking in charm.

Can a slick, mainstream action game really reckon with the violence that drives it? The answer is yes - messily, but powerfully. [Eurogamer Essential]

A slick psychological horror plagued by poor pacing and infuriating instakills

Its big themes are glibly handled, though this is still Quantic Dream's most credible and satisfying interactive yarn by far.

Give yourself to this elegant and empathetic study of solitude. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Treyarch delivers an impressive package considering the circumstances, but Black Ops Cold War feels like a step back from last year.

Artful animation and visuals combine with tightly designed exploration, though beware persistent technical issues.

Don't overlook this joyous explosion of colour and charm - I very nearly did, and I'm kicking myself for it. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Nintendo's trickiest game in years is also one of its most joyful. [Recommended]

The spirit of Burnout returns in a game that trades big-budget spectacle for pure speed. [Eurogamer Recommended]

An ornate and clever if slightly under-cooked System Shock successor, which makes the most of a truly magnificent space station setting. [Recommended]

There is undoubtedly improvement here over the unremarkable Thrones of Britannia. Troy may not be as impassioned and hot-blooded as the characters it represents, but its distinctive factions, thematic systems and nuanced interpretation of myth nonetheless succeed in firing the imagination. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Supermassive's Dark Pictures anthology gets off to a promising start, but this first nautical instalment winds up a little too promptly.

There's a slight disappointment that the tale it tells isn't as smart as the idea that powers it, a blot on an otherwise wonderful game. Scanner Sombre is a remarkable experiment, its only downfall being that once you've shed some light on your surroundings you realise there's not really that much to it at all.

Despite several shortcomings It is more than a cheap knock-off, though, and thanks to some smart ideas and novel twists there's an enjoyable tribute to be found here. Just be warned that NBA Playgrounds is a few steps away from being much more than an overly fuzzy dose of nostalgia.

Persona 5 is unconscionably sublime. Every beat, every subtlety, every movement of the camera - it all translates into a kinetic masterpiece, strung together with the best visuals this side of Atlus. Persona 5 won't change your mind on JRPGs if you lack a taste for the genre, but if you're in any way a fan, well -Why the hell are you still reading this? Go forth and damn well purchase. [Essential]

Thanks to its adorable characters and a story that makes no excuses for how absurd it is, World's End Club is a lot of fun. [Eurogamer Recommended]

I'll be totally honest. After Slay the Spire I thought I had the only card battling RPG I needed for the time being. But I should never bet against the SteamWorld team, and so it proved here. Wit, warmth, smart mechanics and a surprising challenge all make SteamWorld Quest a delight - and then there's Orik, of course. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Call of Duty nails battle royale with a blistering, jank-free experience. [Eurogamer Recommended]

You could label Tasomachi a "wholesome" game - a label I'm wary of myself. If it's wholesome, I would argue this has less to do with its baby-faced character models or delicate furnishings, and more, again, with its sense of its own unimportance. It understands that there are bigger things in life than games, however consoling games can be. It doesn't want to be more than an interlude. It's a sumptuous realm, evoking memories of various continent-straddling adventures, but one devoid of grandiosity and happy for you to spend as much time within it as you need. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A moody shooter undermined by a lack of polish and purpose.

Brisk, stylish and compulsive, this is everything an arcade game should be. [Eurogamer Essential]

Bigger and better - but there's not enough genuinely new for Destiny 2 to achieve greatness. [Recommended]

A streamlined real-time defence game with a wonderful knack for dread. [Recommended]

A timely overhaul that should take a great game to new heights - though it's not quite on peak form this year. [Recommended]

A neat aesthetic can't disguise poor combat and a lack of anything to do.

Where the original Mass Effect games kept you moving through the story, Andromeda relegates its critical path to second place, offering up a spread of loosely associated scenarios that just happens to include a fairly uninspired tussle with a genocidal tyrant. It's a game that is more interested in keeping you busy than keeping you in suspense about what happens next, or making you feel the consequences of your actions.

Glorious artwork and a fan's eye for detail combine for a sequel that manages to best its forebears. [Eurogamer Essential]

Two players, two developers, but half the story: this spin-off isn't firing on all cylinders, but the combat is still hugely satisfying.

An extraordinarily detailed economy and range of interlinking systems make Victoria 3 a grand strategy to rival some of Paradox's best. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A thrillingly authentic take on the first-person shooter's 90s heyday, delivered with nerdish enthusiasm. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A verbose and rich psychological roleplaying game that doesn't offer enough choice in the role you play.

Arcade elegance meshes perfectly with a glorious wilderness. [Eurogamer Recommended]

What comes as a result is a sense of distraction, above all. Almost a sense that Maquette suffered from too much budget, from misplaced attention to themes or scale. The first half - three hours or so - is a brilliant success, a gorgeous, ingenious, delicately poised construction of spaghetti-brain recursion and latent atmosphere. The time you spend there, submerged deep in focus, is wonderful. The rest is interference.

A couple of nifty concepts can't save this uninspired genre piece from its shortage of character or fear. [Eurogamer Avoid]

The grind is an ever-present frustration, but it is also something I am willing to power through - like Shao Khan's hammer to my opponent's head. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A short, sweet translation of Gone Home's cosy environmental storytelling into the realm of speculative fiction. [Recommended]

Dotemu delivers an exquisite extension of Data East's 1994 masterpiece. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Just as it did with Two Point Hospital, Two Point Studios has combined neatly overlapping managmenet systems with an irrepressably oddball charm. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Football Manager is still the best sim of its kind, but FM23's serious lack of major improvements shows an annual release schedule taking its toll.

A stylish, dreamily wrought open-world detective adventure that dances masterfully on the edge of cosmic nightmare. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Rainbow Six Extraction's tactical PvE is good, punchy fun with a squad, and has a couple of nice little twists - but that's about it.

If it hadn't have been for that thoroughly unjust Rewind right at the end of my playthrough, The Quarry - with its stunning visuals, wonderful voice work, fabulous score, and intriguing plot line - would have been one of my favourite games of the year thus far, and one of the best horror romps for some time. As it stands, though, it's hard to feel anything but disappointment for a game that took all my time and effort and just discarded them without warning. It's one thing to kill off a character; it's another to kill off a player's enthusiasm.

A competent tactical retooling of the Gears formula, even if the execution isn't always spot-on.

Short and simple, Donut County is absolutely sublime. [Recommended]

A game about card games is also a rigorous primer in the intersection of crime and magic. [Eurogamer Recommended]

This year's Modern Warfare 2 has some good moments, some beautiful cinematics and some typically moreish multiplayer - but it's a cowardly retconning of the original's story.

Frictional returns with a subversion of horror tropes, though it's not quite the measure of other games in the series.

A grab bag of everything that made the purely portable iterations shine, Ultimate Generations is arcane but absolutely brilliant. [Recommended]

Intelligent and enriching, this is a preview worth playing. [Recommended]

If you've got the stamina - and the space - then Sprint Vector is an awful lot of fun. [Recommended]

There are few surprises to be found in Splatoon 3's multiplayer or campaign, but it is the best Nintendo's spectacular series has been to date. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Kunos brings the full sim experience to console, warts and all, with a few oversights and errors along the way.

History repeats itself with a joyful, educational flourish in Age of Empires 4, a game of sweet simplicity and bottomless depth. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Riot Games delivers a masterclass in competitive integrity, soulless precision and zealous, life-consuming obsession. [Eurogamer Recommended]

An improvement in nearly every way on one of Nintendo's finest games in years, Splatoon 2 is only let down by a lack of big new ideas. [Recommended]

Knife-edge thrills delivered by a compelling cast for a truly impressive horror. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Shades of Picross and Phoenix Wright blend together in this unlikely but utterly lovable genre mash-up. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The introduction of F2 and a suite of small improvements elsewhere make for a thrillingly authentic take on motorsport's top-flight. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A work of powerful ugliness that skilfully refuses to find the fun. [Eurogamer Recommended]

This is a puzzling masterclass with a heart as well as a brain. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Finally complete after fourteen years, Crowbar Collective's remake is more than faithful to Valve's masterpiece. [Eurogamer Essential]

Llamasoft's latest arcade treat is as thrilling as ever. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Clickers meet twin-sticks in a game that will eat your time like no other. [Recommended]

Ska Studios' sequel to Salt and Sanctuary offers a wonderful suite of combat customisation, but some shallow storytelling holds it back.

Eager to do the many issues of medieval life justice, Yes Your Grace can't hit a good balance between challenging and frustrating.

The musou genre needed new ideas - but reinventing it as a shoddy open-world game wasn't the answer.

This isn't just my assertion, Nier: Automata was a clear effort to implement feedback from the first game and enhance Nier's strengths and eradicate its weaknesses, according to its developers. I consider Nier: Automata to be essential, as such I think if you're a mildly curious Automata fan, you'll come away from Nier disappointed. You have played the better Nier game already. This reiusse is meant for lore nerds, for hardcore fans, for completionists, oldschool Nier evangelists, basically everyone who's already decided to buy the game before reading this.

Playing World Series is like going to see your favourite band live and finding out most of their setlist is made up of new songs. It's nice to see something new, but that's not why you bought your tickets. You bought them so you could mosh along to the oldies.