A wondrous dreamlike world to explore in or out of VR, but a story that doesn't always hit as hard as you might want.

A zany, knockabout co-op action adventure that's kaleidoscopically colourful but wears you out before you get to the good stuff.

Despelote's creators tell a remarkable, pseudo-autobiographical tale about football, Ecuador, and community - but also one about the act of remembering, and the creative act itself.

Ingenious and characterful, this immersive sim is an absolute delight - particularly when things go wrong.

Part management sim, part open-world adventure, this is both weird and familiar, and deeply comforting stuff.

Forza Horizon 5 is an excellent title that is still one of the best-looking racing games ever made. Nothing really comes close to the level of raw environmental fidelity that Forza Horizon 5 so effortlessly accomplishes across its vast open world. Plus, the car models look great, lighting quality is excellent, and performance is typically impeccable across its target platforms. Panic Button's porting effort certainly does the job too, though the base PS5 essentially comes in exactly as expected. Relative to Series X, it's a near-perfect match. That's not a bad thing at all, as the port is consistently high quality and arrives without significant issues.

Outstanding artwork and glorious combat bring Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's bold, painterly world to life.

Acclaimed point-and-click studio Wadjet Eye's gently paced, time-travelling genre-hopper blends elegant puzzling and intricate, affecting storytelling to beautiful effect.

A masterful sequel to one of the genre's most beloved games, but it carries an ink stain that's hard to ignore.

Stronger emotional stakes and faster-paced drama promise an explosive climax that ultimately pulls its biggest punch.

I wanted more strange possibilities from the spaces I lived around. With Blue Prince I get that. What an extraordinary game this is.

Clearly the aim here has been to make something broad, to bring this story and its amplification of southern culture to as many people as possible. But in the process the joy of more rewarding interactivity, or more uniquely defined identity beyond the familiar platforming and fighting patterns, has been lost. So, again, the overwhelming sense here really is one of disappointment. Not that South of Midnight is a disappointing game - far from it - but that it's such a shame for it to get so close to being something so genuinely special. This is a game of just remarkable craft - we've not even mentioned the stop-motion style of animation! It's lovely - and likewise remarkable attention, thought, and care. If only just a little more of that care had been afforded to the playing of it.

If you can get over a difficult start and fancy a lean take on the survival genre, Atomfall delivers an intriguing tale worth discovering.

InZoi, then, has been a bit of a disappointment so far. Its good bits – the slick presentation, the expansive customisation, and the simple pleasures of tootling around in such richly detailed worlds – are continually undermined by the void where a bit of virtual humanity should be. But even so, I can't deny there's something here; a solid systemic foundation that feels ready to be tuned and finessed into a far more interesting game – and that, of course, is precisely what early access is for. There are other questions still to be answered that could make the difference between a long-lasting legacy and a short shelf life – how Krafton plans to introduce monetisation after early access, for instance, or whether InZoi can generate enough enthusiasm to support the kind of dazzlingly rich modding scene that's helped sustain The Sims for so long. It's a start, though, and I'm curious to see where Krafton goes from here. [Early Access Impressions]

Majestic in scope, impressive in detail, Assassin's Creed Shadows honours the beauty of feudal Japan, even if its strongest moments are saved for the personal stories of two protagonists.

Not all its additions are for the better, but this excavation of Monolith Soft's alien opus remains as fascinating and enthralling as it was a decade ago.

Far from cribbing Overboard's homework, Expelled! is a tighter, more focused detective story that really makes the most of its replayable timeloop structure.

Warm-hearted, funny, and never less than sincere, Wanderstop is a pleasant place to while away the time, though less successful as a vehicle for mindfulness in itself.

Fantastic from start to finish, Split Fiction is one of the most inventive and joyful co-op games to date, and a testament to the power of human imagination.

Knights in Tight Spaces expands on every part of the Fights in Tight Spaces template, but an abundance of new ideas swamps the clarity the original game had.

Both While Waiting and The Swimmer seem deeply interested in life - what it's made of, how it unfolds, and how easy it is to miss important details. Both are larks, in a way, but difficult, complex, ponderous larks. You know, if such a thing is possible.

An entertaining one-stop-shop for competitive multiplayer action, but the recently released Black Hawk Down campaign is an unpleasant war simulation in all the wrong ways.

Alongside this stuff you get all the silliness and cute little extras you could hope for. This is a game for zooming in close. A museum curator will be scanning an alien pod with a PKE device. A ghost will be idly checking out the furnishings. A thief will be absconding with a fossil, while a kid then hangs from part of the frame it was once displayed on. In the aquariums, faces press up against the tanks. People clamber on the bigger exhibits and try to climb into them. What's that clown doing? Why are all those people suddenly running?

The most exhilarating and refined Monster Hunter yet, even if its attempts to balance the old and new don't always quite coalesce in its ongoing quest to please all audiences.

A fascinating new narrative adventure from the original Life is Strange team, this first slice boasts fresh twists that help move the formula forward, even if its story sometimes feels a remix of genre tropes.

A raucous, absurd spin-off that manages to still feel like a first-rate Yakuza game despite the leftfield setting and delightfully unhinged plot.

Aspyr's renovation project tackles the three lesser Crofts, with intriguing results.

What Avowed lacks in gloss it makes up for with charm, depth and a playful heart. It's one of this year's most pleasant surprises.