Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition is one of the best ports of a videogame to date. If you have yet to experience this landmark title then do so now.

Another fantastic experience from Insomniac’s serving of Spider-Man. An improvement on an already fantastic original title. In Insomniac’s hands, we don’t just have two great Spider-Man games, but two great Spider-Men.

The combat can be a little unforgiving depending on your fitness level, but this really is a VR Arkham game in every way.

A brilliant tactical puzzle game, interesting story, engaging characters, slick controls and beautiful maps make this a very enjoyable play. It’ll take you while to get through each level but it’s very rewarding when your plans all come together and you feel like a master ninja!

PES 2017’s biggest sin is that it takes the beautiful game that I love so much, sucks all and any excitement, fun and enjoyment from it, leaving a dry, dull husk.

The gameplay loop of Warframe remains the same, but the smooth frame rate and great loading times will be a great benefit to long term console players as they move to the PlayStation 5. If you’re a Warframe fan, you can look forward to a much sharper experience.

A very nostalgic-style RPG with cute art and an interesting story. If you're looking for something new yet old-school-inspired with occasional notes of goofiness, this is a game for you. Definitely consider giving it a try.

One of the more distinctive horror games to be released in the past few years, Mundaun tells childhood stories with an adult filter, a foreign narrative in a universal core, and hosts gameplay that, while occasionally obtuse, is a hop, skip, and a jump away from other titles in the same vein.

Once Upon a Jester is a hilarious, heartfelt experience with improvisational gameplay, excellent voice acting, and replayability. Though the shows can feel repetitive, branching dialogue and varied genres keep things interesting.

LIVE A LIVE is a gorgeous 2D-HD experience that combines modern with classic pixel visuals. With multiple chapters to select featuring their own story and characters, along with a variety of genres, there is so much here to keep you busy, this is a must-play RPG.

In Stars and Time is an intriguing game with a crazy time loop system. If you are willing to put in the time needed, you will be rewarded with a great story with fun characters.

An unbelievably impressive title, Out of Hands takes a saturated genre and breathes life into it in such a unique manner.

SILENT HILL f is nearly perfect, delivering a compelling story and haunting atmosphere. With incredible audio design, a fresh and immersive Japanese setting, enjoyable combat, and satisfying puzzles, it’s a must-play for long-time fans and newcomers.

Pieced Together is a lovely and wholesome game about friendship and growing older. If you enjoy gentle puzzles and heartfelt storytelling, you’ll absolutely love it.

NEOWIZ puts their skills on full display with Lies of P: Overture, tackling obnoxious tropes and bringing new light to them masterfully. At £24.99, it feels like an entire sequel waiting to be explored by fans of the original, and it stands as a no-brainer DLC for them.

If you’ve never played a previous Ys game, like me, this is a great game to experience despite the long history and number in its title. Lasting just over 40 hours for me, this is a relatively easy recommendation for even none JRPG fans who prefer more mechanically driven games.

A marked improvement on last years entry, with plenty of new features to keep all levels of players interested. The new features add much needed playability to the sessions in the career and the manual starts/pit entry and formation laps add the extra sprinkling of realism needed to help it feel more immersive.

The reduced visual quality doesn’t stop The Witcher 3 on Switch from being an astonishing technical marvel from Saber Interactive. It remains one of the finest open-world games of this generation, especially if you favour rich storytelling over systems and mechanics, which you can now take with you.

A time sink that will keep you hooked right up until your last Duplicant.

Torn Away is a really impactful experience that is definitely worth playing. It’s not the most interesting gameplay, but the story alone makes it an amazing game that is definitely worth buying.

If there is one game you decide to take a chance on this year, please let it be Yakuza 0 - a game that is as fun and intelligent as it is silly and violent.

Don’t sleep on Skate Story. It's a weird and wonderful journey through the Underworld on a skateboard, with great gameplay, visuals, and music. Highly recommended.

The city of Kamurocho is packed with interesting characters, fun activities and a number of excellent diversions, all backed up by a solid narrative that throws up as many surprises as it does heartwarming moments.

I've sunk dozens of hours into Heroes of Hammerwatch and eagerly await the chance to spend dozens more. With numerous layers of progression systems, multiple distinct classes and more content than seems reasonable for its low price tag, Heroes of Hammerwatch is a must-play for roguelike fanatics or people after their dungeon-crawling fix.

Intelligent puzzle design, striking visuals and a soundtrack straight out of late 90s raves make for one of the most interesting titles I’ve experienced so far this year, even if it is occasionally marred by difficult and frustrating puzzle design.

Platypus Reclayed is one of the best arcade shoot ’em ups I have played. It’s challenging, but so rewarding. Who knew flying a clay ship could be so much fun?

A game for the kids, an incredible game that doesn’t outstay its welcome. With a strong sense of style, Shu takes the action platformer genre into its own stride with ultra shine polish and melodic music that’ll warrant listening outside of playing the game. This is a game that’ll age well for its solid game play.

Ratchet and Clank is the culmination of Insomniac’s vast experience in the field of platformers. It’s not just the best platformer on the PS4, it’s one of the best games on the PS4 full-stop. A game of the year contender in my opinion.

An absolutely enjoyable experience gameplay-wise, but a definitely skippable story; you're better off playing Death Stranding like a walking simulator and completing each area as you're introduced to it, rather than rushing to an unfulfilling story conclusion.

Shadow Gambit is a near-perfect game for stealth strategy fans. The new sandbox approach means that levels feel a little less curated than Mimimi’s previous titles — but who cares when you’re having this much fun?

While it can be jarring jumping from 2D animation into 3D, all three games tie into each other pretty well and offer a fun experience for both old and new fans.

While Moss is a short adventure, it's one filled with awe and wonder. The storytelling is superb with brilliant writing and a great atmosphere. The gameplay while basic is so much fun that you will never want to stop playing this game. If you have a PlayStation VR you need to pick up this game, Moss is a masterpiece that is going to go down in the history books for the first game of this genre to work and play well in VR.

With scenery straight out of a Norwegian travel postcard, Embracelet offers a peaceful coming-of-age tale that doesn’t get too complex and ultimately hits the mark.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an awesome action platformer that pulls you in with its beautiful world and lore, evolving the metroidvania genre with a lot of great changes. You must play this game.

I have never encountered a more beautiful, entrancing and sublime gaming experience.

Iron Man VR is an instant must-play from its tutorial and gets only more enjoyable as the story progresses.

Guns, gore and demons. The classic DOOM is back and it's better than ever. With a glorious and immensely satisfying single player experience, DOOM is one of the best shooters of year. Shame it can't be said about the multiplayer, but at least with the addition of intuitive SnapMap you can create your very own Hell.

I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed Ni no Kuni II. It’s one of the best JRPGs in years and it’s a must-buy for fans of the genre. It’s cute, thoroughly addictive and has more tweaks and statistics than you can shake a sword at. If you enjoyed the first game, you will love this.

A proficient sim-racer that brings a lot to the table - both in content and playability. Would have been great to see the base Xbox One version maybe lose a bit of the graphical sparkle in exchange for a 60 FPS lock, but that's more commentary of the power of the Xbox, rather than the game.

Demon Tides will be an adventure for those new to platformers or an old-hand. With a compelling story, accessible gameplay and a challenge regardless of which mode you’re on, there’s so much available for everyone to discover.

Aliens Go Home Run is a cracking little arcade inspired title. Mixing elements of Breakout, Galaxian and Baseball, it provides a familiar concept, but one that does something a little bit different. It’s a game that you can pick up and play right away, but will take forever to become an expert in.

Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy is easily the best game in the series yet with a compelling story and refined gameplay to boast.

I really loved BALL x PIT. Its gameplay is addictive to no end and every aspect just enriches the experience that much more.

Horizon Zero Dawn truly expresses how videogames nowadays are an art form, if not only through its visuals and storytelling, then certainly through its expertly incorporated combat. A glee-filled experience through and through.

What it is, is a modern take on the theme park management genre, and a spectacular one at that. Planet Coaster feels like RCT, even if it isn’t. Frontier has delivered an incredible followup to their past games. Unfortunately, it’s a little light on content at the moment. Despite this, I’m confident in saying that Planet Coaster has a great core game, and even though it doesn’t have as much in it as it should, it’s the best theme park game out there.

A truly engrossing RPG, The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon is the best game in the Calvard arc yet and a must-play for series fans.

Scoring any lower would be a bit far for what the game offers and does. It’s like baked beans on toasts: nice and filling, but you wouldn’t call it a proper meal. If you’re into your Rogue type games, looking for something short, snappy and quick. This is a game for you. Personally, this just isn’t my cup of tea with what it does.

Reventure plays like a puzzle adventure game that excels at the puzzle aspect and providing a feeling of completion, with very fun gameplay having me doing the dumbest things trying to get an ending. However, it falls short on its story.

Where the story falls short, the gameplay rises up. The fighting is fun to pick up and play, but hard to master. There’s no shortage of combos and character specific special moves, making finding your character of choice and fun and personal experience. For those that are fans of the series, Central Fiction is an absolute must have. For fighting game fans that want a fighting game to keep them busy until Tekken 7 comes out, Central Fiction is definitely worth a try, just be prepared to do a lot of reading if you want to understand the lore.

Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship is a great mix of genres with a cartoony look and a fun sense of humour that keeps pulling you back for more.

A 2D action adventure inspired by Dark Souls. While the structure underlying Salt and Sanctuary isn’t quite original, it serves to prove that this is a winning formula for combining mechanical and aesthetic design - feeding into one another and making each stronger.

With an intense and intriguing narrative, Steins;Gate 0 is a joy to play through though too many times the story slows down for sometime much more mundane. Without knowledge of the characters or larger plot of previous games, you may struggle to get the full experience.

SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash is an incredibly addictive deck-building card game that has you collecting and fighting SNK and Capcom characters against each other. Making it look like you are playing on a Neo Geo is a neat touch but makes the game area very small making Switch hand-held mode quite hard.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure brings all the great features of mobile games while leaving behind FOMO, and it makes it one of the most cosy titles you can find on Steam!

Gorogoa is a tremendously designed puzzle experience that rewards creative, out-of-the-box thinking. Though there were a few, rare moments where frustration blemished the ride, the game is so authentically unique, beautifully illustrated and wonderfully scored, that it’s impossible to not be enamoured by its potent, singular vision.

The latest and greatest F1 game for Codemasters roster, with just enough new about it to make it an update from last years. It’ll be a hard push to see what they do for 2019, that’s for sure, but Codemasters have had a long run with the F1 license, and it doesn’t look like they’re keen to stop anytime soon.

One of the best multiplayer games available on current platforms gets even better with no loading times, a 4K resolution and all DLC stuffed into one delightful package.

I initially booted up Guardians of the Galaxy with tempered expectations but was surprised with how much fun I ended up having. Despite having a few setbacks, Guardians of the Galaxy is easily one of the best games of the year thanks to its fantastic story.

Mankind Divided is a wonderful, powerful game and a great addition to the Deus Ex mythos with rich, fully built characters and an amazingly immersive world. If it wasn’t for the many missteps that the marketing department took, you would probably have preordered this already.

Infernax is a great game that I highly recommend to anyone who loves challenging platformer games that sound and look great. Especially if you don’t mind figuring out what needs to be done next and aren't disgusted by blood and gore.

Another fastest lap under for Codemasters, the predictability of the cars makes it a lot easier to handle than previous years—especially for those using a controller. Wheel users might not benefit so much from the changes, but the cars still feel more planted.

Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit is a must-play title for fans of the series, or for 2D action platforming fans who don’t mind a bit of colourful language and shenanigans.

A fantastic arcade throwback, Streets of Rage 4 remains faithful to the classic series, whilst adding its own fresh twist.

Hyper Light Drifter is unique, it highlights the issues of a real person in an abstract way. This game plays very smoothly, and offers stunning visuals and rigid difficulty. Hyper Light Drifter is a lot of fun, and it's beautiful too. It’s a memorable experience, and can keep you interested the whole way through.

NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound is a perfect addition to the series. It looks and sounds amazing, and with accessibility options it feels more fair. It’s great!

I cannot express enough how much I enjoyed this game. It does require you to be a fan of both point-and-click and platform games, but if you are, then this is an absolute diamond-studded must buy.

Tales of Arise is so well done with the story, graphics, battle system, music, characters and voice cast that it is a must-play for anyone. Even if you aren’t normally a big fan of role-playing games the story is so compelling there is a lot to love here.

Fuga: Memories of Steel is a turn-based strategy game that is unlike any other one I have played. The story is incredibly deep and a lot more serious than you would expect a game with cats and dogs to be. Definitely worth checking out if you like RTS games mixed with RPG elements.

With incredibly in-depth tactical gameplay, a gorgeous art style, and a cast of some of the finest characters in the series, Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is one of the most enjoyable SRPGs I’ve played in years.

A brilliant remastering of a PlayStation classic. While Square Enix could have gone further with the remastering you are still treated to an amazing story, a brilliant cast of characters in a beautiful world ready to be explored and loved by all.

A dark, more mature story, a great new cast of characters, and much improved turn-based action make Trails through Daybreak a fine addition to the franchise that’s accessible to fans and newcomers alike.

Black Mesa remains true to the original Half-Life with updated graphics, improved sounds and redesigned levels. However, the graphics still look old for a “modern” game and loading screens are still a pain as it freezes the game for a few seconds.

FRU delivers the game that the Kinect needs to remain as a viable device. The clever set of mechanics that are on offer means that if you have a Kinect currently gathering dust, you owe it a game of FRU.

Viewfinder invents an entirely new kind of puzzle, then proceeds to flip it around and explore it from every possible angle. Despite a disappointing narrative, the creativity and character packed into that simulated world is inspirational and bloody good fun.

The Division 2 is a vast improvement over its predecessor straight from launch. With improvements in every area of design, whether you’re playing solo, with friends there is a wealth of content to keep you occupied. Right now, it's definitely worth the asking price and will certainly keep you coming back, but even if you wait there will be even more content to play in the coming years.

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark is a must play game for anyone who loves point-and-click adventure games, especially with a supernatural mystery theme. If you enjoyed the first game you obviously must play this title!

Bravery and Greed is a retro-looking roguelite title with great solo and multiplayer modes to check out with friends. Each run will be different, with different choices that will totally alter the focus of your run; this game is challenging but very rewarding.

Boxes: Lost Fragments is a beautiful, wondrous puzzler. Setting aside the thin narrative and short runtime, the creativity and attention to detail are remarkable.

Brilliant art design, lovely script, and great production values make ICEY one of the best indie titles I have ever reviewed.

Anomaly Agent is a unique beat-'em-up game with a great story and fun mechanics. I think everyone should experience being Agent 70.

Another masterpiece from Ron Gilbert. The game is a joy to play and provides the perfect mix of humour, challenge and engaging storyline. I genuinely have nothing but praise for the game and I can’t recommend it enough.

If The Drifter were a book, there’s no way I’d stop turning pages. If you like delightfully tropey characters, chunky pixel art, puzzles that aren’t too obtuse, and excellent voice acting, then I fully recommend giving it a go. It’s enjoyable, engaging, and accessible for those who love and those who are new to the point-and-click genre.

While the plot and characters in Mediterranea Inferno are interesting, the lack of any real gameplay makes this a difficult game to recommend. If you want an interesting journey but don’t want much involvement, then this could be one for you.

While it is missing some features, DYNASTY WARRIORS ORIGINS is a fun time and a great place to hop in for newcomers!

Sapienza is an impressive addition to the Hitman reboot's library. It's incredibly well designed, packed full of content and absolutely gorgeous. You'll be hard pressed to find a better Hitman level.

A striking abstract visual style soundtracked by a jazz freakout as improvisational as its gameplay, Ape Out glories in its primal rage for a wild ride. Give into its rhythm and bloodlust, and just go ape!

Astalon: Tears of the Earth is a great looking rogue-like Metroidvania game with a good story. It is incredibly challenging and can get very frustrating with the amount of backtracking, collision detection issues and lack of direction of what you need to do to progress.

FIFA 18 is certainly an upgrade on FIFA 17 and undoubtedly the franchise is going in the right direction, but with the same flaws still remaining it is hard to solely focus on the positives. The game needs balancing out as far too much of the game is focused on attacking, rather than the grittier and more tactical side of football. FIFA 18 is superb to look at with the slick menus, pre-match changes, vast licences, wonderfully represented stadiums, and player images, but changes to its gameplay are a necessity for me. Having played PES 2018 and FIFA 18 this year, I can comfortably say PES takes the award for being the best football game, but FIFA still has the greater depth to it, and is the more sociable game of the two.

For fans of the series and newcomers alike, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is a quintessential JRPG experience, and one that only has some very minor issues.

Prodeus is the reincarnation of classic FPS games from the '90s. There isn't much of a story here, but let's be honest, if you are playing this game, it's for the blood and mayhem!

Ravenswatch is an amazing experience any fan of roguelikes should play.

I really enjoyed The Curse of the Pharaohs, because it was a lot of fun to explore the brand new map. The team at Ubisoft really outdid themselves with how beautiful the Afterlife looked, and the new enemy types.

Berserk Boy is a fun and challenging platformer with metroidvania elements and useful abilities that you will use during every stage you play. This is a title that you should check out.

Categorically the best spiritual successor to anything I’ve seen in quite a while. Takes a beloved franchise and brings it smack up to date with features and gameplay elements that fit in the modern landscape of gaming. It isn’t diagnosed with a case of microtransaction-itis either. Just clean, sterilised fun.

This game is fun and addictive, but damn, it can be frustrating when you have a great weapon and items and then die, making you have to start from the beginning with nothing.

Not only is Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 the best football game in terms of graphics, it is the best I have experienced in terms of gameplay. The level of detail and player likenesses create a game that comes as close to you'll get to the real thing. There are still a few minor issues with presentation, and perhaps a few more changes could have been made to Master League and Become a Legend, but I'm clutching at straws here. The gameplay is near perfection, the AI and goalkeepers are improved, Konami have added further licenses to their product, and the graphics are amazing. Hopefully the servers are ready for online and with just a few minor presentation improvements to be improved on, PES really has set the bar of what a football game should be.

Ghost of Tsushima is one of the best open-world games this generation with a thrilling tale of revenge, great characters, satisfying swordplay and a stunning world that’s chock-full of things to do making it so easy to get lost in this game for hours at a time.

Barebones and no-frills it may be, but Tetris 99 is the best playing Tetris game in years and ultimately well worth downloading if you’re a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber.