Lords of Fallen is a solid Souls-like that goes beyond being just another genre copycat. Its combat feels fluid and has plenty of depth due to its nine starting classes and its dual-world concept literally helps to add another dimension to its combat and exploration.

NHL 24 is NHL 23 with some, but far too few, great additions. The Exhaust Engine is a welcome addition, but what does it add when almost everything is last year's game, down to using the same intro and cutscenes in career mode.

While I won't deny that Saltsea Chronicles has a slow pace that often leaves a little to be desired, this indie adventure game does have its moments.

Considering how much pure rubbish is actually released for our mobiles, it's really nice to see how the pattern is sometimes broken with a real quality game, which this is. It's highly recommended.

Counter-Strike 2 is a solid package in many ways. It's still the best in its sub-genre and I can see myself playing it for thousands of hours, as I did with its predecessors.

Total War: Pharaoh is a really nice upgrade almost on all fronts, and the ability to customise your campaign has also been preserved. If they could just update the interface. To me Pharaoh is one of the best historical Total War titles in a long time.

The investigations are good and the story isn't bad either, and being a title aimed at young Pokémon investigators, Detective Pikachu Returns offers a good introduction to games of this type.

Ubisoft really succeeded with Assassin's Creed Mirage. Slimming down the experience was a good move to prevent the fatiguing nature that was oh-so apparent in the bigger RPGs.

Forza Motorsport is a very well made racer with solid graphics, top performance (bar a few infinite loading screens), brilliant menus that feel intuitive and quick, and a decent physics engine powering the whole thing.

Few games have fascinated me the way Cocoon does with its metre-thick atmosphere and reality-distorting challenges. It's an alien among its earthly peers, and even when it draws on a classic series like The Legend of Zelda, it twists the concepts we know so well, such as requiring you to diligently travel between worlds in a split-second. Some games mesmerise you with their breadth and almost hubristic level of ambition. Cocoon does this by perfectly executing its tight focus - just as its role model Portal did twice more than a decade ago.

The game is good for what it is and if you were a fan of Punch-Out!! in the good old days, this might be something to check out.

It's a huge homage to Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future, and if you liked those two games, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a must-have.

I have fun when I play but it is also a bit thin on content and becomes extremely repetitive quite quickly.

In its present state, it largely lacks polish and this overshadows a lot of what it gets right in terms of giving players a rich tool set and freedom in how heists are approached.

Akaoni Studio has managed to produce a title that is simple but closed in its proposal. In which only an easily ignorable defect in tone slightly weakens a game that has a good rhythm and makes you have a good time.

Phantom Liberty and the 2.0 update give CD Projekt RED's title a second life. And while many may already consider their time in Night City to be over, this new story may give you more than a few surprises.

This is a great party game that is easy to recommend. It is fun both online and offline, the presentation is fantastic and the concept is created in such a way that it is almost always exciting.

EA has seemingly spent more resources on marketing the new name than improving the formula, and it's therefore very hard to recommend EA Sports FC 24 to all but the most dedicated fans.

The Crew Motorfest is a competent and genuinely fun racer that while introducing some interesting activities and online features, does struggle to live up to the heights and levels of immersive realism that separates the good of this sector of games from the truly great ones.

Mortal Kombat is back with a vengeance, and the developers have really dared to modify both gameplay and overall framing and present everything with great graphics.

What could have been a perfect sports game instead becomes a begging little brother that always seems to need more money.

If you like a calmer and more strategic approach, small bugs don't bother you, and you have enough patience when handling a lot of stuff, the console version of Baldur's Gate 3 is worth of every penny.

Frozenbyte doesn't take many chances with Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy. It's another game based on the now familiar Trine script - there are a few new puzzles, new properties and the like, but basically it's much the same as before.

Enchanted Portals has some superficial features that make you raise your eyebrows but what really counts; what's there under the surface, it doesn't measure up at all.

I do think Synced has potential. Its premise is unique and interesting, its characters are fun to play as and the gunplay remains solid for the most part. However, as of right now it does appear to be quite bare bones. You are getting the game for free, so there's bonus points for that, but those points are immediately countered by the rampant monetisation that hits you right off the bat.

Lies of P brings some exciting new ideas to the table and is well worth checking out for Souls-like fans looking to scratch that Bloodborne itch.

This is definitely a game to check out if you've ever wondered what it would be like to cross anthropomorphic dinosaurs with that of a Netflix high school drama TV series.

Having lived on the ocean floor in the extraordinarily atmospheric Subnautica, I hadn't thought that this game would trump that underwater experience in terms of beauty, atmosphere and variety, but it has, despite its modest playtime of only four hours.