As a smorgasbord of new content, headlined by new, handy small business features that open up the possibilities for making money and monetising your Sims’ favourite activities, The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies still feels rich with potential. It won’t completely overhaul your gameplay experience, but it adds in a bunch of neat touches to make the experience of running a business fresh and exciting all over again.

The fate of the world depends on your grace. So pick up your tiny pink blobs, listen out for that tempting beat, and put your best foot forward. With the music flowing, and the world on your back, Tempopo is a charming little experience.

It’s in these interactions that Lovestruck makes the most difference. As mentioned, it’s not a particularly robust expansion pack, and it doesn’t introduce mechanics that should be considered outright “new.” Rather, it expands on existing features and provides new possibilities, allowing you to live out dramatic new tales, complete with racy, steamy, complex romances.

Visions of Mana isn’t necessarily breaking the mold, but it’s a good time if you’re keen to rollick around an assortment of biomes, smashing monsters with big ol’ swords and delving deep into the class system. While I don’t necessarily see myself undertaking another playthrough of the game, I do think that fans of the series will enjoy what’s in store. Just brace yourself for the inevitable “grizzly” cry to get stuck in your head.

For Bleach fans, Rebirth of Souls is a fun little treat – and while it’s not the most polished experience, there’s still a lot to love about how it shoots for the moon.

It simultaneously tries to be as ‘mature’ as possible through constant depictions of excessive brutality while also being stubbornly unwilling to engage with its source material beyond the aspects most problematically aimed at 12 year olds. It is in the most basic of senses very fun, and I will be coming back to it again when new Operations missions drop for free over the next year. Its combat loop is exhilarating and its visual splendor immaculate. Its entire package just sits in such tonal disharmony within itself and worse so still when compared to other recent 40k video games...Perhaps ironically that makes Space Marine 2 the truest and most immersive satire of fascism in gaming yet though. Just a whole lot of hollow sound and fury.

In its approach to campaign integration, Sparking! Zero is much weaker. While it presents strong ideas in having branching story pathways, the narrative’s varying quality and beige storytelling is a letdown. The flash and style of individual battles may be enough to dazzle you, but those looking for anything deeper will need to dive further back into Dragon Ball‘s video game past to find it.

While it remains a fun game, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond works better as a reminder of how far Pokemon games have come.

Iko must ultimately say goodbye to Coco and his new friends, perhaps before he’s really ready to – and that’s okay, because he can always look back on the memories he made with them if he ever feels hopeless or lonely. While it seems like the game is geared more towards younger players making their first foray into some difficult topics, it’s still an overall enjoyable venture into a world that feels like a warm hug of reassurance.

Stranger of Paradise is a game where you revel in the ridiculousness of watching a grown man look character development in the face, call ‘bullshit’, and walk away with his airpods in. But you can also revel in the mindless enjoyment of hacking waves of classic Final Fantasy monsters apart and watching loot roll in, as well as the bittersweet content of acknowledging its flaws, and taking the end result for what it is.

The visual spectacle, creative setting and mechanical intrigue of Steelrising are never quite able to justify its shortcomings in challenge and consistency. It’s an inspiring experience that I had a good time with more often than not, but it certainly pales if you’re already familiar with the paragons of the genre. That said, rubbing elbows with French revolutionaries made for an entertaining interlude between bouts of robot vs. robot combat, and I can’t deny how glad I was to experience that.

Overwatch 2 delivers high-octane multiplayer gameplay and a wholly improved version of the much-loved hero shooter. Now that the dust has settled, it’s becoming clear that despite a number of teething issues, the game manages to do what many sequels struggle to; build upon a successful game, and make it even better.

I truly loved the first two-thirds of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU and it saddens me that I felt the opposite for the remainder of it.

For the grown-up Bluey fans in our household – one who has spent their entire career covering video games, and one who has barely touched a game from the last thirty years – there are as many obvious shortcomings in Bluey: The Videogame as there are charming callbacks. But to the six- and four-year-old, even though there were frustrations, none of that really seemed to matter in the end. Sometimes the bugs and glitches even served as a spark to imagine some logical in-world reason for the mishaps. Is it magic? Is it actually a hidden secret?

Viewfinder is a short and sharp exploration of a strong concept that builds an unimposing space to play with those ideas, and fosters a mild, continual hum of gratification as you go on that journey. A pleasant exercise in gently massaging your brain synapses, it’s like a brisk refreshment that leaves you feeling slightly more satisfied when you’re done.

Perhaps there’s some sort of allegorical tale that evaded my attention. There are hints at some deeper mysteries in the progress through different environments, the area you return to between levels, and the recurring motifs, the various symbols that greet your successes. But if Silt has anything to say beyond ‘You might dig this moody atmosphere’ then it was lost on me. Some of its scenes, however, will stay with me for a long time to come.

It’s a great escape to the ‘wild west’ countryside, but one without significant bells and whistles.

As someone who has been clamouring for JoJo games to come to PC and non-Japanese markets, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R feels held back not by the failings of its design, but the support of its fundamental features. With any luck, these issues are just the growing pains before greater days.

In attempting to recapture Zelda-era nostalgia, Airoheart is mostly successful. Its potential shines through pieces of the game’s many dungeons, gorgeously-rendered pixel lands, exploration loops, and clever puzzles. But Airoheart is very much held back by a lack of refinement and finesse, and largely stands in the shadow of its predecessors and everything that’s come before.

It’s a game made for people who already love cats, and it’s probably not going to convert your one uncle who’s a bit weird about how much he hates them (you know the one). But if you love your weird little guys, here’s a game made by people who clearly love them, too.

There’s a solid game at the heart of Black Iron Prison, but every opportunity the game gets to subvert expectations or do something new is instead a moment of deferral to one of Callisto’s many inspirations. It’s nice to see Callisto try to be a new brew, synthesised from many parts, but an entirely new vision would have stuck around in the bloodstream a little longer.

Ghostwire: Tokyo’s open world city is beautiful, and its world-building, environment and creature designs are also excellent. But even with a sensible runtime and a brisk plot, the game spends too much time engaging you in repeating, unchanging, and unexciting activities. It’s the terrible and taxing curse of open world monotony, plaguing a piece of work that otherwise has so many unique and original ideas.

As a mobile-first game designed to be played every day, there’s a potential future in new updates, recipes, and daily ingredients – but for now, it’s a dish best served with tempered expectations. While it’s an excellent iteration of the classic Cooking Mama recipe, it’ll probably take some time in the oven before becoming fully-flavoured.

The stories in Citizen Sleeper are worth hearing, but the fairly sparse and restrictive mechanics underpinning the game begin to buckle under the demands of that storytelling. More complications resulting from task categories may have expanded the possibilities here, but despite this, Citizen Sleeper remains a great cyberpunk diorama, and it’s well worth uncovering all its little details.

Dying Light 2 has a strong, if restrictive start and manages to pull you into an intriguing mystery that grows into a satisfying finale, with an engaging gameplay loop. However, the game also vastly overstays its welcome. With an overly drawn-out narrative and an irritating main character, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth by the time the credits roll.

As a feat of technical artistry, it’s impressive, sleek, and often breathtaking. But as you’re dangling off a cliff edge, taking a breather from endless, repetitive mountain climbing, you’ll find yourself wondering whether novelty is really enough to justify such a loosely-tied journey. While the experience is impressive in fits and starts, Horizon Call of the Mountain ultimately feels like a puzzle with several pieces missing.

The Settlers: New Allies feels confused by its own identity. Is it a live service game? Is it a homage to the great RTS games of the past? Is it The Settlers, or a lesser Age of Empires? The answers seem to dance away the longer you play, and the further your settlements grow. While it houses a gorgeous world that actively encourages you to keep exploring, placing roads, and looking after your flock, a lack of depth and identity makes New Allies feel like a muddled experiment.

Diablo Immortal is built to keep going forever and sustain your interest the whole time. Whether it be the voice acted story, grinding for new loot, levelling your Battle Pass, competing in seasonal leaderboards, hanging with friends, or representing your chosen faction, you will probably be like me; hunched over, trying to stay warm playing this game until hell freezes over – and trying to wrap my head about how it could have possibly all come together.