Elden Ring is an exceptional, accomplished work that realises a fantasy world of solemnity, beauty, and menacing uncertainty you can’t help but lose yourself in.

Breath of the Wild reinvented The Legend of Zelda. Tears of the Kingdom reimagines it once more, as a somehow more ambitious, freeform and creative game, with even greater highs – literally and figuratively. It’s a staggeringly eye-opening game that expertly cultivates the joy of exploration, discovery and believing in your own abilities.

This is a game designed with purity at its heart. Really, it’s the cutest product placement you’ll ever see. While it is a celebration of PlayStation as a brand, and a pat on the back for years of good business, it’s one that feels well-earned. It’s a nod to the many adventures that PlayStation has created and supported, and a wonderful tribute to decades of positive memories.

It’s a magnificent piece of art, and does exactly what a DLC should do: accents the main game without feeling out of balance with the original’s level of flash, flair and creativity...The characters, landscapes and goals are all impactful in the right way, and truly there’s no other DLC in recent memory that has captured that essence. Devotees of Elden Ring will adore it, and who knows: maybe it will be just the right incentive for folks who haven’t finished the main game to get their characters into gear.

Nothing about God of War Ragnarok feels anything less than meaningful. Refined to the highest degree, every hour you spend with Kratos, Atreus, and the memorable characters of Ragnarok feels fulfilling – whether it be journeying across the Nordic realms with your companions, taking in the beautiful sights and enjoying idle chit chat, overcoming the odds in invigorating and varied melee combat encounters, or sharing in the deeply emotional connection between incredibly strong and nuanced characters.

The Resident Evil 4 remake features several smart choices that help it feel true to the original, but also shapes the adventure into something that overall feels more cohesive, modern, and thrilling than ever. It’s a stellar example of how to revitalise a classic.

It makes you feel. It makes you think. With grand set pieces and rich narrative turning points, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth consistently gives you reasons to care, to sit at the edge of your seat, wide-eyed, wondering what the future holds. Even with the groundwork laid by the original game, there is a sense that anything can happen, that the future remains unwritten.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is pure joy, through and through. From its expressive aesthetic to its whimsical stage designs, it delights you at virtually every step.

Forza Horizon 5 is the roadtrip holiday I’ve really needed after two years in and out of COVID-induced lockdowns. It brings me great solace to be behind the wheel, covering hundreds of kilometers of distance across an awe-inspiring piece of Earth. And even when I’m careening through the mud on a cross-country race, crashing into strangers on the internet, my mind is in an untroubled, fulfilling place. In 2021, Forza Horizon 5 is where I want to be.

Street Fighter 6 is an exceedingly good fighting game. But more than that, it’s an excellent training tool. It’s a fulfilling adventure. It’s a lively community gathering place. It’s an endearingly idealistic and inspiring world of appreciation for martial arts and friendly competition, exceptionally executed in every respect.

There is so much more I could praise Endwalker for – Masayoshi Soken’s incredible music, or the top-notch design of new character jobs, Reaper and Sage, are just a couple that spring to mind. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and when this story ends, you’ll find another one just waiting to begin.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is truly unique and benefits from both a rock-solid development pedigree and a vision for original ideas. Genre connoisseurs will find more of what they love and newcomers will have a truly memorable first-time experience.

These small efforts to make the experience enjoyable mean the mechanics of the game receded as I played, allowing me to immerse myself in Exocolonist’s narrative and philosophical reflections. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a beautiful game, a synth-laden ode to growing up and allowing yourself to fall, fail, succeed and explore in a posthuman world that asks thoughtful questions about what it means to exist alongside the natural environment.

While it’s not quite perfect, this is a really stunning showing from developer Sandfall Interactive. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 had me feeling my own mortality (as someone in their early 30s, perhaps it hit a little close to home) and man, I love when a game has the narrative gumption to do that.

Rogue Legacy 2 is the perfect sequel. It retains the core of what made the original fantastic, with every feature adding tremendously to the experience. Its cleverly revised class system adds near-limitless gameplay variety, which makes each attempt fun – even when you fail abysmally. This game is everything I wanted from the follow-up, and then some.

As a sequel to one of the most impressive games of its era, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was weighed down by expectations. But Insomniac Games has turned these expectations on their head, spinning a Spider-story that brims with confidence, style, and most importantly – an essential human touch.

It’s everything something like this should be: A painstaking historical record of inspired creation that is engrossing in its sheer detail, and arranged in such a way that it tells a fascinating, approachable story that inspires you to know more, and do more.

The 2022 release adds an Ultra Deluxe desert to the menu, elevating the night out from a lovely dinner to an indulgent feast. It’s a dining experience worth returning to for fans who already count The Stanley Parable among their favourite meals, balanced with providing the perfect place for new players to take a chance on something different. Regardless of which door you enter, the philosophical taste is likely to linger long after you’re finished.

With more accessible gameplay, very neat introductions to its array of fighters and their individual quirks, and new fighting styles for newbie players, Tekken 8 feels like an incredibly worthy fighting sequel geared to overtake its predecessors.

I’ve just rolled the credits as I write this review, and it feels like there’s a hole in me. It longs for more stages, it wants to chase that exhilaration. I’m hoping that someone goads me on Twitter tomorrow, to spur me into rushing back into the early stages. I can’t wait to get back out there with a purpose. Neon White has style. Neon White has intensity. Neon White makes me feel alive.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 explores change and stasis, and what kind of impact you can have on the world in a short time span. As the most recent addition to a trilogy itself only just over a decade old, this game – and the franchise at large – seem set to leave a lasting legacy, well beyond the end credits.

For my money, this is one of the funniest games I’ve ever played. It’s also one of those rare games that makes me think “oh, wow, games can do this, huh?” Its closest point of comparison is Untitled Goose Game, another lovely, short, funny game set in a quaint English village.

You will need an ocean of patience to unfold the many wrinkles of Infinite Wealth – to master its Sujimon battles, hamburger mini-games, arcade games, Dondoko Island management, and dating quests – but devote time to its intricacies, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful, frequently surprising game that brims with goodness and features a heartfelt, wholesome exploration of the true meaning of living.

In NORCO, past and present blend together; one moment you inhabit the shoes of the terminally diagnosed, and in another, learn in minute detail about how your childhood home will, in time, flood, become abandoned, and eventually be razed. All stories told in exquisite, beautiful detail, never pulling a punch.

Alan Wake 2 almost feels mad in its approach, with an overwhelming array of threads in the tale that threaten to collapse under pressure at any moment. Yet with clear and incisive logic, matched with a devotion to delightful absurdity, the team at Remedy has managed to craft a breathtaking story – one that plays out in clever, fascinating, and horrifying ways.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a game that unabashedly demands you meet it on its level, which I do find somewhat admirable. I just constantly found it to be a miserable slog to engage with, where everything was ten times more overblown than it had any business being. There’s a fascinating sandbox deep down within it, but digging through the mountain of muck to appreciate it was simply more than I could stand most of the time.

The Last of Us Part 1 doesn’t create any lasting memories about the experiences that weren’t already there from the beginning. For that reason, my thoughts about the game’s existence as a product remain dubious. But as a creative work in and of itself, The Last of Us is still exceptional, and I’m happy to have had reason to experience it again, in a new context and an updated format.

As the months and years roll by, you feel those layers settling in, the weight of decisions these people have made – and that you’ve made too – shaping the history of the place. When the paint dries, you can pick up the brush again and continue the story.