Pupperazzi struggles to go beyond the obvious premise suggested by its witty name. Other than photographing a lot of dogs – so many, many dogs – there’s almost nothing else to do. While it remains charming and silly throughout, you’re not able to form any sort of lasting bond with any of these dogs. Your interactions with them are too fleeting, too inconsequential. That cute little pug I found snoozing under the picnic table doesn’t have a name, and she’ll be gone the next time I drop by. I can send you a photo of her I took, I suppose, but we both know you’re just going to delete it.

The act of embodying a Rainbow Six operator feels great, but once you leave the world of Extraction, it’s very hard to muster up the enthusiasm to go back in. Sure, there’s an endless cycle of parasitic aliens invading, but I know that no matter how much time I put in, the reward for doing a good job is just going to be more work to do.

It’s a game that absolutely warrants being back in the conversation in 2022, and seeing a stack of familiar faces again is a lovely bonus.

From the moment you first charge an object and cause your own electric destruction, to the last time you throw your head across a pile of spikes and frantically chase after it with your tiny headless body, ElecHead will keep teaching and challenging you with its creative tricks as it fosters a sense of wonder that’s rarely felt.

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.

Shin Megami Tensei V is easily the most approachable series entry to date. Traditional mechanics have been carefully updated, adding new ideas to provide additional layers of strategy for players to discover and capitalise on. The game’s all-encompassing tension, infrequent story beats, and exciting systems all add up to an experience that effectively satisfies the challenging RPG niche that Shin Megami Tensei first carved out in the late 90s.

Unpacking captured and recalled that messy abundance of emotions precisely. It’s a special game. It drew me in, it pushed me away. It was a chore at times. But its thematic strength and effectiveness in conveying that is incredible. Unpacking is a remarkable piece of work that elegantly evokes the ebbs and flows of life. A game that evokes a very special brand of nostalgia that is yours, and no-one else’s.

Developer Digixart has crafted a thoughtful look at what it’s like to live in tumultuous circumstances, and how it can affect people emotionally. It’s sadly prescient of the world we actually live in, and maybe that’s why Road 96’s message of survival and perseverance make the impact it does, at least the first time around.

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.

Battlefield 2042 is trying to be a distillation of what the first-person shooter genre has become in recent times, while also not committing to any single vision, let alone one that Battlefield can claim ownership of.

Despite a couple of the Russian levels breaking some new ground, for the most part Vanguard remains a series of narrow shooting galleries that you’ve seen and played countless times by now. Ultimately, like most Call of Duty games, you spend an awful lot of time crouched behind a waist-high wall, waiting to shoot a man in the head as he peers over his waist-high wall. That’s possibly a pointless criticism, but having just suffered through Call of Duty: Vanguard’s vacuous and derivative campaign, such a banal observation feels like the most fitting conclusion. [Campaign Score = 40]

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

From the distinct, sprawling domains of your three primary marks, to the adorably avian way your crow tilts and juts their head around, the game never misses a moment to delight you with some new wonder, and just when you think it’s run out of surprises; whether it’s a new tune, a beautiful vignette, or a quiet moment of empathy, it’s always got something else tucked underneath its wing.

As it stands right now, your mileage with Len’s Island will depend greatly on your own self-motivation. The game feels like it’s always teetering on the edge of being deeply satisfying or regretfully dull, and how much you’re willing to devote to it will likely be what tips it into one camp or another. [Early Access Score = 60]

Exo One does have a narrative of its own, one which you can take or leave, but the emotional gravity it manages to imbue into each and every movement of your ship, especially in the closing level of the game, leaves you with the feeling that even in this massive, lifeless expanse, your pilot has only one place they truly want to be.

The small variety of activities and a lack of focus on personal enrichment holds the game back from feeling like a complete Big Brain Academy experience. Multiplayer mode is a stressful joy, and conquering challenges is satisfying, but the excitement and stimulation of Brain vs. Brain doesn’t last long.

Even after dozens of hours, the dance of movement and gunplay still feels wonderful to perform. It’s not a revolutionary redo of Halo’s principles, but rather, a refreshing revival that’s come at the perfect time.

Thematic inconsistencies aside, Grow has its heart in the right place. It’s a constant delight and a calming place to visit. Ultimately, it may be little more than a glorified checklist of chores, but as you venture outside to “find work” once more, sometimes labour is indistinguishable from leisure.