If you fell in love with the original all those years ago however, prepare to reassess your feelings; Odin Sphere: Leiftrasir will be akin to finding your soulmate, leaving the original title to feel like the empty husk of some great person you used to know in comparison.

Dragon Quest Builders is both a fantastic game and a testament to the incredible versatility of the Dragon Quest series. It is a culmination of everything that the series is known and loved for, combined with the strongest elements of Minecraft. With solid gameplay, a gorgeous world, and genuinely funny writing, even those unfamiliar with the franchise can easily find something here to enjoy.

An RPG that moves at a breakneck pace, Beyond Galaxyland is utterly engaging from beginning to end. It's Star Wars meets Final Fantasy, with a hint of Pokémon thrown in for good measure. Add in some good old-fashioned platforming and a tad of photography, and you have an experience like no other, and one of the quirkiest games of 2024.

The mood, ambience, and ultimate meaning of The Eternal Castle all come together, intertwined and beautifully realised. It will be a long time before The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] leaves my imagination, which, funnily enough, is exactly the feeling from which the developers created it.

Detention is an astonishingly well-put together game that understands how brooding horror is more effective than mere jump-scares.

Despite the intense final battles, each level is nothing but a gift to its players.

Is Serious Sam 4 the best game in the series yet? Quite possibly. I still prefer the Egyptian setting of Serious Sam: The First Encounter, but the action found in Serious Sam 4 is unrivalled. Trudging through city streets in the early hours of the game can be uninspiring at times, but it’s never dull. And once Serious Sam 4 opens up it becomes an absolute riot on a scale never-before witnessed. In fact, Serious Sam 4 is the first game to give me some next-gen feels. If you like blasting hordes of aliens in the face while listening to witty one-liners, this is an absolute must-have.

One of the most tense games we’ve played that isn’t strictly horror, we’ve loved every moment spent in the atmospheric world of Kona II: Brume. With satisfying puzzles and engaging exploration, this is a stylish mystery that has truly kept us on the edge of our seats. Beautiful visuals, excellent voice acting and a twisty narrative are simply additional cherries on the cake.

Valkyria Chronicles was, and still is, one of the best strategy RPGs ever made, and this accomplished and very welcome PS4 port does it the justice it deserves. From its beautiful and timeless visuals to its engaging and often epic battles, everything about the game feels like it has been made with love and care, ensuring every moment spent with it is to be treasured.

If you’re looking to buy only one multiplayer FPS this year, Battlefield 1 is more than worthy of your hard-earned cash – I honestly can’t envisage anything being better.

Beneath all the trimmings and little things that this game does so well, and outside of the intense competitive nature that keeps driving me back again and again, Laser League does something even more important: it reminds you, like all my favourite games of yesteryear, that gaming is supposed to be fun.

It’s hard to play Concrete Genie and not be charmed by it. You can just tell that a whole lot of love has been put into making it. It may not be complex in terms of gameplay, and many of its mechanics feel appropriated from other games, but it’s surprising and unique in numerous ways.

For F1 fans, the improvements and new content found in F1 2019 make it an absolute must-buy. It’ll feel familiar in many ways, but everything is just so polished and refined that it won’t bother you all that much.

While Blind Drive‘s premise is incredibly simple, it’s immediately addicting and the excellent narrative will keep you glued to the screen from beginning to end. You might be going into this adventure blind, but you won’t be disappointed.

A triumph of a finale that gives the players – and the characters – the ending they deserved.

If you’ve played Ori and the Blind Forest and found it enjoyable, you really need to play Ori and the Will of the Wisps. And if you haven’t yet played either, seriously consider picking both up. This sequel is the better of the two, but they’re both brilliant games that are particularly enjoyable on Switch thanks to its portability. Though a word of warning: if you’re an emotional person, they’ll probably make you cry. But it’s testament to just how well put together these games are that they can instil such feelings.

Aside from some disappointing story elements and frame rate dips in battles, Sun and Moon encapsulate 20 years of series strengths and introduce enough freshness to keep the series running strong.

It's Goro Majima's time to shine, and shine he does in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. This ridiculous adventure has the typical Like a Dragon gameplay you've come to expect, as well as fast-paced real-time combat that's more electrifying than ever. Add in being able to sail across numerous maps, engaging in naval battles and disembarking to plunder legendary treasures, and you have the most varied entry in the series yet.

The concept is not original, nor is Stories: The Path of Destinies‘ mechanics but there’s just something so endearing about it that makes me love the game that much more.

I completed the main campaign in a little under 25 hours, and even as the credits roll, Pokémon Sun and Moon assures you that there is still plenty of game ahead.

One of the best survivors-like games currently available, Grind Survivors sets itself apart with a persistent weapon mechanic. Meaningful upgrades, excellent visuals and silky-smooth action all help to make this a game you're not going to want to put down.

Ultimately, Planet of Lana deserves a spot up there with the greatest hits of the genre. It’s every bit as impressive as the likes of Inside, but stands out due to its colourful visuals and heart-warming story. Sure, there’s not much to do once you’ve completed it unless you’re an achievement/trophy hunter, but it’s an experience that you really shouldn’t miss out on.

Sociological questions about mental illness and crime, unethical romantic relationships, and mysterious world building all combine into a game that demands you to think in ways many others do not.

Ultimately, if you’re lucky enough to have a PS5, that’s the format to get Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition on. If not, the PC version will serve you well. There will be hiccups along the way, however, at least until DLSS arrives or any other performance-improving updates. But even those technical issues can’t get in the way of how fantastic Nioh 2 is to play, especially when all it takes is a bit of experimentation with settings to find the perfect balance.

There has never been a better time for a new Animal Crossing game to arrive. It cannot fix what’s going on in the world right now, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons gives us the joyful, meditative escape that so many of us desperately need right now. Whether you’re young or old, you’ll find something to like. What isn’t to love about customising your dream island and being able to sit on a bench by the beach, listening to the waves, just because you can? Nothing I can think of, that’s for sure.

Unreasonable expectation of perfection aside, Stellaris is a expertly blended mosaic of 4X, grand strategy and self-created narrative. For the relatively small niche that this game occupies, it is the undisputed master and commander.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is quite simply the best skateboarding game available right now, irrespective of the format you play it on. Thanks to numerous improvements, however, including DualSense support, the PS5 is undoubtedly the best format to experience it. The visuals are cleaner and more eye-catching than ever, loading times are noticeably reduced, and, if you have a TV capable of it, 120fps support makes the gameplay smoother than a baby’s backside and more responsive than… well, a really responsive thing. The next-gen version of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 isn’t revelatory, but it makes an outstanding game even better. What more could you ask for?

If you have any love for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, the Dimension Shellshock DLC should be considered essential. It’s as simple as that. Both characters included here are wonderful to take control of and bring yet more variety to the game, and Survival mode adds a fun and lasting challenge in which no two runs are ever exactly the same. Ultimately, it makes a brilliant game even better. What more could you ask for?