A sequel with smarts and style, Crash Bandicoot 4 proves there's still life in the old Bandicoot yet. It's about time indeed.

Star Wars: Squadrons offers an exhilarating take on dogfighting in a galaxy far, far away, which helps elevate a functional single-player story and provides a strong foundation for a focused multiplayer experience.

I'm only a few hours in, but while there's clear potential for this gacha system to become predatory, it hasn't felt at all intrusive. And let's not forget that Genshin Impact is free. You have nothing but a 10GB download to lose. I'm still trying to get over this, because if you focus on the gorgeous world and fun combat and ignore all the gacha stuff, it doesn't feel like a free-to-play game at all. So I suppose that's two more similarities to Breath of the Wild: Genshin Impact is what you make of it, and it is pretty darn fun. [Impressions]

Like an early card match at a pay-per-view event, WWE 2K Battlegrounds is meant to keep the crowd entertained before the main event re-enters the arena, but it's rarely as flashy or fun as its concept implies.

A new approach for the sports genre, with welcome results: this offers more than a roster update, and at a very appealing price.

Super Mario 3D All Stars' package of three of the best 3D Mario games are just enhanced and tweaked enough to be an enjoyable revisiting, but without removing the classic charm.

A snappy, fun campaign full of great VO ends too soon, and the game-as-service that comes after is paper thin.

Vicarious Visions has built an engine that could actually push the series in a new direction, with the focus on skating rather than gimmicks that came from the annual release cycle that the series was stuck in. Here's hoping this is more of a warm up than a victory lap.

The series' most stylish entry ever thanks to The Yard and player customization, but these new features come without the substance required to contend for football glory.

Tell Me Why - Chapter One is brilliant if you think of it as the opening entry of a mini series, but only pretty good as a game. This is very much an exercise in sowing, but hopefully Chapters Two and Three can be more about reaping.

It's a masterpiece, if not of technique, then of soul, story and heart.

Wasteland 3 doesn’t bring much new to the table, both as a CRPG and as a piece of post-apocalyptic fiction. But, it’s a terrifically executed role-playing game that rewards player investment from beginning to end.

A competent and crunching MMA sequel that brings key improvements to the Octagon but stumbles when the action moves to the ground.

PGA Tour 2K21 offers the best stroke play in years, with deep and rich shot and swing craft. Only a lean career mode proves its handicap.

Project Cars 3 is a great way to get into sim racing for newcomers thanks to its overtly gamey career mode, but the move into proper ‘simcade’ territory feels odd and unfulfilling.

While some of its farming, crafting, and resource collecting mechanics feel familiar, Spiritfarer has so much richness and depth, and everything you do feels meaningful and rewarding. Even in-between moments when I'm not playing the game, I catch myself thinking about it and picking apart all of the little details that really make it shine. Gorgeously animated and beautifully brought to life with an enchanting soundtrack, soaking up the sights and sounds of this mystical world is a true joy, and spending my time with the loveable spirits is an experience I won't soon forget.

Nothing else has ever paired high tension with complete silliness like this, and Fall Guys reveals we should've been doing it a long time ago.

Crayta offers a wide range of tools for players to build their own games, and the collaborative spirit of it all is second to none, but the end results are not nearly as fun as the journey.

Paper Mario: The Origami King is fun, light-hearted and a celebration of Super Mario with a strong story, great humour and brilliant characters.

Ghost of Tsushima is the samurai Assassin's Creed Ubisoft will wish it had made.

Rocket Arena turns an old standby into a new take on shooters, and what's lost in the translation is made up for with easy-to-learn fun.

Spread over four-five chapters and a few hours this could have been a great superhero experience, but stretching it out to a longer run time dampens what few magic moments it has.

Naughty Dog's PS4 swansong is an astonishing, absurdly ambitious epic that goes far and beyond what we could have imagined for a sequel to an all-time classic.

An unsatisfying mix of shallow strategy and low-energy shooting, Disintegration is hard to recommend to fans of either genre.

Mostly cool looks and hard work make for an eco-friendly expansion that inspires.

This is no worthy exploration of man's cruelty to the natural world, and I suspect marine biologists would have something to say about much of the science, but it's the perfect distraction from a world gone mad, and weirdly therapeutic. When you're not filling the water with blood or launching an innocent human into the air with a flick of your tail, the waters are a pretty playground, and there's always mischief to be made in the resorts, water parks, and marinas. Just don't dob me into the killer whale I sponsored when I was 12.

Mojang's smartly streamlined dungeon crawler makes for a more accessible alternative in the action RPG space.

There's a lot to love in Gears Tactics. The ebb and flow of the action is strong enough that it can be easy enough to overlook its flaws, but they are still there – present and accounted for. It's a game desperately in need of a little variety; perhaps the same can be said of the core franchise games too, but it's particularly noticeable when there's a degree of separation between a command and the resulting action.

Fallout 76 is still far from perfect but the main thing about the Wastelanders DLC isn’t that it makes things more fun or more interesting, and it certainly doesn’t fix much in terms of mechanics, it’s that it shows Bethesda is really trying. Wastelanders is the absolute antithesis of what launched which should underline how much work has gone into designing, making and implementing an entirely new game. I don’t know if we’ll ever reach a ‘remember when Fallout 76 wasn’t good’ point, but it’s clearly climbing in the right direction.

Firaxis lets its hair down for a fun but flawed twist on XCOM's proven recipe of tactics and tension.

Moving Out is a fun and chaotic co-op experience. While some levels will leave you in a fit of rage, others will have you in fits of laughter.

A beautifully crafted and entertaining reimagining of a classic that brings renewed life to its story and characters.

Another enjoyable reimagining for the Resident Evil series that nails the action but lacks depth.

This is hands-down the best virtual reality money can buy right now, and feels like a tantalizing promise of just what the big game studios could achieve if they were willing to put their time and money into creating a AAA experience for VR platforms.

Doom Eternal is a smart iteration of what came before it that occasionally stumbles under its own desire to evolve.

There continues to be nothing quite like Animal Crossing, and New Horizons proves that there's life in the old Nook yet.

Nioh 2 might play it safe in some respects, but the fluidity, depth and intensity of its combat is incredible.

A gorgeous, tear-jerking platformer which improves on absolutely everything in the first game and ranks among the finest Metroidvanias available today.

Murder by Numbers has all the logic of picross with the look and feel of your favorite childhood cartoon.

A gorgeous and charming game that unfortunately doesn't improve on enough of the original gameplay aspects to keep fans engrossed.

In its self-aware campiness and macabre action, there is a contagious confidence in Zombie Army 4 that will leave anyone who plays it a fan of this exciting co-op shooter.

A short and satisfying space adventure which really is laugh out loud funny.

As it stands, around 12 hours in, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a fun game, but one that hasn’t quite lived up to its potential in any section. The fights can often feel unbalanced, the adventuring lacks the carrots and sticks needed to pull you through, and a lot of the activities feel like little more than a distraction. It does, however, look like the anime has come to life, and sound spectacular. It’s just a shame it’s not a little bit deeper, but hey, at least it’s flashy. [12 Hour Impressions]

The finale takes you an emotional ride filled with tension and heartfelt moments that are hard to forget.

Darksiders Genesis is a fun, but samey hack-and-slash romp. I've always admired the Darksiders franchise for jumping to different styles of play from game to game: Darksiders Genesis is its biggest jump yet, and one of its most successful. Though it feels understated, thanks to a pulled-out camera and a less flashy approach than the original three, it's a well-designed gauntlet of quick, mashy fights and light brain teasers. It's not going to set the world on fire, but it's all good fun.

A magnificent, authentic, totally uncompromised sequel that crucially ignores virtually every gaming trend of the past 18 years.

Gylt presents some bright ideas in its dark world even as its gameplay mechanics are often much too familiar.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order might take ideas liberally from others, but the result is an endearing adventure that ranks as EA's best Star Wars effort yet.

Football Manager 2020 continues the series' winning formula, but there's still plenty of aspects that need work alongside overpowered tactics and methods to win games.

Gameplay tweaks and attention to detail make Pokemon Sword and Shield the most compelling Pokemon world to date.

Gameplay tweaks and attention to detail make Pokemon Sword and Shield the most compelling Pokemon world to date.

Gameplay tweaks and attention to detail make Pokemon Sword and Shield the most compelling Pokemon world to date.

Great modding and a decent game engine can’t disguise the tired story and simplistic driving.

Planet Zoo is a complex, deep simulation game with too much to give, if you can get past the minimalist tutorials.

Kojima’s mysterious would be epic has its moments but can’t carry the weight of expectation.

Afterparty is one of the funniest games I’ve ever played, and its plot bends to player choices in subtle, important ways. But Night School Studio needs to clean up the bugs before I can fully recommend players go to Hell.

Luigi's Mansion 3 takes you on a memorable spooky adventure packed full of creative puzzles, fantastic level designs, and oodles of charm.

Modern Warfare is fast and frenetic, setting a new benchmark for fidelity and high-pressure FPS action.

This remake of MediEvil isn't all that fun to play in 2019, but it's still too much of a Halloween treat to dislike.

The Outer Worlds marks Obsidian operating at the top of its game, and a strong foundation for a new franchise that seems destined for greatness.

It's also good that Ring Fit Adventure can scale according to your fitness level. You can easily adjust the difficulty (which seems to be based on the number of reps needed to beat enemies rather than adding in more complex fitness routines) whenever you feel like it, and the game will regularly remind you to have some water, or take a break if you feel like you need it.

Bogged down by performance issues and flat characters, Little Town Hero tells a formulaic story set in a beautiful place, strung together by complex, engaging, and gleefully rewarding battles.

A well-functioning port of a brilliant game with an unexpected identity crisis. Given the availability of other platforms, the visual compromise makes this technical marvel a difficult sell to first-timers and veterans.

Concrete Genie takes you on a uniquely heartwarming journey teeming with creativity and charm that will capture your imagination.

Despite hewing close to its predecessor, Ghost Recon Breakpoint feels like a step backward for the franchise, with mechanics that hew too close to its open-world cousins.

The restoration (in all but name) of FIFA Street and long-awaited upgrade to career mode finally make FIFA a game worth exploring beyond Ultimate Team.

Expands and improves upon an excellent foundation in meaningful ways, with minimal compromise on the Switch's mobile hardware.

Code Vein's lackluster combat is held up by great character customization, and its boring world is driven by a memorable story. It's clunky and uneven, but fun.

The Surge 2 offers the hard-earned pleasures of Souls-style combat, with less of genre’s signature sting.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening manages to feel new, but still maintain the essence of the amazing original. This is peak old-school Zelda, and it's never looked better.

Borderlands 3 is a fan-servicing treat of a Borderlands game, albeit one soured by technical issues and lacklustre villains.

NHL 20 again leads the way for pro sports on PS4 and Xbox One, strengthened this year by shooting improvements and presentation upgrades.

A few outdated features aside, eFootball PES 2020 marks an exciting new era for the long-running series.

More sparkle than a wand dipped in fairy dust.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is an excellent expansion so large that it almost feels like a sequel. It's a better version of a great game.

Gears 5 doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it changes enough to keep its signature style of cover-based shooting from feeling monotonous. Going into this review, I was convinced Gears of War needed to change drastically or risk obsolescence. But the Coalition has found a different way forward, using new mechanics to polish the old, making the whole game shine.

A fine take on psychological horror cut down by bugs and wonkiness.

At its best Man of Medan delivers a confident and well crafted horror experience with a genuinely clever two player mode. But it’s unbalanced pacing has a little to much opening filler and an unsatisfying conclusion.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a brilliant tech demo for an RPG system that has the potential to revolutionize the way we progress our characters in games, I just wish it there had been a little less proof of concept and a little more fun.

The perfect blend of narrative and gameplay, coherency and strangeness, Control is a game we’ll be talking about for generations.

A jam-packed episode that touches on difficult subjects but still has a lot of heart.

Telling Lies is a paragon for storytelling, for character arcs that surprise you and linger on long after the credits – and videos – have ended.

Madden NFL 20 clears the roster and properly initiates the rebuilding phase for football’s first franchise.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood is a spin-off with big ambitions let down by lacklustre execution.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses fully realizes a new, meaningful direction for the franchise that makes it the best it has ever been.

A mighty multiplayer brawler brimming with content, and carefully crafted characters that will delight both comic book veterans and MCU fanatics.

All the joy and satisfaction of the original, now with upgraded toys, a bigger world and a dog you can pet.

Super Mario Maker 2 is the almost perfect package, putting equal emphasis on discovery, creation, story mode, and outright brilliant gameplay.

The Sinking City’s engrossing premise is ultimately betrayed by counterintuitive systems and bleak monotony.

Beenox has managed to take the original Crash Team Racing, and somehow made it better. 20 years ago, this was the kart racer to play, but Mario Kart gradually usurped it and since the early 2000s, Crash has been laid dormant, waiting for its time to seize the throne and become the king of kart racers once more. That time is now, because Crash is back, baby.

Despite the fantastic story, Judgment stops short of being a must-play thanks to its shallow and unfulfilling crime-solving gameplay.

An old school gangster shooter that makes the most of cutting edge tech.

Team Sonic Racing, despite carrying a tidbit of fun, doesn't stand up to other kart racers today.

If you’re in the mood for a perfectly respectable, undemanding weekend game, A Plague Tale: Innocence is for you, though fair warning: The sight of so many dead bodies might shock anyone watching over your shoulder.

The best episode of Life is Strange 2, with some lovely character moments, a decent cast, and a welcome twist to the always excellent soundtrack.

Rage 2 has a fun core gameplay loop, but everything around it falls flat on its face.

Days Gone is a keen and engaging open world zombie adventure despite some issues.

Mortal Kombat 11's story mode, along with its gameplay, is the most intense and gripping narrative in a fighter that I've played in years.