The later stages of the game do sharpen the experience somewhat, at least. A full suite of powers gives you more to balance in combat, and some barriers require a modicum of acumen and skill to remove. But this isn't enough to stop Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden's from feeling leaden-paced. Its open world remains in the shadow of renowned predecessors, with few of the testing puzzles, fascinating landmarks or riveting combat situations that built their reputations. Having forged my way through to its ending, I doubt Banishers will haunt my thoughts for long.

Ultimately, Ultros is a deceptively deep and mechanical Metroidvania driven by its eye-watering psychedelic vibes. It's not easy to do something that feels unique and fresh in video games, especially within a genre that's thriving at the moment. With this in mind, I don't think I've ever played a game like Ultros, and for that alone it's worth recommending. I certainly haven't written the words "cosmic uterus-based horticulture" in anything I've published before, and, surely, will never do so again.

A wildly entertaining creative concept makes Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League a captivating prospect, but repetitive mission design, a messy confluence of combat systems, and the drive towards a cooperative live service structure ultimately undermine the game's strongest qualities.

Silent Hill: The Short Message is an interesting, if not amazing rebirth for the series that proves it can be reanimated for a modern audience. Atmospheric and full of potential it bodes well for future instalments.

Palworld is a strange and obliviously cruel game that nonetheless shows effort and some real thought running through its core design. Consequently, the end result (so far) is an arguably-functional hybrid of several proven formulas that still can't help feeling like a tonal car crash. [Early Access Review]

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a sublime RPG with a fantastic combat system, absorbing stories, and at-times fascinating story, if it wasn't let down by its drip-fed narrative nature and heavy nostalgic leanings.

The best Tekken to date proves that plenty of depth makes for a vibrant fighter, justifying its current-gen exclusivity to deliver a skull-thrasher that really feels like an evolution rather than a simple update.

I'd still recommend Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown to the Metroidvania heads among us, as well as longstanding Prince of Persia fans whose experience with the series stretches back to the late '80s/early '90s. For those wanting more in the same vein as 3D adventures like The Sands of Time, this ain't it. But it is a return to relative form for a series whose last mainline outing landed 14 years ago – it's just disappointing that this very good game was held back from true greatness.

Fntastic has confirmed that development has ceased on The Day Before, just four days on from its launch into Early Access. Steam has since stopped allowing anybody to purchase the game, although our review of The Day Before remains – giving you some insight into the state the extraction shooter was in at release. [Review in Progress]

House Flipper 2 takes what I loved about the first game and builds upon it. There are a lot of helpful new features, gorgeous new design options, and fun new jobs to complete. Developer Frozen District has managed to keep what makes the home renovation sim so enjoyable to play, its satisfying gameplay, and make it even more rewarding.

The world opens up nicely as you play as well, gaining things like a flying Ikran to soar high over the trees, or opening up the map to introduce new areas and ecosystems just as you're starting to get comfortable with what you know. There is an occasional lack of clarity with things like guidance not always being crystal – wooly tracking missions being a prime example. However, the vibrancy of the world and the pure alienness of almost everything you encounter make Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora an enjoyable place simply to exist in, with all its otherworldly environments and creatures adding freshness the mechanics lack.

SteamWorld Build is proof that the SteamWorld formula can be applied to almost any genre with its mix of city building and dungeon mining combining for quite the treat.

Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most underwhelming entries in Call of Duty's 20 year history. A lackluster campaign can't distract from the tired multiplayer formula. Decade old maps, messy progression, and misaligned changes to mobility and gunplay leaves MW3 lost trying to find an identity to call its own.

American Arcadia is a sharp, snappy production that could make for an entertaining film if it wasn't peppered with ingenious puzzles and platforming challenges. The dual character scenario is exploited brilliantly, adding variety, originality and humour, and even if some sections lack a real sense of participation, the visual design of Arcadia, along with some smart turns in the plot, ensure momentum through to the end.

Super Mario RPG is legendary for a reason, and that's never been clearer than with this remake. It looks great and smartly evolves the original combat system to make it even more engaging. While the game can't fully escape the limitations of '90s JRPG storytelling, it still offers a zany quest well worth undertaking today.

While not particularly revolutionary despite the theming, Persona 5 Tactica is certainly moving. It's easy to imagine it fanning the flames of rebellion (to use the game's own parlance) in the hearts of players. It's not as all-encompassing as a mainline Persona, and lacks some of the charming odds and ends usually present in them, but it's hard to fault a new kind of spinoff that is mechanically competent and features a compelling narrative.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a return to form for series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu with it’s beat’em up gameplay, but cheapens previous send offs by merit of existing.

The Talos Principle 2 takes all the genre-defining traits its 2014 puzzle predecessor championed, and improves them. Those familiar with the original will fall in love all over again, while newcomers will be kept on their toes from beginning to end.

Thirsty Suitors dazzles with flair and wit, but underneath all the thirst humour is a heartfelt story of family, identity, and returning home.

WarioWare: Move It has proved itself a worthy spiritual successor to Smooth Moves. Thanks to motion controls, Wario's new collection of chaotic microgames will have you up and out of your seat and laughing the entire time. With over 200 microgames and a number of different modes to choose from, the latest Move It is the Wario party game that the Nintendo Switch deserves.

Robocop: Rogue City reflects its protagonist's qualities. It's well-built and robust, a few glitches aside, and capable of triggering explosive action. Yet it's also mechanical in its design, its dialogue slow and plodding, and limited in its forms of interaction. Short on engaging mission design and the film's punchy satire, Detroit's finest needs better backup to enliven this drawn out adventure.

Jusant is a wonderful, meditative puzzle adventure framed around climbing that effectively draws you into its mysterious world. With creative level designs that make the most of the vertical tower setting, the climbing mechanics are fun and intuitive, and the pacing keeps its feeling too repetitive overall.

Alan Wake 2 is a strange, imaginative, and truly ambitious sequel that never fails to upend your expectations. While some of the bigger concepts presented by Remedy Entertainment lack refinement, a few rough edges don't detract from a consistently confident and startlingly original adventure. You won't find anything else quite like Alan Wake 2 this generation.

Building on the excellent cyberpunk parkour of its predecessor, Ghostrunner 2 is the best freerunning game available, despite some ill-advised attempts to push the boundaries of its world

Cities: Skylines 2 offers the foundation of a world-class city-building game, with a wide array of features, smart quality-of-life improvements, and a genuinely impressive simulation to help bring your town to life. But its promise is completely overshadowed by its technical problems, dragging a fantastic core experience down into frustration and disappointment.

Hellboy Web of Wyrd does a fantastic job of drawing you into the dark, sullen, and highly strange world born by Mike Mignola, but the roguelike structure that underpins this brawler's progression and structure doesn't offer enough challenge or variation to become truly compulsive. A solid first effort in need of refinement and iteration.

Move over Elephant Mario, the true star of Super Mario Bros. Wonder are the Wonder Flowers themselves, which continuously add the unexpected to an altogether brilliant 2D platformer. Okay, Elephant Mario's pretty amazing too.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 improves on its predecessor across the board, while saluting the superhero genre over the last 30 years as a whole. With a captivating narrative and unrivaled spectacle, it's the quintessential superhero game, in story and mechanical terms.