WarioWare: Move It! is a hilarious, bonkers game that shouldn’t be missed, and the best WarioWare title since Smooth Moves and the earlier handheld titles.

Jusant is a strong entry from DON'T NOD that offers a chilled out experience with a balanced sense of discovery, challenge, and beauty.

Bloody and crass, but also occasionally very human, Robocop: Rogue City is the most faithful adaptation of the movie universe we've ever had.

If you want a CRPG experience that feels a little less complex than many, you could do worse than check out Dark Envoy’s colourful fantasy world.

The Frog Detective Trilogy is a joyous and silly collection of games, that are the perfect palette cleanser after playing something serious.

Headbangers: Rhythm Royale is a fun and unique take on the battle royal formula, but a lot of the rhythm minigames just feel way too similar.

Despite some pretty visuals and endearing character interactions like snowball fights and the little high-five-belly-bounce you do after solving a big puzzle, Song of Nunu ultimately feels quite flat throughout. Compared to the other League of Legends Stories we’ve had recently, it definitely feels much more generic and a little too by-the-numbers. Younger gamers and die-hard fans will find a lot here that appeals, but for anyone else there’s little to get excited about.

The thrill of the fight is fantastic in UFC 5, with improved visuals and animations, and gameplay that elevates fights to a new level.

Alan Wake 2 is a sensational sequel that was worth waiting over a decade for. The story of Saga and Alan takes some serious twists and turns on its journey through darkness, and features some of the greatest (and most unexpected) moments of this wonderful year of gaming. Remedy has truly made something special in Alan Wake 2, and I simply wasn't prepared to love it as much as I do.

Dave the Diver on Nintendo Switch is a game that thoroughly deserves your attention, even in an already packed year of classics.

Wizard with a Gun is an entertaining game about fixing the world in five minutes, but is just a bit too repetitive to recommend to everyone.

The Gap had the potential to tell an emotional and unique story, but instead features too much dry science and too little character development.

Cavern of Dreams has a few issues, but if you're looking for an old school 3d platformer and like collecting things you'll probably love it.

Just Dance 2024 Edition has all the same problems that the previous games had, but you can't deny it's still fun to dance the night away.

You’ll suffer hundreds of deaths in Ghostrunner 2, but every single one is worth it to move you forward step-by-bloody-step.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is a staggering piece of history that further cements the impact of Snake's legacy in gaming.

A solid entry, The Jackbox Party Pack 10 continues the series legacy to provide a fun mix of party minigames.

While it does struggle under the weight of its own ambition a little, Cities: Skylines II is still a super addictive, easy to pick-up city sim, and if you enjoyed the first game it’s an absolute must-have. It’s also the perfect anathema to all the soulslikes and roguelikes we’ve had recently. It’s a game that demands nothing but time and creativity, and pays it back in dividends.

Hellboy Web of Wyrd has some issues when it comes to the combat, but it's still fun to play, and fans of the comics are going to love diving into a new story featuring the surly yet loveable demon.

Super Mario Bros Wonder is a delight of a game, worthy of anyone’s time and money. The creativity on show here is astonishing, and it’ll have you smiling from start to finish. From the animations to the audio, to the new items and ideas, Super Mario Bros Wonder is a masterclass from the very best in the business, and proves there is a lot more life in a 2D platform game than anyone thought. Fantastic.

Overpass 2 is a different kind of racer, but if you're willing to stick with it, there's a decent amount of fun to be had.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 - Turbocharged offers tons of cars and tracks for players to enjoy, featuring solid gameplay throughout.

Endless Dungeon is a fantastic roguelike with beautiful visuals, a charming cast of heroes, genuine humour, and a comprehensive, well-designed meta-game.

Cassette Beasts The Pier of the Unknown just can't compete with the main campaign, thanks to lots of iffy platforming and repetitive bosses.

Bang-On Balls: Chronicles is a wonderful 3d platformer, with dense and creative worlds to explore and loads of cosmetics to try on.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 manages to improve on the two already fantastic Spidey titles, featuring great gameplay and a gripping story.

Sonic Superstars has some of that high speed Sonic platforming magic, but the tedious boss fights make it hard to fully recommend.

Lords of the Fallen is an enjoyable, challenging game, and the aesthetics are out of this world, but it suffers at times from a lack of focus.

High on Knife only lasts for a handful of hours, and while it doesn't do much to separate it from the main game, it's still fun.

Total War: Pharaoh lets you play your way, and throws a lot at you to deal with. Fans will lap it up once they get to grips with its new mechanics.

Deceit 2 isn't perfect, but there's a strong gameplay loop and some nice ideas that often come together for an enjoyable experience.

The Fabulous Fear Machine features a unique pulp art style and some straightforward ideas that make it a wonderfully addictive strategy title.

Detective Pikachu Returns is a relaxing time in a universe full of characters you know and love, and it’ll make you laugh, but it won't be for everyone.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is perfectly serviceable and will certainly scratch an itch for major fans - though it's arguably not a bad entry point for newcomers either.

An excellent companion piece to the open-world, frantic off-road action of Forza Horizon, Forza Motorsport is the next generation of racing that I’ve been waiting so very long for.

EA Sports FC 24 on Nintendo Switch means owners can finally feel like they have a proper option when it comes to one of the biggest games of the year.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai is a great introduction to the Dragon Quest anime, but will be too story heavy for some.

Station to Station is an enjoyable, likable railway builder with a beautiful art style and a charming soundtrack.

Knight vs Giant: The Broken Excalibur is bright and fun, but drips-feeds new skills and weapons far too slowly.

It isn’t perfect, but EAFC has sucked me back into a mode I was about to give up on, has some of its slickest soccer to date, and hasn’t missed a beat in its transition to a new name. But it misses a chance to usher in its new era with something bold, deciding to remain mostly true to form. And that’s a shame. Regardless, I’ll be pinging passes with Rose Lavelle for months to come.

Baten Kaitos 1 & 2 HD Remaster brings two GameCube classics back from the dead, and they're still worth playing in 2023.

Trepang2 is a thrilling stealth-action supernatural shooter that allows you to focus solely on the gameplay, and it is all the better for it.

If its level of challenge is your bag, you'll have a great time with The Lamplighters League. If not, then the easy charm and likable characters might just win you over anyway.

Cocoon is a beautifully designed puzzler with some fascinating ideas woven throughout the fabric of the world.

Fate/Samurai Remnant has a range of combat mechanics that lead to intense and enjoyable combat, and features a cool story at its heart.

The Crackpet Show: Happy Tree Friends is a super violent roguelike, with fantastic progression and co-op as well.

Wargroove 2 is an excellent game that builds on its predecessor, offering a classic, narrative driven campaign for genre veterans and newcomers alike.

El Paso, Elsewhere is a fun throwback that tells an interesting story, but the shooting and diving gameplay just doesn't hold its own.

Regardless of its outward simplicity and colourful art style, Silent Hope is a really fun, rewarding and likable game.

Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless might just be the best game in the series, with engaging tactics gameplay and a whole lot of charm.

Paleo Pines doesn't do much to change the farming sim genre, but the inclusion of dinosaurs introduces fun and new ways to play.

Mineko's Night Market has a great vibe and aesthetic, but its slow pace and tedious resource gathering make it hard to recommend.

Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways is the perfect excuse for you to boot up the game again, with over 5 hours of sublime content from Ada's POV.

Payday 3 is designed around those emergent moments that only come with friends, when you're trying desperately to stay in control.

EA Sports FC 24 features technology that improves the game beyond what's been seen before, making the beautiful game even more appealing.

While interesting iterative improvements can sometimes be greater than the sum of their parts, the in-game economy hampers much of the goodwill that may derive from elsewhere in the game. I shouldn't have to talk about money this much in a basketball game. But in this series, it's become unavoidable. NBA 2K24 feels like a game made by details-obsessed basketball experts unfortunately hamstrung by bottom-line-obsessed executives.

30XX combines Mega Man run and gun platforming with Roguelike elements, and has co-op, community levels, and so many great ideas.

Whether you're into tending to crops or collecting adorable monsters, Moonstone Island is a game you really shouldn't miss out on.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is a masterclass in how to develop DLC. It slots in and out of the main story seamlessly but still manages to feel utterly essential and compelling.

Synced combines simple storytelling with effective shooting, interesting powers and a fantastic, almost roguelite, upgrade system.

Summum Aeterna is a decent roguelike adventure with a great aesthetic and superb music, but its gameplay loop and protagonist left me a little cold.

By all accounts Gloomhaven does a solid job of translating what's apparently a very deep and complex TTRPG to video game format.

Solar Ash offers sublime movement and an interesting story, with some fantastic mechanics that make you want to explore every facet of it.

The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is a lovely action RPG spinoff of the beloved Trails series, finally available in the west.

Mortal Kombat 1 is exceptional, offering the best fighting the series has ever seen, with a thoroughly enjoyable story and Invasion mode.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: The Teal Mask is good, excelling in its storytelling, but the performance issues really do damage what would be an otherwise stellar piece of new content.

Ubisoft have copied Playground Games’ homework and have made just enough changes, with a few spelling mistakes on the way, to make this a fun, rewarding experience.

Party Animals is simply frustrating to play, and most of the minigames boil down to the same scrappy situations that get old fast.

Horizon Chase 2 is quick to jump into, and while it might not be packed with content, it's a ton of fun to play.

NBA 2K24 is fantastic to play on the court, but Virtual Currency stops your everyday player from seeing any proper progression for hours.

The Isle Tide Hotel is an intriguing FMV game full of sinister mysteries to solve, but the pacing early on really makes it difficult to recommend.

Samba de Amigo isn't perfect, but it's a good time for all, and I can already see this being brought out at parties as an instant ice-breaker.

Super Bomberman R 2 is as fun to play against people locally or globally as it ever was, but the story mode is a little dull.

Gunbrella is a sensational action platformer with incredibly fluid locomotion and a story that takes some unexpected turns.

Lies of P is a staggering achievement for Neowiz, and one of the very best "non-FromSoft" Soulslikes I've ever played.

Ad Infinitum balances engaging gameplay with a deep, dark, and fascinating story that tells a tale of a family torn apart by war.

Mythforce sounds pretty good on paper, featuring a team of mythic heroes questing to take down a dark lord and his minions.

Eternights combines hack and slash action with Persona social links, but has a few too many issues to recommend to everybody.

Starfield is filled with possibilities for who you can become and what you can do, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in gaming.

Warstride Challenges is immensely compelling and endlessly fun - and an absolute must-play for FPS fans.

Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten is a perfectly serviceable RPG, but with so many great alternatives it's hard to recommend.

Jumplight Odyssey throws a lot at you, but the more you play and work things out for yourself, the better the game becomes. Hopefully the aid available as far as direction and tip pop-ups get added through the Early Access phase, as it can be daunting and off-putting. It’s a stunning game to look at, and the level of design on each deck is incredible. Managing your crew’s emotional state and work rate does get easier, and the constant threat of the Zutopans gives you more than enough motivation to harvest materials and keep your ship afloat on the mission to reach the Forever Star. [Early Access Review]

Fae Farm is a little rough around the edges, but there's so much to do with satisfying pacing and tons of loveable characters to meet.

Chants of Sennaar is one of the most unique and interesting puzzle games I've ever played, and it routinely makes you feel like a genius.

Goodbye Volcano High is a charming visual novel packed full of great ideas, with a really interesting way of handling narrative choice.

Dimension Shellshock features a fantastic new mode and two great characters to make TMNT: Shredder's Revenge an even better game.

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy is just as beautiful as the series ever was, and the same charm is present and correct, but it's definitely beginning to wear a little thin.

Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles might struggle to stand up to modern RPGs, but it's a thoroughly charming bit of gaming history.

Larian has built one of the most intricate virtual worlds I’ve ever seen and, despite a few hiccups, Baldur’s Gate 3 remains the finest example of its genre available today.

While action on the pitch feels great, much of the modes offer little variation from the last few years. Madden NFL 24 is starting to become untouchable gameplay-wise, and the SAPIEN technology, combined with FieldSENSE, offers a fluid and realistic time across the four quarters. Presentation is sublime, and the addition to detail across most positions and how they act to their real-life counterparts is stunning. It’s just a shame there’s little to shout about besides this. The minigames are fun for a while, and I did enjoy the Superstar Showdown mode, with the online mode pitching me against a wide range of different players and playstyles.

Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The London Case has its fair share of issues, but if you're a Poirot fan you'll still get a kick out of it.

Sea of Stars is the new benchmark for turn-based RPGs, with sublime combat, a cast of charming characters and a soundtrack that's an all-timer.

Immortals of Aveum is polished to a high shine and just deep enough to leave a lasting impression.

Dust & Neon is an enjoyable twin-stick shooter with a cool cover mechanic set in a colourful world. But it’s held back by a strong sense of deja vu and a lack of fresh ideas.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has a lot of promise, but it'll need some updates before it can truly be called great.

Mediterranea Inferno is outrageously weird, intensely homoerotic, and absolutely wonderful, and I never wanted it to end.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is visually stunning, and the omni-directional combat and build assembly is tons of fun.

F1 Manager 2023 isn't hugely different from last year's entry, but it's still a solid sports management title with plenty to keep you busy.