Boasting a unique world, challenging combat and great writing, this RPG has a lot going for it, if only it didn’t revel in its own mysteriousness so much.

This game is a beautiful experience. As driving games go, it’s the best I’ve ever played, not only because of its irresistible scenery, exhilarating driving and perfectly-recreated cars, but because spending time with it puts me in a lasting good mood. It is uncomplicated and thrilling escapism in a shared driving paradise.

Uncharted 3, perhaps for the first time, represents what we all hoped games would eventually evolve into. Its production values are sky-high, and it puts you at the centre of a gloriously rich and irresistible world, controlling a character who is heroic, but also convincingly human. It's also mildly didactic, and feels less dumbed-down than any mainstream movie we've come across in years.

Longtime fans will hungrily slurp up every morsel of sugary fan service here, savouring every extra moment spent with this hugely beloved cast. For Avalanche-loving diehards, this is a miracle of nostalgia-stirring dream fulfilment. Newcomers hoping to experience one of the medium’s most beloved stories in its new, modern form, however, should be prepared for some yawn-inducing lows alongside many Buster-sword swinging highs.

There’s no story to discover, no complex rules to learn; just instant, appealing fun. It’s fun you’ll have already experienced if you’re a Mario fan, but with enough novelty and unexpected twists to prevent it from feeling over-familiar. And for those new to Mario – kids just ageing into video games, friends or family members tempted into a multiplayer session – this is a wonderful introduction to the fizzy creativity and attention to detail that has made Mario a family staple for nearly 30 years.

Its elegance, precision, humour, and challenge make Bloodborne irresistible. Ultimately, the horror is secondary; wonder is the true transfusion on offer here.

You could spend months in Forza Horizon 5 on a coast-to-coast trip, or dip in for a few days to see the sights and admire the sunsets. The vast array of fun on offer means that whatever you do, wherever you end up, you’ll have a very good time.

It takes a lot to reinvent a 30-plus-year-old franchise while keeping step with tradition, and Capcom has succeeded admirably. Hopefully the still-to-come monetisation schemes are reasonable (details hadn’t been fully announced at the time of writing) and the netcode remains smooth, because the king of fighting games, Street Fighter II Turbo, is on notice: here comes a new challenger.

And then there’s the fact that Blue Prince has the best titular homophone in video games (sorry Fortnite). It’s a game about the blueprints of the Mount Holly Estate, and naturally a magical mansion like this has a story; it’s this, the family behind it, and the fantastical wider world in which they live, that will draw you to the 46th room and far, far beyond.

The way in which the developers manage to wrangle the various, divergent threads of your unique journey, with all of its composite choices and outcomes, while entirely concealing the seams is masterly.

Journey's visual and sound design sets new standards for interactive entertainment. This alone makes it an extraordinary work, but it's the way that these aesthetic elements come together with beautifully subtle direction and storytelling to create a lasting emotional effect that elevates this to one of the very best games of our time.

While some players will spend hours perfecting time trials and improving their standing online, that’s not really what these games are for. Mario Kart is a vehicle for fun with all your friends and family, no matter their individual skill, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best, most versatile version of that yet.

It's a rare game that can make you love the thing you're supposed to be killing, but then there really isn't anything else like Ico and Colossus.

It's a game that's been meticulously crafted to keep you moving. Every jump leads precisely onto the next water-drenched slope which slides down to zip-line before the checkpoint. At times it moves with the agility of a slickly produced Sunday morning cartoon, when in actuality it's a video game. A video game that leaves others looking like dead sharks.

For Yu and Perry, it’s been a preposterously ambitious undertaking, multiplying the challenges and timings involved in crafting a single video game by a factor of 50. For us, the result is a gift of wild generosity, a demonstration of how much untapped creative terrain remains in even the crudest-looking video games.

Dark Souls II is an extraordinary game. If it stops short of fulfilling something precious within the soul, it certainly has the heart, mind and fingers covered.

Most disappointingly, for all the worlds he visits or challenges he overcomes, Sackboy never really develops past his minimal original powers, meaning LBP2 retains its two-button gameplay from start to finish.

Wherever you go, this game captures the wonder of flight, and the spiritual and emotional rush of seeing the world in a different way.

Blizzard’s take on the team-based shooter is as polished as you’d expect, marrying tactical breadth with an emphasis on variety and inclusivity.

The sheer polish applied to every part of Bayonetta 2 is something every major studio should aspire to: the exceptional and wide-ranging soundtrack, the huge number of unlocks, the Nintendo easter eggs, the “making of” materials, and the unlockable characters that bring their own style. Not a single thing has been held back. In this second adventure, Bayonetta over-delivers in every regard, and it will be a long time before another fighting game threatens her crown.

Thanks to a bevy of pre-loaded Setlists and Road Challenges, you now have an attractive and instant alternative to World Tour – which is still there and as rigorous as ever.

That, really, is the fundamental value in Forza Horizon 3. It wants you to have fun. It will challenge you, it will ask you to improve as a driver and it will reward you for doing so. But first and foremost, it wants you to spend time in this ridiculous playground, with some of the best (and strangest) cars in the world, having an absolute blast.

What was – and is – most impactful about Shadow of the Colossus is its sense of scale: the immensity not only of its dramatic ruins and the sad, beautiful colossi, but of the task at hand, and its themes of death, faith, longing and the destructive selfishness of grief.

Halo: Reach, simply, is Bungie's masterwork, and if you own an Xbox 360, you'd be an idiot not to buy a copy – even if you're not a fan of first-person shooters, it will still make you marvel at just how good a game can look and feel.

This is a wonderful game: a beautiful, tense, camp, gory summation of everything that is so good about Resident Evil. Wherever you find yourself, whether rose garden or torture dungeon, it is alive with intimate detail, from the sounds of distant screams and chants to the sight of a grizzly murder scene or a beautiful vase. It is resplendent, delicious and decadent, like an incredibly rich banquet served amid the detritus of some horrible battle. Believe me, you will feast on it.

It comes packed with visceral gun-battles, ear-splitting explosions, bucketloads of blood and you use a good old-fashioned control-pad to play it. Oh, and it's also one of the best games released all year.

For veterans who remember the original (and I reviewed it at the time), it is an unmissable nostalgic treat. For those who don’t know their T-Viruses from their Code Veronicas, the experience is easily vivid and entertaining enough to stand on its own merits. This is horror game design as true craft.

I’m not sure Bananza has the same legs as Mario Odyssey. Where that game blossomed in a rich, post-credit endgame, DK lives more in the moment: moving ever forward, chewing through new ideas and never stopping to pulverise the roses. Come the game’s epic climax, he has smashed through concrete, rubber, watermelon, ostrich eggs, entire Donkey Kong Country homages, glitter balls – even the NPCs he’s trying to protect. If the weight of Switch 2 does lie on his shoulders, that’s just one more tool to bash a hole in the universe. His appetite for destruction is infectious.