Gears of War 4 offers everything you'd expect from a Gears title, and a surprising amount of great new ideas that enhance the core gameplay. Its campaign has problems in terms of story and characterisation, but in terms of fun is up there with the best the series has produced. The overall impression is that Gears of War is in thoroughly capable hands The Coalition. With more confident storytelling the studio could well produce a classic.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided doesn't reinvent the wheel, nor does it need to. Compelling, tightly paced and most importantly, fun to play, Mankind Divided has created an exquisitely detailed world and now it wants to turn you loose in it. A stronger contender for Game of the Year in a year already filled with great games, what are you waiting for?

The smaller scale works for such swashbuckling adventures, and its more open-plan design shows how the series should evolve. Early promise falters around the halfway point due to some noticeable shifts in what the player is able to do in any given space, but it quickly ramps up again to a spectacular finale. The game also serves as a reminder of how strong the supporting cast of these games has been. Chloe makes for a fine hero, and Nadine would have been as well. Perhaps they'll get a chance to return one day.

IO's strong start is becoming a hot streak, and all eyes will be on the third episode, set to be released in May.

IO Interactive's new, episodic Hitman is a triumph. The developer knew how to revive its ailing series and did so with aplomb, crafting a robust set of core mechanics and designing superb levels around them. Reminiscent of everything Blood Money did so well, from its focus on gameplay over story to its cold, sardonic presentation and dark sense of humour, this is Hitman as it is and always should be.

It's quite literally everything the first game was and more, which might not mean more revolutionary features but does mean a greater depth and variety of options for the new players it is sure to ensnare. With free updates promised for the best part of a year, the game will only improve, and this time it'll have the audience it deserves.

Once free of the arduous and obnoxious trappings of its main mode of play, Superhot is nothing short of a delight. At its core is a gameplay mechanic that deserves to be revisited, only next time we hope it's all held together significantly better.

I was expecting Watch Dogs 2 to be more enjoyable than its predecessor, but I didn't expect it to be so well designed and full of heart. Watch Dogs 2 isn't reinventing the open-world game and fans of Ubisoft's special brand of go-places-and-pick-things-up gameplay will feel right at home, but it's one of the best examples the genre has to offer – as long as you don't want to shoot anything.

In The Last Guardian players form an incredible bond with Trico, tested in an adventure worthy of Fumito Ueda's vision. The challenge of not just the puzzle-platforming obstacles, but of understanding this otherworldly creature, creates a connection more genuine than any players are likely to have experienced in other games. Everything that would make the game a beautiful and unique classic to match or even surpass its predecessors is here, but like its captivating star the game doesn't always perform as you'd hope. We hope the developers are able to remedy the bitterly disappointing frame-rate problems, but until such a time they cannot be ignored.

Prey's greatest success is its approach to choice and exploration. For players looking for a direct and focused single player shooter experience, this will undoubtedly disappoint and perhaps even frustrate, but for players looking for a smart and immersive world rife with intrigue and tension, Prey is a quality companion for some true classics.

Spirit of Justice is yet another enjoyable entry in a cherished franchise, which doubles-down on the delightfully zany aspects of the series to great effect. The back-and-forth courtroom disputes suffer from a weak presence on the opposing bench and several decade-old mechanical flaws, but none of its sins are egregious enough to quash the divine character work and enchanting anime style. An imperfect, but nonetheless victorious, return for Capcom's distinguished defence attorney.

Considering its development history, it's unsurprising that Final Fantasy 15 lacks crucial focus and depth when it comes to its largely stodgy tale of Oracles and Crystals or its unspectacular combat, with both found particularly at fault during the game's dour concluding chapters. Yet like Prompto's incessant nagging to go ride Chocobos, it's easy to give in to the breezy charm of the game's luscious open-world and the whimsical antics of its Tumblr-baiting bro-tagonists.

Rime is a beautiful ode to life, loss and childhood that's as much a pleasure to behold as it is to play. Genteel puzzling and exploration make for great bedfellows in a memorable adventure only let down ever so slightly by some minimal frame rate stutter and a final act that while emotionally resonant provides little challenge or escalation in terms of gameplay. Nearly four years on from its much-hyped debut, Rime proves itself to be have been absolutely worth the wait.

Sloppy combat inherited from its handheld predecessor thankfully fails to smother Gravity Rush 2's gleefully avant-guarde design and its enigmatic leading lady. Kat and Dusty's sophomore outing sees the series' potential explode in vibrant, joyous fashion. The rough edges are still there, but you'll have to squint to see them as PlayStation's refreshingly eccentric franchise soars to spectacular new heights.

If The Division was without its Dark Zone, it would be an ignorable, banal experience - a soulless grind in a game created by committee. It's to the credit of the game that this one additional section elevates the experience from this, to something actively great. Contrary to advice The Division might give you, stay out of the Dark Zone at your peril.

Call of Duty: WW2 is for the most part exactly what you expect it to be. Sledgehammer Games has made a solid entry in an annualised series that rarely disappoints, which treats its subject matter surprisingly well. Its few surprises are to be found mostly in the campaign between the moments of cheap spectacle, when it successfully recaptures exactly why World War 2 shooters were so popular and prevalent over a decade ago. The multiplayer is the simplest definition of an online shooter, with few thrills, but it's essentially exactly what fans have been asking for.

For Honor is bloated in a way it doesn't need to be, but in a way that's completely unsurprising for Ubisoft. A ton of cosmetic upgrades and progression rankings can't save it from being an ultimately narrow experience. It may not wholly satisfy anyone craving an enormous single-player campaign or competitive multiplayer, but if you want a surprisingly competent fighting game that's capable of offering some great, tense and skill-based encounters, For Honor has enough to offer. Ubisoft may have marketed the game as a big, broad battler, but in truth it's just about you and your opponent and that's where it is at its best.

Sniper Elite 4 is a good game by many metrics, and is the best in the series so far. It's a good shooter, a good stealth game and has exceptional shooting mechanics, but as a whole it's rarely exceptional. It's one of the better stealth games of the last few years, with several distinctive ideas combined to create a tense game that, while not all that much bigger in scope than its predecessor, feels bolder and more interesting. The generously sized levels and varied objectives offer a unique experience. The slow-motion carnage of the kill cam, in the era of Twitch and YouTube, will undoubtedly remain a big draw, but look away from the skeleton crushing rifle rounds for a minute and there's an intelligent stealth game with tons of content and plenty of replayability.

RIGS is suffering from a content deficit and made me feel sick every time I've played it, but as a competitive game it's compelling, albeit frequently frustrating. It's a bold step towards the sort of content VR needs, even if it falters in its execution.

Little Nightmares is the kind of horror game we don't see often enough, one that doesn't shock with fountains of viscera but crawls under the skin. Its flavour of terror is unnerving, burrowing its way deep inside you to nest and feed. Its story is one of hope, innocence and corruption that plays, often sadly, to contemporary fears. Issues with its presentation rob it of the same classic status as Inside, but if you're in the market for a slice of horror rich in artistry and carnal dread, Tarsier Studios have crafted a must-have.

In Oxenfree, Night School Studios has used simple mechanics to great effect establishing and building on its small cast of characters, and keeping players engaged with its creepy tale of paranormal dread. It's a shame then that it doesn't quite stick the landing, seeming to rush to its conclusion without offering a sufficient pay-off. A small number of minor (dialogue for the wrong character playing) and major (two complete crashes) glitches also hold it back. It's undoubtedly a stylish and unique game however, that we hope does its part to usher in a wave of games that take a similar approach to storytelling.

Matt Nava and Giant Squid Studios have played it safe. Too safe. If there were to be a Journey knock-off, this is among the best you could hope for, but who really wants an imitation at all? There is an obvious artistry to Abzu however, that we can only hope is put to better use in whatever comes next.

Dontnod's first season of Life is Strange is a wonderful work, and one of the finest episodic adventure games of its kind. That's a lot to live up to, but Deck Nine does a top job recreating what fans love about the series while setting up a new story to be told about a pair of young women bound by new, exciting feelings and a shared distrust of the world around them.

Reigns is a Python-esque text adventure rougelike played out with the swipe-mechanics of Tinder. If that sounds at all appealing, then Reigns is absolutely worth the small investment. Light and undemanding, it offers short, great bursts of play perfect for the mobile platform.

Street Fighter 5 has a great, newbie-friendly fighting system that retains the depth of its classic predecessors for players to master. In many ways it's the best Street Fighter yet, but launching with the netcode in such a state can't go unnoticed, especially when it impacts such an important part of the multiplayer. The core of Street Fighter is still there, and is as good as ever, but unfortunately these problems - plus lacking options in single player - mean there's not a lot else.

Virginia is astounding in many ways. The way it conveys its meaning through visuals, character tics, a few hundred written words and one incredible score without uttering a single line of dialogue is remarkable. Confident and measured use of editing lends a sense of style, but Variable State's swagger turns to over-confidence in the final stretch and leaves Virginia on a befuddling rather than satisfying note.

What may seem like an ambitious project is in the fact the combination of a standard third-person shooter and the kind of cheap sci-fi drama you might find in the darkest corners of Sky TV. Visually tepid and filled with abortive gunfights and platforming, Quantum Break also struggles to contain its plot, while at the same time underselling its characters. Remedy's previous games have been characterised by a distinctive tone and knowing humour. By comparison Quantum Break is a glossy, charmless, wholly moderate outing.

What Arms lacks in personality and content it makes up for in raw joy and a best-in-class motion control set-up that feels both comfortable and natural. Arms showcases once again that Nintendo is peerless when it comes to subverting genres without sacrificing what makes them great. Time will tell if Arms has legs to match Splatoon, but the early round scoreboards are certainly swinging in its favour.