Without straying from the excellent formula they gave us in Returnal, Housemarque has delivered a spiritual successor in Saros that achieves the rare feat of improving in almost every aspect. At the same time, it is far more accessible and respectful of the player's time, without ever diluting the level of challenge and adrenaline the studio is known for. Frenetic from start to finish, Saros leaves us with that "just one more run" itch while simultaneously inviting us to discover all its secrets through a narrative that starts slow but ends up being truly surprising.

Beyond being a strong contender for the Guinness record for the longest video game title ever, Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park is an excellent example of what a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition should be. It offers more than enough content to surprise veteran players with new features and encourage them to approach the original adventure in fresh ways, while also standing as a complete and absolutely essential package for those who have never played it.

Crimson Desert is an ambitious game that tries to be (almost) everything at once, only to ultimately buckle under the weight of its own complexity. Although its story is disjointed and uninteresting, the game is ultimately saved by a complex and almost always entertaining combat system, which rewards us as we master it better. Added to this is an overwhelming and visually stunning world, which only needed a bit more narrative coherence to become memorable.

Timberborn is a fantastic city builder that hides surprising complexity behind its adorable beaver aesthetic. Although its systems are not always clear at first glance, building dykes and dams to tame waterways proves to be an incredibly satisfying and addictive experience, capable of keeping you mesmerised for hours on end. Essentially, each map is a survival sandbox that begs to be solved, subtly transforming into a game of management and automation.

Pokémon Pokopia is one of the year’s biggest wins, a game where the motivation isn’t about defeating some looming antagonist, but about the calm, deliberate restoration of order, reclaiming a space that was once beautiful, a process that feels within reach of our own hands. There’s no combat and no urgency, just a therapeutic hypnosis carried by the gentle brushstrokes of the adorable creatures that have captivated multiple generations. It’s probably the best Pokémon spin-off to date.

Resident Evil Requiem is a conscious exercise in reconciliation, bringing face to face two fundamental ideas that have always defined the series: vulnerability and competence. Capcom revisits the traumatic memory of Raccoon City and attempts to stitch together narrative threads that for decades seemed scattered, placing that weight on the shoulders of two dichotomous protagonists. Grace embodies fear, scarcity, and psychological burden. Leon symbolizes legacy, experience, and the inevitable erosion of terror in someone who has already seen too much. This duality is not merely narrative, it is mechanical. Requiem builds two distinct rhythms and alternates between oppressive tension and controlled release, in a carefully designed cycle that draws from the franchise’s own history and intersects it with an intelligent evolution of design. The result is a succession of memorable moments, not always staged with the restraint horror requires to fully assert itself.

Mewgenics is an ode to feline chaos. The game triumphs by mixing tactical precision with the unpredictability of roguelikes and Edmund McMillen's characteristic scatological humour. Although the meta-progression may seem obtuse and slow at first, and the interface lacks management tools, these flaws are quickly forgotten when the music starts playing and the battle unfolds. It is a title that shines for its ability to create emergent stories and trap us in the cycle of "just one more run." Progression is not fast or linear, but it is delightful and unmissable for fans of turn-based strategy who are not afraid to sacrifice a cat or two.

The latest entry in the historic Mario Tennis series features an adventure mode with varied challenges, a key online mode to test your persistence, and 30 fever rackets with different effects.

I’ll admit I was hesitant at first, but I ended up liking Metroid Prime 4: Beyond more than I expected. It carries a density and maturity that the series deserves and that’s increasingly rare to find, especially within its genre. It’s a deliberate continuation, built with care and respect for its own legacy, a design that favors subtlety over forced innovation, and a story about returns, about the weight of waiting, and about how the past, when properly unearthed, can still cast light on the future.

Anno 117: Pax Romana is a fantastic strategy game that can swallow you up for hours on end. The simplicity and ease of the construction system allows you to create beautiful cities and hides a complex system of production and trade. Even for a newcomer to the franchise, it is quite welcoming, with a campaign that, while not brilliant, teaches you everything you need to know to start building your empire.

Over eight episodes, Dispatch doesn't waste a single second. There's no filler here, just quality, in a touching narrative told at a perfectly paced rhythm, brought to life by animation quality that rivals the best productions. Aaron Paul and Laura Bailey stand out in a cast marked by surprising performances, bringing to life a group of villains who have become heroes in my heart. The writing and dialogue are so superb that they immediately made me forget the odd narrative cliché. What remains is the mark of a story and a team of superheroes that I will not soon forget.

In the post-apocalyptic and ruthless world of Arc Raiders, the human touch gives this extraction shooter a fantastic soul. With a unique and well-executed aesthetic, the focus on player interaction makes Arc Raiders greater than the sum of its parts, which, by the way, are also brilliant. Each trip to the surface has the potential to become a unique and exciting adventure, between ambushes, betrayals, or unexpected rescues, which at the end of the day showed me that there are more players with hearts of gold than I thought.

The Outer Worlds 2 is a fantastic RPG and a good example of what a sequel should be. It learns from its past, builds on its strengths, and confidently forges its own path, establishing a very strong identity. It is the game that the original promised to be, although far from perfect, because in correcting the past, it has uncovered other challenges, which I hope will be corrected in the future.

Almost thirty years later, Final Fantasy Tactics stands as both a mirror of its era and a lesson for the present. The Ivalice Chronicles isn’t a nostalgic love letter, it’s an act of respect that proves a classic can be rewritten without losing its soul. It’s absolutely essential for fans of the genre, even for those who, unlike me, devoted the hundreds of hours it deserved in its original form. For everyone else, trust that it’s still possible to learn strategy through repetition and pain, a certain kind of integrity from another time, when suffering wasn’t frustration or bad design, it was part of the fun.

Don't let Battlefield 6's single-player campaign put you off: the multiplayer action is absolutely phenomenal, from the first shot to the last. Chaos and destruction are the watchwords, intensity is guaranteed and each map offers a fantastic stage for varied and dynamic combat, with no dull moments. Even with a few bugs and hiccups here and there, none of this has affected the tremendous fun I've experienced over the last few days in Battlefield 6, which celebrates a return in a big way.

Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 return on Nintendo Switch as two historic giants of video game design. These are works that not only withstood the test of time but remain perfectly relevant today, still capable of raising the eyebrows of even the most veteran players. They took risks, played with gravity, reinvented the power-up catalogue, and delivered characters and moments forever cemented in the plumber’s history. Eternal extras may be missing, but the essential is here: games that still feel like they came from the future. Do they hint at a third entry to complete a trilogy on Switch 2? We don’t know, but they fit perfectly into the anniversary celebrations.

Ghost of Yōtei is a love letter to feudal Japan, its contradictions, its aesthetic rigor, and the fantasy that has inspired generations. It is not just a competent sequel, it proves that Sucker Punch's formula has room to grow and mature. The transition to Hokkaido gives it its own identity, both because of the colder and more isolated landscape and because of the cultural weight of the protagonist Atsu, whose personal journey changes but never loses relevance amid the visual spectacle. The evolution of combat is one of the great triumphs: refined, varied, visceral, and always demanding, it is the spice of a world that breathes life and that you will want to explore to the limit, full of interesting characters and arcs that contribute to a narrative mechanism that, with a little more audacity, would live forever in our hearts.

Dying Light: The Beast refines the best elements of Dying Light, with a more concise, frightening, immersive and challenging world, without the chaff we saw in the previous one. The combat is visceral and bloody, and even with a monster inside Kyle Crane, you never feel invincible, thus maintaining a palpable tension from start to finish.

Borderlands 4's new approach to the franchise's classic formula is expertly crafted. Unexpectedly, the open world fits like a glove into the shooter's irresistible dopamine-fuelled loop. There's always exciting loot to discover, builds to create and enemies to vanquish, in an endless gale of violence, with exponentially greater numbers crushing anyone who dares to stand up to us. A positive point also goes to the tone of Borderlands 4, much more serious and restrained than its predecessor, but without losing its trademark humour. I never thought I'd say it, but even Claptrap is bearable this time around.

Metal Gear Solid Delta is one of the best examples of what a remake should be. Without disrespecting the original masterpiece, it introduces graphical and quality of life improvements that make the game more accessible to a modern audience, accustomed to some advances in the genre, freed from the technical restraints of the PS2. All the changes are subtle and optional, making Delta an experience capable of pleasing purists and novices alike, something that few remakes are capable of achieving.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World is a good addition to the Nintendo Switch 2 catalog and meets different requirements. It gives Nintendo gamers the chance to revisit one of the good games from the previous console in a more muscular format and with new content, it's a good chance for those with younger offspring at home to enjoy a good cooperative adventure that's light on commitment and it still works beautifully for those looking for a new experience on the Switch 2 and who don't know Kirby yet. Get used to the pink ball, he's coming back into our lives soon, and at great speed.

Donkey Kong Bananza was a pleasant surprise on first contact, it made me forget the absence of a new 3D Mario in the initial line-up of the Nintendo Switch 2, and now a pleasant confirmation of the excellence of the Nintendo EPD team, in this case led by Kazuya Takahashi. It manages to revamp and revitalize a franchise in one fell swoop, it's an irrefutable proof of concept for a technology that we'll certainly see return and the second major exclusive to grace Nintendo Switch 2 in less than two months. In the meantime, it has even resulted in the strengthening of the partnership with Universal for another movie, meaning you can be sure that we'll be seeing more adventures from DK and Pauline.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is confirmation that Kojima's radical vision was not a cosmic accident, but rather a new way of thinking about what video games can be and do. It is a game that trusts in the inherent genius of Death Stranding's central formula, and the good news is that there is no tension between these two perspectives. For those who fell in love with the original, this sequel is a deepening and refinement of everything that made that experience special. For skeptics, it's a second chance to understand a work that time has validated as visionary, with far fewer barriers to entry to embrace that vision. It's not a game for everyone, and it never intended to be. It's a deeply personal work about human connection, disguised as a futuristic delivery simulator. It's ridiculous and sublime, frustrating and transcendent, familiar and alien. It's unique.

With a few additional online options and perhaps more rewards added to Free Play for the open world, Mario Kart World would be perfect. In every other respect, it's an absolute win for Nintendo and the plumber. The visuals are incredible on a TV or in portable mode, the gameplay is extremely polished, easy to learn, and deep to master, with new options and a remarkable fluidity that blends beautifully with the new Knockout mode. I predict a long and prosperous future for it on the Nintendo Switch 2, now with even more options that serve solo play, in a franchise where it's not easy to uncover new ways to play and where Nintendo still manages to innovate.

Like a well-tuned train, Monster Train 2 doesn't deviate from the tracks it laid in the first game. The experience of the sequel is familiar to those who already know the franchise, but the new mechanics and new game modes translate into (another) hundreds more hours of fun.

DOOM: The Dark Ages gives you a whiff of the brakes, but only to fool you. The combat is still deliciously intense and violent, even more visceral, than its antecessors thanks to its melee combos, paired with a satisfying gunplay. The best compliment I can give DOOM: The Dark Ages is that it's a fantastic DOOM, which, without escaping the formula of the last few games, shakes it up enough to offer a fresh and equally violent experience, inviting us to rip and tear demons apart with our bare hands.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took me by surprise and I'm glad it did. Sandfall Interactive has managed to create a delightful RPG that combines modern influences with an irresistible old school sensibility. The story is another of its great assets, enhanced by an excellent cast who, with a fantastic performance, help paint this canvas that I won't soon forget.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition has made a splash among the must-have games on the Nintendo Switch, bringing back a sleeping giant from the Wii U era with various technical and gameplay improvements. It's the ideal RPG for lovers of good micromanagement, it really encourages exploration of a gigantic open world and it knows how to guide the moments of reward with real amazement, either through the dramatic development of the narrative, with surprise attacks and unexpected heroic acts, or through the spectacular combat and the gigantic Skells.