People of Note offers a visually arresting tableau, scored by a collection of agreeable tunes in genres from rap to rock. The developers’ love of puns delivers a regular supply of chuckles and a smattering of optional puzzles based on everything from moving blocks to mathematics adds novelty to the gameplay. But aside from Cadence’s slight obnoxiousness, People of Note is less of a hit because the music at the heart of the story is only loosely connected to the gameplay and the songs themselves are short on memorable hooks.

Outside of Screamer’s punishing story mode lies a more persuasive set of challenges, time trials and multiplayer races. Yet as a whole it rarely generates the irresistible momentum that drives you to come back.

The pixel art simply can’t do justice to the Kratos we’ve formed in our mind’s eye. There’s also something deeply grating about listening to teenage American accents attempting to capture the complexities of a Spartan wrestling with his conscience. Perhaps if you could overlook Sons of Sparta’s lineage, you might see it as a perfectly adequate Metroidvania. But Mega Cat Studios knowingly took on the burden of that name only to fall short of the stellar God of War pedigree.

It still offers a comprehensive package of enjoyable football with plenty of tweaks here and there in Ultimate Team, Career and Manager modes. But for me the changes amount to just that – tweaks that don’t substantially alter the package.

It acts fast but substitutes speed for intelligence and as much as it would like to be the new Titanfall, it doesn’t quite have the moves.

Hirogami follows in the footprints of other successful papercraft videogames such as Tearaway and Paper Mario. While it nails the pleasing handmade aesthetic of those titles, the shapeshifting gameplay never quite pins down the precision required. It’s not a write-off, more of a write-down of a crafty idea.

Herdling succeeds on the level of a wistful voyage, the idea that to travel hopefully is better than to arrive. Yet its gameplay elements are undermined by the awkward controls of the herd, who turn uncooperative at odd moments. Puzzles provide scant challenge compared to the Far games, and stealth sequences involving a giant angry owl outstay their welcome. This shepherding lark is not quite the dream job it first looks.

Stranded Kids doesn’t have a lot of longevity built into this compact collection of islands for players who focus on completing the challenges instead of noodling about.

As likeably silly as it is, To a T feels like an extended episode of Sesame Street that drags on too long between the good bits. Takahashi has again delivered a singularly unusual design but one that lacks the gameplay loop that Katamari wielded so compulsively.

If nothing else, it whets the appetite for next year’s big Onimusha revival, so perhaps that’s job done after all.

Sorry We’re Closed will find kinship in fans of the Persona series for its flamboyant character storylines. It’s less successful in trying to emulate survival horror stalwarts such as Silent Hill or Resident Evil. But Michelle’s amusing antics in combining these two strands make A La Mode a studio to watch.

Xenoblade Chronicles X remains stuck in the game design of 10 years ago, padded with hackneyed dialogue, pinballing the player from silly quest to tired kill quotients. Sure, it occasionally surprises you with a stunning panorama or confronts you with a colossal enemy. Even then, though, it’s not long before you’re engaged in a repetitive combat loop where your attacks trigger automatically and your optimum strategy relies on approaching enemies from the rear.

By aiming for authenticity and committing to character growth by repetition, Deliverance II walks a dangerous tightrope. Its uncompromising nature won’t be videogamey enough for many players and wilfully renders some components such as combat unappealing.

Taken in isolation, DKC Returns HD stands as a generously endowed 2D side-scrolling platformer in the grand tradition of the series. Colourful and punchy, it taxes the reflexes and the brain via 80 levels densely packed with hazards, secrets and optional challenges.

If Fitness Boxing 3 gets you moving even a little bit more than usual, perhaps that’s job done. But you might just as well look up a few boxercise videos on YouTube and save your money for a new pair of trainers.

A steady drumbeat of patches has eliminated the worst excesses of the underlying code. But it will still take a long uphill march for Asobo to crest the summit of its ambitions. For now, this flight is just struggling to get off the ground.

It has constructed a fascinatingly hostile and deliberately unstable environment. But the lack of strong characterisation, the clumsy interface and the sheer anarchy of the world are obstacles to truly enjoying being in the zone.

The detailed art style looks gorgeous in handheld mode but forces the Switch to struggle noticeably on a big screen when it’s pushing more pixels. Shackled by the tedious storytelling and tame dialogue, Mario and Luigi feel like the relatives you should visit more but who are frequently annoying when you meet them.

Unlike Resident Evil, Silent Hill 2 is sparing with scenes of pure horror, save for the infrequent encounters with unkillable nemesis Pyramid Head. He comes at you every so often with a giant blade, his metal mask shielding him from your bullets until he decides to go away again for no apparent reason. Less is more – in terms of visual style and tension-building – can be effective but the long periods of nothing dramatic happening in drab locations border on monotony. And that’s the last thing you want in a scare-em-up.

Reforged is a puzzle in itself. It’s like the pleasure you get from visiting an old friend you haven’t seen in a long time and who’s never looked so well. But it will also leave you wondering whether you’ve outgrown them after so many years.

WoW can rest easy knowing Throne and Liberty won’t steal its crown any time soon. But NCSoft’s RPG has a light touch that has clearly taken many lessons from its inspirations, brought some new ideas to the table and won’t constantly nag you to open your wallet.

This one-man show has demonstrated a hugely imaginative game world, full of depth to be explored. But it’s too easy to see behind the curtain – and indeed to rip the curtain rail down altogether. The logic of the characters’ behaviour can fall apart at the slightest push, leaving your detective with more answers than questions.

This remaster has its moments, blending spoofery and comedic violence, but this 18-year-old now feels a little immature.

The high presentation standard set by Hogwarts Legacy has been maintained here, with customisable characters flying around on broomsticks at locations familiar from the books. Earn enough currency from in-game activities (no microtransactions here, thankfully) and you can unlock heroes or villains such as Harry, Ron and Draco. In contrast with Legacy, however, Quidditch Champions is very finite, with only a few competitions built in and nothing to do outside of the matches. The core of the game feels like barely controlled pandemonium that is often difficult to read and some positions just aren’t as engaging to play as others.

Star Wars buffs will find much to relish here as Outlaws shines a bright light on fresh parts of the galaxies untouched by the relentless flow of TV spin-offs. But this attention to detail may be lost on players seeking a power fantasy akin to 2023’s Star Wars Jedi Survivor, or a more inventive take on Ubisoft’s overworked open-world blueprint.

Wizardry lacks the historical extras that made the Atari and Minter exhumations so fascinating, its bare-bones presentation exposing a game very much of its time that has long been surpassed.

Luminous doesn’t lend itself to long sessions of scuba adventures – it just doesn’t have the depth for that. But as an antidote to the pressurised atmosphere of modern life, it acts like a cleansing bath.

You will want to keep playing just for the sheer pleasure of the sharp dialogue – by turns sarcastic and poignant but at its heart drolly funny. Less successful is the musical aspect that notionally underpins the whole expedition – the tunes at your gigs are pleasant enough but the mini-games that accompany them quickly become tedious. Reigns: Beyond shows the formula might be running out of legs. But priced at under a fiver it offers plenty of laughs even though it’s more of a game that plays you than you play.