Like many polished big-budget games made to a formula, Ghost of Yokei is missing just a little bit of soul.

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.

The DLC mode doesn’t change Forgotten Land fundamentally despite a handful of new big-mouth abilities such as a supercharged jump. However, a punishing boss rush awaits at the end of the new levels, one that will probably confuse and confound players accustomed to the gentle challenge in the rest of the game. That sting in the tail aside, this reworked package of Kirby’s mouthiest moments will satisfy every fan’s appetite.

At just €20, it justifies its existence as a showcase for the Switch 2’s versatility and as a succinct slice of fun in its own right.

Clearly, there’s a reasonably compelling hack’n’slash buried under the rubble of Lost Soul Aside’s B-movie ambitions. But you will repeatedly conclude that you don’t have the energy to sift its gold nuggets from the unattractive grit in between.

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.

Jamboree TV lacks a bit of coherence in the overall Mario Party experience but it serves the Switch 2 well in serving up family-friendly options that show off the new machine. Don’t forget that Switch 2’s unique GameShare function lets you connect another Switch 2 or the older Switch console so that up to four players can compete – but requires only one copy of the game.

Pro Skater 3+4 has been lovingly restored by Iron Galaxy, a different developer than the Pro Skater 1+2 remake (which was handled by Vicarious Visions) – and not the same people who made the 2000s games either. But somehow they’ve captured the feeling and nuance of those heady originals where it was as much fun laughing your head off at an audacious failure as it was pulling off a breathless sequence and landing on your feet.

Donkey Kong Bananza might be considered too easy for most players – even the boss battles barely raise a sweat – and overall doesn’t occupy the same rarified air as Super Mario Odyssey. Yet the bulldozing ape ably showcases the power of Switch 2 and earns a place alongside Mario Kart World as an essential purchase for owners of the new console.

The Alters artfully balances the time pressures of Dolski’s physical tasks with the emotional toll of managing the clones, a responsibility made all the heavier given that you’re trying to rescue not just yourself but all your selves. Maybe living one life might easier after all…

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.

Kojima hasn’t lost his predilection for pretentiousness nor the preposterous but in Death Stranding 2 he’s created a powerful piece of entertainment propelled by the sheer force of his personality. There’s probably no one else in gaming who could have got this made – layering the human need for connection with grand sci-fi themes and a satisfying gameplay loop. We should all be grateful for the 61-year-old’s unique talent.

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

It feels as if Nintendo has a way to go to crystallise the open world into something beyond a random meander. Despite this reservation, Mario Kart World elegantly nails Nintendo’s goal of showcasing the Switch 2’s horsepower while shifting the series into a new gear to surprise and thrill a legion of fans.

Blendo seeds its fiction with mischievous humour, from the lamebrained actions of the space invaders to the catty mewing of the trapped animals. But it’s the slapstick comedy of the confrontations with the pirates in Skin Deep that draws the biggest laughs.

Tempopo won’t have the same impact for adults as Unpacking but it’s a fun diversion brimming with cheer and pitched at a very reasonable €20.

Unlike Eternal, Dark Ages keeps your feet planted on the ground, forgoing complex platforming amid level design that is chiefly of single-storey construction. That’s not to say there isn’t a vastness and scale at play but it’s apparent mostly in the disappointing sequences where the Slayer takes control of a giant robot and a metal dragon at various points. Sadly, Id fails to do anything interesting with these avatars, a curious development that counts as the game’s key failing. The campaign may also be stretched to flabbiness by its 22 levels as compensation for the absence of multiplayer. But that visceral combat still drives Dark Ages to riveting effect, its one-two punch of shield plus guns teasing players to master Doom anew.

The modest size of the team at Raccoon Logic becomes apparent sometimes – the awkward physics and occasionally funky enemy behaviour can hamper the gameplay mechanics. But this a goofy little treasure, a passion project for a small team bruised by their encounter with a corporate gorilla. They’re still here and Stadia is long gone. Who’s the monkey now?

It’s tricky to disconnect the expectations of the modern gamer from an RPG that was unconventionally innovative back in 2006. Yet Oblivion can still put on an admirable show two decades on and will please many players for whom nostalgia is not the primary motivation.

Old Skies may not be as pioneering as Wadjet Eye’s revered 2018 adventure Unavowed (which still comes highly recommended). Secondly, the tension of any high-stakes scenes also suffers because repetitive trial and error functions as a viable if hardly inspired tactic when the logic of a solution doesn’t stand out. But by teasing out Fia’s emotional muddle amid the intricate cause and effect of time travel, it finds its own place in the history of cerebral puzzle games.

You will curse Blue Prince many times in your early runs for its capriciousness – before permanently unlockable items and acquired acumen begin to ease your route to the finish line. Persist and you will appreciate the interlocking brilliance of Ros’s creation. Resist and you will be pointlessly pounding your head against the wall of a dead end.

Despite its few knots, South of Midnight hangs tightly together, tying up its threads deftly while spinning an enthralling yarn. Just don’t mention the S-word.

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.

Though a little rough and ready round the edges, Atomfall’s nuclear fiction is an interesting fusion of ideas, albeit one that isn’t going to blow you away.

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.

The two leads make for charismatic avatars, differing wildly in their combat styles and thus lessening the possibility the player will tire of the formula that underpins the gameplay for long periods. We have not been short of sumptuous hack’n’slash blockbusters set in Japan’s beautiful countryside – from 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima to last year’s Rise of the Ronin. But Shadows somehow edges them in its synthesis of ancient Japanese culture. For sheer spectacle alone, it rarely flags, treating the player to an endless stream of exquisite tableaux, from majestic castles to bustling towns to imposing mountains and forest.