A disappointingly backwards-looking expansion that rather than signal a new era for Destiny and Bungie is just more of the same empty teases and recycled content.

One of the best narrative-based games of the year, that tackles a number of contemporary issues in an original and entertaining manner and whose main fault is merely a lack of budget.

Something of a greatest hits collection of ideas from Ubisoft’s other open world games but it also has some fun new ideas of its own… as well as a mountain of glitches and microtransactions.

Extremely rough around the edges but even in its current state this is an engrossing and tension-filled strategy role-playing game that offers a very different perspective of WWII.

It’s still not as good as Sniper Elite 4, but years of patches and DLC have improved it to the point where this is a viable alternative for Switch owners.

Gorgeous visuals and some sublime visual storytelling, Ori And The Blind Forest might not do much that is genuinely new but almost everything it does attempt is genuinely great.

Old school to a fault, but fans of the series – and anyone else that appreciates its honest charms – will find much to love in this simplistic but heart-warming role-player.

A good looking but shallow repurposing of Nintendo’s classic kart racers, transforming it form the world’s favourite racing game to a cynical, and disturbingly persistent, cash grab.

A muddled and underwhelming Dark Souls clone that has a few unique ideas but fails to back them up with compelling combat or exploration.

It isn’t a masterpiece but it’s a massive improvement on FIFA 19, with a sprinkling of new features – Volta in particular – that should lay the foundations for the series’ future.

The worst Contra game ever made and an object lesson in how not to revive a classic franchise, especially as there are multiple unofficial homages that are far superior.

With a script that’s got its moments, and some good, solid sarcasm from your protagonist, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son tells an engaging story of cynicism lost and superficiality seen through. Some of its mini-games are best forgotten, and the problem of repeating dialogue is never completely sorted out, but as sequel to a film that seemingly defied follow-ups, this is a brave and at times entertaining result.

A disappointing sequel that offers few new ideas as either a Dark Souls clone or a follow-up to the original, with a less interesting setting and story.

Completely charming and wonderfully presented stealth puzzle game, that turns a horrible goose into one of the year’s most endearing video game stars.

One of the best Japanese role-players of the generation and a gloriously beautiful game by any standard, both visually and emotionally.

The lack of any meaningful additions is a surprise, but it only underlines what a fantastic game the Game Boy original was, in what is still a classic Zelda title that thoroughly deserves the star treatment.

It’s a shame it isn’t a full remake, but The Dark Descent remains one of the most frightening and atmospheric video games ever made.

Splendid recreation of basketball with game-changing, innovative evolution cards – but it can’t escape the bad taste the microtransactions leave.

A surprisingly unadventurous sequel, given the long years fans have been waiting for it, but the entertaining weaponry just about makes up for the overfamiliarity and obnoxious sense of humour.

As unique a vision as video gaming has ever seen and one able to use its many incompetencies – including an unfortunate number of new ones – to entertain and surprise.

It may sound like a copout, but it makes swords and daggers (and combat sandals) viable and maintains the sense of speed without having to repeatedly stab at the screen. It also supports MFI controllers for those preferring the original experience, and remains a defining and hugely addictive piece of entertainment.

Despite graphical sparkle, the lack of depth and vapid gacha mechanics rob the game of both charm and longevity, leaving the long slog only to those obsessed with completing their trainer roster despite the crushing tedium.

There are spikes to avoid, water-filled areas that make your eyeball buoyant, enemies with shields and others that intermittently catch fire, falling rocks, sticky web-firing spiders, mid-level bosses, actual bosses, and lots more to spice up this highly unusual ocular adventure.

If you’ve played it before, it’s a relatively brief experience that most certainly bears repeating. For those who haven’t, the first time is a joy we’d recommend to just about anyone.

There are regular moments in dungeons when the 3D viewpoint gets in the way, and you’ll need to grind a fair bit, but these are relatively minor niggles when set against compelling battles, great art style, and an inspiringly large world to explore. It even has a New Game+ for those who just can’t let go.

It’s fun to play and early progression is swift and reasonably satisfying. The problem is that it’s nowhere near as good as Clash Royale, with less identifiable units, a clunkier interface, and a slower pace of play.

Because your party doesn’t auto-heal, anyone with that skill swiftly becomes indispensable, although you can mix and match team members depending on the enemies you face. The real problem is that without new ideas, this no-frills dungeon crawler is possibly a little too generic for its own good.

The result is a self-propelled investigation that gives you the feeling of making connections and discoveries entirely on your own. It’s hypnotic, and while it has little replay value, other than to marvel at the fact that videos watched early in the game can mean something completely different once you’ve uncovered protagonists’ back stories and true motivations, it’s utterly gripping while it lasts.

The combat is a lot of fun and the visuals are dynamic and exciting, but repetitive missions and dire storytelling ruin what is otherwise a mechanically superior giant robot game.

Yet another triumph on the pitch but the lack of attention to new features within myClub means it feels a bit repetitive.

One of the most interesting video game settings of the year and while the game has numerous issues the strong combat and inventive quest design make it well worth persevering with.

An accomplished attempt to create a mix of Dark Souls and traditional Metroidvania, but its bizarre visual style ultimately overshadows its other virtues.

Still one of the few video games to deal with love and relationships in anything like a realistic manner, but the attempts to shoehorn in an extra new character fall flat.

A fantastic scrolling beat ‘em-ups that shows exactly how the genre can be evolved and modernised, while also indulging in some gloriously retro presentation and throwbacks.

It’s no longer the Diablo killer it used to be, but this remains a superior dungeon crawler, with great action and loot that still puts it amongst the genre’s best.

An essential addition for any Monster World fan that offers a mountain of genuinely new content that includes some of the game’s best monsters.

The attempts to innovate in terms of storytelling and structure feel superficial and ineffective, leaving Gears 5 to survive purely on its increasingly overfamiliar action.

One of the best story-based games of the year, that manages to capture the joys and pains of childhood (and riding bikes) in a very relatable and compelling way.

An uneven mix of tense psychological drama and buggy, half-broken gameplay mechanics but the end result is still one of the better movie tie-ins of recent years.

Episode 4 is a definite step forward though and the hints about what will happen in the fifth and final episode suggests it may be the most politically charged of all.

A fantastic blast from the past that remasters a long-forgotten classic that should now be recognised as one of the best scrolling beat ‘em-ups ever.

A tiresome and unforgiving survival game that purposefully makes things as difficult and repetitive as possible, while offering very little in the way of entertainment.

Combining Until Dawn’s style of mild horror with online multiplayer works great, but the actual story and characters fail to engage.

Not only one of the best racing games of the generation but for once one that feels genuinely different to any of its major rivals – unless you count spiritual predecessor FlatOut.

Another classic action game from Platinum that’s so full of ideas it seems fit to burst and yet everything not only works perfectly but is filled with an infectious sense of goofy fun.

The flawed storytelling squanders its full potential but even with a few missteps this is still one of the most enjoyable action games of the year.

Hotline Miami remains one of the best indie games of the last decade but its deeply disappointingly sequel drags down this otherwise welcome compilation.

Like everything to do with No Man’s Sky, the VR and multiplayer additions aren’t without their problems, but this is still a clear step forward for the constantly evolving sci-fi epic.

One of the best roguelikes for a long time, whose randomised abilities work perfectly to add variety and unpredictability to its tale of an 80s style post-apocalypse.

For better and worse, a near perfect replication of mid-90s first person shooters, that makes you wistful for the old days… and secretly glad things have moved on in the meantime.

The original version had the potential to be a classic multiplayer horror game, but this updated edition still feels as hokey and unrefined as the movies it’s based on.

A surprisingly good port of a purposefully old school computer role-player, that proves even the most PC of games can work on consoles.

Conventional Nintendo games want to make you happy, whereas Dr. Mario wants to take your money by providing an experience that’s just a touch sub-par. It’s oddly nauseating seeing Nintendo’s much-loved characters cynically shaking you down for spare change.

It’s an interesting idea let down by one-note gameplay, finicky onscreen joystick controls, and its habit of forcing you to replay levels after each mistake. It’s also significantly overpriced at £6.99.

It’s highly addictive, and even though it only takes a couple of hours to see everything, there’s a more demanding New Game+ that chops each life down to 40 seconds, and your energy bar down to a single heart.

Its mixture of inventive, challenging puzzle-solving and pixel perfect platform hopping works fine using touchscreen controls because interactions are generally undertaken with no time pressure. And if you don’t fancy watching an ad every three continues, removing them will cost you £3.99.

It might all seem amusingly camp watching it on YouTube but playing this outdated and clumsy action game is nowhere near as entertaining as it looks.

A complex strategy game with some severe accessibility issues, especially on consoles, but give it a chance and it’s a rewarding and deep sci-fi experience.

Funny, clever, and extremely complex mix of management simulator and survival game that manages to make abject failure almost as entertaining as success.

The casual fan will find plenty to enjoy but diehards will see Madden 20 as just another facelift to a franchise that knows how to succeed but struggles to innovate.

A monstrously awful game that is subject to so many bafflingly awful design decisions it’s lucky it doesn’t collapse into a black hole of its own ineptitude.

Another technical marvel for PlayStation VR that looks amazing and makes clever use of the tech – it’s just a shame the game is so incredibly short and so disappointingly dull.

A flawed but enjoyable co-op spin-off that’s unfocused and scrappy but still manages to find lots of entertainingly imaginative ways to kill Nazis.

A disappointingly clumsy attempt to evolve the Fire Emblem formula that takes little advantage of being on the Switch, but the anime melodrama and fun combat still entertains.

A director’s cut that for once makes a significant difference, with new levels and the return of co-op – although the underlying game is still slightly flawed.

It looks as boring as it sounds but Automachef is a surprisingly engrossing game of logic and planning that refuses to dumb down for its audience.

he name Tetris Effect was well chosen, because you really do feel the game altering your perception, as it and the Tetriminoes become your whole world. You play Tetris Effect but you also get the feeling that it is playing you, the blending of game and gamer reaching a peak in which they seem almost one and the same.

The best Advance Wars game never made, whose post-launch update smooths out the rough edges and creates a strategy game that’s more accessible and fun than ever.

A sci-fi shooter-meets-RPG sabotaged by a lack of plot, weak character progression, and sluggish combat.

Shallow, stupid, and very repetitive but as long as you play with friends there’s a goofy charm to what is, for better or worse, the best Marvel team-up game in a long while.

Its attempted revolution of turn-based tactics isn’t quite as practical as it first seems but this is still an impressively fun, and funny, strategy game.

The best Contra game for decades, even if it’s not an official sequel, with amusingly over-the-top action and a great co-op mode.

The best Advance Wars clone so far on the Switch, with tons of content, accessible controls, and deceptively deep gameplay.

The world’s only cyber ninja simulator is distinctly rough around the edges, but never lets that get in the way of some gory, chaotic fun.

The charming mix of Minecraft and Dragon Quest works even better the second time round, with a smart sequel that address the flaws of the original while adding plenty of new features of its own.

SolSeraph might replicate the gameplay of the original it but doesn’t even attempt to channel the same sense of innovation and experimentation. Failing to offer any improvement or evolution of the concept is a far greater insult to its legacy than just letting the game being forgotten by history. A fate to which it is now assuredly doomed anyway.

Once you get past They Are Billions’ multiple barriers to entry, and start to dig into its complexities for yourself, you’ll discover a fabulously complex and challenging game that’s not afraid to test you. For the right sort of masochist, it’ll be the start of dozens of hours of joyous yet cautious experimentation.

A thoughtful exploration of the monsters people can unwittingly become, although it often struggles to offer a compelling gameplay experience.

Why a show set in the 80s has a video game tie-in that recalls the worst of 90s licensed games is a mystery, but this has absolutely none of the charm, wit, or excitement of the TV show.

A compelling story well told, and although it’s still not very interactive the variety and artfulness of the presentation feels like something only a video game could do.

More depressing is its constant desire to shake you down for cash, with microtransactional extras popping up for practically everything you need to progress. It’s an exhausting begging simulator, with a wafer-thin veneer of Harry Potter that in no way recaptures the initial allure of Pokémon GO.

A slick sequel with promising, if shallow, career mode improvements. But it’s moving in the right direction and not far off achieving elite status.

More than just a successful reboot of a forgotten franchise, this is one of the most unique and entertaining new fighting games of recent years.

Not just one of the most versatile 2D game creation tools on consoles but the best collection of new Super Mario courses since the 90s.

The best Mario Kart clone of the nineties is also the best Mario Kart clone of the 21st century, with a stunning remake that offers welcome refinement and improvement.

The best Castlevania game never made and while it adds relatively little to the formula it is the best example of its use in many years.

A fun spin-off that takes some of the best parts of Yakuza and weaves a story that’s at least as compelling – even if a lot of gameplay elements are becoming overfamiliar at this point.

A clever mash-up of two very different games that perfectly evokes the best of 2D Zelda while integrating the surprisingly tactical rhythm action combat of Crypt Of The NecroDancer.

Between managing individual outbreaks you use a world map view to spread the infection to neighbouring countries in your ongoing effort to kill all humans. But while the process is reasonably compelling, the relative simplicity of its mechanics eventually starts to undermine the fun.

Its frequent checkpoints get more spaced out as you progress, but the invention never stops, expanding its simple base mechanisms in increasingly challenging new directions. Its polished, elegantly biological good looks are complemented by deliciously gloopy sound effects in this satisfying and tactile action puzzler.

If you’re not careful you’ll also find yourself learning a lot about the period’s history and the Romans’ divisive final lurch towards Christianity. But don’t let that put you off, as this is a deep and varied strategy game that never lets historical authenticity get in the way of fun.

Patients’ stories are hilarious, as are the songs that pepper the game, and the appalling medical advice you offer based on observation of the zodiac. Even more bizarrely, it’s based on the life of real Elizabethan astrologer, Simon Forman, albeit jazzed up considerably for the game.

Another engrossing example of traditional Japanese role-playing, that’s still accessible enough for anyone to enjoy – as long as they’ve played the first one.

A slight downgrade on the original but still a fun crossover that works as a crash course in the joys of both Persona and Etrian Odyssey.

Not your typical real-time strategy game, but despite a few interesting ideas this shallow husk of a game feels almost barbarically simple.

A rare, honest-to-goodness video game comedy that will delight Rick and Morty fans but also features some imaginative use of VR.

A charmingly inventive temporal puzzle and exploration game, that makes full use of one of the most enjoyably interactive game worlds of recent years.

The worldless storytelling is as compelling as ever and the purposefully frustrating control system still seems an excitingly daring experiment – now softened by an optional co-op mode.