A truly wizard RPG, whose historical setting frees it from the limitations of the books and films, with an open world experience that entertains no matter how much you care about the source material.

A poignant, slow-paced but ultimately shallow exploration of memory and legacy in a changing world, that also manages to be the world’s first cycle-based walking simulator.

A very welcome surprise, that is one of the most enjoyably unique games on Xbox and one of the best rhythm action games in a very long time - as well as having arguably the best cel-shaded graphics ever seen.

A litany of missed opportunities results in one of the most aggravating action role-players of recent years, with irritating characters, dull combat, and a frustrating movement system.

An excellent remake of a not-quite-classic survival horror, that nevertheless makes a convincing argument for the continuation of the series.

A misguided attempt to recreate one of gaming’s oldest and most influential classics, that’s let down by outdated visuals and prehistoric gameplay elements.

What starts as a sweet and endearing homage to 90s gaming evolves into a sophisticated and, at times, dark exploration of two troubled youths, in one of the best indie games of the year.

A more traditional Fire Emblem experience than Three Houses, but one that’s filled with fun new features and emphasises deep and varied gameplay over dating mini-games.

Easily the best One Piece video game there’s ever been and a genuinely fun and innovative Japanese role-player in its own right.

Another great indie detective game that not only makes solving crimes fun and interesting but has some surprisingly good storytelling to tie everything together.

The best sequel to Chrono Trigger there’s never been, with a pseudo-Japanese role-player that maintains a delicate balance between retro homage and modern indie game.

One of the best story-based games of the year, with a complex mix of dystopian sci-fi, religious meditation, and a razor-sharp script.

A purposefully under-designed platformer that takes several cues from Pikmin but forges ahead with its own distinctive take on a platforming comfort game.

Fans of gripping mysteries and intriguing puzzles will love the eclectic storytelling, but not necessarily the pervy humour, in Kotaro Uchikoshi’s most fascinating oddity.

The best 2D shooter for several years and a fantastic homage to the genre, with some of the best pixel art graphics of the year.

A colourful, silly and deliberately over-the-top first person shooter, with severely undercooked gunplay and a sense of humour that will test the patience of even Rick and Morty fans.

An excellent sequel that marries Metroidvania style exploration with a dizzying array of new combat mechanics, to make one of the best roguelike experiences of this or any year.

This is likely to be the definitive version of a great game, and an excellent excuse to dive back into its gloriously rich and varied world, but at the moment it’s a bug-ridden mess that’s more trouble to play than the seven-year-old original. We’re sure by next Christmas it’ll all be running perfectly but all you get this year is a lump of 4K coal. [Review in Progress]

Charming and relaxing is not how you’d describe the average action role-player but this wholesome Dragon Quest spin-off is an enjoyably undemanding, family friendly adventure.

The touchscreen interface works well, even if a controller still trumps it, and for persistent players there are hundreds of hours of entertainment in this delightful and unassuming package. An inspiring addition to the Apple Arcade line-up.

Starting with a path a few squares long, clearing waves of mobs earns gold to buy fresh pieces of track and new turrets that are randomly selected from a gradually expanding range. Many turrets come with a conjoined grid square of water, which makes placing them on the game’s minimal islands an additional challenge. Soon more paths appear on neighbouring islands, forcing you to split your resources to defend them all simultaneously, in this sophisticated and engaging take on a well-established genre.

Already a classic on home formats, it works immaculately on a touchscreen; its blend of drama, murder mystery, and supernatural dread cleverly constructed to be understandable in whatever way you experience its fractured timeline. A genuine classic, but you may need to clear some space for its gargantuan, nearly 14GB file size.

An inspired piece of Final Fantasy 7 fan service, and a very good remaster, but as a standalone game the story and gameplay has very little value.

The best Need For Speed in a decade – but that says far more about the moribund state of the franchise than it does this workmanlike new entry.

Although it feels more like an early access release at this point, this is a promising start for what should eventually eclipse Vermintide 2 and all the other Left 4 Dead wannabes.

Dead Space 4 in all but name, except with no puzzles and surprisingly little suspense. The Callisto Protocol has plenty of gritty action but that’s not quite enough to sustain interest for its entire duration.

For a 27-year-old game with only minor changes this is still an enjoyably taxing tactical role-player but it’s new games this series needs, not more remakes.

A fantastically idiosyncratic approach to both superheroes and turn-based strategy, that manages to remain perfectly accessible without ever talking down to its audience.

An enjoyable combat system is left to flounder in an otherwise unambitious ode to Xbox 360 era shooters, that quickly gets too repetitive to enjoy.

Easily the best of The Dark Pictures anthology series, with a horror story that is deliciously chilling, surprisingly well acted, and far more interesting to play than its predecessors.

Being closer to a traditional video game does more harm than good, in a game that is all too proficient at making anarchic mayhem seem boring.

A significant advancement on Pokémon Sword and Shield and while it’s not hard to see how it could be improved further this is the most ambitious and entertaining Pokémon has been in a long while.

A significant advancement on Pokémon Sword and Shield and while it’s not hard to see how it could be improved further this is the most ambitious and entertaining Pokémon has been in a long while.

A fantasy musical adventure which has big laughs to match its big heart, while being built around charming, if shallow, gameplay mechanics.

A disappointing follow-up to Limbo and Inside that lacks the same complexity of plot and puzzles, and yet struggles surprisingly poorly with the move to 3D.

A Dark Ages mystery whose gameplay and dialogue are as unique as it’s daringly unconventional premise and visuals.

One of the grandfathers of tactical role-playing returns with an ambitious new remaster, that includes a surprising number of improvements and only a few missteps.

More than just a retro compilation, this is a fascinating attempt to create an interactive history of Atari, that goes above and beyond in terms of trawling the archives and creating new remakes.

Mixing Final Fantasy with Harvest Moon feels like it should result in something more stimulating than this awkward mishmash, whose disparate elements all prove disappointingly underdeveloped.

After decades of miserable failure, Sonic Team has finally made a good 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game, and it’s one of the best open world platformers ever seen.

An improvement on the last Star Ocean game but Square Enix’s veteran sci-fi franchise still feels stuck in the past, rather than exploring new frontiers.

A more flawed experience than its predecessor, with a sense that the formula is already starting to wear thin, but the character-based storytelling with Kratos and his son is handled masterfully well.

The most realistic and engaging instalment of Football Manager yet, even if its improvements are extremely minor in themselves.

Inevitably, a huge part of the enjoyment of free games is their economies, and well made ones go out of their way to make the opening hours welcoming and friendly. Marvel Snap is no exception and while more time will need to pass before a final judgement can be rendered the early signs are exceptionally promising.

An ill-conceived attempt at bringing competitive deathmatch to Resident Evil, that has turned out to be just as terrible as everyone always assumed it would be.

One of the most visually interesting video games of the year but also a survival horror that’s not quite scary enough to reach its full potential.

Bustin’ will not make you feel good in this shallow and repetitive asymmetric multiplayer, that is one of the worst of the recent crop of 80s movie homages.

A mild disappointment compared to the first Modern Warfare reboot, that relies too much on nostalgia and old ideas, but the core action and multiplayer modes are as irresistible as ever. [Review in Progress; Provisional score = 70]

A welcome sequel to the original Tales From The Borderlands, that negotiates the franchise’s loud mouth humour to deliver a surprisingly nuanced and intelligent slice of interactive storytelling.

A stylish replication of survival horror’s roots, which manages to capture and refresh the unsettling horrors of the genre’s 90s origins.

One of the best action games of recent years and an irresistibly entertaining celebration of everything that is joyous and imaginative about video games.

An uninspired retread of Resident Evil Village’s best moments, which squanders the opportunity to experiment or provide a hint about the franchise’s future.

Simultaneously better and worse than you’d expect, with some fun co-op and detective elements but weak combat and muddled storytelling.

The basics of gameplay work tremendously well, but the game is bogged down by too many niggling faults and the sense that it’ll take until at least next year to fulfil its potential.

An action-packed journey through medieval France that alternates between visceral violence and rural beauty, although its puzzles and action sequences occasionally feeling undercooked compared to its well-drawn and believable characters.

One of the best strategy games to ever appear on a console, with some genuine gameplay innovation and authentic Nintendo magic.

A fascinating glimpse into the twilight era of the stealth genre but the outdated gameplay and awkward controls make it difficult to be all that nostalgic about it.

A deep space shipbreaking simulator with a mellow feel and a satirical edge, that’s only let down by a gameplay loop that eventually gets a little too repetitive.

A superbly focused first person shooter that instantly gets to the heart of the genre, while providing plenty of unique twists – especially in terms of its psychedelic visuals.

For a paid game there’s a lot of microtransactions on offer, even if none of it proves essential. It also doesn’t feel all that tactical. With enemies emerging from multiple angles, there’s rarely time to engage in anything but furious spamming of special moves and a silent hope that you’ve upgraded enough to survive an encounter.

Its challenge and ingenuity never falter in a game that channels the essence of Shovel Knight into a fresh format.

The Below Decks characters look great and the humour, as expressed through quick chats amongst crew members, is solid enough, but the game just isn’t quite as compelling as other incremental games; Egg, Inc. and Cell to Singularity, for example, prove rather more gripping.

A breath of fresh air for the Overwatch franchise, with the new game modes, characters, and mechanics all working together superbly well, for a genuinely exciting sequel.

An occasionally inspired attempt to reinvent the Valkyrie Profile series, but a weak narrative and a dispiritingly empty game world drain the enjoyment from what could’ve been a fun action role-player.

A disappointing final whistle from EA as the new mechanics and fine-tuning create little in the way of major change, for a series that has long been in need of a major revamp.

The semi-real-time battles are fun but a lack of depth soon dulls your enthusiasm for this limp Fire Emblem wannabe, as the rest of the game is taken up by tedious, choice-free conversations and lengthy cut scenes.

An innovative combination of voice-controlled mechanics, combined with simple puzzles and an engaging story, that is short enough to not outstay its welcome.

A cosy game of potion manufacture, healing, and friendship set in a delightful isometric world, that’s let down by its grinding repetition and some serious bugs.

A hugely successful reboot for the beloved point ‘n’ click adventure, that achieves its comeback without sacrificing either its sense of humour or some enjoyably tricky puzzles.

An atmospheric and compelling text-only role-playing game, with a realistic approach to survival and building relationships – where every action and failure comes with lasting consequences.

The most approachable and the most realistic train simulator ever made, and it does a good job of making that more appealing than it sounds to non-fans.

More than just a Doom clone and despite faltering during what should be the game’s highlights this is an enjoyable romp for both metal and shooter fans alike.

The problem, beyond its intense ordinariness, is that many questions are America-centric, so unless you spell ‘mesmerise’ with a Z, know who the 25th president was, and can name various baseball and basketball players, frustration awaits.

The action can feel repetitive and the usual gacha caveats apply, but the flanking manoeuvres and judicious use of special abilities make for a game where tactics do at least play a part.

While it shares some of its playful approach to perspective with Gorogoa, this is no puzzle game and involves no player choice, but it does have a pleasing emotional resonance, even if the relentless melancholy eventually makes you want to go back to Poinpy.

Escalating rapidly from simple to mind-bindingly complex, its later eureka moments are definitely hard-earned, but the supreme cleverness of its puzzles is a continual source of joy and mild amazement.

The combination of its mechanical perfection and gradual upgrade path is magical, in a game that’s cute, colourful, and savagely addictive.

Much in the style of Samorost, Love You to Bits+ is a graphically beautiful, darkly witty puzzle adventure.

Technically this is the best Splatoon ever, but the complete lack of anything approaching a new idea is profoundly disappointing.

A competent Soulslike lifted by its alternate history premise and Parisian setting, but it’s not quite enough to compete with its obvious inspirations.

Nothing less than a whole new genre of video game, that evolves the interactive movie into something that feels dynamic and excitingly different.

A completely pointless remake of one of the best games of the last decade, except with only half the content and at double the price.

A frustrating mix of the best and worst of Persona results in a disappointing Shin Megami Tensei spin-off that prioritises streamlined gameplay over innovation.

One of the best retro compilations ever made… for a collection of games that, despite the nostalgia, really don’t deserve the attention.

A competent, if unwarranted, remake of an amiable 90s platformer that most people have long since forgotten – if they’re even aware it existed in the first place.

A mostly successful update of the scrolling beat ‘em-up concept, with excellent combat and an impressive range of moves, weapons, and enjoyably dangerous enemies.

A tragically outdated open world adventure that almost has more in common with Goat Simulator than Grand Theft Auto, despite some moderately entertaining mechanics.

A bit sickly, even for those with an excessively sweet tooth, this low rent Kirby spin-off is a poor follow-up to The Forgotten Land and has nowhere near the longevity of Fall Guys.

A polished, witty mix of golf sim, platformer, and roguelike that offers sterling value for money but can’t quite overcome an increasing sense of repetition.

A sleek skating hybrid with plenty of compelling ideas and some stylish presentation, but the longer it goes on the more frustrating it becomes.

A clever management sim that pays homage to both the arcades of the 1990s and the exquisite drudgery of teenage jobs.

Turning a demonic cult into a management simulator is an amusing idea but the cute graphics are the only lasting entertainment to be had from this misjudged muddle of a game.

A flawed superhero adventure even when it was first released, but the passage of time and a superior follow-up makes this a difficult recommendation at such a high price.

A delightful, humour-infused, and very British university management simulator with Nintendo-esque levels of polish and depth that’s introduced so gently you barely notice it.

Another major success for Monolith Soft; Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a contender for the Nintendo Switch’s best role-playing game and one of its most impressive technical achievements.

The 1994 original has some unfortunate flaws, that this remake doesn’t try to fix, but in terms of graphics, soundtrack, and sheer invention this is one of the best Japanese role-players of any era.

A worthy follow-up to the original coin-op collection but the selection of games never feels quite as varied or vital, and the continued lack of museum features is a shame.

A peculiar mix of cyberpunk dystopia and whimsical platformer that is just about held together by some excellent visuals and a very cute cat.