The Layton legacy works perfectly well on mobile, with an endearing new lead and what by all rights should be regarded as a great value-for-money download.

An impressively daring horror experience that pushes the boundaries of what most people would expect from a video game, in terms of subject matter and imagery.

As blatant a clone as you’ve ever seen, but while the PC version was a novel take on Left 4 Dead, the severe price hike on consoles ruins the fun.

An even better Dark Souls clone than Lords Of The Fallen, but there are too few unique ideas and the difficulty often undermines the rest of the gameplay.

A welcome return for one of gaming’s greatest puzzle franchises, and while it’s not quite the best in the series it certainly has the most content.

A gothic masterpiece of weird fiction and roguelike exploration, that gives you the freedom to do whatever you want in one of gaming’s weirdest fictional worlds.

Nothing less or more than what was promised. Still the best football game around but its problems feel more glaring a year later.

An interesting attempt to make a 3D Harvest Moon, that combines some of the best elements of Minecraft, but it lacks any real identity or new ideas of its own.

Overwatch is still an excellent title, even this far from launch, but the Switch version is notably inferior in terms of online performance.

Colourful and brutal, funny and horrifying, Far Cry 6 is the distilled essence of its franchise, as well as a richer and more coherent experience than recent outings.

One of the strangest remakes of all time, given the amount of effort and care that’s been put into such obscure adventure games that, in all honesty, don’t deserve the attention.

An excellent reboot of an unfairly forgotten fighter, but the way it’s being sold does it no favours and severally restricts the fun to be had online.

A bad idea poorly realised, with some below par 3D platforming married to mismatched graphics and a vague and unsatisfying morality system.

Battlefield 3 does a good impression of Call Of Duty, but this isn't an expansion that plays to the series' strengths or offers much value for money.

Trying to simulate a sport as complex as rugby on a shoestring budget is a thankless task but in multiplayer mode at least this does a better job than any of its rivals.

It’s no Sonic Mania, but this is still one of the better attempts to create a modern day 2D Sonic The Hedgehog, with impressive visuals but boring boss battles.

If it wasn’t for the change in graphics this would get an unequivocal recommendation and even with that issue, we can’t imagine anyone that already enjoys Mario Kart 8 not thinking this isn’t worth getting as well.

There’s a lot to do, with quests and hunts coming thick and fast, as it once again strongly incentivises you to get fresh air – since it doesn’t work either indoors or in a moving car. While early days, indicators are that this could have the longevity recent Niantic games have lacked.

A meticulous and polished remaster of the classic sci-fi survival horror, which retains the original’s atmosphere and complexity while adding new mod cons, most of which enhance the experience.

An impressively ambitious, and consistently enjoyable, VR action game that embraces all aspects of the Iron Man character and is only let down by technical limitations.

A competent adaptation of the original anime but there’s a serious danger of déjà vu even for series fans, and the solid but unremarkable action is unable to overcome it.

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.

A fairly straightforward arcade conversion, but still a unique mix between fighter and shoot 'em-up.

A cheap-looking and unambitious remake of a generic Pokémon entry that seemed bereft of new ideas in 2006, let alone now.

Another classy retro conversion but Rare's platforming sequel feels older than it looks.

The best original Kinect game this year, and if it wasn't for the vagaries of the controller itself one of the best video games around for the very young.

Relatively generous in size and scope, but being Second Son in miniature only helps to highlight what a hollow spectacle the game is.

Possibly the most impressive use of 3D amongst all the launch games, and despite some obvious gripes a good solid football sim to boot.