Directive 8020 is everything you could want from a sci-fi horror game: Body horror aliens, the unwavering dread that all of us are insignificant when set against the great expanse of the universe, and fun QTEs.

A slick, accomplished shooter that’s more than just an eye-grabbing art style.

Pragmata's confidence in its punchy shootouts and old-school cool pays off, and the two leads roved their way into my heart despite a predictable plot.

While the learning curve might be steep at first, Xenonauts 2 offers incredibly rewarding tactical action for those willing to ascend it.

Despite occasional stalls, this combination of tactics and talking has plush-leather depths worth sinking into.

Some of Blizzard's best work in years wrestles with bugs and design issues, but still comes out on top.

Marathon is a brilliant distillation of what makes extraction shooters great, and a glimpse at where they could go next.

Prizing immersion and effort above all, this is a demanding, but very rewarding, RPG.

By turns sentimental and ridiculous, Death Stranding 2 nonetheless offers best marriage of mechanics and meaning in Hideo Kojima's storied career.

Vast and obtuse in a way that is going to frustrate some and exhilarate others, Crimson Desert is a fascinating journey, even when the destination isn't all that.

If you like RPGs, you owe it to yourself to play Esoteric Ebb.

A high-concept, fascinating strategy RPG that can start to buckle under its own ambitions.

Scott Pilgrim EX is a palatable fresh helping of retro beatdown goodness, but it's too brief and easygoing to deliver more fun than its inspirations or its best contemporaries.

Resident Evil Requiem sets itself out with a hard task: wrapping all the best elements of previous Resident Evil games into one. Miraculously it succeeds, with very few moments which left me wanting more.

Nine years in the making, Cyanide has expanded Styx's scope in all the right ways without sacrificing its steadfast focus on stealth.

Squanch's FPS sequel has more creativity in its left shoe than most entire games, but High on Life 2 falls short of excellence.

A sprawling, ridiculous, and endlessly surprising roguelike that will drag you body and soul into its chaotic world.

Nioh 3 is everything I wanted from a sequel to Nioh 2, and yet, somehow so much more. One of the best soulslikes yet.

A mind-boggling grand strategy game that tries to do way too many things, but ends up doing some of them extremely well.

A brilliant climbing adventure that siphons the rage out of navigation puzzlers like Death Stranding and Baby Steps, resulting in something prickly, but warmly approachable.

Intentionally and unintentionally thorny, but still one of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium.

Inkle builds a weirdo computer for the ages, then let you use it to solve a beautifully-written mystery. Outstanding.

A delightful visual novel and a great deckbuilder combined. What more could you want?

Heaps of fun and plenty chaotic, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the closest we've ever gotten to Mario Kart on PC… for better and worse.

This 3D take on the Vampire Survivors’ formula is brilliant dumb fun that’ll have you bonking monsters for hours. Eww.

One button used to its fullest potential and heaps of visual experimentation pay off in droves to make Rhythm Doctor one of the coolest and most distinctive rhythm games I've ever played.

Speedy, stylish, and effortlessly flexible, Tokyo Xtreme Racer captures the raw spirit of street racing.

The deckbuilder and the soulslike accommodate each other well, even if Death Howl is initially too busy killing you to show its best hand.

A stylish lunicidal skater with peerless vibes and devilishly sleek flip tricks.

Scary monsters, beautiful locations, and a story that's sadly lost in space.

Singularly unforgiving, dizzyingly complex, and like no other FPS out there: the extraction shooter's extraction shooter.

Devilishly moreish and hard to put down, only failed by performance snags and the absence of key quality-of-life features.

Dispatch is full of heart and jokes, and it's one of the best superhero TV shows around.

Polished city-building that goes the extra mile to create character and meaning to your block-dropping feats.

Arc Raiders is a genuinely enjoyable extraction shooter thanks to interesting weapons, beautiful maps, and unpredictable, action-packed PvPvE encounters.

This enthralling mystery quickly had me in its ghostly grip and refused to let go.

Hyperbeat is brief and a little twee at times, but its lively musical flights are one-of-a-kind.

A new bar for complexity in the historical grand strategy genre that sometimes buckles under the weight of its ambition.

SI’s gap year was well spent on a fantastic match engine update, but progress is still too slow between games.

A delightfully monotonous chore sim that tweaks the original powerwashing formula just enough.

An RPG with a great sense of fun and whimsy, as well as surprising depth to its character building.

An engrossing survival city builder with intricate production and farming systems.

Keeper is a gorgeous little package of tightly designed puzzles and cerebral platforming that showcases what makes Double Fine's games so uniquely special.

A gripping story full of intrigue and murder that struggles to find its footing as an RPG sequel.

Battlefield 6 is more about refinements than surprises, but a well-made Battlefield is automatically one of the best shooters of the year.

A roller coaster ride of ball-bouncing action that loves to break its own rules.

Absolum is ultimately a beat 'em up with a bit more depth and progression than we've seen before in this style of game that has been so resistant to change since it was born in the arcades. Absolum lacks the extensive variance of a true roguelike, but delivers enough intricacy to push the genre into a more interesting space than it's ever occupied.

Phenomenal on-the-pitch gameplay is marred by an awkward UI and lots of faff.

A Sisyphean challenge after which you'll never take pressing W to walk for granted again.

Despite some stumbles in its opening hours, Hades 2 blooms with flexible combat and unforgettable characters.

This is an extraordinary remaster of an essential RPG, and as unmissable today as ever.

Silent Hill f is an excellent next step for this accomplished horror series. Proving that the horrors of Silent Hill aren't and shouldn't be restricted to the iconic American mountain town.

Even a terrible UI and choppy performance didn't spoil several dozen hours of numbers-go-up bliss.

Vampire Survivors is no longer the king of the genre.

A great cozy yet creepy puzzle adventure packed with dozens of little mysteries to solve.

Silksong can be ruthless, but it's hard to pry yourself away from its haunted little world that never seems to end.

Caput Mortem is a little insubstantial, but reasonably priced for its short runtime and full of so many surprises and great moments, I can't help but love it.

Short, sweet, and utterly charming, Herdling's evocative beauty more than makes up for its superficial gameplay.

Smooth action blends seamlessly into smooth traversal, making this the better modern 2D Prince of Persia.

A gorgeous remake of a true classic that could, and maybe should, have tried to do a tiny bit more.

A short but spectacular surfing game, Sword of the Sea's atmosphere and movement propel it where its simple and repetitive puzzles can't.

A fun revival that opts for solid fundamentals over innovation.

Abiotic Factor is an unforgettable interdimensional odyssey with you and your closest friends.

Beautiful and stacked with excellent performances, but Eriksholm's stealth feels too much like being led around by the nose to reach greatness.

If you're looking for something new, you're certainly not going to find it in The Phantom X. But if you're cool with gacha games and are down to see a different set of Phantom Thieves, this game'll carry you through at least a few months of fun. Budget-friendliness depends on you, of course.

Peak is everything I'd want from a co-op game. It promotes creative collaboration, is cheap as chips, and with the map resetting every 24 hours there's the possibility of endless fun.

This light touch remaster makes a perfect pairing with Nightdive's far-reaching System Shock 1 remake.

An engrossing survival and crafting game with flawed but engaging endgame systems.

A heart-pumping genre superlative that should not be missed despite some technical issues to sort out.

Wildly unpredictable but always enjoyable, The Alters is a masterclass in high-tension gaming.

Once it finds its footing, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is an engaging romp through a charming and dynamic world.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon puts an interesting spin on Arthurian legend and presents a competent world that plays like a love letter to the open-world first-person RPG genre.

Elden Ring Nightreign is just as confusing and abrasive as FromSoftware's other games, but there's really nothing else like it.

An all-time great deckbuilder gets a sequel worth risking God’s wrath for.

Labyrinth of the Demon King offers familiar first-person retro dungeon crawling, but distinguishes itself with its overpowering—almost unbearable—mood of dread.

Doom: The Dark Ages is indulgent and deliciously violent, but surprisingly safe.

A witty take on sci-fi and co-op that’s teeming with life and begging for you to get creative with its gadgets.

Take an indie platformer like VVVVVV or Downwell and up the ultraviolence, that's Shotgun Cop Man.

A beautiful remaster of a great game that leaves some very old, obvious issues untouched.

Skin Deep is an indulgent masterclass in immersive sim shenanigans, but lacks a standout level you'll be telling friends about for years.

A new adventure game classic, and a bit of a tear-jerker.

There's much less game in Tape 2, but a strong narrative conclusion is worth seeing. It won't take long, either.

Unashamedly retro in spirit yet modern where it counts, Tempest Rising is a riveting flashback to the halcyon days of the RTS.

I love Blue Prince so much I'm going to spend the next 1,500 words or so telling you as little about it as possible. Unraveling its many mysteries and solving its multitude of puzzles—several of which I'm still working on even after finishing the game—is best done if you go in with nearly no information. Don't watch videos. Don't Google solutions. Don't even finish reading this review. Just go play it.

The least amicable city council meeting you've ever attended and probably the best game you'll play this year.

South of Midnight's action may not have the strongest hook, but its poignant tale of hope and sorrow tailored to Deep South mythos keeps its head raised high.

Rosewater tells an engaging Western story despite a well-worn formula.

Despite somewhat samey missions and a flat protagonist, Khazan's combat and boss design are some of the best I've seen in a soulslike.

Overboard's more complex follow-up is another great evil detective game.

Come for the neck stabs and stay for the surprisingly great combat, Assassin's Creed Shadows is a stealth action buffet with a story to forget.

Exceptional building mechanics support a game that sometimes feels like a chore.

Fragpunk's bold decision to break almost every rule in the book leads to a captivating shooter.

A satisfying farming and tea-shop sim inside a well-written adventure with meaningful themes.

These are decent enough remasters, but not the outstanding ones these RPGs deserved.

An incredibly inventive, rapid-fire co-op adventure that never breaks its stride, despite its dull protagonists.

It takes too long to grow beyond its predecessor, but once it does Knights in Tight Spaces is an engaging and tactical roguelike deckbuilder.

Two Point Museum is the coolest, cosiest, and most evolved iteration of the formula to date, even if its more obtuse aspects prevented me from becoming a pro curator.

Best in class monster combat makes up for a wilderness that's a touch too streamlined.