While Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus plays it too safe with its gameplay, its engrossing setting and large cast of charming characters help it stand apart in the ever-crowded Metroidvania genre.

Characterized by stunning visuals rooted in Japanese folklore, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess' tower defense and hack-and-slash action is like nothing I've ever played before. While there are a few minor frustrations, Capcom's new adventure is a must-play and a ready-made cult classic.

Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail introduces some of the game’s best dungeons and trials yet alongside a compelling story that, while slow to ramp up, delivers resoundingly in its second act, setting a promising precedent for the future of the MMORPG on all counts.

Bland visuals and a lack of motivation combine with frustrating mechanics to make Ark of Charon little more than a temporary distraction. [Early Access Review]

Zenless Zone Zero sets slick, responsive combat against a backdrop of cassette futurism and ‘90s nostalgia, but it strains against the yoke of HoYoverse’s built-in gacha system.

Riven's remake somehow achieves the impossible - all at once rewarding the nostalgia and support of long-time fans, embracing wild creativity, and fully realizing the needs of a modern audience. The 1997 classic is reborn as one of the year's best puzzle games.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree sits proudly among the best videogame expansions of all time thanks to its sense of adventure, epic boss battles, and ambitious new additions.

Still Wakes the Deep dredges up The Chinese Room’s greatest strengths at immersive storytelling, but a low fear factor leaves this oil rig horror in the churning waters of authentic Scottish drama.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape ties up a decade's worth of story, conflict, and relationships in the most engaging and emotionally satisfying way possible. Bungie's best-in-class narrative team has outdone itself, the combat and gunplay sit at the pinnacle of the FPS genre, and I've ultimately never played anything like it.

A masterclass in open-world game design and a thrilling samurai epic in its own right, Ghost of Tsushima is a must-play on PC.

Offering a stunning visual upgrade, a great new story, and a hugely rewarding combat system, Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance is officially the best and only way to play Atlus' beloved JRPG.

Skald: Against the Black Priory captures the spirit of your favorite old-school RPGs while serving up deep side quests and memorable lore, but its combat and progression systems eventually run into trouble and its overarching narrative never quite takes off.

F1 24's new additions and changes, including its barebones Career Mode and overly forgiving Dynamic Handling system, often do more harm than good, making this a solid but skippable entry for anyone other than the most diehard fans.

For fans of asymmetrical multiplayer games, Killer Klowns from Outer Space does what many others before have not, almost perfecting the likes of balance, down time, and match length, and it deserves to be considered among the best in the genre. Illfonic’s game fills the gap left by Friday the 13th and checks every box in style, but its lesser-known IP may prevent well-deserved longevity.

Capes mostly overcomes its cliches, lack of customization, and limited scope thanks to its strategic gameplay that will test the mettle of even the most hardened of turn-based tactics veterans.

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is a short but very sweet adventure that works your brain and warms your soul.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is an impeccable story of coming to terms with trauma and making difficult decisions, punctuated by moments of outstanding beauty and strength.

Homeworld 3 is a welcome return for one of strategy gaming's most revered series, although the sometimes-clunky interface can make it feel older than it is.

While the throwback graphics and simplistic combat won't appeal to many, the authentic and original story and endlessly fascinating world make Dread Delusion feel like a long-lost cult classic.

Despite its confusing fast travel system and misbehaving yo-yo, Animal Well is a bizarre yet brilliant neon-bathed adventure, characterized by tricky puzzles, intense platforming, and a host of cute animals - almost all of which are out to kill you.

Solo Leveling Arise is authentic to its anime and webtoon inspirations, but it's too grindy, frustrating, and repetitive to come close to rivaling the best gacha games.

For the time being, though, it’s a beautiful and mechanically impressive city builder that still has plenty of room to grow. [Early Access Review]

Whether or not you’re a fan of Suikoden II, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is just about worth your time. Unfortunately, almost every high point in Nowa's adventure is met with a painful low, making for a disjointed experience bursting with forgettable minigames and characters.

Nexus 5X is a fun, breezy, and surprisingly nuanced spin on Stellaris that's perfect for an evening's gaming session with friends.

Despite the promise of its setting and philosophically informed morality system, Broken Roads fails to set itself apart from or come remotely close to matching the many post-apocalyptic games it’s inspired by.

Horizon Forbidden West is utterly gorgeous and builds on the original's intense combat, but a lack of ambition and a flat narrative hold it back as a sequel. It provides more of the first game but bigger, with a few new inclusions struggling against the tidal wave of familiarity.

Simple and beautiful to look at, Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is a pleasant distraction but lacks the depth in its combat and economy to stay interesting for very long.

Millennia is a fresh take on the 4X genre that offers a reactive approach to building your nation throughout history, but a few key issues keep it from greatness.

South Park Snow Day makes for chaotic, mindless fun when played with friends thanks to its roguelike-inspired upgrades and sense of humor, but it's a frustrating dud when going it alone.

For better and for worse, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a faithful reimagining of Hideaki Itsuno’s flawed yet ambitious action-RPG. Those who rise to the challenge of meeting it on its own terms are suitably rewarded, but a deluge of trash mobs, restrictive fast travel, and endemic hardware issues will be a dealbreaker for many.

Alone in the Dark is a weak survival horror pastiche largely devoid of original moments. The occasional dash of character in its 1920s Deep South setting can't make up for repetitive puzzles and the feeling we've seen all of this before.

Never before has a game felt more at home on VR when compared to its PC counterpart. PowerWash Sim VR sets a new standard for the care and attention to detail that devs must now meet when porting their games into virtual reality. [Meta Quest 3]

WWE 2K24 is a fitting tribute to the legacy of the wrestlers that came before, the talented Superstars that now thrill millions worldwide, and the future of sports entertainment in videogames, even if there is still room for improvement in the presentation and some of its game modes.

Solium Infernum regards strategy as a game of intellect, patience, and observation. Put into those terms, it might sound dry, but its visual flair combined with the ingenious ways it turns abstract ideas into tangible, comprehensible, and thrilling game mechanics make it irresistibly playable.

Pacific Drive offers a road trip like no other, boasting immaculate sound design and a classic '90s conspiracy delivered through a compact survival-crafting roguelike loop.

Last Epoch is an ARPG that puts mechanics first, and does so with a resounding sense of class identity. Its player-friendly design ensures you have all the tools you need for the job, and rivals such as Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 would do well to pay attention to some of its smartest innovations.

Skull and Bones promises the pirate adventure of our dreams and falls far short thanks to a sparse storyline, lack of personality, and gameplay that oscillates between frustrating and boring.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a hauntingly beautiful tale of two lovers embarking on a treacherous journey that tests their relationship through tragedy. With a world and combat that emulate the God of War reboot, and side quests similar to The Witcher 3, this is one of 2024's early must-plays, even if its moral decisions are restrictive.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League offers some fun, frantic action, but it gets lost in shallow, repetitive mission structures and frustrating narrative sensibilities.

Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 is an enjoyable and emotional horror puzzle game that draws to a powerful conclusion, even if bugs, difficulty spikes, and its oddly paced narrative keep it back from greatness.

Whether you’re a new player experiencing it for the first time or a veteran on your latest playthrough, Persona 3 Reload is the best way to play the classic JRPG, even if it’s missing some key content.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the end result of two decades of iteration from Ryu Ga Gotoku and the studio's best game yet. Sprawling but never bloated, it remains captivating from beginning to end across both its main narrative and bountiful side adventures, almost never missing a beat.

Tekken 8 improves on its predecessor with a complete graphics overhaul, drastically improved netcode, and a robust base game package featuring 32 characters and 16 stages. With DLC fighters already in the pipeline, there’s more than enough content to keep fighting game fans packing punches for the foreseeable future.

No matter where it falls on your moral compass, Palworld has given the static formula of Pokémon a clear shake-up, both mechanically and ethically. On a technical level, I can’t say it’s good. However, its sheer playability is carried by just how bizarre it is from moment to moment. It’s certainly not bad going for a game that many people dismissed as vaporware at best, or forecast to go the same way as Fntastic’s The Day Before at worst. Anyway, my Pengullet’s feeling down because of the bad working conditions, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to chuck him into a hot spring. [Early Access Review]

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is simultaneously overblown and undercooked in some areas, but it nails the fundamentals of combat, platforming, and exploration, making for a strong Metroidvania adventure and an exciting new entry in a legendary game series.

While there is a lot of potential in House Flipper 2, it hits too many stumbling blocks that prevent it from achieving greatness. If you don’t bother with sandbox mode, at least in its current state, and opt to rush through the restrictive story mode quests, house flipping itself is good fun. So perhaps House Flipper 2 should just stick to its name and what it does best.

Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader’s adventure across the dangerous Koronus Expanse is full of fun sci-fi lore and companions, but it’s buried beneath wonky balancing, tedious spaceship battles, and quest-breaking bugs. Perhaps after numerous patches, Rogue Trader will one day become a strong addition to the CRPG genre.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora gives you the strength and stamina of the Na’vi, but not the consistency and depth of their homeworld. Unless you’re an avid fan who wants every morsel of storytelling, Ubisoft's latest open world doesn’t always justify the trip.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus is an outstanding VR game that shows AAA developers how to bring their properties into a new platform the right way. Some minor buggy moments aside, Nexus is deserving of praise for the way it has stayed faithful and only added to the long-lasting legacy of the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

Against the Storm is a prime example of what can happen when a small team has clear inspiration, passion, and a willingness to collaborate with its players. It’s a brilliant mix of roguelike, strategy, and small-scale city building that will hook you from the jump.

Steamworld Build delivers an entertaining blend of city building and dungeon crawling, but the two pillars don’t completely gel and myriad annoyances taint the experience.

Valve has improved the Counter-Strike formula with the release of CS2, even if there’s still a lot of work to be done before it’s feature complete. While we’re in the dark on specific timelines, the developer’s work rate has been promising since launch, and if it continues at this pace, we’re in for an exciting 2024 as Valve ushers in a new era of Counter-Strike.

Modern Warfare 3 is an uninspiring trip down memory lane, hacking together old ideas in an attempt to create something new. With a campaign that even the most die-hard fans would struggle to enjoy, and a multiplayer mode that offers nothing fresh, it’s best to steer clear of this full-price travesty.

As a sendoff to these beloved characters, Persona 5 Tactica tells a decent story and has novel tactical RPG ideas; even if said mechanics destroy all semblance of challenge.

Football Manager 2024 brings added finesse to the ultimate sports management simulator. There are frustrations for seasoned players, and a heavy learning curve for rookies, but this is still the best single-player sports game on the market.

An intriguing story of exploring new frontiers and an easy gateway into retro sci-fi literature, The Invincible is a powerful, engrossing cosmic drama that’s held back by a lack of variety and innovation, rough edges around its core mechanics, and a supporting cast that can’t quite match the energy of its stars.

Robocop: Rogue City captures the essence of the ’80s classic with over-the-top gunplay and a surprisingly engaging storyline influenced by player choice. It’s ambitious in parts, but repetition in its side missions and some jankiness hold it back.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice serves up a strong story and world but is marred by repetition and occasionally confusing level design, which holds it back from achieving its full potential as an instant VR classic.

Song of Nunu offers a rich narrative with plenty of heart and does an excellent job of synthesizing its characters in an authentic way. However, bland gameplay and performance issues work as a foil to Tango’s excellent storytelling, marring the overall experience.

Alan Wake 2 is a marvel, serving up intense gameplay, a twisty, dark story, and more secrets and surprises than you could possibly imagine. Remedy has outdone itself here, delivering a truly remarkable experience.

Ghostrunner 2 improves upon everything that made its predecessor great. Framed by a stunning, neon-bathed city with a soundtrack that’s to die for, One More Level’s latest is a high-octane parkour adventure that you really don’t want to miss.

Intricate, intuitive, and ambitious, Cities Skylines 2 successfully integrates all the major improvements that players might have wanted. Something personal is lost in its larger scale, while performance problems spoil the beauty, but this could one day become the superior city building game.

Hellboy Web of Wyrd’s sharp art direction, warm voice performances, and goofy if basic combat struggle to shine through in a roguelike that is otherwise too messy in too many ways.

With some strong new ideas and often solid core design, Lords of the Fallen is an enjoyably grimdark soulslike. That said, Hexworks’ debut release borrows a lot from Dark Souls, and while this makes for a good baseline, it could do more to escape the shadow of better games.

Old issues return and some of its new ideas are less effective than others, but Total War: Pharaoh remains a strong and exciting addition to the series’ historical catalog.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage delivers a renewed focus that trims the fat from its predecessors to commemorate the very best bits of the series, but familiar parkour problems and anemic combat hold it back from true greatness.

Forza Motorsport is an adequate racing game, one that delivers on the track but doesn’t come with enough bells and whistles to be considered a true great in the genre. There are better options in almost all racing sub-genres on PC, but when you’re in the cockpit, the driving itself is ferocious and raw, with plenty to enjoy.

The Lamplighters League attempts to deviate from tradition, promoting creativity over power, but ultimately falls short. However, its simplicity puts it into the more approachable realms of turn-based tactical games and is a great choice for anyone looking to try the genre for the first time.

Mortal Kombat 1 offers smart changes to the series’ gameplay, an entertaining story that still threatens to baffle newcomers and veterans alike, an online mode that works well on PC, and tons of gore. While the seasonal Invasions mode is a fascinating idea, it’s unclear whether it’ll be enough to retain long-term interest. However, this is still a fantastic, horribly gruesome Mortal Kombat game that’s well worth your time.

Payday 3 takes its beloved predecessor’s multiplayer heist formula and elevates it across the board, making for a thrilling experience, provided you’ve got a crew to play with.

Phantom Liberty is a fitting send off for V, Night City, and Cyberpunk 2077 as a whole. After a rocky launch, CD Projekt Red has delivered with an incredibly dense and impactful expansion to one of the medium's best cityscapes, even if the narrative choices on offer hold it back a smidge.

While at first glance Lies of P is ‘Bloodborne at home,’ Round8 Studio’s clockwork adventure writes its own unique story, filled to bursting with expansive Steampunk-style environments and defined by impressive, well-balanced combat. In some cases, though, it gets a little too clever for its own good, tying itself up in the strings that it fights so hard to break free from.

Starfield is a true behemoth of an RPG, and in many ways it’s the logical endpoint of Bethesda Game Studios’ well-worn formula. However, its massive scope pushes this formula to the absolute limit and the cracks begin to show, from feature creep to the stop-start nature of its exploration. Dedicated Bethesda fans are sure to get their fill, but this interstellar adventure never leaves the atmosphere.

Sea of Stars is a worthy pseudo-spiritual successor to some of the greatest JRPGs ever made. It improves on what made those games so special by modernizing their magic through balanced and engaging turn-based combat wrapped up in an enthralling world to explore.

Armored Core 6 is easily one of the best mech games around, with blisteringly fast combat and a big focus on customization, even if its difficulty is lacking and repetition sets in before the end.

Blasphemous 2 is a well-constructed but ultimately conventional Metroidvania, and while it still delivers on holy grotesquerie and striking visuals, the end result is a sequel that feels markedly smaller in scope.

En Garde is a tantalizing first outing from new studio Fireplace Games, thanks to its slick combat and wonderful sense of humor. It’s in some ways so strong that it leaves you wondering what this team could do with more time and money behind them.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a killer game for fans of the asymmetrical horror genre, thanks to its beautiful maps, varied gameplay, and unique 4v3 balance. Faithful to the 1974 movie, this one is a pleasure for horror fans, but whether it can stand the test of time like the film itself remains to be seen.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s world is beautiful, layered, and complex, and challenges you to attack it how you want. The story is compelling, giving your decisions a weight rarely seen in games of this scope. It is a marvel, and easily one of the best RPGs ever made.

Atlas Fallen’s superb combat, intruiging world, and fluid traversal make up for a play-by-numbers narrative. Thankfully, simple things like surfing the sands of a ginormous desert wasteland and taking on behemoth beasts mean I can enjoy the game for what it is instead of what it could have been.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series brings one of the best storytellers in videogames back to the forefront, producing a prequel that will delight fans as well as open up the universe to newcomers.

The Sims 4 Horse Ranch has given me the equestrian content of my dreams, with a wide variety of horse breeds to choose from and beautiful riding animations. From adorable little farm animals to artisan wine making, there is a lot to love in Horse Ranch. I am only left wishing it was all a bit less Western.

Remnant 2 marries Matryoshka level design and sublime set pieces with memorable bosses, all while polishing the combat system and build customization of its genre-bending predecessor to a spit shine.

Where life finds a way, Exoprimal has lost its purpose. Defined by boring combat and a lack of innovation, I’m left feeling like that Brachiosaurus in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – hopeless and yearning for more.

Oxenfree 2 casts off adolescence in a bid to explore the trials and tribulations of adulthood, featuring authentic dialogue that packs an emotional punch.

AEW’s first foray into videogames has much room for improvement across its odd-looking character models, slim game mode offerings, and poor AI balancing. That said, in the right crowd, you might enjoy it for its schlock and solid controls.

Diablo 4 embodies the essence of what makes Diablo so great, taking the best elements of its predecessors and sewing them together to create an ever-changing, ever-evolving chimera that we can’t wait to play for years to come.

This is the first Street Fighter game in a long time where it feels like players of all skill levels are welcome. While World Tour mode is disappointing, the sheer scope of SF6 means you don’t need to wait for the inevitable Ultra Edition before jumping in.

The System Shock remake is the best way to play the PC classic, making it an enjoyable first-person experience for the modern age. However, it still clings to some somewhat outdated mechanics that will frustrate newcomers.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum fails to live up to both the Tolkien name and its own potential. From exhausting, repetitive gameplay to a poorly constructed narrative, this is a piece of Middle-earth you should never explore.

Honkai Star Rail is a highly polished turn-based RPG that builds off the Hoyoverse gacha machine, and while it certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, its colourful cast of characters and mercurial tone sets it on the right track.

As long as you don’t mind the truly daft AI making things a bit mindless, Redfall is a good-enough co-op action game, but it makes me sad for the vampire-hunting immersive sim Arkane could’ve delivered.

This is undoubtedly the best 4X game I’ve played in years, delivering top-notch exploration, combat, and diplomacy alongside a rewarding and dynamic customisation system.

No surprises here. Survivor doubles down on Fallen Order, deepening the Jedi power fantasy and expanding on its predecessor in every way, though all its choice and freedom does limit both the story and, to a degree, the combat.

There’s a lot of fun to be had slaying zombies on the streets and beaches of HELL-A, but if that first bite doesn’t infect you, you might find – like the protagonist – that your experience gets stronger as you play.

It isn’t complex enough to satiate veteran RTS players and doesn’t offer mountains of content, but Minecraft Legends delivers the basic loop of attacking and defending territory and finds the odd inventive way to use its iconic IP.

A scorching, over-the-top sendup of capital’s morbid contempt for labour, Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs adds a wild new unit roster and a fun new campaign, and is an essential addition to Total War: Warhammer 3.

Grim-faced dedication to history has produced a rules-heavy RTS that’s rarely fun or strategically rewarding – a highly accurate depiction of the First World War, in other words, and a success in that respect at least.