WoW's latest chapter offers a gorgeous leveling experience, interesting endgame systems, and a pile of well-designed dungeons. Though some rough edges remain, ongoing hotfixes are chipping away at them.

Per Aspera explores the cost of humans' need to conquer, all through the mind of an AI. A smart, sprawling city builder that requires a lot of patience and blurs the line between duty and morality.

Though not the most iconic rivalry, The Twisted and the Twilight offers the Wood Elves a crucial new lease of life, alongside some fun legendary heroes.

The building tension and well-written characters make this small town mystery captivating, but it bites off more than it can chew in its rushed depiction of a man struggling with his mental health.

Immortals Fenyx Rising's open-world is a constant delight to explore, even if it struggles to balance history and humour.

It's hard to ignore the need for a little extra TLC to smooth out the edges, but the fundamentals of an arresting tactics-and-strategy game about building a criminal empire are in place.

Beyond Light is undoubtedly in the upper tier of Destiny expansions, but its arrival has disrupted the game in ways that pose big challenges for Bungie in the months ahead.

It still has its quirks, but this year's Football Manager is the best one yet.

A fun management game about running a space program and shooting for the stars that sacrifices some of the visual wonder of space travel in order to remain accessible.

Godfall's tried and trusted combat feels pleasant from moment-to-moment, but doesn't do enough to distract from an otherwise hollow experience.

Treyarch's latest feels like it's only a few quality of life changes away from being the perfect revival of the Black Ops series. It delivers on all three fronts and manages to subtly freshen some of the series' most stale ingredients.

It doesn't do anything fundamentally new and too much of the series' jank remains, but when Valhalla works, it's a marvel, and it works far more often than not.

A game geared more towards music lovers than high-score hunters, Fuser still feels like an experiment – but it’s one worth keeping your eye on.

Competent and challenging but not especially deep, this Cold War tactical romp also tends to get a bit dry and repetitive at times.

A series of playsets to Forza Horizon's big open toybox. A fun and flashy arcade racer that's easy to pick up and play, but much, much harder to put down again.

Richly realised systems and empowering abilities create a tremendously fun sandbox to dig into, but another toothless story ensures these flashes of brilliance never cohere, leaving Legion feeling less than the sum of its parts.

Unrivalled parkour mechanics and tough-as-nails combat more than make up for a bland cyberpunk setting.

It ticks all the boxes it promised to, but feels like it could've gone further with improvements to gameplay, home cities for new civs, and AI.

A compact, confident, bite-sized roguelite with a bit too much emphasis on the ‘lite’.

This is a fun, fresh take on classic JRPG tropes and modern roguelike design, but it's in danger of running out of steam too quickly.

After such a long wait for a successor to X-Wing and TIE Fighter, Star Wars: Squadrons feels like a lucky shot with a proton torpedo.

A pretty decent start to Iron Harvest's RTS journey. Lacking some much needed additional content and the campaign could be better, but there's a solid foundation here.

A teasing blend of punishment and reward that will delight roguelike fans whether they played the first or not, Mossmouth's great achievement is in adding so much depth and scope without overcomplicating the formula.

With a gorgeous graphical overhaul and smoother gameplay, Hangar 13 delivers what a remake should. Just don't expect as much content as a modern open-world game.

Delightfully chaotic and ruggedly lovable, this is a decidedly old-fashioned shooter that succeeds on the principle of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

Few other roguelikes build around the genre's cyclical nature, both mechanically and narratively, as successfully as Hades. A punchy and fresh presentation of Greek myth is another touch that ensures its appeal will go well beyond genre fans.

A range of technical issues are holding it back at launch, but a combination of satisfying combat and likable characters has delivered the foundation of an excellent superhero game.

A creative expansion that adds enjoyable new mechanics and units, plus a unique two-stage campaign, without feeling disjointed from the core game.