Changes on the battlefield don't make for a Total War experience to match historical and Warhammer entrants, but there's still a deeply involving strategic layer in Three Kingdoms that sits well with its licence.

One of the most engaging and original story-based games this year. It’s dragged down by some trite videogame elements but its characters elevate it above its contemporaries.

The pace of id and Avalanche’s FPS is neutered by a dull open world and thin story but, in an unbridled whirlwind of gruesome gibs, you probably won’t care.

Sega’s original sequel has received the remake it’s due. The story fumbles in places, but its high points allow it to sit next to Yakuza 0 as the best the series has to offer.

Although its light tutorial and lack of feedback throw it off balance, Rise of Industry’s in-depth production tools and supply chain mechanics - not to mention waffle options - will meet the demands of any production sim fan.

As Imperator grows in scale from its Clausewitz cousins, so too it grows in depth and ultimately in unwieldiness. But there's a grand strategy with aeons of play in it for you.

Its two campaigns offer deliciously bonkers fan service for the rats and a meaty strategic challenge for the lizards, deftly served with CA’s usual care for the source material. A generous free update that profoundly improves the Skaven is the icing on the cake.

A vibrant snapshot of the Victorian era that’s bustling with character, but doesn’t explore the intriguing, seismic politics of the period.

Nine Dots Studio's RPG will appeal to people who love fiddly systems and have enormous patience. But if that isn’t you then it'll simply feel like a time drain.

Limbic has turned down its opportunity for revolución in favour of reinforcing the rule of El Presidente - a safe pair of hands for colourful city-building and wry commentary on the abuse of democracy.

Boasting the best swordfighting in the business, Sekiro is a game of rare but deserved self-assurance. You’ll despair as it breaks you down, but then you’ll exult as it builds you up. It’s a journey like little else in gaming, and if you’re up for the challenge, you absolutely have to play it.

The Division 2 is a substantial evolution on the mechanics of the first game, with a more immersive world to boot. This is an impressively complete game, with heaps to offer players across all of its content prongs and a level of polish that belies the size of the game’s open world. Sure, it’s story is utterly forgetful to the point where you may not even realise it has one, but all the other components have been tuned to near-perfection.

Few games are as endearing in their madness as Devil May Cry 5. It’s deeply old-school and made for fans first, but its new character will entertain newcomers and keep them coming back for more.

The culmination of over two decades of refinement, resulting in fluid, accessible, and balanced combat mechanics. While the game’s lurid focus on flesh will divide opinion, it remains one of the most polished and fully-featured fighting games in recent years.

This hack-and-slash wears its simplicity like a lovely Scandinavian jumper, but is scarcely substantial enough for its handful of hours and drenched by awful aesthetic choices.

A marvellously accomplished realisation of RedLynx’s deranged vision for the series, which somehow manages to be both the most accessible and most unforgiving Trials game to date.

Beautiful and mechanically robust throughout, but weighed down by repetitive missions, a flabby structure, and a lot of the people you meet in Fort Tarsis. Even the strongest beats become tiresome if repeated or drowned in white noise, and that’s Anthem in a nutshell.

A year of updates has helped fill out its light content, but the real magic was there from the start. Rare’s take on cartoon piracy encourages you to behave as a cartoon pirate should: a little bloodthirsty, a little silly, and almost always drunk.

Despite having 50 years of legacy to work from, this manga mash-up feels like a rush job. The combat offers basic fun, but as a complete package Jump Force proves to be a flop.

Builds on what's good about its unapologetically hardcore predecessor and adds a full-featured Rallycross career mode for those who prefer to trade paint in their racing.

Respawn’s game elevates its entire genre, doing away with its failings while innovating upon its strengths. From out of nowhere, it’s become the prodigious new face of a worldwide phenomenon.

Competent, with enough fun weapons and silly spectacle to make it inoffensive entertainment. While a half-decade of development hell could’ve ended with worse results, it’s tough to muster much excitement for what’s here.

Ubisoft’s open-world shooter digs into what makes the series great. Some of those experiments bear fruit, others bring frustration.

Pulling its inspirations from across videogames, this radioactive romp is the strongest in the series, and one of the best post-apocalyptic games ever made.

Updated systems, fleshed out characters, and, yes, higher fidelity graphics, all mean that this original gangster epic can sit proudly alongside the rest of the family.

The new World Congress and climate change mirror real-life in that they're partly beyond your control, making them hard to factor into your schemes. The new civs are among the best and most novel in the game, though.

Failbetter continues to revolutionise the RPG - not by burning it all down, but by slipping pages of prose into every crevice it can.

Chucklefish's strategy tribute does nothing worse than Advance Wars, and little better - instead, it’s exactly what it needs to be to spiritually succeed. It’s small, in both character models and design ambition, but it’s probably going to be massive. Despicable.