Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is an exceptional sandbox. There’s nothing in the entire medium that feels quite as unique as being able to sprint, duck, and dive towards the horizon, making the most of the many varied paths on offer in this superbly sculpted playground. But when the game tries to be more than that, it begins to fall apart. Catalyst is certainly a step forward for Mirror’s Edge, but not the leap that it could be. If this is the return of Faith on a regular basis though, DICE have created the foundations for a very strong sequel indeed.

It was inevitable that The Witcher 3 would close on a high, but few will have expected what they’ll find in Blood & Wine.

Total War games past have expanded, changed and morphed over time and this will doubtless be similar. As it stands, Warhammer is a worthy addition to the series, particularly as a melding of two universes we’ve long wanted to see collide. And before long, as the patches roll in, it could be even more than that.

Calling Stellaris Europa Universalis in space is probably reductive, but it was the first thing I did in this review not because they are almost exactly alike, but because, when I put away my empires and get on with my day, the stories that have played out in these digital worlds embed themselves in my brain, and I so desperately want to tell people about them. Both games tickle the part of my brain that wants every battle to have some greater context, every move I make to be part of a larger narrative. Stellaris manages to do this without history to lean on, though, and does so with aplomb.

The Banner Saga 2 captures much of what made the first game such a compelling fight for survival. It has a tendency to focus on the bigger picture and with the large number of characters that don’t have much to say, some of the emotional engagement from the original is lost, but both the management side of things and the tactical battles have been lavished with improvements. The journey is bleak and savage, but the game is great.

You start off as a weak, undead wanderer and eventually grow into a being that can kill god-like monsters, and it’s not because the game’s narrative needs you to be that powerful, but because you’ve worked so very hard to get to that point. It’s an incredible feeling, and makes Dark Souls III an incredible game.

This is a game which looks spectacular, sounds downright amazing, implements engaging systems and ticks all of the What Makes A Good Real-time Strategy Game boxes, however its true beauty comes from the moments I’ve experienced that you never will and vice versa. With more campaign episodes due further down the line, not to mention modding and Steam Workshop support, it seems Ashes of the Singularity can only get better.

The Division’s astonishing complexity makes it appear to be one of Ubisoft’s most ambitious games to date. But that’s actually smoke and mirrors, because the key components are remarkably simple. Underneath it all, this is a classic Ubisoft open-world game, bolstered by fantastic co-op and PvP support, and marred by RPG percentages that are as intrusive as they are ineffective. Approach it with the view to completing the campaign and sightseeing New York with friends and you’ll have a blast. But this isn’t a world you’ll be living in for years to come.

A powerfully distilled story told in a time and place that haunts you with its beauty, its mystery, and restraint. Firewatch takes the time to turn its setting into a character, and it's one of the most three-dimensional videogame characters you'll encounter in 2016.

That this story of desperation and ingenuity should come from Firaxis, who had no cause to be ingenious, who weren't desperate but instead buoyed by the hard-won success of Enemy Unknown, is all the more remarkable. The studio is known for handing new iterations of Civ off to younger, less-proven designers, but this is braver still. XCOM 2 is no iteration at all, but an inspired rework. A new underdog story that requires new, underhand tactics.

Regardless of if you’ve played the first game or not, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a journey you should embark on. Few games offer thrills in such a well-crafted, honed package. There’s simply not a single moment when the game doesn’t feel like it’s not giving its all. Rise of the Tomb Raider truly makes you feel like Lara Croft: a bow-wielding, mountain scaling, bear-slaughtering, cave diving mad lady with more curiosity than can be healthy. And that feeling is just wonderful.

I’m not going to beat around the bush here: Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is the greatest RTS I have played since I first started flirting with StarCraft II. It’s blessed with the detail of Wargame, the interesting terrain of Company of Heroes and the iconic style of its space-based predecessors. Diverse, distinct units; a genuinely compelling sci-fi story of mythic proportions; and absolutely the best sound design in the genre work toward making it a stand out RTS.

It’s impossible to deny that there are a number of things that Just Cause 3 doesn’t do very well, and a lot of the things it does brilliantly are very similar to its predecessor. But all of this is easy to forgive when your adventure in Medici plasters a grin across your face for the duration.

The lower-than-anticipated graphical quality and sometimes iffy performance is a bit of a blemish on the experience, but Fallout 3 suffered similarly and still achieved greatness... Its combat is the best Bethesda have ever produced: involving, kinetic, and exciting. The collection of weapons at your disposal are destructive and inventive, and strapping on power armour makes you feel like an absolute killing machine.

Hearthstone is good. I adore it. But think very carefully how if you want to get in here.

For the most part the execution is too simplistic, and the frustrations are too frequent.

It's an improvement on the scrappier feeling original, introducing that one tiny combo-blending manual trick that transforms the game into a profoundly new-feeling and lovely thing.

None of the separate parts – the platforming, the construction, the light strategy – stand out as particularly refined or able to stand toe to toe with games that just focus on one of those things, but Q-Games has put them all together in a package that is much more than the sum of its parts, hiding its flaws under the satisfying pace and multitude of unlockable rewards and newly discovered recipes.

For the moments where the procedural stuff just works perfectly, creating a bastard-hard but ultimately memorable level, and for the world itself, which is lovely, The Swindle is worth dedicating a couple evenings to. It won’t steal your heart though.

Considering you’ve likely played the previous three games and have now spent around eight hours keeping homicidal animatronics at bay, there’s nothing about this fourth game that begs for you to return. Instead spend the cash on a bag of snacks and some drinks, and watch someone else shriek loudly into a microphone for you.

It’s missing that spark of personality and something that ties all the scenarios together. And it’s in desperate need of a great deal of polish.

Ultimately, there just isn’t anything that Interstellaria does remotely well, beyond the cracking soundtrack.

Putting aside the superb plot, Square have made it easier than ever to catch up: main scenario quests have had their experience rewards doubled, and also provide high level equipment. You’ll also be put in priority queues for dungeons and story instances to get you through them hassle free.

A tightly-conceived, devilish little game, keen to show dungeon crawling conventions the trapdoor. It takes what it needs from the best in CCGs and tactics and folds them into a structure that’s clever and consciously underivative. It’s a deck I intend to keep playing with.

It’s fast, explosive and completely ridiculous, and it’s horribly frustrating when whole days go by without it working.

When you first boot it up it feels surprisingly robust, and there’s never a sense that it was created on the cheap to cash in. The matchmaking can certainly make or break the experience from match to match, but when the going’s good Block N Load is a smile-generating shooter.

Her Story is a captivating experiment in stripped down storytelling and the best use of FMV that I’ve ever had the good fortune to encounter.

Star Hammer’s combat systems are truly exceptional, but they’re trapped in a bland, forgettable campaign.