While the journey through Demon’s Souls is one that has resulted in much frustration and higher blood pressure than I would normally put myself through just to play a video game, it is a wonderful showcase of what the PS5 can do and the perfect game for those that want to challenge themselves. Combined with the impressive graphical quality and those incredibly fast loading speeds, you have the perfect fodder for the ‘onebro’ that secretly lives inside you.

Some interesting ideas combined with a relatively short run time makes Chronos good for one or two playthroughs that will genuinely make you appreciate its successor even more.

Warriors games come in all shapes and sizes, but Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is one of the best. Great fun for green players and veterans alike, this alt-history rollercoaster delivers what you expect plus more.

While it loses some of its sheen, this port of everyone’s favourite banana republic nation-building sim has everything you will find on the other platforms, giving you the ability to control everything in your island nation no matter where you are.

Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a wonderfully crafted epic in which Ubisoft Quebec celebrate rather than shay away from their influences to deliver humour and action in equal doses.

You can easily imagine a world where the XIII remake is a success, but sadly this isn’t that world. Broken is about the nicest thing that can be said about this remaster that is somehow worse than the original.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure, is a big step in a fresh direction for the overall franchise. Leaving the tried and true ‘Play, Create, Share’ model behind is a gutsy move from Sumo Digital, but is one that greatly benefits the final product, with each level clearly benefiting from the extra TLC that comes from not dedicating time to an all-consuming creation mode.

A masterclass in worldbuilding, the punk aesthetic of Umurangi Generation is a sight to behold. Snap your way through a series of increasingly provocative spaces, soaking in every facet of this incredible journey.

The next-gen version of NBA 2K is a true step forward in both graphical prowess and inclusivity. An improved attitude towards micro-transactions also makes this the friendliest NBA 2K has been in a long time.

Harmonix has always been a studio whose love for music infuses every title they’ve had a hand in. Fuser feels like the first time they’ve finally found a way to guide players towards engaging with said music on a deeper level than other rhythm titles, but in the process may turn away anybody who solely desires to recreate songs on plastic instruments or is hell-bent on chasing high scores while notes drop at blistering speeds.

The most interesting and inventive campaign in the franchise makes this well worth the price of entry. Sadly the multiplayer modes don’t live up to the high bar set by the single player mode.

A hearty slice of Viking pie, goes great with a new console and a flagon of mead. Ubisoft have taken the Creed to a new level with their trip to the Nordic settlement of merry old England.

Though only an evolution and not a further revolution to the Spider-Man formula, Miles’ journey is full of heart, is riveting to play through and a joy to just kick back and immerse yourself in.

As well as being an excellent demonstration of the future ahead for owners of the PS5, Astro’s Playroom serves as an excellent, albeit brief platformer. You’ll find that just as the game really begins to come into its own, it ends, and that’s an almighty shame, but will likely you leaving salivating at the prospect of what is to come for Astro Bot and friends.

It’s Pikmin 3, a pretty great game from 2013 with pretty minimal additions, but that won’t matter as it’s now on a system that a lot of people actually own.

The world of the Chicken Police does not disappoint, even if the detective noir story at its heart is predictable. Fantastic character and voice work make for a compelling ride nonetheless.

You’re only as strong as your weakest link, and with so many links in the Sakuna chain, you expect something to give way at some stage – but it never happens. Every part of the gameplay experience holds up, and meshes together so well that it takes several disparate elements, that for all intents and purposes, simply shouldn’t go together, and brings them together in a wonderful symphony that must be played before it can be truly appreciated.

Filled with game-breaking bugs and clunky mechanics, Remothered: Broken Porcelain will give you more than a fair share of horrible, awful memories, but not in the way that was intended.

The more you dive into the metaphors and abstractions that are brought to bare, the more affecting this experience will be. Developers Punk Notion succeed in what they have built here, weaving a vivid tale more than worth the few hours of your time.

It was a gamble on Sega’s part to make such major changes to a tried and true formula, even more bewildering given its recent meteoric rise in Western markets. If Yakuza: Like A Dragon proves anything, it’s that fortune does indeed favour the bold.

A great idea that never quite reaches its full promise, Watch Dogs: Legion is still a cracking bit of techno fun. Come for the hacking and stay for the engaging story and cockney accents.

AquaNox: Deep Descent is by no means a bad game, nor is it a particularly good one. It is instead exceedingly average, something for people like myself who carry fond memories of vaporizing intergalactic cat people to while away an hour or so at a time over a few weeks. If you don’t happen to fit inside this very particular demographic, then I strongly doubt AquaNox: Deep Descent is the best place to start within the genre.

Little Hope is a solid spooky story best enjoyed with popcorn and friends. The tension is high, the fear is real, and the mechanics are improved from the previous Dark Pictures instalment. If you’re interested in some witchy goodness and moral judgements, this might be the spooky story for you.

While not difficult, The survivalists hooked me in with its take on the survival genre and the creative use of the local monkey population to help me survive.

There’s an undeniable thrill in exploring your house from a lowered viewpoint and while the racing itself is nothing new, the versatility of the experience means you don’t even have to pull out the gates to have a bit of fun or to give the kids a novel distraction.

While I believe the story could have been delivered more smoothly, there is no faulting the effort gone into voicing all conversations and making sure that the simple gameplay loop remains engaging for many hours. There’s an amateurish, almost cobbled-together feel about Cloudpunk in general, which luckily connects with its aesthetic, coming together in a nice, shiny, pixelated indie pie.

Disc Room might look like a simple game, but there’s some serious depth with its mechanics and old-school style challenge. The addition of accessibility options goes a long way to making it playable everyone, not just those that revel in the challenge.

Ray’s The Dead has a tonne of potential, and I’m thrilled that Ragtag stuck with their work and didn’t allow this game that already centred on the dead to die in real-life too. There are rough edges, many of which can be easily rectified with some patching, but there’s something to Ray’s adventure that will constantly put a smile on your face.

It’s a polished game, but it’s polished for 2012. It’s a solid RPG, and if you want a very well fleshed-out fantasy world, you’ll find joy here.

Crown Trick is a melting pot full of great ideas and is a solid performer, but never quite rises above the sea to fully shine.

With its multilayered story, atmospheric horror and clever puzzle design; Re:Turn - One Way Trip is a spooky delight. A train that you should catch, just in time for a Halloween vibe.

An adventure that doesn’t stand out in anyway. Embracelet isn’t buggy, broken or busted, but it is decidedly average.

The odd-ball of the AoE family is back and is better than ever. This remake won’t change the minds of people who didn’t like it upon its original release, but it does celebrate an RTS that dared to try something new.

Squadrons is the sort of game that EA needs to make more of. Tight, focused experiences that meet a need perfectly. Any fan of space combat should be diving into this the first chance they get.

A rogue-like perfect for rogue-likers and rogue-haters alike, Hades utilises every strength of the genre to weave an unforgettable experience from beginning to end(s).

Despite some rough edges, Projection: First Light casts a bright light with both its mechanics and presentation. For those who love their puzzle platforming, it offers a something unique amongst a wide field.

Unlike its predecessors, WWE 2K Battlegrounds does what it claims, providing an arcade-style take on wrestling that can have anyone pulling off gravity-defying moves in minutes. Sadly it lacks the depth to be more than a fleeting piece of brawling fun.

This game is a hot mess of cheap and nasty gameplay that never pays off or shows any resemblance to something fun. If the year 2020 was a fighting game, it would be called Bounty Battle.

Rather than burn me out, Hanger 13 has done a fantastic job overhauling the original Mafia while staying true to its spirit in this remake which has left me itching to fire up Mafia II Definitive Edition – so do yourself a favour and pick up the trilogy set if you haven’t already.

While No Straight Roads‘ floaty combat occasionally frustrates, its strong sense of self is commendable. Terrific art direction and musical composition add flourish to a game that otherwise may have been too easy to miss out on.

What you see is what you get with Sam’s fourth adventure. There are no surprises here but there is comfort to be found in decimating wave after wave of alien nasties while cracking bad one-liners.

Glitchy mechanics and a lack of polish get in the way of this otherwise innovative, whimsical puzzle-platformer. I want to wholeheartedly recommend it as a game for the whole family, but sadly several broken elements stop it from being a must-play.

After some missteps in later incarnations, the remaster of THPS 1+2 returns the game to its strong roots, providing the addictive mixture of challenge and fun that will keep people coming back to shred for a long time.

While the respect Nintendo is showing to the titles is insufficient, it’s still hard for anyone to argue against a collection of three of the greatest games of all time.

For advanced players, it may be more of the same with a different paint job, but as someone who has had less engagement with RTS titles as a whole, Iron Harvest has been a really solid introduction for me. With a unique well-researched universe and context, and interesting combat mechanics, I look forward to diving further into multiplayer and to seeing more of the 1920+ universe down the road.

While the street football scene provides an interesting background, the flaws in the implementation of the game modes means that only the diehard fans will enjoy and master the game.

It is sad that Obsidian didn’t take the chance to shake things up but at the same time, anyone that enjoyed The Outer Worlds is going to get a kick out of this 5ish hour adventure that is chock full of great characters and snappy writing.

NBA 2K21 is the best that basketball simulations have ever been, yet the game buckles under the weight of intense microtransactions designed to bleed you dry.

Technical flaws and a lack of variety prevents Marvel’s Avengers from reaching the heights achieved by the comics or the MCU, but powerful writing, heartfelt dialogue and loose but fun combat make the game something to be experienced by all.

Best Friend Forever combines dog ownership with dating, and while it manages to mechanically implement one element far more successfully than the other, it’s so full of heart that many of the flaws can be forgiven.

Despite the lack of content overall, Pistol Whip is still a game that will give players plenty of fun as you blast your way through hundreds of henchmen leaving you feeling like a total badass.

It’s a refreshing change compared to other entries I’ve played in and around the genre and one that ensures I’ll keep coming back to Descenders regularly for the foreseeable future. After all, a few more runs and I might just be able to make it through the forest completely unscathed.

While Windbound failed to shake my sails, being too repetitive and pressured, it should appeal to survivalists. Respect must be afforded to the interesting sailing mechanics, which elevates the exploration.

Tell Me Why’s focus on authenticity in storytelling makes it an absolute narrative triumph. The perfect pace allows you to reflect on each element of the story as it unfolds, and clever use of gameplay mechanics makes each choice feel impactful yet organic. A must play for fans of the genre.

With a focus on freedom of choice that is second-to-none, Wasteland 3 has set the benchmark for CRPG narratives, all the while being supported by wonderfully engaging gameplay and roleplaying mechanics.

While the sheer amount of information thrown at you can be daunting, once you get the hang of it you will find a deep and complex management sim that can keep you engaged for many hours as you create your own empire.

If you’ve got a rainy afternoon and not much to do, Kill It With Fire will slot in nicely for a few hours of entertainment, although there may not be a high degree of replayability if the combat system doesn’t suit your tastes.

Despite a few notable missing features and courses, PGA 2K21 is as good as virtual golf gets at this very moment. Drive for show, putt for dough in this cracking sports title.

What hurts this 2020 take on a beloved franchise is an inability to stay to course for long enough to whet the appetites of long time fans. The brawling segments are too few and far between, and while the other game modes that pop up are very well designed and executed, you will find yourself longing for fewer of them, so that you can swing your fists for longer.

Spitlings is a very cool concept, and the frenzy of each level makes it a fun experience for a group of people. However even though the levels present you with more complex puzzles as you go along, the mechanics of the game are so repetitive that it gets boring very quickly.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a once-in-a-generation technical showpiece that will change how you look at flight sim games forever.

While there will be a core audience that enjoys mastering the footwork needed to pull off the different tricks, for most people that will not be enough to keep them playing for long.

Skully is a throwback to the golden age of 3D platforming that has an interesting story, but an inconsistent difficulty level that is at times frustrating to play through. It might scratch that 3D puzzle platforming itch, but ultimately falls short of being a memorable experience.

Mind Control Delete expands on the Superhot universe in every conceivable way. While there’s a lot of fun within its bigger time-manipulating shooter playground, the lofty ambitions result in a unique concept extended beyond its limits.

Origami King is entirely pleasant, well written, charming and enjoyable without being essential or ground breaking. While the battles are confusing and far too frequent, the exploration, constant unveiling of secrets, colourful environments and quirky characters will keep you hooked.

In the end, Destroy All Humans! seems like the perfect palate cleanser in between games like The Last of Us: Part 2 and the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077. It isn't going to win any game of the year awards, but then again, it isn't trying too. It is simply here to make jokes, give players a power fantasy that involves invading wise-cracking aliens and allow people to live in their favourite b-grade invasion flick. By those goals, Destroy All Humans! is a resounding success and people looking for a light-hearted bit of fun should look no further.

While Dex may have a few flaws overall, it is a solid game that is filled with freedom to play how you want as you uncover the secrets of Harbour Prime.

Necrobarista, is a stellar debut from Melbourne’s Route 59 Games, one that succeeds in pushing the artistic boundaries of the medium and has me eagerly anticipating what’s next for the studio. Brew your favourite cuppa and have a go, mate.

The cars are faster than ever and feel better to drive than ever thanks to tighter controls and base improvements to the game’s car handling. Equally, the addition of accessibility features like steering help and the casual modes open up F1 2020 to an even wider degree of players, from those with a casual racing interest to people with full-blown personal racing simulators.

While Neon Abyss lacks plot depth and environmental variety, it makes up for it with some wild item combinations and chaotic enemy encounters. You can never be quite sure how your next run of this roguelike is going to pan out, but you can always be confident it’s going to be hectic, brightly coloured, and filled with mixed-quality puns and pop culture references.

The world is enormous, filled to the brim with rich content to explore. It can be a bit much sometimes with the number of artefacts you can find or haikus to sit and devise bloating things a little bit, but players will be blown away by the deep storytelling and unbelievable style and personality that Ghost of Tsushima brings to the table.

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a remake that builds on the original in all the right ways, and is recommended for anyone looking for a quaint, charming farm story to sink some time into. In some ways it may be shallow and a little outdated, but overall it makes for a lovely experience.

There is a reason the Trails series is held in such high regard by a large portion of the JRPG audience – their worldbuilding is second to none, the scope admirable for such a small development team. Trails of Cold Steel III is no different, continuing the legacy of the prior games despite being a little too similar to Cold Steel I in some regards. The battle system stands out as one of the more engaging and flexible I’ve ever experienced in the genre, and I simply cannot wait to get my hands on Cold Steel IV later this year. That said, I do feel for Switch owners keen to dip their toe into the world of Trails, as this is not the most ideal place to start.

Samurai Showdown is a unique fighter in a world where many games in the genre can feel similar. The slower pace/high damage fighting system is a joy to master and provides players of all skill levels the feeling that they are always in the match, no matter how bad things are going. This, along with a huge range of entertaining fighters, smooth as silk gameplay and a solid PC port means this is a game that fighting fans should at the very least check out.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated seems directly targeted at those with a real nostalgia for the original game. Improved visuals and audio aside, it’s hard to recommend to a new audience when the platforming genre has had some truly outstanding remakes these past few years, let alone new entries.

Desperados 3 is a sensational game that boasts challenging game design that is as equally rewarding as it is frustrating. With an engaging story, interesting characters, and a great setting, it’s easy to recommend this game to just about everyone.

The world’s best turn-based tactical game makes its way to the Switch mostly intact, ready to entertain and frustrate fans once again, this time on the go.

Disintegration aims high, but it doesn’t quite hit the right points. There’s fun to be had in this shooter/strategy hybrid, but you’ll have to survive unbalanced combat, a poorly explained narrative and some occasionally unreliable AI teammates to get there.

While Minecraft Dungeons may not satisfy everyone, those who enjoy all things Minecraft will enjoy hacking and slashing their way across the different biomes on the journey to save the world.

The Last of Us: Part 2 is a brutal, bleak and relentless experience that gives players no chance to breathe or relax. At the same time it is a game like no other and deserves to be played, if not enjoyed, by everyone with a Sony system.

What all of this boils down to is that Command and Conquer and Red Alert were both great games upon their original release and that holds true to this day. Sure there could have been a few quality of life improvements made but there is no denying that EA has done a great job of breathing life into the classic property and reminding old fans why they fell in love with the franchise in the first place.

Gorn is the perfect way to release pent up frustrations or to just have a bit of a laugh and some fun. While there is not much more to the game it is not necessarily a bad thing. Gorn knows what it is and doesn’t try to be anything else by shoehorning in unnecessary mechanics.

I loved Dungeon Defenders Awakened. Chromatic Games have got the core gameplay down pat. Maps are short and sweet, and there are extra modes for when I feel like I am ready to play for longer or try a different strategy.

There’s something that draws you to a good game, be it board, card or pencil and paper. 51 Worldwide Games presents high quality, faithful renditions of both classics and lesser known games, providing challenge and enjoyment in equal measure.

Fury Unleashed makes you the great action hero on the way to save the mind of your creator, facing off against hordes of enemies in an addictive experience that keeps you coming back for more.

Endlessly creative and never one to outstay its welcome, What the Golf? will have you grinning as you move from putt to putt on an exploration of just how many different variations of thing-meets-objective can be put before you.

It’s hard not to be awestruck by what Monolith Soft has achieved in revitalising this classic Wii title, bringing it to a new generation and giving it the tender love and care that it so obviously deserves.

All in all, Dread Nautical is a reasonably unremarkable game. It does well with the foundational ideas of the genres that it utilises and meets its objectives with a suitable story. However, it is more of a novelty than an advancement.

Tripwire has crafted a fantastically balanced experience that knows when enough is enough and is genuinely funny, something many games aim for but so few succeed in reaching. Maneater is an ideal palate cleanser for those suffering from ‘open-world’ fatigue and, despite its perfect size, still left me wanting more.

Successfully blending genres is a tough task, but Monster Train makes it look easy. Addictive rouge-like card-based gameplay with a presentation that is second-to-none.

Stuck in the past, Saints Row 3 still offers a lot of fun, you just have to look past some pretty dated humour to find it.

Mafia 2: Definitive Edition is the best way to play one of the most enthralling stories of the past decade. A wonderful upgrade for a wonderful title, don’t miss it.

There is a solid game at its base, and players will find plenty of variety and visual punch to satisfy a fun, casual tryst. Ultimately, the game passes, but it does not excel in whatever it was setting out to achieve.

A unique combination of genre elements and ideas, Creature in the Well is a brief but thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a weekend.

Overall while enjoyment can be found in Spuds Unearthed, it is a game that is very much better in small doses than extended playthroughs. While there are limited environments the ones present are colourful and look cool in VR. It is just a shame that the lack of information and the lack of evolution to the battles as you progress holds the game back from being truly fun.

There’s no denying that they’ve nailed the atmospheric feel of this game, and every second I spent playing it was appropriately spooky, but it also didn’t give me much of a reason to get to the end beyond the challenge itself. If you’re someone who can revel in the challenge, who can savor it and use it to fuel you towards the conclusion, then you’ll find a lot to enjoy here. If you can’t find that, then I think you’ll struggle.

The big issues with this title are that it feels unfinished and very thin in terms of content and gameplay. There’s no single-player or offline content to be found here, and when you see how ‘smart’ the AI Soldiers are and how they act as bullet sponges with questionable hitboxes. You’ll understand why. This leads us to believe that the game is still a work in progress, and although this potentially can mean that these issues will be smoothed out or changed in the future, from the copy that’s on the shelves right now, this is what you get.

SnowRunner is a compelling combination of truck simulation gameplay within the structure of a western triple-A open-world game. It’s an odd mix, but it works, in spite of some minor annoyances.