Paladins fills a fairly significant gap in the Switch’s library, and should hopefully continue to grow as a great multiplayer shooter on the system. Some general bugs and long queue times aside, what’s here is - generally - an excellent experience.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a love letter to one of the most charmingly chaotic RPGs ever made. It’s not perfect and it doesn’t try to be. Instead, it embraces its jank with open arms, wraps it in beautiful new visuals, reminding us why Cyrodiil still holds a special place in RPG history.

Hangar 13’s remake of Mafia is great. The story is as interesting as ever, and only minor technical issues take away from what is otherwise a welcome reintroduction to Tommy Angelo and the Salieri crew.

Choosing which mode to play first every time I launch the game is a struggle, with each being unique and impressive in their own way. Black Ops 4’s individual components may not be groundbreaking, but as a package, it’s one of the most refined Call Of Duty games.

While Tiny Tina's Wonderlands doesn't offer a vastly different experience from what came before, it does venture outside of its comfort zone enough to establish its own identity. It's an excellent extension of the already great Assault On Dragon Keep, and is a worthwhile adventure for any fan of the series, with extensive build crafting, an entertaining cast of characters, and a world worth exploring.

Blood & Truth features fun, over the top shooting, an entertaining story that flows effortlessly and delightful characters. It's a fantastic VR experience, that we can't recommend enough.

At the end of Curse of the Pharaohs, I was very happy to have spent another weekend in Bayek's world. Ubisoft have offered exactly what you loved about Origins plus some fun twists from the afterlife on the side.

Contra: Operation Galuga brings the essential Contra experience into the modern era. It retains the classic’s white knuckle challenge, awesome level designs, boss creativity and firepower while adding some modern touches to make the game palatable and enjoyable by more people. It’s not particularly long, but playing through once has never been the draw of a Contra game. It’s a game that begs to be re-played and perfected. If you’ve ever been curious to try Contra, this is a great way to get into the franchise.

While maybe not essential if you've already seen everything there is to see in the game, The Spacer's Choice Edition of The Outer Worlds is a worthy upgrade for players jumping in for the first time or wanting to explore new choices and outcomes in a second or third playthrough. It's a bit of a shaky upgrade in parts, but the overall package is decent value and the core game is still bloody excellent.

After Us is a sombre, succinct and surreal adventure with a compelling and emotional tale of sacrifice and healing, tied together by simple platforming gameplay that evolves with each distinct and beautiful new environment. Some control complaints and unnecessary combat aside, it's a memorable journey worth taking.

Routine is a tense, atmospheric adventure through an unforgiving lunar base where everything is out to kill you. It has its imperfections, but, in the face of the narrative and puzzle craft that beckons you through every minute of Routine, they seem infinitesimally small.

Civilization VII is a newcomers ideal Civ game. Packed full of streamlined systems and approachable design choices, VII gives players access to a fun, gorgeously realised sandbox in which history is (mostly) theirs to decide. While some of its smoothed edges hinder player-driven storytelling, the effort to onboard new players and refresh the game for veterans is ambitious and stacked with potential.

EA Sports FC 24 doesn’t go out of its way to change too much, but it doesn’t need to – the additions to Ultimate Team, refined gameplay and nicer presentation packages make it a great football sim.

Dead Take is a game about actors, made for actors by actors. While the plot and mystery surrounding the narrative turns shoulder the burden of keeping up interest throughout, sound puzzle design and a blanketing atmosphere make it a worthwhile play for horror fans.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair ironically does justice to the impossible task of living up to the name of great platforming games like Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, and Rayman Legends. It’s a joy to play, feeling simultaneously modern and yet nostalgic. The odd omission of boss battles and some issues with variety aside, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a game any self-respecting platformer fan should play.

Burnout Paradise is unarguably a stellar racing game and it paved the way for the likes of Forza to do what it has done with its Horizon franchise, so for that there'll always be a place in my heart for it. It's a tough sell for returning veterans as the visual buffs are minimal and the game itself is unchanged. Though if you were too young and didn't get to play Paradise, there's enough here, especially with all of the extra content on-disc, to justify the price of admission.

Carrion is another hit from a publisher that has built its name on delivering to us unconventional and unexpected experiences. Devolver’s seal of approval is more than ever evidence of a classic as Carrion’s credentials as an incredible Metroidvania title as well as an inverse horror experience will never be in question.

The Callisto Protocol is a modest starting point for what I hope will flourish into another heavy-hitting horror franchise. It's gory and gratuitous, with an endlessly satisfying combat system. But the lack of enemy variety scares, and surprises, even if engaging, stop it from being the horror game masterpiece it's trying to be. Despite all of its shortcomings, it's an immensely enjoyable romp that's left me desperate for more.

Another Crab's Treasure is a scrappy, succinct and soggy soulslike that doesn't just pay homage to FromSoft's pioneering efforts but stands out in its own right. There's no getting around the fact that it has serious issues of performance and polish that can really bring down the experience, but it's a game so packed with charm, so inspired, so unexpectedly cooked and with so many flashes of brilliance that I can genuinely say it's worth suffering through the pain points. I don't think I've been quite so enamoured with a game like this in a long time.

Deck Nine’s delivered their best Life is Strange game to date with Double Exposure. Barring some bugs and narrative nitpicks, Life is Strange: Double Exposure is a great continuation of Max Caulfield’s story, taking the series in an interesting direction while ensuring the bones of what makes the series so memorable remains intact.

What would otherwise be a mess is beautifully brought together in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. While much more simplistic when compared to its predecessors, Travis Strikes Again is a fun and fast paced action game that commands your attention from beginning to end. It has a few pacing issues, especially towards the end and the co-op implementation might not be perfect, but Travis Strikes Again is yet another momentous trip through the wicked and warped mind of Suda51.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, won't be for everyone, but the people that it is for, will adore it. It's squarely and solely focused on putting power into the hands of the player through customisation and the ability to manipulate the lives of these little Miis. You can always count on it for a laugh, and if you enjoy sims, I have zero doubts you will sink hours into this game.

Ace Attorney Trilogy is a modestly priced collection of thrilling adventures that highlight the best narrative arc in the series thus far. The writing is smart, the narrative is enthralling, and the characters are charming if not kooky. There’s a personal concern that the newer and cleaner art direction will put off some series purists and the cases can feel a bit slow in some parts, but otherwise, this is the best the series has ever looked and played and easily worth your attention.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 is yet another tremendous celebration of skateboarding, the video games that catapulted it into the mainstream, and the sport’s current slate of stars. I’d argue it has some curious design choices, both necessary and not, that perhaps leave one half of the package feeling a little slightly lesser than.

I came away from Tales of Arise with a new appreciation for the Tales series. I loved my time with the endearing cast of characters and the exciting, fast-paced story alongside the energetic and action-packed battles. Tales of Arise is an excellent action RPG, and a fantastic entry point into the series.

As an indie effort and a debut game, Kena: Bridge of Spirits makes a good impression. It balances simplicity and challenge while weaving a neatly-paced story into something that can be played over a chill couple of days. Despite fantastic production values it's still far from a AAA title – so it's important to keep expectations in check, but anyone looking to lose themselves in a charming, gorgeous world ripe for exploration should look no further. It's exactly what I needed right now – perfect cozy weekend entertainment.

Pokémon has been in dire need of a reinvention for some time now, and while Sword and Shield brought some new ideas to the table, Legends: Arceus serves as a solid jumping off point for future entries in the franchise. While it might not provide the visual fidelity and exploration we might wish for in an open-world-esque Pokémon game, it does provide a satisfying and addicting gameplay loop, alongside a surprisingly enjoyable narrative to boot.

Mouse: P.I. for Hire is a tremendous, modern take on the boomer shooter. It has wonderful level design and gives you the right tools to explore it without restriction, mostly. Despite serving up meaty cases that have enormous ramifications within Mouseburg’s social and political landscape, the player is given zero agency to work them and, as such, Mouse falls agonisingly short of being a true detective fantasy.