FC 25 is an enjoyable, yet unexciting entry with welcome additions such Rush and big updates to Manager Career. Those expecting notable changes anywhere else will be left disappointed, though there’s more than enough here to keep the annual title kicking along.

Replaced is spectacular in so many respects. It’s an audiovisual triumph, with best-in-class pixel art, animation, and cinematography, while its America, hardly a land of the free, feels real, dangerous, and all too familiar against today’s landscape, is a hotbed of fascinating history and complex characters. Disappointingly, combat and exploration don’t quite live up to what the game achieves in story and presentation.

As the first showing for Polygon Treehouse, Röki is an incredible first impression. While it doesn’t innovate much within the genre itself, it excels in the areas that matter, and it absolutely delivers the kind of experience you would be looking for from an adventure game.

After some time away from the ring, Visual Concepts has re-emerged to deliver a wrestling game packing more than a few (superman) punches. WWE 2K22 is a significant step up from what has come before, and I’m hopeful this becomes the building block for future entries in the series.

Disney Epic MIckey: Rebrushed is a joy to revisit or play for the first time in 2024. The few design flaws that do present aren't nearly impactful enough to bring down the whole experience. Epic Mickey remains one of Disney's strongest showing in the medium of games, and Rebrushed is a nostalgic and heartwarming reminder why.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an earnest first video game effort from a studio that's destined for great things. Weak exploration and a lack of combat variety are minor flaws in an overall package that offers up fluid platforming, some great gameplay hooks, an emotionally-resonant story and a rich tapestry of sights and sounds that's like little else in the space. It's almost the perfect pairing to the recent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, offering a succinct and approachable take on the concept that offers even more story, worldbuilding and visual flair.

RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a worthwhile throwback to a time where ATLUS was doing anything and everything with Shin Megami Tensei. Some changes may take away from the original experience, but this remastering makes for a novel adventure that I sincerely hope ATLUS expands on in the future.

Players keen to continue Peter and Miles’ story on PC should hold out a little longer and wait for some patches, as it’s hard to recommend Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PC in its current state. It's marred by a multitude of bugs that completely take away from the game’s brilliant story and excellent gameplay.

LEGO Builder's Journey is a spectacular, absolutely gorgeous puzzle-platformer, with a surprisingly touching story the explores parenthood and creativity in a delightfully minimalist way. Stunning aesthetics enhanced by ray-tracing and DLSS combine with a soundtrack that amounts to one of the most beautiful games in recent memory. A little more commitment to the possibilities afforded by interlocking bricks would have completed the picture, but regardless is remains a game not to be missed by fans of LEGO, puzzles and a good, wholesome narrative.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a great remake – implementing a strong shift in artistic direction, engaging co-op options and well-crafted puzzle and platforming elements. Co-op is an especially clever inclusion, and combined with difficulty options, broadens the appeal of an otherwise niche experience to a wider audience. While hardcore players might be let down by the lack of difficulty, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a sensational update that fans of the series and even newcomers will enjoy.

While the changes to the ending and some quality-of-life improvements do great work in improving this remake, System Shock still brings with it the thirty years of baggage that the original game did. Despite its resounding influence and its impact on a genre it arguably helped to carve out, the System Shock remake does best with what it has to offer an experience that's authentic to the original game, for better or for worse.

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami sets out to be a quick, breezy mystery and at this it excels. It’s full of fascinating characters with interesting relationships, set in a world brimming with detail to inform your investigation and when at its best makes you truly feel like a detective on the case. While I feel it’s fill-in-the-blanks system could be a smidge more helpful, that’s a small blemish on an otherwise excellent little mystery title that’s well worth settling in with one afternoon with a cup o’ joe and a sleuthing mind.

Marvel's Deadpool VR is another great get for the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S. In keeping true to its source material, it's an absurd and exciting romp through the Marvel universe in the shoes of one of its most popular characters.

This year's FIFA is a comprehensive package for football fans thanks to HyperMotion 2, big reworks to FIFA Ultimate Team and the introduction of the FA Women’s Super League and the French Division 1 Feminine.

NBA 2K22 is a sound step forward for the series. While it doesn’t always hit the mark thanks to the grindy MyCAREER mode and microtransaction-heavy MyTEAM, the gameplay and presentation is still second to none.

Super Mario Party has successfully stripped back a lot of the bloat that the last few iterations had introduced to return it back to the simple, fun and classic game that it was intended to be. At the same time, the game cleverly uses a number of key Nintendo Switch features making it a must own for Nintendo Switch owners that are longing for a game to play with friends and family.

All in all, Vaas: Insanity paves the way for some stellar downloadable content for Far Cry 6 that is already more conceptually interesting than anything in Far Cry 5. Vaas' experience, while perhaps telling us a little bit too much about the ambiguous villain, co-opts the idea of a rogue-like competently to offer a new twist on the formula, but lead by a familiar face.

Revenge of the Savage Planet is a confident sequel that expands on the original game in all the right ways. Its five densely packed planets are a joy to uncover, more importantly, invite exploration in all the right ways. While the humour is a bit hit or miss and I will personally always miss the first-person, Metroid Prime-like gameplay, some strong level design and a satisfying loop of exploration makes Revenge of the Savage Planet a strong but quirky debut for Raccoon Logic.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is a solid step-up from Dying Light in almost every way. Still, its increased emphasis on storytelling feels entirely misguided to the point where it’s worse than Dying Light. Despite this, Dying Light 2 has fantastic traversal, satisfying combat, and some great quest design and variety that makes it Techland’s best.

Super Crazy Rhythm Castle makes a bold attempt at fusing basic rhythm gameplay with the kinds of asymmetrical co-operative chaos of something like Overcooked, wrapping it up in a deeply funny and genuinely inventive campaign. Sadly it undermines the fun at every turn with wild difficulty spikes, anaemic gameplay customisation and a frustrating lack of explanation of its own mechanics. There's something good here, it's just thoroughly underdeveloped.

When Twelve Minutes hits, it hits hard. But I feel there’s, at times, such a disconnect between what it wants to do and say that it’s hard to reconcile its moving parts into anything I’d consider truly great. Performances waver as often as they wow, and that’s a result of a very ambitious game. Narratively speaking, it’s got the hallmarks of a Nolan film, and just like any good Nolan film, you’re going to boil the kettle and postulate into the midnight hours.

While it's focuses and tones differ considerably from Onimusha: Warlords, Onimusha 2: Samurai's is a bold departure from its predecessor that largely pays off. While it's not without its flaws as a game, this stellar remaster represents the best way to play what is easily one of the best Onimusha games, and I can't recommend it enough.

While still an apt Souls-like experience, Rise of the Ronin struggles to find its identity amongst Team Ninja's catalogue. It feels like it's being pulled in different directions, and starts to collapse under its own ambition in the third act. In saying this, the DNA of Nioh and Wo Long is palpable here, and I have no doubt that fans of Team Ninja will enjoy this first foray into open world design despite its shortcomings.

Figment 2: Creed Valley feels like Bastion met Psychonauts. It’s an adorable action game set within the four walls of a troubled mind, delivering a colourful albeit shallow journey to enlightenment.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: HD Remaster is an oddly self-aware remaster that does its best to make itself approachable for everyone by remedying most of its flaws. The new difficulty, new skill inheritance options and fully voiced dialogue all help to make the game feel modern and approachable for new audiences. It’s just a shame that, for a HD remaster, it’s not as visually impressive as it could be.

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.

Penny's Big Breakaway is a melting pot of fresh ideas and slow-cooked nostalgia that'll caress the palate of the speedrunners and score-chasers out there, while potentially cooling a little thanks to some technical flubs and awkward controls. If you've got a hunger for Saturn and Dreamcast-era 3D platformers you'll be more than satiated here.

Super Mario Party Jamboree lives up to its name in practically every way. It's equal parts lavish and boisterous, offering up a selection of boards with novel and fun gimmicks that make it a constant joy to come back to. Adding a wide variety of ways to play, including heaps of customisable rules, only sweetens the deal. Without a doubt, Super Mario Party Jamboree is Mario Party at its best.