Stripping away the flash with a bigger focus on the core basics, Madden NFL 23 feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s still a series lacking an identity right now, but this year’s entry is the course correction the series has desperately needed.

Though the alternate history setting allows Steelrising to immediately separate itself from the bloated Souls-like genre in an aesthetic sense, its shortcomings prevent it from standing out in a way that truly matters. Some elements work well, and the accessibility options are very welcome; just don’t go in expecting Spiders to have reinvented the automaton.

While more iterative than it is innovative, Splatoon 3 is without a doubt the best entry in the series yet. Despite lacking new multiplayer modes at launch, there's a clear commitment to content and quality, with each aspect of the package being pushed to its logical extreme through smart and meaningful additions. This is the most feature-complete and tightly designed Splatoon to date, and you'd be missing out if you choose to pass it up.

I suspect that people with fondness for the original Pac-Man World, or even just this specific era of platforming games will be the ones who get the most from RePac. It's a style of game that has been out of fashion for a while, but it's simplicity could still hold some appeal. When you can get lovingly re-created versions of the standard-setting Crash Bandicoot series for the price of this though, the value proposition for a remaster of one fairly short and unremarkable game is hard to swallow. One for the fans.

The Last of Us Part I is, for all intents and purposes, the same The Last of Us that you know. It doesn’t take liberties to completely reshape the experience and nor should it. It does, however, smartly enhance the original’s combat through A.I. advancements, and drags the original’s production values over the line to create a product that can stand unified with its more polished sequel. The Last Of Us: Part I is without doubt the most definitive version of The Last of Us on the market.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection really nails what a library of retro titles should look like. Hitting that sweet spot between nostalgia and playability, it is clear that Konami and Digital Eclipse have gone to great lengths not only to preserve some of the best beat-‘em-up titles from the late 80s and early 90s, but to make them accessible to younger Turtles fans as well. With stacks of bonus content to explore as well as online and offline multiplayer modes, grab yourself a pizza and kick some shell.

Immortality ambitiously succeeds at evolving the formats introduced in Her Story and Telling Lies to offer some of Sam Barlow’s best work yet and one of gaming’s most well-justified open-world experiences. Bolstered by some fantastic performances and a compelling mystery to uncover, it’s engrossing and engaging from beginning to end. While it might assume some prior knowledge in telling it’s underlying story, Immortality is an experience that’s not to be missed and one that I’ll never stop thinking about. It is truly fantastic and well worth your time.

While its unclear whether Soul Hackers 2 was an attempt to make a more inviting Shin Megami Tensei game for newcomers, the end result is a disappointingly streamlined RPG that both newcomers and long-time fans will inevitably bounce off of. It's a perfectly fine RPG, but so much of what makes SMT special is sorely lacking here in a palpable way.

When looking at the original release, Destroy All Humans 2! improved on its predecessor in almost every way. For the most part, this rings true with Reprobed, with the visual and mechanical overhaul bringing it into the modern scene. Still, the rough technical issues and poorly aged missions may have newcomers shying away.

The new Saints Row doesn’t break any new ground, however it's still a relatively fun time. If you’re a fan of the series, there’s no reason not to give this one a spin.

In what is effectively Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater meets The Running Man in a war of attrition, full of guns and vibrant colour, Rollerdrome is a well-crafted arena combat-survival game set atop jam skates. Though as solid as the core loop is, the game is let down by a narrative that fails to measure up to the game’s pulsating setting as well as a disappointingly sparse range of arenas that you’ll see far too often.

Cult of the Lamb is sure to be a homegrown success on the back of its tremendous presentation, which is helped along by captivating notions of cultism and devotion. I just wish there was more of an accord between the game’s working parts, which ultimately feels like a game of two individually brilliant halves.

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered on PC is still the fantastic experience that it was on PS4, but now with a little bit of extra polish and shine from a graphical standpoint. If you haven't played this game, jump in, and if you played it on the PS4/PS5 it might just be time to get swinging once more.

Two Point Campus is another excellent entry from Two Point Studios that showcases not only more of the team's penchant for humorous and accessible management sim gameplay but genuine love for the genre. With a new spin that makes for a distinctly new-feeling gameplay loop and moment-to-moment decision making there's something here for both hardcore sim fans and casual onlookers. Some missed opportunities and controller-specific issues aside, there's never been a better time to create a ton of student debt.

While it’s clear that some things need work on MultiVersus, it’s encouraging to see that the things that truly matter – the unlocking of characters and the core gameplay systems – are the things that have received the most attention. These are easily the two strongest tenets of MultiVersus’ offerings thus far. With time, I can only hope that the lack of variety in levels, lacklustre music, and slower cosmetic offerings can be remedied.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is another great entry in the long-running series. Combat is complex, but well enough explained to readily understand and feels fantastic to play with. It has interesting characters, an intriguing world and an engrossing storyline that had me always wondering what was going to happen next. Whether you're new to the series or a veteran, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is stylish, intriguing, super fun, and well worth checking out for RPG fans.

Live A Live leverages a fantastic visual overhaul with an already compelling and inventive narrative structure to offer an RPG experience like no other. It’s aging for sure – the slower nature of the turn-based battles and some strange logic to get the story moving – but it’s such a unique experience that any RPG fan owes it to themselves to try.

Stray is a brisk and relentlessly charming adventure that offers a very unique window into a gorgeous sci-fi world. It won't challenge your mind or your reflexes too much but it'll absolutely delight your senses. Importantly, it's a video game with a dedicated 'meow' button, and what could possibly be better than that?

As it ran its course, I realised I quite adored As Dusk Falls. As a decades-spanning crime thriller throughout America’s western plains, it’s well acted and admirably realised. Although the cliffhanger beckons another chapter, my journey through As Dusk Falls felt whole, though I can’t wait to explore all of the possibilities on offer.

Capcom Fighters Collection is yet another example of the utmost respect Capcom has for its back catalogue. Even worse, it’ll make you sad that Darkstalkers is dead.

For Cuphead fans, The Delicious Last Course is an essential add-on adventure that more than delivers enough content for the price of admission. The art is sumptuous, the fights are fanciful, and there’s effort crammed into every nook. I expect some might say The Delicious Last Course under delivers considering the time between drinks, but I’m a cup half full kind of guy.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak takes an already meaty game an expands on it even further. Despite a few missteps, Sunbreak sports a roster bolstered by sheer quality, smart improvements to the Switch Skill system, and the introduction of Follower Quests which coalesce together to propel Rise into the upper echelon of Monster Hunter titles.

Sonic Origins keeps the focus on the hedgehog's early core entries, polishing them up to a fine sheen and creating an addictive ecosystem around them that breathes new life into each title. There are a few missteps and grubby mechanics to forgive, but otherwise this is well worth diving into for old-school Sonic fans.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes feels tailor made for the relatively small cross-section of people who are both hardcore fans of Musou and Fire Emblem. That isn't to say you won't enjoy this if you liked Three Houses, there's a lot that Three Hopes has to offer on a first playthrough, just be ready for the repetition to set in if you want to see it all through to the end.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is the gaming revamp equivalent of the time Donatello took a perfectly good Volkswagen bus and upcycled it into the high-tech, tubular AF Turtle Van. Hitch a ride, dudes.

Mario Strikers: Battle League is a fun time that is easy enough for anybody to pickup and play but still without depth to mean it should keep an audience engaged for a long period of time. It's a little lacking in the single player department, but it's doing some interesting things in the online space to make up for it.

All in all, The Quarry is an intriguing story that’s paced well and is tense from beginning to end, aside from a middle chapter that drags. I wouldn't go as far to say as much as I didn't enjoy it, because I did. In the end, it feels like such an over simplification of everything that Supermassive has achieved so far, to the point that I can’t see it as standing above their pedigree in many aspects.

Card Shark succeeds at establishing wild stakes within its wonderfully weird take on 18th century France. It serves up a memorable cast, a story that rewrites history in a fantastical way, all the while arming the player with tricks of the trade that’d make Penn and Teller blush. For a game that’s more about playing your opponent than your cards, Card Shark is a memorable adventure.