It's apt that the character you play as in Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed is named Crypto. Like crypto, the game is an interesting idea on paper, but we don't really need it, we don't want to hear about it, it keeps crashing, and if you invest any money into it then you're probably going to end up with buyer's remorse.

I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is a fun visit through adolescence which begs the player to keep living life to the max, experiencing all the game can offer. It's a beautifully artistic game, with many opportunities for a unique experience every time you play.

SD Gundam Battle Alliance is one of the best Gundam games in what feels like an age. A highly addictive gameplay loop carries the experience, consisting of bite-sized missions, snappy combat, and the thrill of discovering and unlocking new mobile suits. The grind can feel a bit aggressive at times, and the story's vapid, but there's a clear love for all things Gundam here.

There's fun to be had here in multiplayer, but it does wear thin. The lack of online and the emphasis on unlockables through the sub-standard single player drags the overall package down.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a fun look Pac in time to an era where 3D platformers were far more prominent than they are today. While it doesn’t quite outclass some of its contemporaries like Crash Bandicoot Warped and Super Mario 64, Pac-Man World isn’t one to miss if you’re looking for another solid 3D platforming adventure. Depending on how you view the new difficulty balances (or if you just really love Ms. Pac-Man) this is undoubtedly the best way to experience the PS1 classic.

To be fair, the game is visually appealing, with a minimalistic art style that manages to convey the feeling of the time. It's an interesting experience and a unique premise (how many other Cold War disaster games are you going to play this year?), but ultimately that can't save the title from falling a bit flat.

If you’re a fan of the original Dusk Diver, there’s plenty here for you to enjoy. Better combat and more time to hang out with the delightful staff of the Tumaz Mart is sure to please, but it's a shame that both the story and many of the side quests are fairly forgettable. Overall, this is a fairly solid hack-and-slash adventure with some really creative dungeons to explore, but it does have a little bit too much busywork and not enough variety.

Saints Row is a largely successful reboot, even if it sometimes feels dangerously outdated in terms of open world design. Its story and characters can be hit and miss, but the experience is carried by fun gameplay and an endearingly dumb sense of humour. Despite the new faces, Saints Row is definitely still Saints Row — just bigger and probably better.

Other than a few frame rate issues, the game runs smoothly most of the time, which is essential given its heavy emphasis on platforming. This and missed gameplay opportunities don't stop the game from being a cute and compelling 3D platformer. Exploring a civilisation built upon books and rulers is a delight to travel around and unwind with of an evening.

Soul Hackers 2 is a competent Atlus JRPG that will tick a lot of boxes for fans of the genre, but it falls well short of being that next breakout star from Japan. With awful dungeon design and little else to do outside of them, it falls upon the engaging combat system and interesting enough narrative to pick up the pieces. It's by no means the next must-play JRPG, but there's just enough to Soul Hackers 2 that warrants a playthrough.

The game nails just about everything it sets out to do. The pixelated graphics are vibrant and varied, the writing is witty and macabre, and the music is fantastic – albeit repetitive. All aspects of the title come together harmoniously, creating an unexpectedly fun and funny roguelike with a refreshingly unique premise.

We Are OFK is an incredibly well-written game that stretches the boundaries of the medium. There's not a lot of traditional gameplay, but the characters are so well-realised and the writing so strong that even though there’s not much for you to do during each of the episodes, the act of being there and listening remains highly engaging. Between the strong art and soundtrack, there’s a lot to like, even if there’s not a lot to play.

If there's an award for game feel, Rollerdrome wins it by a country mile. Roll7 has crafted a short but supremely sweet experience that feels incredible to engage with. No matter whether you're performing tricks or blasting enemies, its addictive loop will have you coming back for more. Complemented by a phenomenal, colourful art style and a real sense of speed, flow, and motion, Rollerdrome rivals the very best Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games.

If more of the game had the degree of polish that reaving does, the game could have been something special. The end result is a small-scale game with lofty aspirations that miss the mark. Stealing specials is great, but everything surrounding that is unimpressive.

Perhaps the only blemish, then, is the character design. The twosome don't really match up with the art style they're walking through; their depictions look simplistic compared to what's around them. However, they don't take away from what is a pleasant — if a bit too basic — adventure you could get through in an afternoon.

Cult of the Lamb is a game that is much more than the sum of its parts. Taken on their own neither the combat nor the cult management would be strong enough to carry the title, but together they form a compelling whole that's then further enhanced by the delightful art style and pervasive sinister tone. It's evil and wonderful and more than a little unhinged. It's also one of the most impressive games of the year.

If you’re nostalgic for the 90s and genuinely enjoy minigame compilations, Arcade Paradise is utterly essential. The title’s tongue-in-cheek tycoon gameplay and simulator window dressing serve as the backdrop for dozens upon dozens of video game parodies, spanning a GTA-style Pac-Man clone through to an OutRun-inspired futuristic racer. Not every idea shines, but the sheer density of content alone means you’ll never get bored. And with an addictive progression system that’s forever tempting you with something shiny on the horizon, this release actually lives up to its name: it’s truly an arcade paradise.

Sword and Fairy: Together Forever won't satisfy everyone. Action enthusiasts will be disappointed in how underutilised the combat system is, and those looking for a lovingly crafted story will have to stomach an especially poor English localisation. But even with its obvious flaws, Together Forever has undeniable charm in its endearing characters and elegant presentation. An enjoyably breezy RPG, if you can keep your expectations in check.

Digimon Survive's uniquely dark take on the standard Digimon storyline is enough to carry a title that's sometimes poorly paced and basic in its approach to gameplay. A visual novel with RPG elements bolted on, it's difficult not to feel as though the creature taming and combat aspects of Survive could have been bigger and better. But ultimately, a mix of endearing characters and eye-opening plot points make this another worthwhile adventure in the digital world.

Multiplayer is undoubtedly the game's main draw. Supporting up to four players, you've got free-for-all, 2v2 team battles, while Mayhem Mode – which is sadly not available online – introduces minigames, including classics like The Floor is Lava and boss fights. Our personal favourite is Rampage, which sees players racing to destroy as many buildings as possible for points, though there’s plenty of other options. This all adds some necessary variety and if you can assemble three other players, GigaBash is a great time that comes recommended.

The lack of genuine stakes means that Two Point Campus never becomes truly gripping, but the easy, breezy vibe makes for an enjoyable, leisurely build-'em-up. It's the perfect management sim for newcomers or children or even fans of the genre who just want a palette cleanser between more challenging titles. It's the sort of game you play on a Sunday afternoon, still in your pyjamas, with one hand because you've got a Cornetto in the other. And we're totally okay with that.

For better and worse, Frogun really does feel like a game ripped from the late 90s. This is a puzzle platformer with a PS1-era vibe, and while it nails the presentation, it also inadvertently captures the frustrating and finicky nature of those early 3D games.

While it is hard to be too critical of this game, considering the entire project was developed by one person and a small staff, it is also hard to even call this a full game. It's a shame because its graphics rival tentpole AAA productions and there's clear passion to deliver a satisfying gameplay loop. But a lacklustre story and repetitive pacing coupled with unnecessary additions such as the skills makes Bright Memory: Infinite an uneven and jarring experience. Perhaps in the near future, given a bigger budget, developer FYQD Studio could make a more fully realised vision.

MultiVersus is back and in a much better place. Its chunky, satisfying combat is lots of fun, especially with so many unique characters to toy with, and the roster will only get bigger and weirder in future. The Rifts mode adds a neat way to play singleplayer, and there's always plenty to keep you occupied with various missions to work towards. There is still room for improvement; it's a little rough around the edges, and Battle Pass progression can still feel like a slog. However, there's a lot to like about this free-to-play fighting game's zany crossover premise.

While you shouldn’t expect it to linger in the mind to the same degree as comparable titles like Home, Seduction: A Monk’s Fate offers a one-sitting experience at a reasonable price, while getting just enough right to make it worth the low price of entry.

Despite one or two rough edges, Stray is a very enjoyable adventure. It's fairly straightforward, and gives you lots of opportunity to embody a cat, whether that's rubbing up against a robot's legs, clawing at furniture, or finding cosy places in which to snooze. The narrative doesn't quite reach the emotional hit it's looking for, but it slowly shows its hand throughout, with plenty of interesting details to learn. Pairing a common pet with moody sci-fi has worked well, resulting in a unique, engaging game with strengths that outshine its flaws.

The crossover between Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium and last month’s Capcom Fighting Collection is bizarre, but there’s more than enough additional content in this compilation to justify a double-dip. While we wish the publisher would have integrated more social features to make the pursuit of high scores more fulfilling, the reality is that retro game enthusiasts will want to revisit much of what this package has to offer.

Phantasy Reverie Series is a relatively no-frills remaster collection. There's a couple of quality of life improvements and the games have a fresh lick of high definition paint, but if you didn't like Klonoa back in the day then you're not going to like it now. If you didn't play Klonoa at the time then you won't have the prerequisite nostalgia goggles necessary to gaze upon these games and see them for anything more than what they are — a couple of pretty good platformers and little else, and that's fine.

Matchpoint: Tennis Championships gives you the tools to play realistic tennis rallies, and it feels pretty good on the pad overall. The problem is that a real lack of enthusiasm on court pairs with a stodgy career mode to sap your enthusiasm. There’s fun to be had here, and a large animation library allows the gameplay to look relatively realistic from afar, but tennis fans will still have to wait for a real winner to topple the legendary Top Spin 4.

Maybe you'll find something to like if you've never played a horror game like this before, but for anyone well-versed in the genre, the ground MADiSON covers is very well-worn.

Arcadegeddon is Illfonic's most well-rounded multiplayer title yet, with a fun, engaging core and fast-paced gameplay keeping you going. Its rogue-lite elements don't get in the way, and it's a great game to let loose in with a friend or two. We can take or leave some of the surrounding fluff, like the largely forgettable characters and cosmetics, and there are definitely one or two rough edges. Even so, it's worth jacking into this solid third-person shooter for some scrappy fun.

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is more Cuphead — for better or worse. Those put off by the original's difficulty may find the experience easier to swallow due to the excellent inclusion of Ms Chalice. But the game still has the same brand of punishing gameplay we’re used to from the original. The expansion adds some of the most inventive bosses Studio MDHR has ever come up with, backed up with that amazing animation and music which has never looked or sounded better.

With such little visual variety, though, there’s not much to differentiate the various stages – and, as alluded to previously, you’ll spend the vast majority of your time fast-forwarding to key moments anyway. It’s all an acquired taste, which is perhaps best reflected by the minuscule budget invested into the series overall. Still, cycling enthusiasts may find something to enjoy in the unique, tactical gameplay, which is all about picking your moments and pedalling like there’s no tomorrow.

The only issue we had with Yurukill was that it never felt like it went far enough. It's a compelling tale and it moves at a brisk pace, but it lacks the malicious edge of a Danganronpa or the brain-breaking narrative of a Zero Escape. By the time it's all said and done, we'd enjoyed our time with it, but we were a mite disappointed that it didn't push us harder.

Disgaea 6 Complete is the perfect strategy RPG package for fans of the franchise and those looking to get their tactical fix. It won't convert those who have bounced off previous titles, but that was never the developer's intention in the first place. It's a little rough around the edges, but Disgaea 6 provides an immensely satisfying experience to its niche audience, who wouldn't have it any other way.

Best Month Ever! is a short, enjoyable narrative that perhaps suffers from high ambitions that don't quite pay off. Glitches in the game can really take you out of what would otherwise be a fluid experience.

DNF Duel is an approachable, explosive fighting game. Although it doesn't quite stand out from the crowd in terms of having an instantly recognisable style, it's great fun to actually play. Crazy combos, a cool character roster, and a nice selection of game modes makes for an appealing package. Once we've been able to put the title's online offerings to the test, we'll be updating this review with a score and additional details.

If there’s one bright spot, it’s the new “trails” game mode, a checkpoint-type race that has more varied terrain. It’s quite fun, and very chaotic, serving as the high point amid innumerable lows. And that about sums MX vs. ATV Legends up: at its core, this is a buggy, flawed mess that falls far short of other racers on the market.

Overall, F1 22 is another high quality simulation of the motorsport, with great handling and detailed, engrossing career modes. While the presentation is strong and the game generally looks and sounds great, some aspects like character models just aren't quite where they should be, and F1 Life doesn't add all that much to the experience. We encountered more bugs than expected, too, although we expect patches will iron those out in due course. It's got it where it really counts, then, but some extra polish would put it higher on the grid.

We’re giving Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel the benefit of the doubt. It’s flawed for sure. But the ten or twelve-hour playing time is mostly a good time thanks to the effectiveness of the titular guest house as a setting and the oppressive atmosphere it manages to conjure during your stay there.

Ultimately Astro Aqua Kitty blasts its way to PS5 with panache. With its Metroidvania formula, light RPG elements, strong presentation, and slick retro synth music, this is an old-school outing that manages to also feel contemporary.

The main thing that lets it down is its new economy; unlike previously, you cannot use Crowns to purchase the best costumes in the shop, and Kudos is harder to earn too. Your Crowns instead go towards a ranking with long-term unlocks. They're replaced by Show-Bucks, a premium currency needed for all the coolest stuff, which stings a bit after years of access to everything. It lessens the impact of winning because you can just buy all the rarer items now. The free Fame Pass is still there, but it's supplemented with a premium tier, which is really the only way to earn Show-Bucks without simply buying them. Despite these concerns, the game is just as fun as it ever was, and thankfully none of the things you can buy alter gameplay. There's so much to like about Fall Guys, and now it's open to everyone.

If you flash back to a concern exacerbated from our Turrican Flashback review, Wonder Boy Collection's paltry four titles puts pressure on retro gamers to question its value for money, because it omits series defining titles and key console ports when compared to the more expensive Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection from Strictly Limited Games — which has sold out of its 2,000 PS4 retail copies. It's also worse value than retro compilations that released within weeks of the Wonder Boy Collection, when set side-by-side against the cheaper and more complete Pac-Man Museum+ and the superior extras in Sonic Origins.

Pocky & Rocky Reshrined’s ability to seamlessly segue from what seems like a simple remaster into a full-blown remake is brave – and it does it beautifully, too. This looks and sounds like you remember the Super Nintendo release, but is bursting with vibrant flourishes that elevate it beyond mere nostalgia. For purists, it’ll no doubt be perfect – but newcomers may scoff at the archaic control scheme, which purposefully limits your capabilities and leads to significant pain.

VOID Riders is a solid addition to OlliOlli World that justifies itself with a neat new mechanic, fun characters, and some cracking extra levels. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it doesn't need to; if you're into it already, this just gives you more excuses to keep things rolling.

Redout 2 won't be worth the effort for a lot of people. It is rewarding, sure, but to be brutally honest, part of us thinks that you should just boot up WipEout Omega Collection instead and save yourself the trouble.

If you can stomach its rough exterior, Shadowrun Trilogy is an easy recommendation for RPG fans. The games' straightforward structure makes them approachable in ways that other tabletop-based titles on PlayStation aren't, and the role-playing options are engaging throughout. Combat could do with a bit more punch, and the technical issues are an annoyance, but there's a lot of value to this well written sci-fi-fantasy package.

Taking a look at Capcom Fighting Collection, it’s very clear that it does exactly what it set out to do – you’ve got superb versions of ten arcade classics here, several of which are significantly difficult to play elsewhere. The online play works beautifully, with efficient menus letting you switch games in the lobby. And that online is really all that matters in the end. Can you play Hyper Street Fighter II online with no lag? Yes. Then it’s more or less perfect, isn’t it?

Sonic Origins presents four of the hedgehog's best games with style, and it's a joy to revisit these iconic platformers. Presentational flourishes like the animated cutscenes, as well as a host of extra modes like Boss Rush and Missions, give fans and newcomers alike plenty to see and do, and the Museum is full of interesting artwork you might not have seen before. Some stingy DLC practices let the side down, and of course, the games themselves have some 30-year-old weaknesses, but this is by-and-large a wonderful spin down memory lane.

While nirvanA Initiative doesn’t stray too far from the formula established in the original, the gritty sci-fi story and likeable characters mean that it is a compelling adventure. Piecing together all the threads of the story will lead you on a rollercoaster of a journey and keep you guessing until the very end.

Atari, in its current incarnation, seems setup solely to profit from its past classics. Gravitar: Recharged, though, actually does justice to the original – and even if you weren’t around in the 80s, there’s fun to be found in this sprightly shmup at the right price.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard always faced an uphill battle in comparison to the two other PS5 upgrades, and the mountain has proven too much. While the game looks and runs better, it's still a long way off Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. It's like playing a really good-looking PS4 game rather than something native to PS5. Still, at least the game itself remains a cracker.

Final Vendetta wears its heart on its biceps: it’s a burly and brutal beat-‘em-up that serves as a love-letter to the 16-bit greats from a bygone era. Ass whoopins have never felt quite this good.

While a PS5 version of Resident Evil 3 could never rectify the glaring issues of the PS4 remake — cut content, very short run time — it does at least shine bright with ray tracing implementation and a native 4K resolution. Capcom was simply trying to make Resident Evil 3 look and run better on PS5, and it at least achieved that.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a superb beat-'em-up that captures the spirit of Konami's coin-op classics, but modernises them in all the right areas. With smooth combat, gorgeous presentation, and rock-solid rollback netcode, it all adds up to deliver a super fun experience.

Capcom hasn't gone to any great lengths with its updated PS5 version of Resident Evil 2, offering fans and newcomers two imperfect graphical modes to choose from. Very speedy load times will have you immersed in a flash, though, and the support for the PS5's adaptive triggers adds another extra wrinkle on top. Resident Evil 2 is still every bit as good as it was three years ago; this PS5 version simply gives you the chance to experience it all over again with further shine.

For everything The Quarry does right, it has just as many glaring issues or niggling problems to bring it right back down to Earth. Supermassive Games has been trying to better Until Dawn for seven years now, and at this point, it looks like it's never, ever going to happen. The Quarry is just a bit dull, and that's the exact opposite of what these types of titles strive to be.

So we recommend Super Perils of Baking, It's a solid seven out of ten, And we promise, scouts honour, no word of a lie, We'll never do a review like this again.

This is a handful of games and a legal settlement away from being comprehensive, but it undoubtedly gives you a flavour for Pac-Man’s storied career – and between the ups-and-downs, there’s plenty to chew on.

Silt represents what's so special about indies: a great game just outside the norm.

Kao the Kangaroo makes his big return in 2022, but the game feels like it's leapt straight out of PS2's back catalogue. Despite many rough edges and old-fashioned design principles, it ultimately succeeds in delivering a fun, breezy 3D platformer for fans of the series. It manages to evoke feelings of nostalgia despite being a brand new title with its simple gameplay and colourful worlds. It does fall apart under modern scrutiny, but it just about gets away with it, thanks to its harmlessly old-school approach.

Sniper Elite 5 knows exactly who it’s aimed at, and Rebellion is on target as always. The developer’s dense French sandboxes are hugely replayable, and look fantastic to boot. There are some sloppy gameplay mechanics, like the climbing and twitchy camera, but these are easy to forgive. A wide array of difficulty options mean both super-agents and rookies can eke something out of this title, and with the release accommodating so many different play styles, it represents a real bullet to our heart – or should that be balls? [Review in Progress]

Landing itself somewhere between a twin-stick shooter and a rhythm game, Soundfall feels like it's not really doing one or other of these particularly successfully. Saved by an incredible soundtrack, Soundfall has the potential to be a really incredible game with an exciting concept, but is let down by repetitive gameplay and a weak story.

The game's best design choice is how its variety of playable characters significantly alters the gameplay mechanics. Cotton Fantasy's Producer, Shinya Nagatomo, told Issue 231 of Retro Gamer magazine that "It's an all-star game with not only characters from other games, but also new systems from other Success games". This means controlling Ria incorporates the risk/reward Buzz System from Psyvariar, and you can unlock playing as the final boss character, Tacoot, with wand flinging abilities. It's these deeper systems, and unlockable stages that make Cotton Fantasy an intricate cute-'em-up that core shoot-'em-up fans will relish mastering and replaying.

The overarching feeling while playing this game is that it's wonderfully relaxing. Save for a handful of tough difficulty spikes or moments where you lose your way on the sprawling map, A Monster's Expedition provides a genuinely pleasant puzzle experience you can enjoy at your own pace. A few options for tips mean you have some help if you want it, and no loading means it's a doddle to get into. If you're after something chilled out to wind down with, it's certainly worth taking this journey.

It's a shame, because so much of what's here is still so enjoyable. The combat is intense, challenging and varied, with a huge number of enemy types to battle against. You've got a ton of weapon options to tailor your build, and the capacity to level up seemingly hundreds of different stats in order to bring the fight to the Mages. It's just that those fights can be so unfair and one-sided due to the more random elements that can throw a spanner in the works. A brave attempt at something new, yes, but ultimately misguided.

The best game of its kind that we've had the pleasure to play, Evil Dead: The Game is equivalent to its source material in being way more fun than you could reasonably expect it to be, and it's faithful as hell to the movies and TV show in a way that'll thrill fans. Post-launch support is a total roll of the dice — if the content ain't there, nor is the audience, and if the audience isn't there, there's no game, because the single player content sure isn't picking up the slack. Evil Dead, though, is more fun than having a chainsaw for an arm, delivering a pleasant bloody surprise at each turn. Shall we say it together? Groovy.

Swansong's biggest problem is that at times it's perhaps not as clear as it could be about what you're actually meant to be doing or how to bypass certain problems, and you'll find that it's trial and error that gets you through. There's also a couple of technical issues, including one in which we spent ages wandering around trying to solve a puzzle only to reset the game and discover that the solution to the problem hadn't loaded the first time around. Not cool.

The game nails absolutely everything it sets out to accomplish, with the exception of maybe the controls. While the cursor system functions adequately on a controller, the title is definitely better suited to a mouse and keyboard. Additionally, placing items behind other objects or trying to tuck them into corners will very often be uncooperative. But these are minor obstacles on the way to enjoying such a uniquely wonderful game.

If you can stomach its disappointingly dull quests, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a solid enough action RPG. Some pretty visuals and a cosy JRPG vibe do a lot to mask its flaws.

This is a beautifully crafted cautionary tale about the horrors of war and the true devastation it can rain on ordinary civilians. Like real war, every story you play will be different with different outcomes, and you’ll be led to make increasingly more desperate and erratic choices to ensure the survival of your characters.

Trek to Yomi is a decent samurai action game, elevated greatly by its superb presentation. Clocking in at only a few hours, this is a brief but ultimately satisfying tale, stitched together by some simple but very effective environmental design, and a combat system that rewards careful play. It's not quite side-scrolling Ghost of Tsushima, but it is an impressively atmospheric love letter to samurai cinema.

It’s a valiant effort, and an impressively authentic recreation all-in-all, but it just doesn’t hold up from a modern perspective – especially without a lightgun in-hand.

At the low price of £6.49 / $9.99, Samurai Bringer is an addictive and dynamic roguelike that we heartily recommend.

Despite this occasional lapse, Chernobylite manages to stand out with a brace of compelling mechanics, elements of horror, and some deft storytelling. Don't ignore this one.

Visually it's definitely an improvement, although it's behind the curve by modern standards. It makes up for that by doubling the size of the game with all-new content, alterations to existing endings, and more that fans will adore. If you've played The Stanley Parable before, Ultra Deluxe gives you lots of reasons to revisit the experience. If this'll be your first time, well, lucky you. Once the element of surprise is gone, there's little reason to return — but while it lasts, this is easily among gaming's most unique and memorable journeys.

Ultimately, the biggest obstacle for the game might be its price. $19.99 for this experience feels like a lot, even if everything being offered is perfectly pleasant. The story mode is nice, but not necessarily worth a replay. Creative mode is fun to tinker around with once or twice, but there’s just no hook to draw you back in to play it again and again.

Fortunately, the controls are tight and slashing baddies feels great in that old school button-mashing kind of way. The level design is largely enjoyable as well, offering hidden paths, secrets, and a good amount of variety in both visuals and gameplay. Meanwhile, the boss battles are consistently intense and require some serious precision later on — a dangerous mix if you're already struggling with Ganryu 2's stiff challenge, but rewarding to overcome all the same.

A small amount of texture pop-in aside, a very strong visual style makes Road 96 a delight to look at. Striking character art enunciates facial features, while environments and background vistas look beautiful. With a great soundtrack to boot, the game has an incredibly strong style. When the characters you meet along the way are just as striking in their conversations and political and social beliefs, Road 96 succeeds at weaving multiple tales through the lives of teens that just want to get the hell out.

Lake is the perfect pallet cleanser after a heavier title. It's refreshing to not have to worry about an end of the world prophecy, or an out of control god hell-bent on destruction. However, it's also that simplistic nature that holds it back from a first-class stamp.

Unfortunately, Nobody Saves the World is around 15 hours in length, stretching its gameplay tightly over its duration to the eventual distortion of both. Is it a bad game? God, no. Most titles don't even have two hours of worthwhile stuff to do. This is an original idea attached to traditional adventuring fun with all the customisation that comes along with its genre here given a renewed focus. We only wish its dungeons were as well-crafted as its skill trees and visuals, but while there's not enough meat on the bone, what's here is still pretty delicious while it lasts.

The gameplay feels great, with those aforementioned 90-degree drifts requiring you to dance on the analogue sticks delicately, and there’s a lightning fast pace to the action which is trance-inducing. The core course design isn’t particularly inspired – you’re either sliding or going straight, with little variation in between – but the tracks here aren’t supposed to rival the Nurburgring: this is pure nostalgia, with scorching synthesisers and optional scanlines. It’s a tantalising ode to a timeless era of arcade racers, and one we reckon even Yu Suzuki himself would be proud to put his name on.

Parts of Chrono Cross really haven't aged well, but it's still a charming, characterful JRPG that evokes feelings of the genre's golden age on PS1. It's a game that deserves better than The Radical Dreamers Edition, which, at least at launch, is a dreadfully poor remaster. Crippled by frame rate issues, it beggars belief that a title from 1999 could run this badly on modern hardware. Unless you're desperate for the nostalgia, we strongly recommend waiting to see whether Square Enix releases a patch to improve the package on PS4 and PS5 before buying.

It’d probably be reductive to describe many of MLB The Show 22’s improvements as the kind of thing you’d expect to find in patch notes, but it’s still somewhat true. The gameplay feels better than ever, and we really like the additions to March to October as well as the Mini Seasons mode in Diamond Dynasty. But while this is undoubtedly a streamlined, enhanced version of the already excellent MLB The Show 21, casual players will struggle to spot the difference – and, frankly, some aspects of the series are really beginning to tire.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a meaningful step forward, smartly evolving the gameplay without losing that fun-loving core. Kids will love the slapstick humour and colourful sights and sounds, grown-ups will appreciate all the elbow-in-ribs jokes, and both will enjoy just how much there is to do. Despite some very minor issues, it's gram for gram the best LEGO game in a long time, and it's up there with the top Star Wars games to boot.

While Polyarc doesn’t get too wild and crazy with its second title, it didn't need to considering how solid the foundation was with Moss. Book II takes the time to tighten up a few lingering issues from the first title, while providing more of the incredible world of Moss, albeit on a grander scale. Moss: Book II is further proof that Polyarc is among the best developers working in the VR space.

Aside from the near total lack of side content, The Kaito Files has everything that you'd expect from a Yakuza-style experience. Its shorter length actually works in its favour, allowing for a well paced story that doesn't get caught up on overplayed plot points or filler missions. As RGG Studio's first crack at a proper expansion, it's a roaring success.

Weird West sets its sights high by promising player freedom and a responsive world to butterfly effect the hell out of, and it very nearly delivers on all of it. At its best, WolfEye Studios' first outing offers delightfully chaotic combat and an interesting supernatural setting that leaves no actions without consequence. But while in many respects Weird West achieves some of its grander ambitions, it fails to nail some of the basics. Immersive sim fans will be in their element here, but Raphael Colantonio's latest won't have as wide an appeal as his previous successes with Arkane.

Side missions and a score attack mode with leaderboards are available once you're done with the Campaign and its daft story. These provide a little more challenge, but there's only so much mileage to get from what is quite a concise game. It's not going to last you that long, then, but it fills that time with stylish, flashy fun that makes you feel like an unstoppable agent.

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands retains the inherently entertaining shootin' and lootin' gameplay that the Borderlands series is known for, but you're frequently held back from enjoying it because of repetitive missions, tedious busywork, oodles of padding, and the game's relentless need to be funny. It's characters won't shut up, frequently stopping you playing so it can perform another inane comedy routine that limply, embarrassingly fizzles out like a deflating corpse, farting decomposition gases to the tune of "Ta-dah!"

It's easy to see why Crusader Kings III is so revered on PC. It's a brilliantly deep and dynamic strategy title that simply never stops giving — but you'll need to commit to learning its near countless intricacies before diving in proper. A dangerously addictive game once you're invested.

The Ascent's a solid, if somewhat repetitive shooter, propped up by eye-popping environments and a reasonable amount of RPG depth. If you can stomach some grindy mission design and the occasional buggy interaction, then there's explosive fun to be had here.

Paradise Killer will gradually win you over. Part of its smart design is letting you begin the endgame trial, where you'll make your final accusations, whenever you like, giving you complete control over the outcome. When you're satisfied you know what happened, you can start proceedings and present your case — there is no single correct answer. Combined with a great, low-tech aesthetic and an excellent soundtrack, and this is a game with both style and substance.

Ghostwire: Tokyo feels like a step back from what Tango Gameworks has produced in the past. While its combat system is fun in bursts, it becomes repetitive far too quickly. The open world is jam-packed with busywork, and the story doesn't go anywhere interesting either. Excellent PS5 DualSense controller support, haunting elements, and nice visuals aside, Ghostwire: Tokyo will have to go down as a miss.

GTA 5 is beginning to show its age, but it’s a testament to Rockstar’s original vision that Los Santos still stacks up. The improvements to image quality and framerate give this sunny sandbox a new lease of life, and while some of the single player gags may not hit as hard as they did in 2013, there are still plenty of memorable missions across the release’s 30 or so hour running-time. Meanwhile, GTA Online’s freeroaming multiplayer lobbies remain unmatched, and while newcomers may find the learning curve borderline impenetrable, if you can overcome its idiosyncrasies there’s nothing quite like the crime caper on offer here.

There's surprising scope in the game — you can dismantle items to get materials, which you can then combine into new weapon modules. There are side missions and mini-games, like serving cocktails to earn money. It's also kind-of open world, albeit a very small one. While the ambition is admirable, overall we feel the game comes across as quite unfocused. It's an enjoyable experience, and everything here is reasonably good, but the result is a game that doesn't really shine, save for its rainy, neon-infused aesthetic.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin thinks that it's Daniel Craig's James Bond but it's actually Austin Powers. There's barely a moment in the game that isn't stretching credulity, be it the absurd writing, bewildering story, or inane characters. There's a host of technical issues, too. But somehow, despite everything, it manages to fail upwards and be a pretty good time. Maybe we've lost the plot but we liked it.

Given the nature of live service titles it's possible that Babylon's Fall could see a phoenix-style resurrection with some rebalancing, but somehow, we doubt it. Hopefully this absolute misfire doesn't signal a profound change in direction for Platinum Games; this title had a troubled conception and it shows, but rather than iterate on things, we'd rather see a return to single player dominance. There's just nothing about Babylon's Fall that warrants going back to the drawing board. Except for that fantastic boss battle in which you race the Batmobile against those jorts-clad pink elephants. Oh wait, that was just a dream we had when the game put us to sleep.