Astro’s Playroom is deserving of every single superlative you’re likely to hear associated with it. As a platformer, it’s a varied and entertaining experience that’s constantly introducing new and exciting ideas over the course of its campaign. And as a DualSense tech demo, it’s similarly effective at showcasing the power and potential of Sony’s new hardware. But perhaps above all, this is a love letter to the legacy of PlayStation, and it feels fitting that as we enter an exciting new chapter from an undeniably iconic gaming brand, we take a moment to remember the milestones that got us to this point.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is effortlessly cool. The overall gameplay structure may prove samey for those who failed to fall in love with Insomniac Games’ previous effort, but everyone else will have a blast with this generous spin-off story. Great characters, tons of activities, and some epic set-piece moments round out a must play superhero romp – and with the developer on this kind of form, we can’t wait to see more of the full-scale sequel that it’s inevitably cooking up.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered brings back a fantastic arcade racing game, and is still brilliant fun 10 years down the line. Autolog feels right at home in 2020, and the over-the-top cops vs. racers gameplay is a blast. While the remaster itself is a little underwhelming, and some of the original title's issues remain, this is nonetheless a great game for petrol heads and adrenaline junkies everywhere.

DIRT 5 sees the franchise drift back to an arcadey experience, and it's a great success. Despite some technical issues here and there, this is a rock-solid off-road racing game from top to bottom. Brilliant handling, festival-style presentation, and a wide variety of ways to play make this one of 2020's standout racing games. If you've missed the showy style of DIRTs 2 and 3, you're in for a treat.

All The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope wants to be is the popcorn flick of the horror genre. And despite an ending that robs some merit from the experience and intruding load screens, the game achieves that. An interesting cast of characters lends weight and impact to your decisions while the story itself intrigues and surprises. Perfect for an unsettling night in? You got that right.

The monster designs are particularly wacky and memorable. It’s not often that you’ll have to save the world by fighting zombie pensioners and demonic-looking Humpty Dumpty's. Undead Darlings isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself and, minor gameplay annoyances aside, the strong writing and compelling characters make this one worth checking out.

Considering the potential Watch Dogs Legion was packing prior to launch, the final release can only be chalked up as an anticlimax. Its "play as anyone" concept doesn't lend itself well to the sort of experience Ubisoft has crafted with seriously lacklustre character options and a narrative that went down the drain as a result. While longtime fans may find its recycled gameplay loop just enough of a reason to keep playing, those enamoured with the possibility of playing as anyone and everyone will wish they never bothered. Watch Dogs Legion is the dullest of the lot.

Each chapter of Stories Untold is framed like an episode of a Twilight Zone-style anthology television show, replete with a killer John Carpenter-esque synth-backed intro. It pays more than a passing nod to the introduction to hit show Stranger Things, but it's undeniably cool, and we'd love to see an Untold Stories 2 that continued the theme, only with a more consistent episode quality.

The game doesn't get everything right. Menus and UI are a little clumsy, and you're unlikely to feel attached to any of the teams in the career mode. However, it has it where it counts — fun, speedy racing, lots to do, and a CoLD SToRAGE soundtrack. WipEout fans looking for a new entry: this is as close as you'll find.

On its own, Trails of Cold Steel IV is far from being the best game in the series, but as a conclusion to an epic story with characters that have long since won us over, it's a fitting finale. Class VII remains one of the most endearing groups in gaming, and although they demand so much of your time across four whole games, both the journey and the eventual payoff has been worth it. When packaged together with Cold Steel I, II, and III, this is easily one of the most engrossing RPG sagas of our time.

The map-moving puzzles are only part of the appeal. A real strength of Carto is its cast of NPCs, written with real warmth and charm. The world they inhabit is also surprisingly well fleshed out, even though you can breeze through it in six or seven hours. This is a puzzle game, but it also tells a sweet, worthwhile tale about tradition and companionship. Combined with lovely visuals and chilled out music, this is a refreshing, relaxing game that's worth marking on your map.

NHL 21 is absolutely a step forward. We won’t be able to see if this improvement is a one-time thing until next year, but as it stands, this final release of the generation is also its best in that span. With a long-overdue update to the Be a Pro mode, alongside the pretty fun HUT Rush and the changes to Franchise, the series took a bigger step forward than it normally does. Sure, there’s a give and take quality to many of the alterations, but the overall product is a net positive. It won’t be scooping up an endless stream of awards any time soon, but this series has been in far worse shape in the past.

DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One is so much more of the PS4's best first-person shooter. It doesn't do anything dramatically different from the base game, rather letting its phenomenal gameplay loop revel in new environments and against new enemies. Difficulty spikes present more problems than we'd like, though, to the point where casual players might feel like giving up. Nevertheless, bring on Part Two.

Gameplay is where things start to rot, though. Combat devolves to waiting for an enemy's green outline and then spamming X to send your zombies in for the kill. There's not much more strategy to engagements than that, really, although you can opt to regain some lost health by consuming a bad guy's brains before they kick the bucket. There are batteries to find to increase your health, and gravestones to read, but the levels themselves bounce from small combat zones to simple puzzles. Unfortunately, poor performance means controls are sluggish and the frame rate dips like mad when the screen is busy. There's some fun to be extracted from this, especially given that Halloween is upon us, but sadly this is a game that won't live long in the memory.

The game’s dedication to conveying noteworthy and interesting information about Zodiac is commendable, though if you read every single thing you find, you’ll easily spend more than half of your playthrough just reading collectibles. Far too much information is isolated to the semi-functional menus, which in many cases don’t scroll properly or don’t bring up the correct information. Functionality in general is an issue, and it interferes with some of the game’s best features. The dream environments have a fantastic mood to them, between lots of fog, and low, rumbling musical cues. But the filters have a tendency to break, and the only discernible way to fix it is to fumble into walls until Zodiac catches you and you restart. And that’s to say nothing of the insane amount of screen-tearing that happens on nearly every texture for every frame, which the developer promises will be getting a fix in the near future. Ultimately the game feels like the first draft of a really great idea. Add some polish, and we’d love to see what it could become.

There's a bunch of minor technical problems, and a recurring annoyance in which you're often given your next location at the end of a conversation, meaning you've got to just sit there hovering waiting for them to tell you where to go rather than telling you first and then talking on the way. But at least you've got sweet tunes to listen to as you drive in the form of Cloudpunk's stellar synth soundtrack.

For the few things Amnesia: Rebirth gets right, there is a mountain of reasons why it feels like Frictional Games is still stuck in 2010. This hide and seek style of gameplay has long outstayed its welcome and the game doesn't do enough to lessen the disappointing impact that brings. It's heartbreaking to say, but after the fantastic SOMA, maybe the Swedish developer shouldn't have bothered returning to what it thinks it knows best.

Each of the games are fun for what they are, but unfortunately there's just not quite enough going on. The rounds are over quickly, and there's not a huge variety, meaning you'll probably have your fill before long. It's a well crafted game that looks and sounds great, but there just isn't an awful lot to sink your teeth into. For an evening or two of candy-flavoured fun playing online or off, this is an entertaining treat — it's just something you'll want to snack on sparingly.

Stop us if you've heard this one before: FIFA 21 isn't a huge upgrade on FIFA 20, but a boatload of small improvements do help it rise above its predecessor. The on-pitch action arguably feels more arcadey than it has done in years, but there's no denying the excitement that comes with playing through a 5-4 thriller. FIFA is still king in delivering a robust and accessible footballing package, but the series needs to step up its game on PS5 — particularly when it comes to presentation.

This is the same old Torchlight, but somewhat diminished. Classes are full of character and lots of fun to play, while Relic abilities encourage experimentation and significantly change combat. However, there's nothing especially new or exciting about this third instalment.

There's almost too much to talk about with Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, but rest assured that this is a return to form for the series. It might be tough, even a little mean at times, but this is the proper sequel fans have been asking for. With so much to see and do, this is a stylish, confident 3D platformer that brings Crash back at his best.

Star Wars: Squadrons has its heart in the right place and a comprehensive, in-depth set of flight mechanics go a long way towards realising that childhood dream of piloting an X-Wing. It achieves the vision in some ways, but in others, the package lacks excitement and content. While excellent PSVR support will be enough for some, a boring story and inadequate multiplayer modes leave a lot to be desired.

Genshin Impact is well worth a download. Based on our time with the release, this could easily be one of the PS4's best free-to-play titles. Yes, there are a lot of characters and items locked behind the game's gatcha system, but what's here for free is undeniably impressive. [Hands-On]

There are several issues though and its biggest one regards movement, which offers three options: teleportation, swinging the PlayStation Move controller, or a smooth option reliant on button pressing. None of them click perfectly and adding to this, character models look a bit rough. If you can get past these flaws, Onslaught is ultimately enjoyable, bringing good combat and rebuilding Alexandria is quite fun. If you’re a fan of the TV series, this is worth a look.

Going Under is a roguelite that ditches some of the genre's usual depth in favour of a compelling satirical tale. It won't last you too long, but there's enough here to hold your interest as you delve into some truly unique dungeons. Though it isn't the best dungeon crawler, it's certainly one of the most unusual, and we love it for that.

It’s just a shame that the campaign only lasts a few hours, though there is a separate arcade mode to keep players busy. If you can look past that issue, Budget Cuts is a fantastic experience that all PSVR owners should play. Offering an engaging and fully immersive experience, we can only hope the sequel also makes its way to PSVR in good time.

Re-Reckoning isn't a great remaster, but there's no denying that Kingdoms of Amalur is still a lot of fun to play. Its action-based combat has stood the test of time, and exploring its often whimsical world is enjoyable. If you can look past the clunky presentation and fairly frequent bugs, you'll find an ample high fantasy adventure.

Port Royale 4's gameplay consists almost entirely of all of the bits in other strategy games that you'd normally set to "Automate" because they're fiddly and boring. It's a game set in the era of pirates with nary a hint of swashing nor buckling. It's like if Pirates of the Caribbean 6 was just three hours of Captain Jack Sparrow filing his tax returns. Yes, we know that somebody, somewhere, must have been filling in the paperwork back in those days, but we just don't want it to be us.