For those first few hours, Battlefront 2 struck me with gorgeous moment after gorgeous moment that’s made me reevaluate what’s possible with 2017’s technology. It’s a shame that the fighting frequently gets bogged down by chokepoints, and any long-term appeal is undermined by a progression system that can’t shake the pay to win shadow which continues to loom over the game. [Multiplayer review]

I can point to one thing that will make me keep coming back to Battlerite, and that’s the way that after every death I say to myself: ‘I could have avoided that’. If I’d read my opponent better, if I’d timed that ability correctly, if my aim had been more accurate – then victory could have been mine. I’ll never anguish over it for long though, because a few minutes later I can be in the thick of another match. Battlerite takes the best part out of MOBAs, making the joy of teamfights accessible to anyone who’s only interested in that element of the genre. [RPS Recommended]

In many ways, I feel the same way about Football Manager 2018 as I do about football in 2018. I love the sport, but I found so much of the talk around it and the personalities involved more than a little bit tiresome.

The masses of loot initially seem like the biggest difference between this and a From Software game, and could kid you into thinking Nioh is a game about raising stats above all else, but it’s not. That’s a small part of it. Really, it’s a game about raising your own level and mastering one of the finest combat systems ever put on a screen. It might be standing on the shoulders of Souls, but it’s got its eyes on a very different destination. [RPS Recommended]

A bigger, better game than its predecessor in almost every respect, and one with a sense of journey and surprise to its gambling, fighting and dying, which makes it feel rather like a card-based, fantasy FTL. However, it has thrown out its most beautiful, meanest-eyed baby with the bath water in order to achieve that variety. Hand of Fate 2 wisely switches away from Hand Of Fate’s purity, which saves it from repetition but discards its trump card in the process.

Call of Duty: WW2 is a decent game with satisfying shooting at its core, but there are better playgrounds out there. [Multiplayer review]

Origins handles its creative inheritance more elegantly than some open worlders, not least because unlike, say, the first game’s Altair, its protagonist actually feels like he is of this realm rather than merely in it. And if the levelling and to-do list grate, the series has never offered a society and a landscape so worthy of close attention. The next game needs to be transformative, but this is a fine place to spend time while it gestates. [RPS Recommended]

Earlier, I said Wolfenstein 2 is a hair’s breadth away from being one of my favourite singleplayer action games of all time. The hair seems to have become much thicker as I think back, but the truth is that if there were even a handful of first-person shooters this strange and spectacular released in any given year, I’d barely find time to play anything else. In a week that has seen speculation about the future of this type of big budget singleplayer game, for all its flaws, this is a reminder of how powerful and vital they can be. [RPS Recommended]

They show Destiny 2 game at both its best — as a frequently beautiful and consistently enjoyable shooter — and its worst, as a grinding loot box that ends up paying out in frustratingly small increments.

This is a game that, despite its derivative nature, manages to delight in the details enough to make me remember why I loved the games that inspired it to begin with.

The Evil Within 2 feels like something of a departure from the first game, but also an extremely fitting follow-up. Its structure, enemy design, immaculate audio production and constant tension make it one of my favourite survival horror experiences to date, and while it doesn’t push the envelope in terms of providing anything new, it focuses on what it is and attempts to provide a definitive, well-produced classic survival horror experience. [RPS Recommended]

With the combat system and the way it’s actually trying to make a point with its exploration of social issues, The Fractured But Whole does improve on its predecessor in some ways, but it quickly starts to coast, relying too much on familiarity to get by. It’s still South Park, so we get to summon a drug-fueled Kyle’s dad to conduct a Heavy Metal bombing raid, and if you go into the back room of a church, yes, priests will try to have sex with you — it can be horrible and hilarious, just not as often as it needs to be to fill 15 hours.

Byt gosh it’s fyn. It’s ytterly ridicyloys, bombarding yoy with new items like nothing else, jyst constantly asking yoy to go have some fyn. “How aboyt trying that level with this?!” Okay! “Now this!” Syre thing! And that’s enoygh.

It’s the fast food of honored fantasy tradition, much as Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was, and this is the king-size upgrade...But by God, it’s delicious.

I found myself punching the air in jubilation after difficult bosses. And they’re all bloody difficult – but I wouldn’t have it any other way. If that sounds enticing rather than off-putting to you, then I can unreservedly recommend Cuphead. If not, then simple mode might still make the game worth visiting for those who just want to enjoy the delightful aesthetic, though it’s far from the full experience. [RPS Recommended]

Hob is like a beautiful example of how to make a third-person action game. Like a filmmaker who has learned every detail of cinematography, direction, lighting and set dressing, but never thought to care about the script. In that, I found it impossible to escape the sense of lack that pervades its beauty, both in an overall motivation (beyond “because it’s there”), and in the “why?” of everything you do. It’s fun to play, it’s often extremely clever, but – well – it lacks at the same time too.

Suspicious Developments have distilled that chaotic kinaesthesia into something much smaller, smarter and spacier, which is absolutely to be praised. Even if I found myself feeling like an aggravated villain as often as I felt like the fleet-footed hero. Even if I’m still sour about the man who killed my mum.

There’s a confidence to this game. It doesn’t need a comfortingly familiar grand campaign or a traditional structure because it has an identity separate from that of Total War; an identity where a scripted narrative can work, or where starkly different factions are more important than balance. It’s an exceedingly strong beginning to this chapter of the Warhammer trilogy and is a strong contender for the best game in the series. [RPS Recommended]

From its origin stories to its brief emergent narratives, few games let you take part in better tales than this one. [RPS Recommended]

From here, the future of Dishonored isn’t clear, but if these were indeed my last days with the series, I’m glad and grateful they were spent playing a solid, focused stealth adventure set in a sometimes incomparably beautiful place. [RPS Recommended]

I also just really like being in the worlds. The Florid Vale is this pastoral idyll (plus killer skeletons and demon skulls), but it’s chill, it’s pretty and you get large land masses to navigate meaning less danger from the gnome-eating fish which live in the water. Later in the game you get desert worlds with sheer drops and mangroves with twisted roots that are easy to fall off and thus strafing is no longer your best friend.

Project Cars 2 addresses most of the flaws of its predecessor while expanding its scope, and in doing so has carved out a new niche for the series. It’s not the absolute best sim for any given discipline – if you’re really into Rallycross, get Dirt 4, and if you’re really into open wheel cars, spring for iRacing (if it’s in the budget) – but if you just want to buy one game that allows you to keep coming back and mixing it up, the sheer variety of tracks, cars, race formats, and options means that this game will keep you happy.

While ARK can be a lot of fun – grabbing another player off of a raptor with an Argentavis feels bloody brilliant – it’s rarely worth the hours of tedium. If you can spare the 100 or so hours it takes to get your teeth into it then I’d recommend you spend them elsewhere.

The result of all this is just magnificent. A super-tricky game with a wonderfully smooth difficulty curve, and a masterclass in design when managing to offer real depth and challenge despite limiting itself to just two buttons from start to finish. You’ll feel amazing when you succeed. [RPS Recommended]

It’s not the deepest game, but it’s smart, ridiculously pretty, and has me completely hooked. [RPS Recommended]

This was crying out for a new version, an evolution of Alphabear better suited for bigger screens. Something that might make sense of the newly added “Hardcover Edition” mantle. Instead we’ve got a slightly less good version of the two year old phone game. Which is still a top game, but, you know, not really something to write home about.

I still like Absolver a lot, probably even more than I did before launch. Thanks to the myriad possible move and combo loadouts, along with the various weapons and classes, PvP is both challenging and full of unexpected comebacks and knife-edge duels, but it just doesn’t feel like a complete experience. Bugs, server issues, a small, dull open-world and the lack of modes is definitely holding it back.

In terms of where this opening salvo of game leaves me, I’m interested to see how some of the characters progress and wary of others. The latter is because some of the jerks are so clearly going to take their douchebaggery too far and I don’t trust historical novels to give people their comeuppance! In terms of where I’m the most emotionally invested, though, I’d say it’s actually in the fate of the cathedral. They’re so complicated and prone to expense/disaster/overrunning/all of the above and I really want to know if this one is ever completed!