Packed with technical improvements and a superb single player expansion, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade further cements its spot as one of the greatest remakes in gaming history.

Individually, all these pieces are fantastic: the Warriors action is as exciting as ever, the tactical elements are satisfying and cleverly designed, the story is engrossing, and the characters are as delightful and compelling as ever. But what really sets Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes apart is how expertly it weaves them all together; a sublime blend of action, strategy, political drama, and character work that all work effortlessly in tandem. A chance to spend a few more dozen hours with Edelgard and the rest was always going to be welcome, but Three Hopes took that idea and turned it into one of the best Warriors games yet.

Monster Hunter has gone from strength to strength over the years, and Monster Hunter World in particular felt like a high point for the series. But Monster Hunter Rise manages to one-up even that ambitious game. A renewed focus on vertical level design and mobility take everything that makes Monster Hunter work to new heights (pun absolutely intended), and the Japanese inspiration gives this latest outing a very different, very impressive new sense of style, but without forgetting the series’ roots. Truly, Rise is Monster Hunter at its absolute best.

Sumire isn’t quite like anything else out there, because that’s the nature of grief—it’s deeply personal stuff, despite being such a universal thing to deal with. It’s heartbreaking, in the way that losing a loved one can only be, but it’s also a bittersweet story of hope: of keeping the memory of loved ones alive in our actions, about living each day to the fullest, and cherishing all the little moments that we’re blessed with. It’s beautiful.

Disco Elysium – The Final Cut is something rare. It’s a re-issued version of an already-beloved game, that manages to eclipse the source material through clever and thoughtful additions that maximise one of the game’s most beautiful assets: its prose. But more than that, it’s the only CRPG that can truly claim to emulate the tabletop experience—not through adherence to statistics or rules or character sheets, but through the simple act of asking questions, and thoughtfully incorporating the answers.

Tales of Arise is a phenomenal game: an engrossing story, the best combat the Tales series has seen to date, and art direction that's nigh unmatched in its sheer beauty. But, impressive as those things are, what really sets this game apart—what really marks this as a bold new vision for the series—is how cleverly it twists JRPG conventions to unpack that well-worn "evil empire" trope. Tales of Arise is more than just a brilliant game; it's a nuanced, insightful thesis on the mechanisms of oppression and liberation.

Five years after Horizon Zero Dawn debuted on the Playstation 4 and solidified Aloy as a fan favourite in the Playstation mascots lineup, Guerrilla Games have crafted an excellent follow-up. Horizon Forbidden West is, in every way, more substantial and more immersive than its predecessor. If Horizon Zero Dawn was your jam, then this is a must-play. If you enjoyed it but found the world arid and lacking, then Forbidden West has enough packed in the world that it may just get its machine claws into you. I would be flabbergasted if it doesn’t make a Game of the Year nomination list.

If Sony decided that this will be the final entry for the PS4 platform, I would be more than fine with this decision. Similar to Avengers: Endgame being the final tip of the hat to the original generation of MCU characters, this is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest PlayStation generations of all time, and a suitable send-off.

De Tres al Cuarto is just the right note to close Essays on Empathy with, because it so perfectly encapsulates everything that the collection aims to achieve. This is so much more than an anthology of games; it’s a journey through Deconstructeam’s history, their game design philosophy, their struggles and motivations. It’s a peek behind the curtain at the groundwork that was laid for The Red Strings Club (and beyond), but more than that, a candid look into the lives, creative process, and growth of a team of developers telling some of the most emotive and thought-provoking stories you’ll find.

Sublime writing, beautiful artwork, and a haunting soundtrack combine to undertake one most nuanced and thoughtful explorations of all the best and worst of the human condition—disturbing and intense, but ultimately hopeful, and with a level of care and humanity that’s rare to see in a game that goes to the dark places this one does. Perhaps most of all, it’s a perfect example of how much visual novels can push the boundaries of videogames as a medium and as an art form, both because and in spite of their “gameplay” constraints. The House in Fata Morgana is, quite simply, a masterpiece on every level.

Despite the apparent frivolity of its setup, it’s an honest, heartbreaking story about an extremely difficult subject, approached with utmost care and all the more confronting for it. But it’s a painful journey that needs to be taken, with a hopeful message at the end of it, and the warm embrace of close friends and treasured childhood memories to carry you there.

Astrologaster is a pure and utter delight. Between its creative interpretation of the strange real-life story of Simon Forman, its Blackadder-esque sense of humour, and writing and delivery that make every joke land perfectly, you’d have to have a face of stone to not at least crack the odd smile—me, I don’t think I went more than a few seconds at a time without bursting out laughing.

Bringing one of the best games of the whole Mario franchise to Switch, with a few little tweaks here and there, would have been enough to make a Super Mario 3D World repackage an essential part of anyone’s Switch library. But Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury goes a whole lot further, with the addition of what could just as well have been a whole new standalone game, and a brilliant one at that.

Even if it’s not loaded with extra stuff, Nioh Collection still has what’s important: the best versions of two of the best games of recent years, with the improved performance and extra graphical polish to really let Nioh and Nioh 2 shine their brightest. The obvious appeal here is for people who haven’t played a Nioh game before, but even if you have, Nioh Collection‘s improvements make it a great way to revisit them. And maybe, if you’re anything like me, it might even just let you find some new appreciation for what makes Nioh brilliant.

Heaven’s Vault is truly remarkable. A complex, satisfying, authentic system of translating a forgotten language and a truly open-ended narrative structure in which your every action affects how the story plays out make for an deeply enjoyable game, but it’s how Heaven’s Vault puts those things into context that’s truly impressive. This isn’t just a gamified take on archaeology, but a deep dive into the role it plays in understanding a world and its history, and what “uncovering the truth” really means.

Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy keeps close to everything that made the original Atelier Ryza such a wonderful game to begin with, while also finding ways to build upon those ideas. Sometimes that means little tweaks to fine-tune systems that were already excellent to start with, and other times that means bringing in a whole new Atelier riff on a Tomb Raider-style archaeological adventure. Most of all, it’s a chance to spend a few dozen more hours with Atelier‘s most loveable heroine and her merry band, enjoying those quiet, personal moments as much as the big adventures—that’s what Atelier does best, and what Atelier Ryza 2 does best of all.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is the dramatic conclusion to a grand epic that’s been almost a decade in the making. It’s another chance to spend time with a bunch of characters that have become like family across three prior games, and the culmination of a nuanced exploration of the many faces of war. Most of all, it’s the sort of payoff that only hundreds of hours of meticulous, thoughtful worldbuilding can lead up to.

The original NieR was a masterpiece, even if a middling critical reception and commercial struggles meant too few people got to enjoy and appreciate it. With NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…, it finally gets a second chance at the acclaim it deserves, at a time when the world's much more receptive to Yoko Taro's particular style, and with all the improvements that this version upgrade brings. NieR Automata will always have a special place in my heart as the game that introduced me to NieR, but Replicant—with its narrower focus, with its raw energy, with its humanity, with Kainé—might just have taken the crown.

When Chrono Cross first came out in ’99, it proved divisive for not simply following in the footsteps of Chrono Trigger. In retrsospect, it cuts closer to its predecessor than it got credit for back then, not necessarily in style or game design, but in the way it pushed the boundaries of the genre and the stories that videogames can tell. That it still feels unique and even subversive, more than 20 years on from its first release, is proof its timelessness. And for a large part of the world for whom The Radical Dreamers Edition will be the first chance to (officially) play Chrono Cross? Well, they’re in for one hell of a ride.

There really isn’t anything bad to say about Unavowed. It’s one of the most confident adventure games released in a long while. It shows that developer Wadjet Eye have a keen understanding of not only narrative structure, but of the adventure genre as a whole. If you’re looking for an earnest, fully-realised adventure game that harkens back to the genre’s roots, while also putting deftly-written, three-dimensional characters at its forefront, then look no further.

Despite its numerous towering accomplishments, chief amongst them an atmospheric, multilayered open world with staggering environment variety and expertly calculated level design that encourages its many thrills, Tears of the Kingdom’s real strength lies not in what it achieves but in what it reveals itself to be: a reflection of the player’s intuition and creative spirit. As a result, the experience shines not on its lonesome but with the player in tow, their shared Legend destined to be remembered as one of gaming’s very best.

Whatever it is that draws you to Gran Turismo—the rags-to-riches solo campaign, online competition, collecting cars, automotive photography, technical accomplishment—Gran Turismo 7 goes above and beyond. It is, as it set out to be, the ultimate celebration of car culture, and I can think of no better way to commemorate the series' 25th anniversary.

Revisiting the franchise; the characters, the story-telling, the puzzles, and the humour, filled me with child-like glee upon returning to one of my favourite video game franchises of all time. However, the unexpected turn in the final hour, reflecting on nostalgia and appreciating the journey, not the destination, allowed me to really appreciate Return to Monkey Island growing up with me. In this sense, it allowed me to retroactively appreciate the precursor games more, and the third instalment elevated the franchise to quite possibly my all-time favourite franchise. For first time fans, enjoy the swash-buckling adventure for what it is: a game filled with puzzles, humour, and most of all, fun. For longtime fans, I really hope you will enjoy the walk down memory lane, but find the game growing up as we all have.

At heart, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is classic Kirby, with the playful attitude and neat abilities that have long defined the series and a handful of new ideas thrown into the mix, with the transition to 3D adding a whole new world of possibilities that the level designers never fail to capture and explore to the fullest. It may have been a long time coming, but Kirby’s first real foray into three dimensions is an absolute delight.

A Resident Evil that moves away from zombies in favour of gothic horror and European folklore was always going to be something unique and impressive, and Village certainly delivers. But it's so much more than that, too; not just a new take on Resident Evil, but a reflection on the series' genre-defining history. And with its anthology-like structure that so effortlessly traverses so many different horror subgenres and styles of storytelling, it goes one further: it's a reflection on horror itself. In that, Resident Evil Village is magnificent.

As enjoyable as the dungeon crawling in Undernauts is, it’s the story that it tells that’ll most grab the attention of crawler fans and newcomers alike. An incisive deconstruction of capitalism that’s thoughtful, pointed, yet deliberately blunt in its commentary, unfolding through one of the most unique and intriguing settings you’ll find in a videogame, makes Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi one of Experience’s best—and one that deserves attention far beyond the usual DRPG niche.

Much like its iconic protagonist, Bayonetta 3 is remarkably agile. By deftly managing its glorious combat, incredible set pieces and surprisingly meaningful story beats, PlatinumGames has delivered a truly spectacular experience and one of the finest action games in years.

Even with some minor technical concessions, Layers of Fear 2 is every bit as impactful on Switch as it was on beefier platforms, full of the unsettling atmosphere and disturbing yet insightful psychological horror that Bloober Team is so good at crafting. Only now, there’s the added convenience of handheld play—and the option of playing under the covers with lights turned off for maximum effect.