My prevailing feeling on WWE 2K23 on the whole is that it’s a welcome, if small, step up. Nobody who is coming over from WWE 2K22 will really be wowed by anything here, but the cumulative minor updates, iterations, additions and improvements are all very good and very welcome. Your mileage will vary depending on how worthwhile an overall modest update to last years title is to you, but for my money the few dozen hours of excellent sports entertainment that the pair of new MyRise stories and the Cena Showcase provide are worth the price of admission on their own, and WarGames is the juiciest possible cherry on top.

In all, there’s a surprising amount of content, but it’s only the story mode that’s worth playing.

Shadows is best played with hidden blades as a stealth-action game reminiscent of what Assassin's Creed used to be, but its greatest strength is choice.

The gripping single-player Star Wars game we have been waiting for all generation. Challenging combat is broken up by interesting platforming and exploration, and it’s all held together by a narrative I genuinely cared about.

LEGO Party is a worthy contender to Mario Party; you’ll need to decide if its strengths and weaknesses appeal to you. With noticeable framerate drops during fly-throughs, even on PS5 Pro, I’m also a bit concerned about how this will actually play on a Switch.

We played the sequel on Nintendo Switch, and it has equal amounts of positives as negatives. We found the smaller screen presented in handheld mode made it easier to focus on tasks in single-player mode, though it did require pixel-perfect moves that meant the different between grabbing, placing and chopping or nothing at all. While players can huddle around the Switch’s screen in a pinch, couch (or online) co-op works best on a TV.

Overall F1 22 continues Codemasters roll of making excellent Formula 1 games. The series has gone from strength to strength with its past few iterations, and with some more simulation focussed work could really become the best way to experience Formula 1 in a video game. While the inclusion of F1 Life is a weird step, it can mostly be ignored and ditching Braking Point sheds some weight from the game. 22 brings a whole suite of improvements to what was already a very good series, and I look forward to it consuming my life for the next few months at least.

Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia is really fun and easy to play in short bursts — just like any good handheld game should be. Some of the new gameplay mechanics are cool, but it wouldn’t be a huge loss if they disappeared in the next installment.

Shadow of War is Shadow of Mordor 2.0. If you liked the first, you’ll like the second – though hopefully you’ll be provided with a day one patch to smooth off rough edges. Though that’s highly unlikely.

While Marathon hasn’t grabbed me yet, I’m going to keep plugging away at it before bolting a score on to this review and calling it a day. There’s a lot here, most of it good, and as long as Sony backs Marathon through this teething phase I think we could have a gem on our hands – with some aggressive polishing, of course.

Like inclusion of Rin, Catherine itself is a tricky one; you’ll love it and hate it almost in the same thought. That’s not necessarily a terrible thing though — it’s an extremely unique experience that you owe it to yourself to at least try if you haven’t already. That said, consider that you can get the initial experience on a multitude of platforms for a fraction of the price.

Rollerdrome isn’t going to be for everyone. If you’ve got better reflexes than I and find things to be less of a challenge than I did, you can test your meddle against other real-world players thanks to online leaderboards in addition to an unlockable “Out for Blood” mode that amps up the difficulty (no thanks). If that excites you, then you certainly shouldn’t hesitate.

While I may not think of this personally as a true Final Fantasy title, that doesn’t make it any less of a good game. Despite all my above quibbles, I still haven’t been able to put the controller down for any longer than it takes to visit the bathroom or refuel my needy human body.

The biggest single-player draw card is Adventure, the game’s story mode, and one we’ve specifically been told not to spoil.

Origins is an Assassin’s game that’s been gutted to the bones and refurbished for a completely new Animus experience. The game is much better for it, all across the board.

Laser League is a budget-priced gem. An instant party favourite, I could see this developing into a proper Esports phenomenon like Rocket League.

Unlike the previous two Zelda remasters on Wii U, Skyward Sword HD is more about updating a game designed for the Wii’s waggle to work well on a handheld and with a conventional controller. With that focus, it delivers a version of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword that is much easier and more natural to play from start to finish.

Moonlighter is a wonderful combination of Zelda and Animal Crossing that easily commands your constant attention. It looks beautiful with a lovely, pixelated style; music from the shop and the dungeons will be stuck in your head for days. The only fault I could find with Moonlighter it’s relatively short — I wanted more dungeons, more enemies to topple, more items to sell.

NHL 21 is a tight little package -- years in the making -- but that's because EA Vancouver is doing everything it can to refine a polished hockey game year-on-year.

Local multiplayer is where Fast RMX slots in nicely as part of the launch line-up. At $28, it’s got the price right.

The strategic polish of two decades is on display in Age of Empires 4, both in the history of this series and the pedigree of the developer. Relic has wrapped an interesting if slightly flawed single player experience around what is a superb strategy game. You’ll probably know if you want to play this one, but if you just think medieval warfare is pretty cool and you really like the centuries where England and France just kept invading each other, I recommend you put aside any fears of fast clicking and micromanagement and just jumping in, just avoid that multiplayer menu until you are absolutely ready.

Immortals Fenyx Rising is fresh and fun, offering up an exciting new IP I hope to see more of. That said, its endgame pacing issues certainly don’t do it any favours, nor does the timing of its release.

These little bothers don’t matter in the end, as Banishers‘ rough edges are easily compensated by its charm. I had a ball meeting the inhabitants of New Eden and making judgements accordingly. I reckon you will too.

While it definitely departs from the usual formula for the series, Like A Dragon Ishin is undoubtedly worth your time. While this isn’t a story of true history, the game is happy to educate you on Japanese culture of the time – a helpful Glossary option will pop up for many terms unfamiliar to an English-speaking audience, so you’ll be able to tell your joshi from your goshi and shishi – and suddenly, Final Fantasy XIII’s naming conventions make a lot more sense. Becoming a badass, unstoppable samurai seems only right for someone who looks like Kiryu, and the story will keep you guessing to the end. Also those cucumbers are almost ready to harvest, so don’t forget to stop by the villa soon.

If you haven’t experienced the open world, stealth extravaganza that is Sniper Elite, this is the time to jump in. For those returning to the franchise, buckle up — and play about two difficulties higher than you were planning. You’ll thank me later.

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 is a video game only on its surface. Scratch that away and you’ll see that it’s a deep, thought-provoking, interactive experience; it proves games as a form of art, demanding skill and talent. Ninja Theory should be very proud.

The bottom line is this: adjust your expectations about Black Myth Wukong as a proper Soulslike, and jump on in if its setting and mythos interests you.

Perfect pick-up, put-down play.