Total War: Pharaoh offers satisfying battles and challenging empire management, but undermines itself by pushing the player towards half-baked diplomacy, trade, and intrigue systems that feel authentic but aren’t consistently fun.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage returns the series to its roots with enormous success. Basim’s well-paced journey from street thief to master assassin is full of stealth-focused action and enthralling investigations, and should please fans of the series with its intrigue and heart.

Forza Motorsport’s comeback is an impressive one after its divisive seventh entry and a welcome return to the sim-lite formula after back-to-back entries in the Horizon sub-series. With highly accessible racing and gorgeous visuals and lighting, it’s another strong exclusive for Xbox consoles in 2023.

The concept of Station to Station sounds incredibly simple at first, but this sweet pixelated world will enchant you for hours on end - regardless of your passion for trains or railway networks.

Counter-Strike 2’s wall of noise and violence will feel impenetrable to newcomers but a welcome upgrade for long-term Counter-Strike fans. It’s the best competitive shooter on the market, but it’s so difficult for new players to get on board that it won’t be for everyone.

Small-scale combat and excellent character work combine for a memorable turn-based strategy game. The Lamplighters League doesn’t have the scope or depth of its genre stablemates, but it has a whole lot of heart.

Under The Waves is a heartfelt story-driven adventure set in a beautifully crafted underwater world. While there’s a lot to love, such as the magnificent locations and the bizarrely beautiful dream sequences, there are also some flaws that pull it back from perfection.

El Paso, Elsewhere is a creative and thoughtful project that expertly mixes nostalgic graphics with clean controls. It’s a thrilling fight from start to finish. However, sometimes, the protagonist's monologues can feel like a pizza cutter: all edge with no point.

Paleo Pines offers a fresh spin on what is starting to feel like an oversaturated genre, yet still maintains the same satisfying day-to-day loop of traditional farming simulators. It’s a lot of fun for dinosaur fanatics, but there’s a lack of content to drive you to keep coming back once you’re set up.

Off the pitch, EA Sports FC 24 struggles to establish an identity, but the addition of HyperMotionV and key upgrades to fan-favorite modes including Pro Clubs and Ultimate Team makes this franchise-starter an objectively better football game than its de facto predecessor.

Payday 3 is a competently made and fairly polished heist-’em-up but while stealth gets an upgrade, the shooting is the same as its decade-old predecessor. Hitman-esque levels provide a nice distraction, but this feels like a foundation for Payday 3 as a live service game rather than a total product.

A competent strategy outing, Dune: Spice Wars provides a range of strategic systems that offer engaging decision points for players. However, without a narrative campaign, options for play are limited, and immersion into this classic sci-fi setting is held back by samey environments and shallow combat.

Synced boasts superb PvE for a free-to-play title thanks to its compelling upgrade loop and an excellent mod system. Unfortunately, the disappointing battle royale component lets the overall package down.

Mortal Kombat 1 takes the series back to its roots but also innovates with exciting new aerial combat, a game-changing Kameo system, and a thoughtfully designed roster to be the most mechanically deep and engaging entry in the franchise yet.

AK-xolotl is a must-play if you’re a fan of roguelikes and bullet hells. Its various enemies offer interesting attacks and are distinct enough that you can customize effective defensive strategies against them with a range of weapons and abilities. However, some of the runs can get quite repetitive.

The Crew Motorfest has plenty of moments of joy and wonder as you traverse its open world rendition of Hawaii. The massive variety of events and stunning presentation, however, are held back by a general lack of polish, an unsatisfying handling model and some truly outrageous AI behavior.

Lies of P is as slick and well-done as it is dark and mysterious. With weighty combat, cool weapons and tools, and some exquisite - though very creepy - enemy design, it’ll scratch the ‘souls’ itch for many, despite a few blemishes.

Eternights boasts fast, frantic, and rewarding combat with numerous satisfying abilities and attacks to unlock, alongside deeply enjoyable social simulation elements. However, shortcomings like a lack of map, samey environments, and some questionable dialogue dampen the overall experience.

Starfield is a technically solid systems-heavy role-playing game that works well with a surprising degree of polish compared to previous Bethesda RPGs. Despite this, Starfield has no sense of character and the story lacks impact.

A delightful indie gem, Sea of Stars takes you on a wholesome adventure full of laughs, danger, and twists. Borrowing mechanics from a wide range of genres, Sea of Stars is more than the sum of its parts, though it is slightly hampered by its relatively dull protagonists and lack of character customization.

Armored Core 6 offers slick and well-polished mech battling fundamentals, diluted by the inclusion of ill-fitting soulsborne mechanics that don’t compliment the mech pilot fantasy. Though there’s much to enjoy for fans of the series, newcomers will be met with a lopsided experience that doesn’t quite capture the full potential of the Armored Core series.

A near miss, Immortals of Aveum is a fun arcade shooter that is less than the sum of its parts. The stunning world and unique concept aren’t quite charming enough to make up for the game’s sluggish pace and disjointed combat.

Ride 5 is a stunningly realized motorcycle racing sim with excellent attention to detail that is held back by frustrating controls, a steep learning curve, and the fact that it barely iterates upon the previous entry in a meaningful way.

Blasphemous 2 is not for the faint of heart. The battles can be difficult at times - to a controller-breaking level. However, if you’re a fan of the stresses and strains found in Souls-like games and are willing to learn the moves inside out, then this Metroidvania will reward you with beautiful finishing kills and adrenaline-filled boss fights.

Stray Gods successfully summons a hefty portion of theatrical flare within its visual novel format. While some choices may not feel as weighted as you’d hope, a likeable cast, earnest writing, and catalogue of tunes make it a moreish musical experience worth the price of admission.

Atlas Fallen is a solid but uninspiring open-world fantasy RPG with brilliant movement and traversal but not much else. In a crowded field of fantasy RPGs, it doesn’t have the level of finish, characters, and story to make it a truly memorable experience.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a fine contender for one of the best video game RPGs ever made. It’s the most ambitious RPG out there, and the painstakingly accurate rendition of Dungeons & Dragons will delight fans. A must-play, even if some frustrations with D&D’s format might grate.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is an exceptional side-scrolling beat ‘em up that infuses modern elements into the classic structure to make it more than the sum of its parts. Short, sweet and with a fascinating tag team mechanic at its heart, this old-school treat is worth a bash.

If you’ve ever imagined you could run a race team better than F1’s team principals, give F1 Manager 23 a go. Its difficulty can be very humbling, but if you put the time in to learn its overlapping systems you’ll find an engrossing strategy game that does a fantastic job of holding your attention.

A varied and engaging experience moment-to-moment, The Expanse lives or dies on how much time the player invests in exploring its setting and engaging with its characters.

Pikmin 4 breathes new life into a franchise that was starting to feel lost to time, welcoming new players into a well-loved yet underrated Nintendo series, while simultaneously reminding older players as to exactly why they fell in love with the goofy world of Pikmin in the first place.

An obtuse yet pleasing adventure, Remnant 2’s post-apocalyptic dimension hopping is hobbled by wonky and imprecise combat. That said, fans of bleakly beautiful environments, immersive settings, or the prospect of battling Soulsborne bosses with friends may find themselves enjoying this genre-melding third-person shooter.

Manic Mechanics is the perfect game to sit down and play after a long day, that is, if you need an adrenaline boost. The couch co-op’s simple premise is equally exhilarating and frustrating, resulting in a game you just can’t put down.

Viewfinder is a wonderful demonstration of what games can be and how they can be played. While its story really struggles to come through, the brilliant puzzles, lovely world, and ingenious play more than compensate.

Despite its bizarre premise, Exoprimal’s core loop works tremendously well, providing a team-based multiplayer experience that’s simultaneously unlike anything else and has a strong ‘one more match’ feeling. However, it remains extremely difficult to recommend due to being a full-priced multiplayer-only title.

Oxenfree 2 is a smart, stylish but ultimately safe sequel to a modern cult classic. It unfortunately repeats many of the mistakes of its predecessor, and perhaps that’s the point, but there’s still plenty here for those looking for another dose of small town mystery drowned in spectral radio static.

This top-tier strategy game loses points for the slurs and racial stereotyping in the writing. The best urban combat in a tactical game in years, but the world feels paper-thin even as the fights impress.

Synapse is a substantial, somewhat interesting FPS adventure and a compelling PSVR 2 exclusive that lets you become a mind-trawling mayhem merchant with psychic powers.

AEW Fight Forever certainly has moments where it delivers on its promise of back-to-basics, arcade-like pro wrestling fun. However, such moments are few and far between. More often than not, you’ll be wrestling with buggy combat, lackluster visuals, and an underbaked career mode that feels woefully tacked on. It’s not a bad effort from Yuke’s, but one that’s far from the developer’s best work.

Crash Team Rumble has all the ingredients of an engaging online multiplayer game. Its team-based fundamentals are strong with a small but well-thought-out roster of playable characters and varied map design that greatly complements the game’s quickfire matches. It’s unfortunate, then, that Crash Team Rumble is lacking the content – and progression – needed for a live service title to stand the test of time.

Savage tactical strategy and effective use of the license make this a must-play for fans of Xenomorphs or think-’em-ups. Some jagged edges and jank mar things a bit, but it’s the most terrifying strategy game you’ll ever play.

Final Fantasy 16 is a shining example of narrative-focused games at their best, boasting immersive storytelling and cinematic action that invites you into its richly detailed world. The expansive, deeply immersive setting and cast of lovable, fully realized characters sets a gold standard for Final Fantasy titles, offering something that is more than the sum of its parts.

Heavily inspired by Monolith's 2005 shooter F.E.A.R, Trepang2 delivers stylish, bloody action with breath-taking visual effects and weighty, kinetic gunplay. The broader experience is let down slightly by a truncated campaign bulked out with fun, but superfluous feeling side missions.

Layers of Fear is a shiny remake with the same dull and slightly uneasy story that plagued the original titles. While it masters elements of a hallucinogenic game with smooth transitions and creative mind-boggling settings, I was never even slightly scared, surprised, or excited.

There’s a lot packed into F1 23 for fans of the motorsport, as well as more casual sim racing fans. This year’s release brings back the surprisingly compelling Braking Point campaign alongside immersive, highly customizable career modes full of decision-making and driver and team development. Throw in the all-encompassing F1 World mode and you’ve got a feature-rich package that’s sure to please most racing fans.

Judge it solely on its throwback shooter credentials and you’ll find Slayers X is slightly more functional than fun, instead the real joy is in its examination of protagonist and developer Zane Lofton.

An incredibly well-made and entertaining game with excellent world-building, narrative, and atmospheric audio that is sadly let down by psychological horror that borders on harassing. It’s not for the faint of heart.

Miasma Chronicles brings all of the right ingredients to the table; it’s raw and gritty yet earnest and charming, built around an engaging narrative and an endearing host of characters. The issue is, it’s undercooked. Stuttering animations, a gappy tutorial, and untapped RPG potential make for an occasionally grueling, albeit still very enjoyable game.

With this remake, Nightdive Studios has created the essential way to revisit System Shock. Despite the body horror at its core, Nightdive’s remake feels immediately comfortable, despite rocky combat and uneven checkpointing.

Diablo 4 is a meticulously crafted action RPG and sets a new standard for isometric, open-world adventures.

It took a while for Street Fighter 6 to arrive, and for good reason. The final product is slickly polished, packed with modes and headlined by its feature-rich online Battle Hub and ambitious single player World Tour. It’s a fighting game for everyone, with multiple control styles and vast accessibility options.

A sterling example of the newly-resurrected 'boomer shooter' genre, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun offers extremely tight shooting, excellent sound and world design, and one of the best guns I've ever fired in a video game. Yes, it's the boltgun.

Jedi Survivor is an ambitious and faithful Star Wars adventure. Though far from flawless, its engaging soulsborne-style combat and immersive visuals thrill and delight.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom leaps forward on what was offered in 2017’s Breath of the Wild, filling out the world’s sandbox with innovative new tools and abilities, letting you approach challenges in inventive new ways.