While Hogwarts Legacy makes what seems a genuine effort of inclusion, much of it is muddled.

As much as it can come off the rails, there is something gruesomely compelling about The Callisto Protocol that drags you through its dark, blood-soaked corridors. Perhaps it is its lavishly constructed world; finding your way out of the prison onto Callisto’s snow-whipped surface has quite the effect. Perhaps, when it works, it is the primal satisfaction of the combat; a perfectly executed dodge and clobber before lobbing another zombie into a woodchipper with your gravity glove is a grisly but undeniable rush. It is unrefined and often testing, but if those raw ingredients appeal, there is some ghoulish action to savour.

Pokémon's first fully open-world title has a lot of ideas but never quite manages to stick the landing with any of them.

Pokémon's first fully open-world title has a lot of ideas but never quite manages to stick the landing with any of them.

Conversely, Modern Warfare II’s multiplayer offering is rock solid, comprising a highly polished suite of modes catering to a wide range of playstyles. Traditional small-sided shoot-outs still dominate, of course, but quirkier maps help keep things fresh. Santa Sena Border Crossing takes place on a stretch of highway filled with empty but highly explosive vehicles, while Crown Raceway inexplicably takes place in the pit lanes of an F1 track.

If the Arkham games are Christopher Nolan levels of invention and genius then Gotham Knights is hanging out down in the DC Extended Universe with Zak Snyder and Aquaman. Set your expectations accordingly and there’s enjoyable entertainment to be had.

It feels that EA Tiburon have a conundrum here as there is both too much and not enough when it comes to Madden’s modes. Persevering with stuff like The Yard and Face of the Franchise to keep the options broad is all very well, but when no aspect of the game is given full attention, everything feels undercooked.

And yet that monomaniacal approach is both a blessing and a curse. Devotees will doubtless spend enjoyable hours perfecting their runs but those not so enamoured with Metal: Hellsinger’s central conceit might find the whole thing a little… one note.

But its baggy middle does become more taut in The Quarry’s strong denouement; the threat and deathcount rises, the story threads come together and your decisions show their consequence. The paths you choose make for quite the spiderweb, which Supermassive lets you poke into should you wish, and it is never less than impressive to see all of those different decisions pulling together your own personal story through the game. Even if there can be some odd cuts between scenes, a skipped beat because you managed to get one of the group killed.

Nintendo's boisterous take on our national sport is thrilling and hilarious, but doesn't offer enough options to play with.

Nintendo's manic revival of Wii Sports could use more variety, but its lively appeal is a joy for the whole family.

Look, if the Telegraph’s scoring policy would allow me to give extra points for cuteness, this game would be our highest rated game ever. I really mean that. Nothing else I’ve played comes close. Kirby makes the characters of Animal Crossing look about as appealing as the beasts from the most recent Resident Evil title. But The Forgotten Land feels like candyfloss, all sweetness but not enough substance. Kirby is one of Nintendo’s quirkiest and most charming characters, but he deserves better than a reheated take on one of his big brother Mario’s most forgettable outings.

The example of difficult second album syndrome that most readily came to mind while I wandered these wastelands is the Stone Roses, who spent almost five years trying to outdo their era-defining, genre-defying debut only to emerge with a bloated classic rock retread that effectively ended the band’s career. That’s not to say Horizon Forbidden West is gaming’s ‘Second Coming’ – but it’s not the second coming of gaming either.

Techland's horror sequel features crunchy combat and thrilling parkour, but buries its best bits with a clumsy story and open-world excess.

Despite the fresh coat of paint they feel stuck in the past, rolled off the factory line with seemingly little question as to why they’re doing it...Pokémon fans and newbies alike will love Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl because Diamond and Pearl were great. But there’s not enough brilliance or shine here to add the lustre they deserved.

Despite the fresh coat of paint they feel stuck in the past, rolled off the factory line with seemingly little question as to why they’re doing it...Pokémon fans and newbies alike will love Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl because Diamond and Pearl were great. But there’s not enough brilliance or shine here to add the lustre they deserved.

Undead-battling co-op survival mode Zombies – an acquired taste I’ve regrettably never managed to stomach to any degree – rounds out a solid portion of CoD that can’t quite shake the notion it’s merely providing target practice until Vanguard’s Pacific-themed Warzone map enters the fray next month. Then again, perhaps that’s actually the point.

Reflecting on the nature of revolutionary uprising he comes to the conclusion that everything is ultimately ok as long as you die smiling. Similarly, if that’s all you really want from an open world shooter then Far Cry 6 will not disappoint.

Luis Antonio's smart timeloop starring James McAvoy is an absorbing yarn... if you can see past its frayed edges.

I’ve had a lot of fun with it, both chipping away at Adventure Golf on the train and playing a few rounds with the kids at home. But it is forgettable for a Nintendo game, meaning it isn’t long before you move onto other things. The recently released Clap Hanz Golf on iOS, for instance, which has the kind of oomph that an arcade golf game should have. And the kind Mario Golf: Super Rush is curiously lacking.

The Medium, perhaps aptly, is an interesting game of “nearly there”. It is creepy but not frightening, intriguing but not wholly engaging, clever without capitalising on it. This translates to its story, which I never lost interest in but neither was I completely hooked. The Medium goes to some dark places, touching on a slew of heavy ideas like mourning, PTSD and child abuse. It doesn’t drop the ball on these, per se, but neither does it feel equipped or committed enough to do them justice.

In keeping with the period aesthetic, Black Ops Cold War feels like a throwback in all senses of the word. It’s unlikely to be remembered as a Call of Duty classic but throw in the multiplayer mayhem of Zombies too and there’s enough here to help keep the lockdown blues at bay. Which, frankly, is the most any of us can ask for right now.

It’s a convincing facsimile, which makes trying to save it from Albion and its assorted cronies a more compelling task. And Legion’s big gimmick is that you can play as, well, anyone. Construction workers, lawyers, YouTube stars, retired cage fighters, Anarchists, football hooligans. All are served up by Ubisoft’s smart procedurally-generated trick, each with their own look, background and sometimes even voting record.

Perhaps inevitably, on PS5 the game itself almost feels like a secondary concern to the tech demo but developers Insomniac deserve credit for delivering an experience at once both familiar enough to appeal to fans of the first game but also with a strong identity of its own.

For Avengers to entertain any thought of survival as a service game, then, there is a huge amount of work to be done. Most games in the area falter in their early days, if not necessarily to this extent, and there is the kernel of something good here, with strong combat and definable superheroes that are fun to stomp/fly/bound around with. With new heroes on the way to bolster out the roster, if Crystal Dynamics can find a way to hone the game closer to its strengths than its borrowed weaknesses, there may be hope for the Avengers yet. Otherwise the decision to compromise its otherwise solid campaign in the pursuit of all-consuming longevity could prove fatal.

For now, though, FIFA 21 plays a very good game and it's clear the devs have been paying attention to criticism. Headers appear to be effective once more and off the ball movement has seemingly been rebuilt from the ground up, with two new mechanics attempting to address the deficiencies of team-mate AI. The first lets you manually direct runs with a flick of the right stick. The other allows you to take direct control of a runner by pressing in both sticks at once and then timing the return pass as normal. It’s tricky to master and feels a bit like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time but does introduce a welcome set of skill-dependent attacking options.

Much as last year, then, NBA 2K21 is a fantastic sports game wrapped in an unappealing layer of lootboxes and microtransactions.

The result is a game spread too thin, with a bulging selection of modes to play but none of which entirely nail their raison d'etre. In itself this feels an unwinnable decision for EA to make; bringing in new modes to innovate takes time away from developing other areas that the fans want bringing up to date. Something has to give. And perhaps this year that something has just been too much.