I felt like a hero at every moment, whether I was saving the princess or exploring hidden passageways or helping rediscover the lost recipe for that aforementioned cheese. But I felt like a hero not because the game told me I was but because it showed me. It showed me that my wacky ideas for building silly motorcars were clever and fun. It showed me that with a bit of bravery I could beat a swarm of enemies with nothing but sticks and stones. It showed me that I could dive off a flying island into the unknown and find my way.

There is a mission relatively early on in Redfall’s tale that draws you into the mansion of one of the town’s main antagonists. It is a creepy, looming pile creaking with atmosphere and, once inside, plays smartly with Arkane’s knack for twisted level design; shifting time and space and spinning a hair-raising tale through gameplay and artistic direction. It is brilliant and, for a moment, recalls some of Arkane’s best work. But then it’s gone, fading in the wind as you return to wrestle the so-so shooting, lacklustre looting and barrage of bugs...Rather aptly, the mission is called The House of Echoes.

Respawn's Star Wars sequel builds on its promising predecessor, even if it suffers from the same lack of focus.

EA's return to the course is a surprisingly understated and supremely accomplished golf sim.

Nintendo's 20-year-old tactical war simulator is like video-game chess - difficult to learn but satisfying to master.

It's unlikely to make any Game of the Year lists but Dead Island 2 provides plenty of low-brow thrills.

That a Resident Evil 4 remake is expectedly brilliant is a tough stick to beat it with. But while it might not have that extraordinary sense of upgrade that Resident Evil 2 did, it is important to realise what it represents. Resi 4 was the main driver of the third-person action revolution - the moderniser-in-chief. That its influence has come full circle into its own remake should be no surprise. What does shock, perhaps, is that even after all these years and all its myriad versions is that Resident Evil 4 still hasn’t been bettered. A smartly-executed upgrade has only thrown that into sharper focus. And, particularly for those that haven’t played it before, this is as essential as video games get.

While grown-up gaming is dominated by dark and brooding fantasies, Kirby makes the case for sweetness and light among families.

Modern sensibilities may be shocked by the lack of checkpointing, but it is also crucial in creating the sense of tension and danger that ripples throughout Tallon IV...Few games can do that too. Maybe the closest touchstone in that regard --though they are very different games-- is From Software’s oeuvre. The success of which can only be a boon for Prime’s ethereal brilliance and a good sign for the upcoming and long-awaited Metroid Prime 4.

Each new locale is seemingly more rich and detailed than the last, and I regularly felt compelled to stop looking for the next path forward and instead just take in the magical realism of my surroundings.

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

This is an accomplished remake of a great game, but it doesn’t necessarily shake the cobwebs off in the same way that Resident Evil 2 did. But perhaps that’s because it didn’t need to; retaining the ghoulish sense of place and suffocation that makes the Ishimura such a horrible place to visit.

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.

God of War: Ragnarok manages to wrangle the best of blockbuster gaming under its muscular control. Spectacle. Excitement. Empowerment. And, well, we all know how that feels, don’t we?

Its unruly attitude is its calling card, the manic beating heart that its exquisite combat is built around. And if this sounds like a good time, then Bayonetta 3 could well be the most fun you have with a video game all year.

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.

There’s not much to like about a business model so brazenly designed to divorce kids from their pocket money – and the big swing in favour of untradeable reward cards this year only increases the likelihood of that outcome. That said… it is remarkably addictive, and the overhaul of the chemistry rules that underpin squad building have at least shaken up the shakedown.

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.

Immortality certainly gives you that leeway for your own interpretation and enough compelling mystery that its puzzle can get under your skin and spill out of the game itself. There are already some fascinating readings of the game out there and much of the fun will come in discussion and dissection. I still don’t think I have a perfect handle on what it all means, despite reaching the game’s ‘conclusion’, but I have some ideas. What I do know is that this is a brilliantly clever, disturbing and singular piece of work.

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.

The Last of Us is irrefutably one of the best games of the PS3 era but it's beginning to feel of its time – and beneath its gorgeous next-gen glow-up, Part 1 is still, essentially, the same game. Which wouldn't be a problem at all were it not for that troublesome next-gen asking price.

Where it counts, F1 22 is right on track.

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.

Ghostwire Tokyo is rarely a scary game, Tango stopping short of full horror, but it still has the ability to unsettle. It may be an acquired taste and far from flawless, but its distinctive approach and commitment to its ethos has plenty of spirit.

Here, exploration is everything. Elden Ring is an RPG but one which elevates role playing to the point of vérité. You are as much the stranger in a strange land as your avatar; basic controls and some mechanics are explained in what passes for the game's tutorial, but that’s about it. There’s no quest log, no icon-studded mini-map, no on-screen overlays or bread crumb trail telling you what to do next, or even where to go. Everything else must be learned, either decoded from oblique item descriptions in-game or gleaned from invaluable internet communities. Death is not so much a setback to be avoided as a necessary staging post on the path to enlightenment. It may sound daunting in theory but in practice it’s exhilarating. Every inch of progress in Elden Ring feels earned, and is thus infinitely more rewarding for it.

I can’t help admiring its purity and focus. Gran Turismo 7 seemingly has one mission: to espouse and share its love of cars and their place in wider culture. Its curated catalogue, pretty history books and gleaming showrooms are presented with dutiful care and attention. So much so that it is easy to find yourself lost in the history of the Volkswagen or Aston Martin before you know it. And once you get those cars out on the track? That’s the best part of all.

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.

There’s no doubting the quality on offer here, then, but if you already own the PS4 versions then you might struggle to justify the outlay for the upgrades on offer – particularly when the original iteration of A Thief’s End is also available to PS5 owners with an online subscription for free as part of the PlayStation Plus Collection. One gets the sense it’s the kind of buying decision consumers will need to get used to making over the course of the coming console generation.

By tearing up the rule book and breaking new ground, Game Freak has created the best Pokémon title in decades.

Still, there is something to be said for focusing on what you are good at. And in both Halo Infinite’s campaign and its superb multiplayer...343 are proving masters of the art of battle.

Forza takes its racing and cars very seriously --with painstaking attention to torque, road conditions and more tuning options than you can shake a gearstick at-- but its raison d’etre is unbridled, uncomplicated driving joy. There is a bewildering amount of stuff that populates the map: traditional races, cross-country sprints, off-road adventures, speed traps, jumps, multiplayer challenges, weekly events. You can barely drive a few yards without something to take part in or smash through. It is bewildering at first and can feel unstructured and scattergun, particularly when the game is throwing XP and rewards at you with so much abandon it's hard to keep track of it all.

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.

But each year should offer something slightly different. Partway through my Watford season, having somewhat steadied the ship and learnt more intricacies than I had in previous editions, I had the overwhelming urge to try something different. I began a new game, made myself unemployed, and got a job to start a root-and-branch revolution at Carlisle United; revamping the backroom staff as much as my miniscule budget would allow, building a squad around youth and poring over lesser known opponent’s stats in order to figure out the week’s gameplan. Plenty of other players would have taken a similar path in previous games, for sure. But I think that’s the point with Football Manager. And that it can still inspire different approaches from different players each year is impressive, even if it might not look hugely different on the surface.

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.

This take on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy puts a premium on character and storytelling, with surprisingly impressive results.

It’s terrific stuff, though it may prove a little strenuous for newcomers at times. Metroid has always been one of Nintendo’s more ‘hardcore’ pursuits and Dread looks to make a virtue of this in a challenging and often esoteric adventure. But whether you are new or a Metroid old-hand, there is no doubting the craft here. A welcome return for one of gaming’s most stylish heroes.

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.

FIFA 22 has focussed squarely on the on-pitch action and has succeeded in creating the best pure football game from the series in quite some time. For me, at least, there is no better measure.

For all of its complexities under the hood, Deathloop is Arkane’s most accessible game yet and elicits constant satisfaction. The action is a pleasure, while its main drive has you constantly picking up pieces of an unknown puzzle that are pieced together in separate chunks, before the frisson of excitement when the full picture starts to form. What’s extraordinary is how Arkane make it seem so easy. Blockbuster game-making at its smartest and most essential.

As well as some smart on-field tweaks, Madden's marquee mode sees notable improvements after some notable neglect.

Prepare to go insane in the brain with one of the year's most imaginative interactive experiences.

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

This is pretty much the perfect Xbox Game Pass title. Persuade some pals to download it too and you’ve got a cracking co-op shooter for zero financial risk. Solo players might find it slightly harder going but for genre aficionados, The Ascent is a salve for both the eyes and the trigger finger that will scratch your cybperunk itch until you-know-what gets its act together.

Nintendo rightly thought that this form of Zelda had peaked and had to leave much of it behind to foster a new sense of adventure. But that we get to enjoy this brilliant inflection point again, with notable modern trappings, is a delight.

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.

Veteran developers Insomniac have taken advantage of the PS5’s capabilities to create a sumptuous spread, combining rich, Hollywood-grade CG environments and character models with liberal screenfuls of retina-scorching special effects. Playing the opening tutorial level feels like stepping into an animated movie – a sensation rarely dissipates over the dozen-or-so hours of Rift Apart’s amiable campaign.

For all of the improvements that are most welcome (and will doubtless help court a new generation of fans) Mass Effect’s brilliance isn’t about technicality. Not really. It is about that total investment in its galaxy and its characters --be it your most trusted squadmate or the elephantine Elcor shopkeeper you bumped into-- that has fully enveloped me again. That hasn’t aged a jot.

Those comparisons to Resident Evil 4 are not entirely unfounded then. It is not as genre-shifting as that game – few games are – but it does share a certain ethos and hunger for variety in tension and action. It is very much its own thing too, both a natural continuation of the series recent reinvention and a manic expansion of its long-standing invention and flamboyance. Most of all, it is a tremendous, and tremendously terrifying, video game in its own right.

Returnal is a punishing game which revels in the brutality of its challenge – and given the randomness baked in to the roguelike conceit, it doesn’t always feel like a fair one. Extreme difficulty spikes abound and ultimately twitch-like reflexes will only get you so far; the success or otherwise of any given run can often depend on which weapon types, buff-bestowing artefacts or consumables appear early on. I managed to blitz through one of the game's six biomes, boss-fight and all, at the first attempt thanks to a fortuitous combination of auto-healing augmentations and a launcher blessed with homing ammunition. Conversely, soldiering on with a sub-optimal build can be a dispiriting struggle.

The game plays at just the right speed so that you’re desperate to try again to get the perfect snap, but without it feeling overwhelming and absurdly complex. I will admit that for those who aren’t so big on replaying levels, it may get tiring. Still, it helps that the personalities of the Pokémon really shine through, the cheeky Scorbunny, the cheerful Grookey, the bouncy Pichu; why wouldn’t you want to go and spend more time with them?

It is a game that is interested in one thing and one thing only: turning enemies into bloody smears and hopefully finding some new shoes. And, thankfully, it is very good at it. If you are one of those people-who-like-this-kind-of thing, of course.

Tonally it is all over the place, never seeming quite sure what type of game it wants to be and audience it wants to court. At times it as sweet, warm and sharply enjoyable as any family film. May and Cody’s jibes at each other swerve from affectionate to cutting in a believable and often touching way as they pick at the rifts in their relationship. You may even start to root for them, until the game swerves into a task involving the excruciatingly drawn-out murder of a toy elephant to make their daughter cry.

AIt hits all of the usual story beats and it will scratch an itch for JRPG obsessives, but there’s an absolute lack of substance. There’s no discernable creativity, flair, or ingenuity in any part of it. It doesn’t want to either reinvent the wheel or even add a lick of polish to it. It is a game which exists and functions as it was meant to; a JRPG as by-the-numbers as they come, I just wish the developers had been brave enough to take a few more risks.

It is, if there was any doubt, a thoroughly barmy escapade. There is the sense of the game’s designers being told to go nuts in a relatively constricted space and see what sticks. Mario has always been a conduit for madcap invention but it has rarely been this scattergun. Not the plumber at his most focussed, perhaps, but arguably at his most fun. It is a welcome and fitting part of a marvelously manic package.

While the notion of ‘maybe you are the Little Nightmares after all’ is hardly revolutionary, it is executed with enough odious style to be effective and affecting. A level of skill in horror-making that runs through Little Nightmares’ brisk descent into darkness.

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.

A fine and fitting send-off for gaming’s slickest, most inventive thriller.

With something like Ring Fit Adventure, the variety of exercises and madcap storyline drew me back in time and time again, and in comparison Fitness Boxing 2 just feels flat. Even the budget RRP of £39.99 feels far too much to pay. Given that we’re all mostly housebound at the moment, it feels like there might have been an opportunity to do something more interesting with the concept.

CD Projekt Red's long-awaited follow-up to The Witcher 3 is brilliant, fascinating and engrossing but bears the scars of a tough development. [Review in Progress]

A game that is both more accessible to newcomers and even deeper for old hands. Most importantly it continues to improve in its storytelling and humanity, providing a richer escape to fantasy football at a time we need it the most.

Playing Viking detective was not something I expected to do during Valhalla, but it is a game that --while following much of its traditional template-- is capable of surprise.

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.

Dirt 5 is not a complicated game. And while racing purists may want a game with more meat on its bones, that is to its credit. It is almost old-school in its focus on delivering a breathless parade of rough-and-ready racing. And if you have a next-gen console to show off its extra bells and whistles, then all the better.

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.

Even better are the super charming vignettes depicting scenes from classic games acted out by Astro Bots in fancy dress scattered throughout the game’s levels. It’s a wonderfully self indulgent cocktail of celebration and fan service more reminiscent of Nintendo than Sony - and all the more delightful for it.

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.

The atmosphere is, in a word, anxious - and it’s impossible not to internalize it. Particularly when faced with Quick-Time Events (QTE) which, more often than not, lead to a horrifying death.

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.

There’s around eight different forms of in-game currency alone, and enough upgrades and modifiers to give even Euclid a headache trying to track all the variables. However once you fall under Hades’ spell after a couple of runs the near limitless combinations of character builds becomes bewitching.

Much of what new players might see could come across as cliche for 3D platformers, but only because would-be challengers plundered Mario's ideas for their own mascot-driven adventures.

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

Extraordinarily good.

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.

The offshoot is that there are likely to be one or two sections that might rub players the wrong way. But it is exactly that manic energy that makes the return of Battletoads such a welcome treat.

No doubt there is a lot more that could be done with a mixed martial arts game and, as a biennial release, you wonder if UFC 4 could have moved the needle a bit further on for the genre. Perhaps EA could do with a new contender to keep it on its toes, not so much undisputed as unchallenged. But for all its faults, where it matters most - in the octagon- UFC is a genuine thrill.

The most notable downsides to the game are its technical wobbles, with the camera jolting out of place, the odd audio glitch and rare instances of item hotspots not appearing and requiring a restart. These are a shame -and one hopes eminently fixable in upcoming patches- but are not enough to take the shine off a smart, funny and handsome slice of classic adventuring with a modern sensibility.

The result is a handsome, clever and genuinely funny game that is likely to confound expectations, for better or worse. Veterans expecting a return to classic RPG Paper Mario may be disappointed and not everyone will buy into the puzzle elements. But those who take to its charms will find a game that folds in both smarts and heart.

Sucker Punch's PS4 tribute to Akira Kurosawa is gorgeous to behold but its sparse open-world and bloated mechanics has it falling short.

It’s still decent fun, though; which is the game in a nutshell. Disintegration teems with potential and it would certainly be interested to see its ideas expanded upon. But if this fun, flawed first attempt can find enough traction for the team to have another crack remains to be seen. I rather hope it does.

Mojang's famous video game series goes all action-RPG and proves a fine introduction to the world of fantasy looting.

Last of Us Part II might even surpass the achievements of its predecessor. For while it inevitably lacks that first game’s shock of the new, it instead trades on the player’s familiarity with its characters and their backstories to take them somewhere equally unexpected. And while it may lose its focus a little in the penultimate reels, Last of Us II eventually lands an emotional punch that will be felt long after the credits roll.

Part of how much you reap from Resident Evil 3 will be down to your nostalgia for the series, part of it will be if shooting the embodiment of a virus in the face with a rail-gun is just what you need right now.

Remaking a touchstone of the medium in this fashion is like creating a big-budget, 10-part Netflix drama series out of the title sequence from Grange Hill. Franchise fans will tune in to see an outsized sausage on a fork only to be confounded by the three episodes dedicated to the netball teacher’s character arc. Curious newcomers tempted by the production values and peerless reputation could find the soporific pacing and weirdly dated references to outsized sausages leaves them wondering what all the fuss was about. And everyone else might just shrug and watch The Witcher instead.

Half-life 3 this ain’t, then. But Alyx might actually be something better: an awe-inspiring amalgamation of atmospherics and immersion which does for VR gaming what its forebears did for the first person shooter genre all those years ago. And while it’s a shame the steep price of entry will prevent a significant number of fans from experiencing its majesty, those who do will likely emerge from this most sensational form of self-isolation with their view of the world altered forever.

Nothing wrong with excelling at one thing. And when it comes to cathartic, gore-fuelled gunplay, there is none better.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a terrific and affecting bout of escapism. Its ‘Metroidvania’ roots reach deep - those that remain unmoved by this style of 2D action aren’t likely to find anything revelatory. But its aura and execution is a thing of beauty.

With a game this broad and lengthy, there’s more to discuss than I could fit in one review, but suffice it to say, this a game that Nintendo have clearly worked incredibly hard to get right. It shines at every moment, from the wind rustling through the trees, to the sunset glinting off the water to the jaunty tunes at the start of the day fading into more relaxing melodies in the evening. Add dozens of much needed quality of life features (hello player customisation, autosave, couch co-op, and eight-player online play) and it all adds up to the perfect DIY recipe for the most chilled out, relaxing, and engaging life simulator ever.

Video gaming is an extraordinary medium capable of so many things; transporting you to other worlds, challenging your mettle and your beliefs, telling stories and fuelling creativity. Sometimes, it lets you get together with your mates and shoot zombie Nazis in the nuts. Consider the bar raised.

The game doesn’t outstay its welcome over its 12ish hours, which is, truthfully, something of a blessing.