Even if some of the boss battles and tougher platforming sections made me want to cry and the relatively short run-time had me done with Pepper’s adventure quicker than I’d like, Pepper Grinder is one of the most entertaining 2D platformers in recent memory and one that pushes its unique selling point to the limit. Pepper Grinder is drill-y good.

However, aside from some general random glitchiness - such as the choppy stuttering that sometimes occurs when camera angles switch - UFC 4 drew me in and really hasn’t let me go. I love the type of experience that the game’s career mode has to offer, and with so many detailed gameplay mechanics, I feel like I’m learning something new every time I jump into the game. For those who love MMA and understand all of its intricacies, you’ll likely come into UFC 4 ahead of the curve. However, UFC 4 also has plenty to offer to newer fans who are just starting to cut their teeth on the sport. Simply put, UFC 4 is the best MMA game out there right now, and is a must-own for lovers of The Octagon.

Jamestown+ sets out to be a well-made port on the Nintendo Switch, and it succeeds in every way. The game was great when it released eight years ago, and the same holds true today. It’s not often a game retains that kind of staying power, and this is one title that even casual players of action shmups should add to their collections.

EA Sports FC 24 is the same game you know and love, for better and worse. Gameplay feels good, PlayStyles are a fantastic addition that allow you to succeed while truly playing your way, but the game is held back by its focus on Ultimate Team, which excels at the expense of the rest of the game. Single-player modes feel completely neglected and in many ways have gone backwards since the last game, to the point where buying this feels pointless if you’re not going to play online.

Though I have issues with certain aspects of Borderlands 4’s pace and progression, it does so much right that those problems aren’t dealbreakers. Far from it. Sixteen years in, this is Gearbox’s cel-shaded shooter series at its best. From a well-calibrated tone, still-satisfying guns, best-in-class traversal, and an inviting open world, Borderlands 4 answers the question I asked when it was announced. How much can the Borderlands series possibly change? Turns out the answer is both not much… and a whole lot.

From the masterful writing depicting earnest and meaningful character stories, to the organic design and dating mechanics, and a legendary voice cast to top it all off, Date Everything succeeds in creating a delightful experience that showcases an immense amount of love for video games and the stories and characters they are capable of giving us.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall Revelations is an expansion that, for the most part, knows why the original game was good and does more of that. While the Anomalous Site mechanic sacrifices playability for theme, the main story lets the player dive into the mysteries of the past while getting interesting new battle mechanics.

The gameplay is solid within the genre, the free-to-play rewards seem reasonable to start building a collection, and the addition of Planeswalkers with the division of cards by color type all combine to make Magic: ManaStrike a great mobile game to check out.

If the Switch is the only choice you have, it's not the worst option. This is perfectly playable and works fine. But if you can somehow play this in person with your small group of socially distanced friends or on your PC while talking through Discord, then that would be the optimal way to experience this lovely little game.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is a roll down retro memory lane with its charming classic arcade format. However, the game soon loses its shine with the sudden difficulty spike that makes it incredibly hard to enjoy in the later levels, despite the inclusion of accessibility options. This is a great choice for a party game when you want a local co-op title, but the lack of online multiplayer means the game begins to feel a little stale when playing alone, despite the wealth of levels, modes, and unlockables.

It's an expensive toy that has specific flooring and space requirements. But if you have the right place for it, I can't recommend Rift Rally enough. It's the first full-fledged AR experience that doesn't feel like an experimental tech-demo, and it inspires so many more possibilities for the future. Velan Studios understands the appeal and nostalgia of Hot Wheels, and has filled this game with so much variety and so many great ideas. I haven't been this impressed by a game in a long time, and it fills my jaded gamer heart with hope.

InKonbini: One Store. Many Stories offers a short but very sweet slice-of-life game that makes you value the quiet moments and fleeting conversations you have with strangers. Much like our favourite convenience store snacks, it offers plenty of flavour in a bite-sized chunk that keeps our appetite satiated until the next eye-catching game comes along. I went into InKonbini expecting something a little different, but finished my final shift pleasantly surprised with just how attached I had become to the game. It’s impressive how it takes small moments and elevates them to such heartfelt heights.

Diving into game after game, experiencing that Soulslike loop in a microcosm, was unbelievably satisfying, and those moments of victory have never felt better. There are some minor quirks, like the lack of cross-platform play and spongy bosses, but on the whole, Nightreign is one of the most inventive things to come out of FromSoftware since it coined the Soulslike genre.

Overall, the game very much feels like the very best of the original Harvest Moon title mixed with the newer mechanics and ideas that have been developed in the Story of Seasons franchise. It's a perfect mesh of old and new that feels well pitched for both veterans and newcomers to enjoy. If you're looking for a relaxing game to calm your mind at the end of the day, then Story Of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is here to fill that gap.

MLB The Show 22 feels like MLB The Show 21 after a decent-but-not-major patch has been installed. If you haven’t played the series for a few years, or are a newcomer looking to dive into baseball sims for the first time, this is the best thing on the market. If you picked the game up last year, you’re paying for minor tweaks and a roster update, and you might not feel a new game is worth it.

The game’s excellent acting, memorable characters, and compelling visual style make the game very worth your time, and if you’re used to the groan-inducing logic of point-and-click games of yore, Loco Motive won’t be any more frustrating than anything you’ve already played.

The Midnight Walk is a story of redemption, of how one fiery spark can reignite old passions or heal a broken heart. Founding members of Moonhood once told me they thought about quitting game development altogether, before eventually founding the studio and finding a reason to keep going with this project. I can't help but feel The Midnight Walk is an allegory for that rekindled passion; sometimes a great game only needs a spark.

But for what it actually is, Banana Rumble is an utterly adorable sequel full of charm, with some decent level design to be had. When it was at its best, it was incredibly satisfying to pull off skips and blast through stages in mere seconds. Now that it’s over, I just can’t see myself picking it up again.

Beyond its unique art style, Need for Speed Unbound doesn’t do anything to reinvent the steering wheel, but it doesn’t need to. This is Need for Speed, so you know what you’re here for - fast races, cop chases, and more cars than you know what to do with. Unbound is all of that packaged in the series’ most stylish entry to date.

Audica delivers on a super satisfying shooter/music game combo that is unique even among the throngs of VR rhythm games. I definitely recommend it, provided you skip the campaign and go in knowing it's a bit feature incomplete.

Amnesia: The Bunker is a bold new step for the series and it’s the shot in the arm that I think it’s needed for some time now. This first attempt isn’t perfect and has some teething issues as it figures out its new identity, but it makes up for it by being a truly terrifying experience that shows how bright the series’ future can be.

This is the first Mario & Luigi on Switch and it very much feels like the series’ first big-budget home console entry. It's so much bigger than any of the older games, not just in terms of play time, but in terms of ideas too. The only bad thing about Brothership is that it sets the bar so high there’s no going back to the originals now.

While Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a commendable platformer and one I am glad to have on the Nintendo Switch as an exclusive swansong, when Tropical Freeze already lives on the console, it’s hard not to view its predecessor as inferior. It’s a challenging retro platformer that is a delight to play for the most part, but with each new set of levels, I wanted to see what a new Donkey Kong excursion might look like, instead of love letters like this that are defined by their attachment to the past.

There’s no doubt that this is an incredibly fun way to play Capcom arcade classics - better than throwing all of your loose change at a game you’ll never actually finish, at least - but the selection available here hasn’t left me feeling inspired. The games in this collection feel like the last options, the games that could never be sold individually. Cult classics like Darkstalkers and every other version of Street Fighter are entirely missing - instead we have a bunch of Capcom arcade games that, for the most part, weren’t deserving of sequels, or any other recognition this far removed from their release. It sounds harsh, but these are the rejects, propped up by Street Fighter 2 and Ghosts ‘N Goblins. There’s fun to be had here, but without nostalgia you probably won’t find much to love.

With its interesting story, mechanics that are easy to pick up but difficult to master, and its overall fun factor, Cyber Shadow is a retro platformer that is easy to recommend.

Dying Light 2 is a game with a troubled development, and unfortunately, it shows. I know how much the first game grew significantly over the years with patches and content updates, and I can only hope that this one gets as much support, because it still needs a lot of work before it becomes the game we were first promised back in 2018, if ever.

It's advised that people play this gem of a game on PC in order to experience the best version of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, but the drawbacks of the console version can be overlooked by people who are really patient or don't mind messing around on their phone every couple of minutes when going back to a town to restock on times.

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is an absolute delight and comes highly recommended, regardless of whether or not you're a fan of the platforming, RPG, or farming and crafting genres. I have the game for PlayStation 4, but I will most definitely be picking it up for Nintendo Switch as well, as the rice farming process offers up a meditative experience that I’d like to play just for a few minutes before bed to unwind. It’s warm narrative, incredible voice acting talent, stellar soundtrack, and overall gameplay makes Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin a must-buy.

At this point in time, it takes a lot to stand out in a sea of Metroidvania action platformers. With its gorgeous presentation and memorable boss fights, Islets does just that. It has some of the tightest platforming I’ve ever experienced, but I felt that the unbalanced combat design drags it down. I really enjoyed my time with Islets - it took me around 12 hours to beat the game, and it certainly doesn’t feel like time wasted - and I’d recommend it to any fan of Metroidvanias, but I don’t think it has universal appeal.

Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream is a bizarre delight with unlimited potential, but you must be willing to unearth that brilliance for yourself instead of expecting the game to guide you. It surrenders to repetition far sooner than I’d like, but the sheer amount of things you can make your Miis do, say, and the relationships they gradually develop are so wonderful that it’s easy to overlook some otherwise notable flaws. The more you put into this game, the more you’re going to get out of it. For me, it already feels like it has all the ingredients to become another cult classic masterpiece that will go down in history.

The Fabulous Fear Machine is a metaphor, but not really. The propaganda machine that shapes society is very real, and it's used to tell us what to believe, what to buy, who to hate, and how to behave, all to benefit and enrich those of us who deserve it the least. The titular Fear Machine is based in power dynamics, class consciousness, and the susceptibility of society at large, but after playing, I’m not sure if Fictiorama Studios understood how its own machine actually works.

I have fallen head over heels, or rather bumper over wheels, for the world of Promise Mascot Agency. Though some elements might get a little repetitive, the narrative, gameplay, and unique charm have made it one of my favourite games so far this year. I have been left wanting more, but not because it didn’t deliver enough. The whole adventure was so moreishly enjoyable and the world so intriguing that I just want even more of such a good thing.

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code delivers masterful craftsmanship of mysteries that players will delight in unravelling. Though the more hands-on gameplay mechanics aren’t groundbreaking and can feel a bit too easy, the strength of the narrative alone and cleverly created whodunnits make this a must-play for Danganronpa fans and anyone who loves channeling their inner detective.

Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus​​​​​​​ tries its hardest​​​​​​​ to break out of the staples of genre contemporaries, such as with its folklore backdrop and a handful of new abilities, but it sometimes results in being more convoluted than necessary. Still, it’s set in a beautiful world that’s a joy to explore, with tough bosses and platforming that provide a rewarding challenge.

Pacific Drive takes each genre it tackles in a bold new direction, and creates something that’s not necessarily unheard of, but feels entirely unique in its design, care, and the way in which it pulls you into its world. You’ll immediately begin to care for your car as you keep it safe, and exploring the Zone consistently provides new, refreshing things to keep you engaged and daunted. Though the milder aspects can feel repetitive, it adds to a worthwhile experience that is absolutely worth playing.

Many of Tails of Iron 2's new ideas feel out of place, underused, and poorly implemented. More often than not, they simply get in the way rather than adding anything of value. It’s a great experience and a worthy follow-up to one of 2021’s standout indies, so it’s unfortunate to see some of its ambitions fall flat.

Super Crush KO is a fun brawler, plain and simple. It combines punching gameplay with frenetic shooting. The game flow is excellent and leads to fast-paced strategizing. Although never becoming too difficult, one will have to be careful with some of the tougher enemies. Also, trying to rank high on the leaderboards will appeal to veterans in the genre, so the challenge comes from that. Levels and boss battles, overall, are a joy to play through. Unfortunately, the core experience is a rather short one.

Yakuza Kiwami remains one of the best stories that RGG has ever told, and showing its age a smidge doesn’t diminish that. Showcasing Kiwami on another platform to welcome new fans into the fold can only be a good thing, and it’s impressive just how well it runs on Switch. Most importantly, now Majima Everywhere can really be everywhere as he just became portable.

Hell Is Us has loads going for it, and its political messaging has more weight than its comparatively shallow tagline gives it credit for. But I was initially enticed by its promise of exploratory restrictions, and they just aren’t strict enough to sell that idea for a full 30 hours. While Hell Is Us confidently executes upon its story, quests and puzzles, so much of it feels hampered by the fear that players would give up too quickly if it kept on taking risks. I really, really wish it did, though.

While a divisive entry to some, Yakuza 3 remains a highlight of the franchise for me, and it feels good to see this much love given to its restoration.

Omno is still excellent, mind. Given that it’s on Game Pass, I’d feel comfortable recommending it to almost anyone. It has spectacular art direction, appropriate music, and a whole host of fascinating ideas. Its most singular quality, though, is the one buried beneath all of the borrowing: intuitive exploration that resists handholding without artificially ramping up difficulty. It’s almost as if a kind of cryptography has been applied to all of the creatures, puzzles, and environments, except instead of being protected by hundreds of lines of code they are designed with a failsafe that is human intuition. It would be easy for someone to say that Omno does nothing new, but the reason it’s easy to say that is because it’s completely incorrect. Omno has plenty of imaginative and ingenious ideas - they’re just unfortunately hampered by more established ones that didn’t need to be there.

ITTA may have released last year, but there’s a reason why ITTA has hit the mark on Metacritic with both fans and critics alike. There’s also a reason why Super Rare Games decided to release the indie title in physical form. The game does have some forgettable bits of quirky dialogue, but ITTA is overall a fun and challenging journey through a mysterious world with accessibility features that make the game a must-play, especially for fans of the bullet-hell and boss-rush genres.

Though Genesis doesn’t exactly introduce anything totally new to the franchise, it’s an entertaining experience that stays true to the feel and tone of the series despite making a few budgetary concessions.

Heaven’s Vault is a game that was made with love and passion, that much is clear. This is a fascinatingly unique concept for a game, and the Ancient text must have taken a team months upon months of planning and work to put in place, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into a fun or engaging experience when stretched out into hours of vague and unsatisfying puzzling.

I can't say that Olija is a complete misfire. The way that the characters and enemies are animated in this pixel art style is superb. The world of Terraphage is fantastically bleak and it says a lot that my biggest criticism that I wanted to spend more time there. Unfortunately, the combat mechanics and story lack the depth that I wanted them to have. There are some good ideas here, but Olija is a voyage that ends far too soon.

This is The Chinese Room’s best game yet. It has the bombastic set pieces, unflinching gore, and intense stealth sequences that make it a harrowing experience that deserves to stand alongside other games about guys having really bad days. But it also offers a well-paced, meaty narrative with excellent performances that I’m going to be chewing on for months to come.

It's not the prettiest game, with distant scenery lacking detail, low-res cinematics, and screen tearing in busy areas. But the dizzying scale of the world, and the complete lack of loading times, is technically impressive. It's also worth noting that you need to be online to experience the career mode and progression—otherwise you're stuck with the freeform, rather empty Zen Mode. Most people play games online these days, but if you can't for whatever reason, your options will be limited. It's frustrating, because the actual riding in Riders Republic is heaps of fun. It's just been packaged in a completely off-putting way. You'll have to decide if the cringe is worth putting up with.

Moon is going to be a hard sell for a lot of people, as it's hard to get across just how bizarre and unique it is. It has its frustrating moments and the fact that the developers have asked fans on Twitter to seek out the manual for the game is telling, as it comes from an era where nothing is explained. Once the player comes to terms with the annoying parts and things start to click, they will find a game that's strange, engaging, and unforgettable all at once, with a story that may change how people look at RPGs in the future.

Tails: The Backbone Preludes is a beautiful game with an intriguing plot and some absolutely fantastic puzzle mechanics, but it does itself the disservice of playing second fiddle to its predecessor. It’s too brief and leaves too much unsaid to feel like a game in its own right. It’s as though it aimed too low and decided to settle for being a teaser or demo that’s made to tempt players to jump into the full story of Backbone, rather than take on a role of a fully-fledged game in its own right.

The most important thing for a game like Redacted is that it makes you want to immediately start a new run upon dying. And it does. One quick run before bed becomes two, becomes three. And that's pretty much all it needs. I know where and why my guard died and immediately want to rectify it. And, despite coming back to the same build, I do want to unlock the remaining weapons and buffs.

The only real problem is that it feels like a stopgap between XCOM 2 and whatever XCOM 3 might be. It neither tarnishes the XCOM name nor does it do anything revolutionary. It also has the poor luck of coming out around the time as the stellar Gears Tactics which is this game's top competition for the attention of strategy fans, which probably isn't going to help its sales. If you like the XCOM series and fancy the chance to take command of a snake soldier, then XCOM: Chimera Squad will still scratch that tactical, cover-shooting itch.

It’s highly ambitious and one of the most intriguing triple-A games I’ve played in years, but I wish so many parts of the whole weren’t inherently flawed. Now my journey in Pywel has come to an end, I’ll be leaving this one on the shelf for a while.

While Resident Evil 3 remains in the shadow of the far superior Resident Evil 2, this reimagining of the action-oriented RE3: Nemesis manages to capture the series' best qualities and deliver an experience far more memorable than the original.

“Play this game” if you’ve ever wanted a puzzle platformer, Limbo-esque horror game that drags you through a swamp of grim-dark Nordic fairy tales by your ears. It’s an excellent, labor-of-love game filled with little details that make the world feel very much alive - although no one wants that. I’d never leave my house again.

I was thoroughly satisfied with Hidden Through Time 2. Not only did I get to unwind and explore new environments, but I was able to create my own custom maps. There are a lot of details to fiddle with, and plenty of levels to work through. The plot for each time period is straightforward, but adds another layer of creativity and excitement to each level. If you’re looking for a game that will test your critical thinking skills and challenge you to look at the bigger picture, this is it.

If nothing else, Fabledom fills the need to build a thriving fantasy kingdom without an over reliance on war and conquering. You can lead a cozy life in a peaceful kingdom with minimal (read: no) defenses. You can also choose to attack everything in sight and see where that takes you. I’m sure Sir Payne would appreciate a fellow warmongering monarch in an otherwise peaceful world.

Cronos: The New Dawn is easily the most confident original game that Bloober Team has ever produced, but this unfettered ambition also brings with it teething issues that are awfully difficult to overlook. Combat is punchy yet clunky, exploration is atmospheric but predictable, while the central narrative is often held back by lacklustre performances and clumsy writing. There is a great survival horror game at the centre of Cronos, but it would have been much stronger if it had broken new ground rather than wondering tentatively on what came before.

South of Midnight doesn't reinvent anything, but it does a competent job of everything it attempts. With all that’s going on in gaming right now, that's worth something. South of Midnight respects your time, delivers an emotional narrative, trusts that you know how to play it, and is bursting with texture and taste. This is a future classic for someone, and it might just be you.

The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters is a scary, fun time. It is almost like the video game equivalent of an amusement park haunted house - lots of fun, picture-worthy, and you'll probably remember the memories more than the actual times you jumped out of your seat and screamed.

KarmaZoo’s creativity and ingenuity make it incredibly appealing, especially when layered with its humorous character and charm. However, whether you can stick it out for the long haul to enjoy the game at its fullest is another matter entirely. There is plenty to love and I’d recommend it for any social night, but I don’t think we would ever stick with it long enough to unlock even half the avatars.

Everything Baby Steps does, it executes with excellence, and I can’t think of anything else like it.

Sniper Elite 5 is a great little shooter, and I had a lot of fun sinking into its sprawling levels and inventive mechanics. It doesn’t change the formula or even introduce anything particularly new to the wider genre, but perfectly understands what it wants to be and delivers on that expectation with significant flair. I viewed it as a palette cleanser of sorts, an experience that harkens back to a different generation of single-player shooters we don’t tend to see anymore. It’s almost nostalgic, and aside from Wolfenstein there is no better Nazi-murdering simulator out there.

Game Builder Garage feels like the perfect place to build a game prototype. You can create a basic idea, see if it works and is fun, and then maybe take that concept into a real game engine development kit - but not much more. It can truly pique the curiosities of kids, and I hope it does, but it's launched in a world where it has big competition, and the depth and charm of those tutorials which only Nintendo could pull off so well can't carry the rest of the experience.

The world of Control has its hooks in me, but I still don't particularly enjoy playing it. The platforming isn't any kind of challenge or thrill, and the combat fills me with rage and despair. It's interesting that a game called Control can make me feel like I have no control over my character or the battlefield. Traps help, but they only go so far.

While I think it relies on dumping too much resource management on the player and it's definitely a game meant to be played on PC, Do Not Feed The Monkeys is such a weird and original game that I can't help but enjoy it on some level. If you can only get it on the Switch, it'll be a fine addition to your collection of portable indie game oddities.

Once you do find the paths you need to take, the story is over before it ever got going. The game's opening makes it feel like your character is embarking on a quest, but that journey ends after one stop. In that way, Season is structured like spring. You barely realize it's here before it's already gone.

I’ve grown to enjoy it more and more as I’ve played. But despite how much I can enjoy it, I can’t get away from those minor frustrations, as much as I’d like to. Bravely Default 2 makes a compelling case for itself as a modern JRPG that evokes the classic era, but it doesn’t do as much with the concept as modern contemporaries, and it never quite reaches the soaring highs of those classics, either. This is a game in between a rock and a hard place, and while it will definitely find its audience, it won’t make it onto any list of essential RPGs as its predecessor did.

New Super Lucky's Tale is a great platformer that hearkens back to why platformers are beloved in the first place. There is a genuineness to the level design and overall presentation. It's a great mix of mild 3D exploring and traditional side-scrolling action.

Although the story mode lets itself down a bit and the offline offerings are slim, I still had a great time with Invincible VS and expect to lose even more hours to it when the servers go up. The excellent and welcoming mechanics, well-developed roster, and tons of fan service not only make Invincible VS a stand-out tag fighter, but also the game that the series has deserving for a long time.

Thankfully, we live in a good world and Bethesda is letting people experience this twisted and dark take on id Software's work. If you've never played this before, let the $5 price tag be all the inspiration you need.

Bonkies is a good enough solo experience that I’ll be more than happy to jump in from time to time whenever I only have a few moments to game, or perhaps as a way to warm up before a night of Warzone or GTA Online. However, you can bet that once I’m able to have people over to my house again, Bonkies will be the first party game of the night that we play. And given its fun factor, possibly the only party game we’ll need.

On the whole, Spirittea is an enjoyable management sim with a strong concept and charming pixel art that’s ultimately let down by a lack of polish.

It’s an easy recommendation for any one already invested in the series, but to the five million couples that played It Takes Two last year: We Were Here Forever should be your next co-op adventure. As the longest and most approachable entry, it’s a great place to start even if you don’t intend to play through all four games - though the second you finish Forever, you’ll almost certainly want to go back for more We Were Here. It’s been a delight to watch We Were Here grow from a student project into one of the best puzzle series around, and I can’t wait to see how Total Mayhem Games takes its signature style beyond Castle Rock next time.

If you’re buying Mario Tennis Fever to have a few rounds of tennis with friends the way you would Mario Kart, then you’ll have a good time. It’s a solid arcade tennis game with some unique powers and cute character moments. But as an overall experience, it’s shallow, a little unbalanced, deeply lacking in creativity, and seems to deliver the bare minimum of options outside of its roster and rackets.

If you want a game that offers some simple yet addictive combat mechanics and a relaxed atmosphere with just enough challenge, then Trials Of Mana is a great choice for a game to play after you come down from the high of escaping Midgar.

When it comes together, Mirage does manage to evoke the same feelings I had back in 2007 running round Acre for the first time. There’s an exquisite stealth sandbox nestled away in here, but a few excellent missions don’t make up for the frequent bugs, lifeless city, utterly pants combat, or the fact it completely wasted The Expanse’s Shohreh Aghdashloo on some of the flattest, most perfunctory writing the series has ever seen.

None of these features are particularly groundbreaking or game-defining. As always with a new FC game I think that there has to be a better and fairer way for this to work for the consumer. My ideal is always a seasonal model, one that follows the real-world football season. Update the existing game, set everyone back to zero - with legacy cards for those who still want to play with their old teams and look back on cards they’ve collected - and provide live-service content updates as EA does for so many of their other titles. That way you get the same buzz of a new game without having to pay £100 for basically the same game engine, graphics, and features every year.

I may not know much about Jotun or tomtes, but I can say for certain that Roki is one of the most magical experiences you can have this year.

They say every journey starts with a single step, but in the case of Sable, the journey starts with the arduous task of assembling a motorbike. Sable is a game that looks gorgeous and occasionally does gorgeous things, but too often it's a drab and lifeless affair. It’s a game that knows exactly how it makes you want to feel, but it doesn’t quite have the gameplay to pull it off, and that means it’s constantly fighting with itself.

There is a lot to be uncovered in Airborne Kingdom - far more than I've mentioned here. From the slow and steady movement of the city to the various interactions that can take place around the delightfully designed open-world, Airborne Kingdom lets me build and explore at my own pace, never making me feel like I need to rush. That’s exactly the kind of thing that I need in my life right now.

I’m not sure that anything can ever capture the lightning in a bottle that was Epic Mickey’s original concept, but Rebrushed is the closest thing we’ll ever get to that dark magic, even if one of its core pillars is something that still drags it down. If you’re a diehard fan, you’ll love all of the small changes Rebrushed makes to cut down on the grind and monotony the original suffered from, and if you’re a newcomer you’ll experience Disney’s weirdest venture at its absolute best.

Above all else, Zau's realistic journey through the loss of a loved one is something that's going to stick with me for some time, and I'm grateful for the loving lessons I've learned from it.

Eldest Souls is one of the most beautiful indie games out there but the hurdle to get into it is far too high. The skill points handed out to upgrade your character do little to help while there is no room to learn the mechanics. The notorious Souls difficulty is only amplified in the boss-rush genre, which makes this a near-impossible entry-level game. For anyone who enjoys Dark Souls’ most difficult segments emphatically because of the challenge, Eldest Souls has a lot to love. But that’s just it - Eldest Souls is one for the die-hard fans and no one else.

VR is still waiting for its Breath of the Wild moment. Climbing is still only allowed on certain surfaces, certain cliffs, certain patches of a giant bat’s disgusting dry skin. It’s very much a ‘yellow paint’ scenario. Battles occur only in prescribed arenas. Straying from the intended path is discouraged. Enemy AI is basic. The plot may as well be non-existent. Behemoth makes the most of its medium, but I can’t wait for the first VRPG to abandon these archaic design philosophies in favour of complete virtual freedom.

Mario Vs Donkey Kong is a capable remake of a game whose identity crisis between platformer and puzzler can't survive the journey from handheld to TV. Enjoyable enough but not that taxing - aside from rare spikes when it becomes too taxing - it's a good recreation that doesn't have the tools to venture into greatness. It will be an impressive enough glow-up for fans of the original, but mixes being straightforward and mildly frustrating into a colourful and charming milkshake (so close I can almost taste it), even if it's a little bit sickly. It's worth occupying a few hours with, but it won't live long in the memory, and underlines why few Mario fans would put this one in the plumber's highlight reel.

Deadpool VR isn’t going to change the world of virtual reality or convince many newcomers to give the medium a try, but it is a gruesomely good time with satisfying combat, plenty of parkour, and a surprising amount of variety across its roster of villain-focused levels. Those with a Meta Quest 3 gathering dust in dire need of a new exclusive will have a bloody good time here, even if its occasionally formulaic nature risks holding it back from greatness.

I have always considered the original City Building series to be some of the best games in the genre, and A New Era elevates Pharoah to modern standards spectacularly well. You’ll come for the charming style and intricate building mechanics but stay for the sheer wealth of content available, allowing you to spend hours building the Egyptian city of your dreams. I hope to see remakes of the rest of the series in the future, or maybe even a brand new ancient civilization city builder.

Planet Coaster 2 will take you on a new adventure that combines the charm and joy of the original with its own brand-new highs. While there are a couple of dips along the way, they are short-lived and simply part of the experience that doesn’t diminish the joy.

FIFA 23 is the same as it has always been, maybe for the last time.

Even if these minor issues prevent Rakugaki from fully filling the hole in my heart that the equally colourful Hi-Fi Rush left, its incredible style and fast-paced platforming make it one of the year’s best hidden gems and a strong entry into the genre that shows that its heart is still beating strong.

It's a little too bloated in some places, but for the most part, Brigandine: The Legends Of Runersia could be a fine choice for those looking for some tactical action on the go.

Daybreak 2 sits in a weird space in which it’s a must-play for fans of the series, as it sets up events that will be built upon in future games, but it’s also really difficult to recommend. If you’re determined to go in regardless, keep your expectations in check, brace yourself for a seemingly endless amount of filler, and you should have a decent enough time.

The just fine writing and exploration that doesn't add as much as I hoped mean that Scott Pilgrim EX isn't quite a genre-defining brawler like the stand-out Shredder's Revenge and Absolum. Instead, it's closer to Cosmic Invasion, a great beat 'em up that does a lot right with plenty of style and love for the source material, especially as an unabashedly biased fan. If this is as much of a sendoff to the series as it feels, then it's a worthy last hurrah.

NBA 2K22 is an almost impossible game to rate, because it’s a damn good basketball game at its core. The biggest problem is how it tries to be anything but a basketball game, and while that doesn’t damage the overall quality on the court, it makes it hard to root for it. It’s the ‘03 Lakers, and I hate the ‘03 Lakers.

It may feel just a bit pricey at twenty-five dollars, but, given the amount of gameplay depth and replay value, this is one on which fans of the genre shouldn’t miss out.

They say form is temporary, class is permanent. And there is a baseline class to Top Spin, a great-feeling tennis game underneath any of the other complaints. But it's in very poor form, making unforced errors, double-faulting, and missing volleys. It's hard to recommend Top Spin 2K25 when there are so many simple features missing and a sour-tasting battle pass, but it's hard not to recommend Top Spin 2K25 when it's the best rally to rally tennis game I've ever played.

By having a healthier roster, slightly tweaked combat, and two of the best arcs in the whole series, The Hinokami Chronicles 2 still stands as a worthy sequel, and one that I hope is surpassed even more by the inevitable third game that has a hell of a lot of heavy lifting to do by finishing off the whole series.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider stands shoulder to shoulder with the greats, and all fans of pristinely crafted action games owe it to themselves to give it their attention.