The defining strength of Replaced—besides the stunning visuals—lies in its cultural commentary. Though the main narrative focuses primarily on one aspect of the apocalypse, organ donation and the subsequent dehumanisation that comes from losing a part of oneself, there's plenty of flavour there for the world's other tragedies: extreme poverty, the frivolity of the elite, fascism, police state and especially the dangers of technology.

It’s got big ambitions, a big heart, and two big and beautiful characters leading the charge on an intergalactic adventure like no other. Cheese and cliché aside, Pragmata is a rare triumph.

Regardless of what you specifically look for in a cosy game, there’s a little something for everyone here. Even with my nitpicks, I’m unlikely to forget the stories I pieced together to tell Tabitha’s life story anytime soon.

Sintopia is a far better game than its title suggests. The title Sintopia sounds like someone came up with the name first and built a fabulous idea around it, but look past that, and you have a deep, charming, and constantly unpredictable experience that is well worth your time.

A small roster of games aside, the Marvel Maximum Collection is everything someone who wants to play these games in 2026 could want. Classic Marvel titles from three decades ago dusted off so they can join the growing list of old games being rescued from the past and made playable today. Throw in all the quality of life features that let you either play these games as they were intended, or with mod cons so that you can actually finish them, and this collection is a fantastic celebration.

Darwin's Paradox is easy to admire and occasionally difficult to enjoy. ZDT Studio has built something visually and narratively confident for a debut - Darwin is a protagonist with real charm, and his world has a presentation that consistently overdelivers. But a game is only as good as it feels to play, and this one too frequently asks you to fight its systems rather than inhabit them. The frustrations are not deal-breakers in isolation; cumulatively, though, they erode the goodwill that the presentation so diligently earns.

Even when Super Meat Boy 3D had me moments away from rage-quitting, occasionally thanks to a death that wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t help but smile as I bashed my head on whatever wall I was struggling to jump off. Meat Boy’s legacy is a very particular one that won’t appeal to everyone but, even with some wobbles, 3D proves itself to be a sequel that’s worthy of standing next to the original masterpiece.

The Star Force Legacy Collection brings back the underrated spin-off in the best way possible. It looks and plays better than ever while also featuring a number of worthwhile bonuses both hardcore fans and newcomers alike will appreciate. There are a few remaining flaws to take into account, but seldom did these truly infringe upon the experience.

That really should be a given for a game with the phrase "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" in its name. Unlike other games to have worn that badge so far, though, I’m thoroughly convinced that there’s enough here to justify the price of its upgrade. What I’m still unconvinced of is whether this expansion is so good that the whole Wonder package is now an $80 game. Not because I don’t love Wonder and everything it brings to the table, both in the base game and its Bellabel Park upgrade, but because I’m yet to be convinced that any game is worth $80.

It plays a treat on my system, which is far from top of the line. Kojima Productions and Nixxes are known to be masters of optimisation when it comes to porting projects like this, and it might be one of its most accomplished efforts yet. It plays and looks incredible, so much so that I’m tempted to go on this epic and emotional journey all over again.

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.

Not enough time is spent with characters to sympathise with their plight, while the narrative itself discordantly jumps between several themes without committing to a singular vision. It’s not helped by a middling combat system and exploration that is too simplistic and predictable for its own good. As a queer woman, I’m delighted that games like this exist, but I can’t bring myself to ignore the fatal flaws that hold this passionate effort back from greatness.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando focuses on delivering a very specific pleasure. Four buddies, a towering horde of undead, and a soundtrack that sounds like it escaped from something covered in dust in your basement. It identifies that particular itch perfectly, and it leans into it with a sense of gleeful, gory enthusiasm.

The Dying World comes to us after a messy early access period, and it shows. The pacing is all over the place, and parts of the narrative feel unfinished. The finished stuff is fantastic, but the rest leaves so much potential left unexplored.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection sets the new gold standard for the series. It raises the bar on every aspect that we love about the series, but also reinvents its go-to template by introducing exciting new mechanics that overhaul the core monster-battling gameplay. While the narrative could have been less obvious, it was still an enjoyable adventure and the new cast of characters are bound to become fan favourites.

Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf builds on the delightful world that the first game whisked us away to and delivers yet another beautiful and touching tale. It raises the bar when it comes to puzzles and challenges, while giving us some much-anticipated answers as to where Mui came from and the more technologically advanced society that existed in the ancient past. Lana is more grown-up here, and so the darker story feels right at home as we continue this journey with her, and I’m now left in anticipation of her next chapter.

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.

There is a fun time to be had here, but ultimately Pokemon Pokopia doesn't explore the Pokemon side of its world and offers building quests that are mostly rigid and repetitive. As ever with Pokemon, there is enough charm to see it through, and the mechanics aren't shallow, even if they're used in aid of the same few tasks over and over again.

By the end, it felt like Resident Evil Requiem had marked the end of a new era that began almost a decade ago. It’s reached a point where anxiety-inducing horror and over the top explosive action can exist in tandem rather than cannibalising one another into tragic irrelevance. Leon Kennedy and Grace Ashcroft engage in a delicate dance where all of their complicated steps work together in relative harmony despite some minor missteps.

Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse is a strong follow-up to the first title, continuing the gorgeous art style and unique gameplay system, and cementing the series as the peak when it comes to supernatural puzzle visual novels. While the puzzles could have been more balanced throughout, the narrative and characters outshine those of the previous game and make for a deliciously moreish game that kept me captivated from beginning to end.

Even when I struggled to find a Golden Gear, I didn’t really mind that much since I knew it just meant spending extra time in Demon Tides’ moreish open world. The platforming is best-in-class, the characters and world left more of a mark than I expected, and Fabraz somehow managed to make going open-world seem both effortless and obvious. If the second game in the series is this good, I’m already counting down the days until the third.

Even as someone who isn’t the biggest fan of the original Rayman and its penchant for punishment, I still found a lot to love in the 30th Anniversary Edition. The many tweaks and enhancements make it the way to play the original, and the detailed documentary is a great extra on top of it all. It’s just a shame that the party is pooped a bit by the missing soundtrack and some teething problems.

In a genre crowded with self-serious shooters, there is something refreshing about a series so deeply committed to its own identity. Even when the bit falters, even when it reaches for the lowest-hanging fruit, High on Life 2 never feels timid. It is garish and intermittently incisive. At its best, it makes the threat of human extinction feel like an open mic night you’re moderately glad you attended.

Putting those minor gripes aside, Reanimal is a breath of fresh air. It’s a roughly 7-hour experience chock-full of exciting and tense moments that will have you on the edge of your seat for most of the runtime. It’s a true evolution of the Little Nightmares formula, and while some technical issues can frustrate at times, and it loses a bit of its tension as it draws to a close, it’s still an experience that I would easily recommend to any horror fan.

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.

Romeo is a Dead Man is self-aware and self-referential, filled with personality. Whether it’s a compelling personality will vary from person to person, but it throws so much at the wall that surely something will stick. The combat is excellent, the enemies are memorable, and the balance between macabre and levity is well-tuned. Despite the stumbling story, there’s enough bounty in the chaos to recommend this game.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 is now the best way to experience Yakuza 3, especially since this retcon will likely now be the established canon. There’s no arguing that it has improved on the original in many ways, not only giving it a much-needed facelift and tinkering under the hood to make for a smoother experience, but adding a whole host of new content to whet our appetite. While I lament some losses during the creative overhaul and I am notably disgruntled by one major change, I can’t deny that the positives far outweigh the negatives.

I desperately wanted to love My Hero Academia: All’s Justice. It looks, sounds, and plays better than One’s Justice, while having tons of details that fans of the series are going to love. And in Free Battle, where there's no ridiculous difficulty spikes, they probably will. It’s just a shame that loving All’s Justice outside of that mode too often feels like getting hit with a Delaware Smash, leaving it as a decent and incredibly frustrating game that should have been great. Hopefully it will be with some sorely-needed balance patches.