The Devil in Me is an excellent evolution in The Dark Pictures anthology that weaves an interesting story in a complex and exciting environment that’s both fun and horrifying to explore. It’s the perfect choice for horror fans, full of tense moments, jump scares, and gory scenes. While some of the new features are a little hit or miss, it’s arguably the best title in the anthology. It could do with a little more polish in places, but it’s a game I am keen to replay to delve into the background story further, and hopefully, next time, I’ll ensure everyone lives.

Goat Simulator 3 raises the baaa-r on every level (I can’t help myself, I’ve been playing it for too long and the goat puns have taken over). Everything is bigger and better. A larger open world, more customisation, more to unlock and do, we’ve finally got online multiplayer with fun minigames, and there’s just more overall general goaty goodness. Though you might encounter the odd glitch or two, it doesn’t detract from the gameplay, and you’ll brush it off as easily as your ragdoll goat getting back to its feet after crash-landing from the top of a never-ending beanstalk. Even if you’ve never been tempted by it before, I can’t emphasise enough how strangely satisfying it is to unleash hell in goat form on an unsuspecting city.

Somerville is one of the year’s biggest surprises, and I’m still shocked to see it fly under the radar. Its portrayal of an alien invasion raging across the British countryside hit close to home, while the story of a father searching for his family and being tied up in a dilemma so much bigger than he ever imagined is both nothing like I expected and everything I wanted. I can’t wait to see players far smarter than I piece its most devious puzzles together, since there are still so many questions waiting to be answered.

Floodland not only asks if you’ll sink or swim when the world ends, but if you’ll plunge your arm into the murky depths to pull others up with you or step on their heads to save yourself. Its ability to look toward the future of civilisation without losing sight of the individuals who will form it is insightful. It lacks a certain spark that would make it great, and some unfortunate bugs let it down in the mid-late game, but I look forward to returning to the floodlands once these teething issues are ironed out.

It's a magnificent thing, and this story will be lingering in my thoughts for quite some time. Pentiment takes Obsidian's expertise in branching narratives, role-playing, and building evocative worlds, then packages it all up in an exciting and unique way. I was devastated when it was over, and I'm still not over that ending. But now I'm looking forward to playing it all over again, this time with another Andreas. Maybe one who speaks Latin, studied law, and spent his wandering years in Switzerland. There are some bad choices and disastrous consequences I'd like to avoid this time too. That's the beauty of being an artist: you can always scrape the parchment clean and start again.

Harvestella stumbles before it finds a decent pace, with the biggest drawbacks being the slow start and temperamental graphics. If you can get past these shortcomings, there’s plenty to be enjoyed here and a hefty completion time to keep you busy. While it offers an enjoyable blend of RPG meets life sim, there isn’t enough substance on either side to take the game from good to great.

Despite its quirks, this is the best version of Tactics Ogre. Gone are frustrating class-based levels and the overabundance of secrecy. Replacing them are new frustrations that are less experience-breaking. Reborn makes the grandaddy of strategy RPGs the most accessible it's ever been, and it’s not one to miss. According to Steam, I have already played 62 hours, and I already know that number will triple at a minimum by the time I’m done with it.

Two years ago, Sackboy: A Big Adventure proved Sumo Digital was more than capable of creating its own unique vision of Media Molecule's banner Little Big Planet series. Now in 2022, as I write this while listening to the game’s choral remix of Material Girl, I can’t help but be excited for what is next for weird potential of future Sackboy games. People should go back and play this game, just not on PC.

There are teething issues and a reluctance to let go of the past, but it’s also a daft Sonic game with a charming story told in the most competent way we’ve seen in years. Sonic might not be back in the big leagues yet, but he’s catching up. Like Sonic Adventure all the way back in 1999, Frontiers could give the series a new lease on life - Sega has to ditch the old ways and let it happen.

From a gameplay perspective, I got more than I anticipated from Ragnarok. It manages to introduce new systems and gameplay mechanics consistently from beginning to end, keeping combat and exploration fresh and exciting the entire time - you can check out the most in-depth analysis of the combat here, in my preview, and in this non-exhaustive deep dive. Gear has similar progression problems that 2018’s God of War had, but now you can actually craft complex builds with cool synergies that feel impactful. There’s an unbelievable amount of variety in the places you go and the kinds of enemies you fight compared to the previous game, and your options in combat are a lot more involved and meaningful as well. These improvements and refinements make Ragnarok a great sequel, and the increased length will please the ‘time spent = value’ crowd, but the path from Faye’s final resting place to the final battle of Ragnarok is not nearly as composed or worthwhile as it could have been.

Bayonetta 3 is like your party animal friend on a night out. When it starts out, it feels like the most fun you've ever had, you'll remember it for a lifetime, you never want it to end. Then as it goes on you've lost track of where you are, your feet hurt, you just want to go to bed, and she's still going. Too much game is never a bad thing for some 'pennies to enjoyment ratio' players, but Bayonetta 3 overstays its welcome and dips from being an all-time classic to just being a very, very good video game. It's not the all-time top five Switch game that I think it might have been with a few different decisions here and there, but it's still a must-play title.

Victoria 3 is a grand strategy game with perhaps too much depth and complexity for genre newbies, and genre veterans might find the simplified warfare a turn-off. That said, I am wholly invested. It’s the most sandboxy of the Paradox lineup so far and I’ve been enjoying my time with it immensely. It is gorgeous, impressive, and absolutely worth the time it takes to learn. Now onto my fourth playthrough. The World Welsh Order will rise, mark my words.

Shadows of Rose is a shorter, worse version of Resident Evil Village. It’s so committed to recreating a micro-version of Village and following it beat-for-beat that it even copies its major flaws. It concludes in the same location with the same info-dump of lore that quickly wraps up all the loose threads. It ends with the same boss fight (somehow even clunkier and more frustrating this time), and unbelievably, also ends with the exact same cutscene. The scene where Rose visits her father’s grave at the end of Village isn’t the start of Shadows of Rose - it’s the end of it. There’s no new context that makes this scene more meaningful, and in fact, that weird line where the driver calls her Eveline is an even more bizarre thing to say after these events. Capcom is quickly running out of Resident Evil games to remake, and this expansion didn’t give me a lot of hope for the future.

There is value to Modern Warfare 2’s campaign. It is art. It’s also just intense fun throughout, because it is ultimately a video game. To say anything else is to take away from the years of hard work that has gone into producing this spectacle. But we can’t forget about the context: millions of people, a lot of them very young and impressionable, will play this campaign. This is why it’s important to have these sorts of conversations. The campaign constantly dances a wobbling tightrope between being too fantastical and exposing the realities of modern war. Sometimes it slips too far into the realistic horrors, and it’s unable to commit, so it has to pull you back with just one more big budget explosion. [Campaign impressions]

Marvel Snap is a highly polished and impeccably designed game that is going to grow and flourish for years to come. It feels early access in a lot of ways thanks to some missing and underbaked features, but the core is rock solid. Collecting cards is fun, building decks is easy, and matches only last a couple of minutes. It’s the perfect on-the-go game, and my favorite CCG right now.

New Tales from the Borderlands is the first time that I’ve felt invested in the series since Borderlands 2. It’s a much smaller-scale adventure that sometimes feels more like a movie than it does a game, but its heartfelt cast of characters, (somewhat) smarter humour, and tighter focus make this a tale well worth listening to.

Ultimately, Persona 5 Royal brought me back to the Phantom Thieves, and made me realize how much I missed them and their antics, and the beautiful world where their story occurs. Being able to play this journey on the go only sweetens the deal, and the experience is as immaculate as it was years ago—a masterful port of a masterpiece.

Lucy Dreaming tells a compelling, concise story filled with wit and hilarity, kept me invested with a juicy mystery, and hooked me with its fantastic execution of the sarcastic adventure game protagonist trope. It never feels like a one-trick pony, and it’s a masterclass in knowing when to surprise with a sudden change in mood or shocking reveal. I went in thinking I was in for a charming point & click adventure with some gimmicks and enough jokes to keep me going, but I’m coming away convinced it’s going on my GOTY list. I wish I could forget everything about it and experience it all over again.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is relentless in its depiction of misery. It imparts the troubling message that no matter how hard we try, we can’t change the future, and trying to do so only invites more pain and suffering than willingly submitting to our eventual demise. A series about two children losing their innocence and being corrupted by the evils of the world is one I welcome, but not when it teaches us to give up instead of fighting for a future all our own. The world may seem hopeless right now, but if we give in to the despair we’re choosing doom, and I’d rather go down slinging.

Although Nostalgaia does have some shortcomings that put it below the games it’s trying to ape, the fact that it manages to get even a little bit close is a feat of its own. Whether you’re an IP freak like me who's happy seeing a ton of love for gaming, someone looking to get into the Soulsborne genre, or a FromSoft veteran that’s looking for something new, there’s something in Nostalgaia for everyone.

Scorn is a hard game to pin down, but it’s one I can’t help but recommend. It’s disgustingly alluring in its visual execution, with each new location bringing with it a waterfall of questions as you poke, prod, and cower at every discovery. This ambition of being artsy and cryptic can hold it back at points, but there’s something fiercely admirable in its artistic vision that few games in the genre are able to match. This is a tragic horror of Lovecraftian proportions, and one that really must be seen to be believed.

Lego Bricktales could be up your street depending on what you’re looking for. If you want a simple action adventure like so many other Lego titles then this isn’t for you. However, if you want a unique puzzle game that uses Lego elements well then you’ll find more here to enjoy. The main thing that lets it down is the clunky control system and the variable difficulty means younger players hoping for a building game will likely end up frustrated. The environmental puzzles you’ll need to solve to collect everything can also get very repetitive. Overall though it’s a fairly average game that offers a decent-length story mode, some interesting puzzles, and a few extras for those who want them. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a pirate ship ride to build.

Ultimately, Gundam Evolution fulfills the promise of letting you impersonate one of the many Mobile Suits that have been showcased across the decades, and fans of the beloved series will have the time of their lives, at least for a bit. But in doing so, it just presents another attempt to emulate the Overwatch formula that doesn’t quite hit the mark.

I want to like Steelrising, I really do, but it just won’t let me. Every aspect of the game feels like a barrier to the one thing I enjoyed: combat. Even that got boring. The characters are bland, the story is dull, the setting is derivative, and the finished product is too buggy and bloated to truly enjoy. It needed a few more turns of the key to go the distance and keep on ticking smoothly.

Moonscars is a collection of good ideas executed poorly and held back by a baffling story. In the heat of battle with one of the game’s well-designed and memorable boss fights, it shines almost as brightly as those it's inspired by. Unfortunately, the saturation of the genre means it’s not enough to nail the core mechanics of a soulslike anymore, and Moonscars falls down whenever it tries to stand out. It’s a fun enough time if you’re wild for the genre, but those looking for something more unique should steer clear.

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

Card games can be a tough sell, especially in video games. The threat of mechanical complexity can put some off, while for others it just seems a boring choice when fully-animated adventures are just as readily available. Sometimes, Foretales doesn’t do the best job of countering this argument, as it can disappear up itself through endless, monotonous combat. And yet, when it puts down the dagger and lets you explore the world to work things out for yourself, it shows that we’re nowhere near close running out of engaging new ways to use small slabs of art.

Session is the skating game I've always dreamed someone would make, where performing even a 'simple' trick is significant and challenging. There are no mile-long grinds or 900-degree kickflips here: just real skating in its rawest form. It doesn't just simulate the sport, but the art of skating too. You need to get creative, looking at the everyday clutter of a city and dreaming up ways to make something rad out of it. That's what street skating is all about, and why Session is the best virtual expression of the artform yet.