There's still a long way to go of course. I'm about halfway through the campaign, I've only unlocked three dungeons. I don't know what the end-game grind will be like and the rogue-like activity Torghast is still unknown to me. But I'm enjoying the process more than I ever have before, and more than anything, I just want to rescue the heroes of Azeroth and stop Sylvanas and the Jailer from doing... whatever it is they're doing.

If this is your first time playing Halo 4, prepare for a treat. Gameplay remains identical to previous installments, but with some additions enhancing the experience. The story is also a big highlight. With this game, it's hard not to consider Master Chief and Cortana as gaming's greatest duo. Halo 4 caps off The Master Chief Collection on PC nearly perfectly.

As the first horror game on a next-gen system, Observer: System Redux has me really excited for the future of the genre - and for Bloober Team's next project.

I don't hate The Falconeer. I don't even think it's a particularly terrible game. There are great ideas here, and in the aesthetic department, it's a resounding success. However, it just needs more. It needs more polish, more reason to keep playing, and more reliable controls to navigate its interesting setting in. I would love to revisit this world at some point, and I hope that the dev can find a way to keep me more engaged next time.

It teems with little story beats I’m not allowed to talk about that will make long-time Zelda fans reel with excitement, and its fast-paced, punchy combat is brilliantly belligerent. I haven’t gotten into the art much, because you probably know from the trailer that it looks like Breath of the Wild, but for what it’s worth: it’s gorgeous. It gives voice and agency to a variety of excellent characters who deserved them, and I think its narrative is shaped with a sense of finesse that, on close consideration, is quite endemic to Zelda as a series. It’s just a shame that it’s held back by the only hardware it’s playable on, both in terms of input controllers and screen resolution.

The wait to get the game fully stable is worth it, since this expansion is looking likely to shoot straight to the top of all the best expansions ranked lists. Snowy Escape offers more depth than pretty much any Sims 4 expansion I've ever played, and that's not just the snow.

Five Dates not only portrays dating in a digital world in a succinct and believable manner, but it’s also a title that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the greatest rom-com films of all-time.

Mechanically, this is the Call of Duty game I’ve enjoyed the most since Modern Warfare 2, and the only game in the series where I’ve ever felt the need to finish the campaign more than once. It’s just a shame it’s a bit light on multiplayer maps, even if there’s no denying that, between the three modes, it’s still one of the best value video games you can buy. Enjoy, Bell.

Ultimately, Prinny 1 & 2: Exploded and Reloaded achieves what it sets out to accomplish. The games are by no means for the faint of heart, featuring fast and chaotic platforming that can make your head spin. The games are a perfect fit on the Switch, whether playing in docked mode or while on-the-go. The humor, art design, and soundtrack round out the experience making Prinny 1 & 2: Exploded and Reloaded a great pickup for platforming fans.

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.

I didn't get my socks blown off by Beyond Light. But it did have its moments, and it did convince me that there will be plenty more of those moments yet to come.

Saving and uploading is easy and the system is simple to navigate. For a game so complex great care really has gone into making every aspect of it as easy as possible. Planet Coaster Console Edition will bring you as close to running a real theme park as you'll ever get without leaving the comfort of your sofa.

Bluepoint Games has proved itself once more, nailing Demon’s Souls with a remake on the same level as Shadow of the Colossus. At this point, I’d hand the developer the keys to everything. Let the studio make a 60fps Bloodborne. Give them Metal Gear Solid. Let’s have a Bluepoint Games Ico. Demon’s Souls is the best PS5 game you can play at launch, and I’m sure it will go down in history as one of the best launch titles of all time. The Old One has awoken and I hope this review feeds it more souls. It deserves a full belly.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory may only be for a certain audience, but for that audience, this is as good as it gets.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a decent platforming game that’s stuffed with charm, if a little lacking in imagination, which is a shame for a franchise built on creativity. Saying that, if you’ve got children, this is a must-buy for some family-friendly PS5 fun.

Godfall is the quintessential launch game. This gilded PS5 exclusive shows off the power of the new hardware with its intricate, reflective halls of gold and obsidian, bioluminescent plant life, and enemies who explode in a shower of particles. “Next-gen is here,” it shouts, in a scream that’s barely perceptible over the whistle of high-speed steel. Underneath all of that sheen and noise, though, there’s nothing new at all.

If Arms Race is updated and improved, then I could see it being worthwhile, but if this is all it has to offer, then Designer's Cut feels like something that should have been a free update rather than an integral part of a new season pass.

Helping the Grumpuses reconnect with each other and overcome their character flaws is a worthwhile experience. I may not have loved catching bugs, but I came away smitten by Beffica Winklesnoot, Chandlo Funkbun, and the rest of the Snaktooth Island Grumpuses.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was a risk. Not really because it took Vikings as its subject matter — people love Vikings, to the extent that loads of folks are a bit sick of Norse stuff at this point. It was a risk because it compounded the ideals of Assassin’s Creed’s origins and Assassin’s Creed Origins. Fortunately, it turns out that the best game in this series is the one that’s drawn from pretty much everything that came before it, in order to carve out its own unique identity based on the absolute best bits of its many, many predecessors.

Fuser may not garner the attention of the masses like some of Harmonix’s previous titles, but it has plenty to offer for those in need of a party - whether it be by yourself, with your COVID-19-approved circle of friends, or with the game’s potentially bustling online community.

There’s something to be said for the importance of innovation in this medium, but you can’t overlook refinement, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales is more refined than the sugar in a New York bagel.

Astro’s Playroom asks you over and over to fondly remember the memories that you and Grandpa PlayStation made together. But, more importantly, it’s a promise of new and treasured memories to come.

The goal of Cover Your Eyes was to be a "16-bit love letter towards survival horror past and present," and I think it made a dang valiant effort to do so. I was quite happy to turn a blind eye (so to speak) to small-scale bugs which will hopefully be squashed before its official release. However, lacking character portrayals and other more fundamental sources of frustration will likely still hold the game back from reaching its full potential.

But, I will say that Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars is very true to its subject matter, as it did feel like the life was being sucked out of me as I played it.

Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia is a good enough first step if the end goal is to revitalize and reintroduce the Bakugan franchise to a new generation. Would the exact same game still work if the Bakugan name weren’t attached to it? I’d lean towards no. There are a lot of great ideas in Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia, but ultimately, none of them really hit the mark - at least in terms of what I was expecting from my first-look at the game.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a high point for the genre - and perhaps the highest point it will reach on the PS4 or Xbox One. If this is where JRPGs are starting, going into the next generation of consoles, there's reason to believe that we're in for a decade of riches.

Dirt 5 is similar to Project CARS 3 with its arcade racing style - just with a larger focus on rally racing. The style absolutely works in Dirt 5, offering up accessible rally racing to anyone interested in getting behind the wheel. Of course, the drive is what you make it. So should you want to become a master racer to take on other skilled players online, that option is also easily available to you so long as you're willing to put in the time.

I wouldn't necessarily call this high-art or a gaming masterpiece, as it's rich with horror movie cliches and light on actual gameplay. But if you liked Until Dawn or Man Of Medan, then you're sure to enjoy this. Just make sure you have those fingers ready to go because some of these QTEs can be deadly.