Vinebound is a delightful surprise, and it deserves to find players this summer, especially those looking for a cute, but chaotic co-op blast.

No Straight Roads is a loveably scrappy indie action adventure where the villains and their multi-stage musical battles are the true stars you’ll keep returning for.

As far as Diablo clones go, it isn’t of the same calibre as Path of Exile due to its rather simplistic nature and the overabundance of the six primary enemy types, but it does feature some neat gameplay twists of its own. It’s worth a look if you are starved of action RPGs, with the emphasis on action.

Kingdom Two Crowns feels more like an extensive update than a new entry to the series, but the base game is still so immensely enjoyable that it doesn’t really matter. This is the perfect starting point for new players, and those who are returning might still be surprised by some of the secrets to be found.

It’s a game that makes you laugh out loud, and Manny is a great lead character.

Monolith succeeds in being an accessible yet challenging entry to the rogue-lite genre. Whilst fulfilling all the generic expectations, it remains the right side of punishing and always manages to be fun to play. It is more tightly focused than the likes of Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon which makes it the perfect entry-level choice, and as much as I enjoy those games, I now have a score to settle with that Daemon. This time, it’ll be different. I hope.

The only realistic emulation of the sport for home consoles. With its myriad of options and game modes there should be plenty to keep you occupied and, as long as you're prepared for the almost lethargic pacing, it is a joy to play.

Battlefield 6 is a return to form for the large scale shooter, with a great blend of infantry classes, mechanised warfare, some clever new game modes, and without too much nonsense wrapped around it. It's a true successor to Battlefield 4, right down to the naff campaign.

Indivisible is far more than the sum of its parts. The full game lives up to the promise of the early prototype and is a fantastically original take on a mix of familiar genres. Aside from small issues with balancing combat in the later parts of the game and a frustrating end boss, there is very little here to criticise.

Although returning fans will get more out of Danganronpa 2, bar the occasional reference, there are no barriers obstructing those yet to play the series. Still, Goodbye Despair isn’t a game for everyone, especially those who crave action and non-stop thrills.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a weird game. I could leave my summary there and it would be entirely accurate, but more than that, Living the Dream is YOUR weird. You can have an island of celebrity-alikes hurling expletives at each other, or an island of your friends and family interacting in increasingly bizarre ways, and that’s precisely the point. There’s a degree of weird that’s baked into the game but, from there, what you get out of it is what you put into it.

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a delightful farming sim that is more than capable of taking over your real life with its digital rendition of work, life and love.

It reimagines many of the ways you interact with the game’s papercraft world and it expands and builds upon some of the ideas in the handheld version, yet never strays too far from what was already a wonderful experience.

Star Wars Outlaws is an open world scoundrel-'em-up that clearly builds on Ubisoft's familiar format, but that's not a bad thing. The rep system in particular is interesting, as the constant fluctuations belie any kind of loyalty you might show otherwise, but most importantly, this game lets you just be in the enduring Star Wars Universe. It's not perfect, but stealing for crime syndicates, fighting the Empire, speeding across alien landscapes, and so much more is a dream come true.

What makes Resistance 2 so enjoyable to play is the way that, cheap restarts aside, the single player campaign is really well designed. It’s consistently good, never great but never dull and repetitive, and that counts for a lot as you plug through the story.

Proving new, inventive ideas are still ripe on the vine, especially fruitful in the indie scene, Tales From Space: About a Blob is a full-fat platforming puzzler that will warm the hearts of fans who gravitate toward infectious, challenging – if a mite repetitive – gameplay.

One-Eyed Likho belongs in that rare category of games that take such a dark narrative and setting and manage to infuse it all with a surrealism that often verges on the comic. Even the epic conclusion of the story raised a smile at its presentation and effect. While not a long game and one that follows a very linear path, there are more moments and images here that will stay in your memory than many far longer games can muster.

Actual Sunlight is one of the strongest text-driven video games I’ve played.

The Veilguard is a beautiful-looking and highly enjoyable game, and a nice return to a more focused feeling RPG that does justice to both Dragon Age as a series and also to Bioware. It's fun to play in the moment-to-moment, the big decisions feel impactful and worthwhile, and fans of the series will be happy to be running around chasing after that lamentable egg of an Elf once more. It's no Dragon's Dogma 2, though.

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm isn’t a story that needed telling, and it was a risk for Deck 9 to try and add to a beloved series, but they’ve pulled it off. It answers the question of who Rachel Amber was and what she really meant to Chloe, showing something that feels more grounded like a TV teen dramas and speaks to the struggle to find your place in the world.

Aside from a few miscued points here and there with pacing or the game’s general presentation, this builds upon the first episode and draws you further into its tangled web of mystery.

Judgment is another great Japanese crime drama that will grab your attention as the stakes get bigger and bigger, but it's not quite on par with the Yakuza series. Some of the private detective busywork could make way for more of RGG Studio's trademark goofiness to cut through the seriousness of the main story, but anyone who has any interest in Far East crime dramas or the Yakuza series should pick Judgment up. Judgment has been judged and has been found worth playing.

Protodroid Delta is a fun action platformer offering fast-paced action through really well designed stages, backed up by a fantastic soundtrack.

In the great pantheon of top-down 2D Zelda-alikes, Ocean's Heart is right up there with the lovely Blossom Tales. The world is well designed, the items and abilities are perfectly judged and it is aware enough of its influences to feel like a loving tribute rather than a cynical clone. Combine this with some nicely written dialogue and you have a winning formula. A great remedy for the January blues and a nostalgic trip back in time.

As old-school as it can get in every frame and fibre of its being, Battle Axe faithfully transports you back to the classic Capcom and Neo Geo arcade era with its exquisite pixel art animation and punchy, challenging gameplay.

Where most game series can rest on their laurels, Dawn of War III is essentially the third reinvention of Relic’s Warhammer 40,000 RTS. As the game captures a sense of grand scale, it loses some of the strategic nuance in changes to the cover system, and it’s a disappointment that tried and tested multiplayer modes aren’t included as well. That said, the campaign makes for an enjoyable and challenging romp through yet another crisis in the 40K universe, and while some gameplay elements have been simplified, the three deeply contrasting races offer plenty for players to sink their teeth into online.

TopSpin 2K25 is a great return to form and rewards those who stick with it while learning the ropes, becoming a true tennis god in the process. It's not perfect, but if you have any passing interest in tennis, this is well worth your time.

Like A Dragon: Ishin is a really fun spin off for this long-running series. Many of the big characters from the mainline Yakuza games, bar some of the newer games, are recast as new ones but none of the impact is lost. Edo Period Kyo is a great city to explore with plenty to offer players, and the combat styles are really fun to experiment with, even if Brawler is a bit wasted. The long wait for a Western release has been worth it.