Ultimately, Sweet Surrender is too repetitive. It's fun shooting and slicing up robots with a wide variety of weapons, but the environments and upgrades quickly become repetitive and it lacks the variety and meta progression that roguelites use to entice you back into another run.

Arc Raiders reminds me of Destiny at launch; the core gameplay is excellent, and there's a heartwarming sense of community, but there are many aspects that need refining and expanding. Managing your stash on consoles is a chore and there are not enough in-game events to spice up each run.

Black Ops 7 really demonstrates the difficulties of Call of Duty's yearly release schedule and going back-to-back with its sub-series. It's not as rushed-feeling as Modern Warfare III was, that's for sure, but it's also not a consistent experience. The multiplayer and Zombies are solid continuations from last year, but there's not too much excitement in that, especially after the energy-sapping co-op campaign and Endgame.

GigaSword is a monumental achievement, proving that a one-person studio, with the support of a passionate fanbase, can deliver one of the best metroidvanias of 2025.

Lynked: Banner of the Spark is a hot chocolate of a game. Sweet, sumptuous and oh, so cosy. It offers an intriguing and fresh experience thanks to combining roguelite dungeon crawling with town-building, and it keeps you engaged from beginning to end. It's just a shame that, on PS5 at least, it’s a resolutely single-player experience rather than the multiplayer one that it’s intended to be.

Xenopurge is an auto-battler that is well worth picking up and playing. It captures the tense feeling of trying to keep a squad alive as they carry out their mission, while the odds get increasingly worse the longer they are exposed. If you love the vibe of the Alien franchise, and want to try and command squads on runs to fight back against an alien threat, then Xenopurge should be on your list.

Tomb Raider Definitive Edition may offer returning fans a nostalgic run through one of Lara Croft’s best adventures, but in 2025 it’s still a remarkably solid experience, especially on the Nintendo Switch 2.

Monsters Are Coming! Rock and Road is a fun riff on various run-based subgenres, building itself upon the foundations of roguelite, bullet heaven and tower defence, slapping some wheels on the corners and seeing how far it can go.

Kirby Air Riders is a charming addition to the racing genre. Its unique outlook might not appeal to everyone, but it's still liable to find it a raft of fans, just like its GameCube predecessor.

On the whole, I’m enjoying Moonlighter 2’s Early Access release. It’s a decent mechanical upgrade over the original game in the majority of areas, but it’s also fair to say that it’s losing a little something in the transition, and I find it a bit less whimsical. If you want more stuff to do and love a meta-grind though, then this game should satisfy that nicely. [Early Access Review]

Umami is a very well crafted puzzle game that lets you take things at your own pace. Each of the puzzles is very well put together and look great, while the levels themselves provide a relaxing atmosphere. A couple of minor issues with the puzzle pieces do not totally detract from a game that lets you just sit and enjoy yourself.

Anno 117: Pax Romana is an incredibly rich historical strategy game that adapts to whatever the player needs it to be. Whether that’s a cosy city-builder offering boundless customisation, a deep economy management sim, or a competitive RTS, Ubisoft Mainz ticks all the boxes with flair.

You can't go wrong with the Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack. It's the best way to experience an already incredible trilogy of heartwarming JRPGs.

Forestrike is an entertaining blend of puzzle game and martial arts brawler, allowing you to experiment with different tactics. The different masters also provide variety with ability combinations that make each run unique. Running into some impossible fights that you simply can't beat and the crashing issue on Switch 2 do take some of the shine off the experience, though.

Reach won't win any awards for plot or graphics, but that's not the point. You've played this style of game before, but you've never played it like this in VR, bounding from ledge to zipwire, leaping over chasms and playing insinctively rather than cautiously. Reach raises the bar for VR gaming, and it's a great reason to dust off your headset.

Lumines Arise is the culmination of Mizuguchi’s works, returning to his original creation and perfecting it. For fans of puzzle games, fans of Tetris Effect, or, indeed, fans of pure and evocative gaming experiences, this is essential.

Tales of Xillia Remastered is a wonderful showcase for why the Tales franchise has thrived for the past three decades. It's packed full of charm, strung together with incredible battles, and has me so excited for whichever entry in the series gets remastered next.

Painkiller is a shame not because it's especially bad, but because some of the fun weapons and combat are buried beneath the dull, uninspired and repetitive mechanics, and a surprisingly short 6-hour runtime. It can be fun to shoot demons with cool weapons and a friend or two, but this just feels a bit too disposable, and ultimately uninspired.

Rise of Industry 2 isn't bad, really. It's actually rather good at what it does, it's just that what it does isn't that entertaining. The long periods of waiting for your businesses and decisions to bear fruit. If you're okay with waiting around for the money to come rolling in exchange for some really quite involved logistics and industry construction, then you'll likely enjoy this. If that doesn't sound too promising to you then you might want a broader city builder, where there's more stuff to focus on.

Football Manager 26 is the first step of a new era, and as we're seeing with some of the biggest clubs in the country, any new era comes with the challenge of rebuilding and both setting and meeting expectations. Football Manager 26 can get better with updates, but I doubt that this entry will be the one to make the most of the switch to the new engine, overhauled UI and new features. It might take one or two more years for this rebuild to really meet its potential.

This is a playful and enjoyable piece of Legend of Zelda lore, and one that will be essential for fans of the series, but it doesn’t break the same ground as Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, or even Age of Calamity.

I am left conflicted with Hotel Barcelona. It absolutely oozes the kind of style you’d expect its leading creators and there is real potential in the setting and story, but the actual game just isn’t that fun to play. The clunky controls stand out against the many similar action platformers and the multiple currencies make upgrades an unwelcome grind. I can’t help but think the story would be better suited to an anime rather than its current form. It’s worth a look if you can see past the jank (and many longtime fans of Swery and Suda51 are well used to that) but its shortcomings make this a booking you might regret.

Do you enjoy playing co-op games with your partner, child, friend or assorted loved one? Then please, in the name of Zeus himself, don’t play Biped 2. The intense challenge of this sequel can ruin your relationships with those closest to you as you shout and yell at each other in a desperate, but futile, attempt to make it through the most masochistic level design I’ve ever encountered.

Whilst the eponymous Red Strain itself is predictable, the other stuff surrounding it is pretty interesting. The same could be said of Oberon and the main game, though, and the interesting stuff is enough to pull you through here just like it was there. This expansion feels about same quality as the main game did, whilst Wicked Isle felt lacking, so this is a return to form in a way. It might not be enough to trigger a new playthrough, but it's a good addition if you decide to do one anyway.

Europa Universalis V marks the start of a bright new age for Paradox's Grand Strategy series, rebuilding the core, while retaining so much of the breadth, detail and regionality. There's some slight rough edges, which aren't surprising for a game of this scale, and room for expansion to better explore certain ideas and regions, but isn't there always?

Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake elevates some of the most iconic and inspiring games in JRPG history into modern unforgettable adventures that are just as rich and rewarding as any other entry in the long-running Dragon Quest franchise.

Slime Rancher 2 is filled with charm, joy and adorable creatures, but the fun doesn’t translate to every aspect of the gameplay. In seeking to expand and add content to the game, the developers have made what should have been an effortlessly delightful experience a somewhat monotonous one.

We’re only two episodes in on the eight-episode arc, but Dispatch is already making a bid for one of my favourite games of the year. If you’re into Invincible or a fan of Telltale’s best works – that’s The Wolf Among Us, just so we’re clear – then you owe it to yourself to get onboard with Dispatch. You’ll still be in time for the water-cooler chat. [Episodes 1-2 review]