Little Goody Two Shoes is a wonderfully creative, and genuinely unsettling fairytale, in the truest sense. Despite a few bumps in the road, Elise’s journey is a foray into a fantasy world that doesn’t often have a happy ending, but is an enjoyable ride while it lasts.

You’ll have a great time with Tides of Tomorrow and its strange time-travelling mechanics. Its use of integrating other players’ journeys into your own is a genuinely inspired bit of game development. The story firmly hooked me throughout its 10-hour campaign, and there are some incredibly tough choices to make along the way.

It’s a hugely immersive game that ticks a whole ton of boxes for those looking to gain new off-roading kicks, and the sheer amount of variety in terms of the vehicles, the trailers and the customisation and amendments that can be made to these is nothing short of stunning. Throw in a whole ton of content in the form of main missions, tasks and challenges, and if you’re up for getting down and dirty, then there is possibly no better place to get started than with SnowRunner.

Monolith has something for everyone here, and just like Gollum with his ‘precious’, you’ll be hooked after a little taste of the power you can possess in Shadow of War.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a game that has something for everyone. Some may love the story, others perhaps the combat. A few people may just want to explore the world and put the difficulty on easy. Each element of the game is done well enough to create an all round very good game.

Should you be in the market for a retro-styled ninja game, Cyber Shadow on Xbox is quite possibly the game for you. It plays well, it sounds good, and aside from an odd use of powers and damage from knockbacks, there’s not an awful lot missing - just be aware that your controller may come out the other side with more teeth marks in it than when you began.

It’s clear that WWE 2K23 is faster, stronger, and goes harder than it has before, rounding off a great comeback story. The Showcase twist will see you forget John Cena’s five moves of doom, thus making sure there are five quality modes here to consume. The roster is packed with stars past and present, and the list of match types is stacked. Fortunately, it’s not held back by the paltry online offering or the few issues remaining in MyGM and Universe.

Dungeons of Hinterberg is proof that a mash-ups of genres can work. The concept and setup are brilliantly creative, whilst highlights sit in respect of the sim side of the game and trying to build up relationships around the town. It looks beautiful too.

DON’T NOD continues to surprise with Lost Records and Tape 1 - Bloom, pushing the narrative adventure genre in new directions. This first tape wraps up some story threads while leaving many tantalisingly unresolved, ending on a cliffhanger that sets the stage for the next installment, Tape 2 - Rage.

EA SPORTS Madden NFL 26 clearly shows that the American Football sim is on an upwards trajectory. The on-field action remains solid, but it is backed up by modes and general improvements across the board.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns manages to thrill with exciting card-based antics while also ensuring strategic minds prevail.

If you love Jurassic Park and/or dinosaurs, it’s a no-brainer. And for anyone else, you could certainly do worse than give it a go - after all, the quality of the pinball is rarely in doubt where Zen Studios are concerned.

Original, clever and innovative, Laser League is a gameplay experience worth your time and shows that we don’t have to settle for the same old, annually cloned dross again and again.

It is an utter treat to revisit Metro Exodus with the new enhanced version on Xbox Series X|S. I do recommend that if you are new to the Metro Series then play the first two games before picking up Exodus, however if you’ve played those and never managed to get around to Exodus, this is the perfect time to visit it.

Flynn: Son of Crimson is a deluxe hot chocolate. I just want to snuggle into an armchair and reward myself with a solid, unbroken couple of hours with my hands wrapped around it. It feels like a video game in the purest terms, a frothy adventure with little in the way of friction or annoyances. And it rewards your attention by being deep and rich.

F1 22 is once again capable of providing a seriously hot F1 racing experience, but the bits away from that are less exciting.

Chivalry 2 is easy to pick up and play, with much of the draw coming from the fact you don’t have to worry about learning a crazy amount of moves. There is nothing better than meeting a worthy opponent on the battlefield and going 1-on-1, block for block, slash for slash, countering each other carefully. Some may need more in terms of game modes and further incentives to keep them there for the long term, but for now, you can't go wrong with a bit of medieval PvP mayhem with Chivalry 2.

The puzzles are a bit too simple for my liking and at times frustrating, but other than that, it’s a great point-and-click adventure that will entertain you across its four short episodes.

CrossCode is, for better or for worse, an overachiever, and quite successful at it for the most part.

Crown Trick on Xbox is one that encapsulates the true depth and intricacies of the random chaos in roguelike RPGs. The gameplay systems and mechanics are both rich and daunting, and they lend themselves to an organic turn-based experience which is deceptively simple on the surface, yet imbued with strategy.

Whale Peak Games have done a great job in the creation of Go Mecha Ball. A unique game that mixes genres that probably shouldn’t ever be mixed, it turns out to be highly successful. If you want a pinball fix with a twin-stick shooting twist, this is one that should keep you going for a while.

This is one of the more accessible sim city games out there and so if you have never played one before and fancy seeing what all the fuss is about, then maybe make Anno 117: Pax Romana your first port of call.

From the get-go, Neon Abyss might not wow you with its uniqueness but it does do some nice things to change up the usual formula. Grab a little Binding of Isaac, a little Rogue Legacy, and a pinch of Cyberpunk and you have Neon Abyss. If this sounds up your alley, you're in for a nice treat.

In recent years, EA Sports have added plenty of new modes across their licensed games, and NHL 21 on the Xbox One is no exception; there is a lot of ice hockey on offer. The variety will offer something for everyone, but there are issues with the gameplay on the rink that mean some modes work better than others.

Blacktail is not an easy game, with some tricky combat situations and big boss battles, but it’s a game that allows Focus Entertainment to end their great year on a high.

A Fantasia of jazz and line-art, Genesis Noir on Xbox is a voyeuristic tour through the beginning, middles and end of the universe. The laid-back, blissful pace won’t be for everyone, and a reliance on toys rather than actual objectives will irritate some. But side-step the bugs and a couple of gameplay hiccups, and you have a ride that has a groove that, once tuned into, will take you somewhere deliriously unique.

It’s a very slow paced game overall, so whether Valkyria Chronicles 4 is for you depends on how patient you are and whether the deep story can cover over the gameplay drawbacks.

Green Hell is a hugely challenging, massively immersive game that will transplant you in the Amazonian jungles in both a good and a bad way.