There’s enough here to please newcomers and fans shouldn’t feel too disappointed, but the Prof left some big shoes to fill. His daughter has the guts and smarts to fill them, but she really needs a better chance to shine.

Halo Wars 2 suffers a little from its console limitations, but it’s a solid RTS with a strong campaign and a good overall feel for the Halo universe. After a slow start the mission design grows much more interesting and while there’s little here you won’t have seen in a StarCraft, it’s all handled with variety, pace and drama. There’s potential too in the multiplayer modes, particularly Blitz with its unique hybrid style. It might not be the Halo sequel that you asked for, but it’s a fine one to be getting on with.

Watch Dogs Legion is an enjoyable open-world adventure that provides you with a beautiful vision of dystopian London to explore, but its ambitious mechanics simply don’t reach the heights I was hoping for.

There are a number of welcome changes in FIFA 22. The gameplay is more rewarding and the animations are finally interesting. There’s more intricacy to build-up play and often a much more satisfying finish. But there’s also no getting around the large number of bugs, the fairly modest improvements in various game modes and the continued focus on paying to win in FUT. FIFA 22 is certainly more Europa Conference League than Champions League.

Sakura Wars is an enjoyable revival of the iconic series, presenting a fascinating blend of genres. Unfortunately, it far too often falls victim to tired tropes and writing which treats its excellent female cast as little more than objects. Still, if you're a sucker for engaging stories, wacky combat and a strange, unusual world I recommend giving Sakura Wars a try.

There were times during my playthrough of Mario Golf: Super Rush where I really got into the fun of golf, analysing the details of a course and fist-bumping the air when a shot went exactly like I planned it. But these moments were bogged down by a lack of content and a truly disappointing single-player campaign. Super Rush might appeal to some, but for the majority of Switch owners, I’d recommend skipping Mario’s latest trip to the links.

Little Town Hero is a solid RPG with several unique, ambitious new systems that light up different parts of the brain than you may be used to. However, it also feels like it’s still in the prototype phase. The battle system is fun to figure out, but ultimately combat is so drawn out and confusing that it becomes exhausting. Unfortunately, it’s not as snappy and enjoyable in quick bursts as Pokemon, which may be the thing that doom’s Little Town Hero’s clear potential as a brain-teasing game to play on your commute.

Mario and Rabbids Sparks of Hope provides the same enjoyable turn-based combat as its predecessor, with some minor tweaks to make it more accessible to a wider audience. A greater focus on the Rabbids opposed to the Mushroom Kingdom feels like a backwards step though, with the slapstick crossover comedy failing to sparkle this time around.

As a remastered collection, there isn’t really a lot to say about the older games. They’ve been visually improved a little bit to fall in line with what you’d expect from a PS4 or Xbox One offering, but overall there are still some performance issues and, to be fair, the gameplay hasn’t particularly aged well. When you get to the more recent games, this collection is a good excuse for fans that missed out on Ultimate Ninja 4 or Road to Boruto to get way more bang for their buck. If you’re new to Naruto, it’s also a fantastic way of exploring the series’ rich history because – like a lot of classic anime – by the time you get into it, there’s certainly a lot to catch up on.

While combat is improved over its predecessors it pales compared to rivals in the genre thanks to braindead AI. Facial animations are laughable at times and have a negative impact on the good voice acting. Bugs and performance issues only hamper this further. Andromeda is a good game and I’ve enjoyed my time with it. However, for those who’ve been waiting five years for another Mass Effect adventure, I don’t think it will be good enough.

If you’re looking for a challenging, retro-style FPS that takes no prisoners, STRAFE has you covered. It has the replayability and difficulty of a perma-death roguelike wrapped in the style and attitude of a classic nineties shooter. Yet where Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and Doom 2016 revived old-school action in a way anyone could enjoy, STRAFE is a hardcore experience, through and through.

With a good storyline, great characters and a fantastic, action-heavy combat system, this is a high point for Bandai Namco’s JRPG series – but it lacks the attention to detail, great design and polish that could elevate that series to the big leagues over here.

A robust combat system, plentiful characters and a meaningful progression system combine to create a worthwhile fighter that I’d recommend checking out. It certainly isn’t the finest the genre has to offer, but it does more than enough to stand out.

Project Cars 3, at least on the base console versions, isn’t quite the polished sequel we were hoping for, but despite its foibles – and there are many – it’s entertaining. The racing can be fun, finding that niche of being accessible and competitive.

A unique, bizarre and funny VR experience that’s well worth playing, but not quite so well worth buying. It’s one of the most obnoxious and wilfully offensive games you’ll ever play, but it’s also short and insubstantial, leaving you wondering ‘is that really it?’. Get a mate with PSVR to cough up, have a quick go and you’re laughing, but you might want to think twice before splashing out yourself.

Fullbright has crafted an impressive yet ultimately unfulfilling narrative adventure in Tacoma. Its characters and setting are some of the best in the medium in terms of dialogue and atmosphere, but the overarching plot is far too weak to hold them altogether. That being said, exploring the lonely space station is a journey I don’t regret taking.

Mario Party Superstars is an enjoyable package of some of the very best mini games in the series’ history. Like with most Mario Party games, it’s best played with a group of friends as the CPU simply isn’t that fun to play with, and relies too much on randomness in order for it to be hugely enjoyable when playing against strangers online. You could make the case that Superstars feels like a backwards step for the Mario Party series with the limited number of boards, lack of character-specific features and omission of motion-control mini games, but it’s still a hugely enjoyable experience when playing in a large group with friends and family.

This is a third-person experience worth embarking on, if only for the distinctive way it subverts mechanics we’ve grown so familiar with. You can also feed evil soldiers to hordes of rats with the press of a button, which is morbidly delightful in its own messed up way.

It can’t compete with Forza, Gran Turismo or Project Cars when it comes to looks, cars or tracks. The career mode is tedious and often frustrating, and the presentation makes it feel even nerdier and less accessible than it is. Yet the core driving experience remains magnificent, with some of the best handling and most immersive racing around. This isn’t a racer for everyone – it’s tough, demanding and a bit too hardcore – but if you want a sim with thrills and authenticity, it’s well worth taking for a spin.

An enjoyable cyberpunk adventure with an excellent setting and cast of characters that are worth caring about. It doesn’t quite stretch its storytelling muscles as far as it could, confined by the traditional visual novel formula in ways that feel detrimental to the overall narrative. Despite this, the world is compelling, original and thought-provoking at times. If you're a fan of Danganronpa or Persona, Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness could be next on your wishlist.

The Escapists 2 is a solid improvement over its predecessor, and a fun prison escapade in its own right. While all of its parts don’t come together in the most ideal manner, busting out of prison remains a blast when you finally manage to conquer the obstacles set against you. Combine that with a staggering amount of variety and replay value, and you have a package that’s well worth going under for.

If you’ve already got PES 2020 and have found other means to update the squads and kits, there’s very little of note here. The changes are minimal and this edition is likely just for those who decided against picking up the previous entry. But if a cheaper version of PES has you interested this is a great starting point. Yes, there are plenty of issues with the modes, commentary and AI but most of that just fades into insignificance when you’re actually playing a game. Until the next-gen version arrives next year, this is the best representation of football you’ll find.

Underground is most valuable to those who are already the most devoted Division fans, although if you’re willing to put in some hours, there’s nothing to stop you joining their number.

Marvel’s Avengers has proven to be a pleasant surprise, even if its live service identity arguably hinders the true potential of its world, story and characters. Engaging combat and rewarding progression have established a solid foundation for Crystal Dynamics to build upon with new heroes and scenarios in the months and years to come.

Playing with buddies looting collapsed shopping centres and derelict towns is a blast and the robust crafting and character development mechanics are excellent. However, quests’ repetitive nature and a lack of human players filling the vast world can make Fallout 76 feel a little sterile and hamper its long-term appeal, especially if you don’t have friends to accompany you on your journey through the wasteland. This makes Fallout 76 a good, not great, entry into the iconic franchise.

Lost Paradise provides an absorbing trek around a captivating post-apocalyptic universe. Appropriately enough, Sega doesn’t pull any punches in adapting Buronson and Hara’s gratuitous and violent world – definitely don’t play this around kids, though.

Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 is the ultimate fan experience. The game magically manages to retain the epic, and faithfully recreates the fast-paced combat using a surprisingly intricate fighting and character development systems. If you’re a Dragon Ball fan, Xenoverse 2 will definitely entertain...However, I'm concerned that newbies to the series – or less hardcore fans that only remember Dragon Ball in passing – will struggle to get their bearings. The combat system is great, but the game offers little up-front tutelage. Add to this a difficulty level that spikes fairly quickly, and the game could end up frustrating as much as it entertains

For the first few hours Bleeding Edge is an absolute blast to play and well worth a look if you have Xbox Game Pass. But there's not enough depth to make it last long-term, at the moment.