Spirit Of Justice gets the balance between ridiculous and serious spot on and is the best game in the series for some time.

Dirt 5 isn’t the next-gen technical showcase you were probably hoping for, but its excellent off-road tracks are an absolute delight to race on while superb modes such as Arcade, Playgrounds and Online/Offline multiplayer provide enough gas in the tank for numerous revisits.

Its storylines run the gamut from deftly handled through to daft, and ludicrous liberties are taken with Tolkien’s characters and lore...All the same, none of this matters because Shadow of War doubles down on everything that was already brilliant in Shadow of Mordor for a good 30-40 hours of stupidly absorbing stealth, action and warfare.

For all its flaws – the dodgy camera, the lack of dungeon save points, the magic system, the bitty, oddly-structured plot – Final Fantasy 15 is the best single-player Final Fantasy in a decade. The new combat system is more action-oriented, but still surprisingly tactical, while the new focus on open-world exploration brings the game and its world to life. Crammed with character, choice and interest, it’s an RPG where the good times keep on rolling down the road.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is an enjoyably immersive foray into the iconic undead universe, only occasionally held back by a handful of rough edges.

At £20 on PS4 it’s brilliant value, but at a stonking £35 on the Switch? I’d argue that it’s still worth the money, but if it was selling for around the £20 mark there’s be another half star on the score.

Assassin’s Creed Origins is the revitalisation I was desperately hoping for. My cautious optimism has been rewarded by an excellent open-world adventure that could lead to an exciting future for Ubisoft’s blockbuster franchise. While it lifts its finer ideas from other open-world titles, it executes them well enough to form a whole that entertained me for hours and hours. It’s a shame the narrative eventually jumps the shark, or this could have been something truly special.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is a fantastic remake, with Nintendo elevating the visuals and adding many quality-of-life improvements. The introduction of physical controls is the best addition, providing a secondary option for those who despise motion controls. With some of the best dungeons in the series, and a unique take on combat, Skyward Sword HD is a must-play for Zelda fans and Switch owners.

There’s definitely a lot to love about F1 2022, whether it’s the revamped physics engine and clever AI, or the incredible levels of detail on tracks and in the cockpit. The inclusion of F1 Life as a main social hub is an interesting move and adds a new arcade-type dynamic to what is traditionally more of a sim title, while the addition of supercars adds a fun element alongside staples such as race weekends and a practically unchanged career mode. It’s really the little things that make F1 2022 such a great game with little flecks of extra realism added to a tried-and-tested formula and while it isn’t perfect, it’s definitely a shining entry.

Planet Zoo is a fantastic zoo management game that I wholeheartedly recommend, whether you’re looking for some Zoo Tycoon nostalgia kicks, or simply love animals. It’s admittedly not a massive leap forward from previous zoo games, but the conservation focus and gorgeous visual polish revitalises the genre for modern audiences.

There’s still a sense that Far Cry needs to push things further, with too many mundane and repetitive tasks littering its map screen, and that more variety is needed in its core mission design. This is a phenomenal open-world shooter and an excellent Far Cry. With a little extra push, it could have been even more.

While Zelda is undeniably the Switch’s killer app, Fast RMX drifts into a close second place. Offering an impressive range of multiplayer support and commuter-friendly racing on the go, Fast’s futuristic thrill ride manages to feel more at home on the Switch than it ever did on Wii U.

This is a real love letter to the Street Fighter series. Eleven genuine classics (and one stinker) all ported with great care and with a museum of developmental and concept art, soundtracks and an interactive timeline of the series that’ll take a good hour or so to look through, it’s a great way to celebrate Street Fighter’s 30th birthday even before you factor in the online and training modes for the four marquee titles.

Battlefield 5 is a good game, but not a great one. The multiplayer can be great fun when you find the right server, and the single player shines a light on parts of World War 2 that aren’t in the public consciousness. However, the stripped back multiplayer and several of the same old problems mean that I’m wishing that this particularly war had perhaps changed a little more.

If you’re after an open world experience that’s a little different from Ubisoft’s usual output, Immortals Fenyx Rising is a colourful adventure worth considering. Using Breath of the Wild as its blueprint, this is a mythical adventure with plentiful charm and enough distinct ideas of its own to stand out. It’s a shame that the lacklustre narrative and archaic approach to the genre holds it back from true greatness. Despite such shortcomings, this gorgeously refreshing take on Greek Mythology is crammed with creativity across its impactful combat, engaging puzzle design and lovable cast of characters. As a new franchise, I can only see it growing stronger in the years to come.

Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy is a brilliant sequel that expands upon everything that made the original great, while forging a path forward that can be further expanded upon in the trilogy's final chapter.

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.

Fall Guys is an absolute delight. It feels like a natural evolution of the battle royale genre that abandons the expectation of violence and exchanges it for a bright, colourful multiplayer experience that sinks its hooks in and refuses to let go.

Gears Tactics is a great game that is sure to delight fans of the series. More hardcore gamers will find it a little lightweight to be considered an XCOM rival.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a fantastic game. While I may have found the beginning to be a little slow, once the battles pick up there are hours of fun to be had. The button-mashing technique is simple but thrilling and will please anyone that enjoys racking up large combos. Hacking and slashing through enemies feels rewarding, and the added strategic element allows for experimentation in how you take on each battle. And ignoring the awkward camera, the style of the game is wonderful to look at, with each playable character having their own distinctive style and aesthetic. This game has ignited a love for Fire Emblem that I didn’t even know I had, and I think this is a great choice for anyone after a new Switch game.

Metro Redux is yet another triumphant port for the Nintendo Switch, presenting a duo of brilliant survival horror shooters to an audience who might have never experienced them before. While they've been burdened with noticeable visual compromises, they still look and perform competently enough that you'll hardly notice the difference.

Fire Emblem Engage feels like a love letter to loyal fans of the series, providing pangs of nostalgia with recognisable characters, as well as an even deeper combat system that builds upon already solid foundations. Engage isn’t the best entry point into the series, and is rather shallow in terms of story and character development, but the combat is enjoyable enough alone to keep players engrossed until the end.

FM16 was close to the complete game, and FM17 is a very definite leap forward. It's not easy to improve on a near-perfect product but through smart and intuitive tweaks, this feels like the best iteration yet.

Snipperclips won’t go down as the biggest or most ambitious Switch game ever, or even the one that best demonstrates the console’s features. However, it's a game that knows what it wants to be – a smart, inventive co-op puzzle game – and does a great job of being it. Played solo it isn't all that enjoyable, but pair up or find a foursome and you have one of the most enjoyable, if stressful, co-op games since Overcooked.

Assassins Creed Valhalla is hugely enjoyable entry to the series, offering an enthralling Viking RPG experience with super-satisfying combat and exploration of medieval England. However, as a consequence the series has drifted away from its stealth roots, giving the Creed series an identity crisis.

If you don’t mind encountering several glitches along the way, then you’re sure to have a blast with Assassin’s Creed: Rebel Collection on Switch – particularly with Black Flag which remains one of the best entries in the Assassin’s Creed series.

Yakuza Kiwami is a dazzling remake of an underappreciated classic, improving upon its source material in so many important ways. At times it can feel dated, but that doesn’t stop Kiwami from proving Yakuza is once again one of the best things on PS4, and perhaps any other platform.

After stumbling out the gate with last year’s Avengers, Square Enix has managed to steady the ship with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. For the story alone, the game is well-worth playing, but it’s the abundance of lore, well-written dialogue and gorgeous locales that elevate it as one of the best Marvel games to date. If the game’s combat bore a tad more finesse, and if some of the glitches had been ironed out before launch then Guardians would be more in line with the quality we’ve seen from Marvel’s Spider-Man, but the game has shown that Square Enix can make the most of the license when steered in the right direction. I’m now very excited to see what the company can do next.