A meaty and highly distinctive package which should delight cartoon-obsessed youngsters and those who live to play Japanese RPGs. But, despite the Disney involvement, it doesn’t feel likely to challenge the mainstream. In certain respects – albeit in the grand tradition of Japanese RPGs – it’s so complex as to be baffling.

Despite the shallowness of the combat, you’re always being pulled towards something new, and you can’t help but be carried along by it. Whenever you tire of one thing, the next distraction or big set-piece is just a few minutes away – just be prepared to be offered pocket tissues, have a few scraps, and become someone’s agony aunt.

If you have a 3DS, love RPGs and never played the PS3 original, consider Dragon Quest VIII an almost essential purchase. If anything, its easy-going style and accessibility make it a better fit for the handheld console than for the original platform, and you’ll struggle to find a JRPG that’s easier to pick up or harder to put down.

Gravity Rush 2 takes the strange, quirky style and gameplay of the original and lets it loose on a larger canvas, dishing up its gravity-twisting action with real imagination and verve. It has the original’s charm and personality but more ambition, with a bigger setting, bigger set-pieces and a storyline to match. If Gravity Rush gave us a great heroine, some interesting mechanics and a different take on the action adventure, the sequel puts then centre-stage in a tale that does them justice.

The biggest compliment I can pay the episodes is that during both finales I sat there, mouth agape, throwing my hands in the air yelling expletives at the descent into despair the characters found themselves, and frantically grabbed my phone to search for the release date of episode three.

The Walking Dead Season 3 makes two very strong starts. Splitting the first episode into a two-parter means fans are treated to a double-whammy of excellent storytelling and get to spend more time with these immediately engaging and relatable characters.

Super Mario Run is a great iPhone game that sticks to the expected formula but makes that formula extremely fun. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Telltale wraps up its Batman story in mediocre fashion, but the series as a whole is still worth your time if you consider yourself a Dark Knight fan.

The result is hugely satisfying, and a compelling reason to get back into the game. If you’re going to get one expansion pack for Star Wars Battlefront, make it this one.

Ubisoft Annecy has crafted a gorgeous-looking winter sports game with a strong foundation of exploration, enjoyable gameplay and a feast of events to unlock. What it hasn’t done is create a pathway through that game that will keep you playing through to the end. Despite the variety of events and sports the action and scenery grows repetitive, while some minor issues keep on cropping up. The result is a game that’s close to brilliance, but not quite close enough.

Yes, The Last Guardian’s controls are incredibly archaic and at times can be entirely broken, but two days after finishing it, the story has stuck with me. Studio Japan has continued to show how it can do so much while saying so little. The environment, characters and everything about the narrative captivated me. In spite of the controls I still thoroughly enjoyed the game overall. The story is a simple one, but powerful nonetheless.

Four games in and Dead Rising as a series has all but exhausted its core concepts, but these tricks might still entertain you if you just want to cut some rotting meat in half. For me, Dead Rising 4’s surface schlock quickly became tedious shoddiness, and the result is a disappointingly dull open-world game that simply can’t hold a candle to this year’s best.

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.

Super Mario Maker 3DS takes everything that worked on the Wii U and replicates it for a handheld experience. It's a shame that sharing levels via the Internet isn’t yet possible – but this game’s a joy all the same.

Pokémon Sun and Moon prove that with steady innovation an old dog can certainly learn new tricks. The developers should be applauded for being consistently brave in making changes to the series that appease both newcomers and series veterans alike. With so many new things to do as well as a whole new journey to embark upon, this is an excellent entry and one that no fan should miss.

Pokémon Sun and Moon prove that with steady innovation an old dog can certainly learn new tricks. The developers should be applauded for being consistently brave in making changes to the series that appease both newcomers and series veterans alike. With so many new things to do as well as a whole new journey to embark upon, this is an excellent entry and one that no fan should miss.

Episode 4 of Batman’s Telltale series continues to tell a good story, but the lack of progression and pay-off does hamper it quite significantly.

The Ezio Collection nets you two classic Assassin’s Creeds and one that’s still one of the best ones – but the remastering doesn’t really do them justice. Would it have hurt to bring AC2 and Brotherhood up to the more lavish visual standard of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, or bring the combat and controls in line? Luckily, the strong storylines of the Ezio trilogy and the Florentine’s charisma still shine through, but while The Ezio Collection is a great catch-up set for Assassin’s Creed newcomers, it doesn’t really do enough to reward old fans coming back for another spin.

If you’re looking for a theme park management game with a business perspective, Planet Coaster might leave you wanting. However, if you’re coming from the creative angle it’s hard to imagine a richer package. Not only is it a joy to build and refine your rides and coasters, see people love them and design your perfect park, but the levels of detail in the theming, customisation and animatronics take the theme park sim to a whole new level.

Eagle Flight is quite simply, one of the most joyous experiences you can have in gaming and an utterly essential PSVR title.

Killing Floor 2 does everything it sets out to do very well and is immensely satisfying, especially with friends. It’s not the deepest game in the world, but it doesn’t really need to be.

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

Dishonored 2 is a fabulously immersive role-playing game that rewards exploration, experimentation and repeat playthroughs. It’s a shade less well written than its forebear, but it’s far better designed. The Clockwork Mansion will likely go down as one of the all-time best missions in gaming, and Dishonored 2 may well be the game of 2016.

Watch Dogs 2 is no great leap forward, but it sees the series headed in the right direction with more colour, more flair and a real sense of fun. The action’s solid and the mission design much less generic, while Ubisoft Montreal has given you a great set of tools and the freedom to use them as you will. If the original Watch Dogs was a mean-looking hound, all bark, no bite, the sequel’s a more playful pooch that’s all about having a good time – and it’s all the better for it.

While many PSVR experiences claim to let you inhabit another world, Robinson: The Journey fully embraces the medium and in doing so comes the closest to actually delivering on that promise. It’s not without its flaws, but still manages to deliver an ambitious, narrative-led experience that offers the kind of immersive escapism the medium was made for. It may be overpriced and not much of a looker, but Crytek’s latest still sits comfortably as one of the most essential PSVR titles to date.

I’m genuinely saddened that Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer doesn’t stack up to previous entries, as every year I look forward to jumping back into Call of Duty and spending a good few months shooting up stuff. The fact that another game comes in the box that is better than Infinite Warfare in almost every way is pretty damning. It's still one of the best shooters ever made, but a game that has come out a decade later should still be able to compete.

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.

For all the visual enhancements and lusher vegetation, this Special Edition can’t disguise the areas where Skyrim has dated. Other games have built on the foundations Bethesda laid. What was once jaw-dropping now seems merely remarkable.