A stunning game. Super Mario Odyssey is the best of the 3D Super Mario titles and a Game of the Year contender in a properly stacked year.

Although it takes place on the same map as Breath of the Wild (with a few key changes owing to the time-skip and Upheaval, of course), Tears of the Kingdom feels different enough from its predecessor thanks to the new powers and mechanics to stand all on its own. It’s a massive open world that feels dense and exciting without getting clogged up with icon fatigue, since so much of the play is based around physics interactions with the core mechanics, rather than rigid systems.

Astro Bot only cares about fun, and I genuinely can't think of a single moment it made me wish something had been handled differently, tweaked to be easier, or expanded upon. It's just perfect.

God of War has grown up. It is violent, but it’s not excessive. It is angry, but there is something to contrast it against. There is a flash of nipple, but it’s Kratos’s. Kratos is older, and he feels remorse for his past, but it feels like Sony Santa Monica also wants to atone. If that was God of War’s goal, the studio deserves a standing ovation. This isn’t only the best God of War game, it’s one of the best games of the current generation.

While the start of Shadow of the Erdtree can come off as a regression, really, the DLC as a whole is FromSoftware flexing all of its creative muscles - including some it hasn’t used in a while and others it might be building up for the future. The depth of storytelling in the Lands of Shadow, as well as the new weapons, spells and items (all of which add to the lore themselves, of course), only better your experience of the Lands Between, and make for a worthy upgrade to what is already an unforgettable adventure.

What ultimately matters, however, is that Elden Ring succeeds at almost every goal it sets out to achieve. It’s the culmination of years of refinement of FromSoftware’s formula. Mechanically, and thematically, this is a game making a statement: that you can buck industry tendencies even as you adopt their trends.

So much information is communicated to you so naturally by subtle things – the clunk of an inert attack on an armoured enemy, or the slight twinkle of a fully-charged swing – that finding your own style within the skillset is instinctive. And that’s without the jarring stops and slowdowns that give knuckle-cracking impact to every hit and have you throwing yourself into each shot, like a football manager kicking every ball for their team on the sidelines. You get the biggest sense of this in the many, passionately fierce boss fights that punctuate the game. They do a great job of incorporating unique mechanics without coming off as cheap or overly simple. And, really, these boss fights are emblematic of what makes God of War Ragnarok great: they’re hugely successful meldings of an involving story and brutal action that not only produce an eye-popping, absorbing spectacle, but an impassioned investment in the outcome as well.

When the credits rolled on The Last of Us Part 2 I was still buzzing from the excitement of the final few hours. My loyalty shifted between characters. I grew to love who I hated and dislike who I loved. I laughed, I teared up. I felt anger and elation. It’s the new high water mark for video game characters and I can’t wait for everyone to see just how special it is. As soon as it ended, I booted up New Game Plus and I’m experiencing it again with my eyes open, the context of the finished story imprinting new meaning into those early scenes and characters. I’m not swiping in the dark anymore.

Alyx has been the last week of my life, switching between this virtual reality world and the horror of our actual existence. In a week where we’ve had all the time to do what we want, it’s been hard to do anything but think. Alyx is the only thing that has grabbed my attention away, like an alien barnacle waiting high above with a hungry mouth and a sticky tongue.

The continuing string of successful Resident Evil Remakes makes me hopeful for the future, too. I’ve made it very clear over time that I am not the biggest fan of Resident Evil 5 or 6, however, this Remake – and seeing all the intricate detail entwined into the remake of this timeless classic without losing its magic – has me more open-minded for what’s coming next.

With an everything but the kitchen sink approach, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lives up to its name - it's the best gaming cross-over experience ever.

They say art is all about eliciting an emotional reaction; if you can do that, all the effort expended in creating it was worth it. I think Clair Obscur does that with aplomb. If you have ever loved role-playing games, ever, you owe it to yourself to play this. It has the capacity to touch you.

Comfortably Xbox’s best 2018 exclusive.

Flaws be damned, scores be damned, though. In my heart, this will inevitably end up as one of my favorite games of 2024 - its vibes are simply irresistible.

Within the understood parameters of what 2D Mario can be, this has to be the single best entry since Super Mario World - and is the perfect first game to launch a new era of Mario games with his new-found elevation to movie star status.

Let’s be clear for a moment: Forza Horizon has always been good. From the moment it burst onto the scene in 2012 as a spin-off to the core, more po-faced Forza Motorsport series, it established itself as a fun, thrilling, and subversively moreish alternative thread for racing on Xbox. It was in many ways the spiritual, open-world successor to Project Gotham Racing, and in turn traced its roots back to arcade racing royalty like OutRun. This is a tough lineage to stand up to, but Horizon 5 takes all that history and experience and runs with it, incrementally upgrading this series into must-play brilliance. It’s an achievement of a game.

What speaks volumes about Street Fighter 6, in a sense, is the length of this review. It’s long, and yet I barely feel like I have scratched the surface. World Tour is a slightly ropey debut for a really strong single-player format – but SF6 is ultimately more than the sum of its parts, and the core fighting system alone justifies a high score and a strong recommendation. The previous entry launched with potential, but was racked with problems. This is a worldie from minute one. It’s a must-have. And it might just be the most compelling overall fighting game package of all time.

Though somewhat stylistically uneven, Demon’s Souls PS5 manages to capture the spirit of the original game. The experience is certainly not for everyone, but if you manage to get your head around its steep learning curve and obtuse mechanics, Demon’s Souls will give you a rewarding experience, seeped in an unrelenting and oppressive atmosphere that you will almost certainly never forget.

Every individual strand weaves together to form something utterly exceptional in Metaphor. It may well be Atlus’ masterpiece; well-presented, well-realised, and totally unashamed to be a big, silly, fantastical piece of role-playing genius. Don’t be put off by the fact it isn’t wearing the Persona moniker; chances are, if you love anything about the Persona games, you’re going to find it in Metaphor - but better. As a foundation for a new IP, I don’t think the developer could have done better.

Part of what I love so much about this game, and series, is that it marches to the beat of its own drum – eschewing the RPG trends of the moment (no romances for you) and doubling down on what makes it great. A tight, infinitely satisfying combat system, fun and unpredictable demon negotiation, and a metal-as-hell world. Everything it sets out to do, it does well. Even if it does feel like you’re playing a glorified, modernised PS2 game. It’s intentional, and it rules.

Developer Asobo Studio says Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is a ten-year project with many additions to come. That makes sense, as it’s a brilliant base package with so very much to love that I can still see myself returning to for years. For me, the casual, it’s a perfect low-stakes, relaxing gaming experience. It’s a technical achievement and an excellent training aid, but it’s also a brilliant piece of escapism, transcending its purpose as a tool to become something far more widely enjoyable – and I can’t recommend it enough.

If this review appears glowing, frankly that's how I feel about the game. It's without a doubt my favourite fighting game out right now, and I've been fiending to get back online ever since they took the pre-release servers down. The one scratch on the game's spotless form is online infrastructure that doesn't quite live up to other games on the market right now, which makes it hard to recommend to those with seperated friend groups or subpar online connections. If neither of those apply to you, Tekken 8 is absolutely worth picking up at your earliest convenience.

Dragon Quest 11 has its flaws, and it may ultimately function as a breezy trip down memory lane for the experienced and a fabulous gateway experience for the uninitiated, but that is exactly what it sets out to be. At that, it is perfect.

Minor as the additions the Plus expansion brings, Sonic Mania is still one of the best 2D platformers in recent memory, and is definitely the best Sonic game in a very long time. I can’t help but wish there was more of it, but there’s no denying this is an excellent package – and yes, it’s still a must-play.

Crusader Kings 3 is my Game of the Year so far. If you’re looking for a new strategy title with some RPG flair that will suck you in for 500 hours or more during this endless lockdown, then it should be on your wishlist already. Better still, future support is already assured – there’s one expansion already in the works plus a few flavour packs coming soon if the huge base game isn’t enough for you.

Resident Evil 2 Remake is the perfect blend of nostalgia and the new, marrying a classic game with contemporary game design.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is everything I hoped it would be, and it’s yet another stellar release that showcases a confident Nintendo at its best. It is excellent, and is easily another must-own Switch title – at least, if you can understand and embrace Animal Crossing’s uniquely lazy pace.

Split Fiction, just like Hazelight's projects before it, will not only have you belly-laughing throughout the experience, reminiscing about games, movies and literature the game regularly reminds you of, but it’ll also tug at your heartstrings and have you wiping tears from your eyes. The game's biggest victory is that it reminds you that endeavours as wonderful as Split Fiction (and those that it pays homage to) were created by the passion, devotion, and authentic experiences of humans such as Zoe and Mio, and the team over at Hazelight — not idea-extracting machines trained solely for profit off the human ingenuity that's so rawly at the beating heart of Split Fiction.

Spider-Man 2 is exceptional. In your hands, it’s the best a superhero game has ever felt. On your eyes, it’s a pure tour de force of what the PlayStation 5 can do. On your heart, it’s heavy, enticing, exciting. The open world is a tonic, the characters are a riot, the villains are unbelievable in the best way. Suspend your disbelief in a neat little web above your head, dive in with your mask pulled tight over your face, and prepare yourself for the daftest, most earnest action game of 2023. It’s a 20-or-so hour hoot you’re not going to be able to put down until the post-credits scene has rolled.

This rebuilt vision of Monster Hunter feels like a truly smart, forward-thinking improvement to the series. It’s an impressive leap forward.

Sekiro is a game a lot of people are going to bounce off. It’s one for the “git gud” crowd – for people who want a feeling of accomplishment, rather than the fake achievement you feel from finding some Level 20 Pants in most modern triple-A experiences. It’s FromSoftware at its most confident, at its most unapologetic. It’s Bloodborne but faster, with fewer crutches yet somehow more fair. It’s also one of the best games released so far in what’s already looking like a strong 2019.

The Switch continues to be a great place for ports of fantastic games, and my feelings around Bayonetta’s Switch Collection are much the same as they were for Skyrim and DOOM; this is the perfect excuse to either replay these games or to experience them for the first time if you missed them the first time around. Bayonetta might be a strange outlier in Nintendo’s game library, but she deserves her place: her games are absolutely modern classics in the action genre.

Modern day horror experiences don’t get much better than this, and I'm pleased we've got more to come in, at least, two sets of DLC.

When a classic is remastered, there is really only one mission: don’t mess it up. Monolith and Nintendo have admirably improved upon a Wii classic, delivering the one version of this game that people should now aim to play. It’s true that some of the original game design frustrations remain untouched and performance is solid but sadly not perfect. These things barely matter, though; Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is easily a must-own for any RPG fan with a Switch.

It’s a game about finding out who your mates are, and that they’ll be there for you no matter whether you need a good laugh, a telling off or a helping hand.

Honestly, It Takes Two is one of the most pleasant surprises in video games I’ve ever had. I went in more or less expecting a fairly gimmick-laden brief but fun escapade, but it’s so much more than that. This is a game that I would recommend to anyone who longs for the kind of no-holds-barred childlike fantasy so common in the 80s but seems less common today. If that is you, don’t sleep on this real gem.

Standing on its own, Unicorn Overlord is an excellent expansion of Vanillaware’s now-trademark visual style and its newer RTS mechanics, offering both gripping strategy and an atmospheric pulp fantasy world that you're going to want to sink hours and hours into.

While Super Mario 3D All-Stars was content rich but low on actual effort, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury feels like a necessary release. It brings one of the best ever Mario titles to a platform people actually own, but also adds a new exclusive that’s completely worthwhile. It easily cruises onto the list of best Nintendo Switch games – and it’s a great start for Nintendo’s 2021. Just don’t leave us waiting too long for an Odyssey 2, yeah?

This was a review I picked up on a whim, looking to try something new, and now I’m walking away with a strong new game of the year contender. Psychonauts 2 is fun, funny, heartfelt, and handles its themes with a deft and gentle hand. Thanks to its great recapping, anyone can play regardless of their history with the series, and I recommend you do!

Dead Space doesn’t just place you into the role of Isaac Clarke, it forces you into his head, too. You’re constantly questioning if the apparitions he is seeing are real, and his physical reaction to the unbelievable events aboard the space ship only fuel yours further. You are completely at the whim of the USG Ishimura, and it never lets you forget that. Ultimately, Dead Space is a game that a lot of horror developers can learn from when it comes to creating suspense and a feeling of dread in its players. And as far as remakes go, Dead Space has me thoroughly pining over a decade-old series. That’s a success, if you ask me.

Whatever path you choose, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is an absolute blast. It’s the best Fire Emblem title since Awakening, and it goes straight onto my list of must-play Switch games.

Ultimately, playing through Death Stranding 2 was an emotional and utterly enjoyable experience, full of thrills and impossible to put down during its bigger moments. My only negative feeling towards it is also unfortunately a big one, that I wish Kojima Productions went further in evolving this sequel from the original. When the story goes to such an extent to explore new grounds, it's kind of a shame the gameplay feels the need to play it safe.

Vicarious Visions has proved that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was more than just a product of its time, and that – like skating itself – it has every chance of penetrating the mainstream once again. The studio should be lauded for twice proving that it is a steward of 90s nostalgia, and that it can reanimate games to be just as good – if not better! – for their second turn under the sun.

But even if you feel a touch frustrated at the busywork, I would urge players to at least finish the first map of the game. If you get to this point and still find yourself keen to play, I'm happy to say that the game truly blossoms in its second half. The best quests, narrative moments, the funniest moments, and best side characters can be found here. There's one Polish guy who I guarantee will steal the hearts of thousands. Please hang in there. There is gold buried in this game, and it's not even that hard to prospect out.

If this wasn’t a remake, I firmly believe it would be right at the top of Game of the Year articles as we assess things over a bit of Christmas Pudding. The PS5 has had some brilliant games already, no doubt, but as a fan of The Last of Us, Part 1 is my new favourite exclusive on the console. If you dislike Naughty Dog games, nothing here is going to change your views, but existing Doggers (yes, I’m using it) will lap this up and appreciate the work that’s gone into it.

I am already 50 hours in, and I can’t wait to double - triple, quadruple! - that number in the coming weeks and months. This one’s a classic, as far as I'm concerned.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is wickedly clever, tightly designed, self-aware in all the right ways, and refreshingly unconcerned with whatever the latest trends are. The only game Dragon’s Dogma 2 is really interested in iterating on and answering to is the original Dragon’s Dogma. For fans of that game there’s delightful bonuses, references, and punch-the-air moments, too. But even for newcomers, what should be plain is that Dragon’s Dogma 2 does its own thing - and its own thing is magnificent.

This is a full-fat, planet-hopping, mystery-filled adventure that PS5 owners will lap up and non-owners will resent not being able to play, perhaps through no lack of trying. Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls were superb launch titles for the PS5, but we’re now through the looking glass. The bar has been set. The PS5 has arrived.

Horizon: Forbidden West does a great job of building on the foundation that Zero Dawn laid out; everything is more beautiful, the stakes are – somehow – higher, and the flirtations with BioWare-style story ideas shows just how much of a future this series has. The exploration and combat pillars of the game sing in harmony, too… it’s just a shame that there’s so much sludgy filler amongst all that well-oiled machine killer.

Taken as a single-player experience, Deathloop feels complete and incredibly well-rounded. The extra injection of optional multiplayer action is a fabulous cherry on top. Basically, Deathloop is everything I wanted it to be. It’s confident both as a successor to many of the ideas of Dishonored while also expressly its own thing, with a tone and sense of style I absolutely adore. It’s one of my favourite games of the year - and one we’ll surely be talking about for months to come.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is a bonefide cure-all for your fighting game ailments. A banger release, right at the end of the year.

Metroid Dread is likely to give those that have been counting down the days to its release exactly what they want: a thrilling experience in line with what they loved about past games. There are original ideas here - but they’re better considered as evolutions of what came before rather than anything groundbreaking. There’s stumbles here and there with the difficulty and progression signposting, but all of that feels very Metroid. Dread is no Super Metroid, but that game is a stone-cold all-timer. Putting that game aside, Dread is up to the series standard, and is well worth a look.

Iterative sequels are obviously pretty common in video games, but when a game is built around user-generated content it’s plainly more difficult to get right. Super Mario Maker 2 nails it, however, mashing together the joy of 2D Mario and the frightening ingenuity of a huge community of players to make for a Switch game we could easily all be playing in a decade. It’s difficult to think of a more compelling argument than that.

Ultimately, Monster Hunter Rise is a solid, standalone entry to the series which pulls back on the scope of recent games on more powerful platforms, but doesn’t skimp on the fundamentals that made the Monster Hunter name. While it does feel like a smaller package in terms of grand story presentation, the new additions and quality-of-life fixes make it less grindy to play, with greater flexibility in exploration, navigation, and resource collection adding to the portable possibilities.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is a richly-deserved, lovingly-crafted redo of a classic. It takes one of Mario’s finest spin-offs and does just enough to refresh it while retaining everything that made it beloved in the first place. I only hope this leads to more Paper Mario games in this vein.

It’s a confident sequel, then, and does enough work to fill in the gaps through discreet bits of exposition that it could probably be enjoyed as a standalone adventure, too.

Capcom is a master of the genre it spawned.

Taken individually, Hitman 3 feels like great value, with plenty of variety and lots to do. When taken as a whole, the World of Assassination trilogy is hands-down one of the best and most complete-feeling trilogies in video game history. It’s a fitting finale for 47 – at least for now – and it has naturally left me thrilled to see what IO does with James Bond or whatever else comes next. It might only be January – but I can pretty much guarantee this will end the year as one of my 2021 favourites.

At times it felt almost overwhelming to actually be playing it – like Square Enix had made a game specifically for me. I just wish the loyalty to the source material lasted throughout. Despite that, there’s no denying that this is the best Final Fantasy has been in a long time.

Capcom has done a great job iterating on what was clearly an unfinished shell of a game with excellent foundations. In the last two years they’ve built something really special, and Arcade Edition’s soft relaunch makes this the ideal place to jump back in or make your SF5 debut.

This review has largely been gushing, but I want you to know that Astral Chain isn’t perfect. The non-combat side of the game is often fairly pedestrian and the story can be pretty overwrought even if it is largely told in a knowing, tongue-in-cheek manner. With that noted, this is absolutely a worthy successor to Nier Automata – and like that game, Astral Chain is definitely a contender for one of my favourite games of the year.

FF16 is clearly the best numbered single-player Final Fantasy since the PS2 era. For series fans, FF16 will inevitably provoke debate. I expect it to be both beloved and reviled. The discourse will be unbearable. That’s how you can tell it’s a good Final Fantasy, by the way. For newcomers, this presents a different, thoroughly modern Final Fantasy: full of wonder, and joy, and flaws in a way that feels most appropriate to the rest of the series.

You can, perhaps, reductively describe Gran Turismo 7 as 'GT Sport with a single-player component'. But seeing as that was all GT Sport needed to be an absolutely stellar racing game, this is a must-have for hardcore racing fans and the kind of game that is so good it might actually transform a few casual players into bonafide petrolheads themselves.

Every now and then, a game comes along that just full-on surprises you. I love the Indiana Jones movies (at least, the first three) and so always had an interest in this game. I ultimately sort of expected a fun bit of inconsequential blockbuster, though. The sort of thing you play over the Christmas season and promptly forget about. The best thing I can say about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is that I know I’m going to be thinking about this for a long time yet.

With a gorgeous presentation and smart and minimalist tweaks, it’s as charming and enjoyable now as it was in the nineties. Let down only by the lackluster dungeon creator and some uneven performance, the design of Link’s Awakening nevertheless holds up brilliantly, which in turn makes the slavishly accurate recreation worthwhile. It’s undeniable proof that the classic Zelda formula still works – and hopefully after Breath of the Wild 2 we can get yet another classic-style Zelda.

Mini Motorways is a game that I can just vibe with. There was a period of time when I’d boot Mini Metro every single day in order to undertake the daily challenge. I can see that being the case again here. There’s an intricate, impossible-feeling balance to this game; it is fiendishly difficult and filled with tactical nuance with even things like the angle of how roads join one another impacting traffic speed - and yet it is also joyously mellow and inviting, the perfect way to whittle away some spare minutes. I can barely say a bad word about it.

I’m not sure I’ll ever stop wondering about the snakes, the apples, and every other prop laced with subtext. I think that’s what Immortality set out to do; transform how many of us think about, and approach, all forms of media – as well as the people who play a part in shaping it, and shaping our lives in the process.

Spider-Man is at its best when you’re mid-flow. It’s a game that can capture that awesome trance-like feeling where you’re so in tune with the rhythm of swinging and hopping between buildings or dodging, countering and attacking enemies that everything else melts away. That’s when it feels most special, and it’s then that what Insomniac has achieved here is most plain. Much of its design is familiar, but it appears here in a refined, polished form that makes it an easy recommendation.

This is a top-tier rhythm action game that’s pitched as a love letter to the Final Fantasy series, brimming with content and packed with love and care. But – like some of the more ambitious double-albums out there – it sometimes feels like quantity over quality, as you trudge through some of the less well thought-out note maps in order to get to the ones you know will inspire you. Some will have more patience for that than others. Given that I’ve already played through Blue Fields about 20 times, I’ll leave you to figure out where I land on that.

When you’re right in the thick of it, zipping around like a toddler after a pack of Smarties, efficiently and methodically laying waste to the hordes of hell at 900 gibs per minute, this is the strongest Doom has ever been. It’s the combat of Doom 2016 expanded in clever ways, built upon in layers, like the skin and muscles of a demon that you remove in chunks with each trigger pull. Playing it is like catharsis, a virtual wall punch for the modern age.

It’s brilliant, and exactly what I hoped it would be.

Ultimately, those who are familiar with the original Silent Hill 2 will constantly be surprised by this remake, and those who aren’t as familiar are geared up for a great (albeit heart-wrenching) time. All of the pivotal moments remain, but veterans will find that they’re in different orders or brand-new rooms now. There’s new dialogue to look out for, and plenty of new notes, memos, and Easter eggs to discover, especially in New Game Plus. These changes may seem odd at first to existing fans, but all-in-all, they allow the story to flow much more smoothly, or add to it altogether. Think of the remake as a continuation — or a new rendition — of the never-ending, looping purgatory that many theorize James is trapped in.

Halo Infinite isn’t perfect. It has foibles and struggles here and there. But it’s also a slam dunk of a release; it’s exactly what Halo needs to be now. As Halo’s relevance has felt to wane over recent years, this is a bold statement that, no, Halo isn’t ‘over’. It was never close. It matters, and it’s still brilliant. I don’t mind waiting to see where updates take it, because what’s here at launch is already largely brilliant. I’m excited for the future of Halo again.

Armored Core 6 is the essence of a soft reboot. It has the unenviable task of drawing newcomers to a niche, sometimes overly challenging series without changing too much of what made fans like it to begin with. The result is a mixed experience that, while it has some shining moments of brilliance, feels a bit loose and never plays to its strengths.

Diablo 4 is good, but it could have been more. It's a damn good entry to the series as a whole, and will give the vast majority of its players a bloody good time. Bugs and live service concerns aside, it's a good package (even for players that find themselves more fond of the old ways of doing things). The development team has gone to great lengths to drag the best bits of Diablo back from hell, emboldened and enriched. But you never return from the dead without a grim trophy or two reminding you of your time at rock bottom, can you?

Sunbreak is an essential expansion for any Monster Hunter fan, and – paired with Rise – may well be the best entry point for anyone eager to learn more about this fascinating series, too.

Other than that, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a masterpiece. No joke. If automation was to take my job right now, at least I’d have something to lose myself in during these long summer months.

The important thing is that the core game behind this port is brilliant, mind. It’s difficult to actually add much new content to a game like Tropical Freeze because the original version of it is so close to perfect – so instead you end up with the same fabulously choreographed levels and challenges recreated on a new, better platform. While punishing, it largely steers clear of frustration, a perfectly-pitched mix of challenge and reward.

At a certain point you have to step back and judge a game for what it is rather than what it isn’t. After all, if you want the female protagonist there’s Portable, and if you want the epilogue there’s FES. But as a stand-alone thing – as a convenient, modern, and attractive way to experience a truly great RPG classic – Persona 3 Reload is a wonderful offering.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a smart game that makes you feel even smarter. It’s a Metroidvania that’s learned from the best, but without sacrificing any element of its own personality – for better and for worse. Beneath the gaudy graphics and cheeseball story, there’s a hardcore platforming heart bruised by punishing combat. Middling boss design aside, this is a game that you can sink an easy 30 hours into. And you’ll come away feeling clever, powerful, and dexterous.

Pentiment is about that phenomenon, and also a manifestation of it. It's one of the most engaging and accessible works of living history ever commissioned, and the fact that it exists at all - let alone as a major platform holder's first-party RPG heading into the Christmas season - is a miracle worthy of the saints.

As a game, and as a tonic for people sick of buying season passes and DLC, Bayonetta 3 is an essential romp; a love-letter to classic Nintendo games that delight in making you laugh, smirk, and feel like an absolute badass. PlatinumGames has misfired a little lately, but with this fitting conclusion to the original Bayonetta trilogy, the studio proves it can still fire on all cylinders and then some. This might just be one of the best games on the Nintendo Switch.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective pairs distinct gameplay with a strong story and characters you will surely become affectionate towards. I can’t recommend it enough, and if you do play it, make sure to stick around until the end. Working your way through to the conclusion and discovering the fate of each beloved character is well worth it. If you give Ghost Trick a chance, I expect that, like me, you’ll be hoping Capcom will deliver a new instalment in Sissel’s story someday.

Warhammer 3 is, frankly, an incredible package. It somehow manages to deliver multiple unique and satisfying campaigns, mostly without sacrificing their quality and depth in the process. Campaign and combat are expertly balanced – demanding but fair – with enough variety to make playing more than one faction worthwhile. More variety would be welcome in both faction characteristics and map design, but Warhammer 3 is still one of the most gratifying strategy games in recent years.

Civ 6 is a decent port, but the reason it’s grabbed me so thoroughly on Switch even after hundreds of hours logged on PC is because this game is perfect for this sort of handheld mode play. Civ’s turn-based nature makes it perfect for quick pick-up, put-down sessions, and the Switch’s nature as a dedicated gaming device means that this is now arguably a better shout for a few turns of Civ on the go than a larger, more cumbersome laptop.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is a groundbreaking game not just because of its unique design, but also because of how it shakes up the standards we’ve been judging games by for years.

While Returnal’s marriage of rogue-like loops and serpentine story isn’t perfect, it’s a dark, engaging, and innovative experience which provides plenty of gameplay grunt to match its brain-teasing plot. There’s symbolism to ponder, Easter eggs to spot, and tons of memorable moments across the 20 or so hours it’ll take you to reach the end the first time, with yet more to unlock and mess with after you’ve mastered the core concepts on your initial clear.

In the midst of such intense anticipation and scrutiny, it’s easy to get carried away with what Cyberpunk 2077 could have been. The final experience might be more familiar than many predicted, with plenty of elements that aren’t perfect, but it's dripping with detail and engaging stories. With so much to see and do, Cyberpunk 2077 is the kind of RPG where you blink and hours go by, which is just what we need to finish off 2020.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope delivered the most fun I’ve had in a Mario game or a Ubisoft game since Mario Odyssey, and is a game I’m going to keep going back to in a perhaps misguided attempt to polish off all the side missions. This really feels like the best of both worlds type experience, and is a triple-jump-sized leap over the original (which was by no means a bad game). I’m already looking forward to seeing what is added post-release, and what the dev team decides to do to shake things up in a third entry. A lovely, nice game it’ll be, I’m sure.

You’re bound to make mistakes with such an emotionally-driven narrative at play, but with some hope from beyond the grave in Closer the Distance, you can help Yesterby move on. And if you had as wonderful a time as I did and are wondering how you can do things differently, there’s nothing stopping you from going back in time and trying to pick up the pieces all over again.

Really, Echoes of Wisdom feels like the perfect sign-off for the Switch with new hardware reportedly on the horizon. It’s a colourful, accessible epic that pushes its console to the limit, with all of the mechanical depth and invention, artistic design, whimsy, and spirit of adventure that you expect from a first-party Nintendo adventure.

It’s safe, but very welcoming. I can even see it developing into sequels if Microsoft chooses to support it and the fans embrace it, which I have no doubt will happen – some games are just made to cosplay. For those that were disappointed with Fallout 76 going online multiplayer, this is the single-player RPG you’ve been looking for. If you’re hankering for somewhere you can while away the hours talking shit, chuckling and prodding at the locals, you won’t be disappointed.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a step up from its predecessor and brilliant fun, as long as you don’t let that collectible-obssessed plunderer take hold of you. It is not a narrative masterpiece, nor is it the most engaging action game in the world. But it does nothing badly, and excels where it matters. It represents the Star Wars universe accurately and places emphasis on the aspects of it that keep even jaded Andor-lovers like me interested in the IP, even after all this time. An obvious recommendation to Star Wars fans, and a hearty thumbs up to anyone else that may be even remotely interested.

Starfield is not greater than the sum of its parts. If you add all its misshapen, under-developed pieces together, you get kind of a ramshackle kitbash, with a few extra bits left over. Some of those pieces are cleverly crafted and engaging, representing a developer at the peak of its power, though they often get lost in Starfield’s sprawling scope. What remains is often enjoyable, but often frustrating. There’s no denying this cosmic behemoth is special, but with a more focused vision, and some extra narrative daring, Starfield could’ve been something truly incredible.

While there are no less than five other versions of Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is now the definitive place to play a bonafide classic in a way that feels both accessibly modern, but still authentic to the original experience.

Launch games are rarely remembered as earth-shattering experiences years later, but at the time, elements of them always feel magical. On PS5, Miles Morales has both of these feelings down – it’s familiar and unsurprising, but some of its technical presentation will wow you nevertheless. If you’re picking up a PS5 on launch day, for that reason this will surely do.

Tunic comes at a perfect time; in the middle of a packed release schedule dripping with titles that delight in killing you, it’s a calmer, more mild-mannered take on the adventure game that wants to engage in a friendly dialogue. It doesn't want to yell at you – it wants to encourage you. To explore, engage, and experiment. It’s the perfect palate cleanser, taking anywhere between six and 20 hours, and absolutely essential if you’ve got a fondness for adventure games with a potion in their pocket, a cape around their neck, and a twinkle in their eye.

Playing KoF 15, I recall one of my favorite memories – one where I spent multiple hours playing fighting games at an arcade during a trip to Japan. By staying true to that identity as an arcade fighter and focusing on what it is are good at, rather than making sweeping changes in the hope of appealing to crowds other than the communities that have risen around these games for decades, SNK has created a game that reminded me of the quality that can be found in a simple, honest fighting game without too many bells and whistles.