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.