All in all the game is a blast. It is a bit janky, and very much a love it or hate it ordeal. Some of you will bounce off it in a few games, and some of you will get a giggle out of how explosively violent it can be. Fans of Let it Die bizzarely are in the same boat, and their love will depend greatly on their infactuation with the general gameplay experience. It strikes me as a game made by people who wanted to create something distinct for the sake of variety in a popular genre saturated with familiar traits. People who are probably fun to drink with. Not much about Deathverse: Let it Die is familiar, and it’s free. So like, try it out!

One thing I really appreciate about DioField is its length, however. Which is to say: it’s relatively short. By strategy RPG standards, anyway – Disgaea this ain’t. You can blast through the main narrative, with a smattering of side content, in around 20 hours. You probably won’t want to do much more side content, anyway, as it’s relatively uninspired. In this, to me DioField reads as a relatively short and experimental game. Which I’m fine with. To some, however, this might instead come over as bad value for money.

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

Metal: Hellsinger is a good time, if not a short time. Hard as nails, rewarding as they come, and fuelled by some of the best names in heavy music, The Outsider and Funcom have made a game that’s worth every second of your time it takes up – even if that’s only about the length of one of the more epic prog albums out there.

Both previous games had surprisingly strong online offerings – and it’s possible this third game’s lack of new ideas might be addressed in the coming months, as Splatoon 3 embraces its nature as a rolling service game. Regardless, though, the launch day package is a definitive Splatoon offering – and a very easy recommendation.

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.

This is a gorgeous game, and a compelling one at that, and anyone that ekes out even a fraction of enjoyment from this genre owes it to themselves to at least give this a go. I promise you, it’ll leave you charmed and hungry for more.

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.

There’s a lot to like and a lot to laugh at in Saints Row as you raise hell around Santo Ileso with your unique boss. Collecting clothes and cars as you scale up your network of businesses is compelling as you accumulate wealth and solidify your spot at the top. But outside of the super set-piece main missions, it’s easy to bounce off the more repetitive elements of the open-world.

On the whole, Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a neat idea on the surface. When brought to life, it could’ve genuinely been a contender for one of the Switch’s top party games had it featured a little more variation, and some better multiplayer support. That said, the future of Kirby is now very much cemented in 3D, and I still look forward to where the pink puff ball ends up once they’ve decided that they can’t stomach another strawberry.

Even if Game Pass wasn’t a factor, it would still be worth buying for just how cool it makes you feel, how good it looks in motion – and best of all: how it allows both of those feelings to be accessible to most players.

At the end of the day, you can have a decent amount of fun with Tower of Fantasy but it’s hard to see this title having much of a future. Just next week, Genshin Impact has its version 3.0 release which will drain most of the content-hungry gacha crowd away, while Zenless Zone Zero appears to be a looming giant that’ll present a post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting with great quality. Investing much time and money doesn’t feel right when the strengths of the title can’t overpower the overwhelming negatives.

You can see the make-up of a good game at the heart of Thymesia, but it seems the team was only capable of delivering a prototype; the building blocks of something greater, before it tapped out. You can easily spend ten-ish hours with the game, and potentially longer if you decide to experiment with builds, but at $25 (or $22.49 with the launch week discount), it might be a hard sell.

On the whole, Two Point Campus lets your most fantastical dreams come true. Whether that’s a campus of dysfunctional wizards or accomplished chefs, Two Point has learnt a lot from its prior endeavours and applied its knowledge to make what is one of the most attractive and witty simulation titles out there. Whether you’ve only the time to commit to Two Point Campus for a mere few hours or many months, you’re set for your own education on academic absurdity.

It feels monumentally important, wonderfully clever, and full of a gleeful energy that’ll make the heart of any old-school RPG fan swell. Top marks on this website doesn’t mean it’s a perfect game; it just means we recommend playing it absolutely unreservedly – and such is the case here.

Stray might ultimately be indie in size, but it’s triple-A in quality, and while it may only last eight to 10 hours, it’s a game that has touched me for a lifetime. I can’t wait to see how Straybrings people together, because that’s exactly what it’s going to do. Now, go hug your cat for me, if you have one.

Eyes in the Dark is a real testament to the efforts and inspirations of developer, Under the Stairs, and after this experience with Bloom Manor, I truly look forward to seeing what it's capable of next.

For all its inconsistency, Outsiders still boasts some of the most intense and exciting PvE shooting around - just sometimes it’s you in a puddle on the floor instead of the waves of nameless goons. It’s silly and nerdy and dark and takes no prisoners as it violently demands your attention from start to finish.

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.

In an industry slowly and often clumsily stomping towards some nebulous washed out esports future where it feels as though all games must be perfectly balanced with big bucks competitive gaming in mind, I’m happy that some developers like Eighting and Arc System Works remain willing to make games that are still a little jank, still a little busted. DNF Duel is unapologetic - and a lot of fun. For Dungeon Fighter fans this is obviously a great purchase, for fans of the genre the same thing goes.

Obviously, if you love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you’ll love Shredder's Revenge. As hinted at in the intro to this review, it’s built for you! If you’re like me and don’t have that history, you’ll still find a polished, super enjoyable experience here. With up to six player co-op, it’s the perfect game to slap on in the living room with some friends crashing round, plug in a few controllers and have a bash. I did, for important critique-related reasons, order some pizza while I was testing it out. I can confirm that it does, in fact, make the experience that much more enjoyable. Additional toppings aside from cheese were not tested.

The ultimate test for these games is how they feel to just slog the ball around in, and how truly competitive one feels it can get without crossing into the realm of the serious. A lack of content takes the shine off just a little - but only barely, simply by virtue of the fact that I think if you're buying this game, you're primarily doing so knowing that multiplayer action is the main draw. Plus, I do believe that updates will come. Even if they don’t, I can see myself breaking this out at parties and playing the occasional online match for years to come. For Mario Soccer and developer Next Level Games, it’s the hat trick: a third great game.

The Quarry is not without its flaws, but by no means is it a bad game. It’s fun, it’s immersive, and the fate of Hackett’s Quarry truly lies in your hands. As with most games developed by Supermassive, The Quarry is best played with plenty of blankets to hide under, and possibly a friend to adventure through couch co-op mode with you. Tread carefully.

Evil Dead: The Game is a good time, albeit demanding (it appears single-player missions have everyone struggling), but it truly lets itself down by not having basic accessibility settings available to players. The game itself is certainly impressive in terms of its fresh gameplay and remarkable graphics, and there’s good fun to be had for fans of Evil Dead and Sam Raimi. However, horror fans without an affinity towards the series will likely find more fun in alternative multiplayer horror games, and they’ll probably find more accessibility-friendly games, too.

Can it tackle some of the greats in the genre? Your Warzones and Fortnites? Absolutely not, but that’s obviously not the goal here. It will, however, surely tempt a portion of players away. Hopefully, the players it can suck away from other games is enough to slowly grow a community here. With that, and a slow drip of new archetypes, weapons, and other significant changes I can totally see Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt becoming this slow burner you hear about every now and again. A great game to jump in and try right now, and a title you should keep an eye on in the years to come.

When Nintendo gets these sort of lifestyle ‘event’ games right, they’re always a slam dunk. Sometimes, the accuracy of MotionPlus is missed. One can see how Nintendo could've done more new, and included more all-new stuff. And yet... Nintendo Switch Sports is pretty much exactly what I wanted. I can see how it'd be one of my absolute favourite games of the year. That's Nintendo's magic power.

Really, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is all the action from the Star Wars series, swaddled in the slapstick silliness LEGO has become known for in entertainment. While it’s not a 1-to-1 retelling and your favourite moment might have been left in the toy chest, it’s a knowing showcase of Star Wars’ place in pop culture – memes and all – in a deep, but accessible package.

Slicing through mobs to trade up my weapons is fun, and sometimes an amusing line of dialogue makes everything seem great again. Gearbox could’ve done a lot more with the next installment in the Borderlands' series than this. It all got old, too quickly, and it made me just want to boot up Borderlands 2 with my friends again, instead.