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.

As far as next-gen titles go, Immortals Fenyx Rising is definitely one you should be adding to your list. It’s available on almost every platform – sorry, mobile gamers – and looks fantastic on the Xbox Series X, which I got to review it on. Overall, it’s a charming, cerebral and funny time-sink adventure that’ll really cheer you up and distract you if you’re having a quiet festive season this year.

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.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild isn’t just one of the better entries in this storied series – it’s also one of the greatest games of all time. To this end, the mission of living up to its inspiration is perhaps impossible for Age of Calamity. It is nevertheless successful at what it sets out to do, however – providing a fun, interesting and exciting new adventure that fans of that game will surely enjoy. It won’t stay your appetite for Breath of the Wild 2 – but it’ll keep you occupied happily enough all the same.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure isn’t the most attention-grabbing PS5 launch title. It’s fair to say it’s been completely overshadowed by Demon’s Souls and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but it offers a wonderfully crafted alternative to what are more mature titles. Sony is on a roll with the PS5, with Sackboy: A Big Adventure being yet another title PS5 buyers should seriously consider adding to their collection.

I hope it isn’t lost amongst the PS5’s bigger, noisier releases, as it’s something different and uplifting. It’s rare to find such tension and threat in a game that’s also so peaceful, but Giant Squid has managed it. In truth we could all do with a bit of light in our lives at the moment.

More importantly, while not explicitly marketed towards children, I worry how those who do end up playing it are going to come away from this. Bugsnax has PEGI and ESBR ratings of 7 for mild violence, which I simply don’t agree with for its ending alone, and isn’t that a strange thing to have to say. Bugsnax is a pleasant little gem of a game, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered another title that came so close to ruining it all for me so close to the finish line.

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.

I’m a big fan of Dirt 5. It’s not going to garner the praise of a Gran Turismo or a Forza, but it’s exactly the kind of game I was after. It’s fun, easy to get into, full of variety, looks pretty, and features cars that slide beautifully around corners. Dirt 5 is a feel-good game at feel-bad time, which is about the best time for it to exist.

Watch Dogs fans and more die-hard anarchists among you might enjoy it more, but between the short storylines, underwhelming tech and mission types and the general “everything is on fire” vibe, it just doesn’t rate highly for me.

It’s a shame, then, that some of the level design choices don’t really pair up with the engine Toys for Bob has built this love-letter to 90s platforming games in. Loose and floaty physics, an abundance of different mechanics that often feel part-baked, and some design choices that feel sadistic – rather than simply difficult – leave this approach to Crash Bandicoot feeling less like a true sequel, and more like a licensed spin-off.

Squadrons feels like more than the sum of its parts. Most importantly, it does exactly what it set out to do – and does it very well indeed. It’s EA’s smallest-scale console Star Wars title yet – but also its best. Fleet Battles feel a little long and sometimes listless, and some will no doubt pine for a little more content – I personally would’ve really liked to see a 20-player (or more) deathmatch mode. But it’s nevertheless difficult to really criticize such a tightly-wound, complete package. As such, it’s an easy recommendation.

It feels like this review is a list of shortcomings – and to be honest, it mostly is – but one can’t ignore the sheer quality and classic appeal of the trio of games included. However they’re wrapped up, the main thing you’re going to be doing is playing the games, and so three classics bundled together running well and looking as you remember is a fine offering from Nintendo. I still think Mario deserved a more lavish birthday celebration, but the classic titles in this collection really can’t be diminished.

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.

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.

Whatever angle you’re coming from, it’s fair to say that PGA Tour 2K21 will likely satisfy your golf game needs. If you’re new to this sort of game, you’ll be gently introduced by well-crafted tutorial mechanics and charmed by the quiet chill of it all. If you’re a lapsed EA Tiger Woods player, you’ll likely be impressed by the systems and mechanics HB Studios has built up over the last four games to differentiate their take. And if you’re a Golf Club veteran, this is another solid entry, iteratively improving on those that came before. It ticks all the boxes, and it’s great to see fully-licensed PGA Tour golf back at the forefront of sports video games once more.

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.

What Skater XL does well is make you obsess over an 8-set of stairs, or return again and again to a simple curb. You will keep going back to line up the perfect angle, the exact spot to crouch into an ollie, tre flip and land a crooked grind. That’s great, that’s street skating in its essence, and it’s an achievement to capture that. But outside of that microcosm, as soon as you pan out, it steps on its own shoelaces and stumbles into a bush.

That simplicity is overridden by originality and vigor, then – but I also know all too well that some fans of the older Paper Mario games will once again walk away a little disappointed. This is still undoubtedly no Thousand Year Door. Perhaps the next outing can bring back a little of that RPG depth – but regardless of that, this is still the best Paper Mario game in years.

It has its moments, but like Jin Sakai in the opening hours, the past holds it back. It’s Open World: The Video Game. It’s far too easy, too - the lack of consequence for failure makes it feel like you’re just going through the motions. If you’ll excuse the wind-based pun, it’s a breeze. While playing it, I often found my mind wandering. By the third and final act, I just wanted it to be over. Like the samurai, Ghost of Tsushima feels like a relic of a bygone era.

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.

Disintegration is a warts-and-all exercise in genre nostalgia. The squad shooter has been missing in action for so long, and it’s a pleasure to have it back, with an even greater emphasis on tactics. But the gruff storytelling and rough edges are a reminder of what we were happy to leave behind in the mid ‘00s – along with ugg boots and The Black Eyed Peas’ My Humps.

This remaster is a winner. It’s a stellar package, and hopefully a template for what is to come. The minor shortcomings are all due to the age of this title – but this is an old game. You have to take it for what it is – a glorious little piece of history. In presenting that, this is a practically flawless release – but the old-fashioned, less friendly design in places will mean this one isn’t quite for everyone.

By offering such a wide variety of experiences to please both handheld and docked players alike, 51 Worldwide Classics ends up a worthy follow-up to the DS Clubhouse Games in spite of its flaws. It quietly becomes another must-own Nintendo Switch title. It’s not a big-budget, mind-expanding adventure – but it’s a fun, generally solidly-constructed collection of eminently playable classics. It’s video game comfort food, and has been a delight to meander through in the present day’s isolation.

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.

There’s nothing wrong with a little nostalgia, but even by the time I’d faced down the Arch-illager in his tower – no more than a handful of hours after starting – I was already sick of Redstone Golem mini-bosses, and Dungeons seemed to have exhausted its borrowed ideas. Like Diablo, this is a game designed for multiple playthroughs on increasing difficulties, but few players will feel compelled to return to a seam that’s all dried up after a single day’s exploration.

Ultimately, though, it’s down to a breathlessly dynamic battle system to provide Gears Tactics with surprises. Something as safe as setting your soldiers to overwatch, so that they can shoot at moving targets in the enemy turn, becomes endlessly watchable when those enemies can pinball between killzones, knocked about by bullet spray.

Chimera Squad is an XCOM game with its own identity. But in carving that identity, in adding characters, it loses some of its own character. It hopes to create a more engaging story, but the story it creates is nowhere near as memorable as the ones we create for ourselves when everything turns to shit. Still, XCOM: Chimera Squad is perhaps the best value proposition I’ve seen in video games for a long time. It’s well worth the modest price, it’ll last you a long weekend, and it still delivers some of the best turn-based strategy around. I just wish it had been brave enough to let us live with our mistakes.