Vampire Crawlers’ deck-building gameplay is incredibly smart, and the runs never feel like they stretch for too long. It takes every smart decision made in Vampire Survivors and translates it beautifully to a new style of gameplay. Even if you’re not usually a fan of roguelites or deck-builders, you need to try Vampire Crawlers.

Saros is a bold, confident realization of 30 years of Housemarque. It builds on the mystery and exceptional gameplay of Returnal with an excellent lead performance, and changes to the formula mean even more players will come to realize that Housemarque is PlayStation's secret weapon.

Like its predecessors, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is an entertaining collection of ridiculously random set-pieces, tied together in an easy-to-play life sim. It does start getting repetitive after a few weeks, but the exceptionally localised dialogue and the scope for heavy customisation makes it a game the entire family can enjoy regardless.

There’s something charmingly simple about Pragmata. It’s an 8-hour, linear third-person shooter with a charming, if fairly generic, story. We used to get dozens of these games a year; now, with this production value, they’re such a rarity that it’s a breath of fresh air.

Raccoin is a deeply dangerous game. Full of personality, deep, addictive gameplay, and a great visual style, it's a game I'll revisit for years. Some early game resistiveness doesn't dampen an experience that sits comfortably alongside Balatro and Vampire Survivors.

Despite the tumultuous landscape of live-service games around it, Marathon firmly carves its own place in the extraction shooter genre with an unmatched presentation and breakneck rhythm.

While its battle system is going to divide some players, the monster hatching and raising is some of the best in the business. Monster Hunter Stories 3 might be the best turn-based Monster Hunter yet, and shouldn’t be ignored by fans of Capcom’s larger-than-life series.

WWE 2K26 offers another net gain over its predecessor, ensuring the series continues to evolve in a positive direction. While its new reversal system will initially divide players and the spectre of microtransactions continues to loom over MyFaction, the overall package introduces more quality-of-life features to ensure each of its numerous modes is better than it was last time.

Scott Pilgrim EX takes everything that was great about the first game – the combat, the music, the beautiful pixel art – and throws it into an all-new adventure rammed with game references. The open-world structure and relatively short length won't be to everyone's tastes, but if those aren't a problem to you then it's a must-have.

Pokémon Pokopia is an excellent life simulation game that takes the best bits from the champions of the genre and evolves into something that Pokémon fans, and cozy game fans will love. Late-game grinding doesn't dull an adventure that's as full of discovery at 100 hours as it was at 1.

When taken in isolation, Resident Evil: Requiem is fantastic, and a genuinely brilliant entry into the mainline series. It’s still straddling that line between fear and power, and while Grace might not have Leon’s roundhouse kicks and one-liners, she can always fall back on the Requiem. It’s a game designed to challenge you, not pull your last precious hairs from your head (unless you try Insanity difficulty). Capcom has once again delivered a polished and beautiful Resident Evil game, it’s just not quite amongst the best.

Romeo is a Dead Man is Grasshopper Manufacture at its most confident and its least conformist. It's got its fair share of rough edges, but the combat is satisfying – offering a challenge without being frustrating – and the sheer inventiveness in its myriad art styles and its bizarre plot ensure this is an adventure you won't have seen before. Anyone with an interest in wandering off the beaten track of familiar third-person action adventure games should check this one out.

Nioh 3 feels like the summation of Team Ninja's efforts from the last decade. Its combat is varied and tight, much like its level design, and it's a fantastic adventure. Storytelling could use some work, but the action is flawless.

Dispatch is more of a TV show than a video game, and while some of its parts feel disjointed and forced, an endearing cast of characters and an uncommon comedy tone manage to glue everything together.

Kirby Air Riders really didn't need a combined 107 minutes of Nintendo Direct presentations to sell players on its merits, because it only takes a few races to see how fun it can be. Road Trip mode's imbalanced win conditions will divide players, but the brilliantly diverse Road Trip (which is built with multiple playthroughs in mind) and the hefty 750-mission Checklist ensure solo players have plenty to do.

Enhance's Tetris Effect follow-up is a loud and brash, if somewhat unrefined, synaesthesia puzzler that’s more visually dynamic than its predecessor, but often at the expense of gameplay clarity.

Age of Imprisonment may be the most serious of the Hyrule Warriors games to date, but it's also the one with the most engaging and rewarding combat. Fans of Tears of the Kingdom may be annoyed to see an essential retelling of part of its story, but the side-plots add more depth to make up for this to some extent. Fans of the Warriors gameplay style will be absolutely catered for here.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is yet another tremendous compilation from Digital Eclipse, as it continues to uppercut any challengers to its reign as the king of retro re-releases. The only sticking point in a flawlessly presented collection of games is the games themselves, some of which (especially the non-arcade releases) don't quite manage to break the Test Your Might blocks these days.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a balls-to-the-wall action game with a relentless pace and an almost comedic level of gory combat. It's very much a one-trick pony, however, and as thoroughly entertaining as fighting waves of enemies is, its tendency to recycle assets near the end of the game means it can start to overstay its welcome if you don't take it upon yourself to use the wide variety of optional moves available to you.

Pokémon Legends Z-A is a grand adventure that once again proves that the Legends series is home to the most interesting ideas Game Freak has. It's a game that understands its audience, and feels like a love letter to both players who grew up with X & Y, and those who've been here the whole time. The new battle system really worked for me, and the Rogue Mega Battles are bombastic fun, even if, like the traditional turn-based offering, it can get very easy as you level up your team. I hope the Pokémon Legends series is here to stay.

Battlefield 6 is exactly what the fans wanted, and what this game needed to be. The single player is fine, if largely tertiary, but the multiplayer shines. Extremely fun to play, rewarding and full of excellent maps and modes, this is the Battlefield multiplayer suite that will be bring those lost by 2042 back into the fold.

Super Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2 were considered among the best games ever made when they were released, and a decade and a half later that still hasn't changed. The attempt to replace the Wii Remote's pointer controls with Joy-Con gyro movement never feels quite as intuitive as the original experience, but this concession won't dampen the spirits of anyone lucky enough to be playing these games for the first time. Both games remain the high point of creativity in the platform game genre, making this one of the easiest recommendations we've ever made.

Ghost of Yotei fufills much of the promise of Ghost of Tsushima, delivering a hugely enjoyable open-world game, that almost rids itself of Tsushima's bloat. Pacing issues and some underdeveloped villains asside, Yotei improves on the original game in every department, and delivers best-in-class visuals and music.

As a sequel, Hades 2 is ambitious, and delivers one of the most satisfying roguelite experiences in years. Yet, it can’t escape the shadow of its predecessor, and in trying to add every idea possible to amplify its scale, the story ends up losing the trademark weight of the studio.

Silent Hill F is certainly a diversion from the main series in a lot of (mostly welcome) ways, but it's still very much a Silent Hill game at heart. By focusing more on action – especially after a surprising twist halfway through – it risks alienating some survival horror fans by making combat the priority rather than the last resort, while some of its puzzles are too obtuse for their own good, but it's still an astoundingly beautiful game that horror fans really should experience regardless of its flaws.

CrossWorlds is a brilliant karting game with satisfying handling, a fun portal mechanic and useful customisation options. Its weapons aren't as punchy as we'd like and it's unclear how it's going to keep players' attention long-term but it's a genuine, more traditional alternative to Mario Kart now that Nintendo's pointed its series in new direction.

Borderlands 4 is a great RPG shooter with rewarding, engrossing gameplay. Some of the set dressing, like the bland new characters and pointless grappling hook, take the shine off, but the sheer amount of fun we've had with the game can't be overlooked. Borderlands 4 reminds us exactly why we were such big fans of the original two games, and falls on its sword in learning the mistakes of 3.

Rather than trying to bring Sony's classic golfing series into the modern age, Bandai Namco has ensured Everybody's Golf Hot Shots feels like one of the older games in the series. That's certainly not a negative: it has a devoted fanbase for a reason, and the decision to stick with the three-press swing system and provide lots of single-player content results in a pleasantly authentic old-school Everybody's Golf experience.