Romeo is a Dead Man is another signature digital idiosyncratic reverie from Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture, a kaleidoscopic muddle of visual styles, music, and ideas that offers acres of fertile concepts and feelings to interpret and muse over. However, when the dust settles, it isn’t all that enjoyable to play.

Ride 6 continues the series’ unbeaten track record of providing the most realistic-looking and feeling motorbike games on the market. However, while the multitude of new bikes, cameos from iconic racers, and intricate riding physics may prove its passion for the sport, it often struggles to communicate that passion to its audience.

Byking has delivered more than a fitting send-off to this series. In many ways, this is a complete My Hero Academia game experience. However, these strengths make it all the more painful when My Hero Academia All’s Justice fails to reach its full potential. Despite the simplicity of its mechanics and more conservative approach to storytelling, attention to detail and earnest love for its source material make My Hero Academia All’s Justice a competent if unremarkable conclusion to the series.

Nioh 3 has nothing to offer that hasn’t already been put out by other, better soulslikes. Outside of the occasional interesting boss fight, I found nothing but tedium in Nioh 3’s bland and deeply unengaging world.

At its best, Code Vein 2 provides comfortable, anime-flavored escapism. It’s shallow stuff, but it's combat offers a reliable source of mindless fun if you’re willing to wade through the mediocre world and performance issues.

Playing UNBEATABLE makes you feel like you’re watching pirated episodes of your favourite show. Its janky narrative structure and limited content make it feel appropriately criminal to grow attached. However, while frustrating at times, these jagged edges are part of the charm. UNBEATABLE feels like an unapologetic guilty pleasure.

Skate Story is an allegorical love letter to skateboarding that expertly captures the essence of skating’s humbling mechanical vocabulary like few other games do. Thoughtful and inventive in unexpected ways, Sam Eng’s boundlessly creative dive into an absurdist underworld is as nourishing as it is refreshing.

Playing Kirby Air Riders is like learning a new language – it takes a lot of compromise, and it’s not for everyone. It’s those who master the basics who will soon find many new ways to approach each game mode, providing depth and replayability. If you meet Kirby Air Riders on its own terms, you will be rewarded with a gauntlet that’s bursting with thrills, depth, and charm.

Between a dire campaign, samey multiplayer, and a pervading sense of stagnation, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is a disappointment and serves as, perhaps, the worst Call of Duty title in years. Save yourself some money and play Battlefield 6 or Arc Raiders instead.

Demonschool is the renaissance of classic Shin Megami Tensei design principles in a tight-knit retro package. Charming side content and colorful students will captivate players into its pre-established world, filled with stylish horror and strategic action-oriented battles. Whilst its fast-paced plot may leave some struggling to keep up, its simplified UI and protagonist Fayes' energetic disposition help guide you through every new development. Its streamlined approach to strategy makes it inviting to anyone who is looking for a short yet clever tactical RPG.

Dispatch is everything it needs to be and more. The vocal performances are emotive and captivating. What’s more, the title boasts a compelling story and excellent presentation; it does its damnedest to make your choices actually matter when tailoring your story. Dispatch is busy with heart, charm, and narrative weight.

Anno 117 Pax Romana is a structurally sound colony builder set in a Romanized world filled with flair and gravitas. For those who struggle to find joy in expanding their influence, the busy UI may disrupt the experience and confuse. It’s a game designed for risk-takers who won't hesitate to make tough choices to reap the rewards of a tantalizingly broad array of intuitive city-building mechanics.

Football Manager 26 isn’t quite the football reincarnation that some fans were hoping for, but what it has to offer is likely enough to keep fans coming back for more. Some frustrating choices made in the UI overhaul mar the experience, but the long-awaited addition of women’s football, as well as major changes to in-match tactics, make this a solid entry in the series.

Jurassic World Evolution 3 feels like the sequel fans have been waiting for. It’s ambitious, dramatic, and far more rewarding to master. The dinosaurs are expressive, the systems deeper, and the parks finally feel alive. It still struggles with micromanagement fatigue and the occasional bug, but the creative freedom makes it easy to forgive. Frontier hasn’t reinvented the park sim, but it’s refined the formula beautifully.

The Outer Worlds 2 boasts better-crafted, more deliberate storytelling alongside a wide scope for meaningful player choice. While there are undoubtedly problems with polish, and the combat system still needs some work, The Outer Worlds 2’s writing and commitment to world-building are enough all on their own. The depth of customisability will draw you back in, asking you how you might save the day next time around.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is a return to form after the misstep of its third entry, comfortably sitting alongside Ninja Gaiden 2 as a fast-paced action romp that makes you feel like a master ninja. However, some weak level gimmicks and an unremarkable central storyline hold it back from dethroning the earlier games in the franchise.

Pokémon Legends Z-A manages to be simultaneously promising, fun and disappointing. Pokémon series is the highest-grossing video game franchise on earth, and as a major release from this series, Pokémon Legends Z-A feels leagues below what it could be. However, if you are able to cut Game Freak some (perhaps unearned) slack, then you’ll find plenty to enjoy on the mean streets of Pokémon Legends Z-A. It’s not a monumental leap forward, but there is genuine innovation here. Amid Pokémon’s reputation for stagnancy, this is very much worth celebrating.

Despite well-written central characters that, at their best, radiate charm and intrigue, Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is an overstretched affair darkened by the shadows of its own limitations. Those looking for a well-realized vampire fantasy will find part of what they’re looking for here. However, should they stray from the central story or look too closely at The Chinese Room’s Seattle-by-night or the systems that underpin it, they will find themselves disappointed.

If you can find a friend, Little Nightmares 3 is a moderately enjoyable, if bland, diversion. However, co-op joy is required to insulate you from the otherwise forgettable and tedious experience at the title’s core. While fans of the wider franchise may find nuggets of lore to chew on here and there, Little Nightmares 3 provides little groundwork for those new to the franchise. Even long-time series fans will need to brace for Little Nightmares 3’s dip in quality.

Sonic Racing CrossWorlds offers plenty of arcade fun, especially in multiplayer. If you have friends over and are looking for a great racing game, you’ll find what you’re looking for here. Equally, if you enjoy online play, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds will scratch an itch. However, due to shallow progression systems, players may find themselves lacking the incentive to play more alone. That said, fans of the Sonic franchise will eat well here, since CrossWorlds’ soundtrack, as well as its literal tracks, are brimming with adoration for the blue hedgehog and his storied history.

Digimon Story Time Stranger is a spirited, if occasionally ropey, JRPG adventure with buckets of heart and a sinewy monster taming system. Fans of the franchise will feel right at home amongst its luscious environments and intense set-piece battles. However, those wary of simplistic, earnest anime melodrama may find the narrative grating.

Foregoing genre-advancing substance and texture for impeccable style, Ghost of Yotei feels like a cowed shadow of its full potential. Those looking for a departure from checklist-oriented open-world gameplay will be disappointed. The title lands as generic, risk-averse, rigid, and safe.

Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles offers the definitive incarnation of an iconic title. Built upon a skeleton of robust, deeply engaging strategic combat, the sinews of Final Fantasy Tactics’ main storyline continue to flex with impressive strength and resolve. Brought to life with stellar voice acting and an array of welcome quality-of-life improvements, Creative Business Unit III has achieved something highly impressive. Though the title’s commitment to old-school pacing and gameplay loops may leave some out in the cold, those looking for the definitive Final Fantasy Tactics experience will find it here.

The world is more gorgeous than ever, and it’s a joy just to be able to make a return. Hades 2 stands as a worthy sequel and companion to the original, both of which stand together as brother and sister.

Silent Hill f is a visually striking evolution of Konami’s beloved horror series, packed with cryptic lore that’s a treat to unpack. While the pace of combat struggles to feel sleek amidst the atmospheric story, macabre enemy designs, and a spine-chilling soundtrack more than make up for what it lacks.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is unequivocally the best way to play Metal Gear Solid 3 if you’re all about modern comforts and higher frame rates. But under all the modernising gloss, it’s the same silly, daft game full of world-saving babble, over-the-top performances, surprise-stuffing, and a confounding script that’s very much a product of its time, for better or for worse.

RoboCop Rogue City Unfinished Business is a repetitive slog coasting on the goodwill of a venerated licensed IP to mask a deadening mix of mediocre shooting, repetitive levels, and a bland story.

If you’ve been looking for a SWAT simulator for console—and judging by the game’s popularity on the PlayStation Store, a lot of people have—Ready or Not really is as good as they come. It could do with some more polished controls across the board, but VOID Interactive has done a great job bringing the game to a lot more players, even if PC gamers must suffer some very minor consequences.

Death Stranding 2 manages the rare trick of being both desperately monotonous but profoundly engaging, banking towards one of these two poles depending on how much you’re willing to put in. It’s a game that demands that you meet it half-way and shed expectations, your pace dictated by your stomach for patience and perseverance. But if you do, it’s a wonderfully strange and roaring spectacle.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a multiplayer game for people who prefer single player games. It’s a celebration of the power of silent connection, of fleeting virtual bonds, of giddy celebratory gesturing between strangers, and of collective, gruelling perseverance. It's a fresh take on the steep challenge of the Souls formula that burrows into you, begging to be repeated. It delivers a frenzied high that’s quite unlike anything FromSoftware has produced so far.

DOOM The Dark Ages is an unrelenting barrage of visceral hyperviolence that comes at you thick and fast, leaving you overstimulated and exhausted but thrilled and gratified.

Though imperfect and moored to indelible design traditions and gameplay rituals, Assassin's Creed Shadows fizzes with style, intention, and detail, curating the best parts of the series into a confident and deeply enjoyable journey through feudal Japan.

Despite an inviting, off-kilter world and quality writing, Avowed abides by an almost arcane dedication to process and formula that drains it of its weird, compelling marrow. It's good, easygoing fun, though it won't linger long in the mind beyond the credits.

Despite offering a gritty medieval RPG sandbox with a layered, dynamic open world stacked with detail, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is haunted by the same demons as the original.

A middle of the road, B-tier serving of polygonal slop that, while decked out with some power fantasy-satisfying grand-scale combat, quickly turns into a repetitive slog with very little in the way of a meaningful pay off.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the best and most welcome surprises of the year.

You already know if you'll like GSC's newest entry in the series. If you like Call of Pripyat, you'll like this. If you didn't, Heart of Chornobyl rarely hides any true improvements to the formula. It's exactly what fans expect, albeit with a fancy, oftentimes gorgeous, new lick of paint and some modern sensibilities, but it's Stalker through and through - for better and for worse.

Batman: Arkham Shadow is a stunning virtual reality game, and a damn-good workout. Yes, you feel like Batman, but the game is more than just a simulator for Dark Knight roleplayers. It’s proof that any game concept can be adapted to a VR platform with enough care and skill, and it’s proof that VR has the sauce many claim it doesn’t. If you have a Quest 3, you need to play Batman. If you like Batman, you need a Quest 3.

Micro-transactions aside, NBA 2K25 is one of the best sports games to date. With its variety of game modes and stunning realism, it offers more than its predecessors. This game is a true delight for basketball fans, and if you're willing to overlook a couple of flaws, you're almost guaranteed to get hooked.

FC 25 is the first genuinely good FC game in years. A complete tactical overhaul underpins the game’s quality, with sweeping and much-needed changes to Career Mode backing it up, unfortunately, somewhat at the expense of Clubs and Ultimate Team.

Frostpunk 2 is a worthy sequel that ramps up the grit and immersion, but sheds some of the original's magic in the pursuit of innovation.

Endlessly creative and playful, The Plucky Squire's effortless hop between intertwined 2D and 3D worlds is an ode to the illustrated delights of storybooks.

DeathSprint 66 taps into a deeply disturbed corner of your imagination and begs you to die over and over again. You can't help but play along - it's that fun.

A faithful remaster of a classic RTS game with many enhancements that improve on an already great game.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions’ simplistic gameplay and barebones content are fun for a couple of hours, but provide little more depth than it likely would have as a minigame in Hogwarts Legacy.

Astro Bot is special, a beaming reminder that bright, unfettered play is a truly wonderful thing.

Space Marine 2 is a solid successor to Space Marine, fits well into the Warhammer universe, and offers engaging and fun action combat and shooting mechanics. It is slight marred by a limited map pool creating repetitiveness in the game's multiplayer progression-based features.

Madden 25 is the latest game in a series that appears to have either run out of ideas or simply has no interest in coming up with new ones. Small new additions do little to inspire excitement and a major overhaul feels desperately needed, and is the least that fans deserve.

College Football 25 is exactly the return to the series that fans will have wanted. The gameplay is solid, and sets itself apart from Madden in a way that rewards dedicated players, and the Dynasty mode will alone will keep you engaged endlessly. A lack of depth in the other modes and some fiddly UI pull the experience down a bit, but never by enough to hinder what the game does best.

While Nobody Wants to Die is not a long game, that short length has allowed the developers to pack in a solid detective story and a beautifully designed world with surprisingly deep lore. The investigation mechanics aren’t the best, but don’t let that put you off this slick, quick love letter to old-school detective films.

F1 Manager 2024 is certainly the best game in the series to date thanks to the small improvements on last year's game, but with few significant changes and how hit and miss the new mentality system currently are, while it might be a good game in its own right, it's not a sizeable upgrade on 2023's iteration.

Flintlock The Siege of Dawn epitomises the 7/10. Sporadic performance snags aside, it’s the ideal summer game – approachable and fun. It’s the sort of thing you’ll play once. Inessential but still worth your time.

The First Descendant is a bland dish presented on exquisite plating, whose stunning boss fights and interwoven upgrade systems are overpowered by shallow missions and grim monetisation. Nexon doesn’t invite you to a power fantasy, it sells you one by letting you pay to skip tiresome progression mechanics.

Smaller in scale than HoYo's other gacha games, Zenless Zone Zero is off to a good start. While the game suffers from pacing issues and a lack of variety, the combat is excellent in ZZZ. It helps it's backed up by an intriguing story and solid gameplay.

Shadow of the Erdtree is a sensational companion to the base game that feels remarkably fresh and a subtly progressive evolution of the Elden Ring formula.

The Final Shape is Destiny 2 firing on all cylinders, balancing a story of overwhelming odds with expertly paced combat and puzzles, all set in stunning environments. Much of the earlier complaints about the barrier to entry have been addressed, making for a seamless entry into the latest campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, F1 24 is by no means a bad, or even average game, and if you’re a fan of the series, you will absolutely have a great time with it. The new changes there are meaningful, especially for veterans of the series who enjoy getting to grips with the deeper mechanics. But if you’re a casual player just looking to jump on and do a few races now and then, F1 24 may feel less like a brand-new title, and more like a $70 update to a game you already own.

Despite varied factions and excellent maps, XDefiant’s shootouts are let down by a lack of identity and sluggish weapon progression. Outside an emphasis on making skill-based matchmaking optional, the game plays like every shooter from the last decade, leaning into nostalgia over attempting a breakthrough. While technical pitfalls can be resolved with seasonal updates, XDefiant needs novelty to sustain a player base.

Despite minor blemishes, Fabledom is nothing short of enchanting.

For all the praise I’m about to heap on Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2, it’s a game I never want to play again. An odd thing to say, but one said with the best of intentions.

MotoGP 24 scratches the itch it needs to thanks to the strong foundation laid down by previous entries. But while new features and increased realism are appreciated, they rarely feel like meaningful additions to last year’s game, leaving MotoGP 24 sometimes feeling more like an update of MotoGP 23 than a whole new title.

Manor Lords is a complex and seductive spin on the city builder that may not defy conventions but has the makings of a genre-heavyweight. [Early Access Score = 80]

Sand Land is a charming ARPG romp thanks to its madcap cast of vehicles that manages not only to faithfully adapt Akira Toriyama’s vision, but to expand on it in his trademark style to create something that will delight newcomers and old-school manga-heads alike.

If you take just the combat and the music from Stellar Blade, you’ve got a fantastic game. Sadly, this is not the whole package.

In Tales of Kenzera: Zau, grief and acceptance tug at your heart between bouts of refined combat and slick traversal. While seasoned Metroidvania fans will want more diversions and mystique, the game’s platforming abilities and challenges do justice to its setting.

Dragon’s Dogma 2's commitment to unscripted monster hunts, visceral combat, and interlinked systems guarantees a story lurking around every corner. By trading modern guardrails for know-it-all handmade companions, it entrusts you with the 'venture' in action-adventure. But weak quests and animation jitters hold it back from excellence.

There’s more than enough here for almost every baseball fan to find something they enjoy, which is ultimately the goal. Not everyone’s going to love Road to the Show, but they’ll like something else. Not all of MLB The Show 24 is good, but there is a love and respect for baseball present. It’s not a home run, but it is a solid hit.

Snow Day’s moment-to-moment slapstick humor and inventive combat are undermined by unfulfilling progression and an acute lack of content.

Rise of the Ronin is a competent open-world game that suffers from too much bloat. While there are story pacing problems and too many meaningless interactions, Rise of the Ronin is the best iteration of Nioh’s systems translated into an open-world game.

Alone in the Dark is a considerate reimagining of a pioneering classic, weaving together nifty puzzles, edge-of-your-sofa combat, and clever scares.

Where it innovates in design, Outcast: A New Beginning simultaneously stumbles over its own two feet with a clunkiness emblematic of other games in its niche. The game isn’t better or worse than its competitors – but it’s different enough to deserve some attention.

WWE 2K24 has a game mode for everyone, top creation capabilities, and an engrossing Showcase Mode celebrating 40 years of WrestleMania that will transport you through history.

The Thaumaturge shows plenty of promise, but lets itself down somewhat by failing to play to its strengths. Warsaw and its history and culture is a joy to experience when the game properly engages with it, but an insistent focus on a comparatively dull main story ultimately detracts from this for a fun yet frustrating experience.

Nightingale doesn’t bring anything groundbreaking to the survival genre, and its gameplay is overburdened with bloat and needlessly time-consuming mechanics. [Early Access Score = 40]

Skull and Bones is a solid pirating adventure that has its moment but is often weighed down by a sluggish grind and outdated quest design.

Helldivers 2 delivers hilarious fist-clenching moments with rock-solid co-op shooter fundamentals but is held back by repetitive missions.

Despite the myriad troubles, Granblue Fantasy: Relink has turned out to be rather excellent. But with several lacklustre aspects, there is a real sense of disappointment that Relink could have been so much better.

P3R’s poignant tale of acceptance is bolstered by smart combat refinements, deeper friendships, and a soundtrack you already love.

Palworld is a game of bare minimums, unscrupulous and soulless, designed by the numbers to hit all the right notes to keep you hooked on its addictive catch-grind-craft loop. [Early Access Provisional Score = 50]

Infinite Wealth honours its dying dragon and rising star with a Hawaiian platter of side stories, memoirs, and dynamic combat.

Tekken 8 is the ultimate Tekken game. A glossy veneer of modernity encases a strong foundation that builds upon its predecessors to great success. In every regard, Tekken 8 matches and surpasses the very best that the series, and the fighting game genre as a whole, has to offer.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is the best and most convenient way to experience three hilarious gems from the series with enhanced visuals.

Through a blend of a Metroidvania structure and a dutiful nod to its side-scrolling past, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a lean and assured mechanical treat.

Pioneers of Pagona is a robust, in-depth city-builder that almost passes as a full-fledged, complete game and will only get better during Early Access. [Early Access Provisional Score = 80]

While offering some beautiful build and buy items as well as some more controversy to a game that feels too clean, it can't make up for the empty experience For Rent gives.

House Flipper 2 takes the tedium of everyday chores and successfully turns it into a fun and deeply satisfying experience, with enough variety and modes to make it the ideal game for when you just need to kick back and relax.

With loadouts to assemble and coordinated teams laughing to the bank, every breath of The Finals’ destruction does justice to its game show ambitions.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet take the long-awaited step into a fully open-world, but one poorly implemented and marred by frustration. A compelling story and characters are a saving grace in what is ultimately a fun game, but Pokemon's attempts at modernising continue to fall disappointingly short.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet take the long-awaited step into a fully open-world, but one poorly implemented and marred by frustration. A compelling story and characters are a saving grace in what is ultimately a fun game, but Pokemon's attempts at modernising continue to fall disappointingly short.

Look past Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s dull story and you’ll find spectacle and freedom lurking in its Na’vi customs and breathtaking ecosystems.

Possibly a spin-off too far, Persona 5 Tactica conceals a reasonably fun tactical turn-based strategy game behind a wearisome visual novel-style story.

Modern Warfare 3 is a worrying misfire with a shoehorned campaign, saved only by excellent gunplay in multiplayer and its reworked Zombies.

A joyous and relaxing city builder that will make you think.

While Realms of Ruin looks great and plays it safe, zoom out from its Warhammer character models and fundamentals to spot unreliable troop controls that turn traps into tombs.

Super Mario RPG is unapologetically fun. While a simple combat system and lack of challenge may not appeal to hardcore RPG fans, brilliant writing, iconic characters, and a world bursting with charm make it a delight to experience all the way through, and a perfect example of a remake done right.

Dredge: The Pale Reach is a rewarding, albeit bite-sized slice expansion that taps into what made the base game one of this year's most compelling indie efforts. For those after more of that unique, unsettling coziness, The Pale Reach should scratch that nautical itch.

Like a Dragon Gaiden might be a short ride but it stands tall among its larger brethren. Bond-like combat refinements, a tight plot, and fun mini-games build on the same old Yakuza heart.

This game is a shining example of how annual releases should be done. FM remains the standard bearer that all football games should be following.