A remarkable feat, Final Fantasy XVI looks incredible and plays like a wonderful dream, the combat in particular being exemplary. There are some moments when the action lulls, but this does little to detract from a game that veers close to being a masterwork. Two years on, the game shines on Xbox.

The multiplayer Control spin-off you didn't know you needed, FBC: Firebreak is an engaging and moreish shooter with interesting mechanics, an abundance of supernatural weirdness, and ample co-op fun. You'll never look at a sticky note the same way again.

While we would have liked to see the Gex Trilogy scale up the resolution and bring the gameplay more up to date, it's nice to be able to play Gex, Gex: Enter the Gecko, and Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko on modern platforms, with some neat refinements for good measure.

Ambitious in scope and scale, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is an enormously ambitious and remarkably deep Oblivion-inspired RPG. But in shooting for such a high bar, its technical shortcomings unfortunately hamper the overall experience.

Elden Ring Nightreign is yet another playful slice of experimentation, with breezy movement and rich multiplayer mechanics.

With the welcome return of Braking Point and some substantial improvements to My Team mode, EA Sports F1 25 emerges as another fantastic instalment in Codies' racing series.

If Blades of Fire manages to strike a chord, it won't be for its narrative, nor its world, but its violence.

Deserving of its remaster treatment, Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny is well worth revisiting (or, indeed, playing for the first time), especially, if, like me, you're excited for the arrival of Onimusha: Way of the Sword next year.

Yet another sensational compendium of classic arcade fighters, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 brings together eight seminal classics, and although there are a couple of omissions, what's here is great. For anyone who whiled away hours in the arcades back in the 1990s and 2000s, you need to get on this.

Where The Precinct succeeds is out in Averno, coaxing us into fine police work. Fallen Tree has found its niche.

A hefty slab of pure FPS gameplay, DOOM: The Dark Ages nails just about everything, balancing brutal combat and a spot of open exploration beautifully. Crucially, playing as the Slayer makes you feel like an unstoppable beast - it’s fantastic.

As comprehensive as MotoGP 24 was, MotoGP25 outstrips last year's game with the addition of the Arcade Experience and three Race Off disciplines to master. New and returning features make this feel like a worthwhile update, and a must for all bike fans.

A sequel that eclipses its forebear in just about every department, Revenge of the Savage Planet is an immensely enjoyable platforming adventure with a lovely vein of slapstick comedy and daft satire lampooning unchecked corporate avarice.

Still crazy after all these years, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered takes the 2006 classic and burnishes it with meaningful visual upgrades, refined combat, and other modern touches. And it retains all of its original charm, that unique eccentric spirit left entirely intact.

A cult Saturn game comes alive, in a well presented blast of mech action.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage marks developer Don't Nod returning to its Life is Strange pinnacle, delivering a coherent and compelling yarn that expertly flits between an evocative 1995 and a friend's reunion in 2022. Bring on the sequel.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is probably one of the most impressive $40/£40 games I’ve ever played and puts a lot of full price games to shame. Thanks to some really unique battle systems and combat variety, Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG to remember. It’s bloody gorgeous too! Oof!

Move over KOF. Fatal Fury is back with a vengeance, and it's great. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is an attractive, immediate, and enjoyable fighting game with a lot going on. And, yet, it's easy to pick up and play, but tough to master, rewarding practice and perseverance. It's well worth putting in the time to get good.

A first-person parkour horror with woolly controls and frustrating chase sequences, Finding Frankie is a fairly torrid two hours. Do yourself a favour and chuck on your favourite horror film instead.

It's easy to see why Blue Prince took eight years to make. It's an intricate and layered puzzle game that rewards discovery, albeit at a pace that can make it quite frustrating. Still, if you stick with it, the journey, and the secrets you reveal along the way, make it all quite worthwhile.

Promise Mascot Agency does a lot of things, and does most of them rather well. The result is an unusual genre mish-mash that takes a little while to get going, but once it does, is quite hard to put down.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows delivers feudal Japan to the masses in style. Sure, Ghost of Tsushima beat it to the punch a few years back, but Ubisoft Quebec’s effort is wildly different in so many ways and an absolute pleasure to play. Whether you like stealth or action, Shadows is a light in the darkness.

South of Midnight is Compulsion's best game by a country mile, emerging as an assured and beautifully crafted Southern Gothic folktale that feels like a bracing breath of earthy, swampy air.

British horror games are having a moment just now, and Rebellion has served up a witty, fun slice of apocalypse.

One part Hotline Miami, one part Duke Nukem, Mullet MadJack is an uncompromising and beautifully straight-up shot of first-person shooter adrenaline with a neat roguelike twist, all fed into your brain one frenetic minute at a time.

WWE 2K25 continues a strong run of wrestling games with another enormously enjoyable and robust entry, full to bursting with modes and playable Superstars, and an interesting new distraction in The Island. This is well worth swandiving into.

Sorry We're Closed is a cool game and a bit of a one-off. Ostensibly, it's a survival horror experience inspired by PS1-era examples, but there's more to it than that. It's also about relationships and love, in all their various forms. It's wonderfully weird, and we're here for it.

It Takes Two set the bar for co-op excellence, and while Split Fiction doesn't necessarily raise it, Hazelight has succeeded in delivering another stellar two-player experience, packed with a variety of superlative set pieces and clever gameplay mechanics.

Avowed is the perfect example of Obsidian doing what it does best. Choice and consequence runs deep through its veins, while the sheer variety of playstyles on offer is pretty damn impressive. While the lore and story won’t win any awards, Avowed is a great way to while away a good 30-hours or so.

Another Monster Hunter game, another eminently playable entry in Capcom's colossal creature feature. Monster Hunter Wilds is superb, with the new Focus Mode making for the most immediate and enjoyable instalment to date. A monster triumph.

On paper, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii sounds like a step too far into unfettered silliness for RGG Studio's crime saga, until you remember the series has always revelled in daftness. Submit to the game's enjoyable pirate fantasy, and you'll find that there's a lot of fun to be had here.

What I like about Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is not just its burnished look, but the way it relights the dimmer half of Lara's legacy and offers a different story.

There's a good reason that all seven of the games included here still hold up. They were great when they originally came out, and they're great now. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is the perfect tour through Capcom's 1990s fighting heyday, and, quite possibly, the best fighting collection yet. Utterly essential.

It took a while to come to consoles (over a year), but Cuisineer was worth the wait. As RPG roguelite social sim genre mashups go, this is about as good as it gets. It's lovely and colourful, too. Cuisineer is a tasty little morsel.

This is moody, broody, and tranquil, like a good book.

Its camera might remain somewhat skittish and the upgrades here aren't exactly seismic, but Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, rebuilt using Unreal Engine 5, certainly looks the part and delivers immediate, lightning-fast ninja action, replete with buckets of blood and viscera. It was, and still is, excellent.

With Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Warhorse has favoured fun and impact over realism, and as a result, the sequel to the popular 2018 title has improved leaps and bounds. Stability and bugs are still an issue, but if you can get past that, then there’s a thoroughly enjoyable medieval romp to get your teeth into.

Proving once more that there's life yet in its killer sniping mechanics and expansive sandbox missions, Sniper Elite: Resistance is another cracking series entry, even if it's not much of an evolution over Sniper Elite 5. No doubt, Rebellion is saving the big guns for Sniper Elite 6.

The last two-and-a-half decades have not been kind to Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles, and Aspyr hasn’t done quite enough to tackle the bugs and other issues that plagued the game upon its 2000 release. This remains a fairly torrid experience, then, and one of the Star Wars series' lesser video game outings. Maybe leave this one in the Sarlacc pit where it belongs.

In placing a lone hero at the centre of its historical Three Kingdoms story, Dynasty Warriors: Origins emerges as a much more focussed affair. Marry that to some stellar combat mechanics, and it's almost impossible not to get swept up in the overblown 1 vs. 1000 action. This is an unbelievably fun game, and certainly the best Dynasty Warriors game I've ever played.

An accessible Roguelike that might initially seem a bit on the short side, Ravenswatch has more than ample replay value in the number of characters, modifiers, abilities, and items to experiment with. If you enjoyed Hades and crave roguelike action of a similar ilk, then the fairy tale charms of Ravenswatch will scratch that itch.

The Thing: Remastered is worthwhile and no mistake. Nightdive's lovingly made revamp might not paper over the cracks of the 2002 original, but it preserves what made it a cult classic, while applying subtle, albeit meaningful, improvements.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered is a great way to play two underserved cult classics, with reams of extra material for the devoted.

If you worry that single-player capers with plush budgets and a modest claim on your hours are destined for a museum, hopefully this will delay the entropy.

It may not be nearly as culturally seismic as Final Fantasy, but Fantasian Neo Dimension is proof positive that Hironobu Sakaguchi is an RPG maestro – it's another memorable tale that deals with big themes and neat systems, and its arrival on consoles is more than welcome.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is an independent game, in the truest meaning of the term, and, beyond the hook of its mysteries, you may be drawn to it by virtue of being tired of other things.

A captivating trawl through four decades of Tetris, with a stack of archive footage and other interesting tidbits, Tetris Forever is also a superlative collection of games and curios that will satisfy all but the most demanding of Tetris fans. Essential stuff.

Expertly revamped and updated for the modern RPG fan, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is a great way to discover one of the most beloved entries in the series, with gorgeous sprites, lush environments, and all of the features you'd expect from a game released in 2024.

Odd, compelling, and ultimately engrossing, Death Stranding: Director's Cut is a genre mash-up with more than a few ideas of its own. Not quite a work of genius, it's nonetheless something that once again demonstrates the madness and brilliance of Hideo Kojima. Five years on from its original release, it's only gained in relevance.

In a lot of respects, The Veilguard is a vastly superior game when compared to Inquisition, but gone are the days that Dragon Age is a truly deep and innovative RPG. It's definitely more action than RPG these days, which is truly a shame. Nonetheless, it’s a pretty impressive package easily worth the price of entry.

When you buy a Call of Duty, you have some idea of what to expect. Rest assured that Black Ops 6 lies at the better end of the series' spectrum, boasting a varied campaign that's well worth playing, a pair of robust and endlessly replayable Zombies maps, and multiplayer that remains immediate and immensely entertaining.

A sweet tactical twist on a beloved series, Leikir has paid homage in the best possible way: by doing something new.

You ought to play Slitterhead if for no other reason than its mood. It’s one of this year’s strangest and most striking games.

A horror game that delivers stripped down, no frills scares, Phasmophobia is unrelentingly creepy, the mundanity of its suburban residences, with its picket fences and immaculate front lawns, harbouring ghostly nastiness that's not to be taken lightly. Not for the faint-hearted.

A game of two halves, with a gleaming remaster of Sonic Generations and an all-new, practically full-sized Shadow Generations portion, Sonic x Shadow Generations is a killer dose of the blue blur and his brooding counterpart, which still ranks among the best that Sonic's modern era has mustered in recent years.

Original Life is Strange protagonist Max Caulfield makes a welcome return in what is an immensely compelling and enjoyable sequel to her 2015 introduction. Unravelling Life is Strange: Double Exposure's murder mystery, using its timeline-hopping mechanic, is remarkably good fun.

As an opening gambit and statement of intent from Blumhouse Games, Fear the Spotlight gets things off to a strong start, delivering a 3D retro horror experience that, while in thrall to its '90s influences, also manages to carve out an identity of its own.

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered resurrects an unquestionably nutty experience, warts and all, but this is the most rudimentary of remaster jobs. It is, in essence, the very same game you might have already played thirteen years ago, but if you missed Shadows of the Damned the first time around then Hella Remastered is worth delving into, especially if you enjoy unending cacophonous mayhem, silly one-liners like “I just love killing fucking demons” and “I'm a Mexican, not a Mexican't” (lifted from 2003’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Mexico), as well as slightly ropey shooter mechanics. It may not have dated all that gracefully, but we'll be damned if it isn't still fun, despite its fair share of frustrations and shortcomings – an unlikely sequel that irons out the wrinkles would be very welcome indeed.

Animal Well is one of those works that seem to have been scooped out of a single skull: a chilly clump of sweet dreams and obsessions, pleasures and manias.

I went into Unknown 9: Awakening really wanting to like it; to see its transmedia experiment succeed. But it's such a horrible-looking game, featuring game mechanics from fifteen-odd years ago and a story that will put you to sleep, it's hard to offer any sort of a recommendation. Play it if you want a renewed appreciation for how great other games can be.

Despite some glaring roster omissions and little in the way of meaningful evolution over the boxing sims of old, Undisputed enters the ring as a lean and mean contender that's fighting fit. Just don't go expecting any seismic shifts when it comes to the boxing formula.

A sensational-looking game that looks just like the anime, Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO marks a robust return for the dormant Budokai Tenkaichi series, even if the nuts and bolts of the game's fighting mechanics can wear quite thin pretty quickly.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a wonderful new IP from previous Persona stalwarts. Sure, a few of the similarities are a little on the nose, but Studio Zero has executed enough tweaks for it to fly its own flag... and boy does it do that! It's a charming fantasy RPG with a lot of heart.

This is about as close to a slam dunk the series has been in recent years. NBA 2K25 delivers on the court where it counts, while bringing meaningful changes to the staple MyCareer and MyTeam modes, in particular. MyNBA Eras remains a major highlight, too, sure to please ardent NBA fans and nostalgics alike.

This is a handsome remaster that will hopefully win over new players, but for those already in love with Broken Sword, something is missing.

Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a lovely remaster of one of yesteryear’s surprise cult hits, and the best thing is, the gameplay actually holds up pretty well, thanks to a few new quality-of-life additions that go a long way towards making this a better game.

In spite of its knowing fan service and array of plastic characters, Funko Fusion is hamstrung by a smattering of technical issues, repetitive gameplay, and poor boss battles. Sadly, nostalgia and fan service alone just isn’t enough.

While FC IQ has elevated the on-pitch experience somewhat, off the pitch FC 25 hasn't really changed at al since last yearl. It's all a bit stagnant, in truth. If EA Sports FC 25 were a football stadium, it'd be Old Trafford - a once majestic beast that’s now in need of some serious work.

The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is a good, solid, retro-style scrolling beat 'em up that demonstrates not only a clear love for its source material, but for the heyday of the genre itself. Nonetheless, once you've dispensed with its twelve levels, you might struggle to find a compelling reason to go back for more.

There is enough pleasant fun here to divert you, and there are flutters of real invention. You just wish that it ran a little further.

Capcom has expertly breathed new life into a fantastic game, sanding down some of the rough edges, without compromising the spirit of the original. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is the perfect excuse to revisit Willamette Parkview Mall for some retail therapy. And indulge in some excessive zombie slaughter while you’re there.

Despite a robust handling model, some fairly impressive visuals, and a few nice ideas, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown fails to deliver on its open-world racing remit, with a dearth of things to do, broken online servers, and a tacked-on story that does little to draw you in. This one's stalled at the starting line.

A neat anime-style metroidvania with some well-realised ideas, Yars Rising is a smart homage to an '80s Atari arcade classic, and a perfectly fine way to while away a good few hours.

After thirteen years, Space Marine is finally back, and it delivers on almost every front – more grisly gore, huge swarms of enemies, and, crucially, incredibly robust combat mechanics. It doesn't do much that's new, but who cares? Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a very good thing indeed.

Two of the best Ace Attorney games are given their due with another beautifully remastered collection that's every bit as essential as the rest of the series. Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is simply fantastic. There's no arguing with that.

A choose-your-own horror without any fright, The Casting of Frank Stone has an intriguing plot that doesn’t end up delivering.

Star Wars Outlaws is a wonderful, albeit slightly rough around the edges, galactic space adventure that will appeal to both Star Wars and non-Star Wars fans alike. With a great story, a handful of really iconic locations and a whole host of variety running through its veins, Outlaws is a fantastic new world of adventure for Ubisoft Massive. Plus, it’s incredibly fun.

While I may not have extensive experience with monster truck racing games, I'm pretty confident that Monster Jam Showdown is a good one, delivering knockabout physics and pleasing Unreal Engine 5 visuals, as well as accessible and immediate gameplay that places the onus squarely on fun.

While I wish there was more content in Hidden Through Time 2: Discovery, and it felt like a DLC rather than a full game, the price is fair for the content and time I spent with it. For anyone who likes cozy puzzle-like games, it’s an easy one to recommend.

Combining dialogue-driven drama, a sprinkling of humour, interesting well-written characters, combat with a baseball bat, and a variety of other distractions, Dustborn emerges as a compelling and memorable schlep across America.

A solid, precision-based time trial racer, Phantom Spark won't satisfy those WipEout and F-Zero cravings, but it will keep you occupied for a fair few hours, if you manage to dial in to its 'just-one-more-go' wavelength.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an absolutely stunning game on the eyes and ears, but is perhaps a little too much style over substance. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with the mechanics, they can at times feel fairly shallow and archaic, but thankfully things don’t really get too repetitive or boring, and what you get in the overall experience more than makes up for that.

Cygni: All Guns Blazing is an old-school shmup in modern clothing, offering the same sort of immediate arcade fun as its genre stablemates, but with a cinematic (albeit slightly perfunctory) story and some neat high-res graphics.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is not, nor was it, a good video game, but this loving remaster makes you think of what may still come.

A fast-paced and addictive roguelike first-person shooter boasting a bold cyberpunk style, Deadlink is a cracking little game, and one that rewards your time and effort to boot.

An inspired combination of colourful dungeon-crawling, social sim, and action-RPG, Dungeons of Hinterberg proves to be a remarkably pleasant surprise. Ignore this at your peril.

Nobody Wants to Die is a fantastic, wonderfully cinematic sci-fi noir that's over all too soon. Its procedural detective work can be too procedural, but there's the kernel of something really great here.

An absorbing open world adventure drenched in colourful New Caledonian culture, Tchia is beautifully unique and more than deserving of your time. It's on Xbox Game Pass – there's no excuse not to give it a go.

Conscript may not be a true survival horror, but it taps into that legacy and roots it in fertile soil.

Kunitsu-Gami is exactly the sort of thing we need more of, the kind of game that you kid yourself used to crop up regularly in generations gone by.

A fast and frenetic slice of heaven, Neon White is a sublime combination of tasty gunplay, twitch platforming, and speed-running that's unlike little else.

Still Wakes the Deep is wonderfully, authentically Scottish – even the carpets on the Beira D oil rig are tartan. It's also a singularly immersive and utterly memorable piece of work that's among The Chinese Room's very best.

What a wonderful game Humanity is. Tetris Effect developer Enhance has created something that's not only beautifully unique, but also ingeniously constructed and executed. Like the best puzzle games, you'll be dreaming of solutions all day. Its mechanics are also impeccable – this is the good stuff.

Here I was thinking Codemasters couldn't possibly top F1 23, and then the studio goes ahead and drops this little beauty. EA Sports F1 24 is stuffed to the sidepods with content, but it's the impressive handling model that sets it apart – this is easily the most unadulterated fun I've had playing an F1 game. Dynamic Handling is a good thing, then.

An enjoyably easygoing interstellar hospital management sim that doesn't take itself too seriously, Galacticare is exactly the sort of game that will gobble up your time without you even realising. With streamlined mechanics and a daft sense of humour, there's a good dose of fun to be had here.

Braid is a classic, and this edition features beautifully redone art and music, with hours of excellent developer commentary.

While Hellblade 2 might not set any new standards with its gameplay, from an audio-visual experience standpoint, it's frankly stunning. Hellblade 2 is as close to playing the leading role in a big budget movie as you’re likely to get, and Ninja Theory’s continued coverage on the complexities of severe mental health issues deserves to be commended.

Making its console debut, Nightdive's excellent System Shock remake retains all of the meaningful changes from last year's PC version alongside a smattering of refinements for controller-wielding players, and succeeds as a brilliantly accomplished redux of a truly revolutionary FPS.