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.