Chris Tapsell
Inspired as much by Pok'mon Go as it is Breath of the Wild, Pok'mon Legends: Arceus is flimsy and compulsive - and exhilaratingly new.
History repeats itself with a joyful, educational flourish in Age of Empires 4, a game of sweet simplicity and bottomless depth.
Halo Infinite's multiplayer sees the series emerge from its decade-long existential crisis as something radically familiar.
The original Pok'mon Diamond and Pearl were strange, uneven games. The remakes file them down to something still enjoyable, but textureless.
Football Manager 2022 ramps up the emphasis on the modernness of today's game. It's the most accurate, most joyfully compulsive entry yet.
Back 4 Blood is a strange mix of old and new, but it works. The result is a delightfully scrappy hang-out shooter.
Amplitude's big play for the historical grand strategy crown is ambitious and considered, but it's missing a little magic.
Beautiful, rhythmic, inventive and funny, Titan Souls developer Acid Nerve has delivered one of the best Zelda-likes in some time.
With Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Sony's charmers-in-chief deliver another lesson in laid-back, unpretentious fun.
In Returnal, Housemarque builds a game on both euphoric highs and confounding lows.
Superliminal meets The Unfinished Swan in an admirable debut effort from Grateful Decay, that's best when it sticks to the ingenous premise.
An eerie, hypnotic sleuther - and a cracking first effort from a miniature team.
Exceptional characters, heartfelt storytelling and enjoyable action threaten to be engulfed by endless bugs and hasty, uneven design.
New tricks will make the headlines, but Sports Interactive's best move is to breathe new life into the brilliance that's already there.
Pok'mon Sword and Shield's final expansion is a fantastic, enticing endgame area that also shows just how great these games could have been.
With some imperfections, Toys For Bob delivers an enjoyable, goofy, deviously challenging and occasionally genius sequel.
A mostly thorough remake of 2002's original, Mafia: Definitive Edition has its moments - but it struggles by the standards of today.
Draknek masters a genre with a game of little touches, big challenge, and giant heart.
Limited by a rote and rigid world, Sucker Punch's samurai homage pairs okay action with enjoyably committed, if awkwardly fawning melodrama.
Riot Games delivers a masterclass in competitive integrity, soulless precision and zealous, life-consuming obsession.