Ed Thorn
Masterful geography makes this world-hopping puzzler not only a series of clever problems, but a grand exploration of a wonderfully realised cosmic universe.
An instant must-play for Soulslikers, with fantastic flexibility in its combat and old fashioned rigidity in its challenges.
Now it's left early access, Turbo Overkill is a retro-styled FPS where copious mutants make excellent grind rails for your chainsaw leg, but its momentum gets bruised by its longer run-time.
An action adventure with endearing six-out-of-ten jank, carried by weighty combat with heaps of style and customisation.
A low-stakes team shooter where racing to slay dinosaurs has its wow moments, only most of them are locked behind a baffling disrespect for one's time.
A chaotic kart racer with wonderfully imagined open zones, imaginative tracks, and robust building tools, hampered by meaningless live service progression.
A hollow open world FPS which feels more like you're playing through an already abandoned live service, as opposed to a fully supported one.
Mr. Saitou is a wonderful, short RPG which sees a troubled salaryman rediscover bits of himself, all thanks to a bright kid with a dream of his own. And while there's some serious bits in there, Shigihara cleverly ensures that the overarching theme of Japan's working culture is presented as laughable - because it is. Ultimately, business is weird, so make sure it's your business to give the game a whirl.
Team Ninja has streamlined Nioh with dashes of Sekiro, but it stands on its own as a Soulslike with, arguably, the crispest combat out there.
An 1800s action-adventure that's sure to both delight longtime Yakuza fans and make for a perfect entry point into the series for newcomers.
Wanted: Dead has the briefest, briefest glimpses of good, but this third-person action game is a frustrating mess in almost every regard.
Iterates on the first Warzone with tweaks that make your decisions more meaningful, all backed up by a new map and DMZ mode that make this a complete Call Of Duty package.
Probably the best Sonic has been for a while, with open zones that make for scrappy fun and incredible frustration in your hunt for the Chaos Emeralds.
A more measured approach to movement brings out the best of COD's arcadey shooting, but watch out for unwieldy unlocks and performance issues.
A largely excellent COD campaign with a slapdash mixture of the spectacular and the middling, with all the tonal pitfalls you'd expect too.
Gotham Knights has the tiniest shreds of goodness, perhaps tapping into the primal urge within all of us to make the numbers go up. I just don't want to play it again, which says it all for a game that's designed to worm into your brain and keep you coming back for more of its bazillion currencies.
A bite-sized tabletop battler that successfully digifies miniatures, even if it needs more time to flesh itself out.
A stealth-action 'em up that makes murder-cleaning a fun task that rewards patience or chaos.
University management is an easygoing joy which makes it a great time for all, even if it doesn't entirely reward you for building a campus that's uniquely yours.
A powerwash 'em up which makes the fight against grime a soothing experience and a rare simulator that's focused on fun, not faff.