Video game players are familiar with the law of diminishing returns. Even as new entries in a series tirelessly improve upon their predecessors, our interest nevertheless wanes; with games, improved is somehow less exciting than new. Mario Kart 8 is a rare thing, then: the best entry in a series and the most exciting yet.
'The sacred river ran, through caverns measureless to man, down to a sunless sea,' reads Coleridge's poem, Kubla Khan, from which the game takes its name and setting. It already knows that you will take up the challenge and bravely attempt to measure these caverns. The better question, and the one that Sunless Sea asks in countless ways is: how?
Its elegance, precision, humour, and challenge make Bloodborne irresistible. Ultimately, the horror is secondary; wonder is the true transfusion on offer here.
This vast fantasy adventure combines sophisticated storytelling with an expansive and richly conceived world
To some, Super Mario may appear tired: a mascot whom Nintendo trots out every few years to sell another console with repackaged but fundamentally stale ideas. Super Mario 3D World is a fierce rebuttal to the accusation. Mario and his makers once again assert their dominance of spatial navigation games, displaying a rude abundance of ideas to delight, surprise and celebrate innocence and playfulness.
Game designer Hidetaki Miyazaki no longer has novelty on his side, but the genius behind the Souls series still has plenty of tricks to surprise us with
Fumito Ueda's PlayStation title has been a decade in the making. From the game's exquisite animation to its emotional intelligence, it has been worth the wait
Latest in long running high-school franchise boasts characters as deeply written and well observed as a multi-season TV series
The latest Metal Gear instalment somehow lives up to the hype and expectations, providing a luxurious cinematic gaming experience without equal
Capcom’s survival horror series goes back to its origins as a truly shocking, challenging and terrifying experience
This captivating game, which immerses players in 1930s Berlin, is an essential reminder of how fascism takes root and grows
Unleash your inner warrior and wreak havoc in this deck-building game's series of exhilarating face-offs, now available for Apple devices
This extraordinary game tests you to the limit – even as it insists that it absolutely does not exist
Simon Parkin: The delightful Fez is a game in which the true aim is nothing more than to explore and to find treasure while doing so
You're a DJ splicing the drums, bass, melody and vocals of your favourite tracks in dizzy new ways in this latest from the makers of Guitar Hero
The big bang meets the whodunnit in this dazzlingly inventive point-and-click adventure spanning time and space
A compelling mission to locate and photograph a series of images in a Māori-influenced world under occupation
The quick, free online word-guessing game designed as a present for one is proving a daily gift for all.
This is a massive world, astonishingly rendered and seemingly limitless in its creative diversity
With sumptuous attention to detail, the series' 25th anniversary edition is its most reverent and irresistible yet.