Blasphemous 2 sticks with the exquisitely dark and gory style of its predecessor whilst building on the core combat and improving upon the platforming we saw the first time around. The Game Kitchen could have served us up more of the same and we'd have been perfectly happy. However, they've made meaningful upgrades here, with deeper and more satisfying combat and three upgradable weapon sets that combine perfectly with environmental puzzling that feels more cohesive and fluid overall. The Penitent One's return to Cvstodia is an absolute banger.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is, quite simply, the best 2D Mario game since Super Mario World. This is the slickest, sharpest, and smartest that two-dimensional Mario has felt since 1991 and in its Wonder Flowers, badges, and online aspects, it serves up an endlessly inventive and impressive platforming adventure that we've been utterly hooked on. With local co-op and online fun adding to the replayability factor and nigh-on perfect performance in both docked and handheld modes, this feels like 2D Mario with its mojo back, and one of the very best platformers we've played in quite some time.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a slick return to the roots of this franchise that serves up clever 2.5D action wrapped up in a delightful art style and satisfying story. There's a smart balance here between old-school levels of action and challenge, moreish combat, and neat puzzles, all mixed with accessibility options and fine-tuning that open things up to newcomers and casual players. We knew Ubisoft Montpellier was a pair of safe hands and the team hasn't let us down, serving up the first must-play of 2024 in a Switch port that absolutely does the business.
Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes is a cracking sequel that brings meaningful change to the series' core combat, adds rollback netcode and three strong new characters to an already enthralling roster, and all looks, sounds, and plays every bit as good as its dazzling predecessor. Chronicle mode has been axed, and it's a shame it hasn't been replaced with something else, but this remains a top-notch effort, a deep and addictive anime fighter that should please long-time fans and interested newbies alike.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is another excellent entry in the series that manages to build successfully on everything that made the original such a standout experience.
Sea of Thieves has managed to successfully steer a course through turbulent waters during its first two years. Its once somewhat sterile and empty world is now full to bursting point with activities and distractions and it's got a sense of direction and purpose which mean players don't need to work nearly as hard to find ways in which to indulge their inner Black Beard. Tall Tales provide a properly meaty, narrative-driven campaign that works equally as well for solo players as it does for eager crews of four and that once empty horizon is now full of things to see and do as you make your way from the lowliest bilge rat to a pirate of legend.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is an excellent modernization of a decades-old franchise that was beginning to really show its age. This is a thoroughly entertaining, slick and addictive addition to the series that funnels players through a meaty campaign packed to bursting point with inventive set-pieces and devilishly devious level design. There's a ton of content to keep fans busy here with time trials, collectible skins, N-Verted mode and side missions galore in a generous package that sees Crash blast and bound his way through what is easily his greatest adventure to date.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla sees the long-running franchise at an absolute high point. A much tighter, more refined and narrative-focused experience, it learns lessons from other recent open world efforts, removing much of the series' tedious open-world busywork and channelling its players through a genuinely excellent and intriguing adventure. There's still plenty of exploring, looting and collecting to be done here but it's so much more engaging, full of fun puzzles and atmospheric treasure hunts that make the downtime between story arcs all the more rewarding. This is Assassin's Creed looking and feeling better than ever.
Hitman 3 is a superb final entry in what must now be regarded as one of gaming's truly great trilogies. This is a fittingly slick and satisfying send off for Agent 47, a succession of expertly crafted and endlessly replayable missions - omitting that final level dud - that sees our favourite assassin wind up his story in triumphantly fine form. IO Interactive really has brought all of their mission crafting expertise to bear here, resulting in a handful of levels that rank with the very best Hitman has to offer, and all while throwing in a couple of genuine curveballs and surprises as they go. This is essential stuff.
Resident Evil 2 is a stellar remake of an all-time classic. It manages to perfectly combine old and new, taking the very best aspects of Hideki Kamiya's original vision and transplanting them into this comprehensive and thoroughly modern reworking. A staggeringly beautiful recreation of the RPD brings one of gaming's most iconic settings kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and a new control scheme and plethora of quality-of-life improvements combine to make this one of the most satisfying and hugely replayable Resi games in the entire franchise.
Riders Republic is a fantastic open world sports game that delivers big on massively multiplayer arcade mayhem whilst also giving solo players a ton of content to dig into. There's an enormous, breathtakingly beautiful world to explore here that delivers carefully curated tracks and events for each every one of its sports disciplines, whilst also giving you free reign to head on out and cut your own path through its seven national parks' worth of wonderful wilderness. Yes there's some painful dialogue here and there, as well some issues with bugs and crashes during this launch period, but none of that is enough to put us off getting stuck in and just enjoying the smorgasbord of arcade sports action that Ubisoft Annecy has served up.
Halo Infinite feels like a big step forward for the franchise, a slick shift into the open world arena that manages to strike a fine balance between the traditional narrative-driven Halo of old and all-new levels of freedom and emergent gameplay.
This really is one of our favourite old-school indie titles to hit Game Pass in the last few months and we urge retro fans to nab it at the earliest possible opportunity, as it's a super-satisfying love letter to the glory days of Castlevania and an excellent and addictive little game in its own right.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök easily eclipses both The Siege of Paris and Wrath of the Druids, serving up a good 40 hours-worth of top-notch action, exploration and challenges across a huge new world map. Combat here is enlivened by Eivor's new Hugr-Rip abilities, skills which also freshen up the game's puzzles and traversal, and the fantastical nature of the story leads to some of the biggest and best boss face-offs we've seen in the series to date. Newcomers may feel a little lost to begin with, there's a lot to get your head around here, but fans of Valhalla should be delighted with this deliciously fantastical new addition to the base game.
Tunic is a fantastically clever adventure that kicks off in familiar Zelda-esque fashion before branching out to become its own thing entirely. There's an exquisitely designed world to explore here, a great big puzzle-box to probe and prod at as you progress through a story that's got just the right amount of mystery and intrigue about it to keep you hooked in. Combat can be a little clumsy at points early on but it improves as new powers are introduced and the game develops and grows into a surprisingly big, surprisingly challenging experience that's absolutely one of our favourite games of 2022 so far.
Weird West is a fantastic debut from Wolfeye Studios, a slick and addictive action-RPG that delivers a top-notch narrative alongside some delightfully chaotic combat in a world that absolutely oozes atmosphere. The Arkane DNA is evident here in the slick selection of powers and abilities, the choice-driven storylines and combat that gives you the tools to experiment, to toy with your enemies and approach problems from multiple angles. Side missions are delightfully well-written, there's a ton of dungeons, looting and crafting to dig into and, beyond a handful of buggy enemy encounters, the whole thing looks, sounds and plays like a dream.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is an excellent expansion of a bonafide classic interactive adventure. We'll admit we were slightly concerned that returning to something so masterful, expanding and adding to such a carefully constructed experience, could somehow dilute the magic, but we needn't have worried. All of the new content here simply embellishes what came before, resulting in a wonderful piece of art that's now better, more ultra and, you might even say, deluxe than ever before. Whether you're coming to this one for the first time or returning to see what's changed, you'll be handsomely rewarded for your curiosity.
What you're left with is a sequel that players are more likely to stick with, which makes them more likely to appreciate all the other bells and whistles, story aspects, cool bosses and upgrades that have also been packed in here. Yes, Rogue Legacy 2 doesn't fully escape from the repetition and inherently grindy nature of its genre but, in giving players more agency and control over how difficult things are, it's evolved from a somewhat frustrating - and very often rage-inducing - experience into a far more chilled and, in turn, addictive roguelite that we're genuinely having quite a lot of trouble putting down. This one's up there with the very best we've played so far this year.
Sniper Elite 5 is the very best entry in this long-running franchise to date. Karl Fairburne's latest WW2 adventure effortlessly mixes jaw-dropping campaign environments, improved close quarters combat and ruthless enemy AI, resulting in a game that puts this series firmly into the top tier of action titles once and for all. With highly replayable missions stuffed full of secrets and side quests, a clever new PvP Invasion mode, full campaign co-op and a ton of unlockables and multiplayer modes to dig into, this is a hugely entertaining offering that's sure to delight long-term fans and new recruits in equal measure. It's time to get to work perfecting those slo-mo X-Ray ball shots.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey may have went bigger in terms of sheer size, and Valhalla has gone on to further improve and enhance the flow of combat - but there's no doubting that Origins' majestic setting, its characters, iconic locations and sense of mystery, have yet to be topped. With some absolutely belting DLC to get your hands on once you've wrapped up the beefy main campaign here, this is one game that we absolutely urge to you pick up on Xbox Game Pass. If you've already played it, it's worth jumping back in here for the 60fps upgrade, and if you're coming to this one new, well, prepare for an almighty Egyptian adventure.