Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a brilliant sequel, taking the best aspects of the original game and adding more gameplay variety, lots more entertaining tools to play with, and a new, more emotionally-driven story. Giving you lots of freedom with regards to how you complete your goals, Death Stranding 2 is worth considering even if, like me, you didn't rate the first game all that highly. It's overall a much more frictionless and enjoyable affair.
I Am Your Beast is a simple game in principle, tasking you with completing basic objectives across many bite-sized levels before making your way to an exit. Its breakneck pace means you have to think and act fast, however, and the forces you're up against escalate as you progress. Throw in a story that's gripping from the outset, and you have a first-person shooter that makes you feel a little bit like John Wick whenever you play.
Yakuza 0 remains among the best Yakuza games, and this Switch 2-exclusive Director's Cut is essential for those who are yet to play it. The extra content here, including additional cut scenes and a new Red Light Raid mode, isn't all that impressive, but it doesn't matter much when the base game looks and plays better than ever.
With improved performance and sharper visuals than the original Switch version, Switch 2 might just be the best format on which to enjoy Suikoden 1 & 2 HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars. Enjoy it handheld on the go, or play docked and get engrossed playing it on a big screen. It's just a shame there's no upgrade path for those who have already picked it up on Switch.
Disney Illusion Island looks great, but being devoid of combat, the gameplay of this Metroidvania eventually comes to feel a bit stale and repetitive. Still, Disney fans will certainly get some enjoyment out of it, especially if they play it in local co-op with friends or family members.
If you missed Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army when it originally released on PlayStation 2, this remaster should prove to be a treat. Featuring a revamped combat system, full voice acting, and more, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army almost feels like a new game, and its mix of investigation, combat and demon-collecting is both engaging and rewarding.
TRON: Catalyst gets off to a good start, promising varied gameplay and a neat time-loop mechanic. The trouble is, it soon devolves in a dull affair with way too much repetitive combat, and the time-loop mechanic is mostly wasted.
Hugely inspired by Castlevania, Chronicles of the Wolf offers a fairly lengthy gothic adventure where players explore a dark, interconnected world to take down an evil menace. It looks nice, has a great soundtrack and is mostly fun to play, but there are some balancing and design issues that hold it back from greatness.
Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game lets you live out your parkouring dreams across numerous environments. There are time trial and trick rush events to complete, but they can be frustrating thanks to finicky controls and mechanics. This is a game best enjoyed simply chilling out with others.
Bundling up the base game along with two years' worth of characters, stages and more, Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition is a must-have for fighting game fans who have picked up a Switch 2. While new modes such as Gyro Battle and Calorie Contest are a bit gimmicky, the only real disappointment here is fights in World Tour playing out at 30fps.
Being a simulator, Star Trucker won't be for everyone; flying through space making deliveries sounds simple, but in actuality there are lots of plates to spin. Those that get on with it will likely find themselves engrossed, however, but it does verge on becoming a little repetitive.
Sonic x Shadow Generations feels right at home on Switch 2. Both Sonic Generations and the new Shadow campaign look fantastic, and performance is solid, making these fast-paced platforming experiences a joy to return to time and time again. It's just a shame there's no upgrade path for those who already own the game on the original Switch.
In most regards, Mario Kart World is the best entry in the series yet. There are a wealth of characters to race as and lots of vehicles, with many more to unlock, and the courses are absolutely brilliant. On top of that, a Mario Kart game has never felt so good to play. It's just a shame that its open world feels like an afterthought for the most part, and that it's so expensive.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is an open-world action RPG that fans of the likes of Skyrim are likely to fall in love with. It has some technical issues and bugs that can annoy, but they're easy to overlook thanks to its enjoyable and rewarding gameplay systems as well as a genuinely interesting story with important choices to be made.
An adventure game with puzzle, stealth and horror elements, The Midnight Walk isn't all that complex mechanically. Its dark, intriguing world will grab your attention, though, and you'll soon come to love your companion, Potboy, making you want to see your journey through to its end. If you have the required hardware, you can play in VR, too, which is a nice touch.
Copycat is a game that tackles some serious issues, but its characters are hard to warm to and will make you angry at times. Still, being a cat and doing cat things can be fun, despite clunky controls and uninspired gameplay.
Spray Paint Simulator is rewarding and relaxing in the same way that PowerWash Simulator is, with you bringing new life to a range of objects and locations. Some jobs are better than others, though, and it can be finicky when it comes to completing some smaller part of jobs, but it's still thoroughly enjoyable on the whole.
There's fun to be had with Elden Ring Nightreign, especially if you're a skilled Elden Ring player who loves a challenge or can get a good team together, but it does have a range of issues. The fact that there's only one map means repetition quickly creeps in, for example, and the Relic system simply doesn't feel as impactful as it should. Being a multiplayer-focused game, the lack of cross-play is also egregious.
EA sports F1 25 features the usual iterative improvements when it comes to visuals and physics, and LIDAR technology has been used to make a number of tracks as accurate as can be. But it's the return of Braking Point as well as a substantial overhaul of My Team that really makes this an impressive package, and a must-have for both casual and ardent F1 fans.
Take God of War, Dark Souls and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, put them in a blender along with some new elements such as being able to craft weapons and target specific body parts, and you have Blades of Fire. Its map design can be devious at times, and its enemy placement a little questionable, but overall it's an engaging, and rather epic, adventure.