Between its primary plot and side content, “Blood and Wine” can easily add a couple dozen hours to your overall time in The Witcher 3. Complete with its own twisting narrative, branching mission paths and endings, unique enemy types and – it has to be said again – GORGEOUS landscape, Toussaint is a fitting capping point for the amazing journey that this game has been. There’s a reason it took out top billing in Stevivor’s (and my personal) game of the year rankings. I can’t think of a better way to send off our time with Geralt than an expansion of this magnitude – except perhaps never sending him off at all.
While I went into Guardians with a good feeling I’d enjoy it, I was surprised by just how much fun I ended up having.
Super Mario RPG is made in reverence to the original, bringing it to a new audience while also reminding returning players what was so great about it in the first place.
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is devoted to trying all-new things while still reserving time for celebrating its long and storied history.
Persona 5 is a beautiful balancing act; one that feels eternally stressful unless you give in and enjoy it rather than aiming for the perfect run.
At the end of the day, Job Simulator has been one of the best and most lasting experiences with the PSVR so far for me, alongside Batman: Arkham VR. The amount of fun you can have in each job really helps to extend the gameplay without feeling like it’s been padded out. There’s plenty of weird little interactions and easter eggs to be found — try photocopying your face in the office — so be prepared to have a good laugh at your own expense.
Paired with a well-written story and varied soundtrack, Owlboy does something that a lot of pixel-art games don’t – it elevates the medium from the bare requirements. While some games utilise pixel art as an easy way to convey a mechanic or story with simplified visuals, D-Pad Studios have clearly chosen pixel art because that’s what they WANTED to use. It’s no wonder the game has been cooking for nine years now – anything with this much love poured into it doesn’t leave the kitchen until it’s good and ready.
Overall, "The Frozen Wilds" gives one more taste of the game's amazing combat, world and character animation to players like myself who loved Horizon (whether it was straight away or after coming back to it). It's a pity that Guerrilla has stated this will be the game's only piece DLC as it lays even more hints for a greater story in this world.
I honestly enjoyed my time with Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. It adds new elements to the franchise's recipe that I enjoy, and some of the story beats look to be leading future instalments in a really interesting direction.
The series found a comfortable stride in the handheld world, and moving away from that isn’t always a strong step – so it’s a good thing that the Switch is a little bit of both worlds. The game is great for playing in short bursts, with even ten to fifteen minutes feeling like enough to really get something done, even if it’s just returning a bunch of lost items to your units in the monastery to boost your support links. The characters are endearing and help draw you into the world and its story, complete with divine mysteries to carry you through the school year.
Persona 5 — and the expanded Persona 5 Royal — are both beautiful balancing acts; ones that feel eternally stressful unless you give in and enjoy them rather than aiming for the perfect run.
Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart is a powerhouse demonstration of what the PS5 can do. A rich, vibrantly-lit world stuffed with things to find as you enjoy an engaging story, all of which sets the stage for future games.
This title makes it clear that the folks at Bandai Namco have it in them to move with the times, without losing the essence of what a Tales game is.
If you’re looking for an open world with a different flavour to everything else, diving into the fog-filled streets of Ghostwire Tokyo is just the right fit. Stock your quiver, practice your hand gestures and get ready to be the yokai cool guy you were born to be.
Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes feels like a great return to spending time with a gang of characters who drew me in over dozens of hours, but with an all-new tale keeping me on my toes at the same time.
At the end of my time with Bayonetta 3, I find myself surprised at how much fun I had, and excited to go back and experience the first two titles of the series as well.
While players may be tempted to judge Fire Emblem Engage on the art style alone, I strongly suggest giving it a try before casting judgement; you may just find that this is one of the best Fire Emblem games to date.
Just when you think you’ve done everything, Pikmin 4 is waiting to hand over another fun task for you to spend the next few hours enjoying, on the universe’s most crashed-on planet.
If this is the finale of Cyberpunk 2077’s redemption arc, it’s a damn impressive one. I’m excited to see what a sequel built from the ground up with these lessons learned will be like, but until then I’ll keep poking around Night City to see what’s new.
Persona 3 Reload is the best kind of remake: it honours the core of what makes the game great, but isn’t afraid to modernise the experience at the same time.