Dominic Leighton's Reviews
Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch offers up compelling tactics and enjoyable storytelling, while the Roguelike elements work startlingly well. If you're a fan of the genre, this is one of the year's essential entries.
NASCAR 25 has proven to be a very welcome surprise, giving you a rendition of the sport that absolutely shines on track. Some of the supporting elements could do with a tune-up, but if you're looking for heart-pounding racing action, NASCAR 25 delivers.
Jurassic World Evolution 3 is exactly what you'd want from a JWE sequel. More dinosaurs, enhanced options and new systems that make your stunning dinosaur menagerie more realistic than ever before. Life finds a way, and you have a direct hand in it.
Ball X Pit carries the spirit of an arcade classic, while imbuing it with modern roguelike ideas. It's immediately one of the best indie games of the year.
Little Nightmares 3 is a gorgeously crafted collection of grim visuals, memorable creatures and fear-inducing horror. The co-op play is a natural and understandable evolution for the series, but it does alter the overarching atmosphere, albeit it subtly.
Formula Legends is a love letter to F1, and for fans of the sport, you can't help but fall for its charms. However, it is a small-scale arcade racer, and you need to temper your expectations when getting into the driver's cockpit.
While it gets plenty of the fundamentals of right, the dimension hopping, character roster and some of the extra modes don't quite stick the landing. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds isn't the best karting game out there, and thirteen years on from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, it's not even the best karting game with a blue hedgehog in it.
Frostpunk 2 remains one of the most compelling city builders and survival games in recent memory, and it's survived the transition to console in remarkably strong form. That said, if you have the option of playing on PC, that remains the best place to play.
Grit and Valor 1949 is an enjoyable roguelite experience, offering compelling mech tactics with punchy gameplay and a cool aesthetic, though repetition does eventually set in.
If you've had a couple of years off, or even if you haven't, this is an ideal time to return to Madden. This is a great entry in the series, and being able to take it on the go with Switch 2 and having the game in its fullest form is what NFL fans have been waiting years for.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is a sci-fi blast. While it wears its influences on its sleeve, it comes out the other side as a unique and enjoyable mech-based action-RPG.
The Knightling is one of the most characterful adventures of the year, with Twirlbound crafting a large, bright, engaging fantasy world, and giving you the tools to truly enjoy it. You won't regret picking this one up.
Gears of War: Reloaded is a blast of 2000s-era sci-fi, appearing here in better shape than ever before. It's not particularly smart or clever through a modern lens, but it remains a hell of a lot of good old-fashioned fun.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a delightful farming sim that is more than capable of taking over your real life with its digital rendition of work, life and love.
Is This Seat Taken is a wonderful indie puzzler whose cosy vibes bely a thoughtful and utterly beguiling window into the human experience.
Vinebound is a delightful surprise, and it deserves to find players this summer, especially those looking for a cute, but chaotic co-op blast.
Tales of the Shire offers a comfortable and lazy fantasy life, but it's one that feels genuine and heartfelt. Fans of the genre will love it, as long as they're prepared to fully embody the peace and tranquillity of a Hobbit's way of life.
Wild Hearts S is not the best place to play Wild Hearts. The less powerful hardware struggles at points to do the large, fantastical setting justice, and it's disappointing to find the performance is inconsistent in a port of an older title. However, this is an old-school hunting title, whose core mechanics hold up extremely well in a post-Wilds world.
Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV takes the beloved boardgame series to new heights, emphasising the Switch 2's focus on social play while making the most of the new camera and the Joy Con 2's great mouse controls. Not all of the DLC's content are essential, relying on gimmicks that you'll quickly tire of, but as a whole package, this is a great next step for Mario Party.
The inclusion of both the original and its superior sequel make Patapon 1+2 a great value release at the very least, but Bandai Namco could have done so much more to make these games as palatable as possible for modern audiences.