Destiny 2: The Final Shape ties up a decade's worth of story, conflict, and relationships in the most engaging and emotionally satisfying way possible. Bungie's best-in-class narrative team has outdone itself, the combat and gunplay sit at the pinnacle of the FPS genre, and I've ultimately never played anything like it.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is an impeccable story of coming to terms with trauma and making difficult decisions, punctuated by moments of outstanding beauty and strength.
Hades 2 is flawless, perfecting the roguelike genre in a way its predecessor almost managed to do. Its incoming additions aren’t required to complete it – this version of the game is refined, advanced, and wonderful. They will, however, enhance an already breathtaking experience beyond comprehension.
South Park Snow Day makes for chaotic, mindless fun when played with friends thanks to its roguelike-inspired upgrades and sense of humor, but it's a frustrating dud when going it alone.
Skull and Bones promises the pirate adventure of our dreams and falls far short thanks to a sparse storyline, lack of personality, and gameplay that oscillates between frustrating and boring.
Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.
For someone who also works in music journalism, my skills are shaky, to say the least. But, having taken the time to improve these skills, I now feel better equipped to appreciate the game for what it is: a fun, quirky, sometimes weird, and often cheesy critique of capitalism. When I was less focused on how perfectly I was playing, I had a much better time headbanging through each stage. Just give me a wider variety of music next time and I’m sold.
Fire Emblem Engage does away with intricate relationships systems and in-depth downtime between battles, choosing to focus on a well-rounded tactical turn-based combat system that will be hard to beat this year.
The most realistic and engaging instalment of Football Manager yet, even if its improvements are extremely minor in themselves.
Simultaneously better and worse than you'd expect, with some fun co-op and detective elements but weak combat and muddled storytelling.
A superbly focused first person shooter that instantly gets to the heart of the genre, while providing plenty of unique twists – especially in terms of its psychedelic visuals.
A breath of fresh air for the Overwatch franchise, with the new game modes, characters, and mechanics all working together superbly well, for a genuinely exciting sequel.
A disappointing final whistle from EA as the new mechanics and fine-tuning create little in the way of major change, for a series that has long been in need of a major revamp.
An innovative combination of voice-controlled mechanics, combined with simple puzzles and an engaging story, that is short enough to not outstay its welcome.