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Onimusha: Way of the Sword marks a successful return for the legendary series, one that wisely steers clear of the current trend of turning action games into ‘soulslikes’. The game shines with its brilliant, gory combat system, exemplary Sekiro-esque parrying, charismatic characters (the superbly animated Musashi!) and fantastic bosses. The game retains the series’ atmosphere and beautiful visuals, and the optimisation for the PS5 is flawless. The overly passive common enemies are a slight disappointment, and unfortunately there aren’t enough interesting puzzles; even so, it remains a highly satisfying power fantasy and a wonderful tribute to the series’ entire legacy.

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The Blood of Dawnwalker from Rebel Wolves is a grim RPG which, at its best, rivals The Witcher 3 story-wise. The game charms with an excellent prologue, a grounded, down-to-earth atmosphere, mature choices in shades of grey, and memorable characters. Unfortunately, after a brilliant start, the experience suffers due to repetitive, Ubisoft-style open-world activities that you have to plough through to uncover the narrative treasures. It is an ambitious and successful, albeit uneven, title – a must-play for fans of atmospheric games who are willing to overlook some of the rough edges typical of a debut title.

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Star Wars: Zero Company is a linear, story-driven experience of about 40 hours, with solid mechanics that result in satisfying gameplay, but it is marred by annoying technical issues as well as an inconsistent pace and difficulty level. If you’re looking for a turn-based Mass Effect 2 and you love Star Wars, then Zero Company is probably for you, but it’s not really the sort of game you’ll be playing for years on end like XCOM 2.

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Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is a good example of an AA game, offering over a dozen hours of immersive gameplay in beautiful presentation (that music!). At times, it feels like watching an interactive film that occasionally lets you take the reins, and some of the mechanics seem a bit shoehorned in, but this is balanced out by engaging puzzles. I’m not likely to miss Sophia and her adventures, but ‘raiding’ ancient ruins was a lot of fun.

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In the new The Sinking City, developers at Frogwares have swapped the detective-occultist gameplay for a survival horror experience. It’s a truly successful step into the genre: the combat is satisfying, and the environmental puzzles are highly inventive and engaging. Fans of the genre should keep The Sinking City 2 in mind. Those who enjoyed the first game may feel a slight disappointment, and although I initially had mixed feelings too, I ended up having a lot of fun with the game. Frogwares took a risk by ditching the detective elements, but it’s worked out very well.

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I’d hoped for more from Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. Arc System Works created a gorgeous and well-crafted fighter, but there are too many aspects here that leave me with mixed feelings; the mediocre storyline and slow matchmaking are things I can get over, but issues with the combat system are something I simply cannot overlook. Tokon offers a dozen or so hours of solid entertainment, but it’s really best suited to casual games with friends – it won’t take the fighting game scene by storm.

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Beast of Reincarnation provides a very engaging, organic exploration with remarkable freedom of movement. It is also full of systems that aren’t always well designed and tedious cutscenes that take ages to tell a relatively simple story. It’s a decent game that comes very close to being really good, but the latter half drags it down by neglecting its greatest strengths. Ultimately, I still think the game is worth a go for fans of the genre.

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The greatest strengths of Halo: Campaign Evolved come from the quality of the original itself, as Combat Evolved remains, even after 25 years, a superb shooter. Long-time fans of the series will enjoy the remake if nostalgia is enough to win them over, but they may quickly spot some flaws – from graphics that are beautiful but hard to read to a poor remaster of the iconic soundtrack. New players would be better off trying the original or the Anniversary Edition.

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ZERO PARADES is a game that needlessly sabotages itself by offering a knock-off of Disco Elysium writing style instead of developing its own voice. It’s a shame, because in terms of plot structure and gameplay, the new ZA/UM game surpasses its predecessor in places, so if only they’d focused on doing things their own way, we could have ended up with something truly remarkable.

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This is perhaps the best Assassin’s Creed game I’ve ever played. Black Flag, whilst a game with a vast, open world, still holds onto what the series once stood for. It holds onto its character. Because of this, I didn’t even mind the flaws all that much – the ones I’d subconsciously linked to that old, well-worn and much-loved Assassin’s Creed series. With Black Flag Resynced, Ubisoft has brought out the very best in the game, reminding us once again why this series became so popular.

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Despite my pre-release trepidation, the new Star Fox lived up to my expectations. It's a competent reboot of a cult classic from years past.

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Alkimia has delivered a game that captures the strengths of its predecessor, led by a brilliantly constructed world and the brutal harshness of life in the Mining Valley. Defying contemporary trends, Gothic Remake doesn’t hold the player’s hand and rewards them with a great sense of satisfaction as they make progress. It’s just a shame that we’ve ended up with a game plagued by so many bugs.

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007: First Light is a brilliant example of the potential that still exists in well-made single-player action games. Not a single cent of the considerable budget has been wasted – we’ve been treated to a superb, immersive spectacle that blurs the line between engaging gameplay and an interactive film. The somewhat drawn-out ending or a few simplified mechanics do nothing to spoil the overall impression, as it’s been a long time since I played a game where individual scenes and moments stuck so firmly in my memory.

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Directive 8020 was supposed to mark a new chapter for The Dark Pictures anthology, but the gulf between this game and The Quarry is so wide it’s as if they’d been made by completely different studios. The subject matter was highly promising, but ultimately only a few plot threads made the time spent with Directive 8020 not entirely wasted. I haven't seen such a mediocre space horror film in ages – where, this time, no one could hear me yawn.

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Yoshi and the Mysterious Book will appeal to players who enjoy exploration and an experimental approach to gameplay, as well as those seeking a relaxing experience. Although I personally prefer a slightly greater challenge and more motivation to achieve 100% completion, I certainly don’t regret the dozen or so pleasant hours I spent playing the game.

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This is a really great game for all Batman fans. It can be a bit rough around the edges technically, and the gameplay is a bit too basic at times, but it’s hard not to appreciate just how much the developers love the Dark Knight in all his incarnations.

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I’m as captivated as I am frustrated by Forza Horizon 6. It’s still the best open-world racing game on the market and I intend to spend hundreds of hours playing it – but after a four-year wait and significant competition, I was expecting more innovation. It’s simply more of the same, just on a fresh and beautiful map.

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You won’t find a challenge in Mixtape, just a superbly directed adventure in which teenage fears, stunts and drama intertwine with dreamlike imagination and pure, unbridled fun, all carried by one of the best video game soundtracks of the year. And that’s quite enough for me; as someone who remembers rewinding a cassette tape with a pencil, I had a brilliant time.

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Speaking as a fan of Returnal, Saros brought me hours and hours of fantastic fun; I couldn’t get enough of the beauty of this dark world. The game’s biggest problem is its simplified and safe approach; there isn’t enough originality or confidence in its own design vision. If you’ve played the previous game, you’ll get more of the same.

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Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred was a lot of fun; new systems are deeper and more interesting than those in Vessel of Hatred, the Warlock is a fantastic class, and the narrative issues in the campaign are of little consequence in this genre. It’s just a shame that the expansion doesn’t so much expand the game into new, uncharted territory as simply patch up its shaky foundations.

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