Animal Crossing New Horizons

Hitting right at the start of the pandemic, New Horizons was a global sensation that not only kept people occupied while under quarantine, but offered creative new ways to hang out with friends and engage with the wider world. Whether you were just checking in daily to welcome new animal friends and collect materials from around your island, or becoming obsessed with trading turnips and finding the most efficient path to your dream paradise, this is the nicest iteration of Nintendo’s slow life sim to date; even separated from its role as a soothing balm for a world hurting from social isolation.

Demon's Souls

A stunning aesthetic polish has not only brought 2009’s Demon’s Souls into the PlayStation 5 era, it’s also made it the prettiest game launching this new generation of consoles. Fortunately the non-visual elements barely needed touching at all, so fully realised was FromSoftware’s original vision. It's not as refined as Bloodborne, as expansive as Dark Souls, or as coherent as Sekiro, but it’s staggering just how much of the Soulsborne experience is present in what is essentially the prototype. This game is every bit as challenging and mesmerising as its successors are; a rare feat for an 11-year-old title.

Spelunky 2

The enduringly celebrated indie darling Spelunky brought the rougelike genre to the gaming consciousness at large, and this sequel puts it back on top of the pile. Each randomised level is composed of mysteries that may kill or reward you and/or your friends in ways you can’t anticipate — meaning your task is as much about deciphering a language as about whipping and bombing — making for constant and hilarious fear for newcomers and seasoned spelunkers alike. Never has a constant loop of dying and starting all over again been so charming, so compelling, so full of rideable turkeys.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Assassin’s Creed isn’t really about assassin’s anymore. Nor creeds. Parkour playgrounds disguised as historic cities have faded into memory and the stoic, stabby protagonists barely even wear those once-iconic hoods. But with Valhalla the series has finally gained more than it lost in its rebirth era. Eivor’s tale of brutal Viking conquest, of fate and destiny and the gods, and of the strange land called England, is the series’ best structured outing in an age. It’s a gorgeous tale well told, and though it lacks the kinetic thrills of early years the other series pillar — history — shines like never before.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Expanding on and refining one of the greatest superhero games ever made, Miles Morales re-uses a lot of what made its predecessor great, but it also injects more heart and personality with a fresh new story while streamlining and smoothing gameplay for an overall spectacular experience. Miles is a far more interesting hero than Peter Parker, with a more tangible emotional connection to the people and neighbourhood he’s fighting to keep safe. Meanwhile the web-slinging and wall-crawling are as effortlessly cool as ever, combat is expanded, visuals and performance much enhanced (on PS5) and the side-stories pleasingly relevant and rewarding.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

If a game conjures joy from the simple act of moving a tiny character around a screen, it’s usually onto something special. And few games do this as well as Will of the Wisps, a gorgeous 2D metroidvania that just begs to be double-jumped and launched across. Though a compact experience, it’s compelling from start to finish. As Ori’s power grows, so too does your enjoyment: as your double-jump becomes a triple-jump, and your launch becomes more powerful, previously inaccessible paths reveal their secrets. These centimetre-perfect mechanics are layered with a beautiful aesthetic, too; part Studio Ghibli whimsy, part Saturday Disney primary colours.

Gears Tactics

The meatheads and mutilations of Microsoft's flagship shooter franchise might seem incompatible with the fastidiousness of turn-based tactics, but not only does Gears Tactics work, it brings an aggressive new flavour to the genre that separates it from clear inspiration XCOM. Just about everything from the Gears games — the cover-taking, the ground-tunnelling enemies, the executions, even the chainsaw bayonets — has been codified into an addictively strategic experience you can play at your own pace here. On top of that the constant flow of recruitable characters, upgradeable abilities and new monsters keeps things fresh and exciting.

Doom Eternal

While the onslaught of gun-fu is clearly designed to overwhelm with pace and goriness, it’s the meticulous balance of resources underneath that make this game a masterpiece. Breakneck frenzy has never felt this considered. Players are constantly short of health, ammo, and armour, but all three of these are in abundant supply; if you slay foes in the correct manner. This system turns every instance of demon-splattering into a real-time exercise in breathless bookkeeping, and the result is a far more strategic, engaging shoot-em-up than the crimson-spattered surface would suggest. Doom Eternal is bloody, and it is brilliant.

The Last of Us Part II

Blending cutting edge technology and silky big-budget design with stellar cinematic and literary storytelling, this tale exploring the depths and consequences of revenge was the height of Hollywood-style interactive drama this year. While the idea of believing in (and playing as) a morally compromised character was explored in the original, it’s taken to extremes here for some genuinely uncomfortable experiences as well as moments of soulful compassion, challenging the way we tend to regard and celebrate violence in pop culture. Narrative ambition aside this is also a masterpiece in a technical sense, with the fidelity in the smallest corners of the world frankly excessive, from the hyper-detailed gun-cleaning animations to some unprecedented feats of physics.