Hades is a sublime mix of satisfyingly gritty and flexible combat, a wonderfully vibrant art style and genuinely fun and engaging narrative. Supergiant Games has an excellent track record thus far but this really does feel its finest hour, a rip-roaring rampage through the underworld that's arrived here on Switch in a port that's nigh-on perfect. Even if you're yet to be swayed by the admittedly repetitive ebb and flow of the roguelike genre, we passionately urge you to at least give this one a try; for fans of the genre or anyone even remotely interested, this is one heavenly vision of hell that we highly recommend you sacrifice yourself to.
Quake returns in a feature-rich remaster that delicately updates the classic FPS, adding lots of optional bells and whistles, packing in a ton of content and delivering the definitive way to play this 25-year-old masterpiece in the process. There's a wealth of online and co-op options here, a glorious new expansion to blast through from MachineGames, super slick performance in both docked and handheld modes and it's all available at a cracking price point. This really is a stellar port of one gaming's true greats and an absolutely essential addition to your Switch library.
Metroid Dread is a triumphant return for both Samus Aran and developer MercurySteam.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a genuine masterpiece and the highlight of Monolith Soft's superb series thus far. There's an emotionally-charged and surprisingly edgy epic to get stuck into here, a sprawling and hugely engaging narrative populated by a cast of unforgettable characters that's backed up by some of the very best combat we've had the pleasure of getting to grips with in this genre to date. Over 100 hours into this one, we're as captivated now as we were when we first booted it up and it has more than delivered every bit of the adventure, emotion, and action that its key art promised it might. Aionios awaits, it's time to seize the future.
Bayonetta 3 cranks up the chaos, improves the combat, polishes the level design, and adds a ton of new mechanics to the mix, making for the very best entry in this storied series to date. PlatinumGames has absolutely nailed it this time around, carefully layering on more ways to engage enemies, piling on the OTT gameplay sequences, and giving us multiple protagonists without upsetting the balance of what makes these games amongst the very best examples of their genre. With excellent performance in docked and handheld modes, incredible visuals, non-stop action, and a hugely replayable campaign that's a joy from start to finish, this really is a huge celebration of everything we love about Bayonetta, an action all-timer and one of the biggest highlights of 2022, on Switch or any platform.
Just like it did with the excellent Torna – The Golden Country, Monolith Soft has given us a carefully refined prequel experience here, adding to and improving upon core combat and exploration elements that were already best-in-class. Xenoblade Chronicles 3's delightful battle system feels better than ever, its stunning landscapes are packed full of exploration that's been reinvigorated thanks to the new Affinity system and there's enough emotion and revelations packed in to satisfy the most ardent of Xenoblade fans. It also provides something of a clean slate going forward for this most intriguing of franchises. Where will the world of Xenoblade take us next? We cannot wait to find out.
Quake II arrives on Switch in the form of one of the very best remasters we've ever had the pleasure of digging into. With enhanced graphics and audio, refined AI, all-new animations, the iD Vault, a brand new episode, and all previously released DLC in the mix - plus the N64 version - this is an exhaustive package that Quake fans are absolutely gonna eat up. Add in crossplay support, gyro controls, and lots of co-op and competitive ways to play locally and online, and you've got an absolutely outstanding release.
Pentiment is a fantastic adventure RPG that revels in a studious approach to history and immaculate recreations of the styles and traditions of 16th-century Bavaria. There's a super smart, funny, and engaging murder mystery to investigate here, but it's how that mystery is so fully rooted in the world that's been lovingly crafted around it that really elevates this experience. It's one of the best games of the past decade, hands down, and to have that experience running and performing perfectly on Switch is a joyous thing - it feels like it was made for Nintendo's console. This is about as essential as games get.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar's greatest achievement to date – an epic Western masterpiece set in a phenomenally-detailed recreation of 1890's America. Top-notch acting across the board brings its beautifully-written cast of characters to life and the riveting central story is surrounded on all sides by an almost endless array of deep and satisfying side activities that serve to further ground you in the life and times of Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang. A must-have title for your Xbox One.
Elden Ring is a crowning achievement for FromSoftware and undoubtedly the very best gameplay experience they've yet delivered - and that's really saying something given this developer's incredible back catalogue. The Lands Between deftly combine breathless open world exploration, stunning artistry, immaculate world-building and wondrous adventure with classic Dark Souls combat and dungeon-crawling, resulting in not just the best Souls game to date, but a candidate for one of the very best video games ever made.
Immortality is easily Sam Barlow's best game to date and, when you consider the delights he's served up previously, well, you get an idea of just how good this one really is. It's a dazzling display from any angle you to choose to admire it; top-notch acting, brilliant writing, a core mechanic that's complex but carried off with style and grace, intuitive controls that draw you into your role...just remember to avoid spoilers, dive into the mystery of Marissa Marcel completely unsullied, and you're in for one of the most exquisite gaming experiences of this year, or any other, by quite some distance.
Get busy unlocking new powers, blinking in behind bad guys, stabbing and shooting and skulking around, scouring environments for clues, choosing which lead to follow next as you push and pull and probe every corner, every wrinkle of this labyrinthian puzzle box. And it's on Game Pass too? You're spoiling us, Microsoft.
Sea of Stars is an exhilarating and absorbing indie gem that serves up delightfully clever turn-based RPG action in a world that's packed full of great characters, fun puzzles and genuine emotional heft. Sabotage Studios served up a bonafide banger with 2018's The Messenger, but this time around they've gone a step further, crafting an RPG adventure that's every bit the equal of the stone-cold classics it takes inspiration from. Don't spoil this one for yourself, dive in as blind as you can and enjoy a truly magical journey that's easily one of the best games you'll play this year and an absolutely essential addition to Xbox Game Pass.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a genuine all-timer, this really is as good as RPGs get, and it's an all-timer that's arrived on Series X in fine form aside from a pesky issue with deleted saves. Returning to Baldur's Gate and successfully serving up the best entry in the series to date must have been an absolutely monumental task, but Larian Studios has managed it with style to spare. With top class combat, writing, acting and world-building hiding all of the terrifying intricacies of a refreshed D&D rulebook, letting us players just get on with the fun stuff, there really is no finer adventure to take in 2023. What an absolute belter, and a perfect way to wrap up this most problematic of years in the industry.
Hyper Light Drifter is one of the most perfectly balanced, stylish and intriguing action RPGs of recent times.
Darkest Dungeon is one of the most atmospheric games I've played in a very long time, it nails its core concept and delivers an exceptionally well-crafted and interesting dungeon crawler that will take you hundreds of terrifying hours to see through to its ludicrous ending.
It may not be genre-defining like its progenitor but it's easily the best shooter on the current crop of consoles and one of the finest first person shooters of recent years.
It's hard to find fault with the bigger picture Capcom has in mind here and, assuming the online issues are dealt with quickly at launch and the rest of the game modes arrive as promised, this is looking like a perfect round.
It's a game that creates moments you'll remember with characters you've created and care about and is quite possibly the best example of its genre to date.
Double Fine has done another great on remastering a classic, delicately updating it in such a way that what stood out in 1993 stands out all over again more than 20 years later.