GamesRadar+

Expansive without being intimidating, varied without being overwhelming, familiar without being tired; Elliot's adventures are wonderfully designed, consistently enjoyable, and utterly compelling. While The Adventures of Elliot: The MilleNnium Tales' writing may be more Mid than Middle-earth, the rest of the game compensates by being powerfully strong.

Brilliant, bizarre, and a bit too obnoxious for its own good, Gothic 1 Remake is a solid remake of a hugely influential RPG. Dedicated to keeping the deeply unique and unfriendly spirit of the original alive, this still feels like little else, though I can't help but wish it was willing to add more polish.

Mina the Hollower is one of the best indie games I've played in a long, long time. It borrows familiar ideas from Zelda, Dark Souls, and a million others to make its own, and offers endless choice and variety in how you carve your way through its world. It's an uncommon tribute to classic games that often surpasses the quality of the titles that inspired it.

007 First Light is Bond's best game yet thanks to smart design decisions that make this a well-rounded spy thriller. Merging together moments of blockbuster spectacle with slower-paced stealth, this understands the appeal of spycraft and is able to deliver the fantasy in ways no other game can. Starring a young James Bond, this origin story can sometimes feel like just a beginning – but what a way for this spy's career to kick off.

'Modern' Assassin's Creed is absolutely still here, but it's the adjustment of the 'classic' feel of Black Flag, rather than overhauling entirely, that makes Resynced so interesting. This is Black Flag at its best, the flagship of the Assassin's Creed series' treasure fleet flying over the waves at full sail. [Hands-On Impressions]

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a delightfully charming platforming adventure that encourages exploration, discovery, and experimentation. With a host of curious creatures to investigate that shape the different levels and all have their own abilities, every chapter succeeds at feeling varied with plenty of surprises packed in. While narratively thin, Mysterious Book's inventive creativity makes Yoshi's welcome comeback worth your time.

I happily continue to zip along Gotham, gliding into the night and generally completing various objectives and upgrading skill trees as I see fit. That's after finishing the story, which I could also go back and replay just to make sure I pick up the collectibles in them too. There's just so many little things to do, see, break, and build.

As a successor to Disco Elysium, ZA/UM's spy-fi RPG is a little too fearful to roll the dice on something new. But if the systems and themes are a little too familiar in Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, that does mean some of the old charm persists – and if you can look past the odd irritation, you'll find an NPC crew worth getting to know in Portofiro.

The best Forza Horizon game yet, delivering an astonishingly vast and detailed open world, filled with incredible features. With easily 100 hours of high quality solo content and infinite potential with community creations and online play, Forza Horizon 6 is a glorious showcase game for Xbox gaming. Just be warned the straight-laced racing gameplay is pretty tame compared to the genre's finest.

Supermassive steers The Dark Pictures Anthology toward brave new horizons in Directive 8020, and for the most part, the mission stays its course. The survival horror narrative, despite delivering chills and heart-stopping thrills aplenty, is often held back by pacing issues, plot armor, and the promising yet inconsistent implementation of series-first stealth. It's neither the best nor worst of the Dark Picture series, and while I had a pretty good time aboard the Cassiopeia, I might not become a frequent flyer.