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Gears of War: E-Day successfully fulfils its mission of returning to the roots of the series, whilst offering noticeable improvements over all previous instalments and reminding us once again of the horror of the Locust. Unfortunately, it also suffers from issues with pacing and enemy AI, while pushing Marcus into the background in favour of a new character. Nevertheless, this dynamic, emotional and extremely brutal shooter should appeal to all fans of the series – and many others as well.

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is one of the best entries in the series and a must-play for fans of JRPGs and tactical games. It draws inspiration not only from Three Houses, but also from earlier instalments in the series, featuring excellent map design, satisfying gameplay and a tremendous amount of content. However, due to its sheer scale, its storyline suffers, offering a disjointed narrative with too many subplots and loose ends. Despite this, it is currently one of my contenders for GOTY.

We had to wait seven years for the release of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, but it was well worth it. The story campaign is everything I expected as a fan of the series – its minor flaws in no way detract from the fact that this is a bigger, better and more visually stunning game than its predecessor. It doesn’t break anything that worked before; instead, it takes the already high quality of the previous instalments and raises it even further – I’m absolutely delighted.

Transport Fever 3 is a wonderful new addition to the series. With more vehicles, improved graphics, more user-friendly interface, and a modding scene that’s already impressive, I’ve had an absolute blast playing TF3 – and those measly 74 hours I’ve managed to squeeze in over the weekends and late at night are just the beginning. It’s just a shame that, although the game looks lovely, it runs a touch poorly. I really wanted to give it a 9/10, but I simply couldn’t with such severe frame rate drops on high-end hardware.

In Control Resonant, two styles of game design collide: one formulaic, the other – imaginative, surprising with sequences and vistas we’d never have expected in a game like this. These two concepts somehow blend together so naturally, complementing one another, and over time the latter seems to completely dominate the former. The new Control may not have the most enticing opening, but it’s worth persevering through it, because later on it takes us on a wild ride that we’ll remember for a long time.

Townfall is a title that should particularly appeal to die-hard fans of the series, especially those who weren't keen on the changes Bloober Team made in the Silent Hill 2 remake or the genre mashups in Silent Hill f, and would prefer a more classic approach. Screen Burn Interactive has successfully captured the horror of the early entries, enhancing it with their own unique narrative and modern visuals.

Insomniac Games’ new game is a solid title that kept me entertained, though it wasn’t quite the blockbuster experience one might expect from one of this autumn’s biggest releases. The enjoyable combat system and strong narrative provide 20 hours of fun. But the constant hand-holding, lack of any meaningful variety, and a difficulty level tailored so as not to frustrate anyone… make this enjoyable experience never rise above that level. All in all, Marvel’s Wolverine is a good game. Nothing more, nothing less.

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. It 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.

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.

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.