Capcom’s long-awaited sci-fi action-adventure - announced in 2020, delayed indefinitely in 2023, finally here and better than expected. The primary draw is obviously the hacking-grid-while-in-combat mechanic: it sounds fiddly but works surprisingly well in practice, and the game layers in new ideas at a good clip. The dialogue is a bit on-the-nose and the story hits familiar beats, but it’s well-paced, short, and the collectables are genuinely fun to chase. After playing the demo I didn’t expect to get much more out of this, but really glad to’ve been proven wrong.

Sony Pictures has confirmed an R-rated animated adaptation of FromSoftware’s Bloodborne, with studio exec Sanford Panitch promising it’ll stay “very true” to the game’s gothic brutality. It’s co-produced by PlayStation Productions, Lyrical Animation, and YouTuber Seán “JackSepticEye” McLoughlin. Amazing we’re getting a film before 60fps, but we’ll take it!

Pearl Abyss’s MMO roots are all over this - the progression systems, the menu clunk, the forgettable story - but what that DNA also buys is a staggering amount of content with genuine variety. The world is massive and beautiful, clearly built on a love of BOTW and RDR2, though the “immersive” interactions don’t always land and the movement, even post-patch, still isn’t where it needs to be. I also wish they’d just given us a character creator. There’s a lot to improve, but somehow it doesn’t matter a whole lot: the world has that rare, old-fashioned wanderlust that keeps you riding toward the next horizon just to see what’s there.

Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel’s long-awaited tactics roguelite is here and it may very well prove to be their best work. It looks like a silly little cat game - and it is - but underneath is a staggeringly deep mix of Final Fantasy Tactics-style combat, roguelite progression, cat breeding genetics, life sim management and draft-based build crafting that just keeps opening up the further you go. Every run surfaces new synergies, new absurdity, new reasons to keep breeding nightmare cats. Wildly impressive, insanely moreish. It really feels like the culmination of what a couple of gamedesign nutters have been building towards.

Team Ninja’s return to the franchise is a confident evolution. The dual Samurai and Ninja style system adds real depth to an already unbelievably satisfying combat engine, and the ‘open field’ structure works far better IMO. It is, by a wide margin, the easiest Nioh - which is a little disappointing - but the trade-off is a different kind of fun: less punishing, more expressive, and very hard to put down.

An incremental game about growing berries and feeding them to a hole… and it’s far more compelling than that sounds. The loop is absurdly addictive, the presentation has just enough creep to keep you curious, and the whole thing is over in about 10 hours before it outstays its welcome. Great little game.

Neva: Prologue is a prequel DLC telling the story of how Alba and the wolf cub first met, launching February 19. New enemies, mechanics and locations are promised. Neva was ‘fine’, so a tighter, more focused prologue could work.

Sucker Punch confirmed Ghost of Yōtei Legends launches March 10 as a free update for all Yōtei players. It’s a cooperative multiplayer mode with distinct character classes, three mission types, earnable cosmetics and a Raid coming later. If it’s anything like what Tsushima’s Legends mode became, I’m sure there’s fun to be had.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is coming to PC on March 19 via Steam and Epic, with new features and modes arriving on PS5 the same day as a free update. Obviously loved DS2, so glad PC players get to experience it.

An ambitious gacha mixing real-time combat, Satisfactory-like base-building, and a grab-bag of other systems and minigames. The factory sim and automation are what you’d expect (if simplified), the presentation genuinely impressive, but tutorial bloat and predatory pulls may test your patience… and your wallet.