Elden Ring (Xbox One/Series S/Series X, PlayStation 4/5, PC) The long-awaited fantasy epic from Dark Souls’ creators FromSoftware, with narrative input from George RR Martin. It combines a huge, detailed open world, inhabited by everything from dragons and wolves to trolls and patrolling soldiers, with the developer’s signature heart-in-mouth, swords-and-sorcery combat. An intriguing world to discover alone, or with other players. Stray (PlayStation 4/5, PC) A game about being a cat in a cyberpunk city, using your feline agility and talent for blending into the background to spy on the robots who live there, and fit into the hidden urban spaces that aren’t ordinarily seen. In development for years, this mysterious game has only become more intriguing with each delay. Ghostwire: Tokyo (PlayStation 5, PC) Imagine that something mysterious has happened in Japan’s capital, leaving it almost entirely devoid of people and populated instead by ghosts. And then you have to fight the ghosts, with your bare hands. That’s Ghostwire: Tokyo, a game whose visual effects alone make it worthy of notice. God of War Ragnarök (PlayStation 4/5) Put-upon former Greek God-botherer Kratos, now a grumpy widower, continues his journey through Norse mythology with his adolescent son in this visually stunning and viscerally violent action game. Having made some troubling discoveries and angered a whole bunch of Norse gods in their previous adventure, they must tread carefully through these fabled realms. Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals (PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5) The star feature of 2016’s spooky, character-driven thriller Oxenfree was its conversation. Its characters carry on natural-feeling dialogue throughout, as you investigate the goings-on at a mysterious island where local teens have long gathered to party. Not much is known about this sequel, but the developer’s talent for atmosphere makes it one to watch. Splatoon 3 (Nintendo Switch) This wacky series of paint-splattering kid-friendly shooters is the poster child of the new school of Nintendo game design, where every idea gets a fair shot. Frenetic, colourful and unassailably stylish, play in a team vying to cover funky urban maps in colourful ink. The squid game that everybody should be talking about. Horizon Forbidden West (PlayStation 4/5) Flame-haired robot dinosaur slayer Aloy returns in this PlayStation 5 flagship game, which has us exploring the far reaches of a North American continent that has long since been returned to nature – apart from all the killer machines. Expect to be stunned by how realistic this world looks, and touched by the stories to be found within it. Gran Turismo 7 (PlayStation 4/5) The ultimate in realistic racing games, made by the world’s most obsessive motor sports enthusiasts at Polyphony Digital in Japan. Drive around fastidiously detailed tracks in all kinds of changing weather, in pristine, beautiful cars that would be entirely out of reach in real life. Petrolheads are likely to spend as much time gawping at the vehicles as driving them. Starfield (Xbox Series X/S, PC) A sci-fi role-playing epic from Bethesda, makers of the famously absorbing Elder Scrolls series of fantasy games. Create a space explorer in your own image, and spend hundreds of hours jetting about nearby star systems. We’ve not had much in the way of landmark sci-fi games since the Mass Effect series, so hopes are high for this. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (Nintendo Switch) It still doesn’t have an official title, but Nintendo’s sequel to its most ambitious Zelda game is looming on the horizon. If it offers anything like the scope and variety of its predecessor, where every shrine, forest or distant encampment of monsters promised something interesting to discover, it will be a game that you could spend the whole year playing.