Gods and Monsters

With its painterly, storybook aesthetic and promise of a wide-open hero’s adventure, this mythological Ubisoft adventure will intrigue anyone who’s patiently waiting for a sequel to Zelda: Breath of the Wild. From the developers of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, it sends the player out to face creatures drawn from the gnarliest Greek legends and rescue the gods. Release date: February (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Project Scarlett, Google Stadia, Nintendo Switch)

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Spirit … Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Photograph: Microsoft

A platform game for anyone who thinks video games are too easy these days, Ori draws its play inspiration from classics such as Mario, Mega Man and Metroid, but its looks are bang up to date. Guiding a spirit through an intensely beautiful forest, you’ll come up against puzzles and obstacles that challenge both your mind and your reflexes. Let’s hope they’re still sharp.

Release date: 11 February (PC, Xbox One)

Originally released in 1997, Final Fantasy VII is one of the most beloved and acclaimed role-playing titles of all time. Under the direction of principal character artist Tetsuya Nomura, the remake is a complete update of the ecologically themed adventure with rebuilt environments and a modern, highly customisable combat system. Expectations are high and early hands-on reports suggest we won’t be disappointed. Release date: 3 March (PS4)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Nintendo’s legendarily adorable time-sink returns – only this time, instead of starting a new life in a town populated by kooky animals, you’ve got a whole deserted island to shape to your desires, making everything from furniture, houses and signage to neat threads. As ever, the true joy will be found in being invited to other players’ paradises and nicking their fruit trees.

Release date: 20 March (Nintendo Switch)

Doom Eternal

A direct sequel to the 2016 Doom reboot (which brilliantly updated the classic formula with lashing of gore and incredible turbo-charged pace), Eternal doesn’t mess too much with the format. You’re still the Doom Slayer, charging through a hellish landscape blasting demons with shotguns or dismembering them with chainsaws. This time however, you can dissect your fallen foe to discover new weapons and ammo.

Release date: 20 March (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Nintendo Switch)

High-wire act … Half-Life: Alyx. Photograph: Valve Corporation

It might not be the Half-Life sequel that fans have been praying for since Half Life 2: Episode Two, but this VR-exclusive return to the legendary sci-fi shooter series might be as close as we get. Set between Half-Life and Half-Life 2, the action follows resistance leader Alyx Vance as she fights back against the Combine. Designed specifically for virtual reality headsets and motion controllers, this could be a groundbreaking gaming experience.

Release date: March (PC)

Cyberpunk 2077

The latest open-world role-playing adventure from the creators of the Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077 promises an epic dystopian fantasy filled with prosthetically enhanced hacker gangs, devastating weapons and sprawling neon-lit cityscapes. You’re a mercenary on the hunt for a life-extending augmentation, and how you get it is entirely up to you. If that isn’t enough, it stars Keanu Reeves.

Release date: 16 April (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia)

Grounded

Characterful … Grounded. Photograph: Microsoft

Think Honey, I Shrunk the Kids as a cooperative survival game, where everyday objects and common bugs are massive and pose a sudden threat to your team of miniaturised kids in a suburban garden. Grounded looks characterful, colourful and approachable where survival games are often grim, unforgiving and unwelcoming.

Release date: spring 2020 (PC, Xbox One)

The Last of Us Part II

Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic adventure ended in a fittingly ambiguous way back in 2013, so the sequel, which takes place five years later, has a lot of work to do. Ellie is now 19 and, although monstrous mutants and deadly cults still roam America, she is living in a seemingly peaceful settlement – until a tragedy occurs setting off a brutal revenge narrative. Expect violence and emotion in equal measure.

Release date: 29 May (PS4)

Ghost of Tsushima

Not confirmed for 2020 but likely to be a PlayStation 5 launch title, Ghost of Tsushima is an absurdly good-looking samurai game that pays loving tribute to the classic films of the genre. If you’re excited by the idea of tense life-or-death swordfights under falling cherry blossoms, this is one to watch.

Release date: Summer 2020 (PS4)

Tell Me Why

Another game about teen emotions from the developers of Life Is Strange, Tell Me Why is about a pair of twins, one of whom is a trans man, reckoning with the events of their childhood in small-town Alaska. Their differing recollections of events should introduce interesting narrative tension.

Release date: mid-2020 (PC, Xbox One)

Blizzard Entertainment’s bright first-person shooter added much-needed character to the online multiplayer gaming scene – but offered little in the way of narrative. The sequel brings new characters and maps as well as a full story mode, pitching our heroes against the Null Sector robot army in co-operative quests, while replayable “hero missions” allow characters to unlock new items. More of an expansion than a conventional sequel, it promises plenty of fresh challenges.

Release date: TBC (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

Minecraft Dungeons

A promising spinoff from the multimillion-selling construction game, Minecraft Dungeons puts players into groups of four adventurers raiding stylishly blocky tombs and tunnels to find treasure and kill enemies. There’s no building to do, just lots of traps, puzzles and monsters to contend with and a host of procedurally generated worlds to explore.

Release date: TBC (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

Watch Dogs: Legion

The innovative open-world adventure returns with another critique on surveillance capitalism, this time set in a London that has become a technologically advanced police state. Players align with local members of the DedSec hacking group, recruiting new activists and striking back against the system. We’re promised a vast, highly detailed version of the near-future capital and a thrilling resistance narrative.

Release date: TBC (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Project Scarlett, Google Stadia)

Soaring … Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Microsoft’s landmark sim gets its first major update for a decade and, thanks to modern mapping and cloud-computing technologies, it will apparently recreate the entire planet (including 2 million towns and cities) as well as real-world weather conditions. We’re also promised dozens of licensed aircraft and a modifiable simulation engine that alters the flight difficulty, welcoming both wannabe pilots and players who just want to do a loop-the-loop in a 747.

Release date: TBC (PC, Xbox One)

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

It’s about time someone made a game that truly innovated on the battle royale formula – and this looks like it. As with Fortnite, 100 players are dropped into the world until only one remains, but there are no guns. Instead participants have to run through a colourful obstacle course crammed with swinging battering rams and giant boulders until someone reaches the finishing post. Like It’s a Knockout for millennials.

Release date: TBC (PC, PS4)

Psychonauts 2

Telekinetic … Psychonauts 2 Photograph: Double Fine

The long-awaited sequel to one of the weirdest, best and most underrated platform games ever made, 2005’s Psychonauts. You’re a strange kid with telekinetic powers, journeying through the minds of other equally odd characters, whose preoccupations and personality flaws are writ large. If Tim Burton made games, they’d look a lot like this.

Release date: TBC (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Empire of Sin

From veteran video game designers Brenda and John Romero, Empire of Sin is your chance to live the life of a mafia boss in prohibition-era Chicago, recruiting, manipulating and occasionally murdering mobsters to spread your influence (and hooch) across the city. A sim game about crime and characters rather than historical battles or city-building.

Release date: TBC (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Nintendo Switch)

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

Newfangled mythology … Vampire: The Masquerade. Photograph: Hardsuit Labs/Paradox Interactive

A game nobody thought would ever see the light of day, given that it’s been 15 years since the last game based on the rich, sexy World of Darkness vampire mythology, Bloodlines 2 is all about the choices that you make and the alliances you forge in the dark. Set in near-future Seattle, it promises an unforgettably brooding story.

Release date: TBC (PC, PS4 Xbox One)

Halo Infinite

Yes, sure, it’s shooting aliens, but Halo has consistently offered some of the best alien-shooting out there, so you can hardly blame people for getting excited about Master Chief and his arsenal of pleasingly improbable sci-fi weapons. Expect awe-inspiring visual spectacle and, hopefully, excellent multiplayer.

Release date: winter (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Project Scarlett)