Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment

Talking about Dynasty Warriors: Origins in E414, Omega Force producer Tomohiko Sho described the series' essence as “that exhilarating feeling of one versus one thousand”. The exhilaration remains in Age Of Imprisonment, but the feeling is a little different. Perhaps that's partly because its maker has relinquished the reins; this is the debut of Koei Tecmo's new AAA Games Studio, a deliberately generic name untethered from brand associations and therefore fan expectations. Either way, no previous musou game – mainline or spinoff – has ever made it more apparent that you're not facing those thousand opponents alone.

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It's a very fine coop game, in other words, but it plays like one even when you're on your own. Just as its predecessor made great use of Breath Of The Wild's toys, Imprisonment experiments with Tears Of The Kingdom's expansive toolkit to delightfully extravagant effect. It's a thrilling blend of sufficiently advanced technology and magic; combat as chemistry set. You might set down a Zonai fire emitter with one hero before switching in another who can harness the wind, sending flaming tornadoes toward a towering foe. After recruiting more of Hyrule's elemental sages, you'll be able to combine electricity and water, with predictably shocking results.