Dining for two

At a time when many of us are in particular need of distractions, the videogame industry is delivering like never before. We’re struggling to recall a year whose opening months were quite this packed – indeed, it’s left us with little free time for anything else. This issue alone, we’ve spent 60 hours with one game, and almost 50 in another. Our current save in a third has just passed the 35-hour mark, while after being told a fourth would last us a dozen hours, we find ourselves still captivated by its world after a dozen more.

We’re feasting, as they say. But while just one of these would be enough to fill many a long evening, we don’t all play one game to the exclusion of all others. Having spent a good chunk of the past few weeks perusing the menus in Gran Turismo 7’s GT Café, we’ve naturally been thinking about flavour pairings. So which two dishes from this issue’s selection would go best together?

For starters, how about the irresistible power trips of Destiny 2: The Witch Queen and Korean MMORPG Lost Ark? A pairing of sci-fi and fantasy could be just the ticket. Or, for something a little chewier, why not intersperse dialogue-heavy tactical RPG Triangle Strategy with Total War: Warhammer III, where you can let your armies do the talking on the battlefield? Or maybe you’d prefer something more nostalgic, in which case we’d recommend the retroinspired Tunic and A Musical Story, throwing back to ’90s videogames and ’70s hedonism respectively.

But there’s one pairing that stands out above the rest. In Elden Ring, FromSoft has prepared the equivalent of a Michelin-standard dish, but this exquisite platter is not always easy to swallow. In which case, might we suggest the smooth flavour of Kirby And The Forgotten Land? It might just be the ideal palate cleanser, making the banquet Miyazaki and team have served up that bit more digestible.