Friday 7 October 2022 01:58 AM PETER HOSKIN reviews the pick of this week's video games  trends now

Fifa 23 (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £69.99) 

Verdict: Iteration not innovation

Rating: *** 

It's the end of Fifa. Sort of. The game developers at Electronic Arts have cut ties with the – and I have a lawyer standing over my shoulder as I type this – upstanding fellows at world football’s governing body, effectively making Fifa 23 the last of its kind. Next year, it will be EA Sports FC instead.

Does the series go out on a high? Again, sort of. What can be said of Fifa 23 is that it’s very much a Fifa game – improving on what came before it, without really changing much.

Let’s start with the improvements. The one that’s got the marketeers most excited is Fifa 23’s – ugh – Hypermotion 2 technology. Basically, more effort has been put into recreating real-life players’ movements, and, it must be said, it shows. Your shimmies and shots now have a fluidity to them that’s never really been present in Fifa before.

But more exciting, for me at least, is the inclusion of England’s Women’s Super League, as well as the French equivalent. As an equal-opportunities Manchester United supporter, I appreciate the opportunity to thrash any gender of Liverpool team.

And then? There are more improvements but few that warrant mentioning. What starts to stand out is Fifa 23’s sameish-ness. The same dodgy graphical glitches in a game that, by now, ought to be nearly photorealistic. The same money-grabbing ‘Ultimate Team’ mode. The same menus, even.

There’s none of the experimentation that brought us a fun story mode a few years ago, or the kooky Parisian intro of last year. But perhaps EA are saving that for next year, when they go it alone. So long, Fifa.

Valkyrie Elysium (PlayStation, PC, £54.99)

Verdict: Mood and monsters

Rating: **** 

Bloody Nora! No, really. The main character in this game is a valkyrie, one of the angels-on-steroids from Norse mythology, called Nora, and she doesn’t half cut up a lot of monsters with her sword. Bloody Nora, indeed.

Why she’s doing this is a little mysterious. Technically, she – that is, you – have been dispatched by an ailing Odin, chief of the gods, to the mortal realms to try and stall the end times.