As an actor, Doug Cockle is no stranger to unsettling workplaces. From battling Nazis in Spielberg's Band of Brothers to rubbing shoulders with Christian Bale in dragon romp Reign of Fire, disappearing into a role on set – whatever the set may be – has become second nature. Yet when he landed his first video game role in 2001, Cockle found himself suddenly standing completely alone in a vocal booth. "It is bizarre," he says. "You just have to be in the character in that moment in that world, in your brain. On stage and screen, you have other actors, you have props, costumes … all these things that are helping you do this thing called'acting'. Cockle got into video game work while filling in his Hollywood downtime by contributing additional voices to PS2 games such as Timesplitters 2. Inadvertently he was laying the foundations for acting in this fledgling medium. He has now appeared in more than 45 video games, including last year's megahits Baldur's Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2, though he is best known for voicing the gravelly Witcher, Geralt of Rivia. "There weren't a lot of voices in video games when I started out,' Cockle recalls.

The summer holidays are upon us, as are the immense tasks of navigating long trips, airports and keeping children amused for what feels like 400 days with no school. Video games can be a godsend for parents at this time, but there is a delicate balance to be struck: for kids, you want something entertaining enough to keep them out of your hair for a while, but not so addictive that you lose them completely for weeks on end. For adults, you need something you can play in the brief snatches of time when you're not making someone a snack. These are the best video games to keep everyone happy during the summer holidays, for every kind of scenario and gamer. Being stuck in the car or a hotel room can be enough to drive anyone crazy, let alone bored kids.

The latest Final Fantasy video game is being scorched for not catering to diversity and identity politics. Final Fantasy XVI is the latest installment of one of the most popular video game series going back to 1987. Despite largely being made by Japanese game developers, many installments of this series, especially in its early days, were influenced by Western European fantasy settings and tropes. While some more recent Final Fantasy games have leaned toward science-fiction, Final Fantasy XVI is a return to form. But being set in a European medieval fantasy setting does not protect it from woke critique.

I was reminded of the understated farcical comedy masterwork that is Untitled Goose Game recently, after walking through Regent's Park and seeing Canada geese and their goslings honking at tourists. I was with a friend who had never heard of it, and so a couple of hours later we were playing it on the Switch in a pub, honking and flapping and making life difficult for any human unfortunate enough to cross our path. The sheer physical comedy of the game – the goose's waddling gait, the appalled reactions of the villagers, the mischievous glee of running away from a gardener with a trowel in my beak and throwing it into the pond – is delightful. If anything, it's even funnier now, because you can play with two geese (one of you can run interference while the other steals sandwiches). When people talk about funny video games, they often mention Monkey Island or Sam and Max – games with quippy writing and witty characters, wordplay, and self-referential puzzle design.

Square Enix wants a hit Final Fantasy game that's just as popular as any game in the storied history. It's taken seven years to get from the tepidly-received Final Fantasy XV to Final Fantasy XVI, and the company continues to wrestle with what a FF game is in 2023. The company courted nostalgia with FF7 Remake (and the Pixel Remaster series). At the same time, its MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV, continues to be a huge success – but what about the prestige title? It has a plan, and it involves giant-summoned monster battles with different styles of play, a single controllable protagonist with guest-star allies, a support dog that grows up with you, horny antagonists, wicked moms and several bleak plot twists to help establish the plot and characters relatively early on.

The absence of the E3 expo in Los Angeles for the past two years has left a gigantic vacuum in the video game calendar. Last week, the industry did its best to fill that gaping content maw with three online events – the Summer Game fest, the Xbox and Bethesda showcase and the PC gaming show. They were underwhelming for many seasoned players. Major reveals included a remake of The Last of Us, a remake of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Street Fighter 6, Final Fantasy XVI and news about the reimagining of the classic role-player System Shock. Even fresh titles seemed familiar.