Fun, summery open-world racer in one of the most beautiful locations in the world that basically doesn’t do much wrong, but lacks a bit of its own identity.

Inspired by the top class and enriched with its own, albeit too few, ideas: If you leave the From Software portfolio aside, Lies of P is one of the best things to come in the soulslike genre.

You can overlook Sea of Stars, but you shouldn't. Now or later you're going to need a modern slice of childhood like this.

Nice farming game that lacks variety over time.

The soundtrack and visuals are beyond reproach, and the mostly fun skate gameplay sees Bomb Rush Cyberfunk grappling with repetition and really annoying cops.

A space adventure that is graphically breathtaking in places, the story of which surprises, but some Bethesda strengths are unusually difficult to get going. Sci-fi fans should still take a look.

Dave the Diver is a great adventure with many elements from other genres, so it never gets boring. Only the control with mouse and keyboard takes some getting used to.

Strengthening boss battles, endless customization options and excellent gameplay make Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon a successful overall package for mech fans.

A fantastic role-playing game that shines with its story, its companions, its game world and decisions. Only bugs deny an even higher rating.

A successful multiplayer adaptation of the film franchise of the same name, which suffers from bumpy tutorials and inconsistent matchmaking.

Good ideas that fail when they are not properly implemented. Atlas Fallen is not a gameplay flop, but leaves a lot to be desired.

The rousing, fantastically beautifully animated firework of action is occasionally marred by technical and performance problems on the PC.

The most extensive and by far the best game in the series: Pikmin 4 offers franchise fans and anyone who wants to become one an all-round successful real-time strategy, where only the challenge and the lack of a real co-op mode stand out as major flaws.

Crisp third-person shooter that surpasses its predecessor with exciting fights, great boss fights and high replayability.

The wild fight against dinosaurs and the opposing team offers a wide variety of classes, but becomes monotonous far too quickly.

With amazing perspective games and surprising puzzle concepts, Viewfinder reinvents itself again and again and stands out from the genre despite a weak story and a lack of claim.

A thrillingly told mystery thriller with strong characters, difficult themes, beautiful graphics and fine sound, which is not exactly challenging in terms of gameplay, but tops the predecessor in almost every respect.

An exciting Soulslike that has to struggle with frustrating mechanics and, despite a great presentation, keeps tipping the wrong way between fun and trouble.

The coherent presentation and the original gameplay concept make Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective a very special genre title, but the puzzle passages can cause frustration at times.

Nice visual novel with exciting characters and interesting story concept, but cannot maintain its high level until the finale.

A gripping story, a dynamic combat system, and the gigantic staged esper battles make Final Fantasy 16 a feast for the eyes, ears, and fingers, while minor flaws such as weak side quests and an unstable frame rate largely fade away.

A remake that is mostly true to the original with small changes that improve the feel of the game, but compared to its genre colleagues it is no longer up-to-date.

Nicely revamped and expanded collection of atmospheric horror madness that still lacks gameplay substance.

Apart from its currently shaky state on PS5, Park Beyond is a whimsical and, most importantly, pretty park sim.

One of the best detective games of all time, with challenging brain teasers, a very free approach and a complex story. Rounded off with a grainy, well-done presentation, a must-play for amateur investigators.

Diablo 4 sees itself as a medley of final parts: Dark and complex like Diablo 2, comfortable and modern like Diablo 3. Blizzard delivers brutally well.

Technically clean and for the most part beautiful to look at, this re-imagining of a classic is driven by its story but suffers from the once-pioneering principles of the legendary original.

Outstandingly playable content monster with clever help for beginners and finesse for professionals, with which Capcom's street brawler once again places itself on the genre throne - despite a weak solo story and real-money mechanics.

Boring dialogues, even more boring fights: Loop8: Summer of Gods is respectable eye candy without substance, and despite one or the other exciting idea not worth a trip to Ashihara.

Wildfrost is an excellent roguelike deck builder, able to stand out from the crowded genre with fresh ideas and outstanding presentation. The ice-cold level of difficulty still needs a bit of fine-tuning.

Likeable characters and exciting decisions create classic Star Trek flair - despite many small technical and playful quirks.

Good ideas poorly implemented: Gollum's well-staged inner conflict in a coherent world with weaknesses that are rampant.

Tricky Lemmings-style puzzle mix with lots of cool game and design ideas.

A gripping mystery visual novel that enriches the exciting story with a few clever puzzles, the latter of which unfortunately falls short over the entire duration of the game.

Fun open-world kart racer that excels in chaotic racing but is held back by microtransactions.

Fun, extensive open-world adventure with clever puzzle chambers and a lot of focus on building plus crafting - if you already know Breath of the Wild, you will lose some of the fun of discovery.

Dredge is an incredibly motivating game with great mechanics. Black Salt Games have created an idyllic fishing adventure that never fails to show its sinister teeth.

A huge DLC that significantly improves the main game in several ways. Monster hunters don't have much to wish for here - a few online friends are still highly recommended.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a very good Star Wars adventure with strong characters, varied locations but somewhat fickle technology.

Blunt, gory, brutal - after ten years of development hell, Dead Island 2 is a good, dull action snack with no pretense or story highlights.

Dejected criticism of capitalism that offers little in terms of narrative and makes gross blunders in pacing. In terms of gameplay, too, The Last Worker is unfortunately banal.

Old-school 2D action fireworks: short, crisp, iconic. The technical implementation of the retro exotic is exemplary - we'd love to see more of it for modern consoles.

EverSpace 2 is a snazzy loot shooter with intense combat that could do better with its story and world.

Charming retro racer for high-speed purists and hunters for best times, but it's annoying with a few small details and doesn't live up to the competition.

The exciting fight for survival with motivating crafting and heavy weapons finally gets a technically worthy and significantly more handsome implementation on the PSVR2.

A wild adventure: brawls, dice games and an exciting story make Clash: Artifacts of Chaos an indie must-have.

The action-packed madness on wheels features the most terrifyingly beautiful jumpscares in VR, albeit marred by technical issues.

Capcom knows what players want: the remake of the hit song from 2005 is now the best Resident Evil of all time and inspires with a heart-stopping guarantee, top optics, lots of fresh ideas and fantastic gameplay.

Short but moving VR adventure with unique wink controls made for VR!

Fairy tale book to play yourself with an original game idea and a fantastic presentation, which enchants the inexperienced and the pros alike, but never demands too much.

Very nice indie adventure with an exciting approach - but the gameplay is lukewarm and the story doesn't really get going either.

Good game design never rusts! Project Zero 4 is a successful survival horror game with a spooky setting and a fun combat system. There are deductions for the partly old-fashioned controls and the story, which cannot keep its suspense to the end.

Technically and playfully conservative third-person shooter - everything works properly here, but if you expect highlights or surprises, you will be disappointed.

In VR, too, Resident Evil Village is a wild ride through the village of horror, which, however, suffers from well-known design weaknesses and sometimes weak adaptation for VR.

A seasoned and streamlined Nioh successor that also wants to get newcomers into the junk. The snappy fights tie you to the gamepad, even if the strangely balanced level of difficulty sometimes gnaws at your nerves.

Timeless game concept, moderate modernization: Visually, Pharaoh - A New Era could have done a lot more, and important features were also removed. Nevertheless, the city builder in ancient Egypt convinces playfully.

A charming, poetic journey by an unusual duo that falls short of expectations, sometimes annoys and occasionally inspires.

Nice setting, flat economy, boring real-time strategy. The Settlers - New Alliances is not a total catastrophe, but far from "good".

A conservative Jump'n'Run in a positive sense: playfully appealing hopping adventure - technically spotless and with a lot of additional content.

Demeo brings the coziness of the RPG basement to VR in a brilliant way, even if some extras are missing on PSVR2.

The remaster of the psychedelic railshooter classic looks even better on PSVR2, complete with overpowered but optional eye controls.

Really good real-time strategy, but not enough innovations in mechanics and scenery. Company of Heroes 3 stays true to the quality of the series without deviating from familiar paths. Only the story campaign would have needed noticeably more love.

The mini-game puzzles from What the Bat? are not really pretty or sophisticated, but wonderfully crazy in the short term.

Beautiful sequel to the HD 2D pioneer. Strong form in scope and strategic claim, with slight weaknesses in the narrative B-grade.

Naughty Monster Hunter clone struggling with technical issues. The highly innovative Karakuri and hilarious monsters save the hunt from falling into oblivion.

Despite the simple shooter passages, the lovingly staged Star Wars stories offer more content than Vader Immortal and have been thoroughly pimped for PSVR2.

The arena battles get monotonous after a while, but the thrilling climbs through the best VR settings yet make Horizon Call of the Mountain a must-have for PSVR2.

Below average from A to Z: Trashy action mix of katana fighting and shooting - technology and game mechanics undercut modern standards.

Still a smart, uplifting action-adventure hit, Samus' remastered 3D premiere has held up with great gameplay.

Atmospheric, in love with detail - but in the end too concerned about safety: Hogwarts Legacy is a really good wizarding adventure, which leaves room for improvement, especially in the story.

Cycling, photographing, enjoying: something short but wonderful narrative adventure with many exciting stories.

Entertaining, innovative, stylish and full of character. Action music game mix Hi-Fi Rush is the kind of game the word "smash hit" was coined for.

Playful, strong round tactics spectacle with many guest stars from older parts of the series, compared to whose stories the new plot seems comparatively pale.

Technically impressive remake of a modern horror classic: This Dead Space feels brutally good, sounds strong and gets on your last nerve.

The technology, which is impressive in places, stumbles over questionable design decisions, an uninspired game world and a combat system that is only visually exciting.

Solid Japanese role-playing game with decent technology, a good combat system but weaknesses in terms of demand, tension and storytelling.

Routine but immensely fun monster hunt with slack environment optics and few innovations. A few real innovations and monster graphics would be desirable.

Charmingly staged retro flashback à la Shinobi: 2D action fireworks with many bosses, but few highlights.

Creative, bold & powerful: a refreshing survival game with a surreal game world, complex game mechanics and an exciting story.

Fairytale adventure game in a beguiling open game world between Studio Ghibli, Star Wars and Zelda - despite technical stuttering a real action-adventure insider tip.

An atmospheric, empathetic but playfully limited indie adventure.

Colorful, wild alien first-person shooter with talking guns - the gritty humor hits the mark, the gameplay is just so-so.

An end-of-year Japan RPG highlight: Chained Echoes from solo developer Matthias Linda is epic, emotional, challenging and gripping. Mechanically to the point and narratively mature - a real JRPG gem.

A faithful remaster of the PSP classic: Game mechanics are a little gray, but atmospherically up to date, it works as a prequel for the original game and remake.

Too much of a good thing: The outstanding combat system, including great Marvel fan service, almost sinks into an annoying mush of unnecessarily ramified micro-management, boring dialogues and boring hiking tours in environments whose optics seem to be ten years old.

Game progress that is too slow, little co-op mechanics and a lack of incentives to grind are sobering.

With Unbound, Criterion take a big step in the right direction and delivers gripping action races paired with exciting police chases.

Horror fans can't avoid this title: ingenious, extremely atmospheric visuals, an extremely finely woven carpet of sound and a juicy portion of gore make Callisto one of the scariest games of all time.

Unique, exciting and clever, Pentiment is a beautiful yet educational adventure - a quiet but valuable gem in Xbox Game Pass.

The classic cyberpunk action-adventure Lonn looks clumsy and unpolished for long stretches, but with its balanced mix of fights and puzzles it can still be entertaining overall.

Addictive and happy: pixelated top-down roguelike with very simple gameplay - but the spiral of rewards has an enormous pull effect, every run makes the endorphins spill over, there is a lot to discover and experiment with.

Somerville is very pretty, the gameplay is decent, but the content is unfortunately not gripping enough for an adventure.

Despite the larger world and more tasks, the playground for explosive silliness only motivates in the short term. It gets more fun in co-op with up to four participants, but only with friends or online mistakes.

Warzone 2.0 is the necessary modernization of the still entertaining Battle Royale variant of Call of Duty. DMZ as an extraction mode is a successful extension.

A milestone in the franchise - in both good and bad ways. In the end, the flaws of the 9th generation prevail, these editions do not go beyond disappointing average.

A milestone in the franchise - in both good and bad ways. In the end, the flaws of the 9th generation prevail, these editions do not go beyond disappointing average.

Even the nice setting with vampires in the Wild West can hardly save anything: The hectic gameplay with annoying opponent spam, which no combat system can cope with, is unimaginative and lacks a real spark of charm.

Atmospheric killer hotel with likeable characters and sensible innovations. It is a pity that the introduction and conclusion were artificially lengthened.