Mechanically and in terms of storytelling this is an enhancement of Master Reboot – but a lot happened in the last two years. The combination of story and puzzles feels more organic in The Talos Principle while The Witness shows off the way better puzzles.

Small but very entertaining funracer for up to 16 players that could prove to be a worthy party alternative to the likes of Bomberman.

Solid twin-stick action that lacks diversity, while you sense the mobile roots at every corner.

This is not as mass compatible as Street Fighter 5, but with a deep fighting system, beautiful visuals and a lot of content this might just be the best old school beat-em-up you might get on PC.

An entertaining action roleplaying game that is as dark and gritty as it is quirky.

Entertaining, but short-lived action that merges Hotline Miami with action roleplaying basics.

Twilight Princess is a timeless gem proving that intelligent design beats polygon power any day. This was and still is one of the best action-adventures out there.

At first it feels too much like Portal, but eventually the original ideas and puzzle mechanics take over that mainly lacks a consistent difficulty level.

Superhot proves that a simple but clever executed concept can deliver tremendous fun. A challenging but short mixture of action and time puzzles.

Even in this puzzle disguise Agent 47 stays true to his roots, but relies too heavily on trial and error.

Challenging and captivating mix of turn-based tactics and Match-3, somewhere between Puzzle Quest and FTL.

This is no quaint river rafting trip where you can sense the spirit of Huckleberry Finn. This is a relentless beast that let’s you die without warning. But even once you got the basics covered this is not as engrossing as Don’t Starve – even though artdesign and music are top notch.

While the true fans can’t wait for the recently announced Pokemon Sun and Moon , Nintendo tries to get the most out of the 20th anniversary of Pikachu & Co as possible. But in this case this is not for the better. While the idea is as good as it always was, the random element brings a lot of redundance, while the story is targeted at a very young audience.

I was thinking long and hard if I should ignore this game or trash it. But in the end it cost me too much time and too much nerves. It starts well: The presentation reminds you of Blizzard and I like the idea of slow paced progress. But when it comes to balance or rather: lack thereof it shows you how far Whale Rock Games actually is from Blizzard.

Yes, this is one of the quirkiest tactic RPGs out there. And in terms of content it is outshined by its predecessors. But even after 12 years Disgaea packs a punch and keeps you busy for hours, days and weeks.

Even though EA passed (again) on the chance to make this franchise a serious contender for Team Fortress 2 by making the player too dependent on luck when it comes to getting new content out of the in-game sticker packs this is crazy good action with a lot of humor.

Charming continuation of Silicon Studios homage to 16-bit classics. If you like your mobile roleplaying experience with a distinctive flavor of classical JRPG, this is for you.

As a spin-off this is a neat experience. I liked Michonne on the tv show already and Telltale gives me an opportunity to show me her psyche and motives.

If Disney would build a prehistoric theme park, this would be the blueprint. You can tame the wildest animatronics with one button, blinking areas show you where to go or what to do next and everybody makes you feel as happy as possible, thus cancelling out any sense of danger. Unfortunately the atmosphere suffers as much as the challenge. This could have been an important step for the franchise but instead marks its low point.

A cynical view on school systems that suffers from poor playability.

Just like Koei's musou games you’ll either love it or hate. I love it with all its shortcomings.

Sweet charming puzzle platformer that draws you in with little, but well combined tricks and mechanics.

American Horror Adventure: Grotesque, bizarre and disturbing. But on the other hand hopelessly outdated and too conventional in its puzzle mechanics.

This space adventure with a surprising amount of fresh ideas puts a fresh twist on arcade action.

This is a playable nightmare that will make you lose your mind. Unfortunately you lose a sense of danger and fear too soon.

The best part of the package is the emulation of the old arcade machine, while all the new levels and mechanics work against a lot that good ole Q-Bert was fighting for more than 30 years ago.

You’ll feel that this might be the defining beat-em-up of this generation – or at least it could be over its life cycle. Right now this is a contentless base product that sports one of the tightest fighting mechanics there is.

Not much has changed in the console versions of this extraordinary storytelling experience: The added audio commentary is nice while the visuals are a little more defined.

New hardware, same old game. But that is not necessarily bad. Story and characters could be more elaborate, but classic turn based tactics drawn in appealing visuals is still as good as it always was.

If I have to summarize Cobalt in only one word, it has to be “strange”. It takes a while to get used to all the elements and control features that Oxeye mixed into this. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll find more fun than in the common 2D-action.

The new mechanics introduced show a lot of potential and could have made the final chapter of the Chronicles trilogy very special. Unfortunately Climax doesn’t trust themselves and throw more in the mix that is needed. Especially the overused and unnecessary trial-and-error I could have done without.

Firewatch is a quiet mystery for gamers who know how to listen. A strong script and exceptional dialogue direction make Firewatch to one of the best interactive storytelling experiences you can get your hands on.

Even though I would prefer Etrian Odyssey 5 instead of walking thru dusty old dungeons: This is an exceptional remake.

With its serenity, the slow pace, the power of its pictures and Yarny as a heartwarmingly charming protagonist it is hard to escape the magic that you’ll experience in this puzzle platformer. Unfortunately the magic isn’t immune to trial and error.

If this is indeed the last chapter of CyberConnects beat-em-up saga, it is a worthy farewell. You can’t expect anything new or revolutionary but you’ll get a content rich brawler with a distinctive anime-design.

Hyperspeedy adrenaline rush à la Pang (yes, the retro gem), that suffers from missing longevity.

This is like a digital séance. It is quite monotonous, but you’ll encounter some eerie and disturbing moments.

Is it a shame to get “inspired” by Capcom’s Monster Hunter? No. It is even more accessible than its inspiration. But it also lacks the depth.

This is a beautiful homage to the Souls-Franchise, even though sometimes it sticks a little too close to the formula for its own good.

On Vita it was an exceptional game. On PS4 it still is a good game with freedom of movement. Some control aspects of the original couldn’t be reproduced, though, while certain element didn’t stand the test of time.

A solid rally experience with a tremendous amount of content. But mediocre driving physics and Milestone’s trademark mediocre engine step hard on the breaks.

Conceptually it reminds you of Atlus’ Persona games and even though it is too linear and a tad on the grind side of life, you’ll get a long lasting game full of dynamic turn based tactics.

There is a lot of action and quite a bit of entertainment to be found in this twinstick shooter. Unfortunately it is quite short-lived as well and lacks content.

Even though you can’t import your own music or create your own levels like on the PC this mix of dungeon crawler and rhythm game still is an extraordinary experience.

The fresh start for 3D Realms has room for improvement. While the foundation is rock solid and the visuals are at least average, Interceptor lost the plot and the grip on the game somewhere.

It covers a fresh theme and delivers an interesting art design, but one run lasts merely 30 minutes. And the kind of similar “Papers, Please” shows more depth as well as emotional connection.

Not a Hero is the pixelart counterpart to a lot of Jason Statham movies: The two-dimensional action is brutal, over-the-top and redundant – but tremendous fun.

This is the game vacation was invented for. XCOM 2 is so captivating, so challenging, so full of content and plainly so good that hours, days and weeks pass by in an instant.

After the glorious Lego Dimensions every “classic” Lego game is a step back. But within these boundaries Lego Marvel’s Avengers is still worth your time.

Even two years after its premiere this game still packs an emotional punch. Subtle and quietly the tragic everyday aftermath of war with moral decisions and bitter consequences makes you think, laugh and cry.

This is a high level port: Visually improved and more reactive controls make sure that Lara’s latest adventure finds a new home on PC.

Here you won’t find fresh ideas, but a colorful and varied overview of everything that makes puzzle platforming fun.

The Witness is a challenging puzzle experience. It is less adventure but more intensive puzzle marathon with creative tasks sometimes connected over multiple tiers. Compared to Portal or The Talos Principle The Witness lacks a coherent combination of puzzle solving and story-telling, though.

A weird mix in which you don’t hunt and collect more than 700 Pokémon but toy versions of Pikachu and his friends. With redundant mechanics, dependence on sheer luck and annoying remnants of its free-to-play roots, this is a half-hearted “gotta catch em all”.

While the show couldn’t convince fans nor critics, leading to NBC cancelling after just one season, Gemini is a surprising game. Technically mere average (underutilizing the Unreal Engine 4) the mixture of Mirror’s Edge and Psi-Ops doesn’t live up to all its potential, but still delivers a solid action experience.

A lot has happened for puzzle platforming since A boy and his Blob first emerged six years ago. But the charming visuals, the laid back, but still challenging play style and the sheer beauty that is the friendship between the two protagonists still make this an exceptional game.

This is the black metal ballad among the tactical roleplaying games. The fights are merciless, the battle system is creative and filled with with possible long term damage beyond belief. There is only one more thing to say: Destroy… them… all…!

At its core this is nothing more than common arcade carnage. But the B-movie presentation draws you into this bizarre and trashy world.

This is good strategy, nothing more, nothing less. While it captures the spirit of the original in terms of art design and direction, it shows a few annoying deficits like faulty AI, lack of content and tight control options.

This is one of the most ambitious time management games in recent months. With lots of humour, a fairly deep and tactical turn based fight management, a whodunit for good measure and an inspired 16-bit-retro-fell to it, Punch Club will draw you in. But within all the movie quotes and references you’ll also find a great amount of grind.

Yes, it is rather short. But Geometry Wars 3 aside I haven’t had that much fun with a twin-stick shooter in a while. Be wary of the spiking difficulty in the middle though where it moves from challenging to frustrating for a little while.

I don’t really care about technical problems like tearing or aliasing. What I care about, is that this could have potentially been a modern Streets of Rage in space. Unfortunately the abysmal balancing and sometimes clumsy evasion controls impede lift-off.

This is a challenging and admirable project. But it isn’t an admirable game. Or good storytelling, since there can be no trace found of development of consistent continuation of thoughts. I applaud Ryan Green's courage to deal with his personal pain in this way, but nonetheless I feel excluded.

Technically Capcom delivers an inspired restoration (minus the lowres videos) of a modern survival horror classic, but the focus on coop-play comes at the expense of atmosphere.

When it comes to dualstick shooters you don’t have to ask me twice. Nonetheless Zotrix isn’t love at first sight. But if you get used to the quirky arcady feel à la Galaga where positioning is as important as reflexes you might develop an interesting friendship.

With its impressive ballistic action (albeit on a 2D plane) and the constant search for better equipment this mixture of games like Drox Operative, Starpoint Gemini 2, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag and of course Elite: Dangerous is a pleasant surprise in the crowded niche of Space Operas.

Nothing about this planet is lovely. It is unforgiving, challenging and eventually frustrating. If you give up easily, this mixture of shooter and runner is definitely not for you.

This is a disturbing trip into the inside of a videogame, a new interpretation of the era of arcade gaming machine. The last time a game played with the player that much and tried to confuse him, was Eternal Darkness. You gotta love this.

The visuals are plain beautiful (the occasional clipping aside), but even with slightly changed abilities the Chronicles rely far too early on repeating the established, while adding a few minor problems that were not present in the predecessor.

Birds as investigators? Caricatures of the romantic era as the art design choice? Aviary Attorney is a gem. An interactive graphic novel with style, humor and its own take on Phoenix Wright.

Two years after its’ premiere The Banner Saga still is a creative example for a well conceived mix of art design, storytelling and turn-based tactics well worth an award – this is chess with drama, battles and consequences. But technical problems and the occasional bug make sure show that the console version is not as polished as the PC brother – too bad.

For years, offroad fans are screaming for a return from Codemasters to classic rally – as well as for a modern successor to Richard Burns Rally. And this delivers on both ends. The career could be more polished and less grind, though.

The Tempest-like grid you’re flying over morphs nicely and the challenge level is just right – but in almost every design aspect it stays rudimentary. A solid and technically sound shoot-em-up.

Although I am not the biggest fan of “electro” music, Amplitude delivers. It proves that good game design withstands the test of time. And Amplitude shows why Harmonix is the biggest name in rhythm games today.

This is the typical small online action game that is destined to be part of a console bundle: Here and there it delivers a nice distraction, but overall it lacks content and variety.

You can see the age of the original here and there. But nonetheless at its core Dark Arisen is as fascinating as ever.

Kholat’s strength lies within the atmospheric loneliness in big areas. Horror and suspense unfortunately fall short.

Who would have thought, that the fastest racer around would not be on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 but on Wii U? This modern rendition of the F-Zero principle is not original in any form, but awesome fun nonetheless.

No. Just no. This is no modern Streets of Rage with the undead. For that it lacks esprit, dynamics, decent visuals or a multiplayer mode. Zombies alone don’t make a decent game.

Even though this is a good port of the Action RPG that appeared on PC, I ask myself the question “Why?” over and over. Why take the two year old game including its expensive character micro transactions when over the course of the last years this character as well as the content evolved into the Final Cut that was just released recently? Why?

Yes, I miss a career, some races are too easy to win and in the end this hardly more than advanced arcade racing. But damn, this is fun while it lasts.

This is the high quality we’ve got used to from Alpha Dream. And even though some of the well known elements are getting slightly stale, Paper Jam mixes it up with some fresh parts and adds a quirky humor you wouldn’t come to expect.

As an online-shooter this is my dream come true: It rewards careful progress instead of a quick rush. Positioning is more important than reaction time and teamwork is a must. This is tactically challenging and straightforward action at its best.

If Michael Bay is a gamer, this should be the perfect game for him: Loud and explosive, but not with a lot of substance.

This two year old adventure looks great on PS4. And with the addition of playing the episodes in chronological order this is clearly the best version of Beyond. Nonetheless some of the old basic problems remain.

A clever puzzler that sort of plays like the swinging counterpart to TIS-100.

Breathtaking moments and a great atmosphere are just some of the highlights that you will experience on Mira. The visuals are stunning, the pad is used intelligently. This is by far the best game you will play on Wii U this year.

It shows off some interesting features which could have made Valhalla Hills truly unique, but when it comes to variety, depth and diversity, it fails to impress.

The presentation doesn’t feel as stylish on PC as on tablets but historical turn based tactics work as well as they did two year ago when they premiered. If you like your strategy more like a board game and less like a collection of explosions, this is for you.

Complex, but easily accessible prison builder with an interesting campaign structure, but also a few bugs here and there, while the micro management can get out of hand sometimes.

In the beginning, I was heavily disappointed – and not only by the sub-par visuals. But under the ugly surface sleeps a tactical masterpiece with immense depth and an excellent character development.

This is one of those rare games where you have the feeling of playing something not seen or done before. Short, with a steep learning curve and a sometimes frustratingly high difficulty not everything is perfect, though.

Is Wild Run the magic ingredient that crowns The Crew the king of arcade racing? No, this still belongs to Forza Horizon 2 or DriveClub. But it adds not only fully updated visuals but a sense of purpose to the whole online factor that seemed overpowering in the original.

When it comes to generating pure Star Wars atmosphere this is a dream come true. But even that can’t hide the fact that in the end the content is fun but at this stage very limited.

This surely is a pre-release version with content to be added? It isn’t? But why? No tourneys? No career in any form? No elaborate online options? This is essentially gorgeous and easily accessible arcade tennis that has serious content issues.

Welcome to the Weird West. The turn based tactics inspired by XCOM work surprisingly well with the mysterious story that is filled with decisions and consequences.

The foundation with its accurate statistics and believable correlations is as rock solid and convincing as always and on top of that you’ll get the best match presentation in the series’ history – which doesn’t mean that much if you consider that only a few years ago they still used oversized dots. Nonetheless this is the stuff that soccer fans’ dreams are made of. Who would have thought that animated spreadsheets could invoke more emotion than the latest FIFA or PES iterations?

Two years ago Deadpool’s romp was the funniest videogame in years. And in this aspect it still delivers countless sophisticated and countless more brainless jokes. Unfortunately the sometimes very old-fashioned mechanics weren’t polished.