Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream reveals a little too clearly that it offers a predetermined template into which Miis are simply slotted. It simply needs more variety and a more specific engagement with the characters. Nevertheless, the template itself still allows for the creation of a colorful world—one whose fate you will want to continue following.

If you can look beyond the technical issues you'll get a tolerable funracer with an interesting editor.

The activities are interestingly connected, but balancing problems and finicky controls make this platform puzzler a frustrating encounter.

Challenging tower defense action for up to four demon hunters that would have benefitted from a local co-op mode as well as more polishing in general.

Nihilistic proves that ego-action finally can work rather well on mobile platforms – in theory. But as part of the Resistance franchise Burning Skies is rather disappointing. The formula has been boiled down to run of the mill action with unbelievable characters in rather bland surroundings and forced touch controls that will distract you more than they will help.

With its visuals Echoes might lure you into believing that it is as captivating as Fire Emblem Fates. But in the end this is the weakest and most unnecessary entry of a franchise I played and loved dearly since its humble origins.

The tablet origins are too obvious. Compared to the likes of Wave Race everything is simplified.

It could be a suspenseful mystery adventure. But then the old-fashioned puzzles and weak storytelling get in the way.

Hired Gun is far from being a good game. But with its massive Warhammer vibe you find yourself having fun here and there.

Even though the UI is clumsy the coordination of numerous planets is motivating while seeing your self-designed vessels blowing the enemy to smithereens gives you the extra kick. Too bad that a lot of weaknesses like rudimentary diplomacy options and restricted research makes this a very mediocre 4X experience.

Once you get past the cumbersome introduction with its meager tutorials and hopefully find a helpful group to play with the constant change of being hunter and hunted is an interesting chance of pace.

Comfy, charming, deadly – but also static and boring in the long run. It plays a lot like Renowned Explorers, but is inferior in almost every aspect.

An interesting 3D-platformer with a very unique style and a few good ideas. But Balan feels outdated and shows some design flaws.

While the concept is interesting and puts a 360-degree shooting gallery at your disposal, it lacks depth and is merely more than a VR snack. Plus: the movement detection for the blade throwing is sub-standard.

The camera is finicky, loading times are long, visuals are scraggy. But underneath all that is a decent game that grows on you once you start to level up your character.

This rather feels like an Early Access release. While the foundation is rock solid, technical and content issues reduce the fun in this racer tremendously.

Playable Museum with a collection of 100 titles straight out of the pioneering phase of our favorite hobby. Unfortunately some very important classics are missing.

The art design is noteworthy and the options to change nature are interesting, but the story remains boring from beginning to end.

It is fun but it is not always easy on the eyes and in terms of gameplay as thin as the next supermodel.

Playable Museum with a collection of 100 titles straight out of the pioneering phase of our favorite hobby. Unfortunately some very important classics are missing.

The archaic action-adventure feels a bit outdated. Nonetheless, little changes as well as the unique atmosphere make sure there is enough fascination and exploring ambition left.

I would like to love this game. And while it somehow works as an homage to one of the weirdest movie duos of all time, as a game it becomes too redundant too soon.

Little Inferno is a charming arcade-puzzler with an interesting approach to storytelling. But as soon as your curiosity gets worked up the game is already over. Nonetheless an interesting snack for your lunch break.

War of the Roses is what happens when you cross medieval weaponry with the Battlefield-franchise. It is motivating to fight for your next level up and the spoils that come with it, but nonetheless this game feels like it is released prematurely.

Even though I admire Platinum Games for what they have achieved this is merely an underwhelming license that showcases a solid fighting system and a bland narrative.

I was looking forward to this reboot. I like simple and lightning fast arcade action on wheels. But why did the developers focus so much on trial & error? With almost each and every one of the surprisingly varied missions it is not my skills that decide the outcome, but my ability to learn the level...

The narrative foundation sounds terrifyingly interesting, but you'll soon find out that as a character Lucius is disappointing. You'll encounter interesting puzzles on your way, but overall this adventure lacks pace and soul.

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

This is a solid over-the-top oldschool shooter carnage – that is, if no bugs, shallow jokes or monotonous level design get in the way.

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

A lot of mechanics are mashed: battle tactics, roleplaying, strategic base building, crafting, survival elements and more. Unfortunately they are not merged very well, leaving a feeling that is not a Jack-of-all-trades and even less a master of anything.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

It is a nice trip down memory lane, but against modern competition like Castle Crashers or Odin Sphere this multiplayer brawler shows its age.

Crimson Desert is massive and visually stunning, but to truly enjoy its game world, you’ll have to be willing to make some compromises. The controls take more than a little getting used to and can be a real pain at times, whether you’re using a gamepad or a mouse and keyboard. The quest design and gameplay guidance are among the worst I’ve experienced in a long time. The story leaves me completely cold, the characters spark zero interest, and while Crimson Desert strives for immersion with its detailed, vibrant world, high-quality animations, and many features, it repeatedly undermines that immersion itself.

Unfortunately this is more recycling than a new beginning. You have more options to influence the character and even the village, but the daily business is as bland as ever.

The uninspired mission design is not the only problem that Exodus is confronted with. After the short campaign you hardly find any reasons to blast into space. But not everything is bad: Controls are spot on, the upgrade system works well and the plot delivers some well executed cynicism.

This is definitely no twinstick trash. But with its retro design and retro mechanics this run-of-the-mill action is a far cry from the likes of Nex Machina or Gemoetry Wars 3.

Solid historic turn-based strategy with abstract visuals. But it lacks the fascination that was generated by Desert Fox or Battle of the Bulge.

Quotation forthcoming.

It shows off a few interesting mechanics which help to save it from certain doom that seems unavoidable if you just look at the abysmal AI or the superficial elements you encounter plenty of times.

Quotation forthcoming.

Charming, but in the end nothing more than a routine run-of-the-mill farming adventure from the makers of Harvest Moon.

In theory this theme park could be the source of never-ending fun. But in the end it is rather never-ending grind. Nonetheless you can experience some entertaining half hours or so if you have friends on standby for your support.

With way more content than the similar Pokémon Go and a lot of fanservice it Wizards Unite generates a truly magical atmosphere. But the constant reminder of microtransactions as well as technical shortcomings make it difficult to stay attached.

Razor’s Edge delivers more content and more gore compared to the original, but nonetheless the fearless Ryu Hayabusa is still miles away from his former self.

The narrative is interesting and as much as I like “experimental” games, this remains a little too shallow in almost every aspect.

Atomfall is a refreshing alternative to Fallout and Stalker and shines in its first few hours with survival and detective work. After that, it quickly runs out of juice.

I love war games and historic strategy of all kinds. But regardless of the curiosity and high motivation during the first hours, in the long run I lost interest, mainly thanks the superficial game system which doesn’t offer any efficient tactics and focuses on unnecessary micro management.

The design is as old school as the difficulty level. As a homage to Castlevania it serves its purpose but compared to games like Fly’n or Guacamelee it falls short.

While undoubtedly the lightnight fast combo-orgy-brawling shows potential, the price politics and technical glitches make sure that this is little more than a beat-em-up snack.

The tale of the immortal demon hunter is far from fresh and presented mostly uninspired, but the dismemberment concept works remarkably well, although it just scratches on the surface of its potential - a problem shared by almost every aspect of the game. And how Rebellion managed to mess up the shooting mechanics is beyond me.

While I appreciate the effort to put the open world of Lego City on the handheld, the technical and above all the gameplay reductions make me doubt that there is space for open worlds on mobile systems.

An interesting story based on the aftermath of the Moby Dick novel hampered by monotonous mechanics.

An interesting concept that lacks proper execution. In the long run the trains have to take an emergency stop in a cul-de-sac, while the battle system is superficial at best.

Rematch is a strong, almost addictive soccer game with an arcade feel. However, its fundamentally good foundation is severely hindered by technical issues that prevent it from reaching its full potential.

I like adventure playbooks. I like science fiction. And I appreciate that Tin Man Games revives this classic from Steve Jackson. But in the end this is more a good read than a good game.

Lego Horizon Adventures looks absolutely amazing, but its gameplay is lacking in almost every way. Kids could nonetheless find fun in hunting machines in the coop-mode.

Chaotic “racer” with a constantly growing bus. Due to its quirkiness fans of weirdly entertaining yet strange concepts might be tempted despite design flaws and little content.

So much potential. So many wasted chances. As a sci-fi satire it works astonishingly well, but repetitive tasks and redundant space missions stop Redshirt from becoming even remotely stellar.

In theory, Ride 4 with its huge selection of tracks and vehicles is a dream for motorcycle enthusiasts, but with massive balance problems, chaotic AI and a dreary career mode the motivation takes a downward turn.

Razor’s Edge delivers more content and more gore compared to the original, but nonetheless the fearless Ryu Hayabusa is still miles away from his former self.

The concept of “music platforming” works, but lacks depth, structure and consequence. The star undoubtedly is the excellent hand drawn art design.

This old-school dungeon crawler will give you enough content to spend a long time in the depths hunting for loot. But you should bring patience and a high tolerance for stale, dowdy presentation.

Observer is a quirky cyperpunk thriller filled with mind games. Unfortunately they lose their impact too quickly.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions feels like a bag of chips with a lot of air left in it. The contents taste OK, but you quickly come across only crumbs.

While the minigames clearly don’t manage to reproduce the fascination of the “old” Rabbid days on Wii, for kids and families the screaming bunnies deliver some short term entertainment.

Escaping traps and outsmarting monsters – Hellraid delivers solid entertainment but is too easy and too short.

Solid, but utterly unspectacular anime roleplaying game modeled after the Atelier series.

I was really looking forward to High on Life 2, and the gameplay itself was solid – but the technical issues put me off. Even as a new iteration, High on Life remains one of the strangest games in video game history. Gameplay-wise, it remains solidly average.

If you are a fan of motorbikes and want to experience the speed and rush from two-wheel-motorsport you have to be aware of two things. 1) You won’t be able to get by Milestone, who basically has an iron grip on the genre. 2) You get plenty of content and outdated visuals.

In terms of accessing content (especially the chance to collect all the minifigures) the change from free-to-play to pay-to-play is a welcome step. But it opens the door to a whole other world of problems: Why not change the game to offline with optional online connectivity? And also with the redundant fighting system and the mission grind Minifigures has to compete with a wide variety of offline Lego games, which are almost always the better choice.

Sinister turn based tactics with interesting reload mechanics, but clunky visuals and navigation.

You can have fun with this game - in a weird sense. The video-episodes are amateurish and the topics mundane. Nonetheless there are some interesting moments that made me laugh and think about male dating behaviour.

Good old Max shares his problems with the mobile version of GTA 3: It just doesn't suit the platform.

Conservative, but entertaining roleplaying adventure.

Observer starts out as a quirky cyberpunk thriller that tries to play a lot mindgames with you. But it gets predictable after a while.

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.

The change from hunting to taming takes a little time to get used to as well as the change from monumental realtime fighting to turn based flashtactics. At least the game world is more open and the exploration is diverse. Nonetheless I hope that Monster Hunter World will inject the franchise with badly needed fresh life.

Enhanced remaster of a roleplaying classic that is visibly aged technically as well as mechanically.

Even without the overpowering Geometry Wars 3 breathing down its neck, We Are Doomed would face serious problems. While the geometric colorful art design is interesting the mechanics are as generic as anything.

At its core this still is a creative VR puzzle experience. But compared to the room scale capabilities with Vive and Rift this is just second class.

Beatbuddy shows off an ambitious concept and captures your heart with its visuals. The level and puzzle design on the other hand, seems too generic and uninspired.

This is a charming arcade-puzzler with an interesting approach on storytelling. The concept worked on the PC and it works well on Wii U. But in the end it is just a small appetizer: After little more than three hours the fire is extinguished.

Like its PC brother War Logs starts as an ambitious roleplaying game drawing me in with its opening sequence and fresh scenario. The battle system works well, so does the crafting. But too soon the plot loses its grip, the characters get stale and overall the visuals seem as outdated as ever.

Quotation forthcoming.

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.

The 20th anniversary of the Atelier saga reduces the roleplaying, while injecting more strategy with annoying time pressure, a few new mechanics and a lot of well known characters.

The concept is still working, but this is hardly more than an unpolished lump of gemstone.

The artdesign is beautiful (minus the big headed ugly pilgrims), the depth behind the VR glasses is impressive. But to be honest, the lemmings principle is not enhanced in any form by virtual reality and gets redundant too fast.

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.

A feast for nostalgics, albeit with one serious drawback. Anyone who just wants to focus on skating will definitely be happy here.

The inclusion of rhythm into otherwise “classic” shooting is refreshing and exploring all the secrets certainly is fun, but the difficulty level is frustratingly high, while you will encounter some problems interms of visuals and game design.

Charming but too soon redundant mix of coffee house management (including cookin rhythm minigames) and raising a dragon with very obvious technical problems.

Relaxing exploration- and trade-adventure that can’t manage to keep you glued to the screen.

The Climax production is a virtual slaughterhouse filled with buckets of blood and even more gore effects. But behind the extreme violence there is hardly any substance.

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.

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”.