The scale of Odyssey is epic - on almost every level. Ubisoft shows a new quality in storytelling that surpasses Biowares latest efforts. Mechanically though this is rather an Origins 2.0 with some of the old shortcomings still all too visible. Having said that, this is the best Assassin’s Creed since Revelations.

In terms of story-telling and direction this might as well be an addition to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe with its high production values. But as soon as you stray away from the main plot, you’ll land in an open world that is mostly beautiful to look at, but where some positive elements meet quite a few that are only average at best. Nonetheless a great superhero romp throughout.

Why the loot and upgrade system, Housemarque? At its core Alienation is a glorious twinstick shooter with interesting classes, beautiful visuals, top notch pacing and a challenging coop mode. It didn’t need the Diablo-ish influences that pull me right out of the flow.

This side of Sanctuary it doesn’t get much better than this. Victor Vran blurs the lines between hack & slash and action adventure, delivering a very unique experience. Unfortunately it suffers from a generic art design and the preset character development.

This is a labor of love. Huge freedom combined with challenging turn-based tactics make this a great addition to the consoles’ role-playing library.

Finally Madden is on its way to former glory. EA Tiburon is not there yet (at least on One and PS4, whilst PS3 and 360 move closer to the status of the infamous Legacy Editions), but the decisions they made and the steps they took are hopeful.

If after Fallout 4 or The Witcher 3 you still have time and the need for another epic open world roleplaying game, then go ahead. This is still the great epic that it always was. But although it is visually enhanced sometimes the five year old engine foundation shines through while there are some new bugs to be found – mostly in connection with the Mods that are allowed on console.

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.

This still is a prime example of intelligent game design, proving how much fun a simple, but well thought through concept can be. The change of pace due to your actions delivers a very unique shooter mechanic.

Red Matter 2 is a mesmerizing VR adventure filled with mysterious technology - with a few additional graphical refinements on PC.

Enjoyable point & click adventure with a touch of mystery, a very unique visual design and entertaining, yet sometimes incoherent puzzles.

With a potent PC the visuals are nothing short of stunning. And with all the content bundled plus all the enhancements that have been introduced to the console versions since the release, this so far is the definitive version of this thoroughly entertaining roleplaying experience.

I wish that Level 5 would take some more risks and implement some new ideas. On the other hand the series' proven qualities shine through at every corner: You'll get well conceived puzzles by the bucket, a comfortable multi-tiered help system and an interesting adventure story with charming cartoon sequences.

While Square is fighting with its tradition Atlus cements its status as a first class JRPG maestro. Yes: At its core Tokyo Mirage is as conventional as the art design is colorful. And the story is less captivating than the Persona mysteries. But when it comes to the multi-tiered battle system, #FE shines.

Bezier is short – even for a twin-stick action treat. But it also is very intensive. This one man project delivers a lot of “Ouch” and “Ommph”. Well done, Mr. Bak.

There is a lot to love: The level design in this stealth gem is beautiful, the challenge level is high, the main character is a cynical bastard. Unfortunately in later levels the balancing is not as convincing.

This is a competent sequel to an outstanding RTS game with a compelling multiplayer experience, although problems with AI and path-finding are still evident.

It is silly, it is challenging and it is highly motivating. Even with its flaws it is hard to resist Rayman.

Don’t be fooled: This is (as it always was) a challenging old school platformer. The simple design feels a bit outdated by now, though.

In some areas it feels too old-fashioned, but if you are a fan of tactical RPGs like Disgaea this is definitely for you.

Interesting mix of classic art and black humour à la Monty Python, wrapped in adventure mechanics.

Even with the caveat that it only works for a few rounds at a time due to the uniform flow and the lack of variety, this is the best Battlefield that never was.

This is a typical PopCap game: Absolutely charming, easy to get into and highly addictive.

Except for the surprisingly annoying music and the rather short playtime Sonic shows off his best side: The levels are big and invite you to explore, the teamactions are entertaining. If you're into retro-gameplay, this is one for you.

It cannot topple Monster Hunter World from the top of the food chain, but if you like your monster hunting and gathering with a hefty dose of post-apocalyptic atmosphere, this definitely is for you.

Yes, the arenas could be more varied. But nonetheless, this is a challenging high score shooter that induces the infamous “one-more-try” into your system with ease.

There are slight gameplay issues like the control scheme. But that is secondary against the beautiful art design and the quality of storytelling.

Music and sweaty lightsaber choreographies merge into an impressive VR experience that unfortunately lacks content and song-import for your favorite music.

Next to the beautiful art and sound design, Fe has some great moments - and one truly monumental. But unfortunately that moments is wasted to early in the game, followed my mechanical routine bar any surprises. It is entertaining throughout, but in the end it could have been much more. Nonetheless a good entry point for EA’s Originals indie label.

This one-man-project is definitely worth a look. A lot of elements are far from perfect, but in terms of atmosphere and story-telling this is one of the best indie jump&runs out there.

Pandora is more colorful and more vivid than ever before. The enemies act smarter and they attack in mixed groups so the team of up to four heroes has to work together - elemental damage and positioning are keys to survival. Unfortunately the storytelling takes a while before it gets interesting (although the humour is top-notch) and sometimes you get stuck in a mission treadmill.

Transformed is one of the best fun-racers in recent months and a classy alternative to Mario Kart, whose dominance is crumbling away. Without the frame-rate problems during split-screen races the speeding hedgehog might even have outpaced the racing plumber.

In terms of variety this is the best Total War yet. But with stagnation on so many other levels Warhammer 2 wasted the opportunity to become a true masterpiece. Nonetheless this is exciting strategy with powerful battles.

As an open roleplaying world Eos is just in the minor leagues. Beautiful to look at but filled with redundant and basic fetch- and kill-quests, it is too evident, that Square’s open world experience stems from MMOs. Nonetheless, the fresh real-time battle system is a risk that I truly can appreciate, while storytelling and imaginative characters showcase the return of Square’s strengths that have been forgotten during the FF13-trilogy.

Lively, varied and sometimes quite challenging: Crash Bandicoot 4 builds on the N.Sane Trilogy - on current systems even more vibrant and a little more beautiful.

As a lifelong fan of classic cartoons Cuphead is a dream come true. The artdesign and its execution are out of this world. And while I can appreciate a steep learning curve and a decent challenge, the high concentration levels needed can get tedious at times.

A wild, intense ride perfectly suited for VR. It lacks detail in certain areas, but this nonetheless is something special.

The type of humor is certainly not to everyone's taste, but I personally love it.

Sometimes this sidescrolling time manipulating action with its charming pixel look is extremely hectic. But all frustration aside the intelligent design keeps you coming back.

On One it is as good as ever: a very challenging rhythm-experience, graced with minimalistic visuals and a steep, but fair learning curve.

Challenging, ridiculously old-school platforming with puzzles that challenge your brain as well as your hands – I like it.

Challenging action in a beautiful pixel world with loads of interesting weapons and a slightly misbalanced repetition per hour ratio.

This is what modern city building should look like. There are small annoying flaws in terms of traffic infrastructure (roundabouts, pathfinding) and also the difficulty level is very forgiving. But none of it is critical and will keep you from playing. Where SimCity and Cities XXL failed, Cities Skylines passes with flying colours.

Quotation forthcoming.

Even with a few bugs and a rough multiplayer experience this is an entertaining remake of a true classic with pirate flair.

Challenging, classic, colorful: Luigis Add-On brings a new feeling to the retro-platformer, but frustrates with its inert controls.

Some elements like microtransaction feel inept, but most of the time the symbiosis of random battles, turn based tactics and time manipulation works surprisingly well. If you cherish old rpg virtues this is definitely for you.

Judgment is a step back for the series, even though the fight against the Locust is still enjoyable. But the most fun you’ll find in multiplayer: The campaign gains momentum in co-op and the versus modes will keep you glued to the pad for hours.

Listening to well written dialogue and mixing drinks while meeting interesting characters - this is a little storytelling gem.

A tense tactical adventure in an absolutely convincing world that can’t keep the pace it is initially setting.

I love Arkedo: For five years they keep doing what they love most – and that is goofy arcade games, in this case a ludicrous 2D-platformer with a high amount of cartoony violence.

Charming, entertaining adventure game with a cat - attractive setting, strong graphics and the fresh hero make Stray more than just an insider tip.

In terms of content this is definitely the ultimate Monster Hunter experience. The visuals can’t hide their age, though. The world still is harmonious and confronts you with truly impressive enemies, but a lot of animations and effects date back to the PS2 era. That doesn’t take away anything from the still motivating hunting and gathering that is easier to control than ever before.

It is so hard not to like DragonQuest Builders. With its mix of MineCraft-ish creative freedom, meaningful quests and a very superficial fight system this adventure sparks my curiosity and keeps me interested for a long time.

A lot of games tried to copy Minecraft – or at least participate from its' success. But this two-dimensional take on the well known formula is the only game that is able to step out of the shadow of the indie phenomenon that inspired it. It leads you into a unique world full of creative magic and translates well onto consoles thanks to the very good pad controls.

Persona 5 Tactica has to accept compromises to its name model, but still carries out the genre change with flying colors and offers entertaining tactical fun for fans of the Phantom Thieves.

Challenging, precise, fast: This tower climb offers you good clean fun.

Lo Wang’s run-and-gun excursion doesn’t want to be anything else but a classic shoot-em-up with cocky one-liners and bucketloads of blood. And hell, does it succeed. Duke Nukem would be proud.

The perspective might be unsual, but in the 2D-arenas you'll witness intense online battles. Balancing is okay, controls are easy to pick up and the cartoon style is easy on the eyes.

How can you not like Lego Star Wars? Top notch presentation, an impeccable timing for the trademark humor and slight improvements within the proven mechanics make this a blast. Unfortunately the difficulty level is still very low while an online-option is still abundant.

Even though Life is Strange doesn’t utilize all its potential on the final stretch this is a strong emotional finish to a cracking mystery thriller.

Feral Interactive delivers a technically excellent Switch-port. But like in the original the artificially stretched campaign is filled not only with tension and panic moments but sometimes with outright frustration.

More interactive movie than classic adventure this is one of Telltale’s best stories that seamlessly fits into the universe created by Gearbox.

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.

Characters, puzzles, humor: The Cave bears the distinctive handwriting of its creator Ron Gilbert. But while this creative beauty was awakened after a 20-year-long slumber, it shows some facets that are not as pretty. The puzzles could be more elaborate, the level design more varied and the engine more fluent.

Beat Saber meets John Wick: Intense music action in VR with rather typical shortcomings in terms of modes and content.

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.

Rainbow Moon bedazzles with its classic turn based tactics in front of scenic backdrops. Story and characters could be better, but exploring the huge world, fighting countless battles and nurturing your heroes will keep you busy for weeks and months.

An atmospheric journey into Scandinavian fairy tales with loads of interesting puzzles. If only the story about the siblings Lars and Tove would have been giving more space to flourish...

There is no additional content, no added touch-controls but the magic of this charming role-playing game is still there.

For the conclusion of the trilogy IOI relies primarily on the tried and tested; A combination of cleverly designed assassination playgrounds and creative methods to achieve your goals. Unfortunately AI problems and script bugs stop Agent 47 in his tracks here and there.

If you like 3D-puzzles like Kula World or Pullblox this is definitely worth a look.

I was looking forward to meeting Rhys, Vaughn, Fiona and Sasha again – and I wasn’t disappointed, even though in terms of mechanics there has been no progress at all. But when it comes to dialogue, characters, directing and story this is Telltale at its best.

Two Point Hospital was brought to consoles in a thoroughly convincing way.

Distressing and exactly what jumpscare-afficionados need: Even with its control flaws, Lies Beneath is a quite entertaining VR shooter.

The launcher aside A Realm Reborn is a technically sound port that is not plagued by the PlaySation 3’s initial problems.

A decade ago Blizzard ruled the Hack&Slay world with an iron fist but its new expedition into hell is just one among many well-executed action roleplaying games. They rely too much on well known mechanics to set themselves apart from the competition. Is it an experience worth your time? Absolutely - especially if you have some friends to beat up the spawns of hell. But Diablo 3 missed the chance to move the genre into the future.

Anime roleplaying game with high production value and a great entertainment factor – and all of that for free.

Creative Assembly managed to capture the claustrophobic and dark atmosphere of the film classic. Sometimes the totally unpredictable xenomorph will push you over the edge of frustration, but in the end the suspense and tension will win you over again.

Is it better than last year? Theoretically yes. The visuals are improved, so is the running game. But there are also still some old problems left to fix, while the continuation of the Longshot story mode suffers from an irrelevant script.

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.

Zenimax had a steep mountain to climb: They had to cater to both the expectations of fans of Offline-Tamriel as well as demands of online-mechanics. And even though the result is far from perfect and seems to lose focus here or there, I don’t regret any of the rather large amount of time I’ve spent with TESO.

Entertaining as well as funny dungeon defense with roguelite elements and Twitch integration.

It is a lot of fun to be the clinic director in the spiritual successor to Theme Hospital. But the jokes get stale a tad too soon, while the beginning phase of each hospital becomes too routine.

While the fighting mechanics are as deep as easily accessible and the roster is filled to the rim, I just can’t warm up to the visuals. Leaving the sprites behind doesn’t do it for me, since in this version the well-known as well as the new characters can hardly keep up with their colleagues in the Tekken or DoA franchises.

A solid port of an entertaining building-crafting-roleplaying hybrid. Unfortunately the rough edges of the PS4-version haven’t been smoothed out.

Like the Trials games, Joe Danger delivered simple but exciting fun. With the sequel you'll get even more goodies and options. But for me the lane changes, unicycles etc. were just a distraction from the neck-braking stunts.

Fract is an awesome audiovisual experience. If you like electronic music, you can dive into an ocean filled with impressive imagination.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Pepper Grinder impresses with incredibly smooth gameplay, cleverly designed levels and fresh mechanics at every corner. Only the boss fights spoil the soup a little.

A visually impressive, intense campaign meets a bucketload of multiplayer modes - although not all of them are convincing.

An impeccable console port of the old-school RPG with a decent control scheme and additions to the already deep battle system.

A nice mixture of classic platforming and puzzles set in an interesting VR world.

The colorful fight between the undead and the armored crops was and still is a nice take on the all too serious military multiplayer shooters out there.

Ubisoft is definitely on the right path with their newest interpretation of open world action. For a metropolis like Frisco the streets could be more crowded, but the interactions you can actually witness are giving the impression of a breathing living city. That aside the hacking action relies a little too much on too similar patterns within the main missions, although in the last third there are enough pace changes and surprises to keep you going, while the script as well as the characters keep this more light hearted and cheek-in-tongue hacker tale alive.

Delightful twinstick shooter with imppressive sound design und enormous tactical freedom.