If you love 2D Zeldas or Death's Door, you have to grab it: Tunic is an imaginative action-adventure with clever ideas, a picturesque game world and really poisonous bosses.

Age is the worst enemy for this former masterpiece. With the core mechanics unchanged (this is not a remake) the weak points like pathfinding and control issues weigh in a lot. But then again, the strengths like unit and faction balance are still evident as well.

While the level design shows some inconsistencies and there are no real consequences depending on your choice of subtle oder bloody methods. But nonetheless this is a very entertaining and thanks to the competent AI challenging modern interpretation squad based realtime strategic infiltration à la Commandos.

Visual Concepts has to be very careful not to overdo it. And I am not talking about the almost flawless mechanics that haven’t changed over the last few years or the modes that have been only marginally tweaked. With all its mechanical brilliance it is a pity that this years’ prime basketball game is merely a vehicle for an abundance of microtransactions that are borderline pay-to-win.

Hats off to Supergiant Games. With their third game they push the boundaries again and deliver an exciting and emotional journey with mechanics somewhere between fantasy rugby and a visual novel. Art design and the beautiful soundtrack draw you into this world even more.

While the concept with its “groundhog day of destruction” is intriguing, the technical as well as mechanical execution is not.

Well executed conversion of two of the most beloved JRPGs of the PS2-era.

This is an 8-bit-masterpiece, an atmospheric border patrol dystopia, filled with loads of decisions and tough consequences.

On one hand id shows once more where its core competence lies: fast brutal action embedded in impressive technology. And while I appreciate that Doom tries to merge old-school run-and-gun with modern elements as well as a new dynamic, I miss dramaturgy within the action. There is no element of surprise. The action becomes predictable.

Quotation forthcoming.

This is a beautifully crafted timetravel adventure that is content rich every which way you turn and tactical battle with tremendous depth.

Kudos to Ubisoft: The bizarre experiment of mixing the anarchic Rabbids with one of the most liked icons in the Nintendo universe is a big success. The turn-based battles might not challenge the XCOM-aficionado, but they are great fun from top to bottom.

Vivid, varied and at times extremely challenging: Crash Bandicoot 4 builds on the success of the N.Sane Trilogy and enhances it – despite occasional camera angle problems.

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.

A year ago on PlayStation 4 this was a surprise hit. The simple but thought-through concept still works, though and makes this exhilarating cocktail of dungeon crawler, dualstick-action and bullet hell blast.

It could be improved in terms of content, but no other rally sim gives you driving physics as sophisticated, challenging and simply great as Dirt Rally 2.0!

The zombie sequel is an impressive lesson about life after the apocalypse with moral questions.

While topics and storytelling might be a tad too childish and the challenge level of this fairy tale is a little too low, it nonetheless is hard to escape the magic of this beautiful JRPG, with its varied mission and level design.

Intelligent and diverse puzzles, a tense and disturbing atmosphere and high immersion. With all this quality it is a shame that it is quite short. I want more.

This was and still is a very challenging turn based tactics gem with cleverly induced real-time elements and a beautiful, timeless art design.

Stacked with content, technically mainly crisp and very entertaining. The inconsistent AI aside Beenox gave Naughty Dog’s PSone classic a cool makeover which, just like 20 years ago, tries to challenge Mario Kart for the pole position.

Compared to last year, this is “just” an evolution, but captures motorsport perfectly once more and gives you one of the best careers in racing games.

A quite entertaining simulation of an alternative 90’s internet. The great art design aside the numerous beautifully designed websites keep you coming back to solve new cases as an enforcer.

On PS5 Eivor’s adventure is not flawless either, but brings you an always entertaining mix of exploration, story, battles and town development – while constantly looking great.

Even with all the visual enhancements like 60 frames you can feel the age, although the timeless art design still works its magic. But that aside this is an impressive package of action roleplaying classics.

Stylish with (now) four playable characters, gorgeously rich move-sets and (still) unfortunately micro-transactions. Also it is a little but prettier, a little bit faster and a little bit more difficult.

The choice of games is dubious sometimes, with the omissions of GoldenEye and the Xbox-Version of Conker Live and Reloaded the most prominent victims. Also the backwards compatibility for Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts and Perfect Dark Zero needs optimization. But nonetheless I grew fond of this collection that gives you a good overview of the opus of one of the most creative studios there was.

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.