Strive is a mechanically sophisticated 2D fighting game with sensational presentation and beautiful visuals - and one very costly problem with time-consuming server communication.

If you label a game Max Payne you should put Max Payne in it. I loved Max, because he had style and character – like a good whiskey. But this tastes like a colorful cocktail and plays like an explosive military shooter with Latinas in their stringtangas dancing to the bullet-staccato. Nonetheless you'll get solid entertainment with cynical comments, convincing digital actors and the occasional bullet in the head.

Visually this is the best mobile Pokémon adventure yet. And while the new pocket monsters with their final forms are creative as always the island hopping lacks the challenge of older Pokémon games.

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.

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.

Gran Turismo 7, despite its almost unassailable status as an exceptional racing game, is far from what it should be, could not be and probably will be in a year's time.

The charming art-design has been refined, surroundings appear more lively, the battles are more diverse, the difficulty level is more challenging, while new towers, units, rewards and unlockables offer increased tactical depth – an installment which clearly surpasses its predecessor.

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.

The art design is unique, the lighting as well as the haunting soundtrack deliver a dense atmosphere. Together with its philosophical questions the result is a very impressive and challenging platformer.

A varied adventure for Indy fans and anyone who wants to become one. A little more focus on puzzles and a few fewer (or more sophisticated) close combat scenes would have been nice. However, the graphics, story and authentic locations offer a coherent picture.

The visuals are fantastic and do the source material justice. The toned down fighting mechanics are a blast. But the weak AI in the redundant story mode and the occasional hiccup with matchmaking during the mostly lag free online battles still need to be addressed and cost dearly.

The remake of Link’s Awakening shines in a bright new light on Switch with its meaningful enhancements. What a beautiful adventure.

Quotation forthcoming.

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.

Gotham City looks astonishing while the story is full of suspense and surprises. Mechanically the star once again is the freeflow fighting system. But somewhere along the way Rocksteady lost the focus and missed the point, especially with the overpowering, omnipresent inclusion of the Batmobile. Those sequences (and there are far too many) are nothing but a second-tier shooter which takes away too much from the dark knight and everything he stood for up to now.

Classy design, comfortable handling, challenging turn based strategy. This is the best board game conversion far and wide – 4X at its best!

At one point Max mumbles almost like Sylvester Stallone. And that's when I thought "Killing is as easy but also as boring as breathing". What once was a stylistic masterpiece with rough edges now becomes mass compatible mainstream action for the Call of Duty generation.

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.

Visually this is the best mobile Pokémon adventure yet. And while the new pocket monsters with their final forms are creative as always the island hopping lacks the challenge of older Pokémon games.

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

Lara matured from sex symbol to a person with character and feels more authentic as an archaeologist. But unfortunately Crystal Dynamics wasn’t courageous enough to incorporate real survival with hunger, lack of ammunition and desperation. They let you dive into a colorful, varied adventure filled with action, though. In the end with this Lara Croft not another “Survivor” is born, but rather another “Soldier”.

Hollow Knight is a little gem. Although not quite in the same league as Outland, you jump, fight and puzzle through a doomed bug world filled with poignant, sometimes cute or bizarre moments.

Saros is not able to outshine the spiritual prequel Returnal in every aspect. But at least when it comes to the most important part, the gameplay, it certainly is an improvement.

Ghost Trick is a clever adventure where you travel into the past of deceased to solve intelligent puzzles in order to investigate your own death – very entertaining.

For its anniversary Forza Motorsport delivers in bulk. It might have little flaws in certain elements. But this is the most complete virtual motorsport package you can get your hands on. And visually certainly right now the most beautiful.

A creative adventure in an imaginative world of paper and cardboard, that utilises almost all the Vita’s control options.

Incredibly charming psycho trip full of bizarre ideas as well as abilities and a hint of collectable madness.

This is one of the most atmospheric games I have played on the iPad so far, even though this isn't a RPG with dialogues, quests or plot but a simple turnbased game of dice against the clock that`s based on luck as well as rudimentary tactics.