Solid WWII strategy with pathfinding problems, lack of multiplayer content and brash presentation.

A story-focused fantasy RPG with team-based realtime battles and handdrawn comic visuals: This is definitely not as generic as the title suggests.

In its best moments The Long Dark makes you think of the tragic moments of lonesome wanderers best described by Jack London’s Stories of the North. But in its worst you curse at the incoherent direction. In free or challenge modes though, you’ll find a decent survival adventure.

This is a captivating fight of an impressive heroine with her inner demons. Ninja Theory delivers a very unique action adventure that challenges you a a variety of levels.

It starts slow. Too slow. But once this playable novel gains momentum, it gets interesting.

Solid collection of four modern platform action classics with plentiful bonus material.

With two heroines following in the footsteps of the Drake brothers I was hoping for a few more gameplay variations catered to the characteristics of Chloe and Nadine. Having said that, with all the elements and mechanics present that made Uncharted 4 such an exceptional game, this again is an extraordinary action adventure with beautiful visuals.

Housemarque merges twinstick shooting with platforming, while adding their signature particle action style. But with its focus on action there is not enough exploration to be found for oldschool platforming fans. Nonetheless in its best moments this feels like Metroid on speed.

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

With only slight control deficits and lower visual quality compared to the PC version, this is a clean console port of the best city builder in recent years. But nonetheless you’ll miss the editors and the additional expansion packs.

The slightly raised tactical demands and the improved freedom with the character development make the Switch iteration of this intricate match-3 variation the best version.

With its varied spell system and the adventure book intermissions Fictorum shows a lot of potential. Unfortunately it is merely tapped into...

Back on PlayStation 3 this was a unique as well as challenging mixture of rhythm game and realtime tactics. Thankfully nothing has changed. It feels and plays as good as always.

Too bad. This could have been a really nice take on games like Metroid and Castlevania. But a beautiful art design simply isn’t enough. The fighting system is as superficial as it is unfair sometimes. But then dying seems to be a calculated gameplay element as well.

Lone Echo is a milestone for VR. While it loses its grip for a short while in terms of drama, Ready at Dawn manages to give a hopeful glimpse into the future, where convincing interacting in VR worlds heavily impacts immersion while also raising the emotional connectivity.

If you like your action-adventure with a strong dose of 90’s retro flair, this is worth a look. But the challenging jump-and-run mechanics can’t hide the fact, that the mission design is a little too old school for its own good.

This is a neat take on city building that borrows heavily from Cites Skylines in certain areas, while trying to maintain its own identity. With more variety in terms of colonists’ needs and more surprising elements this could be more than just a diamond in the rough.

The combination of music and hack&slay is promising. But in the end this is just a rather dull clone of the latest Gauntlet that just scratches on the surface of its possibilities.

The futuristic tower ascension/speedrunner works as well on consoles as it did a few years back in PC. It could have done without the technical issues like aliasing and tearing, though.

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

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.

The exploration of this detailed and living space station is impressive. But it lacks depth in terms of storytelling as well as core mechanics.

With a slight concept change Hey! Pikmin almost feels like a Metroid light or a jump&run. But with creative environmental puzzles and a focus on the right choice of Pikmin, this mobile interpretation of Captain Olimars travels still carries the spirit of its ‘big’ siblings.

No-frills minigolf that is easily accessible and offers course exchange among all systems, while the challenge level could be higher.

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 Insomniacs Edge of Nowhere proved that classic action-adventure can be enhanced by VR, Theseus feels like a “normal” game. One, where it seems that Forge Reply didn’t understand the possibilities that virtual reality has to offer. While the meetings with the minotaur are tense due to its sheer size, the rest of the game becomes a tedious below-average experience.

While the action is visceral and filled with brutal finishers, the battle system is facetted, yet not too complex. Too bad that the mechanics were wasted on mostly boring level design.

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.