Some rallies can become a bit sluggish, but all in all, Top Spin 2K25 is a versatile and accessible simulation with a successful career for solo players and numerous opportunities to play online and offline.

Some of the short stories are nice to listen to and the driving itself feels good - but that's about it. The decisions made have no consequences worth mentioning, neither on a large nor small scale, the many repetitive races against depressingly lame opponents are potently sleep-inducing and even the protagonist's story is frighteningly irrelevant. Neither the damn good soundtrack nor the strong presentation can really do anything about this.

The focused narrative and fighting mechanics work hand in hand to make for a real alternative to more expensive (and expansive) monster-rpgs, without being any less deep or engrossing for it.

As a follow-up, Alan Wakes´s American Nightmare surprises with a new, fresh feeling of horror in unfamiliar surroundings and with an idea for its storytelling that in the end barely graces the main tale, but still takes a lot of cues from it and even manages to give something back. So if you want to know what the hell is going on in Alan Wake, this is a new and very entertaining puzzle piece to a much larger and still quite hazy picture.

The compact world invites you to explore without it feeling like endless work. The complex story branches and the variety of missions between stealth and attack invite you to experiment. Rise of the Ronin might be technically outdated, but it's very entertaining in terms of gameplay.

Sure, more game modes would have been nice, but this is still an entertaining, funny and likably stylized multiplayer romp for a rather inexpensive price.

Cronos: The New Dawn hurls you into a shattered sci-fi wasteland where ammo is scarce and monsters are plenty. The pacing may sag in places, but its relentless challenge and gripping atmosphere keep the tension razor-sharp.

It was about high time that FIFA Street found back to more realism, complexity and, in the end, long-term playability.

A well-crafted tribute to Capcom's Monster Hunter series that adds a few new tricks to go beyond what the original has to offer. Omega Force delivers a strong debut that isn't without its weaknesses in terms of the weapon system and story, but overall a fun and entertaining hunting experience.

Even though it never gives you an adequate feeling of when and from where you are taking damage, you'll end up playing this over and over again. It's a refreshingly undiluted experience.

In principle, the Switch 2 upgrade has a lot to offer, but little of it leaves a lasting impression. It feels more like a technology showcase than a focus on new content that fans really want.

With its fresh setting Zerzura offers exactly the kind of more serious point & click adventure I´d like to see more often. An inspired, well crafted expedition into the underrepresented realm of the historically inspired adventures.

A Bioshock-clone with a confusing, often unsatisfying story and many elements that seem unfinished. Beautiful visuals and good combat are captivating enough for one playthrough, though.

Design-wise and in terms of using the Zelda license, Omega Force deserves a pat on the back. It's their best game to date.

This is what ShootMania is about: consistent minimalism, first-rate e-sports suitability and loads of creative potential. Still, sometimes you might hunger for something more that a bare bones match with three different guns, after all, games like Quake and Unreal Tournament didn't become classics in spite of, but because of their ludicrous arsenals. If you can live without the graphical opulence of the other offerings and are dead-set on pure playability, you won't regret getting this.

If you've got the time for it, this is a cute and engaging crafting-rpg.

Sad Cat Studios’ debut is an atmospherically powerful tour de force that only occasionally runs out of steam.

I really hope Immortals of Aveum doesn't get ground down between Diablo, Baldur's Gate, Starfield and all the big games of the year yet to come, but finds its fans. It has at least one, and I'm sure there are more people out there who have a heart for a slightly out of time, quirky shooter with a lot of action-adventure charm.

Even with the updates and upgrades, Kingdom Come: Deliverance Remaster nowadays feels even older than 2018 and the still-present bugs and glitches do not help. Warhorse can take solace in the fact that it's at least their own sequel that shows so impressively how it is done right.

As a sandbox full of enormous building blocks, that you can cut and position at your own liking, Tiiny & Big leaves a very well-rounded impression.

Just ignore the uninspired, meaningless and simply unnecessary main character and you´ll find a cute and entertaining puzzle-game, in which it is still up to Rovio and the community to discover the full potential.

Still you'd have to be pretty cold at heart to not give this charismatic funny vocabulary driven insanity at least a chance. Sure, most of what it does is only funny the first and maybe the second time around. And it is also true that many of the smaller challenges it pits against you aren't interesting (or challenging) at all. But there's also recurring moments of pure comedy gold, when your words prompt characters to do hilarious five-second skits or random items send the scene into a cartoonishly homicidal chain reaction.

Assassin's Creed can be so much more and this DLC just shows that it has in fact bigger aspirations. Even though 'The Tyranny' is just a careful step and its first chapter, 'The Infamy', not much more than the lifting of a foot: It still is a step in the right direction. Let's hope the developers have the courage to go all the way.

Dragon's Dogma then, a game that only slowly opens up to its guest, and one that certainly hasn't gotten all of the usual RPG-homework right. But if you are persistent and stay curious it will reward you with the most delightful cases of megalomania and delusions of grandeur in a long while.

Small problems notwithstanding, Paper Mario: Sticker Star is easy to recommend to any 3DS-User. Just crank up the excellently utilized and in no way distracting 3D and don't expect the role-playing experience earlier games in the series offered and you get a refreshing take on the familiar formula.

It's a great package that doesn't push technical boundaries. It held up good enough, though, to still be a more than worthwhile buy if you have not experienced I yet. But it's not one of those remasters you want to play again because you "never experienced it like this".

Hohokum is not a game to show this medium a new direction. Instead it points to where gaming came from, promoting a delightfully childish sense of play.

Visions of Mana is not a perfect role-playing game, especially if you expect a deep story and complex combat system. However, the JRPG shows its charm with a lot of heart and a unique fairytale world that you won't want to leave.