After an absolutely splendid first half, Hack 'n' Slash suddenly starts to get pretty much impenetrable by Act 4, if you don't know your way around the logic of an algorithm. Right there, in the middle, the game just skips a few steps of badly needed explaining and – at times – just drains all the fun from the proceedings. It's a fascinating peek behind the workings of a game, for sure. It has heart, wits and a good sense of humor, but it will still lose a good amount of its players long before it's over.

As soon as you're on the ice, this is an entertaining enough Hockey game. But if you're looking for anything in the way of variety in terms of game modes, this is a difficult game to recommend. It plays well, but in this form it doesn't do enough to justify full-price.

Even today, NiGHTS into Dreams is one of the most interesting titles you can download onto your console. But in light of some of the fundamentally flawed design decisions the game has retained from it's 32-Bit days, 'interesting' alone just doesn't cut it anymore.

War of the Roses still has the potential to become a real jewel of a game. Coming patches and updates will determine if it'll go under in the storming sea of middling arena action titles – or if it will become an exotic insiders' tip that'll win a devoted following apart from renaissance fair enthusiasts.

Windforge is one of those games you want to love, but it doesn't quite let you.

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.

A great power fantasy that invites the creation of strong cinematic moments, but is also never quite pushed to its limits in terms of content and playfulness.

It's still a solid Nowitzki's wingspan away from being anything as good as 2K's series, but NBA Live 15 might actually be the most a sports game has ever improved from one year to the next.

This new edition is largely based on the original, in both positive and negative respects. Aspyr has also added some new content and technical optimizations, but again leaves a lot of potential untapped. This makes it more of a nostalgia-soaked experience or a history lesson in Star Wars video games for all those who played it back then or for those who didn't.

Somewhere in between there's a really good game hidden away. It's just a shame that it only showed itself ever so often, only to vanish again for hours.

A small but charming pixel adventure built around an entertaining fishing minigame - a bit short on the parody that made Epic NPC Man yet full of charming characters from the series.

As soon as this gets a map editor, I'll happily bump up the score [twenty] whole points. Until then, this extremely authentic and well done representation of the beloved board game is frankly just missing one of its most important features.

It's got heart and charme. But strange narrative pacing, patchy writing and weak presentation slow down this original and pretty RPG considerably. Fans of historical fantasy are treated to a pleasantly sinister Warsaw excursion with a clever combat system.

A well-playing strategy game with an all too varying difficulty level, weak story, technical imperfections and annoying always-online.

Payday 3 expands on the familiar concept, but doesn't go far enough to completely inspire. There's equal parts light and shadow here.

All in all Stray Blade is a passable game that plays well. Unfortunately, it doesn't make it easy for you to master its battle system, asi t never quite strikes a perfect balance. Furthermore, more variance wouldn't have hurt the fights, the story is okay at best and the fact that I can only create new equipment myself isn't really satisfying either.

If you really liked the main game, this is well worth a look. Just don't expect the story to do anything interesting with the characters.

Techland’s latest dive into zombie parkour chaos is at times pure gold and at others wearying routine, a tightrope walk between adrenaline rush and monotony.

The fact that you can't skip a single cutscene and that some save points are far apart are also relics of previous Telltale adventures that I'm not particularly stoked about. You could therefore say that the new old studio is still very much the old one, despite the closure, takeover and new start. Which also means, maybe most importantly, that it captures the essence of the source material very skillfully, which is why I can recommend The Expanse: A Telltale Series to fans of the series despite the criticisms.

It might not be the same rush as the original, but it's solid enough to be a welcome stopgap until the next Trials rides along.

Withering Rooms is a horror adventure that is as atmospheric as it is playfully motivating. The ever-changing estate is morbidly fascinating and the constant progression encourages you to search it carefully. Even the story is interesting, even if it is only told via written text. Only the numerous battles are not one of its strengths, nor is the repetitive running through many same-y rooms.

Koei should have kept the story more compact and focused more on the mysterious protagonist instead of a quarreling China. My recommendation: If you love the Warriors series, get the game - there's a lot to like. But if you don't have a clue about Chinese history, don't play it. There are games in the Warriors series that are much easier to get into.

Even though there is some competence to be found on a basic level, it will scare away western gamers with its frugal looks, some almost incomprehensible cultural references to the more obscure side of Japanese gaming and its obsession with the shameless presentation of anime-women, who seem to be just a bit too young. Neptunia wants to polarize and you can love it for this or hate it. This game doesn´t care one bit.

Especially when playing with mouse and keyboard, Toxic Commando is a fine shooter for up to four players - even if lacking variety in the long run.

A lovingly drawn platformer that is not as lively in terms of gameplay as its visuals might suggest.

Hobby detectives with a focus on the narrative should feel right at home with Emio, while investigators who prefer to think and investigate for themselves might be a little disappointed by the gameplay.

Between accessible button-mashing and tactical depth, Invincible VS strikes an intriguing balance. However, it does not hit the mark in every area.

By no means is Murdered: Souls Suspect one of the best titles of the year, but it's one of the most likeable ones.