Code Vein 2 is a textbook example. It's a testament to a glaring lack of inspiration, revealing, if any further proof were needed, the utter emptiness of a work that merely copies without ever daring to be original. Uninspired assemblage is the hallmark of a creative who doesn't know how to create. And one is led to wonder how Code Vein 2 even exists: limited in its narrative (as abstruse as can be), in its gameplay (completely devoid of any real feeling), in its structure (why open up a world only to close it off in its possibilities?), and even in its art direction (all the clichés are there), it's nothing more than a collection of ideas that sound good but struggle to generate interest from the very first minutes. And this continues right up to its inevitable conclusion, which, in the context of this review, proved to offer a far greater sense of liberation than that of having defeated a challenging enemy.

Playing Romeo is a Dead Man feels like seeing an aging rockstar on stage : you respect them and you see the vision, but the execution isn't quite there anymore. Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture's latest adventure is a hodge-podge fusion of visual styles and ideas, which never coalesce into a coherent experience. The action gameplay starts off strong, but stagnates, as frequent framerate drops and damage-sponge enemies turn the highest difficulties into a real slog. Romeo is a Dead Man even concedes defeat in the final stretch as the story is clarified through a bunch of written notes. Ultimately feels like a borderline self-parody in its worst moments.

Call of Duty : Black Ops 7 walked into Battlefield 6's release like Sideshow Bob walking into a comically big rake. From a disastrous coop campaign to an overly-complex zombie mode, this is probably the worst main episode ever released, feeling like a 2010's parody of Call of Duty.

Possessor(s) betrays Heart Machine's experience with amateurish flaws, ranging from unpleasant controls to a very unremarkable metroidvania level structure. Ultimately feels like a first draft with good intentions and absolutely stellar artworks interspersed throughout.

It took six years, multiple studios, countless reboots, and a trail of broken promises to finally deliver Bloodlines 2. The result is utterly schizophrenic : a game too ambitious for its budget, yet too timid for its own universe. What was meant to reinvent the vampire RPG ends up merely mimicking its conventions. Bled dry by compromise, Bloodlines 2 has lost what little vitality it had left. Beneath layers of code and the scars of its tortured development, you can still glimpse what it might have been: a gothic tragedy about duality, a nocturnal political fresco, a mirror held up to our own thirst for power. But that dream didn’t survive the daylight.

Based on Swery65's resume, we expected Hotel Barcelona to have a lot of kinks to work through, but we still weren't prepared for the god-awful controls, the poorly-implemented invasion mechanic or the wacky, zany plot. A waste of great artworks.

Dying Light : The Beast is all bark and no bite. Techland had the right ideas and tools to deliver a tight action-adventure package, but stumbles on bad level design, a flimsy plot and repetitive slugfests against roided-out zombies.

While it always feels bad to slam a small-ish studio that is more overly ambitious than actually incompetent, Eternal Strands is too shoddily-made to be praised. Not challenging and intelligent enough to promote a smart use of systemic magic effects, too repetitive to be charming and too strained between inspirations to find an unique voice, this is more of an unfinished tech demo with wacky physics than a true fantasy tale.

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