Just right for fans of turn-based role-playing games and the dye Straw Hat Pirates. The great animated attacks spread anime flair, but probably only ignite their full potential with fans.

Days Gone has been a great open world action game on PS4, but has been right on the edge on the former PlayStation. On PS5 it's mainly the same game, but with much better graphics, slightly better controls and substantially better performance in each of the render modes with some advantages on PS5 Pro. Content wise there are no big reason for getting the game a second time with just the new Horde mode as a nice contribution.

Although currently a bit light on content (with more on the way) Jetpack Joyride on Apple Arcade does away with the original's microtransactions while still keeping the same addicting and fun gameplay loop. This is an absolute no-brainer for subscribers to Apple's gaming service.

Yes, Alan Wake 2 is very linear and we have actually seen more dynamic fights. But the two main characters are just as compelling as the profound story, which in its best moments reminds us of great role models like Stephen King or Twin Peaks. If you're more interested in interactive artful storytelling than breathless dye action, you're in the right place.

Forza Motorsport 2023 makes a great return after a six-year hiatus, impressing with its motivating career mode changes and stunning graphics. While it excels in vehicle handling and design dye, the limited track selection and lack of diversity in the career mode are notable drawbacks. However, with planned content updates and a promising multiplayer mode on the horizon, it offers a compelling racing experience with room for future improvements. For fans of the series and racing enthusiasts, Forza Motorsport 2023 is definitely worth a spin on the virtual track.

With minor swabs the Saints Row reboot maintains the madness of the series, delivering entertaining, effectfull action and humorous cutscenes and dialogue with a myriad pop cultural references. It is still not on eye level with GTA, but especially concerning customization of characters, cars or weapons, Saints Row sets a new standard for the genre.

The great strength of The Elder Scrolls Online are the stories based on often excellently written dialogues. And High Isle fully exploits this strength with a motivating main mission. But as fresh as the story may seem, the rest of the chapter feels a bit like an annual ritual.

Not at all what you would expect from a "Final Fantasy", but with action packed gameplay, buttery smooth battle choreography, RPG elements that are as sophisticated as they are challenging, and high replay value. However, those who want to be rewarded will have to live with a certain learning curve and unconvincing characters.

Age of Mythology: Retold not only lets a game that was already extremely fun at the time shine with a largely contemporary look, but also adds many useful improvements, most notably the multiple-use god powers, the villager priority system, significantly more accessibility options and a really well thought-out controller layout. All this is flanked by thoughtful balancing adjustments, tons of quality-of-life additions, cross-play, mod support and a map editor.

With Dragon’s Dogma 2 Capcom is offering a mammoth action role-playing game that will delight fans of classic fantasy RPG genre. Driven by missions that can often be solved in a variety of ways, sometimes even pleasingly puzzle-heavy, and an atomically staged game world made up of very varied biomes, you will experience a story full of twists and turns and challenging fights against huge monsters. Sadly, performance-wise 30 fps is the limit here on consoles. Also, sometimes you encounter smaller logical errors and minor visual bugs, but overall it’s a very entertaining title.

Chants of Sennar is one of those underappreciated games that deserve more attention. The developer had an ambitious vision for this game and executed it brilliantly. If you are into puzzle- and adventure-type games at all, you should not miss this.

If you take the time to dive into the mechanics, Total War: EMPIRE has a lot of depth and offers plenty of exciting battles at land as well at sea.

Gory: Cuddly Carnage is cute and a bloody good time. It’s a fast and brutal 3rd-Person action game that excels in its fight and high speed chases. Unfortunately the camera is often fighting against the player which makes some of the later fights exhausting as well as precision platforming unnecessarily difficult. Gori is a lovable protagonist though and thanks to the fast paced levels it won’t get boring despite its technical issues.

Samurai Warriors 5 doesn’t do much to change up the Warriors-formula, but instead distills the pure, casual fun of slicing your way through thousands of enemies to its core. Thanks to a new graphic style and an excellent technical performance, this series has never run or looked better than on the Series X. It is a bit disappointing that the roster of 37 heroes is limited by the 16 weapons they all share, but when standing on its own, without the knowledge of past titles, this game absolutely offers enough content to justify its price and is an absolute blast to play for fans of this particular niche.

Straight-forward Gameplay, controller support, and a lot of retro charme in its presentation make sure that Streets of Rage 4 is much more than just a blast from the past. Factor in the additional modes and the good level design, and you have a game that beat-em-up fans should not miss.

The versatile mirror mechanic along with the well designed puzzles and the devilishly twisted level help make Ugly a game that is well worth the time of any puzzle fan. If you enjoyed The Swapper or Braid, this should be right up your alley.

Sumire is a game that is enchanting as well as touching and one that leaves a lasting impression. Don't miss it if you appreciate a well-written story that is supported by well-executed visuals and emotional music.

Reigns: The Witcher is a smart and charming crossover that captures the strengths of both franchises. Strong writing and replayable systems keep it engaging, even if the added combat feels slightly out of place.

Gungrave has an eventful and largely glorious history. G.O.R.E. is a technical retread, from which you shouldn't expect too many surprises in terms of story - as well as gameplay. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing, especially since the fans know what they're being offered here: spectacular over-the-top action with hail of bullets and explosions foreman non-stop. That's exactly what we came for.

As a package Super Woden GP II is an absolute love letter to the last three decades of racing games. It offers smooth and fun racing as well as a ton of tracks and cars. It is old-school by design, with all its pros and cons. Thankfully the gameplay is as good as it is because the menus are frankly a bit of a mess and the AI of the other drivers is stubborn and destructive. Yet it is a great racing game for a low price from a clearly talented developer that loves the genre, warts and all.

Many of us dreamt of becoming a king or a queen when we were little. Yes, Your Grace shows us why being a ruler maybe isn't quite the dream job it appears to be. The game manages to keep players engrossed with the wonderful pixel presentation, the gameplay loop and all the tough decisions, big and small, that you have to make along the way.

If you have never played a Visual Novel and were always curious about the genre then PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid’s Curse and its predecessor are as good a place as any to start. Combining a fantastic cast of lovable characters with a grounded but very paranormal story is a joy to play through. Added on top are great visuals and a lovely soundtrack. Smaller issues with the controls for controllers or sometimes greatly exaggerated sound effects hamper the fun only very slightly.

NBA 2K26 delivers the most enjoyable gameplay in years: faster, more dynamic, with improved shooting mechanics and animations. Its atmosphere and offline modes shine, but online play and microtransactions undermine the experience. A great basketball game with notable flaws.

It's no longer FIFA, it's EA Sports FC 24 – but EA Sports new football-game barely feels like a fresh start for the series. While it provide proper additions like the Hypermotion V animations and their effects on the match-flow, career modes lack change and Ultimate Team is more pay-to-win than ever before.

The game doesn't dare to make any groundbreaking innovations, but maybe that's why it can pull the player into its farming-loop. However, the loading times and the pocket UI could be improved a bit.

The core gameplay loop and the risk vs. reward balance will get you hooked, so if you have not yet played the game, Slay the Spire+ on Apple Arcade is the perfect opportunity to change that.

Even though the game came out on other platforms almost a decade ago, Enter the Gungeon on iPhone in 2025 is still very much worth playing. The art style, the mechanics and the gameplay loop still hold up very well after all these years.

INDIKA is a wild ride through an alternate Russia in the 19th century. The often philosophical story and the three fascinating main characters carry the game even in the moments where it’s getting dragged down by dull gameplay. Paired with an excellent soundtrack and extremely dark humor the developers show that they are capable of making incredible interactive entertainment.

While buccaneer fans continue to desperately wait for a remake of Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are launching a pleasantly entertaining spin-off to Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth that more than lives up to its name and will easily keep fans of the series entertained for 20 to 30 hours. Narratively, the spin-off is a bit weaker than Infinite Wealth, the recycling of locations like Hawaii can be annoying at times and here and there important dialogues don’t feature voice overs. Despite those flaws it’s still one of the most fun pirate-themed games in recent years.

Two Point Museum is a worthy successor to the franchise, with the usual humor and great new game elements. If you've always wanted to explore and exhibit dinosaur bones or extraterrestrial artifacts, this is the game for you. If only you didn't forget the time so quickly while playing.

Tales of Xillia Remastered is one of the best in the series in terms of fighting gameplay – if not the best. The story, as always, offers plenty of content, while the world itself is somewhat less extensive. The quality-of-life improvements and a few extras definitely make this Tales of highlight from 2013 very playable now.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a great crossover that combines the best aspects of Tecmo Koei's Dynasty Warriors and Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series. The mass battles are varied and spectacular, while the well directed story sequences deliver an exciting atmosphere and a deeper look into Hyrule's origins.

PGA Tour 2K25 takes some noticeable steps forward compared to its now two-year-old predecessor: PGA Tour 2K25 looks and plays great. No reason for criticism? Yes, there are. The career is suffering of the tedious interviews and the overall very staid surroundings. In addition, minor balancing problems and the still very present microtransactions are annoying.

If Super Stickman Golf and Hotline Miami had a baby, it would probably be this game. The dark tone, the fast-paced gameplay and the well-executed game mechanics make Madness/Endless a game well-worth experiencing.

Dungeons of Hinterberg' combines three genres into a lovely package. The smart and varied puzzles are very entertaining without ever getting too complex or samey. The action-RPG is very solid but the unwieldy camera and rather boring gear system make it an uneven and only sometimes uninteresting aspect of the game. The social-sim isn’t very deep but makes that up very easily with a super charming and well written cast of characters. If somebody is into all of these things then Dungeons of Hinterberg is a very easy recommendation because it combines them with a good anti-capitalistic story, pretty visuals and a very soothing soundtrack.

Tales of Graces f Remastered is a neatly improved JRPG that shines above all with many convenient improvements and allows the successful story from back then to be easily experienced today. German subtitles and access to lots of DLC content are a real plus.

With its clever spin on the classic formula, the various modes and the high score chases, Wavecade makes for a very enjoyable entry in the Shmup-Genre. The flashy presentation and good controls also help distinguish Wavecade from the pack in a positive way.

Overall Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter plays it very safe. It takes what worked in the first game and adds a few bells and whistles in different areas of the game. The combat is still very satisfying and the world is brimming with life and atmosphere. Thanks to a fantastic look and Doug Cockle as the narrator it is easy to get lost in this grim world of rats and frogs.

Honkai manages to delight in many different ways, from its mechanics to the world-building to the superb anime-like presentation. Yes, the F2P elements are there, but at least for now, there is a ton of fun to be had in Honkai without having (or being forced) to spend any real life cash.

Time (and updates) will tell if Zenless Zone Zero has what it takes to become the next big thing. But so far, it is already an excellent action-packed RPG with lots of other elements and mechanics sprinkled in and is well worth your time.

A wonderful and colorful blend of everything strategy games have to offer. While neither the 4X gameplay nor the tactical combat reaches the heights and depth of its competitors, the unique blend of familiar elements mixed with emergent story telling makes this a safe bet for any fan of strategy games.

In Sound Mind offers a varied and unique horror experience that aims to unsettle you without the reliance on gore or jumpscares. Instead, this deep delve into the human psyche offers creative puzzles, interesting monsters and story that you won’t want to put down. The game’s presentation does suffer from outdated textures, an occasionally choppy framerate and some odd lighting issues. But the experience as a whole far outweighs the mistakes made along the way.

Despite some rather annoying trial-&-error sections and puzzles which feel a bit too easy, Little Nightmares 2 managed to excite us from start to finish. Visuals are great, sound design is awesome, gameplay offers a fair amount of variety and the environmental story-telling again works excellent. Sadly this scary adventure is already over after roughly seven hours.

The Sims 4 - Landhaus-Leben lets you become self-sufficient and cuddle a lot with cute animals. Despite the lack of breeding possibilities, a successful add-on with many innovations.

Metaphor ReFantazio isn't a high flyer like Persona V, but with the unique Fantasy setting, the pleasant swift round-based combat and the deep Archetype system it's still a good RPG that's worth playing. Despite all the differences, especially for gamers who love JPRG series like Persona and Shin Megami Tensei.

Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a visual treat for fans of the Metroidvania genre. Though it may have a few rough edges, it definitely provides a challenging yet fun experience.

Railgrade is a phenomenal little puzzle game all about connecting resources and industries on a far-out space colony with trains. While more limited in scope than similar games such as Factorio or Satisfactory, Railgrade nails an almost Zen-like gameplay loop with its short missions and simple controls. All of the solid gameplay is held up with a motivating progression in difficulty and a charming, diorama-like presentation.

SNK's legendary fighting game series celebrates a highly successful comeback with Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. A complex combat system, unique characters and action that simply feels great are the main reasons why. So rev it up and unleash your fury.

Yacht Club Games still knows how to make a good Shovel Knight game. The mix of old strengths and new elements combine into a fun, vertical experience that make Shovel Knight Dig an experience we can fully recommend.

Mixture is not quite as well-rounded as Moss. The story is also less exciting and spectacularly staged than the competition. But once you've got the hang of it, perfected the handling of the sometimes stubborn potion auto-aim function, Mixture will draw you in more and more. Not only because the level design and skill progression are right, but also because the fights challenge genre fans, but never overwhelm them. Added to that is the scope of 8 to 9 hours, which is good for a VR game.

Legend of Mana is a game with a lot of heart that genre fans will enjoy. Great locations, co-op, replayability, as well as memorable quests and characters are just a few of the reasons that more than justify the asking price.

The 7th Guest VR is an all-round successful implementation of a somewhat outdated game principle. The game convinces with a coherent game world, its exciting story and an overall good puzzle quality. It's just a shame that the developers don't use haptic feedback and there are some missing comfort options.

Both look and sound are truly excellent. Be it the design of the various locations of the game, the performances of the actors bringing it to life or the absolutely fantastic soundtrack. If you allow yourself to get immersed in the world of “South of Midnight” you will find an experience that feels oddly authentic despite the setting being fairly magical. The weakest points are when “South of Midnight” starts to feel too much like a videogame by placing upgrade points on a path during very emotional scenes or being structurally way too obvious. Nevertheless the experience is one of a kind and can be extremely engaging.

Developer Rusty Lake delivers another intriguing point-and-click adventure with a unique atmosphere, good writing, as well as engaging and fun puzzles. Knowing Rusty Lake's other games in the same universe is not mandatory, but after playing Underground Blossom, you might feel compelled to check out their other games regardless.

Welcome back! TopSpin 2K25 delivers superb gameplay on the court and is just as easy to get into yet challenging as ever before. The small roster of talents harms the overall impression. Same goes for the career, that feels a bit outdated at times.

RoadCraft follows the trail laid out by its predecessors in Snowrunner and Expeditions, but takes a different approach to the offroad adventuring. The new focus on building and re-building is a welcome change, while the core challenge of getting heavy machinery through unwieldy terrain is still present. While definitely not for everyone, finally conquering a difficult stretch of land with a road built by yourself from the sand to the concrete is a very rewarding experience.

With its high dynamic fighting system and various combat combos Outriders creates a unique and stylish look and feel within the 3rd person action genre. Above that the game provides an entertaining and extensive loot shooter experience for solo players and co-op fans as well. But the weak story and some minor balance issues prevent Outriders from an absolute recommendation.

Until Then brings us back to our teenage years for the good, the bad and the ugly. This coming-of-age story, set in the beautiful Philippines, takes us on an emotional roller coaster while its darker secrets are bubbling away under the surface. Though it might take some time till you reach the juicy bits of the story, the wait is worth your time.

Dream weddings guaranteed! Numerous planning freedoms and many details fit perfectly into the game. Nevertheless the game mechanics for weddings from other cultures could have been even more extensive.

Atelier Yumia introduces many new gameplay elements that will influence the entire Atelier series. Some still need polishing, but we can certainly see where it's headed.

The sequel remains true to its predecessor and takes the franchise to a new level. Strong graphics and superb weapon control are the biggest plus points. On the other hand, the level of difficulty is low and the artificial intelligence is average at best. Simple light hearted fun and suited best for casual mature PSVR2-users

Triangle Strategy delivers a great tactical combat system that's as complex in a pleasant way as it is fun. The twisty, decision based storyline is interesting and makes the game feel more immersive. But on the other hand, it could have been more summarized, because the amount of time you'll spend on story sequences (if you don't skip it) is just too high related to the the time you'll spent on the battlefields.

Anyone who loved "Left 4 Dead" and can accept that special zombies in co-op mode are not controlled by other online players will have a lot of fun with "Back 4 Blood". Difficulty spikes, the lack of a split-screen mode and problems with the bot AI do however lower our overall impression.

Marathon is polarizing. On one hand you have some of the best aspects that the FPS genre has to offer. Fantastic feeling guns, absolutely smooth movement and distinct but mostly balanced characters. It is just a joy to play. Marathon also offers more story and lore than most other competitors which can easily be skipped as well. It offers so much if you are willing to take the time to learn all the ins and outs. Because on the negative side Marathon also offers barely any help if you want to learn all of the mechanics it has to offer. You either have to have outside help or invest a ton of time. It is a game that isn’t too inviting to newcomers but that is something that is perfectly fine if you are in for the ride.

The Siege of Paris rounds up a great Season Pass offer for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Especially the expanded optional stealth approaches within the main quest make the DLC feel more like a classic Assassin's Creed game. There are some minor technical issues on PS5, but they don't ruin a great experience at all.

EA Sports PGA Tour celebrates a successful comeback. Thanks to frostbite-engine, the game looks really good and delivers great tactical depth on the green. Career, Multiplayer and Challenge deliver a good amount of content, but lack a bit on the presentation-side.

Metacritic: The Crew Motorsport is fast, feels good and delivers a various bunch of playlists in a beautiful open world. It still features some of the mechanics that made the series special, but gets much closer to the Forza Horizon formula without overall reaching Microsoft's open world racer.

By offering a fun and well-designed core gameplay loop, Apex Legends Mobile succeeds at bringing the popular battle royale title to mobile. A good supply of features and game modes as well as the controls ensure that fans of the game can enjoy Apex Legends on the go from now on.

SpongeBob Square Pants: Titans of the Tide is a family-friendly platformer that excellently captures the humor of the TV show. Anyone who likes the underwear-wearing sponge will love it, even though the gameplay challenge for advanced and expert players only really comes into play in some optional features.

While it builds on the games that came before, Oceanhorn 3 also changes things up a bit for the franchise in terms of gameplay mechanics as well as character development. But at the end of the day, it still offers the charm the franchise is known for, making for a really fun third entry into the series.

With LEGO Horizon Adventures Guerilla Games and Studio Gobo deliver a nice action adventure with a lot of LEGO humour and an entertaining combat system that distinguishes the game in a good way from the titles of TT Games. It's a little short, but if you like the LEGO style and humour as well as Horizon: Zero Dawn, it is easy to make a recommendation.

Rogue-Like and seemingly luck-based gameplay doesn‘t sound like a good match, but the developers fine-tuned it so that you never feel completely out of control, but are always on edge. If you are looking for a Rogue-Like with a fresh take, Slice & Dice is certainly worth checking out.

The fun roguelike mechanics combined with the ressource management aspects make Cult of the Lamb an absolutely worthwhile game for anyone with an interest in the genre.

A simple game at its core, the camera mechanic and the change in perspective that goes along with it offers enough variety and interesting gameplay ideas to keep TOEM engaging and differentiate it from other games.

The fact that BlazBlue Entropy Effect is a spin-off in a completely different genre than the core fighting games makes it more approachable for players who are not familiar with the franchise. It offers a refined and polished roguelike experience that is not easy, but more accessible than other games in the genre.

Still Wakes the Deep is just the best game from The Chinese Room so far. The gameplay is not very demanding and strictly linear, but delivers a high variety for this kind of games. The main thing is, that the horror-trip on a Scottish oil platform provides a compelling experience with mostly perfect sound delivering a strong atmosphere from the start till the end.

An engaging blend of (slow) runner, puzzle game and platformer, Be Brave, Barb manages to capture right from the start with its quirkiness and colorful presentation.

The PSVR2-version is a great way to dive into the Angry Birds-series. With an unlimited supply from levels around the globe, an intuitive handling and good level design, fans of light puzzles games will get their enjoyment out of their purchase.

With The Quarry, Supermassive Games isn't reinventing the interactive story genre. Much is reminiscent of Until Dawn or The Dark Pictures Anthology. However, the developers have refined their storytelling again. So The Quarry offers more branches within the given story paths than the previous titles. With great actors and some surprises at the end, even the sometimes ugly facial animations can hardly spoil the fun of the very entertaining teen horror game.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 is a huge callback for every Metal-Gear-fan. While it does not offer any new content, it brings the classic games back to the current generation of gamers. Therefore you get a huge collection of stealth-games – with all its strengths and weaknesses.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is crafted with passion, runs incredibly smoothly technically, and tells an entertaining, charmingly staged story peppered with pleasant humor that should delight genre fans, especially younger audiences. While there are no real plot twists, the 14 different professions are well-integrated into the overall structure and invite you to continue playing even after completing the story. But: There's definitely room for improvement in the multiplayer mode. Nevertheless, anyone who enjoyed the predecessor and generally enjoys RPG life sims will have a lot of fun with this one.

With its simplified approach, Thronefall opens up the genre for gamers who otherwise might feel overwhelmed, easing them in with a narrower, less intricate gameplay loop.

Cassette Beasts scratches that Pokémon itch, but offers enough new ideas in terms of setting and gameplay to differentiate itself. So if you are looking for a monster collecting game but want to go old-school, you should definitely try its free-to-start part to see if it is right for you.

While Animal Crossing Pocket Camp Complete by no means is an intricate Life simulation, it is an essential cozy game that is just perfect if you need to unwind. After more than 7 years, there is a ton of content here, so if you have never played, here is your chance to pay once and then enjoy and relax with the game at your heart's content.

Trine 5 is a successful continuation of a game series that deserves more attention. The annoying combat system doesn't spoil the overall picture enough and for players with an affinity for puzzles this is a clear recommendation to buy.

The PvP duels in Lost Centuria offer a lot of depth and reward players who grapple with the different monster abilities and spells, the counter mechanic, the upgrade system, the element dependencies and the setup of formations. Matchmaking also worked pretty well and the game - at least for now - allowed good progress without investing real money. It’s just a shame that story elements take a back seat here.

Fantasian Neo Dimension succeeds wonderfully in making familiar turn-based battles appear fresh with an exciting twist. But the (somewhat predictable) mystery story and likeable main characters are also convincing. Although a few weaknesses prevent the game from reaching its full potential, this RPG adventure is not just for genre fans.

Tales of Berseria Remastered is a successful re-release of the acclaimed action RPG hit, offering welcome modernizations. Although some old weaknesses remain, this is still a dark fantasy adventure that will stay with you for a long time.

Emio: The Smiling Man is not only a great example of Nintendo keeping a close eye on the wishes of its fan community, but also a really exciting detective story with several twists that we didn't see coming. In addition, like in a good novel by Agatha Christie and co., the developers manage to make us play games of thought as the story progresses about who the culprit is - only to discard them and replace them with others. It is precisely this aspect that keeps us on the edge of our seats to solve the case right to the end.

Last Train Home tells a gritty and emotional story of Czechoslovakian legionnaires trying to reach their distant home after the conclusion of World War I. As foreign armed forces in a now war-torn Russia, players not only have to manage scarce resources, but also their allegiances. While the core elements of RTS gameplay and survival management sim work well together, a large part of your enjoyment will depend on the balance of those two. For large stretches of gameplay, Last Train Home isn’t an RTS with management sim elements, but a Surival Management game with occasional RTS missions.

Two point campus let you build the school campus you ever dreamed of. With knights, wizards or mad scientists as students and you ll face a lot of different settings and challenges. Everything quite nicely balanced so its fun to discover the crazy campuses the devs came up with.

The gameplay in Ninja Gaiden 4 is excellent. It looks stunning and is always fluid and it plays even better. It’d be easy to focus on all the shortcomings of the game: weak story, awkward and boring characters, sections that feel like a mobile game and other minor nitpicks. But the fact is that the gameplay, the part that really matters in the end, stands among the best in the genre.

Neva is an action-adventure game that tells the story of Alba, a swordswoman, and Neva, a fantasy wolf. Together they save the world from dark creatures that are polluting and poisoning the world. The story is very reminiscent of Princess Monoke, similarly emotional and very visually stunning.

The intriguing Sci-Fi story along with the puzzles and the unusual, but atmospheric presentation come together quite nicely to make Lacuna worth seeing through more than once to see the various endings.

Far Cry 6 is going to be somewhat divisive. Those that enjoy the series for its sandbox and the ability to wreak havoc with a large assortment of weapons and vehicles may find this to be the best the series has ever been. Those, like me, who enjoyed the antagonists, and the more scripted main missions may be disappointed to see the new villain, played by the brilliant Giancarlo Espacito, almost completely wasted. He barely makes a presence and when he does, the series is too comfortable treading the same ground as past titles. Nonetheless, this is an excellent Open-World shooter that trades any surprises it may have for very solid, streamlined Ubisoft gameplay.

Ginsha is a must-play for any fan of classic metroidvania titles. The game takes a hardcore approach with next to no guidance that can scare off less experience players, but its surprising depth and boundless exploration of wonderfully crafted sci-fi world more than make up for the occasional spike of difficulty.

While the puzzling might seem simplistic at first, the game introduces quite a few mechanics throughout the levels to keep you, well, hooked. Minimalistic style, well designed challenges and the introduction of three-dimensional puzzles should keep genre-fans engaged.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is the much needed risk so much of the games industry refuses to take. It’s an artistic gem that despite some rough edges bursts with creative ideas and a very strong vision. While it may not appeal to everyone, this has all the ingredients for a cult classic.