Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a great combination of Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario in a unique floating island world. Although it is a solo game, the RPG succeeds in preventing an inimitable co-op-like experience with a high variety in combat, puzzles and skill based challenges. Just one of the best Switch games in 2024 and a must have for any Mario fan.

With the HD-remake Donkey Kong Country Returns remains an excellent platformer that still shines related to its gameplay and its (improved) visuals. If you already played the versions on Wii or 3DS, the new version on Switch seems a little bit too expensive despite the mostly visual upgrades. But if you love the genre and did not play the original game yet, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a must buy.

Clash: Artifacts of Chaos unlocks a universe in which there is a lot to discover - be it the ever-changing monster variants or the bizarrely beautiful landscapes. The cel-shaded look of the game is a feast for the eyes, the soundtrack skillfully emphasizes the sometimes threatening, sometimes almost idyllic atmosphere. However, iIt takes a bit of getting used to the fact that the world can't be explored completely freely, but rather guides us through circled areas.

Ufouria: The Saga 2 leaves you with mixed feelings, even if you can get something out of the cute felt graphics and nostalgic fans will certainly get their money's worth, the game does have some negative points. Unfortunately, the music is absolutely annoying and for inexperienced jump and run players, the game experience quickly becomes repetitive and frustrating. It is therefore only recommended for experienced or very patient players.

A new protagonist, a new environment, but the same engaging gameplay loop that players loved so much about the original game returns in this standalone expansion. If you have any interest at all in exploring and crafting, then Subnautica: Below Zero will absolutely scratch that itch.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon has been a great game on 3DS with highly varied gameplay with action, exploring, puzzles and humorous staging. With the HD version on Switch all these strengths remain, while Nintendo ensures contemporary graphics including the visual update.

Another Crab’s Treasure proves to be a creative and playful entry in to the Soulslike genre. The colourful look makes it a stand out between all its dark and gloomy counterparts. Although it could do with a bit of honing, its core gameplay provides the (sometimes punishing) learn and repeat mechanic us Souls fans are after.

Humankind is a solid strategy game, which doesn’t change the underlying formula of building and management games. The visuals are pretty and the systems deep enough to sink some time into it. Where it shines is the possibilities to design your own culture, society and religion - with all the implications this has for diplomacy, trade and war. Genre fans should have a look at this interpretation, but if you don’t like these kind of games, there won’t be anything for you here regardless.

Retropolis 2 is a very successful indie game. It pleases with good puzzles, a coherent game world and an exciting story. If the whole thing gets bigger in scope, we might even have a system seller with part 3.

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.

EA Sports FC 26 isn’t a revolution, but it’s a noticeable step forward. The split between “Authentic” and “Competitive” gameplay adds welcome variety, the AI feels smarter, and the presentation is more immersive. However, career mode still lacks depth, balancing issues remain, and Ultimate Team continues to lean heavily on microtransactions.

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code overall does a good job combining elements of adventure games, visual novels and mini-game-based action titles, with a minor lack of being too less demanding. The cases could be very suspenseful, but for this, the storytelling is too lengthy. In the end, not least the game lives from its exaggerated characters and its, in parts, twisted humor.

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.

Mandragora is sidescrolling-action combined with Dark Souls with great combat, nice exploring and atmospheric graphics. It's not perfect, but still an indie pearl you should play if you love games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown or the classic Castlevania entrances.

Projected Dreams is a cozy puzzle game that slows down the stressful everyday life and comes up with creative game ideas. A great game for puzzle fans who want to play without time pressure, with suitable music and a sweet background story.

New World: Aeternum is a good MMO addition for console players. The combat works great with a controller even though that leaves it with a relatively low number of usable skills per weapon. Being class agnostic makes it so you can do whatever you want whenever you want. It also means that everything can just be overwhelming cause you are constantly leveling up different jobs, weapons, regions and even your own house. While the PVE side plays it relatively safe and almost boring New World offers a fascinatingly deep PVP aspect that you can really dig into.

Spellforce 3: Reforced is a competent mix of strategy and RPG that even manages to tell an interesting story. With many ways different to play, from cooperative campaigns to competitive matches, this should have been an easy recommendation. Sadly, our extended test period was suffering from several progress-blocking bugs, some dating back all the way to the game’s original release. No matter how refreshing the game is when it works, the knowledge that the next broken quest and mission isn’t far away leaves a bitter taste in the end. We sincerely hope the developers can fix enough of the issues to let the game shine for the gem it can be.

While drawing you in with an original setting, interesting art and a fun, albeit shallow combat system, Helvetii quickly deflates as the rogue-like elements harm the game more than help it stand out. The reason being that there simply isn’t enough variations to make each run feel distinct, making for an incredibly repetitive experience. The foundation is solid, but Helvetii either needed more content to make runs feel unique or ditch the rogue-like elements to deliver a more hand-crafted brawling experience and deepen the combat with new moves and abilities.

Hell is Us impresses with its dense atmosphere and, to a large extent, its blend of action game and classical adventure. Initially, the lack of the excessive hand-holding of many other current games is appealing. However, later on, or for those who simply don't like puzzles or have trouble finding their way around, this enticing approach becomes increasingly lost. Overall, however, it's still a good action-adventure game that has a lot to offer, especially for old-school gamers and adventure 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.

Your view of Sniper Elite 5 highly depends on what you expect of a good sequel. It delivers the same semi-open-world stealth shooting that its predecessor did so well. However it fails to add anything significant to the formula aside from a graphical update. In certain areas it even feels leaner than the 2017 Sniper Elite 4. It’s still an enjoyable experience and certain additions like the new invasion mode that combines PvP and PvE do offer new takes on the formula. The core gameplay however remains a little too far in the comfort zone for our taste.

While inevitably overshadowed by its big brother, Persona 5 Tactica definitely has its own legs to stand on. The accessible, yet engaging combat system, a new story with its own twists and turns, as well as the excellent art style make this an easy game to pick up and play. What it lacks however, is anything truly outstanding. While competent at all aspects of the game, nothing stands out as particularly new or captivating, dooming this to remain forever trapped a shadow in the metaverse that is Persona 5.

Arcadic extreme sports game with a focus on multiplayer events that gives sports fans exactly what it should: fun in competition with over-the-top tricks.

Empire of the Ants isn't your typical RTS-game. Instead it's a wonderful looking experience, that drags you into the life of insects. Despite the great presentation, the game itself suffers from lackluster controls and camera-issues.

Outside of its setting and enemies [Redacted] doesn’t have much to do with its big brother The Callisto Protocol. It stands on its merits as a very solid Roguelite Twin-Stick Shooter that was inspired by some of the greats of the genre. The rivals let it stand out of the crowd of very similar games to some degree. While the shooting feels great and has some punch the melee system is not satisfying and often seems more like a liability than an asset.

Crimson Desert is a beautiful and technologically impressive collection of various gameplay and simulation ideas that struggle to find together into a cohesive whole. Over dozens of hours the game meanders, only to hit you with a moment where every obtuse element suddenly clicks together, offering a truly groundbreaking experience. Though immediately after you're tasked with something so odd, such as cleaning chimneys that you can't help but wonder if this is all an elaborate social experiment.

The tactical elements still seem a bit unfinished. On the race track, however, MotoGP 21 delivers and meets our expectations. The best edition so far.

The New Dawn has turned out to be a truly excellent survival horror game, with great combat, a motivating progression system, and an extremely dense atmosphere that also skillfully creates a spooky atmosphere and horror terror a la Dead Space. If you like the genre, you have to get it.