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.

The good news: Compared to previous years, Codemasters is once again bringing a breath of fresh air to its annual racing game series. The changes to the career options, the next instalment of Braking Point, the integration of the "F1" movie, and the many small technical improvements all fit the latest instalment very well. The gameplay remains top-notch and, in many respects, even feels a bit more mature than before.

Elden Ring Nightreign sets itself apart from the award-winning main game with its fast pace and co-op focus. While several issues still need to be addressed, if you crave challenging co-op action, you should definitely join the Nightfarers in their fight against the Nightlords.

Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping is just brilliant. It is for the most part a straight up evolution of the first game but that is certainly not a bad thing. It keeps the charming characters, the witty jokes and references, great music and voice acting but improves upon most criticisms we had. A better hint system and overall a smoother puzzle solving experience are just what this game needed.

Captain Blood is a piece of gaming history that has been revived and that fact alone is fascinating. Captain Blood might have been an interesting game fifteen years ago but today it is simply bad. The gameplay is never really fun and the game is plagued by so many bugs and glitches. It also sports one of the worst audio aspects in the last decade or so. And yet it is a pleasure to know that this has been released after all, that people can buy it and that we had a chance to check it out.

Blades of Fire delivers good 3rd-person-action with entertaining combat and cool weapons, beautiful graphics and great world design worth exploring. It's not the best combat-focused action-adventure you can get, but a good one fans of the genre should play.

In Deliver at All Costs the fun is more about chaos and destruction and one absurd mission following another. That's fine, especially if you get nostalgic feelings because of the isometric perspective. But as a game it's average quality at most and loses much because of its poor car controls.

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.

Chains of Freedom ironically misses the mark where it’s most ambitious: In telling a deeply political and nuanced story with layered and mature characters. While the military drama unfolds a little too predictably, the solid tactical turn-based battles more than make up for it. While unlikely to blow anyone’s mind, this is solid across the board and has some very fun customization options for your playable characters to find your unique playstyle.

Block, parry, cut through demons: DOOM: The Dark Ages is a great addition to the cult series, taking the action to a new level without forgetting the series' roots. Anyone who enjoys challenging shooters with a ton of style and options will get their money's worth here. An absolute must-have for fans and newcomers alike.

As an experience Spirit of the North 2 has its good sides and mostly feels fine, if you have an idea where to go on. As a game with its technically average graphics and bad guided gameplay, what's part of the experience, it is not fully conditioned for a mainstream audience.

Revenge of the Savage Planet turns out to be a consistent improvement of the first instalment, picking up exactly where it lacked, especially in terms of scope and accessibility. The five planets themselves are wonderfully varied and boast a high level of verticality. Added to that is a nice range of unlockable gadgets that provide previously unimagined mobility. What remains is a genuinely feel-good Metroidvania with a fast-paced story, plenty of variety, nice graphics, cool ideas, a strong soundtrack, plenty of humour, few flaws and a very flexible co-op mode that's compelling both online and offline. Bravo Racoon Logic!

The Prince of Persia franchise has a long history across various genres. This metroidvania entry is an absolute blast to play and hits all the right notes along the way. Fast-paced gameplay, engaging puzzles and of course an interconnected game world to discover step by step as you progress. A must-play.

Pax Augusta isn't a game for quick starters or those who prefer a more relaxed approach – but that's precisely where its strength lies. Roger Gassmann's passion project transports fans of building games into an authentic, meticulously detailed interpretation of ancient Rome that skillfully combines gameplay depth, historical accuracy, and moral decisions.

To sum it up: MotoGP 25 is a huge leap for the racing series and the best instalment in ages. Milestone scores points with two major changes: the switch to Unreal Engine 5 and the customization options in Arcade and Pro gameplay. If you were looking for a motorcycle-racing-game, then MotoGP 25 is a very good alternative.

Sunderfolk is an engaging and fun game that combines tactical gameplay with the charm of classic tabletop RPGs. While the story isn’t incredibly gripping, the fun of experimenting with different classes and playing with various friends keeps it fresh. The fact that only one person needs the game, and others can join remotely, is a major plus, making it a fantastic modern take on classic tabletop RPGs.

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.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the best role-playing games of the past ten years and a strong contender for Game of the Year. Developer Sandfall Interactive has created a true masterpiece with its debut game. Clair Obscur is bursting with creativity and emotion, boasts tremendous gameplay depth, and its stories and their mysteries motivate players to keep playing.

If you are in the market for a mix between a Shoot’em Up and a Roguelike, Steredenn: Binary Stars is a good choice. It doesn’t do anything extraordinary but offers a fun gameplay loop with a broad variety of upgrades and weapons. The Shoot’em Up experience suffers from too much randomness though. It’s hard to learn the stages and the bosses just because the stages are for the most part randomly generated and you will always go into boss fights with a different set of weapons and power-ups.

Once Upon a Puppet is a lovingly crafted 2.5D platformer with a fresh setting. Theater fans can certainly forgive minor flaws in the performance.

Inayah: Life After Gods is a good looking, classical Metroidvania that combines combat and pathfinding with varied use of gadgets. But platforming is too demanding compared to the weak combat. And also beside that the game is far from the perfection of games like Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Hardcore fans might love it, but there is no obligation to play it even for genre enthusiasts.

We already gave Steel Seed the insider tip label in our hands-on-preview. And … we weren't far off the mark! The action-stealth-game impresses with its well-implemented gameplay formula and also boasts a great design for its science-fiction world.

Nikoderiko: The Magical World Directors Cut is a great Easter present from developer studio Knights Peak, with new content, better graphics and many new language editions. Whether alone or in couch co-op, the mongooses Niko and Luna discover hidden treasures and colorful worlds. With different difficulty levels there is something for everyone, but be warned even the easy mode is not that easy.

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.

We had high expectations for Tempest Rising and the game largely fulfilled them. The real-time spectacle looks top-notch and evokes fond memories of the halcyon days of Command & Conquer.

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.

Blue Prince is a masterpiece. All the different elements, the story, the gameplay and the overarching puzzles work in tandem to create an incredible piece of art that can only exist as a videogame. It obviously might not be for everyone but if you can entertain the idea of jumping into an extremely well made puzzle game then it should be Blue Prince without any doubt.

Finding Frankie is certainly one of the weaker entries into the popular mascot horror genre. It offers a somewhat novel idea by being set in an indoor park full of trampolines and parkour obstacles but that’s about it. The controls are way too flimsy for some maneuvers, the mascots themself have almost no screen time and it’s very short and still feels padded in places. If you’re looking for a cutesy horror adventure then you should look elsewhere.