Do you know that indefinable feeling that you have to like something? That everyone in the amusement park is having a great time, but your mind is elsewhere? That's what we experienced when we played Horizon: Forbidden West, the long-awaited new hit for Playstation. Yes, it's very well put together. Yes, it looks stunning. And yes, the battles are wildly exciting. Yet we feel something niggling. Is it the magic of that first encounter that has disappeared?

Genre remixes often get lost in good intentions, but Disco Elysium pulls it off just fine. The dialogues fit perfectly with the visual style that portrays a world as captivating as it is gloomy. All top notch, but still we'll stick with three stars. Why? Because the console version we tested was plagued by bugs that sometimes even made it impossible to progress further.

If the "Total War" series had been a cow, PETA would have been at the door a long time ago. That's how milked she is. When you're not fighting, you're trying to build your empire. This part of the game combines both the best and worst of Total War: on the one hand, the factions you can play differ substantially and all offer a different experience; on the other, after a strong start, the campaign collapses like a pudding. You focus mainly on one powerful army, so the overall overview disappears somewhat from view. Too bad.

He lands in theaters next year, with a movie of his own. But until then, Super Mario continues to reign supreme on the Nintendo. 'Sparks of hope' is yet another game centered around the world's most famous plumber. Just a shame that the piping shows more wear and tear than in the previous game.

It is a good game, but also a game that occasionally falters and makes it painfully clear that the Switch is now the gaming equivalent of an old-timer car. Nevertheless, the graphical style masterfully disguises the Switch's technical shortcomings. The music is also incredibly good. And this game is everything its predecessor was and better. With Echoes of Wisdom, you get to play a kick-ass sequel to the previous “classic” Zelda game: Link's awakening. But that's what it is: a sequel.

The fighting system of Guilty Gear Strive requires tactics and precision, and the solid soundtrack full of roaring guitars supports the epic battles. What we liked most about this fine fighting game is the distinctive graphic style of the cutscenes that is carried through into the game, making you feel as if you are playing the lead role in a great anime.

A decent game, but as memorable as its successor - 2017's brilliant NieR: Automata - NieR Replicant is not. The captivating story and the creative use of camera angles that allows different game genres to blend seamlessly show its potential, but the game cannot hide the fact that it is already more than a decade old.

A gripping story, beautiful landscapes and convincing characters. Life is Strange: True Colors looks very promising, but still this game could not fully convince us due to the slow pace and sluggish dialogues.

You are catapulted from the top of the food chain to the bottom, and giant ants and spiders simply look horrifying. Although in "Grounded" it does not result in horror, but in an exciting and smoothly playing adventure game in which, thanks to your ingenuity, you must survive long enough to figure out how to get big again.

Agreed, 'Helldivers 2' is at times a highly entertaining game. But we did not dare to predict that the game would get off to such a strong start. For that it offers too little depth as far as we are concerned.

How we like the latest Call of Duty? Well, pretty much like the previous one and all those before it: unpretentious entertainment that slips in as smoothly as a slice of pizza. Not that we mind, because we love pizza.

Lost Judgment is a combination of a thriller movie with a smoothly playing and well-furnished action-adventure game, where you will easily need twenty to forty hours to reach the end. So much for the good news. The game suffers from the same disease as many Japanese genre rivals: it wants to cram too much into one game. A little more focus would do the series good.

No detailed explanation, no elaborate story. Whoever starts Lumote: the mastermote chronicles is immediately thrown into the game. It is a straightforward puzzle game that looks simple, but has quite a high difficulty level. Unfortunately, the level design remains largely the same throughout the game and although the puzzles thus become more difficult, it all quickly feels repetitive.

Those willing to spend two long and frustrating hours sculpting their muscle memory and honing their reflexes will experience a click. Suddenly, you “got" it. Like Neo in the Matrix against Agent Smith or Goku transforming into Super Saiyan for the first time. What follows is a tsunami of serotonin that makes my inner teenager foam at the mouth. In the skin of Goku catapulting vicious Frieza hundreds of feet away after a barrage of attacks. Then to treat him to a kamehameha on his icy face? I dreamed of it as a 14-year-old and this game is my dream in game form. A lot of love for Dragon ball has been put into it. Too bad the barrier to experience it is so high.

Aside from its wacky premise, F.I.S.T. is a more than solid game that plays smoothly and looks great - especially thanks to the PC and PS5's graphical processing power. But the difficulty level is quite high - due to the clumsy controls at times even a little too high. So prepare for frustration and disappointment, and very often try again.

The first The Outer Worlds left us with mixed feelings a few years ago: it had an interesting premise and fun combat, but all in all, it didn't lead to a very memorable experience. The Outer Worlds 2 is clearly a step forward: the combat has been greatly improved and there is more to experience. So what do you get up to? Well, you create a character and walk around with them on different planets. You solve one problem after another by talking and/or shooting. That doesn't sound very original, and it isn't. All in all, we find The Outer Worlds 2 an improvement on its predecessor and, at times, an enjoyable game, but it's certainly not a must-have.

A video game where it is more about the appearance of the female protagonist than about the game itself, and that even before its release. No, we are not talking about Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, but about Stellar Blade. And that's a shame, because under that thick layer of controversy lies a fine game.

Mindlessly ramming buttons, Dynasty warriors has managed to make it a (semi-)entertaining pastime for years. For the second time, the series is teaming up with Fire emblem. At first glance, a striking choice. The latter series is known for its tactical gameplay. In Fire emblem warriors: three hopes, it comes together in a potpourri of violence and drinking tea.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox offers an engaging story, smooth controls and challenging combat. Unfortunately, the game also suffers from dated graphics. It is a shame that it took two years to be released in our country, as this makes it difficult for the game to compete with more recent games that can draw on the graphical computing power of 2021.

"A spreadsheet with soccer players," a friend once called Football Manager. He was right, but it is a damned addictive Excel file: in the meantime, we have invested another fifty hours or so in making our local team virtual champions. If you ask us, Football Manager would be better off switching to a subscription formula, but okay: for about fifty euros you get a whole year of spreadsheet fun.

They say that you should never change a winning team, but year after year the same team gets boring. Especially if you bought into the previous iteration of Mario Party for Nintendo Switch, this version offers little new under the sun.

It's remarkable how quickly 'Little Nightmares 2' takes hold of you. The constant sense of unease is excellent, which makes it all the more unfortunate that the game is artificially stretched by puzzles that are unnecessarily drawn out and complex. And so this beautiful nightmare ends in an ordinary dream.

Some minigames are better than others, and if we're being really strict: quite a few are recycled from previous Like a Dragon games. But there are so many of them, and they are so varied, that Pirate Yakuza never has a chance to get boring. With one major exception: the part at sea also belongs in the category of minigames, except that you spend quite a large part of your playing time with it. But those who buy Pirate Yakuza primarily to unleash the Jack Sparrow in themselves will be disappointed. After all, the ship battles are disappointingly simple, and the promised sea would be more like a collection of lakes. Throughout the time we spent with Goro Majima, we laughed hard far more often than we sighed deeply. So we gladly turn a blind eye. Where is our eye patch again?

Kirby Air Riders is an anomaly. It looks like a racing game, but has the rhythm and elements of a fighting game: its own genre. It is simple, complex, and (too) chaotic at the same time. In terms of visuals and performance, this is one of the most colorful and flashy games the Switch 2 has to offer to date. Highly recommended for those who are tired of Mario Kart.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is an excellent spinoff and action game. In its niche — that of the musou-games — it's even among the best of all time. But what a total letdown of a story. Seriously, how did they manage to drop the ball on plot and world building?

Civilization VII is great. Exciting. Frustrating. It's like a Rorschach test: how you look at it depends from person to person and moment to moment. Besides the obvious improvements, many of the game's flaws were perfectly avoidable, which leads us to conclude that this game is not finished. And we take issue with being asked full price for a game that is not yet finished. Our advice: if you're not a huge fan of the series, wait another year. If you are, prepare for a rough ride.

Windjammers is a mixture of volleyball, tennis and air field hockey, but with frisbees. All of that poured over in a visual flair that's bulging with neon and other early 90s sauces. Also 90s: the difficulty. Even the easiest opponents are very difficult.

At first it seems like the game is just slow to pick up, after a while you realize that this is the game. Maybe that's not so bad if you were actually looking for a comic, but if you're gaming for the adrenaline you better look elsewhere. Not every game has to be Super Mario Bros, but when the story carries the full weight, it should feel a little less casual. After wandering around for quite a while and chatting endlessly about the same thing, it becomes clear that what you choose matters anyway. If you play the game all the way through several times, you'll get to a different ending each time. Fascinating, but it requires hours of patience.