Skeptics who open up and allow themselves to be immersed will thus experience over time what a masterpiece Baldur's Gate 3 has become. The graphics are stunning, the dialogues just make sense and the decisions you make effectively have lasting consequences - no matter how painful they may be at times. It is these subtleties that bring the world of Baldur's Gate 3 to life. This is not just Belgian excellence, but simply world class.

Thanks to the addition of the Ultrahand ability, Tears of the Kingdom becomes a kind of all-round friend to every kind of gamer. Those who want to can create, puzzle, cook, unwind and enjoy the scenery. But just as well experience adventures, fight and encounter pretty tough challenges that will take even the most seasoned gamer quite a while. It is highly exceptional for a single game to personify the desiderata of all these personas.

If we do have one point of criticism, it is that there is no option to play the game in pairs. Games with such a co-op option are scarce these days, but it could have completed the experience completely. Still, as far as we are concerned, this space adventure deserves all the stars. All in all, Astro Bot is a very fun, accessible game. In fact, we dare say more: in this game, Astro rivals Mario as a platform king. Sorry, Nintendo.

This DLC does not aim to win over new fans, because Shadow of the Erdtree is in essence - and we say this with the utmost respect - just more Elden Ring. Somehow that was the expectation, but no one saw an expansion on this scale coming. It is getting a bit ridiculous with these superlatives that keep falling short. It's simple: all those who enjoyed Elden Ring should play this right now.

After previous hits such as Bastion, Transistor, and of course Hades, Supergiant Games has perfected its tried-and-tested formula. Hades II is a triumph that is both funny and accessible, yet brutally difficult and complex. Honestly, we wouldn't want to be in the developers' shoes. How on earth do you top this?

Game makers: take note. Metroid Prime Remastered is a masterclass in how to modernize a masterpiece. Twenty years after the series made the transition to 3D, this remains a classic that has stood the test of time. The updated visuals prove that with some optimization and visual tricks, the Switch is really capable of delivering great games. In fact, this is one of prettier – if not the prettiest –Switch games to date.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is, just like its predecessor, relentless. It's not a gentle adventure for beginners. Although this can make it frustrating at times, the game is exactly what fans had hoped for. Exhausting, yes, but also incredibly atmospheric. The game exudes mystery. The creators took their time making this sequel and worked out every detail meticulously. And my god, their world is beautifully designed. Hollow Knight: Silksong is a big challenge for a small price. It was well worth the long wait. But let me say it one more time: this game is not for everyone.

Metaphor: Refantazio is the latest addition from the stable of Atlus, the developer that previously brought us award-winning series such as Shin megami tensei and Persona. Atlus is pretty much considered the hallmark for Japanese RPGs and delivers perhaps its best work with this one. Japanese RPGs like this are not for everyone, but fans have a masterpiece with Metaphor: Refantazio.

God of War Ragnarök is bigger and grander than its predecessor in every way. More destinations, more enemies, vaster environments, more difficult puzzles and bigger stakes. Predecessor ‘God of War’, however, set the bar so immeasurably high for itself. 'Ragnarök' is a rock-solid game and highly recommended, only we're quietly getting used to sequels like this from Sony.

Console gamers had to wait quite a few months, but one of the most lauded games of 2020 is finally available for Playstation and Xbox. And 'Hades' has everything it needs to excel on the new platforms as well.

Another box ticked on the list. After recent remakes of Resident evil 2 and 3, it was time for Capcom to give the fourth installment in their acclaimed game series a makeover. The bar was set high, as 2005's Resident Evil 4 is considered by many to be the best survival horror game ever. Contrary to what the crosses on the list suggested, they did not deliver a tire job but a new masterpiece.

How do you handle the reworking of one of the greatest classical works in history? With great patience, skill and respect. With video games, it's no different than with other art forms. 'Final Fantasy VII' was not just restored, but completely remade. 'Rebirth' is not a sacrilege, but the finest tribute this classic could ever receive.

A Japanese game about an Italian plumber who eats mushrooms to get bigger. Mario games have always been trippy by design, but with "Super Mario Wonder," Nintendo puts the turbo on the psychedelics. Every time you pick up one of the new Wonder Flowers, the world is figuratively - sometimes literally - turned upside down. Time after time, it's a sweeping and engaging change to the laws of physics (of the game, admittedly) that make your inner child coo.

It sounds contradictory, but the new storyline is both the ultimate asset and the great weakness of the game. After all, Endwalker builds on a story that has been going on for eight years. To fully understand and experience everything, you need all that background. Endwalker is the pinnacle for existing players of Final Fantasy XIV, but not so accessible for new players who only now want to catch up. And that gets in the way of an absolute top score.

If you ask us, we would place Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in the same category as generational games such as Final Fantasy VII (1997) and Chrono Trigger (1995). It is in good company, as both games are classics and belong to the cream of the crop of role-playing games. Memorable games that still resonate with an entire generation of players years, even decades later. Fans of the genre, enjoy this. Because a debut game with these qualities, showered with superlatives, is a rare occurrence.

The graphics, lighting and weather effects are some of the best we've seen in a racing game, but of course it's all about the cars. Although this is an arcade racer that does not focus on realism but rather on short and fast action, the cars behave truthfully and react differently whether you are driving on a track, on the street or off road. The controls have been kept simple, making the game accessible to just about anyone. Altogether, this makes Forza Horizon 5 the most fun racing game of the moment.

Sixteen years after the first game and no less than six years after the announcement that there would be a sequel, Psychonauts 2 is finally on the market. But is it worth the long wait? We're not going to beat about the bush. The answer is yes.

The expectations for Split Fiction were already high, and that has everything to do with the previous game developed by Hazelight Studios: It Takes Two (2021). The game - also playable exclusively in pairs - sold more than twenty million copies worldwide and at the time won the Game Award for game of the year. A juggernaut that received a perfect score from us. Split Fiction falls just short of that mark. The secret of It Takes Two was a unique combination of working together and challenging each other, of originality and humor. Split Fiction is also highly original and fun, but is just that little bit less surprising than its predecessor.

Thanks to Donkey Kong Bananza the Switch 2 has landed its first five-star game. Adding new layers on top of the 3D platformer genre (only to tear them down again) this games proves to be a better selling point for the Switch 2 than launch title Mario Kart World.

'Satisfactory' is a strange beast. The idea behind it is simple: you are dropped on an alien planet and must then build a factory from scratch. What's the fun in that? We didn't really understand that either, because it's surprisingly similar to work. The game is also not perfect: it has disturbing graphical glitches, the alien fauna and flora get boring quickly, and we also noticed that after a while our PC was toiling as hard as our factory. Still, we have to admit that these minus points cannot spoil the fun: Satisfactory turns out to be a wonderful game that we will be enjoying for a very long time.

The extra features make Dragon quest XI S one of the best role playing games in recent history, but also make it a tough job. To explore the entire game world, finish the epic story and unravel all its secrets, you will need more than 100 hours of playtime. However, it also makes it the ideal companion to bring some light to these dark winter days.

The result is a surprisingly layered and extremely addictive game, with pixelated retro graphics. Cleverly designed too, as all the bleeps and effects constantly provide little shots of dopamine, much like a jackpot, slot machine or coin toss from the luna park. The addition of jokers and bonus cards made available seemingly at random make each game different, and replayability almost endless.

Don't expect meaningful choices that affect the rest of the game, dialogue options that push the story in a different direction, or the ultimate freedom to create a character and explore a vast universe. It's a blockbuster of the best kind. A popcorn movie where you follow an established storyline, but which is so addictive that you lose track of time. True to Marvel tradition, there is a scene in the middle and at the end of the (admittedly interminable) credits that paves the way for another sequel. Although it will be difficult for any sequel to top this game.

No, we were not waiting for a remaster of ‘The Last of Us Part II’, now less than four years old. But this new version adds so much to the original that it is by far the best possible way to experience this epic game.

'Street Fighter,' 'Mortal Kombat' or just 'Tekken' after all: the battle for the title of best fighting game is as old as the genre itself, but with 'Tekken 8' it has been settled: 'The King of Iron Fist Tournament' knocks out the competition. Stop what you are doing and go play this game.

There are some games that make you think, “How come no one thought of this before?” Well, Pokémon Pokopia is one of those games. It’s a cozy game like Animal Crossing, with a touch of Minecraft—all mixed in with Pokémon. It’s cute, relaxing, and surprisingly deep. Pokémon Pokopia is a cozy game of rare quality. It almost evokes nostalgic feelings of a time when the world stood still and we all escaped en masse to a video game island for hundreds of hours.

It's big, bigger, biggest for Xenoblade chronicles 3. It's all the more galling that the game manages to captivate from start to finish. An unadulterated epic adventure.

The world’s most famous Italian plumber has a problem. Ever since Super Mario Odyssey the bar has been raised to astronomic heights. Can a rerelease from 2013 tip that bar? Of course not. Can Bowser’s fury raise that bar even further? Not quite yet, but it’s close.

Why play this remake? Audio visually, the game is rock solid. The story remains largely true to the original, but in terms of gameplay, minor and major tweaks have been made. The game is more challenging due to new puzzles and there is an extra layer of unpredictability on top that keeps you constantly nervous and alert. If we may offer one tip: don't play this game too late at night if you still want a good night's sleep.

We love almost everything about ‘Final Fantasy VII remake Intergrade’, except for the name. Aside from expansion ‘Intermission’, the difference between ‘FFVII Remake’ on PS4 and ‘Intergrade’ on PS5 is small, but the graphical upgrade and utilization of the new console’s fast computing power is still big enough to make it the best possible version of this modern day classic.

New gameplay elements are constantly being introduced in It Takes Two, each requiring you to develop your own skills. And although the story of impending divorce sounds quite sad - and for many undoubtedly recognizable - the 3D platform game uses a lot of humor. You end up in a very original and imaginative world, which continues to surprise even after hours.

The action is not the only point in which Death Stranding 2 surpasses its predecessor. For one, the story is a lot easier to follow (thanks to the new Corpus feature where you can easily catch up on reading), and the world looks much more diverse. Last time you wandered for hours through a barren moonscape, but now you encounter forests, snowy mountain peaks, beaches and other environments. Originality and good stories seem quietly in danger of extinction in the gaming world, which seems to be more and more about profits and shareholders. But as long as the occasional game like Death Stranding 2 passes, stubbornly doing its own thing, there is hope.

What initially appear to be subtle nods to previous games quickly descend into unnecessary fan service. It doesn't help that every trick in the book is pulled out, and you can often see the jump scares coming a mile away. The game rarely surprises, except in its shift from camp to deadly seriousness. Resident Evil Requiem is a commendable game, but not as memorable as some other installments in the series. The ambitious game was supposed to be the culmination of thirty years of Resident Evil. But it plays it too safe and, unfortunately, rarely manages to truly surprise.

Naughty Dog is by no means a one trick pony. With ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Uncharted’, it is responsible for two of the best game series of recent years. It is also far from being the only developer to spread the same game at full price over three console generations. Consider, for example, Rockstar, which also wants to market ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ to as many gamers as it can in the same way. For a game of this exceptionally high level, that's not even a bad thing, although we'd rather see their focus shift to ‘GTA VI’ or, who knows, ‘The Last of Us: Part III’.

Neon White immediately puts you in a flow from which it is difficult to escape, in the quest to be just a tenth of a second faster and thus achieve the highest medal. The attractive graphic style finishes it off, making Neon White one of the sleeper hits of this summer and perhaps all year.

Tetris effect: Connected reaches its true potential in the extensive multiplayer modes. You can join games hosted all over the world, each with its own theme and according graphical and sound effects. Whether you want to unwind with a relaxing puzzle, or are looking for an intense and nerve-racking challenge, the choices are nearly infinite.

What really makes this game innovative is undoubtedly the graphical aspect. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart had to show what the PS5 is capable of and it succeeds wonderfully. The planets, the characters, the use of color, it all looks breathtaking. As if you've landed in an interactive animated film. If we have to mention one drawback, it's that the creators perhaps want to show a little too much of what's possible, which makes the game a bit chaotic at times.

They know their classics at Square Enix, that much is clear. Final Fantasy Tactics shines like never before. But whether this polished gem will reach a new audience beyond diehard RPG fans is something we dare to doubt.

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?

Is Deathloop perfect? For that, the story is a bit too slow to start, at times you are led by the hand just a little too much, and there were still too many bugs in our review copy. But that can be solved with patches and updates, and the pace does not detract from this intelligent and well-crafted murder puzzle. Let's hope it's the first of its kind.

19 years. That's how long fans had to wait for a real sequel to the 2D adventures of intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran. And as it turns out: it’s worth the wait. Dread is excellent, hardcore and a beautiful love letter to the genre. The terrifying Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifiers (E.M.M.I's) are refreshing and make the title chillingly true. The somewhat retro visual flair pops, but mostly on the new (and more expensive) OLED Switch.

Monster Hunter Rise is the latest Switch crown jewel. It is a great rendition of the longstanding JRPG-series even though the Switch’s screen is smaller, has a lower resolution and scarce computing power. As complex and hard to master as ever, it will take more than a few YouTube-tutorials to really get going. But once past that point of no return players gets sucked in the franchise’s signature gameplay-loop that is deliciously addictive.

The mini-games deserve a special mention. These are probably the most in-depth and complex we have encountered in our career. And it is precisely these that make the game so controversial. What is usually just an interlude becomes almost a craft that you have to learn and perfect. It is incredibly immersive and exemplary of the level of detail in the game. But the general public usually doesn't have the patience to immerse themselves endlessly in, say, medieval crafts. That excellent immersion slows down the pace of the outstanding game, making it seem reserved only for history buffs as passionate as the creators themselves.

Exploring the brand new Iki island is good for about ten hours of extra game time, taking beautiful and serene pictures with the built-in photo mode easily adds several hours more. Those who already own Ghost of Tsushima can upgrade to the director's cut for a low price. For those who want to take the step now, the director's cut is simply the best version you can get.

Don't expect profound dialogues or a layered story. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance relies on its challenging mix of fighting game and platformer. It is a successful homage to the series and to the 80s and 90s, when ninjas, just like today's superheroes, were omnipresent in popular culture.

Pikmin has secretly belonged to the pantheon of Nintendo series for more than two decades. Secretly, because it never managed to reach the general public like Mario, Zelda and Pokémon. Volume four proves once again what a shame that is. The great level design, the colorful world, refined gameplay and the many innovations are the epitome of Dandori: the quickest and most efficient way to fun.

No, you don't have to have played the previous fifteen games to understand this story. And yes, FFXVI is an excellent entry point to get to know this long-running series of Japanese role-playing games. Purists denounce how "Final Fantasy" has become less and less "role-playing game" and more and more "action game," but they err. This is a winner.

GT7 is a stunning racing game that hardly has its match. But what starts as a paean to praise, we want to nuance. Despite the many positive elements, it is far from a perfect game. Perhaps its biggest flaw - and it's very bizarre to have to say this about a racing game - is its lack of pace. Don't get us wrong, the track feel while racing is fantastic. But once off the track, the game does everything it can to slow things down.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is not a so-called nextgen gaming experience that completely blows your socks off and adds plenty of innovative features. No, it's a tribute to Indiana Jones, brimming with details that ooze love for the original trilogy, in a medium that allows for so much more interaction and immersion. Once the adventure gets going, there is so much to do and experience that it's hard to put the controller down.

Every once in a while a game comes along that is so special that you can't help but admire it. And when it turns out to be a solo project, the appreciation only increases. In an hour this artful game is finished, but for something that is completely free, that is no shame at all.

The developer didn’t turn a blind eye to the shortcomings of its predecessor, Returnal. Saros has kept the best parts—the controls are wonderfully responsive, your character runs and jumps at a brisk pace, and the atmosphere is delightfully dark—and made adjustments where necessary. Still, you’ll inevitably die while playing; that’s just part of the genre. But with every session, you get better and stronger, and you’re better equipped for your next run. The dopamine rush this creates makes the game—at least for us—incredibly addictive. Saros plays it safe and, while challenging, is perhaps less daring and revolutionary than Returnal, but that makes the game more accessible to a wider audience.

Agent 47 adds some more amazing hits in this fantastic ending of an incredible trilogy. Although there’s not much new mechanically in Hitman 3, you’ll come across some great new experiences along your travels from Dubai through the Carpathian mountains, that may rival the ones in Hitman 2016’s Sapienza.

Diablo IV stays mostly true to its roots. Think isometric perspective, bleak environments and wave after wave of hordes of demons. But at the same time, the game has received a much-needed update in the form of stunning graphics, fluent gameplay and an impressive opening scene that immediately takes the you to your macabre playing field for the next twenty to fifty hours - or more.

Whereas in previous Mario Kart games - as befits the genre - you raced around tracks, in Mario Kart World you can drive so-called Knockout Tours. These are rallies through the open world with checkpoints where a few racers drop out each time. This game mode is not a reinvention of the wheel, but it is a welcome twist. It proves that in its genre - the arcade racer - Mario Kart remains in a league of its own. And this is the best Mario Kart Nintendo ever made.

Bayonetta 3 excels in over-the-top madness. In the best possible way. But the story with wacky characters across parallel universes, is just the canvas for the real highlight of Bayonetta 3: the action. The titular witch's lightning-fast attacks are complemented her own magical powers, but you can now also temporarily take control of several enormous creatures, the "Demon Slaves”.

Five years ago, Ghost of Tsushima pushed the PS4 to its limits and left a lasting impression with its historically inspired open-world epic. Visually, narratively, and in terms of gameplay, this interactive love letter to the work of director Akira Kurosawa, the grand master of the samurai genre, was so good that it rightly earned the status of “classic.” There were some flaws—perhaps inherent to the open-world genre—but the result was an open-world game that you'll happily lose yourself in for 100 hours. For Ghost of Yotei, all of the above still holds true, but you'll want to put 200 hours into it. It sounds disrespectful, but Ghost of Yotei is a sequel by the book and therefore, in essence, more Ghost of Tsushima, but ‘better’: with more weapons, more variety of enemies, and even more beautiful grass – because what an incredibly beautiful game this is.

The good news first: the games received a graphical update, making them look visually up to date. Oddly enough, this improvement also has a downside: the unique atmosphere that characterized the first part of the series is gone. The dark menace is completely gone, and gloomy surroundings suddenly look like sunny vacation resorts - if you think away the skewered inhabitants. So are we disappointed with this Remastered Edition? Not at all. The battles remain fantastic: is a sniper hiding behind a wall? Let one of your (computer-controlled) allies throw him into the air and then practice the better clay-pigeon shooting. All this action is embedded in an epic story that can compete with the better Star Trek movie, where the painful choices are made by you.

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.

Armored Core VI is a modern classic and quite literally: this is 'just' a rock-solid action game. No open world, no endless stream of side missions or other ballast, and that is very refreshing in 2023. Although there is a steep learning curve.

Returnal masterfully makes use of the technical possibilities of the PS5 and succeeds in creating an immersive gaming experience that has rarely been seen before. The end result is a rock-solid game that is not for the faint-hearted, but has raised the bar just that little bit higher for all the games to come.

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.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a textbook example of what a sequel should be. Bigger, better and flashier than its predecessor. The action will titillate any gaming Star Wars-fan and so will the excellent (Star Wars) story. Yet the enthralling Jedi fantasy this game offers is sometimes bogged down by lackluster performance.

In this brand-new adventure, you step into the shoes of Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael or Michelangelo, sensei Splinter or reporter April O'Neil and must save the world from the main villain Shredder. You do this entirely in the style of the beat 'em ups of yesteryear. It is a brawling game with wonderfully pixelated retro graphics and a pumping soundtrack, in which just about all the locations, characters and enemies of the past pass by in rapid succession.

Besides the player group that you can put together yourself at one of the 127 clubs and the tactical instructions that you give to your team, there are now also meetings, pep talks and press conferences that require your input. Unfortunately, this is done in such a crooked Dutch that it is disturbing. This is also about the only reason why this niche game does not receive an absolute top score.

Admittedly, ideally we wouldn't write this review. Blue prince is a game best experienced without any prior knowledge. Unfortunately, we don't get paid for blank pages, and honestly: this is a masterpiece we can't and won't shut up about. Underneath the seemingly simple concept lies one of the most intriguing, clever, surprising, frustrating but at the same time best games of recent months.

It’s been a long time since we attended university. When our parents asked what we did when we were supposed to have been studying, we always replied by saying we were making a statistical analysis of To Madeira and Tsigalko. Little did they know they were cult players in the addictive first versions of Football manager.

Kirby and the forgotten land' is a shot of pure fun. A dose of merriment that can thaw even the most soured heart. It is a moment of carefree enjoyment, perhaps a little too carefree thanks to the low difficulty.

Shin Megami Tensei V is not for the lazy gamer. Although you are bombarded with information and grand ideas at the beginning, the story is slow to get going after that. The game is also extremely difficult. A person would give up for less. But those who persevere will be surprised by one of the most intense experiences the Switch has to offer.

‘F1 2021’ builds on the solid foundation of its predecessors and has retained their strengths. The sense of speed is phenomenal, and thanks to the many driving aids, both a beginner, a seasoned simulation racer and everyone in between will find plenty of challenge on the track. The game also takes advantage of the powerful hardware of the latest Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X, thereby also eliminating one of its biggest shortcomings: the miserably long loading times between races are a thing of the past.

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.

Warner Bros. announced this game with much fanfare a long time ago, but Hogwarts Legacy lives up to all expectations. You can lose yourself for hours in the world where years later Harry Potter will also have his adventures. If we could take two weeks off just for this game, we would do it in a heartbeat. Hogwarts Legacy has us spellbound and we never want to go back to the Muggle world.

Resident Evil: Village suffers from the same defect as many horror films: after a while we dare to open our eyes, the chips and coke are finished and we wait somewhat bored for the end of the film. So too in Village. As soon as the novelty wears off, the game deteriorates into a kind of slaughterfest that even reminded us a bit of Call of Duty. The tone of the game also changes. Moments of campy horror/humor are interspersed with scenes that are as much seriousness as blood. It seems a bit as if the creators didn't know which way they wanted to go and just took all sides at once. That's a shame for a game in a series that is already a quarter of a century old. These moments are not bad, but the contrast with Village's best bits is huge. Because when everything clicks together, it just crackles.

News Tower is an original addition to the management genre, full of atmosphere and surprisingly addictive. Dutch developer Sparrow Night has made a clever debut with this game. Be prepared for some red numbers in the beginning, because the entry threshold is quite high. Apparently, it's not as easy as we thought to create a high-quality, profitable newspaper. Respect for our bosses.

Is it worth spending your hard-earned money on a DLC? In case of Dead Cells: Fatal Falls, the answer is a resounding yes. You get new levels, new weapons and new enemies in this more than decent expansion of an already great game.

Visually, everything looks top notch, the environments are stunning and the accompanying heavy metal adds another layer of hell. Although there is also sad news: you cannot play against others. Fortunately, this is not a huge loss, as the campaign lasts more than 20 hours and there is a lot of variety. You can even fly on dragons - though we think those are the weakest parts of the game. The game also feels different from the 2016 reboot and Doom Eternal: the environments are wider and you're a little less mobile. We can imagine that some fans might be turned off by that, but not us: Doom: The Dark Ages is a lovingly made game with a lot of new elements, and we can heartily recommend it for anyone who wants to fight demons from time to time.

Describing Persona 5 as brilliant is not even an exaggeration. The 2016 Japanese game won just about everything there was to win, and is considered one of the best role-playing games ever made. ‘Strikers’ is not simply an expansion that offers more of the same, but a standalone game that adds a new and distinct battle system where the focus is more on action than tactics.

A shooting game, but kid-friendly and, above all, rock-solid. Those last two adjectives have been Nintendo's USP since the late 1980s, and Splatoon 3 is brimming with that DNA. A breath of fresh air for those tired of the Call of duty's and Overwatches of this world for a while.

Battlefield 6 means a bit of a return to basics. The code word for its predecessor, Battlefield 2042, was ‘big’, but the latest installment is more intimate—as far as that's possible in a world war. Whereas Battlefield 2042 was solely a multiplayer game with no fewer than 128 players at a time, Battlefield 6 usually has 64 players competing against each other in the many different modes. The campaign also makes a comeback. This high-stakes power struggle plays out like a blockbuster movie, complete with explosions, cliffhangers, and a rousing soundtrack that amplifies the epic battle of your elite unit. We still have to wait a little over a month for the latest Call of Duty, but as far as we're concerned, Battlefield 6 currently has more than a few advantages.

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.

It sounds ridiculous. And maybe it is. But the first ten minutes of Stray broke our heart. We’re a soft-boiled egg when it comes to animals, even when they're completely fictional. A cat who loses his friends and then gets hurt? Enough for an intense feeling of sadness and pity. It is not the challenge, but the experience that is key in this game. You really play Stray for the atmosphere. And that's exactly right.

The game looks like crap, is absurd at times and essentially shitty. And yet, we had a great time with indie game Betrayal at Club Low. Don't expect flashy action, but pointed dialogue and a whole lot of absurdity. Or how about characters who rise to the sky like a rocket with both middle fingers in the air when you've convinced them to give up their seats? After about two hours of this nonsense, you reach the end, but there are multiple possible outcomes that invite you to play again and again. With the funky beats of the soundtrack, this is by no means a punishment.

The space epic, in which you could imagine yourself in Star Wars, Firefly or Dune, is one of the most hyped games of the year but it also lives up to the sky-high expectations. The scale, the freedom and the possibilities in the game are almost unprecedented. It's hard enough to excel at any of these components, let alone do it all well and combine it into one rock-solid game, the best Xbox game in years.

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.

Rest assured: this museum never gets boring or stuffy. Like its predecessors, Two Point Museum does not take itself too seriously, and is full of corky humor and absurd mayhem. After Hospital and Campus, Museum takes the Two Point series to new heights. It is not only original and funny, but at the same time a fine, strategic management game.

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.

It's remarkable how much a game series that largely revolves around creatures evolving has little concern for change. For 25 years, the concept of Pokémon games has been virtually unchanged. But then there's Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which breaks with tradition. Hopefully, in doing so, it lays the foundation for the next generation of Pokémon titles. Because after playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus, we don’t want to go back.

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.

The so-called fatalities, deadly attacks after you have knocked your opponent half unconscious, are of course also part of the game. Although, unlike before, you don't have to press a difficult and perfectly timed button combination to do so. A few keys can suffice, making it both more accessible, more grotesque and more gory. The threshold to death and destruction is now completely non-existent. The result is an intriguing and smooth-playing fighting game, but one that is definitely not suitable for children.

A lot has changed under the beautiful hood, and the threshold has been significantly lowered. The original was an epic that you could easily spend a hundred hours on, but where you spent a large part of that time grinding: defeating the same enemies over and over again to slowly become stronger. That has been greatly reduced. Now you can defeat weak monsters with a single push of a button. Sacrilege? Perhaps, but the result is a streamlined game that respects your time and has a much faster pace.

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.

The first Powerwash Simulator was my guilty pleasure. I spent many hours playing it on the Nintendo Switch. I was so hooked that it almost convinced me that such a job would be something for me in real life. Until I borrowed my in-laws' pressure washer and realized that the simulation is more fun after all. Fortunately, the game now has a formidable successor. The fun of Powerwash Simulator 2 lies in the simplicity of the game. This game is surprisingly satisfying and, above all, a great way to relax. Unfortunately, the sequel is not available on “older consoles” such as the first Nintendo Switch. That's a shame.

The new American backers of motorsport's king class know damn well what they're doing. After the documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix brought a touch of drama to the paddock, winning heaps of new souls for the sport, F1 23 does it again nicely. With Braking point 2, the story mode in the new game, even gamers who previously had little with F1 have something to lick their thumbs and fingers at.

The world's first trombone game is a viral hit, and rightfully so. Trombone Champ is maddening, maddening and maddening fun. The worse you play, the more fun the game becomes. Clearly this humdinger simulator doesn't take itself or the instrument too seriously, but beyond all that hilarity, lurks a very solid and challenging music game.

Super Mario party jamboree is a very fun game, which is a little more extensive and varied than its predecessors. But you have to be able to stand your losses and your friends' teasing. So play at your own risk.

Loop Hero is essentially a constant game of risk versus reward that quickly takes hold of you. And once you're in that loop, it's hard to get out again.