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.

Although Shadows gives the Assassin's Creed formula a much-needed update, it continues to falter in some areas. The long cutscenes and dialogues are still present, and you encounter so many enemies that the battles get boring at times. We know that sounds crazy in a game where you play an assassin, but sometimes you just want to achieve your goal instead of killing one guard after another. Those two shortcomings are especially noticeable at the beginning of the game, which is a shame, because it kind of took away our desire to continue playing. Fortunately, we bit through, because the further we progressed, the more Shadows blossomed. There is an enormous amount to experience, and Ubisoft clearly invested where it was needed: in the storyline. It is vastly expanded and rarely bores.

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.

Borderlands 4 is bigger and grander than its predecessors. But with the addition of new ways to move around, an extensive system to make your character stronger, and challenging boss fights that require more than just button mashing, it's also the best Borderlands game to date. Essentially, it remains the king of all looter-shooters: you blast enemies to get better equipment, which allows you to shoot enemies even more efficiently. A highly addictive and satisfying gameplay loop that you gradually get caught up in.

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.

The game’s style is somewhat reminiscent of Cuphead, but without the high difficulty level. The gameplay is simple, the soundtrack is atmospheric and jazzy, and it’s chock-full of puns and nods to old cartoons. The many secrets to discover by exploring every nook and cranny are reminiscent of classic video games, but fortunately, this entertaining indie game is above all its own unique and stylish, hand-drawn self.

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.

No reviewer on earth enjoys scathing a Zelda-game. More often than not they are grand cru-games players are willing to wait years for. Ever since BOTW we’ve been given crumbs while waiting for the much awaited sequel through remasters and remakes. ‘Link’s Awakening’ scratched that itch. Skyward Sword HD does not. Spoler alert: in the year 2021 motion controls are still horrible.

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.

The controls are so smooth and intuitive that you can join the battle effortlessly. The multiplayer mode provides endless opportunities to play and keep playing, and the solo campaign is accompanied by well-made and interesting videos. If our teachers had made history lessons as engaging as Age of Empires IV, we’re sure we would have paid better attention.

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.

In just three days, 10 million copies were sold, making it one of the fastest-selling games ever. A game about Chinese mythology may not be so accessible in Western countries, but Black myth: Wukong is simply a rock-solid action game. So flashy and simply beautiful that you'll happily forgive its minor shortcomings.

You are constantly haunted by dozens of black ghosts. Your only task is to guide lost souls to the afterlife. Sounds like a scary horror game, doesn't it? But 'Kena: Bridge of spirits' is just the opposite: a beautifully cute yet challenging action-adventure game that is definitely worth a spot on your wish list.

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.

With Engage, another top title is added to the Fire Emblem series. Unfortunately, the characters are not as noteworthy as the heroes that the game's Emblem rings pull from under the dust. But what Three Houses did for the story, Engage does for the action: raise the bar.

nd yet we were not blown away (pun not intended) while playing Halo Infinite. Everything feels very natural and familiar, but almost seems interchangeable with previous games. The lack of innovation is something that plagues many first person shooters of this generation, yet Halo Infinite is a more than solid game that is worth your precious time and attention.

F1 25 is a fine racing game, worthy of the queen class of motorsports. But as you often see with sports games, not that much changes from year to year. So do you already have a version from, say, 2024 or 2023? Unless you really care about being able to race against newcomers like Kimi Antonelli, or necessarily want to see Lewis Hamilton shine for his new patron Ferrari, feel free to skip this one. Next year, quite a few rules of play are changing in Formula One, and hopefully it will also inspire Codemasters to innovate a bit more. Because just as an F1 team must constantly innovate to keep up, standing still here equals going backwards.

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.

The story is entertaining, and it features characters from the Marvel universe that haven't yet surfaced in the movies, such as Fin Fang Foom, Lady Hellbender and the Nova Corps. Add in the requisite humor and self-deprecation and an eclectic killer soundtrack, and you get one of the most enjoyable games of the year.

Land of the Morning Light is a gorgeous and engaging love song to ancient Korea. However, it suffers from the same problems as genre rivals. You don’t just catch up with almost nine years of previous history, and the amount of data to process is almost intimidating.