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.

The game is archly difficult and merciless, but heaps of fun. Solving puzzles by building a rhythm and racing through different levels in the flow is incredibly satisfying. The small upgrades in gameplay and additions like a motorcycle to add even more speed make the eight to 10 hours it takes you to reach the end go by in no time. The sublime soundtrack full of synthwave and beats are the icing on the cake. A rather short play time for a full-fledged game, but then again, the game is on sale for a softer price.

Flashy graphics, familiar characters and innovative gameplay are great assets, but not always necessary to make a game a winner. As dusk falls proves that you can also score with just a great story.

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.

The contrast with previous Lego games or with the amusing but hyperkinetic Lego movie could hardly be greater. The neon and candy cane colors, sharp dialogues and flashy action have actually given way to ... serenity. Throughout the game there is no talking, there are no facial expressions and you are not taken by the hand. The soothing soundtrack supports the peaceful nature of the game, and it is wonderful to see how intentions and emotions can be conveyed even without dialogue.

And so I set out again. I see a Pidgeot grab a Magikarp from the air as it jumps out of the water. Unfortunately, I am just too late to get it right in the picture because I am a bit startled by my childish enthusiasm. Maybe it's because of the vacation spirit I missed. Or maybe because New Pokémon Snap is just really fun to play. I think mostly the latter.

Those who get their kicks not from the numbers and tables of a management game, but from phenomenal speeds on the track should choose ‘F1 22’. The annual release of this racing game consistently ranks among the top and has recently received an update that added even more content.

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?

A psychedelic trip of about ten hours. Perfectly legal and without any mind-altering or narcotic drugs involved. Welcome to the delightfully bizarre world of ‘Ultros’, whose smooth and surprisingly layered gameplay, atmospheric soundtrack and eccentric graphics make it an instant cult classic.

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.

After a good seven hours, you reach the end. Short for a game that will be on sale at full price, but long enough for an already exhausting VR adventure. At times, Horizon Call of the Mountain feels like a technical demo meant to show what the PS VR2 can do. But as a very first game, the result is promising, and does bode well for what the PS VR2 will bring in the coming months and years.

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?

Even if at first glance it doesn't seem like a new game, the new environments and small and larger adjustments immediately make Overwatch 2 one of the most fun shooters of the moment. The fact that the game is free - except for battle passes and cosmetic tweaks for the various characters that you can buy with real money - and that it doesn't matter what platform you play on, are only additional arguments to quickly get the download up and running.

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.

Is ‘short but sweet’ a euphemism for ‘tastes like more’? In case of Olija, that is a heartfelt ‘yes’. This charming 2D platformer excels thanks to its pixel art, innovative controls, compelling story and fun puzzles.

What if you combined the work of James Ensor with "Where's Wally?" The answer: one of the most entertaining puzzle games of recent years. Now the game—made in Belgium!—is also available for the Nintendo Switch.

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.

Eighteen (!) years after its predecessor, Metroid Prime 3, and a console generation later, we can finally play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. This game is once again brimming with the sci-fi, spooky, space shooter action that gave this iconic series its status, but where the developers try to innovate, they fall short.

Solving puzzles together. Learning new skills. A little bit of fighting. We were big fans of the first two "Trine" games. Until the creators missed the mark with the third game. But with "Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy," the mistakes of the past have been forgiven.

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.

We have been playing Flight Simulator for about thirty years and watched the game undergo a tremendous evolution. The pixels of yesteryear became more and more realistic, and we spent many hours in the virtual cockpit. But now... sigh. Let's start with the beginning: after the huge download, it took us a good hour to get past the loading screen. The times after that were slightly faster, but in the meantime you can quietly do the dishes. That you need a powerful PC, we understand: the more realistic, the more computing power. But in addition, you need a fast Internet connection, because the game world is downloaded live. Our connection is on the moderate side, and so is our gaming enjoyment. So until an update comes along that fixes this, we are in a no-fly zone.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the heartbreaking, immersive story. Except the creators have tried to push two games into one, and the action-RPG portion leaves much to be desired. With a little more focus, this game would not have ended up in the mid-range.

Roguebook follows the success formula of other toppers in this crossover of genres such as Slay the spire and Monster train. Don't be fooled by the simple graphics. Under the hood is a layered role-playing game with plenty of room for personalization, allowing you to create your own play style. The game is not revolutionary but it is rock solid, especially for this soft price.

The most important question of all is: how does FIFA 22 play? Well, for the most part just like FIFA 21 and 20. And that's a good thing, because its controls and gameplay were fine. Revolutionary changes you should not expect. The next-gen versions have received a graphical update and load super fast, but razor-sharp and lifelike movements during a full soccer match will not be available until next year at the earliest.

Where Odyssey takes the top spot are the turn-based battles. The familiar skills of the Straw Hats are put to full use in a simple but highly effective system of rock, scissors, paper. Luffy's Gum Gum attacks, Nico Robin's many arms, Usopp's hilarious weapons and Franky's blinding nipples, they rarely looked so stunning and never get boring.

Nightreign uses the same stone-good foundation, plays smoothly and puts its own twist on the modern classic. And yet it lacks a touch of the magic that makes Elden ring Elden ring. An overarching storyline is completely absent, the fantastically designed environments full of lighting and gold details have been replaced with murky fantasy environments of thirteen-in-a-dozen variety, and the sense of being able to explore at your own pace is completely gone due to the ever-shrinking game world. Beforehand, however, we never thought we would keep returning to Nightreign. Despite its many misgivings, the cyclical structure and fast-paced attempts to make your character stronger is still intriguing enough to make us want to start it over and over again. After Elden ring, expansion Shadow of the erdtree and now Nightreign, the conclusion is: more Elden ring is always good.

It looks like a game for kids, but make no mistake: the difficulty level is very tough. There were many moments when we almost threw our controller across the living room, moments when we had to take a break. Especially the levels in which you are in a mine cart are often impossible to complete on the first try, but this difficulty makes the euphoria all the greater when you finally succeed.

Whether you escape or fail, you end up back at the beginning each time. The trick is to do your round again and again through the bank that changes layouts each time. It sounds simple, but is surprisingly challenging and great fun to play.