Het Nieuwsblad's Scores

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For 250 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 31% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 65% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 72
Highest review score: 100 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Lowest review score: 20 Pokemon Violet
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 138 out of 250
  2. Mixed: 81 out of 250
  3. Negative: 31 out of 250
252 game reviews
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    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cronos: The New Dawn
    Cronos: The New Dawn gets off to a slow start, with ammunition that is (too) scarce and melee attacks that are clunky and difficult to aim. After a few upgrades, you suddenly go from being a weakling to an elite soldier, after which there is little challenge left. Too difficult at the beginning, too easy after playing for a while. The balance is clearly off, and there are no options to adjust the difficulty level. And once you start noticing that they really do pull out all the tricks of the horror genre—a shadow flashing in the corner of your eye, a flashlight that suddenly starts to falter when things get exciting, an enemy that appears out of nowhere after you pick up an object—the fun quickly wears off. Unfortunately, the intriguing premise and atmospheric setting don't make up for these frustrating moments.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Stellar Blade
    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.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    EA Sports FC 25
    So yes, FC 25 feels a touch different again, and the immensely popular Ultimate Team is also back, but whether that's worth the full price - target price 65 euros? We doubt it. We feel that EA is on the right track and knows where it wants to go, that's for sure, but FC 25 just doesn't feel "finished" after all these years: the focus is still too much on fast breakaways, defenders still look a bit clumsy and after a while you realize that tactics that work excellently in real life are useless in FC 25. For us, it could be a bit more.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
    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.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Scarf (2021)
    Jump, swing and solve puzzles. Scarf is a standard puzzle platform game. A fine game, but it doesn't really warm you up. It is a worthy start for a small game studio, but there are still working points.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Grounded
    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.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
    Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin constantly balances between homage to the series and bombastic kitsch. The new gameplay - it feels more like a soulslike game than your typical action-RPG - is refreshing at times, but not spectacular enough to make the game rise above mediocrity.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Horizon Forbidden West
    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?
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Chivalry 2
    The game offers an immersive crusade experience, but thankfully doesn't take itself too seriously. Despite the many severed limbs, there is plenty of room for a dash of humor. Now if the developer could only do something about the large amount of bugs on PS4, they just might have a cult hit up their sleeve.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    We Were Here Forever
    Are we that stupid now? Or is this puzzle really very difficult to decipher? To be honest, we thought so several times during ‘We Were Here Forever’. The new puzzle game - which you can only play in pairs - is quite a workout for the brain.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong
    The characters move stiffly, the animations look like they are from a game from two generations ago, and there is little atmosphere or tension. The voice actors are either overacting or unintentionally soulless. And that's a shame for a game that consists mostly of dialogue. The game is clearly suffering from anemia, and we can only hope for a miraculous cure when ‘Bloodlines 2’ hits the market.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX
    35 years after its original release, 'Alex Kidd in Miracle World' is being re-released in a polished version that feels wonderfully nostalgic. Aside from some additional dialogue, levels and modified boss battles, it's still essentially the same game as it was in 1986. While we praise the way the player can now seamlessly switch between the new and original graphics, it feels like a missed opportunity not to change some of the basics. The controls are still as clunky as they were back then, and the unforgiving difficulty level still causes a lot of frustration today. Fortunately, there is the ability to use infinite lives, otherwise many controllers would perish.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Helldivers 2
    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.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Park Beyond
    In Park Beyond you can rely on a pinch of theme park magic to make your constructions truly spectacular. But for that, you'll have to bite the bullet. After all, on console, controller control is so clunky that it regularly becomes frustrating. And the many crashes we encountered during our play sessions almost made those controllers fly across the room. So Park Beyond, in this state, is mostly for those with a strong stomach and a lot of patience. Which comes in handy on a roller coaster.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
    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.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
    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.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
    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.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Sonic Origins
    A nice offer for fans, whether they are fans from the very beginning or young newcomers who have gotten to know the blue-haired hedgehog through recent Hollywood films. The price tag of around forty euros is hefty, but you get four excellent retro games in return.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Acolyte
    What is successful, however, is the way you are forced to go outside the game. Googling answers, looking up articles on news sites, decoding images and audio clips, searching Twitter, delving into source files and deciphering codes. You do it all, although you have to know your way around the Internet and your PC. Acolyte is an intriguing and original detective game, but due to the high technological threshold not for everyone.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Lost Words: Beyond the Page
    Loss, grief and processing. These themes are central to 'Lost words: beyond the page'. Heavy subjects that are beautifully put into words and images, in a way that is also accessible for children. Just don’t expect a great challenge.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game - Complete Edition
    In just four hours you're all set, but thanks to the multiplayer mode you can easily add several more hours. For less than 15 euros you can't expect an absolute masterpiece, but you get some carefree entertainment that will catapult you back to the 90s.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Assassin's Creed Mirage
    After releasing at least one new game almost every year, developer Ubisoft simply fails to surprise with Assassins Creed Mirage. What was supposed to be an homage to the first games feels too much like déjà vu. The same moves, the same controls, the same missions in a similar setting. There is wear and tear on the golden formula of yesteryear.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Football Manager 2023
    "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.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    FIFA 23
    All good things come to an end, and so does FIFA. Not that the game itself will cease to exist, but from next year it will simply be called EA Sports FC. In any case, the latest edition in the series could not be more FIFA: the moments on the pitch are great, those off it a little less so. There are times when it seems mostly a commercial for itself. The menus are garish and lead you everywhere but where you want to go. They also make it clear where Electronic Arts wants players to spend the most time: in flagship/milk cow Ultimate Team, where you build the strongest team possible and compete with it online. But once you get busy you notice how Electronic Arts manages to make soccer just that little bit more appealing every year.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
    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.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Total War: WARHAMMER III
    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.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139...
    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.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles
    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.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    WindJammers 2
    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.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Mario Party Superstars
    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.
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In Progress & Unscored

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    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Palworld
    There is nothing wrong with being inspired, and many movies and games are variations on existing themes. But ‘Palworld’ adds nothing original and there is more than a hint of plagiarism about it. This chaotic bastard child in which creatures can not only be deployed as soldiers or slaves but also horribly tortured caused nothing but annoyance for yours truly. But look, tens of millions of players appear to like it after all, so there is indeed a market and an audience for it. Fascinating, but that still doesn't make it a good, original game. [Early Access Score = 20]
    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Slay the Spire 2
    Slay the Spire II isn’t exactly a revolution: the framework of the original remains intact, but there are so many new cards and the new characters are so unique that we’re already completely hooked and frantically searching for ways to “break” the game by finding crazy card combos. The new feature we were most looking forward to was multiplayer: from now on, you can team up with other players to take down monsters. That requires a lot of coordination, especially when playing with three or four people, but wow: it adds a whole new dimension. In case it wasn’t clear: we would have rather played Slay the Spire II than written this piece. Though that’s not entirely true: we think this game is so good that we believe everyone should try it, and we’re happy to recommend it. Your wallet will barely feel it: you can get started for just 25 euros. [Early Access Score = 100]

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