Ghost of Yotei is a very safe sequel to Tsushima. In terms of gameplay, it builds further on what Tsushima already did well. It innovates little in that regard, but it does address every issue I pointed out in my original review of Ghost of Tsushima. On paper, that’s fantastic. Unfortunately, because of its stronger focus on the main character, Ghost of Yotei loses sight of the story of the world around her. Ghost of Yotei matches its predecessor well, but because of its missed storytelling opportunities, it fails to surpass Ghost of Tsushima.

The Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice Trilogy merges three good games with a unique slant, colorful characters and interesting stories. The set features quality of life improvements such as autoplay, being able to choose any section of each chapter and has a well-stocked museum section full of artwork and music. The three titles look good, sound even better and managed to keep me enthralled, albeit with a bit too much filler in the middle. Sifting through the testimonies and demonstrating contradictions remains cool and makes you feel insanely clever at times - even when the gameplay is minimalistic.

F1 25 offers a very complete package this year. The new features are all focused on the sport itself, and Braking Point is once again exceptionally entertaining. Codemasters hasn’t changed a great deal compared to last season, but every tweak hits the mark. It’s a shame that PSVR2 owners are still being left out. With the major 2026 changes on the horizon, F1 25 is an excellent way to say goodbye to the current generation of cars.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma introduces unusually major changes to the Rune Factory series. At the same time, it keeps the core largely intact: you’re still doing mostly the same things as in previous titles, only this time most of the repetitive tasks are delegated to your villagers. As a result, the game can focus more on story, action, and adventure — and it works out well. It respects the player’s time better, and the improved combat systems and interesting environments do not disappoint. Not every Rune Factory fan will appreciate this direction, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s exactly what the series needed.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a strong remake of the game originally released on the Game Boy Advance in 2004. With two brand new worlds and a wide variety of mechanics, the levels continue to feel unique and the game is a pleasure to play.

Sword of the Sea is a visually stunning but short experience that, despite its length and minor issues, left a strong impression on me.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park remains a wonderful platformer. Its colorful playfulness bursts off the screen, and the levels remain remarkably inventive. It's a shame this expansion doesn't include more single-player content, but even if the minigames do nothing for you, there's still plenty to enjoy in Bellabel Park. Now it's time to wait for a truly new 2D Mario.

Sunderfolk is a unique RPG, and not just because of how you control it. Choosing and placing attacks via your phone makes everything feel more tangible than with a controller, and it also provides more information between turns. It's built for multiplayer, so make sure to play with one or more friends to get the most out of it. The systems run deep, from building your deck and picking the best card, to making sure the Fate cards deliver the best buffs and the least harmful debuffs. Missions vary, and above all, the game looks charming and delightful, backed by a great soundtrack and, most importantly, brilliant voice acting that truly captures the feel of a Dungeons & Dragons session.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden isn’t perfect, but it is a very intriguing action RPG with a moral dilemma that kept me at the edge of my seat. It tells a beautiful story about love, loss, acceptance and fear. I loved doing research on the villagers to find out the truth, walking through the beautifully crafted world and the combat kept me interested for a long time. The ending even made me want to start another playthrough, right after I finished.

For a 1.0 release, Ravenswatch has just barely gotten the basics right. Fortunately, those basics are incredibly solid. The gameplay is unique for a roguelike, successfully capturing the feel of a full playthrough of an ARPG like Diablo in runs lasting just under an hour. Each of the nine playable characters features a completely different playstyle, and all of them are immensely satisfying to play. The limited number of levels and the lack of variety within them are disappointing. However, the core gameplay is so strong that it keeps you coming back—especially when playing with a group of friends.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a very big step in the right direction for the franchise that has been around for years. It was a great idea to go back to the roots of the series and make it a 2D platformer in the style of a metroidvania. With this game, the creators managed to strike a perfect balance of impressive boss fights, well thought out puzzles and challenging courses. Thus, the gameplay is never boring or monotonous for a moment. Especially with protagonist Sargon constantly gaining new time powers, there are always new ways to take on bosses or solve puzzles. As a player, I continued to marvel at this. It's just a shame that the story really got going late. There was so much potential in the characters and the story told with them. Also graphically, the game is disappointing compared to other parts in the Prince of Persia series. But nevertheless, The Lost Crown is a great metroidvania. I hope Ubisoft continues the franchise this way and we will see Sargon again.

Nintendo has finally brought a graphically enhanced version of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD from the Wii and 3DS consoles to the Switch. The game remains of high quality even today, and the levels are still just as entertaining. This is indeed the best version of the game currently available to play. It's just unfortunate that the game is being sold at the same price as a new Nintendo game, while, apart from the graphical enhancements, it's essentially the same game that appeared on the 3DS more than ten years ago. Additionally, Tropical Freeze remains the superior Donkey Kong game available on the Switch. However, if you've never played Donkey Kong Country Returns or even tried the version on the 3DS, it can certainly be worth it.

Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are excellent 3D platformers, and it’s nice that the second installment is now also playable on modern hardware. Still, I’m disappointed by the way the ports have been handled. Nintendo is asking a significantly higher price per game than with Super Mario 3D All-Stars, the last time Super Mario Galaxy was brought to Switch. In return, there’s only some new side content, while nothing meaningful has really been added in terms of gameplay. That said, these remain two of the best games ever made, bundled together in one package.

With Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Deck Nine delivers a worthy successor to Max Caulfield's story. Despite the absence of a recap and the sometimes directive nature, the story manages to captivate and surprise. This is largely thanks to the strong acting, emotional music, and cinematic scenes.

Mysteria Ecclesiae is one of the strongest DLCs for KCD2, featuring an intriguing story and a vibrant setting, although the way you’re meant to play it feels a bit too constrained.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 is a fresh hit of nostalgia, though it doesn’t land quite as hard as the first remake. Iron Galaxy has clearly put in a solid effort to bring the games into the modern era, but a few things still slip through the cracks.

The music, voiceovers, and bizarre weapons do a great job of masking the shortcomings of Mouse. Mouse P.I. For Hire won't be the game of the year, but in my opinion, it's the most stylish one.

Mafia: The Old Country feels like a return to the original Mafia titles, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. A linear experience with excellent presentation, exceptional acting, and a solid story. Unfortunately, the combat and stealth are mediocre, but sufficient to keep the story moving. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy it. With the relatively low entry price, I hope potential fans will be tempted — and that this won’t be the last we see of the Mafia franchise.

You’re better off waiting a bit before picking up Project Motor Racing. Hopefully the game will improve soon with a few patches, because a solid racing sim on consoles with crossplay has the opportunity to be something special.

Code Vein 2 is a promising sequel that learns from its mistakes. The combat is tighter, the world more vibrant, and the story surrounding time travel and the Resurgence is reasonably engaging from beginning to end. Although navigation in the open world can sometimes be frustrating and the weapon variety may feel somewhat limited in practice due to the upgrade system, what you get here is a solid and highly entertaining action RPG that will appeal to both fans of the original and newcomers alike.

Is Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater the ultimate version of this legendary classic? Honestly, not really. It’s a competent remake, but because Konami plays it so safe, I feel there’s little reason to pick up this new version – especially considering the issues on PC. On consoles it might be a different story, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to test those yet. The game looks stunning, but in this remake it feels too easy. If you’ve never played Metal Gear Solid 3 before, you can pick up MGS Δ without hesitation. Purists, however, will undoubtedly remain loyal to the original versions. What I mainly hope is that Konami takes the right lessons from this remake. Fans are craving a true continuation of the series. A remake of a game that still holds up perfectly well will never score outstandingly. Hopefully Konami won’t misinterpret that as a lack of interest in the franchise and put Metal Gear Solid back on ice.

Raidou Remastered makes the slower, heavily outdated original a lot more accessible, allowing its atmosphere to be experienced more easily today. At the same time, it has to make significant changes to the original framework to achieve that. I’d love to see the second game get a remaster as well, but if Atlus truly wants to make the subseries relevant again, it would be better off launching an entirely new title. If Raidou Remastered has taught me anything (again), it’s that Raidou is more than worth it.

Despite minor frustrations, *Roadcraft* manages to deliver an engaging and unique experience. By focusing more on restoring infrastructure than driving in the absence of it, there's less immediate challenge compared to its predecessors. After all, it’s less about carefully steering a massive truck up a narrow mountain trail, and more about making that mountain accessible through thoughtful planning. It’s surprisingly fun and varied work—but you do need to have patience for it.

FAST Fusion is a delightful racer with lightning-fast gameplay and some cool new mechanics. The game doesn’t offer a huge amount of content, but that’s perfectly fine for a price of 15 euros. Once again, FAST proves to be the ideal racer to alternate with Mario Kart. Visually, the game runs incredibly smoothly, although I do hope the image quality in handheld mode gets a bit of an upgrade through a patch.

With Sonic X Shadow Generations, Shadow brings his own set of levels that can easily match the quality of Sonic's. Thanks to Shadow's many interesting superpowers, some of these levels even manage to surpass that level of quality. However, it also exposes a bigger problem within the franchise. Even the best-designed levels in the series don’t always shine due to inherently imprecise controls and mediocre camera work. As such, Sonic X Shadow Generations is an excellent celebration of everything Sonic has achieved over the years—but it also highlights what needs improvement in the future.

Skate Story seemingly captures the freedom and bite of skating with ease, while also showing just how difficult it was for developer Sam Eng to reach that point.

NBA 2K26 is once again a decent installment of the annual basketball series. In terms of gameplay, it feels noticeably smoother, especially on the offensive side of the court. On the flip side, defenders seem less effective. The story mode in MyCareer is surprisingly entertaining and comes with an original European twist. Still, certain aspects of the various game modes could have been fleshed out much better, and in many ways, it feels almost identical to last year’s game. On top of that, in-game purchases still take far too central a role in NBA 2K.

Star Wars Outlaws can never be called a bad game at any point. However, apart from the presentation, the game doesn’t truly excel in any area. A tremendous amount of love has been put into the worlds and characters, but the overall gameplay simply falls short. Nevertheless, I hope we see more of Kay Vess in the future.