The plot of Altered Echoes is a fever dream, and I mean that in a good way. Even after the credits roll, I still don’t quite understand what just happened, but that’s pretty much how it has to be in a Little Nightmares game. It expands on the lore, picks up on creepy nightmare motifs, and presents an unreal world where you can never be sure what’s coming next. That’s exactly what I expect from a game in this universe, which is why I’m very satisfied with the experience despite the lack of a coherent narrative. It’s just a shame that the technical shortcomings noticeably dampen the fun.

An asynchronous multiplayer experiment with a great atmosphere, but some weaknesses in the core gameplay.

Technically shaky, lacking in gameplay and atmosphere. Recommended only for particularly nostalgic gothic veterans with an unconditional longing for more Ruhr Valley fantasy—and with enough patience to make it work, provided you approach it with enough goodwill and sympathy for the small team. Everyone else should be advised against visiting this shaft: the charm of the mine doesn’t bridge every chasm.

Crimson Desert is an entertaining open-world action RPG that offers a unique gameplay experience and, thanks to its vast scale, keeps you occupied for a long time, but fails to truly impress in almost every respect. In this case, less would have been more.

John Carpenter's Toxic Commando delivers a loud, chaotic co-op bloodbath with a healthy dose of 80s kitsch. While other multiplayer competitors strive for polished, strategic gameplay, the trash team crashes the party here, roaring and behaving like complete hooligans. More splatter, monsters and non-stop action could hardly fit into a multiplayer shooter, and this is achieved here in a technically impressive way. Oh, and pigs like to roll around in the mud. That fits, because the Mudrunner influences and the poison slick monsters are on top of that. Nevertheless, the game suffers from a very tough progression system and a pacing that can hardly be improved upon after the furious start. Nevertheless, if you're in the mood for technically impressive mass battles with an immensely high enemy density and whimsical off-road excursions with three friends, you'll find a unique shooter package here that will make fans of World War Z particularly happy.

Reanimal is a captivating horror adventure with an intense creepy atmosphere and a cinematic look. It provides variety in terms of gameplay, but leaves a lot of narrative potential untapped.

Great visual concepts and wacky characters don't make up for the underlying issues of its repetitive encounters and tedious level design.

Code Vein II fundamentally fails to understand that true Souls-like difficulty comes from skill testing, not stat gating. There are also minor but noticeable flaws, such as the sometimes poor readability of attacks, which could be remedied with better visual highlighting and reduced effect chaos. Overall, Code Vein II moves further away from its Souls-like roots, which I find bold and independent. This gives the game a new identity of its own, which in its flow and combat rhythm is more reminiscent of dungeon crawlers and action JRPGs than Dark Souls and the like. The only annoying thing is that many aspects seem to have not been thought through to the end. This results in the aforementioned lack of appeal of the open world, the incoherence between story and gameplay, and the unpolished technical execution. Nevertheless, there is a good game in here somewhere. If Bandai Namco makes adjustments with patches, you can still have fun despite these criticisms.

Two years after its release, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora still offers one of the most beautifully breath-taking worlds we have ever experienced in a video game. The gameplay mix of stealth, shooting, hunting, gathering and crafting is entertaining in short bursts. However, it feels a little too shallow and repetitive for lengthy trips to Pandora. The story presentation is weak, NPCs are walking tropes and the plot offers zero nuance or grey area. The DLC From the Ashes offers better pacing and fast-paced action, whilst also delivering noticeably better cutscenes and story moments. The DLC feels better and more entertaining than the base game, however, it's also a lot shorter than Frontiers of Pandora.

Terminator 2D: No Fate plays like some of the best, most beaufitul 16 bit run 'n gun titles of days gone by. Its varied gameplay, amazing pixel art and insanely good soundtrack make for roughly 40 minutes of brilliant fun - and then you're done. You can now do it all over again on higher difficulty levels or in the no continues arcade mode, a boss rush mode or an infinite survival mode, or even unlock some dubious alternative story moments. If and how much you enjoy this depends on whether or not you have the time and motivation to master this game to perfection. Otherwise, you'll be getting a very entertaining, albeit also very short gameplay experience for your money.

Kirby Air Riders suffers from the difficult task of outwardly conveying its true nature. Those hoping for a fun-racer in the vein of Mario Kart World might be quite disappointed. While the comparison is obvious and superficially accurate, Air Riders relies heavily on a unique gameplay experience. It rewards players who overcome the challenging initial hurdle and have the enthusiasm to delve into the mostly simple, yet complex, systems and mechanics. There's no doubt that casual gamers can enjoy the title. However, if you want to take a few relaxed spins, you'd be better off with the plumber's latest racing adventure.

The label ‘okay’ was invented for games like SpongeBob SquarePants: Tides of Giants. It's a solid game for a younger target audience, which represents its brand well and offers some funny ideas. However, there is little that is truly compelling here, especially since many of the mechanics have already been implemented better elsewhere. So, while you'll have a nice time in Bikini Bottom, you won't feel any real excitement.

The campaign in Black Ops 7 changes everything, for better and for worse. You face psychological horror on your own or cooperatively with friends, fight humongous bosses and move through crazy, surreal levels using grappling hooks and super jumps. Some enemies are annoyingly spongy, some boss mechanics more frustrating than entertaining. The story is unbelievably nonsensical, even for Call of Duty. Multiplayer is chock-full of the usual competitive modes for teams of 6 or 20 players, Warzone and Zombies are present, as well, as is Endgame, a new cooperative Warzone mode against AI enemies. Multiplayer is solid, the Gunsmith feature allows for lots of exciting possibilities, but weapon-balancing could use a little more fine-tuning.

Rue Valley shows how depression, grief and mental health problems affect us and those around us. It also the various ways people deal with these issues, how one can learn to live with them and how to find hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. The story looks at these issues without the use of rose-tinted glasses and creates a fascinating experience through its unusual character creation and very well-written and very-acted dialogue, if you're open to this kind of subject matter. However, a certain amount of patience for a few lengths in both gameplay and storytelling, as well some tolerance for small technical issues and limitations are a requirement for your journey to Rue Valley.

Wreckreation is a flawed but charming arcade racer that successfully resurrects Burnout's spirit. The innovative LiveMix editor offers creative freedom rarely seen in racing games, while solid destruction physics and exhilarating speed deliver memorable moments. However, a lifeless open world, unfair AI difficulty balancing, and numerous technical bugs prevent it from reaching greatness. For players hungry for arcade racing thrills and willing to overlook its rough edges, it's a worthwhile investment. The small ten-person team deserves credit for coming this close to recapturing the magic of 2008.

A fantastic combat system and memorable bosses are held back by tedious level design. Nearly every stage is double the length it should be and gets visually stale even before then.

Supermassive Games successfully translates the macabre aesthetic, delivering superb monster design and visual highlights. However, the experience is hindered by padding, inconsistent pacing, and an underutilized, online-only co-op feature, preventing Little Nightmares 3 from reaching the compact brilliance of its predecessors.

Hotel Barcelona is the result of a creative synergy between Suda51 and SWERY. The game does not position itself as a highly polished product, but rather as a deliberately unconventional experience. It scores points with its chaotic ‘slasher phantom’ mechanics and dirty aesthetics, which will appeal especially to fans of classic horror films. Although the (more or less deliberate) messy style and technical quirks will be a hurdle for many, these elements are part of the artistic vision for die-hard fans. Hotel Barcelona is far from a perfect game, but it is perfect for its very narrow target audience.

Sonic Racing Crossworlds is a game of extremes, initially causing frustration with its chaotic races, sensory overload, and often unfair item system. However, players who push through the steep learning curve will be rewarded with an uncompromisingly fast and rewarding racer that brilliantly captures the feel of classic 3D Sonic turbo stages. Despite the flawed item balancing, its fantastic track design, motivating tuning options, and the dynamic Crossworlds mechanic make it a challenging and ultimately satisfying experience for dedicated Sonic fans who value pure, unfiltered speed above all else.

Borderlands 4 offers - who woulda thunk - more Borderlands. Frantic gunplay with improved movement, entertaining weapons, spectacular boss battles and a crude sense of humor, which doesn't always hit the mark and takes turns with the comparatively serious, dark main storyline. During our review, the game lacked polish and took a few rough hours before it started to pick up its pace. The large, open world has almost zero transitions or load screens. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it also requires somewhat up to date hardware. The endgame is meant to entertain users for many weeks and months via events and increasing challenges for bigger and better loot. That sounds promising in theory - release will show how it works out in practice.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is an audiovisual marvel and feels magical to play. Sadly, it is held back by its bloated structure and repetitive fights that never quite manage to challenge you up until the very end.

Dead Take is a bold game that tells a relevant story about abuse of power in the entertainment industry that is worth hearing. Its greatest triumph is the outstandingly acted and staged FMV sequences, which create an oppressive, voyeuristic tension that lingers long after the game is over. Here, the game unfolds its full, uncomfortable force and becomes a powerful indictment. Unfortunately, the gameplay framework cannot always support this brilliant core. The puzzle mechanics are often too conventional and seem disconnected from the psychological depth of the narrative. Especially in the first half, the game relies too heavily on worn-out horror clichés and slow pacing, which weakens the otherwise dense, surreal atmosphere. Despite these weaknesses, Dead Take is recommended for players looking for a horror experience with substance and a provocative message. Can Dead Take spark discussion despite its weaknesses? Absolutely!

In its best moments, Killing Floor 3 delivers absolute shooter fever dreams. The rest is standard stuff that squanders any potential.

This social simulation will disappoint more than just Lord of the Rings fans. It could have used some fine-tuning.

As a unique 3D platformer in both visual presentation and gameplay systems, Ruffy and the Riverside doesn't quite reach its full potential.

Expectations for Rematch may have been somewhat exaggerated in the run-up to its launch – the hype was evident in the high registration numbers for the open beta. However, Sloclap has actually succeeded in breathing new life into the football simulation genre. After years of homeopathic FIFA ‘upgrades’ at best, we should be grateful that a development studio has dared to try something new. The game may still be a little rough around the edges, but it's a lot of fun right from the start. The skill-based system provides plenty of motivation to learn the different moves in the matches. (The name ‘Rematch’ is therefore very apt.) It remains to be seen whether Sloclap has a game here that offers enough depth in the medium term. First, the studio should get the glitches under control – and add the much-desired cross-play mode.

Tron: Catalyst expands the popular sci-fi universe with an exciting story. However, in many areas, the game remains nothing more than average.

Splitgate 2 offers solid, fast-paced gameplay and intelligently encourages team play. The portal mechanic rewards intelligent play and opens up possibilities not seen in other shooters. The large selection of game modes might spread its community a little too thin in the long run, and may dilute the game's identity too much. In order to keep players engaged for the long haul, there need to be more unlockables, upgrades, some form of measurable progress. The upcoming ranked mode is a step in the right direction, but it likely won't appeal to less-competitive users.

Galactic Glitch is a physics-based twin-stick shooter with roguelike progression that impresses above all with its straightforward and fluid gameplay. Even though a lot depends on luck, the fast-paced arcade shooting is captivating thanks to the wide variety of exciting weapons and upgrades.

The story of King Arthur in the dark suffers from the poor execution despite its great atmosphere.

The Precinct is a police simulator that quickly runs out of steam. Too much monotony meets a world that can't tell good from evil.

Spirit of the North 2 is a scenic open-world adventure with an incredibly dense atmosphere that transports me to a world of Nordic legends. Even if some of the game mechanics seem bloated or not fully developed, the story and the urge to explore keep me going.

While Post Trauma creates excellent horror through its environments, camera work and sound design, it sadly misses the survival part of the survival horror genre. Great puzzle design alone isn't enough when you still have to endure the clunky combat without real item management.

The Oblivion remaster could be so good if it didn't bring the same bugs with it as all Bethesda games. Again and again, the foundation shines through the new facade, and unfortunately, it's just as dilapidated as it was almost 20 years ago. The remaster is playable, but a little more love and especially time would have done the new edition of Oblivion good. Not to say that it would have been necessary.

The First Berserker: Khazan is an interesting Soulslike that focuses on dark anime, high difficulty and playful freedom. But the wow effect fails to materialize.

Atomfall thinks smaller than Fallout on many levels. The merciless mission between detective thriller and fight for survival is the highlight of the game, but it quickly melts through the core. Because after a wave of euphoria, Atomfall remains a soulless game that hints at a lot but contains hardly anything - apart from repetition.

A chaotic yet charming pirate adventure that blends Like A Dragon-style madness with engaging seafaring gameplay. The start of the game however is a bit slow, before the story gets interesting.

Even if it has great looks: the interior of the latest instalment of the Civilization series is not very inspiring. Some good ideas are counterbalanced by a lot of bad ones. The biggest problem: it no longer feels like a Civilization-Game! Here, the developers have definitely made too many radical changes.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion tells its pirate tale using very cool comic strips and offers eight to ten hours of tactical, turn-based battles fought with sabers, flintlock pistols and a bit of luck with the dice. Lacking tutorials, the absence of difficulty settings and unintuitive game mechanics make this game difficult to approach for inexperienced would-be freebooters.

A solid remaster mostly focused on improving the first Soul Reaver. It leaves the weaker sequel further behind, resulting in an uneven package.

Empire of the Ants is a beautiful and ambitious ant adventure that illustrates the universe at our feet in fantastic quality. Beyond its insect simulator, however, the real-time strategy falls a little short. There is too little variety in the missions, the controls offer too few tactical options and are a little too confusing when building the nests. In addition, there are strange exploration missions that contribute little to the plot, but are more annoying than enriching with their game mechanics. At least there is a multiplayer mode, but this also suffers from a lack of variety in the armies.

While Metro: Awakening delivers an immersive VR experience with innovative controls and atmospheric environments, technical shortcomings in graphics and sound design prevent it from reaching its full potential, especially when it comes to the realization of the fascinating world of the novels.

A compelling return for Max Caulfield with a gripping story and emotional depth, held back by technical issues and repetitive environments.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a quite good mid-price title. Don't expect technical or gameplay innovations, but fans of the movie franchise should get their fix out of it.

Starship Troopers: Extermination is a wonderfully straightforward and refreshingly blunt horde shooter whose biggest stars are its gigantic alien hordes. Numerous unlockables, reasonably varied classes, diverse locations and at least four game modes provide enough motivation to get that extra round in. The typical Starship Troopers tone, the iconic bug design and the brutal action are certainly convincing, even if the direct competition Helldivers 2 is the recognizably better game in all respects. Nevertheless, Starship Troopers: Extermination is fun - also because the base-building with a slight tower defense twist is a good addition to the simple but solid game principle. Extermination's biggest problems are the server-side performance and the numerous game bugs, which get on your nerves over time.

Unknown 9: Awakening is not inherently bad, but it's not really good, either. The fun seems to be caught in the rift between worlds.

Dying is part of DeathSprint 66. If you're not careful, a race can quickly become overwhelming. And that's exactly what makes it so appealing. The laps are incredibly exciting and leave you with sweaty hands afterwards. Good reactions are necessary here, and in more than a few races, I really felt my adrenaline kick in. Added to this are the different movement options and the over-the-top items. DeathSprint's fast-paced style of play encourages you to complete the race as perfectly as possible without dying (too many times) and cross the finish line as the winner. And although the game does a lot right, you can't ignore the elephant in the room. DeathSprint 66 is struggling with its player numbers and if Sumo Newcastle doesn't do something quickly, you'll soon be sprinting alone across the deadly race tracks. At least the multiplayer mode can be filled up with bots and the pure PvE mode is entertaining, but the most fun is still racing against real players.

Ara: History Untold doesn't really do anything new, but it takes good ideas from so many games and combines them in a meaningful way that fans of Civ, Millennia or Humankind will definitely have fun with. However, some of the many systems – such as diplomacy or combat – aren't really polished. The game certainly has the potential to patch itself up, but at release it's not enough.

Good action platformer with charm and stylistically confident direction, which is consciously orientated towards comparable games of the PS2 era, but unfortunately stumbles over its unbalanced collection of side tasks. Sidekick Shipset is also a bit of a dick, which won't please everyone.

Visions of Mana brings the world and creatures of the Mana games to life in ways much better and more beautiful than ever before. The world is more accessible and freely explorable, there is more to discover, the five playable characters can be upgraded and customised through many advanced classes. A weak PC port and some storytelling and gameplay lengths make the game less enjoyable than it could be.

A solid successor that provides more accessibility with many convenient functions and carefully adds mechanics. The new engine also lets the battles shine in a new light. Great effects, nice lighting and beautiful backgrounds create a real sci-fi flair. However, the pure focus on destroying the enemy makes for very uniform games with somewhat too static space battles. In addition, mechanics such as culture, secondary factions or mobile orbits play too small a role compared to the mass production of gigantic fleets.

Likeable characters, a well-developed scenario and exciting mysteries - Dustborn is a very well-written and, above all, excellently voiced adventure game in which I wanted to know how the story would continue right up to the end credits. Unfortunately, the interspersed action scenes don't keep up this level.

The creative platformer Schim impresses using puzzles and jumping passages with innovative shadow mechanics and a surprisingly touching story. Even with many elements becoming repetitive at some point, it remains an unusual, fun experience.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree adds loads of cool new weapons, armors, spells and summons to the game. The new areas are breath-taking, the new bosses are presented in spectacular fashion. On the other hand, there is too many overused, recycled content, a difficulty level that's even tougher than the base game, outdated technology and an upgrade system for player characters, which makes thorough exploration of the open world absolutely mandatory.

Monster Hunter Stories Remaster succeeds at bringing the 3DS original to new platforms. The combat system remains simple while offering deeper customization. Sadly, both the game's difficulty and story execution hold it back from achieving greatness.

Paper Trail is a clever puzzle adventure game that lets you change whole levels while using the art of origami folding to solve puzzles. This is exciting and fun at first, but wears a little thin over time, especially during long sessions.

Fabledom is a relaxed and pretty building experience that is perfect for beginners. However, the game also runs out of steam quite quickly.

Capes offers solid turn-based strategy with cool skill synergy and a nice hero design. However, Spitfire Interactive's debut suffers from clear weaknesses in terms of staging, overview and character depth.

Indika is first and foremost an arthouse project and a political statement, rather than a classic game that is purely for entertainment. In terms of visual design, it is often related to Eastern European film classics, such as those by Andrey Tarkovsky or Béla Tarr. Personally, this is worth a lot to me and I look forward to analysing, discussing and interpreting aspects of the game with other players. This makes it easier for me to forgive the stumbling blocks in the gameplay. They make the experience of this remarkable game unnecessarily bumpy. Indika is a diamond in the rough that will sparkle all the brighter if you have a knack for Eastern European art. Everyone else may be left irritated or even bored.)

Sand Land is a visually stunning adaptation of Akira Toriyama's cult hit manga. Though it showcases some interesting gameplay concepts, the game ultimately suffers from repetitive mission structures as well as bloated crafting systems.

Phantom Fury refers to itself as a road movie and claims to be inspired by games like Half-Life. You should ignore these flowery descriptions, if you are hoping to get any fun out of this retro shooter. This game offers an interactive world with plenty of shootouts and a bunch of puzzles. However, technical issues, weak sound design and weaker weapon impacts, as well as uninteresting storytelling get in the way of enjoying this title. Its 12 to 15 hours of play time make this game feel too long. Elements such as pass codes hidden in terminals or blocked passages, which you need to clear up with a swivelling crane, repeat and lose their novelty, as does the small selection of enemies. It’s still entertaining in short sessions, but it doesn’t offer enough variety for anything more than that.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU offers a fresh scenario with the African realm of the dead, which the action platformer combines with an emotional story, dynamic battles and challenging jumping passages. However, Tales of Kenzera occasionally stumbles when it comes to the learning curve and controls, and the story could use a little more subtlety sometimes.

Bears in Space and its colourful visuals, weird gags and minigames, as well as its retro sci-fi setting, goes in a direction similar to High on Life. However, the jokes are a little more on the family friendly side. There's no blood, you only spill the oil of hordes of robots. The game options allow you to tweak everything from incoming and outgoing damage to aim assist settings to the amount of challenge you want to put up with in platforming sections. This makes the game more accessible to younger and less experienced space adventurers. With a good 15 hours of play time, Bears in Space can feel almost a little too long.

Here comes a heavyweight of a 4X game, but at the moment it can't hold a candle to the primus Civilization 6. Compared to the last challenger Humankind, Millennia is already ahead of the game: more new ideas, more well thought-out strategies, more possibilities. Even if the balancing is still in its infancy.

Bulwark is an aesthetic and very impressive one-man project full of simple, elegant game systems. It's easy to lose yourself in the moment and simply watch the attractive settlement grow and flourish. However, there is a lack of challenge and variety for real long-term gameplay motivation.

First and foremost, Dragon's Dogma 2 is for players, who simply want more Dragon's Dogma. There is a new playable race, some playable vocations have changed, and a new biome has been added. Apart from that, it plays pretty much exactly like its predecessor. The story is nothing to write home about, side missions are very generic, the pawns have zero personality and can get annoying with their endless, repetitive chatter. On the plus side, the combat is more over the top than ever and motivates players to try out all vocations, skills and spells. The endless amounts of battles and low enemy variety, however, will feel stale after some time.

Outcast: A New Beginning offers an alien open world full of small, interesting stories. Too Little innovation and a humor that takes some getting used to, are contrasted by surprisingly fun and dynamic battles, entertaining missions and a pleasant flow when it comes to exploring the captivating alien world.

Contra: Operation Galuga tries above all to impress with nostalgia, but this cannot conceal the sterile graphics and the sometimes irritating collision detection. Indie homages have now overtaken the arcade forefather, even if it can be a lot of fun in 4-player co-op.

The Thaumaturge combines an unusual setting in 20th century Poland with tactical turn-based battles and a supernatural plot revolving around hidden demons, sometimes exciting decisions and tricky (social) problems. However, the plot and characters tend to get in their own way and stumble over the stiff presentation.

Last Epoch convinces despite a weak story with its action-packed time travel and diverse skill system.