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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Zero Parades for Dead Spies is an ambitious game that is largely successful, though it has a few minor flaws; unfortunately, it can't hold a candle to its extraordinary quasi-predecessor, Disco Elysium.

Lysfanga combines action-packed hack & slay battles with a clever puzzle mechanic that allows you to solve arenas full of opponents in co-op with yourself thanks to the time loop. However, the idea only really shines if you like to challenge yourself, find the optimal build and keep chasing a better time.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.