The Breaking Point narrative mode allows the player to join races while feeling like they’re the lead in a Hollywood movie. That being said, the mode’s story is linear and your racing efforts don’t necessarily have an effect on its scenario. While the career mode is as well made as always, if you’ve played the series before, there’s just not enough to make the experience feel fresh again.

The main changes to The Last of Us Part 1 are in the character’s facial expressions and accessibility options, while the rest can be summed up as “extra features”. Compared with the original game, some scenes have actually decreased in quality and I came across bugs as well, which makes it a remake that comes with both advantages and disadvantages. While a conservative remake indeed, in the end the appeal of the original shines through.

RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is not a remaster that relies solely on nostalgia. With fully voiced storytelling and refreshed graphics, the sense of immersion has been deepened, and the Imperial Capital — where modernization and superstition, science and the occult intertwine — feels more alive. Battles have been refined into a polished action experience through a variety of new elements, while the distinctive resource management system feels innovative even today. The one shortcoming lies in the simplicity of ally demon AI, which at times clashes with the freedom of character development. Even so, this work has successfully transformed from an eccentric title into an epic that can truly reach a wide audience.

In Silent Hill f, scenario writer Ryukishi07 has crafted an overwhelming story, yet the repetitive gameplay required to reach its conclusion diminishes the overall experience. The game's ambitious narrative structure – designed to overturn the player’s perception with each playthrough – clashes with game design that cannot fully support it, while its awkward distance from the traditional motifs of the series further complicates its evaluation. And yet, the story and characters themselves are undeniably genuine, carrying a value that deserves to be remembered and retold for generations to come.

With low-texture pixel art and an FM synth-rock soundtrack, Blazing Chrome is best described as a spiritual successor to Contra games from the 16-bit era. A 16:9 aspect ratio, devastating enemy attacks and upgradable weapons give Blazing Chrome a unique sense of thrill and exhilaration. Heavily inspired by older games yet original at the same time, Blazing Chrome’s refined level design will have you learn each time you die. Fighting your way through this classic run-and-gun game is like reliving an experience that never gets old.

As a hybrid between the occult and technology, Soul Hackers 2 boasts a unique world. The story, which depicts grown-up devil summoners, is its biggest appeal. In battles, powerful Sabbath attacks allow you to clean up all enemies with a single move, resulting in an exhilarating experience. That being said, the high encounter rate and overall tempo of battles do have pacing issues.

While being a new entry to the series, Crash Bandicoot 4’s stages are full of references to the first two games. And while it is without a doubt the hardest game in the series, amusing animations and a great score will make you want to keep going.

Whenever the protagonist of Unpacking moves to a new home, it is the player's task to open cardboard boxes and decide where her belongings should be placed. While this can be a tedious experience when you’re just putting socks into a drawer, whenever an item that conveys something about her life comes out of the box, Unpacking becomes a unique storytelling experience.

As a new entry in the Pokémon series, Pokémon Legends Arceus might deserve a 9, but if you were to think of it as a new RPG, a 7 might sound more fair. Roaming around in a large world and catching Pokémon in real-time itself is a blast, but the battle system is a bit too old-school for its own good, and the story never reaches its full potential. That said, it cannot be denied that Game Freak has finally created a new type of experience for this long running series.

Haven is an RPG that depicts two people living together on a lonely planet. Through their communication, the player learns not just about their love and insecurities, but also what kind of world it is they are inhabiting. While the ending may feel a bit anticlimactic, putting the state of mind of a couple into gameplay makes for a truly remarkable experience.

Sol Cresta is a new entry in a legendary series, this time developed by director Hideki Kamiya at PlatinumGames. While complicated mechanics and a difficulty jump in the game’s latter half make it hard to recommend to newcomers to the shmup genre, the formation-based gameplay and the pull of the scoreboard make Sol Cresta feel fresh while staying true to the genre’s roots. Even with a lack of variation in boss design and simple presentation, Sol Cresta is a satisfying game for fans of the genre.

With beautiful visuals, an epic soundtrack and an exciting world with interesting characters, this hardcore Touhou Project inspired shmup is well worth your time. While the multiplayer mode lacks significant depth, the story mode alone is enough to recommend Maiden & Spell to fans of the genre.

Rage 2’s nonsensical story is unbearable, and the unskippable exploration parts are mostly irritating and boring. Luckily, the shooting gameplay is so amazing that it’s easy to forgive these flaws. And while encounters can become repetitive, new weapons and abilities make sure there’s always some fun to be had.

Goro Majima takes the lead in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. This is an action-adventure game with a unique setting in which fan favorite Majima becomes a pirate in modern-day Hawaii. Fans can finally use his iconic fighting style during battles, while an all new combat system that incorporates the game’s pirate theme is added as well. Although the main story doesn’t utilize the game’s spacious field to the max, the game packs in a lot of content to enjoy.

Shenmue I & II is a masterpiece that is not for everyone. That’s a shame, because a more solid port with a few tweaks here and there could have made it a package to recommend to all.

The Forza series is famous for its engine sounds, which have reached new heights for Forza Motorsport. The graphics are outstandingly beautiful, especially in their rendering of the air. The racing is highly enjoyable, and the powerful assistance makes it more playable with a normal controller. When played with a racing wheel controller, the force feedback is more accurate than before, making Forza Motorsport a simulator that is also fun to play. There is not much to do beyond racing, and if you want to modify your car things can get a little bit grindy, but Forza Motorsport does offer you the chance to learn more about cars.

With a fantastic story, interesting lore, and great graphics and presentation, Phantom Liberty succeeds in expanding Cyberpunk 2077’s already rich world even further. While some of the individual side quests can come off as weak, they do a good job in contributing to Cyberpunk 2077’s world. With this DLC and patch 2.0, Cyberpunk 2077 has become a complete and pretty much flawless package.

Laika: Aged Through Blood is a blend between motor racing and gun action that feels somewhat similar to the Trials series. While the exploration elements don’t quite hit, shooting at enemies while riding a bike feels fresh and satisfying. Elements besides the gameplay, such as a melancholic soundtrack, are also well executed, and the story that depicts the relationship between Laika and her daughter feels novel in an action game like this.

A strange world where objects come to life is beautifully depicted with rich animations, making Forgotton Anne feel and look like a full-fledged anime movie. However, while the pacing is good, the puzzles in the latter half of the game lack variation. Some cutscenes could have had better animation, and the Japanese translation has room for improvement. Still, this is a magical adventure that is well worth your time nonetheless.

Cult of the Lamb is a cute yet dark and grotesque experience. The gameplay loop of managing a dark cult and exploring dungeons is quite addictive. However, in the latter half of the game conditions become more favorable for the player, to the extent that much of the game’s tension is lost.

Xenoblade 3 has high-quality cutscenes, a world worth exploring and a deep combat system. It also fixes some of the issues of previous titles in the series, making this an RPG that both fans and newcomers can enjoy for many hours. It’s too bad that the story ends without giving answers to many of our questions.

From overall balance to questionable design choices, Sonic Frontiers might not be as sophisticated or polished as the very best games out there. However, when it comes to discovery and sense of wonder, Sonic Frontier’s Open Zone design can proudly stand side by side with any open world masterpiece. While admittedly many of its activities are simple, the amount of content it offers is staggering. The Open Zones and their epic boss battles make great use of Sonic’s speed, creating an experience that still feels authentic to the character. While far from perfect, there hasn’t been a Sonic title that feels this relevant in a long time.

While an interesting counter to what RPGs were like back in 1994, it’s hard to deny that today Live A Live feels like a dated experience. That being said, as a remake this is a very well crafted game.

Combining the realistic settings from the series’ earlier titles with the over-the-top style of entries that came after Saints Row: The Third, this is an excellent reboot. That being said, a lack of polish in the gameplay department and low quality localization for Japan cannot be ignored.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is a reconstruction on an almost unprecedented scale. Midgar feels like a real place, and strong character development sucks you into its fascinating world. The battle system is a great mix between real-time action and turn-based strategic elements, but with many consecutive lengthy fights in linear dungeon-like areas, it can sometimes become too stressful for the casual player, and the slow story progression won’t be for everyone either.

Forspoken is an ambitious title that builds both its fluid movement and its battle system around the concept of magic. From comfortable exploration to speedy combat, this unique open world action RPG has plenty of appeal, and its story that depicts the spiritual growth of its young New Yorker protagonist is immersive. That being said, the game does have issues, such as a lack of variety in side quests and a hub area that takes too much time to navigate through.

Crimson Desert is an open-world adventure game that boasts stunning visuals and an enormous amount of content. From challenging combat and puzzles to slower-paced activities such as trading and animal husbandry, it offers a wide variety of ways to play. That said, the game falls short in its storytelling, and some inconvenient systems leave it missing the mark in many respects, making it hard to call it universally accessible. Still, for those looking to embark on a complex, anything-but-straightforward ambitious journey, it’s a game well worth experiencing.

Taking its cues from Nioh and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty boasts a number of challenging mechanics. The simple yet profound Kisei system and the Morale Rank system are innovative features, and the sheer speed of the combat is addictive. However, while the fundamentals of Wo Long are excellently made, it suffers from a number of problems both large and small, including an unwieldy UI, a one-dimensional story, and a lack of variety in both melee attacks and enemy types. If developer Team Ninja’s Nioh series is anything to go by, it’s possible that many of these problems will be resolved in future updates and DLC. For now, at least, Wo Long is a highly enjoyable game that falls just short of hitting the next level.

In RPG Time: The Legend of Wright, the player sets out on an adventure inside the notebook of an elementary school student. The immense variety and care that went into this game in surprising. As the hero of the game, you’re not just exploring and fighting, as there are many minigames and amazing little details to enjoy on each page of this notebook adventure. The game doesn’t hesitate to take you out of the notebook either, offering even more variety of content in all sorts of forms and shapes. That being said, in the end you’ll realize that RPG Time is more like an interactive storybook than an actual RPG with deep gameplay mechanics. If you were looking for the latter, RPG Time won’t be for you.

Quantic Dream successfully depicts a universal SF theme from a fresh angle by using a game system where choices the player makes stand central, and does so with incredibly realistic visuals. If only the story had been constructed a little more cleverly, there would have been no hesitation in calling this a gem.

Moonlighter is a game that has you experience the life of a hero and a shopkeeper at the same time. You fight enemies to obtain items at a dungeon, and go on to sell these at your shop, allowing you to buy better armor. The gorgeous graphics enhance the experience and the gameplay loop is great. The game could have offered more to do and the story is a bit simple, but it’s an enjoyable ride nonetheless.

This 8-bit spin-off of Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is at the same time a nostalgic linear sidescroller and a modern game that manages to be accessible to new players.

The battle system that allows you to turn back time and retry is well done, and once you manage to stylishly defeat enemies after a long session of trial and error, it feels great. While the game offers many different situations to keep things fresh, sadly its story is not as captivating as its gameplay.

While certain parts of Trials of Mana definitely feel retro, as a whole Square Enix has crafted an extremely well renovated experience. What makes this a great remake is that both gameplay and visual revisions faithfully represent the original experience.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins has always been famous for its difficulty, and the newest entry in the series is no exception. That being said, you can now choose between four difficulty options, and with new modern systems like checkpoints and the ability to equip multiple skills and magic, things have become a lot more manageable. But even with all that, there’s no doubt about it: Ghosts ‘n Goblins is going to kick your ass again and again. This reboot is as true to the franchise’s DNA as possible. At the same time, it tries something new with the co-op, which can be a blast if you head in with a player of approximately the same skill level.

With a wide variety of crabs and weapons, and with each crab's claws controlled in detail with the analog sticks, Crab Fighter delivers a surprisingly deep battle experience. It’s great fun to play with friends, and the campaign mode offers plenty of satisfaction. However, the game is not balanced well enough for more serious competition, and online fights will be difficult to get into for newcomers.

After many missteps, Paper Mario Origami King is a return to form for the series. It fixes many of the issues that marred previous entries, and allows the player to casually enjoy puzzles together with a wide array of beautiful locations and quirky characters, while the wonderful sound alone is reason enough to play.

While the weak scenario and some other issues drag Necrobarista down, its 3D model animation and cleverly positioned text create a unique experience. In that sense, it’s no exaggeration to call this the beginning of a brand new era for the visual novel genre.

Forza Horizon 6 is an ambitious new entry in the Forza Horizon series, brought to life with tremendous passion by Playground Games. Cruising through its vast open world while familiar J-pop songs play in the background, taking in famous landmarks like a tourist on a road trip, delivers a truly exceptional driving experience. Dynamic set pieces—such as racing against giant robots and fighter jets—add plenty of spectacle, while the game’s occasional use of stylized exaggeration makes both Japan’s landmarks and the gameplay itself even more captivating. On the other hand, the limited selection of objects available in the build mode, the inability to visit Mount Fuji directly, and the lack of massive, jaw-dropping sequences like those seen in previous entries leave some room for disappointment.

CODE VEIN II isn’t merely an evolution into an open-field format; it’s a carefully refined follow-up that identifies and polishes the weaker elements of its predecessor. The revamped Buddy System in particular feels like a true innovation, transformed into something entirely new that brilliantly balances tension with a strong sense of camaraderie in battle. The story, however, leans heavily on repetition and often lacks emotional impact. Even so, thanks to its many user-friendly features, CODE VEIN II stands as a Soulslike—indeed, an Elden-like—that can be confidently recommended to a wide range of players.

While bugs and issues can stand in the way of your enjoyment, F1 23 has a lot of content, and its VR mode in particular is sensational. The story mode’s scenario also felt deeper when compared to previous entries.

Rampaging your way through Carrion as a tentacle monster makes playing this violent metroidvania feel unique, and the grotesque and harsh visuals greatly contribute to that feeling. But flaws like having no map and a lack of gameplay variety cannot be overlooked.

Jumping around as a ninja in a cyberpunk world makes for a great retro-style game. Whenever a new type of action or mechanic is introduced, Cyber Shadow feels genuinely fresh. While its progression might be overwhelming at times, it’s a satisfying package for sure.

Enjoy the Diner is a game that fascinatingly depicts a place on the border between life and death. It succeeds in utilizing the inorganic feel of a minimalist visual novel as an expression of the story it wants to depict.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is a unique combination of a Greek mythology murder mystery and a musical. With its sexy characters and variety of memorable songs the musical part is especially powerful, and enough to make this an unforgettable experience.

Aria Chronicle makes the typical dungeon RPG gameplay loop of grinding your characters to face stronger enemies more accessible for newcomers. While heavily influenced by Darkest Dungeon, a more user-friendly design makes this a recommendable game in its own right.

While Star Ocean: The Divine Force’s bold battle system is worth praising, the title shares many of the same issues as previous iterations in the series. That being said, its tale of adventure and well-portrayed party members make this a worthy new entry in the Star Ocean series.

As an action-adventure game, Giraffe and Annika may be rough around the edges, but its cute cat-eared protagonist and the visually stunning island feel so genuinely magical that you’ll be smiling throughout anyway. If you’re looking for good action and interesting puzzles, Giraffe and Annika won’t deliver, but if you’re the kind of gamer who treasures superb atmosphere and hand-crafted details above all else, you’re in for a real treat.

Easy Come Easy Golf comes with a wide range of brand new courses of stable quality. Its video tutorials make it an accessible game for newcomers to the genre as well. Easy Come Easy Golf could have the potential to create a new generation of golf game fans.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is the welcome return of a PS2 classic. With the addition of voiced dialogue, characters feel better portrayed than in the original. While the high encounter rate and few save points feel inconvenient in 2020, the highly strategic turn-based battles are still as tense as ever.

From graphics to game design, music and general playfeel, everything in NeverAwake is of surprisingly high quality. It reminded us of why we love shmups. Nearing the end of the game, the difficulty spikes and can feel a bit unfair, but that can also be seen as a part of the game’s identity as a shmup.

As a combination between the River City and Downtown areas, River City Girls’ town warmly welcomes all fans of the long-running River City Ransom series. For new players, the cute, poppy characters and the over-the-top battles should feel entertaining enough. However, the story is not tightly plotted, and generally not interesting enough for someone not familiar with the genre.

Bravely Default II is an RPG with an interesting battle system that allows you to stock multiple turns to use at once. With many main and sub jobs to choose from, the game also offers plenty of customization options. While the way the story progresses can get repetitive, the various lands you visit and their cultures and history feel grounded in reality.

While not bad, Resident Evil Village Gold Edition is an unremarkable version of a great game. The new content definitely plays it safe but delivers what the fans wanted.

Metal: Hellsinger is a heavy metal FPS that feels like a love child between Doom and a rhythm game. While the lack of variation in its maps and boss battles is a pity, killing hordes of demons while listening to one of 2022’s best soundtracks is an exhilarating experience for sure.

Signalis is a top-down action adventure game that was heavily inspired by classic survival horror titles. Although not for everyone, severe resource management makes every encounter with zombies frightening. Its science fiction and Lovecraft-inspired setting is well crafted, and the game’s puzzles fit in naturally. The story left me thinking, but for some players it might be frustrating that no real answers can be found in the game’s ending.

Goodbye World is a short yet emotional tale of two struggling indie game creators that never turns into the obvious success story you might expect it to become. Despite its characters feeling symbolic and one-sided, it manages to feel genuine throughout its two-hour journey.

The system of letters changing the outcome of the story is innovative and could have gone into video game history, if only the idea had been fleshed out a bit more.

While the combos and the Shinobi Execution special attack may not be particularly unique, Shinobi's battle system is well crafted and delivers a strong sense of exhilaration. The consistently challenging level design and boss fights expand the classical appeal of 2D action into a modern context, offering something fresh for players tired of Soulslikes and Metroidvanias. That said, the story and worldbuilding remain stuck in the kind of B-grade sensibility often found in retro games, leaving something to be desired by the standards of contemporary videogames.

Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon is not a bad game by any means, and those that skipped on Sun and Moon should definitely give it a try. However, it doesn’t have anything ultra surprising in store for its players.

Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon is not a bad game by any means, and those that skipped on Sun and Moon should definitely give it a try. However, it doesn’t have anything ultra surprising in store for its players.

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom improves upon its predecessor in almost every regard, yet somehow its magic is lost along the way.

While Nioh 3 offers a much greater sense of challenge and depth, there are lingering concerns about hitting a ceiling in terms of mastery, as well as balance issues—particularly the Ninja playstyle which seems to be overly powerful. Although the benefits of the open-field approach are strongly felt on the first map thanks to the satisfying loop of combat, exploration, and progression, the experience loses its shine from the midpoint onward for a variety of reasons. Even so, as a loot-driven action game, Nioh 3 retains a uniquely compelling presence, and its ability to keep players coming back for more remains firmly intact.

Dorfromantik is a relaxing game that welcomes the player to a rural landscape. At the same time, it is an experience that allows the player to enjoy the fun and challenge of aiming for a high score as well. That means that the game can be enjoyed both as a relaxing break and as a serious undertaking, but never as something in between.

Redout 2 is a dream come true for fans of superfast racing games. The revolutionary AI assist and a boosting system allow anyone to race against gravity at the overwhelming speed of 2000 kph. That being said, the career mode fails to make the game interesting beyond the pure racing.

With a story set 100 years before Breath of the Wild, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is packed with cool surprises and emotional character moments that fans will adore. While the action feels great and exciting, the lack of strategic depth is noticeable. Still, the fact that this is no longer an all-stars spin-off game, but a title with a clear theme and story, shows new possibilities for the Warriors series and makes this a great title in itself.

Death Stranding 2 boasts stunning visuals and refined gameplay that builds upon the strengths of its predecessor. Additionally, the story, consistently developed around the central theme of connection, is truly impressive. On the other hand, the introduction of new gameplay elements is limited, resulting in a somewhat lacking sense of freshness. The storytelling also feels underwhelming for much of the game, with little development until the final stages. Overall, while the game achieves a high level of polish, it fails to deliver much in the way of further innovation.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ beautifully realized open world, engaging story and lively characters are some of its greatest strengths. On the other hand, its side activities are not of the scale we have come to expect from the series, while some of the game’s mechanics feel underdeveloped, making it a game with both strong and weak points.

While A Space for the Unbound has a sweet and nostalgic playfeel, its deeper themes are heavier. The dragging storyline and lack of challenge in its puzzles can sometimes make it feel too long for its own good, but in the end it all comes together with a shocking reveal.

This game is true to the Atelier series, and while including plenty of fan service, the game makes sure that newcomers have an idea of what's going on. While it lacks in many departments, the great finale of the trilogy more than makes up for it.

The fact that it’s a casual game allows Iconoclasts’ story to unfold at a good pace. It is without a doubt a story-driven action-adventure game, and as such you should take your time thinking about what it all means as you go along. For those who experienced Super Nintendo games in their prime, this game may be reminiscent of some of your best childhood memories.

With a large and beautiful open world, swollen hordes of infected freakers, and over 30 hours of story, Days Gone is a well-polished game on the surface. However, the game does not offer anything truly remarkable, and maintaining your bike can be annoying. That said, its strengths lie in exploring its open world by bike, and the qualities of its biker protagonist, Deacon.

Devil Engine throws a lot of bullets at you despite being a side-scroller, and often kills you without any warning. However, once you get used to its trial-and-error gameplay, it’s actually a pretty welcoming game, which is testament to how well made it is. However, its conservative design does little to appeal to players new to shmups, making this a title mostly for die-hard fans of the genre.

Dead or Alive 6 looks even better than its already stunning predecessor, and it succeeds in being more accessible for newcomers while keeping the fundamentals that fans have come to love intact. The tutorial and story modes do their job, but an online mode that only has ranked matches ultimately renders it unwelcoming to many players.

Metal Gear Survive's greatest strength is that it offers many ways to play. Its survival gameplay creates a lot of freedom and variety, but sadly the unsteady co-op experience greatly limits the game's appeal. The story is underwhelming, and the game's overall balance has some problems.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi's signature synesthesia approach turns Tetris – a game based on pure mathematics – into a moving tale about the Earth. However, the nature of Tetris demands constant focus, which sometimes makes it difficult to enjoy the game's spectacular artistic effects along the way.

Hyakki Castle comes with quite a few flaws -- including its UI -- but eliminating ghosts in a haunted castle makes for a great deal of fun, and the exploration that has you split up your party is well utilized. If you enter this castle with the expectation that you will die a lot, a game full of excitement awaits.

From “moe” characters and hip-hop to cyberpunk and yakuza, Orangeblood is a 2D sprite-based RPG that provides interesting cultural juxtapositions. The battle system, which includes hack-and-slash elements, provides enough options for strategic combat. However, after the credits had rolled, I felt that both the story and combat needed a bit more volume.

Just like Ginga Force and Eschatos, Natsuki Chronicles is a side-scrolling shmup true to the DNA of developer Qute. While it caters towards a wide audience ranging from newcomers to veterans of the genre, the balance between the story-heavy chronicle mode and the more traditional arcade mode isn’t great. There’s some great level design to enjoy here, but Natsuki Chronicles fails to exceed the developer’s previous titles.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s turn-based battle system has a serious lack of depth and pacing issues so crucial that it’s dangerously close to simply falling apart. However, RPG-like elements such as a wide array of equipable items, charisma parameters and interesting job classes do create a customizability that is new to the series. In addition, bizarre side quests and well-crafted mini games make this an experience that is still unmistakably Yakuza. The story of new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga and his friends is simply one of the best in the series, and the communication between those characters is a breath of fresh air. While Yakuza 7 is pretty much a disastrous RPG in terms of its battle system, everything else is nothing short of amazing, which makes it a hard game to score.

Blasphemous is a high-difficulty metroidvania-like side-scroller. Its gory violence is not for everyone, but together with its grim yet beautiful background scenery, it delivers a well-crafted ominous world. Just like a splatter movie, this is the kind of game you might want to dive into if you’re looking for serious thrills.

Gato Roboto is a metroidvania with lots of references to the games it was inspired by, but at times it also feels just as unfriendly and inconvenient as some of those classics do today. It’s also much more difficult than you would expect from a game that stars a cute cat in mech armor, but it’s well worth it if you’re up for the challenge.

VR enhancement makes the 3D cutscenes and exploration all the richer in this remake. However, the rhythm gameplay has issues that weren’t present in the original, even when not playing in VR, and it doesn’t feel like you are playing the piano yourself like in the original. That said, this is still an interesting new way to experience Deemo, especially for fans.

Before setting on an adventure in the woods together with my dog, I didn’t really understand the link between this game and Blair Witch, the movie it is based on. However, it didn’t take long for me to understand that this inspiration source is exactly what makes this a unique horror game. Overcoming this bewitched forest together with your partner results in a stellar gameplay experience. However, the horror tropes are used a bit too often.

Bringing a Dead Space-style SF horror atmosphere to a Dark Souls-inspired action game makes things interesting, and the speedy battle system, which includes cutting off body parts and crafting elements, is a success. However, the somewhat dull pace of the game results in the player dying a bit too often, leaving plenty of room for improvement when it comes to the game’s overall balance.

Obviously inspired by Vanillaware’s games such as Dragon’s Crown, The Vagrant’s graphics are impressive, and the game comes with a ton of replay value, making it well worth your money. However, while its game mechanics are interesting, The Vagrant struggles in finding its own identity.

While the more story-driven experience of the new Volta mode definitely makes for an ambitious soccer game, it’s too bad that the story itself is so monotonous.

An adventure game that, instead of holding your hand, gives you the freedom to figure things out yourself. Unraveling mysteries through information you’ve gathered by yourself brings a unique type of satisfaction.

What makes The Sinking City unique is that it really feels like you’re investigating while struggling with hallucinations and madness as you step foot inside the world of Cthulhu mythos. If that sounds like your cup of tea, definitely give it a chance. However, after you get used to the gameplay you will notice that as a game, The Sinking City feels like too much of the same. An open-world design was not the ideal direction to take for this developer specialized in a specific genre.

While it may have the Fire Emblem name in its title, the character roster leans a lot towards more recent entries of the franchise, and since the story lacks any significant depth, it is not for all Fire Emblem fans. However, the polished system does a good job at combining action and strategy elements, resulting in a game true to the Warriors series.

Fallout 76 feels like a single-player experience that was forced into an online game. Still, if you stick with it, trying to survive in Appalachia indeed delivers a different kind of appeal from previous iterations.

As the first single-player Star Wars action game to be released in a number of years, Jedi: Fallen Order provides a novel opportunity to visit a variety of planets and explore them in depth. However, it fails to build upon innovations from earlier Star Wars action games such as implementation of Force abilities and ease of navigation, with the result that part of its design feels stuck in a previous era.

This is a game for the Arcana fans, by the Arcana fans. The game doesn't explain itself well, but the strong fan community will surely keep introducing new fighting game fanatics to the series.

Trials Risings’s fail-and-retry gameplay is as fun and addictive as ever. However, the tutorials aren’t as user friendly as they could have been, and the tandem mode and edit mode aren’t that appealing either.

The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa might look like an old-fashioned belt-scroller, but it is actually an open-world game full of life and… well, philosophy! There’s plenty of dialogue, and the way the story is told through everyday life events at school and in your neighborhood feels like real life. The game’s systems aren’t well explained, which will catch many gamers off-guard at first, but its climax has a lasting impact that is worth experiencing.

As a successor of Her Story, Telling Lies succeeds in delivering a deep and varied story with what is essentially the same system. However, whether that story is full of surprises or not, depends hugely on the player’s reasoning powers.

Exploring the game's main town, which is full of monsters, new weapons and items, is a blast. New discoveries will immerse you into the gameplay, and make you forget about that daughter you have to save.

Wattam is unlike any other game when Keita Takahashi's unique sense of humor and world building come together, but don't expect everything to click all the time.