Pokémon Pokopia is a bold spin-off that flips the usual Pokémon formula on its head. No battles, no duels, just a world to rebuild, habitats to create, and Pokémon to hang out with. The game really shines in its creative freedom: you can terraform, build, decorate, and even use Pokémon abilities to shape the world however you like. It’s cozy, easy-going, and instantly fun, especially if you’re creative or younger, and the first few hours are a real blast. The downside? It gets repetitive pretty quickly. The same mechanics repeat from island to island, quests and habitats feel predictable, and there’s not much challenge to keep things exciting. On paper, it’s a refreshing change of pace, but the slow rhythm and repeated tasks can bore players who like a bit more action or progression. For us, the first 10-12 hours were fun, but after that, the next 15 hours started to feel a bit samey.

Expectations were sky-high for Silent Hill f, a true new entry in a series that’s been dormant far too long. Konami trusted Taiwanese studio Neobards Entertainment, and the result is stunning visually and technically, with bold choices like 1960s Japan and more action. The writing is subtle and sharp, making the game feel unique and ambitious. But the gameplay lets it down. It’s clunky, slow, and frustrating, with too many tedious fights, a poorly designed stamina system, and puzzles that feel overcomplicated. The potential is huge, yet the execution keeps you from fully enjoying it. In the end, it’s a polarizing game: impressive and daring in style, but clumsy to play. One step forward, two steps back. Silent Hill deserves better than a beautiful shell hiding rusty mechanics.

Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater isn’t the bold reimagining some fans might have hoped for. Instead, it’s a visually stunning update that preserves the 2004 classic almost to the letter : story, voice acting, cinematics, and gameplay included, with all their dated quirks. Unreal Engine 5 delivers impressive character models, environments, and lighting, but the clunky mechanics, outdated AI, and stiff animations remind you of the game’s age. For newcomers, it’s still a fantastic gateway into Snake’s world of stealth and espionage. For veterans, it’s a nostalgic return, faithful, polished, but not revolutionary.

The best of Yakuza Zero is actually not the part you're playing, but the part you're watching. It can seem harsh, but that's a feeling you can't deny as the former is far from being as good as the latter. It's still a great storyline though and the game developers have the talent to make it alive.

If Pikmin 3 seems to have not had a graphics uplift, the content is plentiful and the gameplay has been modernized to suit the modern standards, even if those few improvements have to be paid at a premium price, with a triple A tag of 60€.

Quite straightforward, Rare Replay is a very good bundle of all those games that brought RareWare to fame. A must buy if you've never experienced those, more of an impulse buy if you already own many of the games it contains.

To fully appreciate Ratchet & Clank Trilogy, players really need to be huge fans of the IP, and espacially of the first three episodes released on PS2. If playing them remains a pleasure, this HD remake won't be a big surprise for those who were waiting for major graphical improvements.

With no surprise the guys at Traveller's Tales are delivering a LEGO game that's still decent. But this year the studio has snoozed a bit with a game deprived from any innovation. Happily the Marvel license was chosen this year, and it can brig a special taste to the game by itself. Over a hundred characters from Stan Lee's imagination, a new scenario, a good gameplay and a nice lifespan, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is a good LEGO game, maybe one of the most fun to play, but not necessarily a classic of the series, be it current gen' version or next gen'.

For 2022, Nintendo has some new ambition for the Pokémon license! Pokémon Legends Arceus gives us a great semi open-world, which adapts well to the Pokémon formula. On the other hand, graphically, it's poor, simplistic and it feels like a game that is 15 years behind.

If Konami still needs to learn some things from FIFA, PES 2013 is clearly heading the right way. However, at this time, PES 2013 doesn't have the necessary keys to offer a gaming experience as complete as Electronic Arts' IP, especially regarding the graphic aspects. The next title, coming to the next-gen consoles, should be able to counter FIFA success, if Konami remains hardworking.

Torment : Tides of Numenera brings us back to the time of the first Fallout, Baldur's Gate and Planetscape Torment with a very rich background that will require players to read a lot in order to immerse into the story. A better UI and more complex fighting mechanics would allow more players to have fun with it.

Call of the Sea isn't as groundbreaking as what the sales pitch would make you think. It's a very classic puzzle game which doesn't stand out from the rest. Thankfully, le visuals are great, the narrative is a good surprise as it has multiple endings.

Captain Toad : Treasure Tracker is a cute and simple way to bring in the New Year. Although they won't keep you busy too long, Toad's adventures are well-finished, colorful and efficient enough to be worth a try.

A DLC that's strictly made for the hardcore fans of the series. With a single campaign, 3 companies and a fourth one sold as a DLC, it all comes pretty expensive for not much content. Grab it if you're fond of the IP, wait for a Steam discount otherwise.

As enjoyable as always, Life Is Strange is back with this second opus that brings new characters and renew the IP that can more easily welcome new players. Life Is Strange 2 still has some flaws but let's not forget this is only the first chapter of many.

Yes the picture is sharper, yes the game is smoother (60fps), yes there have been some improvements to make the adventure more enjoyable, but damn the gameplay has taken a hell of a beating in the back of the head. It was already painful in 2011, it is even more 10 years later, and it is not the tinkering in classic controls that will sublimate the gameplay of this Zelda : Skyward Sword HD.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a very good throwback to the early 90's when Street Fighter II was taking the world by storm. This version doesn't really improve the recipe, but this title remains a cornerstone for videogames.

We were hoping for some really big new things in this new DanganRonpa after the disaster of the former episode. Nope. The game mechanics haven't changed a bit. The story and the deliberation phases are quite interesting but it's still the sleep-inducing game we've known since last year.

Marketed as a remake with its new graphics engine, Like a Dragon Ishin is actually just a remaster to which its cutscenes have been boosted. After the improved cutscenes, the game reveals its technical problems (rigid animations), bugs and imbalance. With a game released almost 10 years ago, it was inevitable. But the strength of Yakuza games is also its immersion, its many activities and its history which succeed in transporting the player to an exotic feudal Japan.

Dragon Quest 7 is a sixteen-year-old game, and you can feel it every time you play it. Those who love the J-RPG genre will find a beautiful adventure, that will hold them more than a hundred of hours, with an addictive job system. The others will probably find it too long, too slow, too cute. Too old, to make it short.

Disgaea 5 : Alliance of Vengeance is still a very good tactical-RPG. But maybe one day, Nippon Ichi Software will realize they need to bring something really new to each of their entries to make the IP moving forward. To be honest, this fifth installment is not that far from the very first, and it's not something to be proud of.

Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars has much to offer, mainly with it's great quality figure, but also on the software side of things. Well rounded, the game suffers from an excessive difficulty as it's intended for children, but adult supervision is highly recommended.

Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield hasn't brought much to the series in spite of sky high expectations. It's still an enjoyable ride along, in spite of the heavy clipping and the lack of challenge.

Yet another port with New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe which is a straight port from the Wii u to the Switch with a resolution going from 720p to 1080p and a bit more content like the Luigi spin off and the addition of Peachette and Nabbit. As usual with re-releases, check it if you haven't yet.

While being full of good features and clever ideas, Elite Dangerous feels like its release has been rushed in order to get ahead of Star Citizen. The games lack player interactions and the happenings have very little impact on the gameplay, maybe the humongous 400 billion systems map should have been scaled to the numbers of players. A game that shows great potential, but has yet to achieve it.

LEGO Dimensions could have been a really good challenger for Skylanders. Plenty of IP's at disposal, some good and new ideas about using NFC figures differently... But the game is far too hard to read from time to time, its difficulty level is too random and, last but not least, the LEGO Dimensions Packs are way too expensive.

Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield hasn't brought much to the series in spite of sky high expectations. It's still an enjoyable ride along, in spite of the heavy clipping and the lack of challenge.

In the absence of a new episode of Skyrim, or even an opportunistic remaster, Avowed immediately positioned itself as a perfect replacement candidate. It must be said that for years, the Obsidian Entertainment studio has shown its appetite for old-school RPGs, with a strongly assumed Bethesda-style coating and formula. But from Skyrim, Avowed doesn't borrow much, except for its old school, so 2011 side, which could be likened to a comforting feeling for the most nostalgic players. Because despite appearances and an intriguing first part of the adventure, Avowed subsequently reveals its true face, that of being an RPG for dummies, or a chatty and more complex than average action-adventure game. It is somewhere between the two and a bit nowhere, since it tries to hit both categories at once. The result is a game that displays some pretty blatant game design inconsistencies, with on one hand more flexibility in its class and progression systems, and on the other a completely frozen world where interactions have been reduced to next to nothing and NPCs reduced to inert and uninteresting green plants. We still manage to have fun with its more open combat system, but we have to get past the ultra-rigid animations that take us back to another time. The lack of staging and the slightly too rainbow artistic direction also contributed to spoiling the party and it's a shame because Avowed had a great story to tell us. An adventure that will find a nostalgic or unobservant audience, but a game that will not go down in history, that's for sure.