Inquisition offers tons of rpg-gameplay-elements. The classic high-fantasy-setting combines action- and tactical combat, rich characters with lots of dialogue-options. On top you’ll find yourself as a leader of the inquisition-faction who has to build up a majestic stronghold. Graphics and sound are great, but technical issues like glitches and bugs with animations are also part of the game. Menus are not optimized for PC and the skill-system is highly focused on combat.

Bellabel Park expands the magnificent Super Mario Bros. Wonder with fun multiplayer modes and creative single-player challenges. The upgrade truly unlocks its full potential—especially in co-op.

Echoes of Wisdom introduces refreshing ideas but it can't keep up the initial excitement.

Helldivers can also show off all its strengths on the Xbox - that's how it should be.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor presents itself as a successful and sensible further development of its predecessor. The technical shortcomings are a pity, but should not distract from the otherwise good overall impression.

Starfield delivers an exciting new universe with terrific design, fun quests and interesting characters, capturing almost everything whe love about Bethesda RPGs. It's big and ambitious and often times beautiful, but certainly not perfect: Space travel becomes a bit of a chore after a while, combat between Starships feels undercooked and exploring the huge amount of planets is way less rewarding than we hoped. But if you play it mostly like a Fallout 3 in space and don't expect a fully-fledged space simluator, you are in for a treat.

Dawn of War 2 presents itself as a fast-paced RTS that shines with brilliant grafics, a highly addicitve unit upgrade system and a multiplayer mode that grants weeks of entertainment. Unfortunately the story isn´t worth mentioning and the mission design could be better.

TMNT Shredder’s Revenge is a fantastic hommage to Turtles movies, cartoons, games and even toys. The beautiful art style and the phenomenal soundtrack really make one feel like playing a modern version of Turtles in Time with a lot of fresh ideas and improvements. The gameplay is smooth, the animations are great and combat is easy to learn but surprisingly deep for a brawler game. If you like the Turtles or the brawler genre, you will have lots of fun with the game. Especially in coop mode with up to six players. If you like the Turtles AND the brawler genre, you will simply love Shredder’s Revenge. This is the game, Turtles fans have been waiting for.

Doom: The Dark Ages is a flawlessly playable shooter that impresses with its blend of old-school gunplay and mechanical depth. Lame story and vehicle sections aside, you probably won't find more intense shooting anywhere else this year.

The Forgotten City tells an interesting story and uses a unique timeloop mechanic. Sadly, from a technical perspective, there is a lot that went wrong, going from bugs to weird animations. Nevertheless, we cannot stress enough how much we enjoyed this game.

Frostpunk 2 is not just an ordinary sequel. It is a strategy game with fresh ideas, sophisticated mechanics and a gorgeous look that give the Frostland a whole new facet.

With its superb pixel art, engaging action, varied levels, tons of enemies and a stylish soundtrack, Huntdown is a winner. I just wish it lasted a bit longer.

Control does have its fair share of issues, like the useless map and the subpar pacing of the story. These flaws, however, are not enough to take away from the ever-entertaining fights against enemies, the great atmosphere and the strong worldbuilding. I for one will not leave the Federal Bureau of Control until I’ve unsheathed the last of its mysteries.

A true South Park experience, brimming with crude jokes, nasty insults and crazy ideas. It's also fun to play, although lacking some depth and replay value. But even without meaningful decisions and a diverse class system this is a roleplaying game that every fan of South Park will enjoy – like a 14-hour episode of the show.

It may take some time to really appreciate some of Tunics design choices and the difficulty could put some people off. But once it clicks, Tunic is a smartly designed action adventure that offers a fresh take on the established Zelda formula.

Shadow Tactics does a beautiful job of reviving the Commandos formula, with challenging missions, interesting characters and varied level design. A robust user interface and three slots for quicksaves make sure that not only the hardcore audience, but virtually every player can have a great time with Shadow Tactics. All you need is a bit of patience.

Beautiful visuals, challenging gameplay – Ninja Theory's reboot of the Devil May Cry series is already one of the best action games of 2013.

Not only a charming love letter to NES classics, but a deeply enjoyable game in its own right.

Agatha Christie would be proud: Loco Motive marries the old-school whodunnit-mystery with point-and-click-adventures of the 90’s. Its cartoony artstyle and whacky comedy blend together into a cozy detective-game to whisk us away into the glam of the roaring 20’s.

Silent Hill f impresses with its psychological horror and the sense of unknowing that doesn't disappear even after reaching the first ending. The combat system is just as enjoyable as the horror.

While Assetto Corsa is a trimmed-down game in many ways, the authentic cars, detailed tracks and realistic physics make it a joy for every fan of the genre. A fitting presentation as well as an extensive online mode enrich the game in many ways.

A unique and sometimes strange adventure experience. Sweet graphics and excellent design have to make up for some awkward puzzles and overall weak controls, though.

Some control issues aside, Valkyria Chronicles offers just as much fun on PC as it did six years ago on PS3.

A motivating slaughterfest with systems you can completely immerse yourself in, but don't have to. Fun exploration and varied combat styles enrich the experience, but Nioh 3 also suffers from the same technical, loot, and recycling issues as Team Ninja's previous works.

Quotation forthcoming.

Steamword Dig 2 is one of the finest Metroidvania-surprises for a long time. Everyone who likes the predecessor can grab it without hesistation, but even newcomers are being served very well.

Don’t go into Football Manager 2022 hoping for great presentation or spectacular graphics, for you’re not gonna get it. No, this is more like „Looking at Excel Sheets: The Game“, but for what it is worth, it excels at that (pun very much intended). It’s complex, it’s slow, but if you find your way into it, it is also extremely satisfying once you get the hang of it.

Far Cry 2 is far from perfect, but the gorgeous African landscapes and thrilling gun-fights make up for the annoying enemy camps with their constantly spawning occupants. Ubisoft delivers an immersive First-Person-Shooter, which is easily on a level with Call of Duty 4.

Sometimes Death’s Door is pretty crisp, especially a passage in the Ceramic Palace really made me curse. But I couldn't stop, I wanted to move on. The game did a really good job of keeping me going despite all the setbacks. One flaw: even before the test, I played a preview version of Death's Door, which ran very smoothly. That's why I'm pretty amazed that performance drops occur in the full version. For me the adventure is still an indie highlight and I wait patiently for patches so that Death's Door runs as smoothly as before.

As a survival game, The Alters poses surprisingly hart questions. It forces players to make difficult decisions that test their morals and ethics. With its deep story and the far-reaching consequences, it could be the most innovative game of the year.

An addictive, elaborate little platformer with rewarding upgrades, great controls and challenging gameplay. Its repetitive nature, small scope and lack of variety hinders it from reaching its true potential though.

If you can look past its controversial art style and some lukewarm jokes, you will find a good adventure game that captures a lot of what made the originals so great in the first place.

With much more culture, the world congress and international trade routes Civilization V gains more depth than ever. Not only for fans of Civilization V is Brave New World worth a recommendation. With his second expansion confirmed Civilization V its position as leader in the genre of turn-based strategy games. I see much nights with less sleep in the next weeks.

Initially incredibly overwhelming, but once you're in... still absolutely overwhelming, but also pretty awesome to have so many options.

There‘s something magical about Kirby’s new adventure. It brings back that childlike joy which comes from exploring a big museum, library or department store. The game is easy enough to pick up, but also more challenging than recent outings of the pink puffball. In some places, it is breathtakingly beautiful, while in others, it is just cute, silly fun. It may have a nonsensical story, it may not be a next grand open-world adventure, but Kirby and the Forgotten Land is wonderful nonetheless. It is pure joy from start to finish.

The setting in China is a bit strange for us Europeans, but the game as such is with its new mechanics the best in the series.

Thanks to an engrossing story and some tricky choices Thronebreaker kept us hooked for the 30 hour campaign, even though some of the puzzles can lead to frustration and the map exploration gets old pretty quickly.

With a charming cast of undead pirates, lots of style and all the bells and whistles from Desperados 3, this is another excellent addition to Mimimis considerable catalogue. The unusual freedom of choice however proves to be a double-edged sword: It's fun to pick a crew and play the missions as we see fit, but it also takes away some of the challenge we loved in the previous games.

Exciting and funny at the same time: A successful collection whose games are still entertaining today.

Outer Wilds isn’t as big as something like No Man’s Sky, and gameplay-wise, it is quite simple. Still, it feels special, mostly because of ist non-linear structure. The game is all about exploring and having an adventure. It can be frustrating, mostly when the open structure leads you into a dead end. But this is just a minor problem in an otherwise fascinating experience.

As much as I am pleased with the return of this legendary title, I am so annoyed by the fact that so much remains the same in the steering.

The Lost Crown is exactly what the franchise needed. An incredible comeback for both Prince of Persia and Ubisoft Montpellier.

SWTOR: Bioware did it! Their first step into the "World of MMORPGS" is quite well done. Though the graphics in Star Wars: The Old Republic are not up-to-date and the game-mechanics are "business as usual", the game offers so much fun and exquisite entertainment. Especially the Story-Telling is awesome - every quest is told with good voice-actors. Nice Star-Wars-classes, funny PvP-arenas, nice space-opera-missions - definately a MMORPG with a very good start and so much potential for improvement in the further months/years.

There is much more to Tunic than what meets the eye. Just be ready for a challenge.

Relic has used feedback and criticism to improve on mistakes from the past games, delivering fresh missions and a great presented campaign. A new level cap keeps motivation for longer and nostalgia burns hot, when meeting familiar faces such as Thaddeus and Avitus. The corruption feature is a great addition and feels thought out.

A huge world to explore, lots of quests and decisions, tons of items and great replay value are reason enough to pick up this fine roleplaying sequel. Sadly, there are some noticeable technical problems, controls could have been better and the graphics look a little outdated. Still, if you enjoyed Fallout 3 for what it is, you will have a great time with New Vegas.

One of the best Anno games, focusing more on evolution than revolution, and a strong contender for strategy game of the year.

Two Point Studios once again manages to strike a balance between fun, sophistication and accessibility: Two Point Museum is a time-consuming build and boasts humor, handling and versatility.

While a good first entry in a possible series, Shadow of Mordor can’t quite compete with other big open-world action games. Light on innovation, Monolith's trip to Middle-Earth is mechanically sound and surprisingly addictive. Its 10 to 20 hour campaign offers a lot of fun, mostly thanks to the great cast of individual orcs and the slick combat system. Story and mission design could have used more work though, especially as players are bound to perform the same tasks over and over again in a world that isn’t as lively or as interesting as Los Santos or Arkham City.

Octopath Traveler 0 is overall a captivating adventure that impresses with its lovingly crafted world and the story surrounding the events in Orsterra.

Horizon: Zero Dawn actually exceeded my high expectations. A great game that hardly ever makes mistakes.

A dream come true for most any theme park fan, Planet Coaster sports terrific tools for creating choice rollercoasters and other attractions. It’s on the management side of things where Frontier takes the easy route. Once you’ve built the perfect theme park, you start to miss more complex systems like random events and difficult-to-satisfy guests. Combine that with some big hits on performance while managing larger parks and Planet Coaster just misses true legacy status, while still being the best the genre has had to offer since Rollercoaster Tycoon 3.

Wingspan did have so much potential to be great, but in the end, it is just okay. There is just too little variety to the gameplay and, being based on a boardgame, it doesn’t manage to justify its existence with any meaningful upgrades to the source material.

Darkest Dungeon is a nail-biter. The turn-based combat is so tense -- this is one of those games where you issue commands with extra-firm mouse clicks, hoping it leads to more damage. The fact that Darkest Dungeon's battles can turn any minute is what makes it so exciting. I don't mind the fact that the game lacks a strong narrative – the expeditions into the unknown are motivation enough for me. If you're looking for more however, you might lose interest quickly.

Spore’s creatures look terrific and the editor is one of the finest tool in gaming history. But Maxis forgot to build a game around it: The mixture of simulation and strategy just isn’t deep enough to attract more than a few hours attention. Instead of experiencing enthralling missions or a more intimate relation to your creature, you get shooed through five draggy phases of evolution.

Quotation forthcoming.

A quality port to an amazing game. The framerate may not always be as smooth as we had hoped, but don't let that stop you: Indy on Switch 2 is still an easy recommendation.

A bit on the pricey side, Metro Redux is nevertheless a meaningful remake of Metro 2033 with the added value of its successor Last Light including all its – albeit mediocre – DLC. The graphics are simply spectacular, the atmosphere is great and the AI tends to be horrible, just like before.

Both compelling and infuriatingly difficult, Enter the Gungeon offers hours of frantic bullet hell fun.

Oxenfree 2 is a great time. We enjoyed the gripping story with significant decisions that promise a high level of replay value. The art style and the characters are also very well done. The only major problem are some pacing issues. But especially for the price with that amount of playtime, you can hardly complain.

The Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D remake closely resembles the originals in every relevant aspect and offers solutions to familiar problems. It represents the perfect version for revisiting the old classic or for getting into the series for the first time.

Atmospheric city-building game meets brutal fight for survival.

Just Cause 2 is a very good, humorous sequel with a vast open world and a wonderful destruction system. The downsides though are a miserable AI and a lack of variety concerning the mission design.

Nex Machina hits the bull´s eye! At least for gamers who don’t expect more than shooting-fun to the core, just like in the old arcade days.

A worthy successor to the classic oldschool brawler trilogy: Streets of Rage 4 shines due to its electro beats and wonderfully crafted visual design, especially in its animations. While capturing the essence of the original games, Streets of Rage 4 manages to bring a seemingly old concept into a modern era.

If you liked the graphically overwhelming Crysis, you must not miss Crysis Warhead. Crytek just continues with what it can do best: Excellent graphics coupled with straight action.

Quotation forthcoming.

Ragebound's main appeal lies in its interesting and challenging boss battles. Beyond that, however, the game makes little effort to offer us anything new.

With this remake, Square Enix breathes new life into the beginning of the Erdrick-Trilogy. Where our imagination had to do its part in the original, now the games breathtaking visuals leave us stunned. Whether you are a complete Dragon Quest newbie or an accomplished hero of past adventures, we can wholeheartedly recommend the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake to any fan of an amazing JRPG experience.

We highly recommend the lovingly crafted adventure of Hanna and her friends. The developers have impressively achieved what they set out to do with their debut work. Depending on how you play, the eight chapters of the game take around ten to twelve hours to complete. They are packed with an emotional narrative and exciting stealth puzzles.

The magical adventure around Hogwarts and the Scottish highlands excites almost all along the line. Gameplay and story contradict each other in some moments. The performance problems at the start are forgivable, but spoil the fun in rare occasions. A must for fans.

Good new content and a solid continuation of the story: Vessel of Hatred is not spectacular, but it is successful. Thanks to patch 2.0, the game continues to develop in a meaningful way.

Hellblade 2 is also very impressive on the PS5, especially with the new performance mode.

Viewfinder is a great indie game that doesn't quite know where it's going with the narrative, though. The basic puzzle premise is ingenious and doesn't wear out over the short playtime. Solution approaches are repeated, which diminishes the puzzle's fun a bit. The game was often compared to Portal in the run-up and the gameplay is very close to Valve's puzzle hit. We hope that Viewfinder will take the same step as Portal and follow up a very short but fun first part with a really great sequel that could revolutionize the world of puzzle games.

Even more so than its haunting monster encounters on the ocean's spooky floor, it is the thrilling science-fiction story that makes SOMA a game that's hard to put down for horror fans.

The Division 2 seems to try to atone for the mistakes that where made with the predecessor and it succeeds in an impressive way. Massive clearly learned from the past and crafted an outstanding loot shooter experience. It’s only big flaw is the bland and trivial story and pale characters.

Almost every mechanic from Dark Souls is – in some form or another - implemented into Salt & Sanctuary. But in this specific case that is far from being something negative. I might even be a little addicted to the game’s concept: uncovering secrets, defeating humongous bosses and diving deep into the lore of the game. All of that manages to entertain me for dozens of hours. The only complaints I have with the game are the subpar German voice acting, the somewhat confusing skill-tree and – at least for my taste – boss-fights, which lack a certain challenge. However Salt & Sanctuary will undoubtedly bring a lot of joy to every fan of the Dark Souls-franchise, while people, who aren’t really into those, won’t be won over by this game either.

A good game will always be a good game and even better with a huge graphic update. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforged is a great remake. Only the revised audio sounds a bit tinny and some content from the Director’s Cut is missing.

It's just remaster, not a fully fledged remake. Keeping that in mind, I had a great time with the new, old Grim Fandango: Bursting with creativity, lovable characters and a jaw-dropping soundtrack, the game still stands as one of the best in the genre - especially with its vastly improved controls. A shame that the puzzle design did not age as well as the incredible story.

Age of Empires 2 was one of the best RTS games 20 years ago and with the Definitive Edition it reclaims this status once again. Outstanding updated graphics and several reasonable quality of life improvements on top of the ageless gameplay and an insane amount of content result in a game that no old or young RTS fan should miss.

A rather peculiar, yet very enjoyable tribute to traditional adventure games that suffers notably from uneven storytelling and some bland characters. Luckily the beautiful retro visuals, satisfying puzzles and (almost too) many references to the genre easily make up for that. Thimbleweed Park may not be remembered as a modern classic, but it's a good adventure with tons of style and one of the most bizarre endings we've seen in a long, long time.

In terms of combat and exploration, this is by far the best game in the series. Bethesda created a compelling world, rich in detail and full of surprises. That being said, it's not necessarily a great roleplaying game: The dialogue system has been significantly dumbed down, skills are gone and there are only few quest decisions to speak of. Plus, the main story (which revolves around the shallow faction system) does not offer the kind of freedom we have come to expect from a Fallout game. Thus, it may not be the RPG that long-time Fallout fans have been hoping for. The overall experience, however, is still amazing.

Adventures can be so cool: The Drifter is an exciting pulp thriller with a great atmosphere.

FIFA 17 is still a very good game, but it's still a bit of a disappointment. Instead of fixing the various existing gameplay-problems, FIFA 17 rather focuses on establishing its new engine and story-mode. Thus, FIFA falls behind PES because of the overall worse gameplay-mechanics in comparison to prior installments.

Don’t Nod shows that they distanced themselves from the formula of Life is Strange. But fortunately they kept their strength of storytelling. Jusant is a great mountain adventure that is perfect for the cold autumn days with a great climbing system and a lot of melancholy.

Feels like a "best-of" MMORPG. Trion Worlds uses well known content, combining PvE, PvP, crafting, collecting, public questing. The class-system is great, though still unbalanced and the rift-events guarantee lots of entertaining battles.

A perfect cast, strong performances and a thoughtful script offer an intimate, almost voyeuristic insight into the personal lifes of these characters, who really grew on me the longer I played. In terms of gameplay, there are ups and downs, some of which could have been avoided. I understand the directors intention behind some decisions, but I wished the game had more options in terms of video control or perhaps even a post-credit-mode that lets me combine two videos into one cohesive dialogue. But as long as you know what you are getting into, this movie-in-a-game-hybrid can be a fascinating experience, even when the overarching storyline turns out to be a surprisingly simple affair.

While lacking the ultimate sense for sober realism and clinical perfection that propelled Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5 to the racing-genres pole-positions, Shift 2 Unleashed scores with its fast presentation and brilliant helmet-cam that boast of speed and adrenaline. Despite the sloppy and cumbersome menus and some problems in terms of balancing and over-aggressive AI, Shift 2 Unleashed closes the gap on these two masterpieces due to its intensive and enthralling performance on the track.

Nomada Studio – the Indie-Developers behind Gris – did not really aim for a classic gaming experience. They more so crafted an interactive art piece that shines through its aquarelle art style and music. Therefore Gameplay is very minimalistic ,and puzzles rarely require any real effort by the player. Yet Gris is definetely worth playing solely for the unique and beautiful design as well as the great score.

AC Origins is a strong signal for the continued existence of superb single-player games. Huge scope, great setting, exciting battles and motivating RPG-elements: Assassin's Creed is back again.

A lovely remake that really captures what made the original Mario RPG so special in the first place. So much, in fact, that it can feel quite outdated sometimes. But if you really want the SNES experience with prettier presentation and some quality-of-life improvements, this is the best version yet.

Exactly the right game for anyone who likes Theme Hospital and for any newcomer who wants to try out the genre.

Tons of loot, neat character customization, a huge game world and plenty of monsters to kill - if that's your thing and you enjoy playing offline, you can't go wrong with Grim Dawn. Just don't expect a polished online experience or deep storyline - there's plenty of other games for that.

Well aged, beautifully remastered - honorable round for a classic! One thing is clear: Anyone who didn't get along eleven years ago with a story full of politics, characters without any ruffle, and a combat system somewhere between turn-based and realtime, will not convert to The Zodiac Age either. But for those who - like me - had a lot of fun playing the PS2-Original then or just does not know the classic yet, is welcome to this remaster.

The multiplayer has the potential to be one of the best in a long time. However, some weaknesses massively ruin the gaming experience.

If you are looking for a game that captures pretty much everything that was great about Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, look no further: Bloodstained is the real deal, with a vast castle to explore, tight action, tons of upgrades and plenty of loot. That being said, the game is not perfect and some might argue that it sticks a little bit too close to its roots. That didn't stop me from enjoying the hell out of it though - after all, the game is exactly what the Kickstarter campaign promised.

Harkening back to the first game in the series, Valkyria Chronicles 4 does very little to improve upon its tried and tested formula. A new set of characters and a few welcome additions however are enough to make this one just as enjoyable as the original Valkyria Chronicles ten years ago.

Red Dead Redemption on Switch is not a remake and also no remaster, it’s just a port of the ps3 and xbox 360 version. Nevertheless Rockstar's Wild West masterpiece also rocks the Nintendo console. The graphics look great on the Switch and the controls are doing their job. Only two things could stop players from buying the game: The missing multiplayer part and the high price. But in contrast to the multiplayer the Undead Nightmare DLC is also included. So we can not only play the main story with John Marston, there is also the zombie add-on in this version. That’s a great thing.