Going back to New York and finishing the story arc that we started in the first game brought me great joy. But the expansion suffers from balancing problems and questionable long term motivation, even with the new season system.

A successful remaster that brings Days Gone to modern hardware with a higher resolution and better performance, but without making any particular graphical leaps. The gripping story remains a great experience anyway.

Dying Light: The Beast isn't exactly brimming with innovation. Rather, it delivers a whole series of small improvements and expansions appropriate to the story. What ultimately sets this zombie adventure apart from Dying Light 2, however, is its straightforwardness and significantly stronger focus on the series' core strengths. Fast-paced parkour, brutal action, and, last but not least, the game world, both beautiful and dynamic, characterize the experience. While The Beast is a bit unwieldy and fiddly, overall the "little" Dying Light is convincing. Both newcomers and seasoned players will feel at home in The Beast. We definitely recommend it.

South of Midnight tells a interesting, dark story and scores with a unique stop motion style. The soundtrack matches the fun gameplay in some pretty magic worlds as well. Only a few technical issues tarnish the positive picture a little.

The Definitive Edition of Stronghold Crusader rounds out the game in many aspects. Only the outdated technology and the high difficulty level may put off newcomers. Overall, however, it's a good remaster of the classic.

Age of Empires 4 is clearly not a bad RTS. Considering the constant drought in the genre, the game is probably the best that could have happened for fans at the moment. However we wish the developers would have shown more courage. In the end the game is too similar to Age of Empires 2, it goes the safety route, not risking to do something wrong. And all of that without ever reaching the same atmosphere or charm that made the second entry so great. It is hard to think of reasons why a player who still has a lot of fun with the Definitive Edition of Age 2 should switch to this game. But whoever gets drawn by the small improvements like the new wall system or the gameplay differences between the civilizations can look forward to a great RTS package with many hours of fun.

With enormously fun, varied gameplay, great art style, interesting story and great sound, Atomic Heart manages to outperform its many small blunders.

A lengthy campaign, welcome additions and clever improvements make Soul Harvest a noticeably better experience than the bug-ridden Spellforce 3.

Despite smaller flaws such as an unrewarding progress system, PGA Tour 2K21 manages to appeal to beginners as well as experts alike. The gameplay is thoroughly explained, feels good and is motivating through a surprising amount of depth. The older graphics and long loading times are only minor inconveniences.

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.

A fun and fast-paced shooter that delights through its excessive presentation and well-timed humour. Even though the environments lack a little in diversity and the controls can be a little fidgety from time to time, My Friend Pedro delivers an entertaining package with addicting and motivating gameplay.

A charming romp through pirate space that successfully translates XCOM's combat into gorgeous 2D robot battles. Shame there isn't much to do between missions though.

Dying Light 2 is an ambitious sequel that puts a lot of emphasis on story and decisions. Paired with fun parkour mechanics and visceral combat, the game raises huge expectations in its opening chapters. However, it starts to get a little repetitive after a while. There is just not enough weapon variety and meaningful loot, and the story suffers from a lame villain and an overall unsatisfying ending. It's still a good game all things considered, but certainly not the masterpiece we all hoped it would be.

While still a good driving game, Undercover tries too hard to be like "Most Wanted" and fails at delivering a solitary, genuine experience. Fans of the series will get what they want, all others should wait until Need for Speed (hopefully) picks up an innovative pace again.

Wow, an Anime adaption so close to the original! Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot creates an unique feeling of nostalgia. Playing the full Z-Story with Goku, Gohan and all of their friends feels so light-hearted as it did watching the series as a child. Thanks, Cyber Connect 2.

Thanks to its improved but very similar formula, Remnant 2 will prove especially satisfying for fans of the first game. If you like tinkering with builds and being challenged while doing it, you’ll have a great time here, alone or with up to two friends. You and your team should be prepared for a bit of frustration in the chaotic bossfights, however.

For the moment I'm just having a lot of fun.

The classic noire detective game presents an unparalleled art style with its animal characters. Paired with a thrilling story, dry humour and a fitting swing-soundtrack, flaws like clichés and the guessing game that is the interrogation of Chicken Police are not bothersome.

It's a decent sequel for everyone who enjoys the unique quirks of Mario & Luigi.

Marvel's Midnight Suns has a number of quirks that are minor in themselves. In total, however, they do eat away at the gameplay experience. But despite these quirks, we had a hell of a lot of fun with the game. It delivers exactly what we had hoped for from a tactical role-playing game with superheroes: gripping battles, great characters and a huge scope that kept us interested for a long time. For someone with Marvel fan glasses, Marvel's Midnight Suns is a wonderful game. But at the end of the day, we're also left with a bit of a feeling that with a little more care and polish, there could have been more.

The as of yet best game of the series. Varied missions with cool settings and fairish graphics make Emergency 2012 a fun game. The downside is horrible interface and handling.

Good but sparse content, at least compensated by free updates - Vaulter is the ideal occasion for dusting off Endless Space 2 again from the bookshelf.

Despite its limitations, The Sexy Brutale fells extremely self-consistent. You seldom see such a lovely synergy between setting and gameplay.

Many reissues, such as the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection, come with fun extras. For example, behind-the-scenes videos, making-of anecdotes, a collection of artwork, or a cool glossary with background information. None of these can be found in Dawn of War: Definitive Edition.

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.

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.

Like revisiting a long-lost friend: Total War: Rome Remastered immediately sucks in strategy-fans with a newly polished map, the fantastic soundtrack and a couple of quality-of-life-changes. Just the AI is a little wonky from time to time and the newer games of the series deliver a more complex campaign.

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.

Expeditions: Rome is a solid RPG with diverse tactical combat, a thrilling story and challenging decisions that can alter the fate of characters, your own family and even the roman republic.

Laysara is a great hidden gem of a city-building game for anyone who enjoys building efficient production facilities and the hunt for the ideal city layout.

With Devil May Cry 5 Capcom delivers an action spectacle on a high level, but lacks the ingenuity which characterized the games of Ninja Theory at some points. The disadvantage of the regular change of habits has been cleverly ironed out by the auto-assist-option. In the story, however, it would have been possible to get a lot more out of the three characters. Even though the story isn't the most important feature of an action grenade like DMC 5. Fights, effects, soundtrack, all this ensure that you really felt a lot of joy in knocking the demons out.

After the big success of Elden Ring the developers of From Software now celebrating the release of their new game Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. In our review the Mech-Shooter convinced us immediately with spectacular action paced robot fights. Gameplay, controls, graphic and soundtrack working perfectly together and also the mission design brings a lot of variety into the game. But we have to say, AC6 is not made for beginners. While most enemies are not really hard to beat, the bossfights kept us a very long time on our toes. Armored Core 6 is not perfect, the menu navigation is very laborious and there are a few unfair moments while fighting the big bosses, but nevertheless fans of the franchise and the genre will be satisfied.

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.

Humankind is one elegant strategy opus that successfully balances mechanics from Endless Legend and Civilization 6, but does not have the same level of quality and polish like the Firaxis original. Some good ideas, a beautiful map and a nice game flow more than make up for its shortcomings, some of which might be ironed out by future updates or expansions. As of now, Humankind is a good game and it will satisfy your 4X cravings, but there is no denying that is has not reached its full potential yet.

The basic concept of grindstone is incredibly simple. With more than 200 puzzles, it nevertheless brings with it many hours of fun. Unfortunately, the mouse support of the PC-version is clumsy and therefore, we strongly recommend using a gamepad.

The game is an interesting mix between Souls-like and Metroidvania. The presentation is amazing, the graphics are just as great and it expertly manages to blur the border between 2D and 3D. It took us about 20 hours to beat the challenging, but always fair story.

The return of king Graham offers a mixture of classic adventure-puzzles, lots of humor and many action-sequences. The flashback-storytelling is quite entertaining, the voice acting is great and the cartoon-graphics turns the adventure into a fairytale-experience.

Dusk does not reinvent the wheel and has no intention to do so. It offers wonderfully fast-paced and robust first person action that mostly lives up to classics like Doom or Quake. Add some great level design and a bold art style, and you get a retro experience that would have been an instant classic, if it had been released 23 years ago.

Charming SpongeBob SquarePants fun with humor and nostalgia.

Star Wars Outlaws definitely doesn't reinvent the wheel of open-world games, but it does break new ground for titles from Ubisoft. Although we have now played through the game in around 45 hours, it feels like we haven't seen everything. There is an astonishing amount of content and details in the game that you can spend a lot of time with, even away from the everyday life of a scoundrel. Have we already mentioned the arcade machines or the many Sabacc tables? And even the search for Star Wars allusions, mainly on Tatooine, is a pure joy. We can get over the minor quirks in some of the design decisions and the fact that the technology is not quite up to date. The main thing for us is that we were thoroughly entertained by Kay Vess and Nix on their adventure and we are excited to see what challenges await the young outlaw in the future.

Players who liked the Kingdom series of games and Slay the Spire will also find a lot to love in Ratropolis. It mixes new ideas with satisfying gameplay and thus creates something very unique. After a while, progression tends to get a bit samey, but until then, Ratropolis is a lot of fun.

Call of Duty: Vanguard brings the franchise back to the roots. Not only because of the world war 2 setting, also because of the slower gameplay in comparison with a lot of other games of the franchise. The short, action-packed campaign is fun to play and the story of the historic inspired main characters is captivating. The multiplayer has a good balance, a neat pacing and offers with sixteen 6vs6 maps a good change. The Zombies mode is unfortunately the big weakness of Vanguard. It’s fun to play, but still missing a lot of content like the story and the popular Easter eggs.

A lovingly presented, content-rich mix of role-playing and life simulation, held together by an entertaining, if not particularly twist-filled, story and 14 diverse professions. However, Level-5 wastes a lot of potential with its unfortunately half-baked multiplayer mode.

Quotation forthcoming.

Although it has some flaws and typical free-to-play mannerisms, Fortnite is fun, both in co-op and in PvP.

Affordable doesn't have to mean cheap: A rock-solid anti-gravity racer that's simply fun without reinventing the wheel. And the price is a real treat.

I was expecting the game to become boring after a couple of levels, but the amount of fresh ideas and the addicting gameplay hooked me right in. Razor sharp controls make the very challenging rooms exciting, but cannot cut away every last inch of frustration.

Chronos: Before the Ashes is not a groundbreaking twist on the formula of souls-likes, but delivers a rock-solid package of gameplay and rarely gets frustrating. The only real issues are the almost non-existent story-telling and the missing map makes backtracking a little tedious.

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

It's exactly what we wanted and expected from a new title in the series: a classic Mario Party with some new and interesting mechanics.

As a bird called Flint, we build and decorate different camping sites and take care of its inhabitant’s needs. You can take all the time you need and there’s also a lot to explore on the island. A great way to pass time on a rainy Sunday.

The party game ensures an entertaining evening with friends due to its easy to pick up gameplay and its fun and simple premise. The German translations lack a little in quality, but they also finally enable a younger and broader audience to enjoy the game.

As biker Deacon St. John, we are exploring a vast and atmospheric open world with lots of activities. In addition, the story is very deep and emotional. But there are still some really uncreative missions and the survival aspect seems out of place. The PC version is well-made and runs smoothly at 60 fps while delivering better textures than on PS4.

The puzzles in Relicta are hard and there isn’t any handholding. This fact, however, is part of the game’s appeal. It feels great to finally solve a tough-as-nails puzzle. More variety regarding the levels would have been nice, nevertheless.

Despite being a Metroidvania in a market overflowing with games like it, Unbound manages to surprise in many different ways. It has a very interesting portal mechanic, plus an awesome soundtrack. Paired with challenging gameplay, this makes Unbound: Worlds Apart a short and neat experience.

Lacuna is a wonderful indie detective game in which you have to solve the murder of a politician. The graphics are really nice, as are the atmosphere and the sound. There’s a lot of great twists and turns regarding the story, resulting in several different outcomes, depending on the player’s choices. Overall a clear recommendation.

The game mixes riddles, dialogues and fights very competently. It is very well-written and with more than 20 hours of playtime, there’s a lot to explore.

While FIFA 21 plays a lot smoother than its predecessor and offers even more content for the fans of career and VOLTA mode, it once again feels like an evolution not a revolution. EA Sports really need to breathe new life into their football simulation. But maybe that will only happen, as soon as the franchise arrives on next gen consoles.

Black Myth: Wukong brings a myth to life that is bursting with fantasy and visual power. The game also has a lot to offer behind the scenes: varied boss designs and powerful battles keep you hooked throughout the surprisingly long running time. Explorers often come up against a brick wall because of the level design, which is both confusing and restrictive, but those who can deal with that will find an ideal entry point to a fascinating legend here.

A charming city builder with polished gameplay and fun, approachable mechanics. If you are new to the genre, this would be a great entry point, even though the game is rather short and offers not much replay value.

The three Crysis games still look great on modern PCs and are a lot fun, which raises the question if we really needed these remasters in the first place. The first Crysis Remastered is somewhat of a mixed bag, in some regards better, in others subpar to the amazing PC original. Crysis 2 however looks noticably crisper with some nice visual touches like raytraced reflections, sharper textures and improved lighting. The third remaster received less attention in comparison, up to a point where one might ask if a simple patch would have sufficed. Which brings us to the consoles, because this is where the three remasters really shine: No matter on which plattform you play, the console versions are greatly improved with smoother framerates and sharper image quality that outshines the original Xbox 360 and PS3 releases in every possible way.

While the Switch version lacks some visual fidelity, the gameplay is every bit as fun as on the other platforms. Steamworld Build is a short, highly approachable city builder with polished mechanics and charming ideas. It might be too simple for expert players, but offers a great entry point for newcomers.

Compared to its predecessor, Steel Division 2 is even more complex – mainly because of the new campaign mode. Although everything in the game is great for fans of real time strategy, it lacks of a real tutorial. That’s a shame, because without any help the game is much too complicated for beginners.

Crystal Dynamics could have done a few things better, but an impressive campaign and a lot of fan love make the title a successful adventure in the world of Marvel that I don't want to do without.

Let Them Trade blends the cozy charm of board games with city-building strategy in a relaxed, visually rich experience. Inspired by classics like Catan and Anno, players create cities, manage production chains, and guide trade across a handcrafted, hex-tile world. With a lighthearted campaign, peaceful pacing, and a satisfying resource economy, the game offers an ideal entry point for newcomers and a chill break for veteran strategy fans. Despite minor weaknesses—such as lackluster combat and no multiplayer—it excels as a compact, feel-good builder that values calm over complexity.

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.

Return may not be the best in the series, but it is still a fun, relaxed adventure with lots of good puzzles and a surprisingly heartfelt ending.

Alone in the Dark has a few problems like the clunky combat system and some technical issues. But overall it’s a fun horror adventure with an absolute brilliant atmosphere.

There are a number of Beat ’em Ups on the market, but nothing compares to Mortal Kombat. If you like the exaggerated splatter effects like me, you will always feel this special tension in the fights, because the next head could roll or organs could fly around. I'm quite surprised by the story mode, I wouldn't have expected such a high level. The six hours or so entertained me wonderfully, also because the combat system is well-developed and fair. Tower and online modes can't quite reach the campaign's high bar. Nevertheless, Ed Boon and his team have once again succeeded in creating a great Beat ’em Up that will captivate me for a long time to come.

Cronos: The New Dawn captivates with its atmospheric atmosphere, deliberate use of light and darkness, and terrifying enemy designs. However, the intense action significantly diminishes the horror experience.

Badass fights, a great score and some tough as nails bossfights make Strangers of Paradise a worthy Final Fantasy spin-off. If you’re in for a great story, look elsewhere.

With Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, the wheel hasn't exactly been reinvented, but it's certainly been well-oiled! It takes the popular Souls formula and adds some useful innovations that make the action a bit more action-packed and fast-paced. Souls fans shouldn't miss this game.

At the bottom line, I nevertheless think, that King Arthur: Knight's Tale is a real diamond in the rough. If NeocoreGames continues to improve the concept just a little, we could see a Tactival RPG milestone coming from this studio.

Even though it is lacking fresh ideas and the exploration elements are a bit underwhelming, this is a successful and thoroughly fun reboot for the Strider franchise, thanks to its super fast combat, responsive controls and neat visual design.

We Were Here Forever is with the right partner a really unigue cooperative experience. The puzzles are difficult und sometimes even a little too hard. Don’t even bother with checking the hints the game offers you, most of the time they won’t be helpful at all. We strongly recommend finding someone to play with beforehand, because you need to communicate nonstop in order to escape. But overall We Were Here Forever feels better than its prequel.

HD remakes of two of the best role-playing games of the PlayStation era, created with great care, passion and respect. Clearly the best way to catch up on the memorable originals and get back at Luca Blight. It's just a shame that you have to buy the two games as a package and can't buy them individually digitally.

Would play it again anytime. There’s so much to discover.

Quotation forthcoming.

While only six hours long, this is a great addition to the original Shadow Tactics. Varied missions, likeable characters and plenty of tactical puzzles make Aiko's Choice an easy recommendation, especially if you enjoyed the main game and don't expect anything drastically new. Because sometimes 'more of the same' is exactly what we need.

More interactive arthouse cinema than game, but that's why it's so wonderfully different: in its short running time, Indika takes you on a crazy trip that sticks.

The fight system, character management and abundancy of content are great, the different battle maps and objectives add variety and despite all those systems the game isn't just challenging but also beginner friendly. […] Sadly, the story and presentation fail to add on to this solid foundation.

Dead Island 2 is not as ambitious as some of the other zombie slashers out there, but that actually works in its favor: With solid game mechanics, gory combat, good level design and some well-written characters, you are in for a bloody good time. Just don't expect a game that pushes anything forward.

Far Cry 6 manages to tell a dark and gritty story with an excellent written and performed antagonist. The game also gets rid of unnecessary rpg systems and leans more back to the shooter roots of the series. Overall a better experience than the two predecessors but with lack of something really new.

Dead Island 2 never aims for unreachable heights and knows what it wants to be: A fun zombie slasher with brutal combat, beautiful levels, robust mechanics and a few jokes along the line. If that sounds like a great time to you, there's a good chance you are going to love Dead Island 2.

All things considered, Part Two offers a satisfying conclusion to the Doom saga, with amazing combat, beautiful levels, a new weapon to play with and one epic set piece towards the end. It's also more balanced and manageable than the first DLC. The final boss fight is my only real complaint: What should have been a pulse-pounding battle for the ages, is essentially an overlong dodgefest that just drags on and on without challenge or excitement.

I am positively surprised how much Unworthy mesmerized me, even though I just wanted to “take a short look”.

The Crime Scene Cleaner captivated me immediately. I like the mix of humor and seriousness and would like to play more games like this every now and then.

Turning an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game into a dating simulation is unique, but it is what the community wished for. Sadly the unusual dating simulation has not a lot of gameplay to offer. But the game scores with special humor and a design based on other genre representative.

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.

Roadcraft is a good mix of SnowRunner and Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. The new building mechanics adds variety and new challenges. A smart evolution for fans and newbies.

Challenging, extremely good and incredibly exciting: For 30 euros, Against the Storm offers more than most full-price strategy games, making it one of the indie hits of 2023.

OlliOlli World is pure fun. It is well structured and offers both experienced and new players multiple ways to enjoy the game to their liking. Great music, a wonderful artstyle and a motivating leaderboard system make Olli Olli World an incredibly enjoyable experience, regardless *of* experience.

Bombastic fun: The Finals cannot be categorized as an online shooter. And that is really refreshing.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is the better Yooka-Laylee game. The developer’s decision to create a 2D- instead of 3D-game was the right one. The overworld is the secret star of the game with loads of riddles and secrets and overall the new Yooka-Laylee is very challenging. The role models are obvious: Super Mario and Donkey Kong. If you are into 2D jump and runs, you will have a lot of fun with Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair.

With two great Ace Attorney spin-offs and a ton of extras and options, the Miles Edgeworth Collection delivers an experience we won't want to put down anytime soon.

Quotation forthcoming.

The reboot of Lords of the Fallen doesn't reinvent the genre, but it is a well-executed soulslike.

If you were expecting a comprehensive action adventure with exploration, variety, depth and motivating character development, you should definitely look for another game, because Space Marine 2 simply doesn't offer all of that. Even Doom Eternal offers a lot more here. To be fair, however, it must also be said that the developers of Space Marine 2 never promised anything other than graphically rich co-op slaughter.