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.

Legend of Keepers is a well-made management sim with a lot of humour. It also looks quite nice and offers a lot of replayability. However, too many things it confronts the player with rely on luck.

An engaging, solid RTS with mission design near perfection! But be warned: Men of War is only for experts of the genre. Anyone else will be frustrated by the hardcore approach of the game.

Flying Red Barrel is a simple game with a really strong story. It is quite short, yes, but that makes it that much easier to go in for better highscores time and time again. It’s also quite hard, even on easy difficulty, so if a challenge is something you’re looking for, you’ll find plenty of that here.

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.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles also has everything that makes the series so unique and is recommended to every fan and those who want to become one.

The standard Lego procedure with a story that works very well. All in all it's a solid, but not really surprising, Lego game.

The best version of Donkey Kong Country Returns: An indestructibly good 2D platformer, but still with a high potential for frustration. Graphically, not much has changed, and the price seems too high.

While the three new levels are excellently designed and the combat is as satisfying as ever, the lack of new weapons or abilities feels like a missed opportunity. The main downside however is the uneven balancing: Some battles are littered with high level enemies (some of which require precise aiming in the midst of combat) and take easily more than 10 minutes to complete, all while you are grasping for ammo and health. Doom Eternal made you feel like a badass, while Ancient Gods almost makes you drag from one fight to next, always hoping you make it out alive somehow. This might be a real dealbreaker for some players, even for those who finished Doom Eternal without a problem on normal difficulty. Ancient Gods is still good fun, mind you, but I don't feel this is the right direction for the franchise. There is a difference between challenging and hardcore.

Immortals: Fenyx Rising is very similar to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but that's a good thing. An extensive and motivating action-adventure game with a really beautiful world.

Karma is a story about philosophy, religion, and culture, about the essence of humanity. Finally, I'd like to leave you with something unrelated to the game itself, but something you should return to after experiencing it for yourself. There's a lot to be said for the name of the studio behind Karma, Pollard Studios. Pollarding means cutting down or pruning trees so they grow back better, stronger, and denser. Perhaps things must first be destroyed before they can heal.