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.

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

When it comes to presenting an accurate and impressively detailed version of Tokyo, Ghostwire makes a great first impression. Despite literally being a ghost town, the city feels alive and captures neon-soaked pop-culture as well as ancient mythology and folklore. The two main characters deliver a convincing performance, too, and their story is entertaining, despite being quite short. Everything else, though – the combat system, the progression and the quest design – is the bare minimum of what’s acceptable from a big budget open world game. The combat, while fun to a degree, is especially thin with just three laughable spells and enemies without any special tactics or weakpoints. The unlockable upgrades are boring and unoriginal and the side quests, while having interesting setups, are mostly short and lack satisfying payoffs. Still, there is fun to be had in exploring ghost-infested Tokyo – it’s just not a creative, unique sort of fun, but rather a pretty mindless and extremely familiar one.

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.

Some severe technical problems make it so that the last-gen version of Strangers of Paradise cannot really be recommended. Buy it if you have no other means of playing it and desperately want to do so, otherwise PC or PS5/Xbox Series should be your platform of choice.

GTA 5 is still a masterpiece. The open world is fantastic, the presentation is brilliant, the characters are well-written and the varied gameplay is still a lot of fun. Thanks to the technical improvements of the remastered version for PS5 the game still feels fresh and the gameplay is even better because of up to 60 fps in the two performance modes.

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.

WWE 2K22 is a step forward, but not the fresh start the fans were hoping for. Although the game is much more fun than its predecessors because of the improved gameplay mechanics, it still has some technical issues and some of the game modes are rather disappointing.

WWE 2K22 is a lot of fun because the gameplay is faster, better and more fluent than in its predecessors. On the other hand it still has some technical flaws and some of the game modes – especially the extremely boring MyRise story mode – are rather disappointing.

Polyphony Digital’s latest outing puts itself into pole position with a game that brings the series back to its roots. The amount of content is gigantic, the driving feels great and the graphics are superb. A true winner.

A fun and charming funracer. It stands to question though why you’d need this game when there’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which does everything Chocobo GP does, but better.

Mixing Final Fantasy Tactics with Octophath Traveler’s aesthetics, Triangle Strategy nevertheless stands on its own and is one of Nintendo Switch’s finest games in the genre.

Oh my. Platinum Games is one of Japan’s finest developers when it comes to action games, but this one is a real stinker and not worthy of the studio’s name. Babylon’s Fall? More like Babylon’s fail.

Repetitive, ugly and lacking everything resembling fun, Babylon’s Fall is a mystery, and the mystery is: Why does it even exist?

Powerslave Exhumed is a remarkable remaster that successfully combines both the original Saturn and Playstation versions. It's dated, of course, but still surprisingly fun. If you enjoy classic FPS games in the vein of Doom, you're in for a treat.

While not as punchy as Doom Eternal, the energetic, over-the-top combat is fluid, satisfying and by far the best aspect of Shadow Warrior 3. Everything else, however, seems like a big step back from its predecessor: Repetitive parkour segments, terrible writing, bland level design and a limited supply of weapons are not quite enough to carry the game through its playtime, which clocks around six hours or so. With no coop and very little reason to give it another go, the asking price seems a bit steep as well.

The games of the Gothic series had a decisive influence on my childhood and Piranha Bytes as developers have always had a special place in my heart. This atmosphere and credibility in a game world can hardly be found in any other role-playing game to this day. But the magic has slowly faded for me. Yes, Elex 2 also pushes the right buttons and the first chapters were among the best the studio has produced in years. So I could easily overlook the once again mediocre battle system and the weak technology. But I was all the more horrified when this whole structure began to crumble halfway through and completely collapsed towards the end. Piranha Bytes should have focused less on the long playing time and more on a consistently strong atmosphere and quest-design.

Elden Ring absolutely manages to deliver on what was promised, and is, despite some minor annoyances, one of the finest gaming experiences I’ve had in years. That’s not only due to the rock-solid gameplay foundation, with its flexible class system, versatile weapons and progression mechanics. It’s also not only because of the morbid, dense atmosphere and the mysterious, captivating setting. It isn’t even solely the open world, which makes me want to spend every spare second exploring it with its gorgeous, monumental vistas and densely packed locations. Instead, the masterful combination of all these great qualities is what really makes Elden Ring special. Yes, the game has stopped me in my tracks multiple times, forcing me to leave bosses and places for later due to the somewhat slower progression system. But every time it does, it offers up dozens of other locations to test my mettle, become stronger and more skilled. And this cycle of trial and triumph is so immensely engaging that it’s going to keep me entertained for months to come.

While Reverie Knights Tactics has some novel ideas for its turn-based battles, it falls short in just every other aspect. Its exploration is bland, its story lacklustre and its visuals unappealing. With a tighter focus on what works, this game could have been promising. As it stands, however, the experience of playing this RPG is ultimately an unsatisfying one.

If you have a friend at your side, Zorya can be a lot of fun and its novel concept proves to be something really special. However, some small flaws hold it back from being unreservedly recommendable.

Creative Assembly goes big with this final outing of the Warhammer trilogy. For veterans, it offers large amounts of content, most notably a total of eight playable races as well as an enhanced diplomacy system. However, it is also the first Total War game that considers new players by giving them a lengthy prologue campaign for learning the ropes. The game is still difficult though and suffers in parts from weak AI. Nevertheless, it is an amazing new title for the series – for newcomers and veterans alike.

Sifu is an incredibly frustrating, yet amazingly rewarding experience. Those who seek an unforgiving but mostly fair challenge will find something truly special with this Kung-Fu-game. It’s visuals and style are fantastic, as well as it’s stunning soundtrack! Yet, those who are easily annoyed by difficult games should be aware, that Sifu does not offer any easy-modes or level-checkpoints. It is uncompromising to the bone.

Lost Ark finally made its way to the west and – despite the unfulfilling PvE content – it proved a successful third attempt for developer Smilegate and Amazon. It is not a perfect game. Some content is still missing, the story is mediocre and classes are bafflingly gender locked. However, from the 15 distinct and intriguing playable classes to the beautiful world design, there is much fun to be had with the game. Lost Ark is already brimming with content and with even more to look forward to the world of Arkesia has a bright future ahead of itself.

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.

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.

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.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach tries to convince with his new gameplay mechanics but doesn't achieve this in the most parts. The only really horrible things are the bugs and the game could be so much better with more development time.

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.