With Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Respawn has thrown together a lot of cool Star Wars and gameplay ideas and somewhat crampedly made a whole. The result is often nice, but with more caveats than I can put into this conclusion.

Shredder's Revenge is a delightful brawler with a retro pixel style that will leave you wonderfully nostalgic. At the same time, it may also be a bit of a too short and simple experience, which gives you little reason to replay the handful of levels often.

Stray is a fairly entertaining game that sometimes weakens to slightly boring, and mainly relies on the huggability of its protagonist. If you are not a cat person, then GTFO and subtract twenty points from this figure.

No Man's Sky is just playable on the Switch. The necessary graphical downgrades are not surprising, but the lack of multiplayer is. Fortunately, no further content has been cut. No Man's Sky can therefore fulfill all your space fantasies in a lonely and unstable way.

Powerwash Simulator 2 is literally like a high-end pressure washer: sleek, powerful, and equipped with all sorts of attachments. But if you don't get that relaxing feeling of cleaning, it's still a mandatory cleanup. This is why I still wanted to check my phone every ten minutes while playing. With the right partner by your side in co-op, it suddenly becomes fun. So, co-op? Absolutely! Solo? Meh.

Metro has to deal with some serious growing pains in its exodus to a triple-A franchise, which means Metro Exodus is still a far cry from a high quality blockbuster. The game offers not much more than some cool moments, nice gameplay and a few pretty pictures of its new expansive, post-apocalyptic environments.

The standalone games themselves of course deserve higher scores, but the way this bundle is published seems very frugal, especially considering the 60 euro price tag that comes with it. In that manner, Nintendo could learn from the honorable and generous ways in which companies like Activision re-release their classics.

The sometimes intense combat, immediately noticeable upgrade options and the occasionally well-executed mindf.cks save Control from a bare 60/100. But almost every brilliant idea is tackled by an unbalanced execution.

This is pretty much ALL Star Wars in digital LEGO form; nine films of fun levels plus an unprecedented amount of dolls, spaceships and other blocky collectables. Long fun for kids and people with a fiery passion for collecting, short fun for if you're looking for a challenge.

Ninja Gaiden 4 relies on the phenomenal action you expect from PlatinumGames but falls into repetition far too often. Environments, enemies and even bosses are recycled endlessly in a game world that feels constantly empty and clinical. That makes it hard to enjoy the combat because you almost always know what's coming.

Planet Robobot is decently made but leans way too much on it’s predecessor Triple Deluxe (and every other Kirby platformer) to keep us interested. Time for something new. [July 2016 / page 070]

Firewatch doesn’t live up to the high expectations as it’s too unpolished and too plotty to leave any sort of lasting impression. Its best moments are gripping and worth checking out but the overall package is a tad underwhelming.

Do you like Limbo and Inside? If so, Little Nightmares will be right up your alley. The game is less original and expressive as Playdead's titles though.

Assassin's Creed Origins' believability is hindered by awful voice acting with unnatural, annoying accents and ugly, wooden animations. But to gamers who aren't too bothered about these things or are even blind and deaf to it, this will be a fascinating adventure in a beautiful, enormous Ancient Egypt that's full of nice rewards and challenging battles.

Iron from Ice once again offers everything you’ve come to expect from a Telltale episode: difficult decisions and moral dilemmas, incorporated into fine dialogues and concluded in a SHOCKER of a cliff-hanger. This time it comes in a reasonably successful Game of Thrones-marinade, complete with actors from the series who really seem to give it their best effort. But, again, Telltale seems to be ambitious in their story-telling, but not in the (gameplay-)technical aspect of their titles.

If you grew up with Mario Party in the noughties and you mainly want to wallow in nostalgia, Superstars is the way to go. But if you don't have it yet, you better get Super Mario Party to meet your Party needs.

It’s easy to understand owners of the PS Vita were happy with this game in 2012, but three years later, on the PS4, it doesn’t feel like a full-fledged game. Entertaining and very cute, but not full-fledged. [feb. 2016 / page 062]

Keeper looks stunning and tells a sweet story. Unfortunately, that's about it. It's certainly not a treat to explore the beautiful game world, but ultimately, you get what you'd expect from lighthouse gameplay, which is very limited.

It's a nice touch for the annals that long-time system seller Gears of War is now also available on PlayStation, but of course, anyone who ever really wanted to play Gears could have bought an Xbox at some point in all those years. Gears of War has been well past its sell-by date for quite some time now.

A fine mobile port but the Vita is still the preferred platform for JRPGs. [Aug 2015, p.083]

Kirby Air Riders is a playful, chaotic mix of races and minigames. The game is charming and energetic, but can sometimes be a bit too much.

The total package in FIFA 20 is large as usual and the game looks great. But the spectacular fast-paced gameplay that especially leans on tricks, tends to be a bit too arcade-y and therefore loses its touch with the essence of real football.

Wild Hearts is most fun when it's fair and unfortunately that often requires multiple players. Monster Hunter players will feel right at home in the world of Azuma, but will still be surprised by the innovative and constantly evolving Karakuri system. However, the high degree of difficulty, technical flaws and the uninteresting story will mainly scare off newcomers to the genre.

Even a stale interface, a boring Career Mode and some unfortunate choices in terms of the progression can’t detract from UFC 2’s brutal fights. The improved ground game and the introduction of Ultimate Team elevate this sequel above its predecessor.

The world of Wonderlands and its characters is touching, wacky and wildly imaginative, but the game is filled with unimaginative gameplay. Gearbox has to go back to the drawing board, because Borderlands needs more than just a new jacket and a wizard hat.

Tell Me Why keeps you invested and interested story-wise for the full nine hours, but is lacking in the gameplay department. It's clear that this genre in its current state is standing on its last legs.

It was a beautiful aspiration: to make a co-op game that encourages people to work together by means of original gameplay. But in the end, the manner in which A Way Out is played is seldom original and it's written like a poor action movie out of the 90's.

Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is a beautiful-looking, but ultimately uninspiring stealth game that falls back on predictable gameplay. It's perfectly fine to sneak through in a weekend if you're really into stealth, as it's never unbearably bad or distracting. Perhaps Eriksholm is simply a little too good at what's expected of you as a stealth player: remaining inconspicuous.

The gameplay of UFC 5 is rock solid and has visibly improved compared to the previous part. For example, the new damage system ensures that there is more strategy (and blood) involved in the battles and the polished ground game offers more depth. It's a shame that career mode remains the neglected child for EA Sports, because there is so much more to it.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden will undoubtedly hold players with its emotional and diverse stories, but the game unfortunately falls short when it comes to combat and RPG elements. On the one hand, you want to learn more about New Eden's lore and about Red and Antea themselves. At the same time, this is somewhat hindered by the boring combat, fairly monotonous game world and the lack of valuable upgrades. Maybe an action RPG wasn't the best genre for Banishers, but this narrative adventure certainly deserves a place of honor in Don't Nod's portfolio.

EA Sports has scrapped Ultimate Team from UFC 3, made a few minimal (UI) updates and put a FIFA cover on it. Please, here you have UFC 4. It's that the ten-year-old fighting system still delivers some really brutal brawls, otherwise this would be a complete joke. If you already own UFC 3, I don't see any reason to buy this part.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A has a clear mission and, despite some shortcomings, it absolutely succeeds in doing so.

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep is a lot of old content covered by a coat of paint that can barely be considered new, but thanks to the general update of a few game systems and a decent amount of recreational therapy with which you can increase your Light Level, this expansion definitely makes Destiny 2 a better, bigger game.

After last year's debacle, Fifa 22 is fortunately taking another step in the right direction. It's far from the level of Fifa 10 or the best parts of the previous generation, but at least it looks like football again.

When the wind is in the sails, Mario and Luigi: Brothership is a particularly nice adventure with a wonderful holiday feeling. Unfortunately, developer Acquire regularly changes the wind, causing the pleasure trip to come to a standstill. Unnecessarily much dialogue and bad pacing prove to be heavy anchors, which meant that I could never really hang on to the holiday feeling for long.

Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Bitch is a classic sidescrolling shooter with a lot to blow up. The Warhammer style fits well with the genre, but the gameplay can quickly become monotonous. wow.

The Pathless could have been more than it currently is. With more variation in the gameplay and a deeper story, this could just have been GOTY material or at least the indie hit of the year. Still, there's plenty to love if you settle for a minimalistic game crafted with a lot of love. Especially the flow of moving around in the atmospheric world and the brilliant music ensure that The Pathless stays with you.

Tchia has an open world that is full of fun music, creative activities, cultural challenges and a good dose of (dark) humour. As fun as turning into pooping birds, tasty coconuts or explosives is, it just doesn't gloss over the stretched checklist story, poorly fleshed out characters and bugs enough to make it fun more than once.

FIFA 21 smells like laziness, dollar signs and stinky, old footballsocks. This is the worst edition ever and one of the biggest disappointments of the year. I really hope EA redeem themselves on the next generation of consoles because the way things stand now, FIFA is one big red flag for me.

Playing The Ancient Gods – Part Two is less frustrating and more enjoyable than conquering Part One, and feels like a more balanced experience besides. This is mainly due to the addition of a few interesting new enemies, which makes it all the more disappointing that fighting the Ultimate Antagonist, with whom the DLC and the game ends, isn’t really the final battle Doom Eternal deserves.

In terms of the sheer variety of ramifications and final outcomes that this interactive drama has to offer, As Dusk Falls is very well written. But when it comes to artistic choices that have been made, for example, in the field of style and direction, it can sometimes fall far beyond your taste. As in the case of the undersigned Naturally Born Azijnzeiker.

Shorter and less polished then the original, but nevertheless a good prequel that expands on the blossoming relationship between Chloe Price and Rachel Amber. A must-buy for the fans but not necessarily an enrichment of the first season.

This neat little flying game could’ve scored higher if it wasn’t for the annoying ads. Still worth checking out. [april. 2016 / page 73]

We Were Here Forever is a good brain workout that will give you more hours of puzzle fun than all previous We Were Here games combined. The puzzles are pleasantly challenging and the flow is good for most of the game. However, due to the slightly too high degree of repetition and long-windedness, you are too often dragged out of that flow, so that the game can certainly be a bridge too far for newcomers. Get it if you're familiar with the genre, but rather play the earlier games if you've never tried a digital escape room like this before.

In the end Mirage was mainly one thing: boring. It is not a game with embarrassing bugs or crashes, but one that fails to fascinate. It took hours to get going, after which it told a lame story and didn't introduce any cool new ideas. I worked my way through it reluctantly. It's great that the game handles its setting a little better than the first part, but that one bright spot does little to make the game worthwhile.

EA is playing a better game than last year. That’s not to say that EA Sports FC 25 is suddenly a classic footie or anything – far from it; this is no Fifa 17, let alone PES 5 or Sensible Soccer. But hey, the bar is just not set very high in 2024.

The timeless essence of Mario vs. Donkey Kong is honored in this faithful remake, while retaining the somewhat dated gameplay. However, with a visual upgrade, multiplayer options, and a relaxed play mode, the game receives a fresh appeal, making it still worthwhile in 2024.

FIFA 23 is starting to look like football again. It is actually too bizarre for words that this is a plus for a footie, but the series is coming out of a deep valley. Hopefully EA will continue on this foot from next year without the yoke of the FIFA name (and costs!) ...

Yo-Kai Watch is a gorgeous and unique Pokémon clone for everyone that loves Japanese culture and cutesie animals. We don’t expect the series to become as prolific as its big inspiration though, the gameplay is simply too shallow to allow for that to happen.

TopSpin 2K25 is not the return of the old games in a new guise. Instead, the developer has tried to make the game more realistic by adding a new gameplay mechanic, which unfortunately is not perfectly developed. It takes the arcade fun out of the game.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is insanely deep and ambitious, but really not suitable for every casual gamer who has played Skyrim once. Not because there's no fantasy in this historically accurate RPG, but mainly due to old-fashioned gameplay mechanics, bugs and a general contempt for our precious time.

Is he nice again, this WarioWare? Yes, he is, but after eight previous WarioWare games, the surprise or feeling of playing something truly new has evaporated. And for a full priced game, the fun is just over too quickly.

Atomic Heart is a love letter to BioShock, but the setting is unique enough and the world crazy enough to stand on its own two feet. Great action, world building and storytelling are unfortunately interspersed with mechanics that take the flow out of the game or are completely unnecessary. Not to mention some nasty, edgy comments and the oversexed robots. Developer Mundfish could have limited the size better, because behind the multitude of disappointing elements lies a fantastic game.

EA Sports FC 24 is secretly just Fifa 23.5. With the same advantages and the same problems. It all looks a bit more dignified and mature, but the new, chic costume cannot disguise the fact that EA Sports FC 24 is a shady players' agent who wants to get as much money out of your pocket as possible with as little effort as possible.

Kay Vess is a perfect starting point for a unique story in the Star Wars universe. Unfortunately, after the starting shot, originality is hard to find and the game stumbles over its many contradictions and a large dose of repetition. Ironically, what makes Star Wars Outlaws fun is shamelessly but well stolen from other games. Together with a few bright spots, this keeps Kay and Nix's spaceship in the air, but it will never become a real high flyer.

If you're a fan of arcade racers, Hot Wheel Unleashed is a fun game for a rainy weekend. However, the game has little to do with the basics of Hot Wheels. Collecting the coolest cars is also hell because of the available Blind Boxes.

The great content of the Aftermath DLC shouldn't distract you from its hefty price tag. Even though I've rarely enjoyed a Mortal Kombat story as much and the new fighters and stages are a delight for (old) fans, the price tag of 40 euros for just the DLC alone feels like the toughest of brutalities.

In the last few chapters The Evil Within finally becomes what it was set out to be: a disturbingly creepy, challenging survival horror game. But in the 10+ hours before that it's too often a frustratingly unfair, aimless mess, in which the technical issues and the old-fashioned development-tropes are not only an eyesore, but a nuisance as well. Survival horror? More like Trial & 'Terror'.​

You won't miss anything spectacular when you skip NFS: Hot Pursuit, but if you're having extremely warm feelings for the original from 2010 and can't get enough of the traditional cat-and-mouse-game between the cops and racers, then this game is still the bomb, especially in the multiplayer.

Layers of Fear has a lousy framerate on PS4, the tempo is excruciating at the start and it’s filled with lazy jump scares but as you progress further you come to experience a good horror story that’s worth checking out. [april. 2016 / page 68]

Minecraft Dungeons is incredibly accessible and offers a - to a certain degree - fun challenge for experienced gamers. The game is fairly short and here and there a little shallow, but find a co-op buddy and you’ll guaranteed have a great time.

Outriders semi-bravely attempts to be more than just another third-person shooter, but fails to be more interesting than the many other games it resembles. Borderlands 3 for example is a better looter shooter, Destiny 2 offers a more solid (super)powered trip, Deep Rock Galactic is more fun as a co-op experience and Gears 5’s singleplayer campaign is far more fascinating. This means Outriders is hard to recommend, except of course to those who have Game Pass and a some hours of free time to spare.

Mafia: The Old Country is narrative-driven, short, and linear. That was exactly what I needed at the time, and it’s nice that the atmosphere, setting, and story are up to the standard you expect from a Mafia game. Unfortunately, the shooting mechanics are mediocre and become very repetitive in the end. Fighting, racing, and sneaking are rarely genuinely enjoyable either. At times, I really enjoyed this game, but I was just as often bored.

Not all the activities in Black Desert Online are interesting or coherent but it’s still a cut above the masses of boring MMORPGs that dominate the landscape. The gorgeous visuals are a big plus too. [april. 2016 / page 62]

On the one hand, 2: Heart of Chornobyl offers exactly what I was hoping for: delicious Eurojank. Newcomers will find an old-fashioned RPG with a beautiful world and a nice survival gameplay loop, and unfortunately also stupid AI, a lot of graphical problems and extremely frustrating bugs. It is impressive that the developer is able to release the game under these circumstances, but it will not become more than a cult hit in this form.

With a reasonable campaign, a great multiplayer mode and a good but scanty Zombies mode, Call of Duty: Vanguard is a nice new part. Whether that is enough is something you know best.

The latest installment of the Ninja Storm franchise has a truly wonderful multiplayer mode. The battles that used to be unbalanced and somewhat chaotic have improved significantly in Revolution. It's just a shame that the single player pales in comparison. Ninja's where invented to fight, not to perform menial tasks around a village... So make sure you have at least one friend to have a blast playing this game with.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is, once again, a bigger game than its predecessors, with more characters and levels, a few new puzzles, a more interesting hub world, more focus on level bosses and a new mode called Battle Arena. Too bad the game has the tendency to glitch you into getting stuck in a level, forcing you to restart a checkpoint (quite unforgivable), and the familiar formula has changed too little to call this an above average LEGO game.

Unfortunately First Light does not bring inFamous to a higher level, but it is entertaining nonetheless. The story and the characters in the game are not really great, but the gameplay in the new Battle Arena makes up for it. First Light is alright, just not fantastic.

Mario Strikers is - despite its so-called 'keraaazy' gameplay - one of the most generic, lightweight footies ever.

Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is a great party game that will surely give you a few evenings of fun. The minigames, although few, are all fun to play, especially in multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, the lack of content means that the cracking sessions for your brain do not last long and the button controls are a major obstacle.

You can now say that The Dark Pictures Anthology offers a constant quality, where predictability is largely prevented by enough variety in setting and type of monsters. Unfortunately, the trick of five protagonists and player choices that determine the course of the story is starting to become somewhat transparent, so don't expect plot twists that will blow you off your seat.

A disappointing, stripped-down and basic sequel to Wii Sports Resort, which too often feels like a remake of the even older Wii Sports. Nevertheless, tennis and bowling remain fun, and volleyball and badminton prove to be very nice sports to play while swinging against friends.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a game of extremes. On the one hand, it has one of the most beautiful game worlds you've ever seen, infused with interesting lore for true Avatar fans and the casual gamer. On the other hand, it's an uninspired open-world game with crappy combat, AI and mission design, which will leave anyone tired of Far Cry blue-balled.

Stranger of Paradise gives Florian a bit of an inclination to wash his eyeballs with bleach, so he gives the game a tight 6, but Samuel enjoyed the unique twist on the Souls action so much that he wanted to give it a big thumbs up. heeds. There is a good chance that the 'truth' for you lies somewhere in the middle.

Twelve Minutes is an original idea, pretty decent writing and fantastic acting wrapped in old fashioned, oftentimes repetitive gameplay. It won’t wear out your Gamepass though, so give it at least twelve minutes of your time if you’re a member of the Microsoft gameclub.

Extremely challenging in an artificial way, not perfectly polished and lacking the music of Mick Gordon: The Ancient Gods – Part One doesn’t fully continue the Doom Eternal glory. Still, it offers a pleasant torture for the most fanatical Doom-sadomasochists, situated in three beautiful levels in which you’ll be challenged more than the two main games combined. Nightmare insanity!

In terms of design and level design, Extraction certainly has something nice in its hands. Too bad it's filled with boring assignments, a handful of different aliens and a cringe-inducing progression system. Ubisoft's spin-off doesn't offer more than a few hours of entertainment, unless you were head over heels in love with Siege's Outbreak mode and likes repetition.

There is quite a list of conditions you have to meet if you want to fully enjoy LEGO Marvel’s Avengers: you have to be a big fan of LEGO and of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you need a high tolerance for silly humour and it certainly helps if you haven’t played a dozen previous LEGO games (recently). Does all of this apply to you? Have fun with the biggest package of digital LEGO entertainment since LEGO Marvel Super Heroes.

More than an allegoric hodgepodge, but not by much. The Medium offers an interesting, layered mystery with a lot of beauty, character and atmosphere, but fails to be wholly entertaining. The gameplay is often too simple to be fun, due to some rather tedious trial & error sections and a lot of scouring the environment for an object that will most likely send you to the next search. You’ll probably need more patience for this than the end feeling is worth.

As a motorcycle racing enthusiast I have been waiting for a real Gran Turismo on two wheels for years, but unfortunately Rims Racing also falls short. The actual gameplay is more than fine, but everything around it is substandard, redundant and annoying.

Still can't get enough of Valhalla after all those tens of hours? Then you should get some fun out of Dawn of Ragnarök. Despite its deserted areas, Svartalfheim is beautiful enough to walk through. But yearn for a more historically accurate part? Then you better stay away from this. This actually has little to do with Assassin's Creed, and at the same time is more of the same after spending about a hundred hours in Valhalla.

Because the atmosphere and presentation hold up, Little Nightmares 3 is a game you can comfortably play if you already love the series. Temper your expectations about the co-op though. It’s nothing more than a half-baked step… and moreover in the wrong direction.

Even though I can't help but feel the game has been scaled back when looking at scope and depth, what is left is a rock solid singleplayer experience for the enthusiast of the long distance kill.

Are you crazy about Destiny lore and do you think Destiny 2 is fine as it is? Then Beyond Light will suit you just fine! However, if you're expecting some substantial changes from Bungie by now and aren't exactly excited to get back into the grind, you might want to focus on the next-gen version and wait for Destiny 2 to release its December update.

Lords of the Fallen lacks refinement in every respect, but is nevertheless a nice addition to the soulslike genre. The choice for Unreal Engine 5 is unfortunate, the difficulty level is anything but balanced and the number of excruciatingly bad bosses cannot be counted on one hand, and yet everything together forms an entertaining whole packed with content and also a nice stepping stone to a really good soulslike.

The Divine Force is a worthy comeback for the Star Ocean series that fans can be proud of. The game world is more beautiful and wider than ever and the brand new combat system hits the nail on the head. Still, it feels like the JRPG is a few years behind. The clayey characters make every cutscene an eyesore. Without a penchant for anime games, you probably won't get anything out of this.

We tried really hard to enjoy The Swindle but it just wouldn’t click. The game seems off-balance and the lack of abilities in the early stages make it a cumbersome experience. [Sept. 2015, p. 069]

Standard golf and the RPG mode make this new Mario Golf well worth the effort. The Rush aspects are a nice, if not superfluous, addition. Not being able to play with four players on one system is ridiculous and destroys all party potential.

The Gunk is a game that you will probably soon forget. The journey of discovery is linear and the things you discover are never really exciting. The facial animations and cliché gameplay make the game feel like a PlayStation 2 remaster, the low difficulty takes all the tension away and the story has little to do with it. It is a nice entry-level game for people who have less gaming experience.

Immortals of Aveum is a great shooter with nice and fast gameplay, nice world building and a fairly interesting story. It doesn't do much wrong, but just lacks soul to become your new favorite FPS, unless you were really waiting for a Call of Duty with magic and dragons.

The Devil in Me does not reach the level of its predecessor House of Ashes, nor that of Little Hope. The plot lacks twists and some time-honored The Dark Pictures problems are still present. However, if you fancy a quick horror snack, you will be served (once again) at your beck and call.

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is a decent entry in the franchise but after playing through five or six of these games it starts getting a bit too repetitive to hold our interest.

While Final Fantasy Explorers has more than a couple great ideas, they are too plenty to be fleshed out, which makes the game a fresh experience, but can't keep your attention for more than a few dozen hours. That's not a bad thing of course, but it's not a great thing either. Final Fantasy Explorers manages to just rise above mediocrity, but not by much.

Trek To Yomi's sound, music and visuals have been developed with love and respect for Japan's rich history, but the gameplay is as captivating as flower arranging.

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is a beautiful history lesson about a genre-defining game, which would've been a whole lot better if the AI had reached is definitive form as well. The new aesthetic makes it easy to ignore the obsolete, underlying technology for a few campaigns, but it would really be a feat to stay entertained for all 10 of them.

Battleborn drops some stitches in the campaign which can make it a tedious experience. The multiplayer has two modes with a lot of (unused) potential, which can turn out to become great if players start embracing it.

The Isle of Armor doesn't succeed in every way, but it has enough good atmosphere and nice surprises that make it worthwhile to jump back into Sword and Shield. With suncream, of course.