Crackdown 3 dishes up a very basic and outdated experience. Still, it gives us a brilliant feeling of progression and also the hunt for Orbs is pretty fun. At least, coming from a gamer with a huge lack of taste.

If this addition to the series was as much an improvement as part 2 was to the first, then the Risen-series would’ve been well on it’s way to being a serious contender in the RPG-plane. But instead Titan Lords has become more of an ‘instant cult-PRG’, which would’ve been a compliment in the world of movies, but in ours most certainly isn’t… [Sep 2014, p.58]

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.

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.

Apart from the Momentum mechanic, Battlesector adds little to the tactics formula. The tactical confrontations are smooth enough to keep you entertained for several hours, but in terms of mission design, unit personalization and storytelling, the game falls too short.

Star Fox Zero is a passable reboot/remake of the original but the controls are simply horrible.

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.

As beautiful as the world of Biomutant looks, so ugly is its filling. Cringe-inducing dialogues, a completely negligible story and bad boss fights and puzzles almost distract you from the fun aspects of the game. Exploring and figuring out the unique game world and a nice sense of progression for example.

Lost Soul Aside is the definition of "what you see is what you get." No mind-blowing plot twists, graphical masterpieces, or revolutionary control systems, just a super-linear action game with tons of bosses, interspersed with simple platforming and puzzle challenges. While the story, lack of challenge, recycled level design, and sloppy pacing are disappointing, Lost Soul Aside is a straightforward, action-packed game for the enthusiast.

Oddworld: Soulstorm is a big and beautiful puzzle platformer, set in a masterful world with cool characters. Unfortunately, the game has messy gameplay, clunky controls and many technical flaws.

Stitchy in Tooki Trouble is clearly an ode to Donkey Kong, but it's just an ode. This game cannot compete with the popular Nintendo franchise due to its strange rhythm, because it simply lacks flow and requires too much patience. A pity, because in all its simplicity Stitchy in Tooki Trouble offers beautiful first steps in the world of platform games, especially for small children.

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.

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.

Anthem's story and combat, both showing plenty of signs of BioWare's (former) genius, forcefully come together in a game that seems to have gotten the wrong genre. Sadly, Anthem is a mess, way more than it deserves to be.

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

I really want to love Sea of Thieves. The beautiful pirate world and the exciting sea battles you experience from time to time. But I can't do it. There isn't enough content and the lack of progression makes it an unsatisfying game.

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.

Forspoken has a great combat system, a cool way to move through the game world, minuscule loading times and is presented in an acceptable way. Unfortunately, the weak dialogues, the much too short story and the soulless open game world full of repetitive activities mean that the mediocre level is only surpassed at a few moments.

Metal Gear Survive is a powerful survival experience which is sadly being hindered by sneaky microtransactions. But the game has proven that the gameplay and story of Metal Gear might be able to survive without the help of Kojima.

Despite diverse heroes and game modes Rocket Arena is somewhat shallow and predictable. The simple controls and familiar visuals make for a accessible game, but result in underdeveloped gameplay. Altogether it would be a nice addition to your free-to-play collection, but unfortunately Rocket Arena is not free.

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.

Schim has a fantastic concept that immediately appeals to your inner child, and wraps it in a beautiful, clearly Dutch world with a wonderfully simplistic art style. It just doesn't surprise at all as a game, and after an hour it starts to feel like a repetitive exercise.

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.

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.

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.

Star Wars: Uprising is on the brink of being a shameless commercial monstrosity. Still, it’s become a decent clone of Diablo, which, due to the complete lack of challenge, will make you fall asleep sooner rather than later. Zzzztar Warzzzzz… [Sept. 2015, p. 069]

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.

This should’ve been an even lower score, as The Devil’s Third is the most middling, archaic and ugly action game Itagaki has made in recent history but we’re forced to admit we had a tiny bit of fun playing it. [Sept. 2015, p.058]