Softpedia's Scores

  • Games
For 1,661 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 71% higher than the average critic
  • 10% same as the average critic
  • 19% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 79
Highest review score: 100 Red Dead Redemption 2
Lowest review score: 20 Robotex
Score distribution:
1663 game reviews
    • 66 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Tour de France 2024 is a fun cycling experience that is hard to master. It takes patience to prepare well for a race and decide when it’s the right time to force the pace or attack. Sure, players can pick real-world teams featuring the best riders if they want to dominate competitions. But I had much more fun as the underdog, exploiting opportunities and celebrating third places. For anyone who’s not already interested in cycling, the game will take some time to learn. Play the tutorials and then ride Le Tour with a smaller team, aiming only to fully understand the mechanics and get a feel for how races develop. Tour de France 2024 walks the fine line between realism and fun and manages to create a cycling sim that feels true to the sport.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Reborn is by far the best version of Tactics Ogre. Adding many much-needed quality-of-life improvements and removing some of the more tedious mechanics have completely turned Tactics Ogre into a very enjoyable experience, despite its difficulty. In between the tough fights, a great story unfolds that you really learn to appreciate after several hours into the game. Above all that, Tactics Ogre: Reborn proves that the game that established an entire genre remains relevant no matter how much time has passed since its original release.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Valor of Man creates a winning combination of turn-based tactics and rogue elements. The four heroes are well-chosen and have a ton of variety to keep engagements fresh. Solid design for normal enemies, elite, and bosses helps. Pick a tactical approach, build up the squad to emphasize their strengths, and have fun solving a variety of tactical puzzles. After my second run, I no longer paid much attention to the narrative interludes, which suggests a certain narrative weakness. The node map is also disappointingly standard. Valor of Man’s combat is good enough to compensate for other weak points, as long as players are already interested in turn-based combat.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Elemental Exiles has good card-driven battles, although there’s not much that fans of this genre have not seen before. It is important to investigate card synergies and decide how to shape a deck to deal with big groups and bosses. The game gives players all the info they need to make good decisions and always feels fair. The shared map that all characters explore is a good one and it offers a good mix of narrative encounters, normal battles, and boss engagements. The unlockable heroes might take some time to find and defeat but all have interesting associated playstyles. Elemental Exiles has strong core mechanics and will satisfy anyone looking for variety and tense battles.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    If you enjoy games like Slay the Spire, I think SpellRogue is a must-play. And even if you’re new to deckbuilders, the card game + roguelite approach is novel, interesting and quite exciting. You can sink dozens of hours into this game and never feel bored. It has everything you need, from tactics to engaging gameplay and, what matters the most, tons of heart poured into its development.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Crusader Kings II is the most complex title that Paradox Interactive, a company known for the depth of its releases, has ever created and the already impressive mods released for it, the best of which is the one based on A Song of Ice and Fire, will certainly find new ways to expand it in the future.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    The game isn’t perfect, it definitely has its shortcomings. Forcing a character loadout onto you at times does make the game harder, and moving around is not as fast as some people might like. The voice acting is also an acquired taste, I enjoyed it, but I can see some players not enjoying it. But in the end, as a complete package, I think that Skygard Arena is well-worth checking out. The gameplay is extremely fun, I had no crashes, nor any disconnections while playing online, either. It’s a fun romp in the tactics genre, while also being beginner friendly.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    In Sheep's Clothing is by far one of the most engaging in the series, managing to bring together the many plot threads spun and finally setting the stage for the final chapter in the adventure series.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Atelier Ryza 2 brings new, interesting gameplay features into the series, but it doesn't revolutionize the Atelier franchise. The alchemy system hasn't been simplified, but it's much easier to pick up if you're a newcomer to the series. There are new biomes to explore thanks to the introduction of the swimming and mount abilities, but the balance between combat, alchemy, and exploration is what makes Atelier Ryza 2 an enjoyable experience. There's no doubt about it, Ryza 2 is the most refined experience you can get playing an Atelier game as long as you're not expecting a top-notch story. Aside from the lighthearted tone, nothing stands out when it comes to Atelier Ryza 2's story; it's as generic as it can be and there's nothing wrong with that.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Spirit Mancer is a perfect example of an action platformer that nails the mechanics and the old-school feeling. The narrative is decent but not impressive, the presentation is colorful and bubbly, and the two main characters are heroic but also goofy. The action is fast and the monster capturing and summoning work well and gives players a way to boost their combat power when needed. This is a game designed for fans of this genre who aren’t looking for a lot of innovation. And players should be ready for long boss engagements with some significant difficulty increases. Spirit Mancer is best in coop, as long as at least one player is experienced, and its capture and summon mechanics are solid.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is fast and mostly good fun, especially for anyone who’s looking for a new survival action experience that understands the genre’s core appeal. The heroes play very differently, and the game features a ton of godly powers to choose from, leading to many builds, some of them impressively overpowered. The Norse theme fits the mechanics well, although the enemy designs, other than the bosses, are relatively uninspired. Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel doesn’t try to be revolutionary in any way, but its mix of atmosphere and gameplay is solid, and it’s very easy to spend hours testing build ideas and learning boss patterns.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Watch Dogs is a fun open world experience. However, the repetitive chases and the formulaic gameplay tend to get tedious and boring after a while. As such, you might want to enjoy the different multiplayer experiences and take frequent breaks to just roam around the city.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a great entry point for those looking to play a D&D-inspired game. The streamlined ruleset makes everything easy to understand and you don’t even have to spend hours creating your character (unless you really, really like to roll your stats until you get certain values). The only thing that I couldn’t get past are the character models, which look absolutely terrible. However, the dungeons, which are designed both horizontally and vertically, as well as some of the ground locations are beautiful and immersive for a D&D campaign. The voice acting is also top-notch most of time, and the same goes for the soundtrack.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Betrayal at Club Low might not the best-looking game and its gameplay might sometimes feel limited or unfair. But the game has plenty of weirdness, a clear goal, great moments, and the ability to get players to explore, take risks, and deal with failure. A small universe and well-defined mechanics make this one of the first titles I have played through three times (with another run planned) in quite some time. The title could benefit from a decrease in the difficulty of the first sequence before gamers actually get into the club, but its other limitations are clear and well-communicated. I encourage players who like a good narrative and dice-focused gameplay to get past the limited graphics and potential initial failures to see as much as possible of what Betrayal at Club Low has to offer.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    The game does justice to the franchise by not changing any of the mechanics that made it so loved by fans, while allowing you to delve deeper into the protagonists murky past. The new missions, game modes, and replayability will have you glued to your console for hours on end, and when you'll finally earn that last achievement, you'll still feel like playing some more!
    • 74 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Nine Years of Shadows is a good Metroidvania with an impressive presentation and intriguing world. Gameplay mechanics will be instantly familiar to any genre fans and easy to understand for newcomers. There aren’t too many surprises in the narrative but it is imbued with a sense of optimism that kept me engaged. I wanted more variety for combat encounters and a smoother difficulty curve for the bosses. The game also has a weird tendency to put its save rooms just outside of the way enough that it’s easy to forget about them and lose progress. But otherwise, Nine Years of Shadows execute a good idea well and its look allows it to distinguish itself from competitors.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Is this year’s WWE game worth it? Each year, WWE games offer an incremental update. This year, the animations are much better, they allow intergender matches, and having up to 8 people in the ring shows they made significant changes to the engine. Plus, the match details, from throwing items away, blood, welts and bruises, all of those make the game feel very realistic, while still retaining the WWE style and appeal. There’s a wealth of content, dozens of hours of fun, and a game mode for everyone, no matter if you’re into being a general manager, card collector or want a cohesive wrestling-focused story. WWE 2K25 packs a huge amount of content, and it’s enough to satisfy even the most avid wrestling fans. I wish they added the Island mode on PC though. But even without that, it’s an excellent adventure in the world of wrestling, and it brings your wrestling dreams to life!
    • 84 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Fallout 4 is a deep and broad video game that can easily occupy more than 100 hours of a gamer's life, as long as they don’t become bored of some of the core mechanics of the open-world genre and want to explore the universe past the core narrative...Combat is the most disappointing element of the entire experience, especially outside of VATS, but the complexity of the world and the many small adventures that it includes are solid compensation for the occasional frustration.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Star Trek: Infinite is a fine science fiction grand strategy experience, designed to appeal to fans of the TV and movie franchise. The development team has tried hard to deliver as many familiar elements as possible and mostly succeeded. The game creates a more focused experience than the New Horizons mod for Stellaris and its mechanics are easier to understand. Some players have been complaining of game-stopping bugs, which have not impacted my campaigns, so it might be a good idea to wait for a patch or two. Some mechanics, like spies and governors, also feel under-backed. But the ability to create stories and play out scenarios makes Star Trek: Infinite a great experience for both veterans and newcomers to the grand strategy space.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Serial Cleaners has a very solid core idea and adds just enough variety with its four characters to make each level feel engaging and unique. I like solving the puzzle of how to get all the bodies while attracting as little attention as possible. The strength of the gameplay makes it easier to ignore the more undercooked elements of the narrative. The biggest issue with the game is that the opponent A.I. feels a little off but the saving grace is that this can create moments of weird, bloody comedy. Serial Cleaners delivers a good mix of careful planning and emergent moments that will satisfy every fan of the stealth action genre.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    An innovative roguelike experience that deserves praise for its rhythm-matching system as well as for its mechanics that add replayability and encourage players to keep going even during the most difficult of stages. However, if you want to unlock more characters and really enjoy the game, prepare to spend a lot of time with it.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Audiosurf 2 is a worthy successor to the original experience. While Mono mode is, of course, the main star, you can find quite a few other interesting modes that provide a change of pace. While on its own the game is quite good, by factoring in the user-created modes and skins, Audiosurf 2 becomes even better.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Silicon Dreams has a good main concept and careful, expressive writing. Each scenario offers a dilemma to deal with. The situations are very emotional and the decisions are always challenging. Even after playing through a situation, I found something new to think about or to explore when the game made me return to it. Every fan of “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” or works influenced by it will find something to love in the tight experience that Clockwork Bird has designed. There is also plenty of space for them to expand both the story and the mechanics in meaningful ways in future titles set in the same universe.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Escape from Ever After is colorful, traditional, and provides surprisingly interesting commentary on the power of stories. Flynt isn’t the most interesting protagonist, but he has cool companions, and his story of battling a corporation is relatable. The combat system and the presentation are both heavily inspired by Paper Mario. Players unfamiliar with that series might find it hard to love the turn-based combat, mainly because of the repetition. Exploration and environmental puzzles only partially compensate for it. Escape from Ever After has a strong core narrative idea that should be paired with more innovative gameplay for wider appeal.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Slave Zero X is a deep brawler that rewards players who take the time to understand all its systems and then mix and match attacks and abilities depending on the situation. Bosses are difficult and the game has no difficulty toggles, although investing in biomecha upgrades can help. The game’s presentation is designed to take players back to the 90s and the narrative has both great bombastic speeches and touching moments. Slave Zero X can be overwhelming but I like spending time with it in short sessions, clearing one level, pondering whether to unlock a costume or actually buy an upgrade.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Field of Glory II: Medieval is a great game for anyone who already has an interest in the genre or the historical period. The core concepts work well, the presentation does not get in the way of gameplay and the computer fights well. Byzantine has a great track record when it comes to delivering free patches and extra content for their titles. In the coming months, they will tweak the mechanics for the better and deliver more nations and army lists to improve variety.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Chained Echoes is a deep JRPG that will satisfy fans of the genre but is easy enough to understand to attract novices. The combat system, centered Overdrive balancing, is interesting and pretty fast for the genre. The universe, with its mix of influences and retro presentation, offers plenty of secrets and details. I would have appreciated fewer battles but with bigger consequences and, maybe, increased difficulty. But for anyone who wants a solid party-driven role-playing experience, Chained Echoes is a good choice, made with a lot of love, able to keep players engaged for its 30 hours long story.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    BALL x PIT is impressive in its ability to build an entire experience around one core idea. Players will launch balls at enemies during their runs and will then use the same mechanic to unlock new heroes and gather resources. Variety, starting with heroes and continuing with ball powers and character perks, means every run is different and there’s plenty of space to experiment. Wisely, the game asks players to beat levels with more than one hero to progress. The settlement development suffers from limited options, but the combat is exciting enough to compensate. BALL x PIT is fast and fun, a clear sign that there are still new and cool things to do with action survival.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Have a Nice Death is a good combination of action and rogue-lite, with a good balance between the difficulty of the combat, especially the boss fights, and the pace of the unlocks. It pays to focus on one weapon and really learn how to use it and when to complement it with a spell or secondary attack. Boss engagements are all about patience and pattern recognition. The game’s presentation complements the mechanics and themes well, although some more variety when it comes to the procedurally generated floors is needed. Have a Nice Death knows what fans of its genre want and offers an interesting universe to explore and great mechanics.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Screamer is an exciting arcade game that likes taking risks, and for the most part, it succeeds in what it tries to achieve. The driving system, albeit annoying at first, grows on you, and eventually you feel like you’re one with your car. The game world is beautifully made, and the anime parts of the game are nicely done, too. Moreover, the game’s performance is great, I never experienced any major frame drops, crashes or something that would impede the gameplay. However, Screamer has a few issues. The story mode has forgettable characters and it’s not the strongest part of the game. Also, I felt that the sound design was not ideal. But as a complete package, Screamer is definitely an arcade racer that everyone needs to try out. The sense of speed is there, being able to attack others and work to load up your skills, that feels very satisfying. The game is very rewarding to play, and you will soon get past any of its mishaps.

Top Trailers