Beware a big bump in difficulty, but Shadow of the Erdtree is a must-play for Elden Ring-fans. It improves on the base game in every way. The new Lands of Shadow are beautiful and a joy to explore, there are a lot of exciting new weapons and spells to find, and the new boss fights are absolutely epic.

Graphically there is little to criticize about MH Stories 2. The game looks well cared for and runs smoothly, except for the loading between battles and the game world. All in all, Monster Hunter 2 is a great gaming experience with a lot of variety and depth for those who need it. Gotta collect them all!

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door nails what a faithful remake should be. Some small improvements make the gameplay even better in this sharply written story that's charming until the very end.

Stellar Blade combines great looks with thrilling fights. The game regularly borrows from the greatest games of today and combines that into an entertaining mix that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Ubisoft has launched a new videogame: Valiant Hearts: Coming Home. It follows a few people during the First World War. Gamers don't need to handle a gun or have to be violent. This game is all about war stories and it's really touching.

The PS5 may not be the best place to play Hi-Fi Rush, since it seems to demand a lower latency than the regular Dualsense controllers offer. That being said, it's still an excellent game that's well worth your time. The music is top notch, the visuals are great and the gameplay is jam-packed with slick action. Just consider playing it on a different system or replacing your controller with one that's more high-end.

Obsidian's Pentiment is not for everyone, but this RPG does offer a fascinating look at the religious and political unrest of the early sixteenth century. A variety of backgrounds and a time limit that doesn't allow you to pursue every plot thread in one playthrough, it also offers good replayability. Unfortunately, it also somewhat overstays its welcome when the last hours repeat a lot of what you already know. The Switch port isn't flawless, but will suit you just fine if this is your platform of choice.

While Princess Peach: Showtime! doesn't offer too much of a challenge and is a bit on the short side, the game nevertheless offers hours of fun. The diversity in costumes ensures that you don't get bored and can't wait for the next level of each costume. It also shows that the idea of Peach as a damsel in distress is in the past. She doesn't need anyone to save her. In fact, she is the hero who saves others, whether that is by decorating cakes or fighting as a Swordsman or Kung Fu master.

Rise of the Ronin is a great game for everyone who's looking for a new Samurai adventure to sink their teeth into. With a great historical story, impeccable and spectacular combat and amazing visual style, Rise of the Ronin delivers everything you would expect from a Team Ninja title. Add to this classic formula an interesting open world and some fun co-op and you have a great game on your hands. Some small technical issues hold this game back, but they will no doubt be fixed in the future.

The Side Order DLC adds an interesting new mode to Splatoon 3. The Tower of Order is surprisingly challenging and the gameplay is diverse with color chips to change your playstyle. However, we would have liked to see some more variation in challenges and boss fights, which makes the randomized floors feel the same a bit too quickly. For the price however, Side Order is a must-have DLC for fans of Splatoon 3.

Counting down to D-Day, you guide a group of Special Forces and French Resistance through Northwest France in an attempt to derail Nazi-Germany. The turn-based tactical squad missions are familiar all the way back to X-Com, but several new tactics have been added. Thanks to a new morale system, every shot counts, even when missed, taking away one of the biggest frustrations of the genre. Classified: France '44 isn't without fault, but will please fans of the genre with fresh ideas.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a triumph in many ways thanks to its story, a plethora of minigames, an improved fighting system and a sprawling open world full of activities that are fun and rewarding. The story dips a bit towards the middle though, while the new mechanic that tracks the relationships in the party is a bit unclear at times.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is everything you don't want from a live-service looter shooter. Even though the gameplay is alright, the diversity in the missions is almost non-existent, which makes the game very monotone and bland. The characters and story did get a few laughs out of me and proves that Rocksteady still has some worthwhile stories to tell, but in the end it's not enough to keep me going for endless hours.

Mario VS Donkey is back on the Switch after it's initial release on the GameBoy Advance in 2004. With revamped graphics and improved soundtrack it also has local co-op, new unlockable time attack game mode, difficulty selection and three unlockable worlds. There's much more under the hood than just the initial "simple paint job" visible when you start up the game.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is an enjoyable adventure, with a strong narrative focused on emotions and personal grief, and combat that is both fun to play and customizable to your liking. Sadly, an unstable frame rate and issues in both pacing and choice impact, do take away a bit from that shine.

Are you looking for a cute beat m' up? Then this is your game. It's nice to play together and you can unlock a lot of characters.

As with all Persona games, Persona 3 Reload takes its time, both with its 80 hour story and its slow progression throughout the ingame months. If that's your thing, then there's an amazing game here with an interesting story, fun characters and outstanding music. The combat doesn't always hold up, but it mostly does and it's fun when it works.

With a welcome new location, two beloved heroes and a tight storyline that combines main and sidequests like never before, Infinite Wealth might be less crazy than before, but much more compelling and coherent. The combat has been upped with jobs and bonds. As a downside, the added resort island management feels like a mis-fire, but is fortunately mostly optional.

This remaster might feel a bit superfluous as the original PS4 version was already great. However, the added features including the commentary, deleted scenes and the new roguelike game mode are welcome additions. For new players, this remastered version is definitely the right choice. For owners of the PS4 version, the extras and extra graphical fidelity might be enough to entice the relatively small upgrade fee.

Another Code: Recollection greatly expands on and alters the content of the original titles, even when it doesn't strictly need to. This applies to story details as well. Most or all changes are improvements, but some existing fans may understandably prefer the older versions. Thanks to entirely new puzzles the game occasionally feels brand new and rather unlike a remake. New visuals and voice acting make these games a richer experience than ever, something that the occasional ugly foliage doesn't hamper.

Ubisoft has Prince of Persia returned with a completely new look and feel. The world of this metroidvania is huge and there is a lot to do. That also means a lot of running, climbing and fighting, but not a lot of depth unfortunately. Also there are a few missed opportunities. Still, this is a game you surely have to play this year.

Great sequel with many improvements. Your canine company 'buddy' is both adorable and useful in combat and solving puzzles. You're fitted out with a wide range of guns and the occasional melee weapon, but their usefulness is limited - as is your storage for them. Focus is clearly still on shooting Freddies. The improved reload-mechanism adds a new source of anxiety, especially when you fumble with Freddies approaching. There are a couple of technical hiccups, but they don't stand in the way of fun.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a successful movie adaptation in the sense that it offers very smooth gameplay and a beautiful world to explore. It's also a very rewarding experience to explore Pandora. When you are fighting the RDA or making your way through the world, you feel very much a Na'vi, but all the local terminology can be very confusing. Unfortunately, frequent framedrops and crashes somewhat spoiled our experience on PC, preventing the game from delivering the magical experience it could have.

A great revival of the new Just Dance platform after a false start last entry. Finally, Just Dance integrates years of content into one game, providing access to all your purchased songs. The songs are more and more experiences with entertaining backdrops that border on being too visually distracting. Even Just Dance+ is now more fleshed out with enough content to make it worth it. The online Dancefloor is still missing in action.

Chou-chou is at it again after conquering the seven planets in her universe, she sets out to conquer the next universe. But while she's at it she hits a SNAFU and now is dependent on the ditzy Ultimate God Syrma and local hero Nao to do so.

In the latest iteration in the Fate franchise you take control of Miyamoto Iori who becomes involved in the Waxing Moon Ritual. With Saber as his Servant he must confront the seven Master and Servant pairs to obtain the Waxing Moon Vessel. While doing so you will be exploring and investigating different districts of Edo, as Tokyo was then known.

RoboCop is a passionate and faithful addition to the franchise, but it's not without its flaws. While the gunplay gives you plenty of customization and is a whole lot of fun, the rest of the game lacks a bit on the content side. It is lacking some depth in its conversations, story telling and the game world also feels a bit empty from time to time. That, and the technical imperfections that are present during gameplay, prevent the game from being that true nostalgic banger.

EA Sports FC 24 doesn't deliver on the changes the name change would suggest. In the end it's still FIFA, but with a few new things to enjoy. Unfortunately that also means this game is plagued by the same issues that have plagued the FIFA-franchise for years like pay-to-win in FUT, weird situations in Career Mode and multiple bugs that have been there since the dawn of time. Some cool new elements like Evolutions in FUT give a little bit of redeeming quality, but overall it's not great.