Wow, this game is ridiculously good. To me this is peak AAA entertainment , where you won't have time to breath from the first until the last second. It's masterfully crafted, because within the boundaries of horror games in general or the resi series in particular, it's as versatile as it gets and does so many things back to back - it's unbelievable how they pull it all off. The insane production value, from the beautiful and coherent visuals, to the intricately detailed and effective sound design, everything supports the game to be what it wants to be in certain situations. Whether it's the realistically crooked village that serves as a hub of the world and is a precursor to what you might find in the different areas, the awe-inspiring architecture of castle dimitrescu, where you'll find yourself in an intense cat and mouse game that feels like a mixture of vintage resi with a little bit of alien isolation in it. When the game wants to make you shit your pants, it flawlessly succeeds by adding THE best haunted house experience, since I've played PT. House Beneviento is impeccable and a masterclass in horror game desgin. The sheer scale hidden in Heisenbergs Factory made me speechless, even after experiencing most of the game before I went there . You're looking for cod-style action shootouts? In there. Intense close-quarter battles where movement is as crucial as your eye on remaining ammunition? In there. A lot of bossfights that all have their own fun mechanics and are gorgeous to look at? In there. B-Movie bonkers story with cheesy lines, but a kick-ass ensemble of villains that are all unique and fun to battle? In there. Great feeling shooting mechanics and feedback without the aim assist to make it all the more challenging? In there. At some point I was asking myself where this game might still take me, it's a rollercoaster ride and I wanted it to never end. I already loved Biohazard, but I absolutely adored Village. I didn't expect it to take one of the top spots for 2021 for me and now it sits in my all-time favs list. Don't miss out!

I’m just a sucker for tech demos, I can’t do anything about it. And this is just one of the craziest things I’ve seen in a while. Whenever I imagined what rockstar would be able to do with the new console generations, having the new ssd speeds and data streaming rates that directly influence how detailed open worlds can get, I was thinking about this. Of course, this is on a small scale and without any gameplay, but we’re going to get there and that’s just absolutely insane. You don’t even have to be a matrix shill, like I am, to have to check this out. It’s crazy.

Echoes of the Eye comes along as a DLC, that cements Outer Wilds as the most astonishing gaming experience you can have. Those, who have played the main game, my favorite game of all time, will know what to expect, but let me tell you: this is a one of a kind DLC, that’s basically an entire game within the game and designed at the same level we’re used to by Outer Wilds standards. It pushed the exact same buttons for me - it will leave you in awe of the mind-bending world that it puts you in and it will challenge you to solve a mystery that has the same emotional background story.
Outer Wilds is absolutely special. Special because of the way it’s world was built and special because of the way the game-loop is designed.
The solar system in which you’ll find yourself, is fully realized. It’s living. Everything and everyone is moving in the endless blackness that surrounds it. You can watch the planets and the sun do their dance from anywhere in the game. It’s just crazy, when you find all the little details the devs have thought of, to make it feel ‘whole’.
The second part of what makes this game so special is, that you could basically beat the game in the first loop you ever play. Because the only progress you make in this game, is getting information. You don’t develop new abilities, you don’t get new equipment, all you get, is bite-sized snippets of information that slowly completes the puzzle and finally shows you how to ‘end the game’. The big problem this brings with itself is then, how do you hide all of that information in plain sight and at least good enough that it’s not easy to find it. And oh boy some of the mysteries are hard to solve, but the payoff is almost always resulting in a dropped jaw. If you progressed to a later stage in the game or even finished it, you’ll still wonder how they hid all of it and how it all makes sense in retrospect. It’s a masterclass in game design, how they give you the exact amount of info you need and how it included all the places you can visit. I can’t stress this enough, I have never ever seen a game that is built so cleverly.
And all of this is true for both the main game and the dlc.
As usual I don’t talk about the specifics of the story, but it will hit you as hard as it hit me, when you are interested in the existential questions of a civilization and the future of our universe. It will give you goose bumps if the questions the most intelligent people on our planet deal with every day, interest you. And it will make you speechless when exploring other planets and space sounds like something you want to do.
Andrew Prahlow even delivers the best game soundtrack I heard on top of it, making Outer Wilds the best game or 2019, the DLC the best game of 2021 and the whole package my favorite game of all time.

The idea of exploring other worlds, more specifically other planets, has always been my biggest dream. Science fiction has been a constant companion since my childhood and especially in video gaming that dream came true on multiple occasions. Star Wars, Mass Effect, Freelancer etc. - just to name a few, fed right into that urge to explore other places. But not just other places, more so other places that have not been ‘claimed’ by anyone.
With having migrated to Germany, I’ve had parents who were not able financially to travel a lot with us kids, so I’ve barely seen anything that didn’t resemble the same’ish landscape of Germany, other than on screen and in virtual worlds. We’ve also never owned any piece of land or a house, so I never understood the concept of that really neither. While people I grew up with told stories of places they had visited and were really familiar with the feeling of being entitled to places, for me it was always rather borrowed and temporary. My interest in the universe and space also made me see things a lot more abstractly and with larger context. It’s extremely superficial that we believe we own anything, on this earth or anywhere else. We have no control over it, it’s borrowed. Just like the places I’ve called home. And I think that’s why I love the idea of exploring exoplanets that are uncharted so much. Not only I know that these places belong to no one, but everyone else does too. It’s a baseline that gives me comfort and blurs the lines of the classism I’ve grown into. No wonder I loved spending time in No Mans Sky so much, a game that gives you the chance to literally visit places no one else has ever seen before, for as long as you’ll play it, you won’t run out of places where everyone would be the same. Start out the same. Exo One feeds into that as well, but on a different level. The places you explore here are absolutely awe-inspiring, they are from a technical standpoint as well as an artistic one. I couldn’t believe my eyes most of the time. But what made it so special to me, was, that those places really felt alien but at the same time kinda weirdly welcoming (as exoplanets per definition should be, duh!). Completely different from one another, but mostly based on very possible variations of planets.
Of course I had to love this game, so I was able to overlook some of its shortcomings: the gameplay could be described as a marble-version of a journey-esque exploration game with tiny wings mechanics. That’s a lot, I know, but these things came to my mind while playing it. The mechanics are juuuuuuuuust good enough to get you over the runtime of roughly 2 hours, the monotony of it (even though very fitting, because the sheer size of these places makes sense) might prove to be too boring for many. The mystery that’s thrown in in very tiny bits serves the game and atmosphere well, but doesn’t do anything drastic to elevate it further.
I’m pretty sure reception for this will be rather mediocre, people will like the visuals and then drop off after a while. I get that too, but I won’t ever skip a chance to explore other planets, no matter how limited my interactions are. It will always give me goosebumps and leave me in awe. And specifically now, in this period, also offers a great escapism, away from one of the most special places in an unthinkably big universe, that we collectively shit on every day.

Kena is exactly as good as I expected it to be.
It’s absolutely stunningly unbelievably gorgeous, with all the vibes you would get from an animated movie. I just recently got an OLED screen to play on and this was the perfect showcase game.
Gameplay-wise I didn’t expect it to be challenging or deep. But the boss fights and even some of the normal mob battles can get very unforgiving, especially if you play on harder difficulties. To get the platinum I played through the game on master difficulty and even though it’s not as good or expertly crafted as a souls game, it definitely felt like it was trying at that. And for a debut title of an indie game studio, that was certainly successful. The few abilities you get while progressing are all nothing particularly fresh or new, but they work well enough to keep you engaged. Exploring the rather linear “open world” is fun enough to keep you engaged. The story follows a very average formula, but the characters (especially the rot) are cute or are charming enough to keep you engaged. What stood out as much as the visual presentation however, is the beautiful soundtrack. I found myself humming the melodies even after I stopped playing, which doesn’t happen too often.

Kena is good. It’s not a masterpiece, or anything new, or anything you NEED to play. It’s just good. It’s a combination of proven elements we all have seen somewhere else. Put together with very high production values and the world building standard of animation movies. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game.

Umurangi Generation is a game that was made for me. I love every single thing about it. It's masterful.
I love the chill and creative aspects of photography games. I love every single piece of music that was put into this game. I love the cyberpunk aesthetics and how the genre presents a shitty future that's a grim result of our actions today.
I love how these kind of indie games play around and test so well, what games as a medium can be. The impact this had on me was a lot bigger than many games that have "real storytelling". It's genius how well it transports you to very limited space one by one and gives you so much detail still. If you ever had a doubt environmental storytelling can hit you as hard as on the nose storytelling, give this a try. Not only how the environments are built and the atmosphere are great, but also how well the photography game aspect of it ties into everything. The tasks you have, the dna of this game, makes you explore every inch of the areas and feeds you with tidbits without making any of it tedious. I could've spent even more time in every area, just out of curiosity what information I might find still.
Photographing urban youth and their reality, their culture and creativity still flourishing in the face of an inevitable end, is eerie and a reminder, that the resistance we all get to see nowadays by youth and even kids, needs the support of every single one of us.

Deathloop is testament to what Arkane as a studio has developed into in the past decade or so - an intelligent game maker that understands the immersive sim like no other and refines it with their own formula in the most creative ways, borrowing multiple game ideas that have been successful in recent years and streamline it into a triple a quality experience, that makes you think one thing on so many occasions: it just works so well.
I have played and rated all but one Arkane Game with at least 4 stars, multiple times with 4,5 stars. You could say I’m a fan of their work, and so it was mind-boggling to me how bad their marketing for this game was, because up until I read the reviews I had no interest at all in this game. They did such a good job of underselling this, it’s borderline criminal. I did not expect Deathloop to be my favorite loop-centric game this year, but 12 minutes was an utter disappointment so I’ll take what I can get.
Deathloop has got to have one of the best first few hours in a game, it’s a well made tutorial for a multitude of complex systems interwoven into the very core of the narrative, it makes a lot of sense and doesn’t feel like something you want to skip - the pacing is just one of those things: it works so well. They are able to set up a great mystery, which will keep you engaged with every single tidbit of information you find. Audio logs and text chats convey the general mood as well as the cutscenes and conversations the main characters have: It has a jazzy spy thriller atmosphere and the game doesn’t take itself too seriously.
One of the big strengths of Arkane‘s formula has always been how smooth the actual gameplay feels. Using your powers and traversing the map is another one of these things: it just works so well. But what makes this so much better (for me personally) as in their previous games, is the fact that you don’t just replay levels for the heck of indulging in the mechanics, but that it’s necessary to progress with the story. Which is fine, because every area has different things going on depending on which time you arrive there. The rougelike repetition gives you the chance to try out different possibilities and perfect your playstyle. It is however far too easy, because as soon as you‘ve found your groove with shift and some of the weapons and especially hacking the turrets, you basically become a god and there is no real danger there any more. Sometimes I just ran and jumped through an entire level not even caring for the enemies, because they are just not fast enough. This definitely takes away the necessity of experimenting with the different play styles, but also makes it a lot more accessible for people who want to enjoy the story.
Another thing, that kind of looses its magic along the hours you play the game, is the unraveling of the mystery. I don’t know if it’s just me, but by the end I did not really care that much anymore and the ending kind of confirmed this hunch, it fell flat for me. It’s a bummer, because the setup was so good, but it’s also fine, because the gameplay itself is more than enough to make this game worth your while.
Immersive sims are predestined for trophy hunters like me, because some of the most fun I had while playing Deathloop, was trying to get some of the more difficult trophies like killing all visionaries without being seen in the entire loop, or not killing a single eternalist, using specific weapons or traps to kill someone and many more things that forces you to experience every single thing this game has to offer. You find secrets, Easter eggs, use guns that don’t fit you regular playstyle etc. So close to when I got the platinum I was breezing through the game like it was a playground specifically designed to be taken apart like that. It was a perfect trophy hunt.
I wouldn’t say Deathloop is the best Arkane Game to date, I preferred the atmosphere of Prey and the cinematically scripted missions of Dishonored 2. But Deathloop is definitely the most meticulously crafted one, especially considering to have a multitude of different ideas merged to one great product. It shows just how good they are as developers and I’m sure the next game will continue to prove this.

Iki island is more of Ghost of Tsushima, in the best AND worst way possible. The game still is absolutely gorgeous, the combat is fun and the collectibles are well made and stylish. But I still don’t care for the inhabitants of this world, npcs and world building are still terrible, the open world feels empty no matter how many samey mongol camps you put on the map to fight through. Mission design is uninspired and straight up boring. I platinumed the main game and I hated the latter half of doing it, I guess that’s why I burnt out on iki island so fast. It just feels tedious and boring to play this game and that’s a shame, because I won’t get to see all the beautiful places the island probably had to offer.

What a weird little game this is. It’s a great experiment on how to convey abstract ideas about ourselves and the universe. It gives just enough hints for you to stay in a flow of discovery, without taking away the mystery of it all - even after it ‘ends’. It gives you a complimentary sandbox to play around in while indulging in the philosophical lectures of a certain individual. I mean, what a great use for a videogame. Not going to say more about it, just go experience it for yourself. Also getting ‘everything’ for that price is a bargain.

A Plague Tale Innocence is a depressive game, that doesn’t want you to experience much goodness in a world that is hostile towards you and your little brother. The story, which is set in 1300 France, tells nothing particularly new and feels like something you might have seen or played already, but it’s elevated by a superb atmosphere due to great natural lighting, (especially towards the end) great sequences and set pieces and some clever tricks throughout the game, to connect you to the characters emotionally. The strings based soundtrack adds a lot to that atmosphere, it’s minimalistic when it has to be and helps get your heart rate up in other situations.
I love the fact that you are playing through the game while holding the hand of your little brother most of the time, only sometimes telling him to stay put or give him a task. It’s weird that something so little has such a huge impact on how I felt. Having him hold your hand and moving around with him at all times makes it a lot scarier to leave him behind or have him do something on his own. Sometimes you carry him and sometimes other npcs hold you and you move all together - it gives you a strong sense of responsibility.
The rats in this game are impressive from a technical standpoint and also a great way to introduce the most fun parts of the game. Especially towards the end, when you start controlling them, it’s extremely satisfying to have them on your side after they wrecked havoc for most of the game.
Sadly A Plague Tale also brought up my issues with stealth sequences in games again. The problem is, this game relies almost entirely on it and it just breaks immersion almost on every corner, because guards are as stupid as it gets. It’s not rare, that a fellow guard gets eaten alive and screams only a couple of feet away from another one and they just don’t react, keep staring at a wall or some other direction. There is basically no skill needed because you can just pick em off one by one and continue to the next area. I’ve seen this terrible AI in so many games lately and I wonder why we need those stealth elements or even entire games based on it, if nothing of that concept has changed, since maybe splinter cell. It’s just boring and uninspired and it kills all the immersion for me, if I destroy and entire camp because they just don’t care.
I want to play stealth games, but they need to be challenging and with a great AI. Until then just stop doing the same thing over and over again PLEASE.
It’s unfair to rant about it in a review for this game solely, because basically all games with stealth elements are guilty. But yeah, I had to let it out.
Otherwise the game has a lot going for it and I’m pretty sure it’s enjoyable for fans of dark story driven games.

I’m glad I finally got to playing it and I’m excited to see where the next game will take us.

I love how the sonic fanbase loves the Sonic franchise to death, so I did something I didn't think I'd ever do: I played Sonic Mania and I gotta say - I'm pleasantly surprised. I totally see why those games are beloved by fans, they are filled to the rim with beautiful visuals and a soundtrack that forces a never-ending adrenaline rush. I enjoyed my time with the game up until a point, where the difficulty made progressing just a bit too tedious for me. It's not like I can't beat the stages or I won't ever beat them, but playing the levels over and over again to finally do it just takes too long for me - at least in a situation where I have 300+ games on my playlist and just not enough time. In a different time period I'd probably have played the shit out of this and who knows, maybe I will one day. Just at this point, I want to focus my time on games I want to play more immediately. I'm glad I took the dive tho, so I at least now know how it feels to control the popular hedgehog.

Raft is one of those survival-games you see on steam and think: do I need another iteration of this? Is there enough distinction to the billion other versions in this genre? But then you fall in love with the idea of building a house on the motherfucking ocean like it was nothing and you go for it.
Despite it's limitations in direct comparison with other more popular survival games, Raft has a lot going for it. The main differentiator for me, was the chill pace and atmosphere of the game. Much like why Valheim was such a pleasure to play, Raft is a getaway and doesn't really put a lot of pressure on you and is less punishing then we've come to expect from the genre. There are some game design decisions however, where I would have liked a similar approach as in Valheim - especially the amount of food and water you need to just survive. At some point in the game it doesn't really matter anymore, but up until then you are basically in a constant loop of providing food and water which artificially extends the time for you to do the real fun stuff in the game. That is building a fully furnitured multi-story raft that defies the laws of physics and also traversing the ocean to uncover a mystery that is nothing superb, but still gives enough incentive to spend roughly 25-30 hrs in the game.
I can recommend this game to anyone who doesn't get enough of survival games and wants to have some chill hang-out sessions with friends.

I've not "beaten" the game obviously and I definitely will play it for the forseeable future on and off again, but after visiting a lot of places that came to my mind first, I feel like I can talk a little about the game.
The Flight simulator is - as it has always been - for nerds. For people who are fascinated by airplanes, their technology and the insane amount of planning it takes to take off with these aircrafts. There is so much detail (it's a simulation, duh) that you can spend hours upon hours to understand the intricacies of different airplanes and how tightly controlled the airspace is.
It is also for those nerds, who would love to travel a simulation of our world from the comfort of their chair or couch - just for the heck of it, with a controller and very light control schemes.
But to me, this iteration of the simulator, is also for everyone who is interested in cutting edge game technology or technology itself actually, because what the devs have put in here is nothing short of a miracle. It's the piece of software that will be the reference point for a lot of things to come in the future. I'm simply not capable to explain it all, so I highly recommend the videos of digital foundry or some others on youtube that explain the multitude of unbelievable systems that went into this.
But not only fans of technology will be pleased to see a flight in this game. I can imagine showing this even to people who are not remotely into games or anything like it and they will be awestruck by the realism and the idea of having the globe at your fingertips - immediately wanting to visit home or places you have visited before. If you have the chance to do so with a proper PC or the series x, just take one flight and soak it all in - it's magical, it just is.

Miles Morales doubles down on everything that was great in the original game and adds so much more to it that I loved: a black centric superhero story, a wonderful and diverse cast for a video game, insane action sequences, ray-tracing, 60fps and a lot more NY, especially Harlem vibes. (the soundtrack is golden). It's still mind-boggling how fluid the animations in this game are, no matter where you grapple, how you walk on walls and jump off them, Miles always does it elegantly and with style. Traversing through this open world never ceases to be a joy. The fighting is exactly the same: beating up enemies is so well made, that it feels like you are watching an animated movie that has orchestrated fights. It just never gets old.
The original game (among others) already proved Insomniac as a top notch first party developer for Sony, one that can deliver technical mastery and presentation just like the other sony studios. I can't wait to see what will be next for them <3