Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition is a heavyweight and can be considered a current genre reference. It is as simple as that, without beating about the bush. The enormous success and the popularity with the fans has ensured that the successor was financed just as record-breakingly and will surely be just as successful. The guys from Obsidian, who were considered the continuation pros for a long time, have shown what they can do with Pillars of Eternity. It carries the great classics like Baldur's Gate 2 in front of it, takes over strengths from there and yet brings an incredible amount of its own to not be stamped as a copy - quite the opposite. The adaption to the consoles has been successful so that you can reach more players with this masterpiece. The balancing act between modernity and nostalgia is impressively successful. Impressed already 2015 on the PC and can also the second look in 2017 on console just as convincing. Interested players will find the Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition both as a physical retail version (distributed by 505 games) at the retailer of their choice, as well as the digital version in PlayStation Store (directly distributed by Obsidian) at a price of currently about 50 euros. This is absolutely justified, considering the two included expansions, the enormous game scope (playing time easily between 50-80 hours depending on the joy of exploration) and the successful revision for the consoles. If you also consider the total playing time of about 60 to 80 hours, depending on how extensively you deal with the game world and how much you do side tasks, Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition is really worth its purchase price.
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The Sims 4 is a very complex game. This shouldn't be surprising, the series is known for it and the various possibilities in character creation alone more than indicate this. In the course of more than seventeen years a lot has changed, the AI is quite good and the possibilities, as said before, enormously diverse. Like in real life there are many connections to consider. If the player creates a lazy Sim, he shouldn't be surprised if he loses his job after three days. If the Sim is phobic about commitment, it will be difficult to start a family. After a certain settling-in period, not least because of the controls, the Sims are quite entertaining. The player can determine the characters and their actions himself and realize his fantasies in the game. Something to fight the Sims games always have with the extreme extent of the predecessors by numerous published extensions. For example, if you have played The Sims 3 with some expansions, you will miss some things in The Sims 4, although the basic game The Sims 4 itself offers things that were not available in The Sims 3. Nevertheless The Sims 3 was in some respects a bit more extensive and well thought out. But for newcomers Die Sims 4 offers a successful entry into the series, especially on consoles. The one or the other consolero might be overwhelmed by the numerous menus (in the beginning). But don't be put off, that's the motto here.
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Metal Gear Survive is literally a double-edged sword, or at least it can be. Whoever approaches this with special expectations and the hope for a typical Metal Gear game will be bitterly disappointed. But if you're really up for a thrilling survival adventure and bite your way through the first few hours, i.e. the complete introduction and tutorial, you can really have fun with this game. Especially the long term motivation will be a decisive factor. The bottom line is that Metal Gear Survive is a solid title that suffers from the big name and some strange decisions in game design.
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Once again Quantic Dream has succeeded in delivering a gripping story and integrating it into a great interactive film framework. Even after years the presentation is still in the absolute top class, thanks to the great adaptations even on the PlayStation 4. This gaming experience is not only for fans of Heavy Rain a clear recommendation worth. There is nothing more to say about it.
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The developers of Quantic Dream had already shown with Fahrenheit how to create an exciting interactive thriller and how such a concept could look like. With Heavy Rain, they had landed a really big hit and made sure that many players are immediately excited or beam with anticipation when they announce a new project. Even if the technology of the game has gotten a bit outdated, it doesn't diminish the fun of the game. The hunt for the Origami Killer is simply an incredibly exciting thriller and an absolutely terrific gaming experience. It's a bit surprising that the DLC "The Taxidermist" was not included, other remastered releases have done better. On the other hand the absence of this mini addon is not a big loss. If you already own the PS3 version, you don't have a compelling reason to switch to the PS4 version. Anyone who hasn't experienced Heavy Rain before and likes such games is highly recommended to catch up on this title.
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David Cage has once again succeeded in presenting an exciting story that also raises interesting questions. These are of a moral nature, but also socially critical. Although we as humans sit in front of the screen, at a certain point we might find it difficult to explicitly choose one of the two parties. But in order to get something to do as players, we may again become active as investigators. These are individual cases, but the "red thread" leads us into the overall structure of the story and when the story really unfolds, you get really caught up and you literally devour one chapter after the other. The ever-present curiosity, the ever-recurring question of what would have happened if you had behaved differently in one situation or another. For all those who like this kind of game even a little bit, the game offers great entertainment, for fans it is once again a masterpiece of storytelling, which Quantic Dream has delivered here. You can be curious what David Cage and his team will present us next. Maybe the renewed hunt for a serial killer, this time with more freedom, or something completely different? Whatever it will be, you can already look forward to it.
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Marvel's Spider-Man is like a giant mixed salad. The mixture is right and the dressing is delicious - as long as you consciously enjoy it. If you get the same thing too many times in a row, it can get monotonous even with great dressing. Insomniac has simply created a truly successful work of art. They didn't reinvent the wheel, but they made damn nice rims. Marvel's Spider-Man is currently the most beautiful and best Spider-Man video game and also probably the most successful superhero game overall.
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Torus Games (Ben 10, Beast Quest) and Outright Games (Ben 10, Adventure Time: Pirates of The Enchiridion) deliver a nice game, which realizes the template optically really well. With the current dubbing troupe you get the absolutely right feeling. But as a connoisseur of the series one is a bit disappointed that the title song was not integrated properly and what is most disturbing and noticeable is the fact that the furry friends are damn quiet. Ryder makes comments and finds some actions "Pfo-tastic" or "Fello-menal", but one waits in vain for the typical sayings of the little quadrupeds or other expressions. There is no real story, or at least no thread to start with. That wouldn't be too bad, if you told the missions a little more attractive and interactive. So the whole thing is already very simple. PAW Patrol: On a Roll is the right game for the little ones, as true fans of the furry friends they will love it. But even some children will quickly feel underchallenged and bored here. A game for the whole family is it rather also not, there above all a cooperative play mode would have been meaningful, or stop any motivating challenges. There is no real playful variety, side tasks or exciting story twists. The playing time of two to four hours is also very manageable, and there is virtually no replay value.
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Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is one of those typical Titles that are just kind of mediocre, but can still be fun. After two played missions I already had the word "secret tip" on my tongue, only to have the apparent certainty after the third mission that we are dealing with "tons of wasted potential". Nevertheless, I wanted to know how it goes on, what kind of equipment and abilities there are still to discover and against which opponents I may use them. For tactics fans the title is definitely worth a look. Since it's not a full-price title either, you can definitely overlook the somewhat minimalistic scenery here.
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Devil May Cry 5 is a successful sequel and will make series fans happy. The campaign offers some 15 to 20 hours of decent action and good (superficial) entertainment, on a decent level that is usual for the series. In addition, there are again a lot of secret missions, challenges and (for fans) a given replay value. Technically without flaws and presentable you can say - so far everything done right! A little more plot and especially more narrative content in the cutscenes wouldn't have hurt anyway. A more varied mission design would have been desirable. Nevertheless fans will say: It rocks, it bucks - is gambled to the drop!
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Yes, Resident Evil 3 came out relatively quickly after Resident Evil 2 and yes, it was certainly recycled a bit. But that's not tragic either, because why should an Umbrella transport crate or chemical container look different than in Resident Evil 2, or should vehicles and equipment be designed differently, that would be unnecessary. So here you can already guess that this has saved a lot of time. Only in the design of the zombies a little more variety would have been desirable. Nevertheless, Capcom has nothing to reproach itself technically, neither visually nor acoustically. A little more puzzles and a little more playing time, yes that would have been fine. Nevertheless, the remake of Resident Evil 3 is a successful title that we can not only recommend to fans of the series. We had a lot of fun in Raccoon City!
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Bombastic! You can't say more than that. The idea to move Gears of War to another genre is brilliantly realized and works great as a tactical game. As with Halo Wars, the transfer was successful and you have chosen exactly the right genre. Gears Tactics can easily be mentioned in the same breath as XCOM. Not only fans of the Gears franchise are recommended to take a look, but everyone who is only in the beginning of a fantastic strategy game.
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Predator: Hunting Grounds has a lot of potential that is currently not being exploited. The asymmetrical game principle is basically well implemented, but unfortunately it is thrown over by the immature balancing. The template is made for this and it is to be hoped that Illfonic will add a little more. Revise the balancing, add a few maps and please improve the technique a little bit, then the whole thing can still develop.
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The Last of Us - Part II was eagerly awaited, is, as expected, very successful and enormously controversial. Either way, the title is a milestone in the history of video games and rightly so. Nevertheless, as so often, it is a matter of taste whether you like the game or a certain aspect of it. There are reasons why some things are viewed so critically and sometimes even negatively, especially with this game. In my opinion, it's partly due to the grandiose predecessor, which managed to masterfully narrate a rather simple scenario of an apocalypse, make it playable and thus directly experienceable and also establish a wonderful character duo, which is extremely popular. In addition, this game is simply so damn realistic. We all know the term "playable film" and know some great genre representatives. But where we often have to deal with long cutscenes and heaps of quick time events, here we are given permanent control, at least felt. Because we can enter certain situations in different ways and defend ourselves with different weapons, we like to forget that we still follow a given path and go where they want us to go. Without a flashing arrow, without penetrating markings, only with minimalist support and following our playful instincts. There are no distorted representations here, heroes or villains in capes, enemies with distorted and frightening appearances. Even if the kill count in some sections feels as high as in Call of Duty, it feels different. Even eliminating an infected person sometimes feels "wrong". And it is for this feeling that I say "Everything done right! This game is the way it is and that is good. Not everyone has to like it in the end, that's the way it is with movies, with books and why should it be different with this form of storytelling. Apart from the fact that The Last of Us - Part II was a great game experience for me, I think it's basically worth a look and anything but lost time. "A profound orgy of violence"
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Since inFAMOUS: Second Son (2014) we haven't heard anything from Sucker Punch and if we're honest, we were more expecting another inFAMOUS spin-off than this surprise. The setting can definitely be described as unspent and the realization is simply fantastic. Ghost of Tsushima has pretty much everything we could wish for in a title like this, impressive and contemporary presentation, great story, a lot to discover (including collectibles) and a decent amount. If we had to criticize anything, it would be the sometimes questionable enemy AI and a few tiny bugs (missing triggers for side quests), which were not visible after a restart of the game and will surely be fixed. Ghost of Tsushima is a terrific masterpiece, which you can definitely put on the "You have to played it" list.
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Definitely not only GTA fans get their money's worth with this game. Anyone who likes well staged action, varied missions and a freely accessible game world will have a lot of fun with this game.
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"Ary and the Secret of Seasons" is a fine action-adventure in itself, which can be described as family-friendly and which invites every genre-fan to a fun and entertaining adventure. Depending on how much you sink into the trial & error vortex during the puzzle interludes and how strong the urge for discovery is, you can spend 8-10 hours with the game. Altogether there are however already some technical deficiencies, which cloud the fun of the game and also disturb the presentation. Of course the style is consciously chosen more minimalistic and it is not a full price title, but such rough carvings should not occur and one can only hope that the game will be improved in the form of patches.
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You can see the gameplay pack The Sims 4 Star Wars: the journey to Batuu the basic concept strongly. Basically we send our Sim to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge amusement park and there he experiences a great stay with fun adventures and events. This is in itself also quite good, because if the classic Sims concept had been transferred to Batuu, there would have been little variety apart from strange neighbors with strange professions and futuristic furniture. Because of the two hostile factions, for which you can do tasks, there is a touch of play value, furthermore you have simply made sure with an enormous number of items that you can take further advantage of this gameplay pack. All in all Batuu is definitely worth a trip and an interesting expansion to The Sims 4, but will probably only work for Sim-loving Star Wars fans.
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Not only since the great air battles in Star Wars: Battlefront I wished for a great space shooter with a story. It didn't even have to be Star Wars, but the way it turned out is of course great. The fact that you can also add a great VR mode is of course mega great, because the additionally released Rogue One - Mission for Battlefront was also very strong. Here EA seems to have not only heard the call of the fans but also followed it. And Motive Studio did the whole thing really great. Yes, I have listed what I was missing or what I would have liked to have - given away. Maybe DLCs will provide us with more. You should also consider that Star Wars Squadrons is not a full-price title, but what is offered is definitely more than satisfactory and a clear recommendation to buy - but not for Star Wars fans - for them it is almost obligatory!
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Need for Speed as a series is not easy at the moment, although most games were not bad at all. But with every new announcement a large part of the fans hopes that either "Underground" will appear in the name or even better that the game will pick up the concept. Especially Need for Speed Underground 2 has a huge fanbase. If a remaster is announced, the fans have a justified hope that it could be their favorite. If you leave the disappointment that it didn't happen like that aside, you have to say objectively that you made a comprehensible choice with Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. The title came off quite well, basically reflects the concept of the series and is quite fun. One will like the single player area, the other one prefers the multiplayer mode and surely there are many who find good entertainment in both variants. Visually the game is no revelation even as a remaster, if you look at Need for Speed Heat for example. But they managed to eliminate the technical flaws of the original version, like edge flickering and muddy textures, and with greater visibility, higher resolution, new environment elements and better performance they made the whole thing a fun title even in 2020. Since this is not a full-price title either, a fan of action-packed frenzies is definitely entitled to strike.
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