Gotham Knights should not be confused as a sequel to the excellent Batman: Arkham Knight. Instead this Spin-Off explores a new and interesting story about the death of Gotham’s protector and falls victim to some of modern gaming’s worst trends. The crafting system feels unsubstantial and while the four different playable characters are all different and interesting, it feels like substantial abilities of the prior games were taken away and locked behind different characters, rather than each member of the bat family bringing something new to the table. Despite its shortcomings and missteps, we found “Gotham Knights” to be very fun to play, when focusing on the story over the repetitive open world activities and the multiplayer is an excellent fit for both the story and style of game.
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Your spirit is the only one that is a purely positive attribute. Spirit acts as a kind of mana for your special attacks, but can alternatively be used to restore your mind through meditation. So you need a constant supply of all three values. Through accumulated experience points in the three disciplines and hidden crystals, you can also expand your supply in a skill tree or unlock passive bonuses. These abilities are quite nice, but with the exception of the extended bar for health, mind and mind, they often only have a noticeable effect in very specific situations.
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While the combat isn't quite as fluid as its big siblings, and the graphic style takes some time to get used to, at its core, Soulstice is a very good action game with a solid, albeit predictable, story.
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The Lamplighter’s League may look like a chance to play out your own pulp adventure fantasy, but it turns out to be an intricate combat puzzle full of synergies and silly combos. While performance can be a bit of an issue and the story fails to leave much of an impact, the core gameplay is fun enough to keep this title memorable. It won’t deliver the instant mainstream appeal something like X-COM will have, but passionate fans of turn-based tactics shouldn’t miss this hidden (albeit slightly unpolished) gem.
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Exoprimal is just a few unfortunate missteps short of being a hidden gem. The base gameplay that mixes hoard-based PvE and high-stakes PvP is unique and interesting. Even the absurd story about dimension-hopping AI dye and mechanized soldiers fighting dinosaurs had us intrigued. However, the variety of gameplay on offer simply does not justify the price tag and is especially disappointing in regards to the rampant monetization through battle-pass and premium skins. On Gamepass, however, this is a must-try for sure.
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Ravenlok may not be particularly challenging or deep in its gameplay or narrative, but it nails the storybook atmosphere and the child-like wonder of exploring a magical world. Clearly aimed at a younger and/or less videogame-familiar audience, this game makes for a brilliant entry point into the hobby and offers a short, polished, albeit simple dive into a fairy-tale come to life.
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Tin Hearts is a wonderful little game of guiding toy soldiers through the remnants and memories of a toy workshop. While a little light on challenging experienced players, an excellent level progression, heartwarming story, and downright adorable visual design more than make up for it. However, the Nintendo Switch version suffers from muddy textures and occasional stutters that pull an otherwise excellent experience down.
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Scars Above takes some time to unfold ist true potential, both in the story and its gameplay. The exploration of this unknown planet in the role of a stranded researcher is unforgiving and refuses to compromise on the almost puzzle-like combat, even if some encounters early on can be frustrating as you get to grips with how the game wants you to play. Scars Above isn't for everyone, as it demands a lot more thought and strategy during combat than it lets on, but if you're willing to learn and be patient, this one's definitely worth your time.
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The struggles and the slow work up in the medieval hierarchy are good enough to keep us glued to the screen until late into the night. Especially if you want to compete against other army leaders in multiplayer mode, you should definitely take a look here, because "Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord" is a gaming experience like no other despite its flaws.
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"SD Gundam Battle Alliance" is a nostalgia trip, even if you have nothing to do with "Gundam". Because the design of the game itself is strongly reminiscent of titles from the early 2000s
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Wild Hearts does not revolutionize the hunting game genre, but with as few competitors, that is hardly necessary. The building system both in and outside of combat adds enough variety and depth that the simpler weapons and streamlined crafting are welcome. Sadly, technical flaws, such as blurry visuals and horrendous pop-in keep this otherwise great game from making a play on Capcom's throne. It is a title, however that we're eager to see expanded upon and further developed in the already planned title updates and hopefully eventually in a sequel. As it stands, it's a fun alternative to Monster Hunter, but cannot live up to those games' polish and sheer endless depth of content.
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A Rogue-Like Survival games that put the player in the role of a shipwrecked girl looking for the remains of her tribe. While it’s falling into common trappings for the genre with annoying inventory management and a ridiculously hungry protagonist, the overall charming atmosphere and surprising late-game depth make this indie game worth checking out!
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While it’s still somewhat struggling with the legacy of Bullfrog’s Dungeon Keeper, Dungeons 4 from German developer Realmforge Studios continues to carve out its own identity. A very solid and refined gameplay loop is somewhat held back by quickly dated humor and some visual clutter. If you liked the earlier Dungeons games, expect more of the same with smaller additions and improvements, but those itching to be evil don’t have a better alternative anyway.
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With Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game Saber Interactive takes a new spin on the beloved offroad franchise. With a much lesser focus on transportation over exploration, this time more than ever the journey is the goal. A more guided structure eases new players in, while veterans can discover plenty of challenging side missions off the beaten path. While there are some technical issues at launch and the multiplayer is sorely missed (to be added via free update later), the package as a whole is still a solid game for those who don't mind taking it slower.
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With patch 2.0, "Cyberpunk 2077" fulfills many of the promises they made three years ago for release. However, just as many remain unfulfilled and since "Phantom Liberty" will remain the only DLC content, "Cyberpunk 2077" will never live up to the initial hype. Patch 2.0 nevertheless ensures that "Cyberpunk 2077" not only plays much better, but now almost all glitches and bugs have been eliminated, so that the base game alone is definitely worth a new playthrough. The "Phantom Liberty" expansion offers a lot of new missions and tells a very exciting story, but if you expect a new "Blood & Wine" like in "The Witcher 3", you will be disappointed again. The scope of the DLC is okay for the price, but by no means sets new standards.
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Black Skylands follows modern Open World design a little too closely sometimes and relies on resource collecting, outpost clearing and repetitive side quests a little too often. Nonetheless the core gameplay is fun, and the presentation of the pixelated world is charming. Due to the gameplay remaining largely the same throughout its runtime, this is best enjoyed in smaller sessions and some breaks in between.
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As more and more strategy games make their way to consoles, Company of Heroes 3: Console Edition brings its unique blend of real-time strategy with deep, tactical combat to a new audience. While the single player campaigns not only offer two vastly different takes on progression and gameplay but varied and exhilarating combat, the multiplayer modes feel like a side offering. Anyone wanting to play this mainly by themselves will have an amazing time, while competitive players should stick to older titles of the series on PC.
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Pentiment might just be one of the weirdest AAA-games released this year. By stripping gameplay down to little more than walking and talking, this medieval crime drama feels like a visual novel that took the genre’s title a little too literal. The graphical style is heavily inspired by the illustrations of medieval books, which ties directly back into the main character’s background story as an illustrator. With an excellent story, great dialogue and too many mysteries for just a single playthrough, this odd little gem is one that may take some getting used to, but will reward you for your patience with a story more interactive and deeper than most.
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While Ilfonic who previously worked on “Predator: Hunting Grounds” and “Friday the 13th: The Game” excel at recreating the look and feel of the Ghostbusters movies, the gameplay remains relatively simple and shallow. This isn’t necessarily a title you’ll sink night after night into, but instead one to pick up now and again to play a couple of missions with friends. While it’s a bit light on the content side, the developers have a history of supporting their games long after launch with extensive updates.
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"Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous" is a role-playing game colossus that not only devours many hours of play, but takes you into a world packed with secrets, decisions and interesting stories.
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