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Black Sea Games had the self-proclaimed goal of making an accessible grand strategy game. And they did succeed. Knights of Honor II - Sovereign does many things right by leaving out complexity that makes games from e.g. Paradox Games very hard to start. Besides this obvious strength the game stays very close to its 2004 predecessor and doesn't change much. This isn't a bad thing but a bit more bravery wouldn't have hurt. Juggling diplomacy, economics, military and the clergy makes for an immersive and fun experience. Besides the real-time battles that leave much desired Knights of Honor II doesn't make any big mistakes and is a very solid bridge between Medieval: Total War and Games like Europa Universalis or Crusader Kings.

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The Callisto Protocol fails despite a solid overall performance on its high ambitions. You have to give the studio some credit for the creative approaches, especially for the gameplay and atmosphere but there is a constant lack of a final touch through the whole game, which often lets the gameplay end in frustration and boring/repetitive sections. Horror Fans with lots of endurance should still get it for the PlayStation 5.

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On paper, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet sounds like a Pokémon fan's dream come true. Paldea impresses with a very extensive game world, different storylines and new gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, the poor technical and optical quality of the ninth generation throws a big spanner in the works. Game Freak has a lot to do here, especially given the fact that only 400 different Pokémon have made it into the game.

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Gungrave G.O.R.E. wants us to go back to the old days of the PS2. Dumb action, a lackluster story with a silent hero and a big gun on his back. Sadly the boring and repetitive gameplay make it hard to recommend this game.

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Evil West is a linear oldschool action festival with a story you can easily skip through, good sounddesign and some challenging gameplay. The amount of possibilities during the fights and the variety in the different sections bring lots of fun. If you are looking for that, you'll have a great time.

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With a realistic setting, The Devil in Me manages to deliver a worthy season finale. The reason for this is the authentic cast, which finds itself in a challenging struggle for survival in the style of Saw. Despite the new gameplay mechanics, the game isn't showing its best technically this time either, especially when it comes to the sound. That's all the more unfortunate, because that's how Until Dawn could have been knocked off the narrative horror throne.

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The adventures of Andreas Maler, a 16th century artist in a bavarian village and its murder mysteries are just captivating. Obsidian Entertainment goes off the beaten tracks with Pentiment and delivers a slow-paced, beautiful medieval visual novel with a lots of choices while playing. The attention to detail with displaying the game in the look of a medieval book is excellent and sets the mood perfectly. Though there were some smaller bugs present and the absence of voice acting is a real shame, the quality of the writing and the graphical presentation really compensates for that. If the setting and genre is to your liking this title absolutely deserves a closer look.

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It's amazing how complex Tactics Ogre was when it was first released in 1995. The first remake for PSP introduced some additional mechanics that will be of great help to today's generation of video gamers. With the new edition "Reborn" they are presented with a tough strategy role-playing game. Fortunately, this convinces with a lot of depth, a complex but exciting story and a huge playtime. A true masterpiece awaits veterans of the genre, while newcomers should play demo or resort to easier representatives.

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Bayonetta 3 suffers from a generic story and enemies with a surprisingly boring level structure. The decision to go for more quanity delivers enough gameplay variety for hardcore fans. If you can live with repeating challenges and areas, you'll still get a crazy adventure with the gameplay, that the fans love.

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Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope takes the already very good and fun formula of its predecessor and improves it a bit. The slightly freer battles and new characters fit in wonderfully and exploring the new open world is motivating across the different planets. The fact that the Rabbid humor is still not for everyone and the voice acting is sometimes very questionable can certainly be forgiven by any fan of tactical RPGs.

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A Plague Tale: Requiem improves in just the right places. The graphics have been improved, the gameplay and mechanics are better implemented, and everything is a bit bigger and more spacious, but without losing the focus. The focus is still on the immersive and exciting narrative, the characters and their conversations. Only rough technical issues like screen tearing and stutters spoil the picture from time to time.

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Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman, the spiritual fathers of Guybrush Threepwood, are back, and you can feel it in every fiber of Return to Monkey Island. Hilarious situations, clever dialogue, memorable characters, beginner-friendly gameplay, and a fresh graphic style that may not be to everyone's taste bring the game series back to where it belongs: at the top of the point-and-click games. This game is definitely more than just pure nostalgia!

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Metal: Hellsinger may be one of the best straightfoward ego-shooters in recent times because of its awesome soundtrack. Buyers get a metal album with several big metal singers in addition to a basic, fun and fast-paced shooter. The only things missing in this exceptional trip to hell are puzzles, secrets and a little bit more variety. Metalheads who like ego-shooter games and shooter fans who don't hate metal should play the demo, at the very least. If someone is really into both, this game is pretty much a must buy.

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Saints Row wants to return to the old open-world days, but forgets to take along current practices such as mission design or visuals. Entertaining, silly and charming, it is able to fill a little-occupied field in the genre. But it is not a real reboot. It's more of a scaling back of the craziness and a rehashing of old virtues. But anyone who can appreciate this will have fun in Santo Ileso for a long time.

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Overall, Soul Hackers 2 is a very good introduction to the Megami Tensei franchise. If you can enjoy the dull dungeons and don't constantly compare it to other parts of the franchise, you'll definitely have fun here and get a really good, if not great, JRPG.

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Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is imposing, takes itself seriously and is simply fun. The story stands on its own and is therefore also very suitable for newcomers. The characters grow on you and are surprisingly realistic. There are tons of activities and completionists will again have over 100 hours to look forward to. Everyone else will enjoy what might be the best role-playing game for the Switch this year.

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The 2022 iteration of Live A Live shows how remakes for games from the early 90's should be done: a fresh coat of paint, a few quality of life improvments and Live A Live looks like a brand-new title that plays just as well. The story was, with a few minor drawbacks, so great that it still amazes today. It i is a love letter to old school RPGs and a recommendation for everybody who likes them.

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Disgaea 6 Complete is not a bad game by any means. It has everything that made the series successful for fans, with even more accessibility. Everything is bigger and more expansive, which causes it to distract from what should be the real fun. The auto-battles are great for busy gamers who can't invest 10 hours to grind, but also take away a lot of the motivation. Story and characters are unfortunately the weakest aspects of the series for me, which is why I can only recommend the game to die-hard fans. For everyone else, there is a demo.

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If you talked about Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes as the new star in the hack and slay genre, you wouldn't be that far off. The game depth that people have been waiting for a long time is possible this time through new strategic options. On top of that you get a great alternative story with known faces of the series. Gameplay-wise you lose a lot of that mentioned game depth because of the immense amount of missions and also through the lack of real graphical improvements over older games.

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Mario Strikers - Battle League Football has entertaining core gameplay with less chaos than its predecessors, focusing more on skill than sheer luck. Sadly it severely lacks in content. Especially the single player has too few unlocks and customization options to keep players busy in the long run. The presentation is solid but after a while noticeably lacks in variety. Nevertheless, we can recommend the game for intense offline multiplayer sessions for up top eight (4on4) players at once.

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