ThreeTwoPlay

Anyone who buys the latest Mario Tennis game intending to play it offline and in single-player mode will likely find it somewhat lacking in content in the long run. The adventure mode is rather short and aside from a few amusing boss matches and challenges doesn't offer that much. That being said: as soon as you play with friends or online the game shows its real qualities. With the newly added fever rackets and more characters than ever before in the series, Mario Tennis Fever combines chaotic elements with a more than solid tennis gameplay that works well even without the typical Nintendo mayhem.

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Lost and Found Co. is much more than a typical hidden object puzzle game, proving that this genre has far more to offer than you'd expect. The levels are brimming with small details, interactive objects and easter eggs. The story and side plots provide far greater motivation than simply finding all the objects and you can unleash your creativity in the decoration mode of the office. But even without that you'll easily spend 10 to 20 hours playing, depending on how thorough you are.

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Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf definitely builds upon the strengths of its predecessor in every aspect: it offers greater variety in level design, more diverse puzzles and a beautiful game world. Aside from the brief sections where you control Mui alone via the cursor, the controls and gameplay are seamless and never overuse the various ideas. The underwater sections and other elements add verticality to the world, making it appear much larger, while the paths are never so intricate that you could get lost. Let's hope there's a third part coming in the foreseeable future.

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The Disco Elysium-esque gameplay of Esoteric Ebb provides a blank canvas for a colorful 2D graphic style that feels a bit like an interactive comic and often creates an interesting balancing act between style and content. I have very little bad to say about Esoteric Ebb. The only thing I still find difficult even after many hours of gameplay is navigating the different areas and moving from one to another as well as the questing tree, which is a bit rough in use while looking gorgeous. But those are really just minor things. Recommending such a story-driven game without spoilers is always somewhat impossible though. So to put it simply: the Visuals are awesome, the music is great and the story abolutely wild. Esoteric Ebb is really good. Trust me.

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A Requiem is a special kind of memorial service and describes the remembrance of the dead. The ninth installment of the cult series couldn't be further from an actual requiem though. Resident Evil is definitely not dead, in fact it hasn't been this alive in a long time: Resident Evil Requiem presents itself as a playable "Best of" of the entire series, celebrating ideas from 30 years of history and completely captivating me from beginning to end. Established ideas are complemented by additional features, quality-of-life improvements and entirely new elements, while at its core it always feels truly like a Resident Evil game.

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For me personally REANIMAL is exactly what I was hoping for: an accessible, ultra-atmospheric horror snack for one or two evenings of couch co-op leaving plenty of room for interpretation afterwards. The game luckily isn't your run-of-the-mill jumpscare fest: it has so much more to offer and is also suitable for players who are already interested in the horror genre but don't want to stumble from one jumpscare to the next. So, if you're looking for sophisticated horror with a proper WTF-moment at the end - this is the game for you.

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Demon Tides builds on the strengths of its predecessor while introducing fresh ideas: I love the moveset of Beebz, the islands constantly offer new challenges and the freedom it gives you makes the game a truly unique 3D platformer experience. With talismans and outfits plus loadouts you can create your own personalized gameplay experience, the fast travel feature makes exploring and completing the various islands even easier and the leaderboards provides additional motivation to replay certain sections. A few minor technical issues occasionally interrupt the flow but thanks to the manual checkpoints, which you can set yourself at any time, there are never any major frustrations.

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LOVE ETERNAL is a truly unique platformer that perfects its core mechanics and building upon them creates a very special horror atmosphere. Players will find themselves in repeatedly jaw-dropping situations at the constant barrage of twists and turns. Toby Alden has crafted not only a sometimes incredibly difficult and challenging game but above all a truly special experience. The only minor flaw for me was the screen's brief blackout each time I die which can be a bit tiring on the eyes after a while. If you have a high frustration tolerance for the tough parts you should definitely give it a go.

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Dragon Quest VII Reimagined offers a self-contained story with a party you'll quickly grow fond of, a smooth gameplay experience that can be adjusted to your liking and above all, a look that is second to none. The diorama-like style makes Akira Toriyama's designs look incredibly good and you get numerous quality-of-life improvements and pacing enhancements that prevent the game from becoming unnecessarily long. At times this might even make it a little too smooth but if you prefer a bit more of a challenge like myself you can thankfully adjust the difficulty at any time.

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Perfect Tides: Station to Station is the perfect point-and-click adventure for millennials but also appeals to younger audiences who are just turning 18 or are at least not too far off. Meredith Gran manages to paint a relatable picture of a young woman coming of age and I'm quite sure there are situations everyone out there will initially shake their head and ask, "Mara! Why?!" only to realize a moment later that they probably would have reacted the same way when they were younger. The writing tasks and books offer a bit more gameplay variety than its immediate predecessor, but it never gets truly difficult, which I didn't really mind. The dialogues and the story entertained me so well throughout the entire game and I hope that we will see more of Mara someday.

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Power Wash Simulator 2 isn't a completely new thing in comparison to its predecessor and I'm pretty sure all fans of the first game, including myself, would have been disappointed if it would've been. The new tools and adjustments definitely make the gameplay much smoother, the split-screen co-op is the best new feature for me personally and the feeling of zen I get while cleaning is something I haven't found in any other game to this day.

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BALL x PIT is the most competent and entertaining survivor game I've played so far and it particularly impressed me with its ideas that aren't part of the genre usually. But in the end it's still too much survivor-like elements that tainted the experience for me. The combination of alleyway and bullet hell elements are really clever, at least when the characters weren't completely breaking the game. The city management aspect, in particular, motivated me to invest significantly more time than I probably would have without it. Technically, the game is virtually flawless, though a little less flashing lights and garish color palette certainly wouldn't have hurt.

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Hirogami is a beautiful homage to the ancient Japanese art of paper folding but it doesn't forget that entertaining gameplay is just as important for a good game as its pretty visuals. On my first playthrough of the levels, I had to restrain myself from being too meticulous, as there's usually a mission hidden behind abilities you don't yet possess. However, because the game and levels aren't particularly long I never felt annoyed about having to revisit certain sections. In fact I looked forward to it. The story is pretty basic but that's totally fine and the game runs flawlessly from a technical standpoint without throwing up any unnecessary obstacles.

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Metroid Prime 4: Beyond seamlessly continues the high level of gameplay and level design of its predecessors while adding new ideas. The game looks fantastic, the innovative mouse controls work so well and the game never feels too long or artificially drawn out. The concerns that the motorcycle and the semi-open world would introduce too many unnecessary elements or that the NPCs would be too annoying thankfully weren't true for me and while the story won't win any narrative awards, it still fits the franchise perfectly.

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Like many others I thought we were in for another Mario Kart World fun racer game, when Kirby Air Riders was first announced and also wondered why Nintendo decided to release both games so close together in the Switch 2's launch year. However after the gamescom demo and with each additional hour into the full game it became increasingly clear to me how different the two games are and especially how much depth the Kirby spinoff has. Kirby Air Riders is much more than just another fun racer: the game modes all give their own twist to the game and City Trial in particular offers seemingly endless hours of fun & enjoyment, while the game runs almost perfectly smooth on the console.

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Especially in times when games are expected to become increasingly realistic, longer and more demanding it was incredibly refreshing to immerse myself in this slow-life experience and simply dedicate myself to fun minigames, cozy apartment decorating and an overall relaxed gaming experience. Quality-of-life improvements like rewind and quick saves make the gameplay, which despite the tutorials sometimes offers a bit of limited guidance, more accessible by today's standards. And even though I've seen all eight minigames fairly quickly, I remained motivated for the full 40 in-game days.

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The option to do a test run before battles – as often as you like – is certainly convenient for players but it doesn't guarantee victory and still keeps the battles from becoming trivial. I had a lot of fun experimenting with the various combat skills: they significantly influenced the battles and created just the right "one more run" mentality that makes the Roguelite genre so special for me. Unfortunately, the game often crashed on Switch 2 which led to unnecessary frustration and perhaps you've seen "everything" the game has to offer a little too quickly.

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If you don't like Musō games this version probably won't convert you to a fan. However if you're not completely averse to the genre or perhaps even want to try it for the first time - this is a damn good entry point. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment not only delivers a very interesting story as a Tears of the Kingdom spin-off, you can also easily lose yourself in the gameplay for over 20 hours and will have a lot of fun beating up endless hordes of enemies.

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Constance handles the topic of mental health with the necessary respect yet still manages to tell a story within a fantasy setting that is both meaningful and enjoyable but still never forgetting the importance of entertaining gameplay. This balance is incredibly well done and I thoroughly enjoyed both the combat and the platforming sections. A few enemies could perhaps have benefited from a bit more balancing but ultimately it's the battles I had to replay most often that have stuck with me the most.

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Demonschool is a unique form of tactical RPG where the combat with its distinctive mechanics and innovative ideas captivated me from the very first second and held my attention until the very end. The story surrounding Faye and her friends is incredibly fun, striking a balance between poignant moments and moments that will have you laughing out loud and the game looks absolutely stunning whether in the menus, the world itself or during battles. Sure, the game isn't perfect, and there's still room for improvement in a few areas, but these flaws don't detract significantly from my experience.

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