My past with Final Fantasy is complicated, I somehow never really got into it. But 16 seemed to be the most suited Final Fantasy for me. And I have to say, I enjoyed the experience.

What really appealed to me was how grounded and serious the world felt, despite the magical elements. I personally love fictional politics and was glad that there was such a focus on it here. The focus is otherwise largely on Clive, which offers interesting possibilities on the one hand, but takes away some of the depth from other characters. Personally, I don't think Clive needed all that time either, he's not that deep himself.

What is very deep, however, is the combat system. Not turn-based, but more about chaining together different techniques. There really are a lot of them and it's fun to experiment with them, I think there are almost too many as you can only equip relatively few. Enemy variety is exceptionally high, but due to the many battles they still double up later on.

But what makes this game so special is how cinematic it becomes. The Eikon fights all look very impressive and the cutscenes have many highlights to offer. One particular fight is a narrative, gameplay and staging masterpiece, but I won't spoil anything. I liked the spectacle of the game, but especially towards the end it often felt like they were trying to create more depth than there actually is.

It's a shame that you can't really visit many of the important places in the world, but given the very mediocre to poor sidequests, perhaps it's for the best. The pacing of the game is disrupted by some very boring missions. Especially near the end of the game, there are far too many of these tasks.

Overall, however, I had a nice journey that I really enjoyed, even if there are a few weaknesses, especially towards the finale. However, the consistently serious tone, the beautiful music and, above all, a very believable world make it my favourite game in the series.

Tunic is really just hiding behind the facade of a 2D Zeldalike, but it's actually one of the most innovative puzzle games I've ever played.

With the green tunic and the red and blue shield, everything in this game screams Zelda and a lot of it plays like it. But the actual gameplay with the dungeons and enemies is just the superficial part. It works well for the most part, but is dragged down far too much towards the end, in my opinion, by cheap gameplay decisions that are only meant to create difficulty. Which almost made me abandon the game.

But the real core of the game is the manual, or rather the pages of it that you find. They are written in an unknown language and you have to understand how the game works from the pictures and notes alone. I've never experienced a feature like this before and I'm amazed by it. But the best thing about it is that they fully utilise the potential of this idea. The way hints and information are hidden on the pages is so impressive. Piecing together the scraps of information and then coming up with the solutions on your own is hard to beat in terms of satisfaction.

Even when you think you've understood most of it, it still goes deeper. Far deeper than I would have the time to invest. So I can really only praise it.

I know relatively little about Roguelikes, only Dead Cells so far, but I was in the mood for a new one and since Hades 2 is coming out soon, I picked Hades.

The artistic side of the game is great. Everything from the art style to the music and character artwork has such a unique charm. The fact that they chose this particular setting fits fantastically. The big focus on story is an interesting spin. The core gameplay is really fluid and always feels very fun. There is relatively little frustration, most challenges can be mastered after a few attempts and so you always make progress. All in all, a great experience.

But... I'm probably making myself a bit unpopular with this, because the game is otherwise so universally loved, but I think it has too little content. It was my own mistake that I wanted the platinum trophy. Because it becomes an unbelievable grind. A grind that the game absolutely cannot support. You run through the same few rooms over and over again. No alternative routes or much variance between runs. The biggest variety comes from the few different weapon variants and boons of the gods. That pretty much burnt me out and took a lot of the fun out of it. I wish I hadn't played on platinum... But that's more my fault.

To summarise, it's still a really great game, but I played it far longer than would have been good for me.

I had randomly set myself the goal of getting Platinum and now played the Next Gen version. What else can I say about this game, of course it's still great. But I think I like the game even more now than before.

The story, characters and world are unrivalled. The extensive back story of the books and other games makes everything feel so realistic and lived in. I don't know of any game that can compete with it. The atmosphere and music have this very special vibe, which probably comes from the Polish origins.

The Deathmarch experience was very nerve-wracking at the beginning, but once you decided on a build, it got progressively easier. Maybe even too easy, Igni melts away almost everything in the endgame. Still a fun experience. The balancing is sometimes very chaotic and some systems like repairing weapons and armour are not well implemented. It doesn't affect the gameplay at all, but every now and then you have to run to the blacksmith.

I've ignored Gwent in all my previous runs, I've never regretted anything so much. Collecting all the cards and building decks was almost the most fun part of the whole game. So good that I went straight for Thronebreaker and the Gwent game.

Absolutely fantastic game.

I'm really not a fan of 2D Marios. I'm so obsessed with Galaxy, I never really got into the 2D series. Mario Wonder was my first real impression of the 2D series apart from Mario Maker and I have to say I had a lot of fun. The levels all feel creative and you always had a good time. I especially liked the other types of levels, the arenas, races and quests. The online mode added more to the game than I thought it would, completing a difficult level with other players was always a great experience. Some of the levels were not designed for multiplayer, but that's in the other games too. Of course, the Wonderseeds are a great mechanic and the badges added some variety, even if some are clearly better than others. Everyone should know by now that the boss fights are really lame. But the rest of the game is just a lot of fun.

Sea of Stars is definitely a nice and charming JRPG, but for me it lacks depth in some aspects.

It might sound a bit ridiculous, but the demo convinced me that maybe I should play more pixelart games. That's how beautiful this game is. The music is also really good for the most part and often gets stuck in your head.

The gameplay is especially convincing in the level design and exploration. I like the movement and options you have to explore the areas. The big advantage of the battle system are the small interactions with which you strengthen the attacks. However, they could gladly add more variation. Otherwise, the combat system doesn't have that much depth, which is a shame.

Unfortunately, the lack of depth can also be applied to the story. I was only interested in a few points, and otherwise I was running from point A to point B. The underlying world is actually really interesting and I wish it had been more in focus. The characters split into "designed to be liked" and "fulfill their role". Otherwise, I found interactions with the world lacking, especially in the later game. You just run through the levels with your squad and that's it. Optional content and sidequests are also missing in basically the entire game. As a result, the world doesn't feel as fleshed out as it might actually be.

I enjoyed the game, but it lacked substance. Other than that, I can actually recommend it to everyone.

I'm honestly shocked by how much I liked this game. I was told it was a good game and I had relatively high expectations, but I didn't expect it to become one of my favorite games this year.

The way it handles the characters and the world and especially the story is pretty much exactly what I like. And I'm glad to have found a game that delivers just that. I've heard that the ending is disliked by many, but I still catch myself thinking about it weeks later. When it comes to the world, characters, and story, I really have nothing but praise this time around.

The basic gameplay was interesting enough for me to stay motivated until the end, but honestly I wanted to see the end of the story either way, so I would have kept playing anyway. The combat system isn't particularly outstanding, but it was always fun for me. Progression systems are a bit unique, but that didn't bother me. Only a second combat system, which is introduced later, was not quite as developed as it perhaps should have been.

What can I say, I am an absolute fan and the weak points probably bother me far less than the normal player. I'm really looking forward to more games from this world.

Hollow Knight meets Zelda is an interesting mix, and some of it is put to good use here.

The platforming is a bit boring at first, but gets more fun with each power-up and improvement. The feeling of tricking out a passage with a few clever jumps is very satisfying. In general, this aspect is the most fun.

The fights and enemies are mostly rather sluggish and not really interesting, even if the bosses get better towards the end. Unfortunately, the game loses itself a bit otherwise. The missions end up being rather uninspired, but fortunately never last long.

In the end, it's a nice little platformer where you jet through a castle with fun movement.

Oxenfree is not a game that I can rate well with a classic rating system. It is very different from the games I usually play. But I really had an exciting and fascinating evening.

Not many games stay in your head for some time and make you think, and I appreciate that. But still, despite the secret ending, the story somehow doesn't feel complete. Maybe that's just how it's supposed to be, which is kind of the point of the game.

I found the characters interesting for the entire playtime and I really wanted to know more about them. Likewise, the music was also a big part of why I liked the game. The atmosphere was great.

All in all, I can't really complain much. Of course, it might be a bit short, but that's also what makes it charming. I'll certainly check out the second game.

Octopath Traveller is praised by many people and I wanted to see for myself. I don't play many JRPGs myself and this game showed me perfectly why. I don't think I'm the right person for this kind of game.

The gameplay feels outdated and unnecessarily tiring. If you disregard the occasional grinding, you still have to deal with constantly running into towns to change your team. Why can't you do that everywhere? Why can't I always access all character actions?

It was to be expected that the storytelling would be rather weak, if you already have to write eight stories. Some of the stories had interesting beginnings, others never got interesting, but in the end you still have to endure this really superficial writing. Most of the characters, if they are lucky, have one or two traits. The fact that some of the antagonists were simply evil and had nothing else to offer doesn't make it any better.

Exploring the world and finding new items kept me entertained, and the battle system was absolutely fine. Even if the balancing is completely destroyed by the team leader, who can't be changed.

I'm currently in the final chapters and just need a break, maybe I'll return one day. But a JRPG of this type doesn't seem to be for me.

This is probably my most difficult review so far. Breath of the Wild is one of my favorite games, so I had high expectations. And I'm happy to say that it handled this heavy load almost masterfully. The strengths of the predecessor became even better, but the weaknesses became even more obvious as well.

Tears of the Kingdom can't decide if it really wants to be a sequel or an independent experience. Thus, almost all the characters are masterfully integrated into this sequel and the world actually feels like an evolution. However, there are almost no connections to Breath of the Wild, I was partly afraid that the names of the champions would not be mentioned at all. It just felt strange.

My biggest fear was the reused overworld and I think partly that was justified. At the beginning of the game I was so hyped that I thought everything was great and enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny again, but that wore off. Some areas are almost identical in places. Eldin is one of the few exceptions to this. The new parts of the overworld vary greatly in quality. The sky islands were touted as the new big feature and ended up being really disappointing. The best island was the very first one you start on, and after that you move through copy and pasted islands that you get sick of very quickly. The underground seemed to be the exact opposite, I spent most of my early game hours there and couldn't get out of my amazement. I found unique treasures and structures, had exciting battles, and could hardly tear myself away from the captivating atmosphere. The best quests in the game take place there, but there's a catch here as well. If you stay there too long and explore too much, you realize how empty and the same everything is. Almost everything is just a single biome, and it quickly loses its charm.

The shrines and puzzles are a bit more chaotic and free-form, but are still very entertaining. Unfortunately, I personally lacked the creativity to build something really great with the new abilities. Most of the time they felt like unnecessarily powerful tools that you never really needed. But I'm still excited about them and glad they exist. The dungeons vary greatly in quality, some of them are already some of the best in the whole series, but others were rather lame and forgettable.

I could probably go on writing for hours, but who reads through all that? The battle system is the same, the music is still fantastic, and I had a great time for over 200 hours. Tears of the Kingdom is a phenomenal experience, but unfortunately has some problems that I can't ignore. Problems that are more prominent for me than they were in Breath of the Wild. Maybe this game still deserves five stars, but I think Breath of the Wild is the better game. The ingredients for my favorite game were there, but perhaps this gigantic game was a bit too ambitious.