An often mediocre open world game mechanics-wise, Hogwarts Legacy draws a lot from the magic that is the license it is build upon. If it weren't for that, I would spend a lot of time criticising the tons of unnecessary collectibles across the world, the dozens of shallow fetch quests and errands, and the unsatisfying combat mechanics and lack of enemy variety.

However, the game does one thing incredibly well, and that is building upon the fantasy that many of us growing up with the Harry Potter universe have always had: Walking around the Hogwarts halls and the alleys of Hogsmeade without boundries, wielding wands and casting spells, enthralls those that have been waiting for such a game for decades. The graphics produce stunning vistas at times even though they are not revolutionary or particularly 'next gen', with especially character animations lacking, but the famous wizarding school and its surroundings are really well realised overall.

Hogwarts Legacy thankfully cuts itself loose from the plot of the Harry Potter books, being set a good century before them and telling an original story with fresh characters. While it starts intriguing, the pacing of the plot does take a big dip in the middle of the game, but ultimately culminates in a bombastic couple of final hours when it ties together its lose ends, with the side quest lines you get with certain fellow students of yours also wrapping up nicely. While at the beginning of the game you do catch a glimpse of an ordinary Hogwarts student's life, those activities are quickly set aside to focus completely on the world-changing events of the main story, which might be disappointing for those looking for more of a 'student simulator' aspect in the game.

Overall, if I try and look at the game objectively, I see a just-above average open world game in Hogwarts Legacy, with aspects that countless others have done better. However, for many people, me included, it will be the Hogwarts game they always wanted, as even with its problems clearly visible, it still does a solid job in transporting the player into the wizarding world, and letting us write our own chapter in its history. And that alone is something to be excited about.

If you can, do get a used copy of this game, to make sure that no money goes into JK Rowling's hate-fueled campaigns against trans people in the UK and worldwide.

It hurts me to give this game such a "low" rating, because back when I first played it, Life is Strange shook me to the core with its heartwarming and heartbreaking coming of age story, its dramatic characters, and the emotional rollercoaster that is this journey.

Unfortunately though, this "remaster", at least its PS4 version (played on PS5), is so bad that it really did a disservice to the original game. While Deck Nine apparently recreated the character models and animations, the adventure is plagued by animation glitches, weird lighting issues and outright crashes, which prevent any proper immersion for a longer period of time. Even the sound sometimes glitches out, which is just a real shame.

I would urge anyone to play Life is Strange and sit through this emotional rollercoaster, but I can't recommend the remaster in good faith. Better play the original game, even if the characters look dated.

Burning Shores has an interesting premise in that it's a direct continuation of the main game, adding important plot points that will probably cause some confusion in players who will start Horizon 3 but haven't played this DLC, unless the writers decide to disregard it in the sequel.

That being said, Burning Shores builds upon the audiovisual masterpiece that has been Forbidden West and once again shines with interesting characters and great acting, but it has some shortcomings when it comes to it's actual story and overall content. With there only being two proper side quests and not a lot of other activities to do, the focus here is clearly on the main plot. This is underlined by a very vertical design of the new area we get to roam, a natural approach after the events of the main game, but it in turn makes detailed exploration of the Burning Shores unappealing and cumbersome.

The plot itself, while being generally interesting and engaging, unfortuntely suffers from subpar pacing, which could accurately be described as "that escalated quickly". The finale excels with a spectacular boss fight and some good closure for the new characters, but the road there does feel a little bumpy. Overall, it is a solid DLC, but can't quite keep up with the quality of the main game.

Cyberpunk 2077 is pretty much a classic CD Projekt RED game in many ways, from its world to its quest design and narrative. But it's also a very capable action RPG and shooter. While it does seem to be cluttered with too many game mechanics, skill trees and loot types at first, all these different pieces start to fall into place as the game gives you enough time to get to grips with them before releasing you into the open world proper after the first act of the main story.

At that point, you may find yourself getting distracted from the overarching quests regularly to do mercenary work or one of the many larger side jobs. This rivalry between main and side missions, both trying to get your attention by telling you how urgent they are, is characteristic of almost every open world game, but CDPR once again shine with excellent writing of both side characters and narratives, which are arguably often more interesting than those of the main quests. So much so that when it comes to choosing between the two, it's easy to find yourself rather wanting to help a newfound friend than advancing in the overall plot. It's also worth noting that the major side storylines are being picked up again at the end of the campaign, so it's wise to stroll around Night City in between main quests to see what you might find.

And it's a good thing that there is usually one side quest or small gig to find at every second intersection because apart from them the metropolis of Night City feels incredibly empty. This is probably the one aspect that bothers me the most, where the actual game falls behind the promises made before launch. While streets and apartment blocks are usually bustling with NPCs, you only have to stop and watch them for a second or try to interact with them to see that everyone and everything in this city is not much more than backdrop and extras, meant to be quickly run through and shoved out of the way on your way to the next quest-bound point of interest. Night City is busy and feels completely lonely at the same time, and unfortunately not for the right reasons.

Nonetheless, if you ever wanted to play Cyberpunk 2077, now is pretty much the best time to do it. In late 2022 (patch 1.6 at the time of writing), most of its bugs are ironed out, new minor content and quality of life improvements have been added, and the hype that the recent release of the anime Edgerunners added (back) to the game really makes the catastrophic launch and all the controversies and broken promises around it seem to be a thing of the past.

I have been playing Cyberpunk 2077 for about one and a half years now, and saw it go through a lot of much-needed patches until the credits finally rolled over my screen today. Almost two years after the game's initial release, it now is a great distopian action RPG experience, if you manage to completely forget everything you know about the game up to this point, jump into it completely unbiased, and can forgive it not being the best gaming experience you ever had but instead expect a fun, intriguing, and often story-driven adventure.

Stray is a cozy "rainy Sunday afternoon" tale, which tries to stuff several different gameplay scenarios and mechanisms into its relatively short runtime, resulting in it not being able to properly utilise its strengths while making its weaknesses stand out more. Playing as a cat is a novel and exciting perspective, however it quickly becomes apparent that the little furball is not the centrepiece of this adventure, the narrative of which is unfortunately somewhat forgettable. Overall, it's still an enjoyable experience, but also leaves something to be desired, especially given the game's potential.

A true successor to the first game, Forbidden West takes one step further in basically every aspect of its design. Visuals, sound, acting, writing, and character development are all some of the best that video games have to offer right now. While it unfortunately suffers from some typical open-world issues that also feel like a somewhat negative evolution from Zero Dawn's playground, its qualities overall for sure outshine its flaws, and it will be exciting to see where the series will go from here.