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Photo: Sony
"Returnal"
The space pilot Selene crash lands on an alien planet full of beings who do not want her good.
She has to go through this terrible experience again, again and again.
In »Returnal« the players shoot their way through different areas, from the jungle to the desert, and are particularly careful not to be hit themselves.
Because if that happens too often, your life ends - and you have to crash-land again.
The game is a so-called rogue-like that lives from the fact that the players compete against the same opponents in several attempts - but use different strategies.
Along the way, in »Returnal« there is a story about memory loss and the pain of bringing back memories.
(Matthias Kreienbrink)
»Game studio«
This video game title really isn't attractive.
On the contrary: if you want to trigger a yawn, write something like “game studio” on the package.
However, that shouldn't put you off in the case of this Nintendo game.
Because if you are interested in the inner workings of games, this small toolbox gives you exciting insights into the secrets of game programming.
In an entertaining and understandable way, the players learn how opponents move, how cameras are placed so that they can always keep an eye on everything, how to create hidden spaces or build up obstacles.
»Spielestudio« uses simple means to bring a complex topic closer.
A real pearl.
(Carsten Görig)
"Resident Evil 8"
Ethan Winters doesn't have it easy.
In "Resident Evil 7" his hand was cut off and then sewn back on.
In the new part of the series he finds himself, certainly too lightly dressed, in a wintry village in Eastern Europe to save his kidnapped daughter.
Depending on the chosen level of difficulty, the players have to struggle with the inhabitants of this region as well as with a shortage of ammunition and a lack of cures.
"Resident Evil 8" lives from its varied backdrops and the extremely bizarre lords who preside over each area.
It rarely comes close to the horror of the first series parts.
But in its lustful absurdity, it's an even more entertaining game.
(Matthias Kreienbrink)
"Forza Horizon 5"
Rumor has it that there are people who don't like racing games and who don't care about cars.
But even they could be inspired by "Forza Horizon 5" by simply understanding the game as a vacation on the console.
Because the seemingly endless journeys through a Mexico - turned towards the holiday brochure - are simply fun, even without any depth of content.
Whether it's an exploration drive at the volcano or a trip to the coast, whether it's a desert race or an excursion to old temples: the game manages like no other to convey a feeling of automotive freedom.
(Carsten Görig)
"Death's Door"
A game that gives you the opportunity to control a soul-gathering crow?
You should definitely seize this opportunity.
"Death's Door" is a successful mixture of "Zelda" and "Dark Souls" - but manages to create its own identity in this intersection.
The players fight, roll and jump through carefully thought-out dungeons in order to finally, according to convention, face a fat boss.
They do all of this to get to the precious souls that our crows normally have to send to the afterlife from their desks in a laborious bureaucratic process.
»Death's Door« is challenging but never unfair.
It wants the players to be attentive - but never lose their sense of humor.
Eventually they control a soul-gathering crow.
(Matthias Kreienbrink)
"Life is Strange: True Colors"
Alex Chen grew up in a foster family and finds her brother again after years.
He lives, satisfied and relaxed, in a small mountain village that the players get to know and explore over the course of history.
But the joy of seeing each other does not last long.
The brother dies in an unexplained accident and from then on, Chen is driven to track down the cause.
In the usual "Life is Strange" manner, the players talk to the residents of the village, are faced with a number of sometimes more, sometimes less serious decisions and follow a story that they can influence themselves.
"True Colors" skillfully manages to bring an emotional depth into play that rarely drifts into kitsch.
At the end of the game, many are likely to ponder their own decisions - and then start over.
(Matthias Kreienbrink)
"It Takes Two"
Playing together: This is something that is important to the Swedish studio Hazelight.
The company founded by the director and actor Josef Fares has already released the second game after the action title "A Way Out" with "It Takes Two" that can only be played together.
The most fun is side by side on the sofa.
In the case of “It Takes Two”, you slip into two puppets and begin a kind of virtual couples therapy with the aim of getting the protagonists to reconcile.
That sounds more cerebral than it is, because as a duo you mainly have to overcome challenges together and solve small problems.
But maybe you will also take a few ideas for life together with you.
(Carsten Görig)
"Loop Hero"
Life can be dreary;
gray and cloudy in its perpetual repetition without a redeeming way out.
"Loop Hero" celebrates this state.
In a minimalistic pixel look, the players move in a circle.
What's more, they don't move themselves, they are moved.
If they meet opponents in the round, an automated fight begins.
And if the warrior is well equipped, the players win the battle.
Then they get new equipment and cards to display.
For example, forests, cemeteries or ghost castles are depicted on it, which have different effects on the game: They add new opponents, increase the chance of getting good items or maximize the players' vitality.
What sounds exhausting is as original as it is entertaining: "Loop Hero" thrives on the players' incentive to survive a few more laps next time.
Because it shows: If you can endure the dreariness, you will break it in the end.
(Matthias Kreienbrink)
"Deathloop"
Trapped in a time warp, two killers compete against each other.
One is supposed to break the loop that holds an island in the Nordic Sea captive on any given day.
His opponent wants to prevent that.
The result is one of the most unusual and best games of the year.
Although you play many scenes umpteen times and they always run the same, they are different every time.
With every little event that you change, with every task you complete, the island reveals more of its secrets and you find other ways to achieve your goals.
"Deathloop" is the newest game from the "Dishonored" developers.
You notice that at every corner of the game: in its complexity, in the attention to detail and in the depth of the game.
And because you can play »Deathloop« over and over again.
(Carsten Görig)
"Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart"
There aren't that many good reasons to buy a Playstation 5 (if you can find one at all): "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" is one of them.
The disarmingly friendly main character Ratchet experiences an adventure together with her Sidekick Clank, the meaning and background of which has been completely suppressed after half an hour at the latest.
Things explode, there is shooting, you travel seamlessly between time levels.
The cutscenes and the game action mesh seamlessly and take you into the game world.
None of this is particularly deep, but very good popcorn gaming.
(Carsten Görig)