After nearly a decade off the courts, the Mario Tennis series returns on the Nintendo Switch 2 with a different approach and it's disapointing. Unlike previous entries, which balanced solid tennis gameplay with fun, arcade-style elements, Mario Tennis Fever isn’t really about precision or timing anymore. It’s immediate, flashy, and chaotic, with frenzied rackets and over-the-top effects designed to get laughs (or frustration) rather than reward skill.The downside is that this focus on spectacle comes at the expense of balance. Some powers feel overpowered, defense is limited, and the depth that made Mario Tennis Aces satisfying is largely gone. Online matches can quickly feel repetitive, even frustrating. The Adventure mode doesn’t help: short, overly wordy, and heavy on tutorials, it feels more like a drawn-out lesson than a proper solo campaign.Fortunately, the game’s overall content softens the blow. A generous roster, dozens of rackets, mini-games, and multiple modes keep the experience lively—but after eight years of waiting, it still feels a little light.
With Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom isn’t trying to tear everything down and start from scratch. This isn’t a radical reinvention, but rather a highly self-aware synthesis of everything the series has experimented with over the past thirty years. It’s an anniversary entry that clearly looks back, embraces its fan service, yet still tries to move forward. In short, it feels like a best-of, but a thoughtful one, not a lazy collage. For years, the series has swung between two extremes: pure, suffocating horror and explosive, over-the-top action. Here, instead of awkwardly blending both into a single gameplay style, the game makes a much smarter choice: it separates these two energies into two complementary characters. On one side, Grace Ashcroft embodies vulnerability, fear, and constant tension. On the other, Leon S. Kennedy represents control, power, and that charismatic, unstoppable force pushing forward without hesitation. On paper, this could have created imbalance,even a rupture in the game’s rhythm. But in practice? It works surprisingly well.
With Nioh 3, Team NINJA delivers its most ambitious entry to date, and easily its most divisive. In an effort to modernize the formula and appeal to a wider audience, the studio shifts toward open areas inspired by games like Elden Ring. The downside is that this evolution comes at the cost of the series’ core identity. At its best, Nioh 3 is still a combat juggernaut. The fighting system is incredibly deep, the Samurai/Ninja duality is a smart and satisfying addition, and the sheer variety of builds, weapons, and playstyles is impressive. Few games in the genre reward skill, experimentation, and long-term commitment quite like it does. Unfortunately, the open-field structure never truly comes together. Exploration feels flat, enemy and asset reuse is hard to ignore, the story lacks impact, and the overall presentation feels dated, especially by 2026 standards. In the end, Nioh 3 is a great fit for hardcore fans who come for the combat and the challenge, but it’s unlikely to win over players looking for a striking open world, a memorable story, or a strong visual showcase.
Metroid Prime 4 Beyond feels torn between old and new. After nearly twenty years of waiting, you’d expect a bold comeback, but the game never fully commits to its ideas. It tries to modernize (more action, more dialogue, a wider world), yet keeps clinging to old habits, resulting in something unsure of itself. The empty desert hub, the awkward motorbike, and the constant over-explaining don’t help. There are good moments, and you can see the potential, but they get buried under technical compromises and repetitive design. In the end, it’s not a bad game, just a disappointing one ; fine for newcomers, but far from the glorious return fans hoped for.
It’s not the first time Link and Zelda step into Musou territory, but it’s the first time the whole thing actually feels good to play. The Switch 2 finally gives the genre the power it needed: big battles, smooth framerate, and that guilty pleasure of slicing through hordes of enemies without the game falling apart. Add a story that fills in gaps between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, and the experience is surprisingly engaging. The downside is that the game sticks a bit too tightly to the Musou formula. Missions repeat themselves, objectives feel predictable, and the RPG layer barely adds anything. A few fun ideas (team attacks, character swapping, shoot’em-up moments) don’t fully break the routine. And visually, it’s uneven: the game runs great, but flat textures, aliasing, and blurry 720p cutscenes make it look more like a late Switch 1 title than a true Switch 2 showcase. In the end, Hyrule Warriors: Chronicles of the Sceal is a solid, enjoyable Musou with plenty of Zelda lore, but it’s still a conservative entry. Fun as a stress-reliever and nice for fans, just not essential.
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 sadly highlights the limits of a franchise that once defined multiplayer FPS excellence but now feels exhausted by its relentless annual cycle. Rushed production is obvious: the single-player campaign, once the series’ emotional core, is chaotic, blending robots, zombies, mutant plants, and hallucinogenic gas, with no checkpoints, no pause, and mandatory online connection. It’s less a true solo campaign than a co-op multiplayer dressed up with a few cutscenes...The endgame is equally disappointing: flat maps, weak enemy AI, and powers that quickly lose appeal make it feel shallow compared to ARC Raiders or Battlefield 6. Multiplayer is uneven, innovations like wall-jumping and omni-movement can be fun, but cramped maps, frantic action, and unbalanced mechanics drag the experience down. Some modes, like Surcharge, bring strategy, and removing SBMM helps, but they can’t mask the lack of real evolution...Zombies mode expands combat and maps but remains forgettable, while Dead Ops Arcade 4 is just a fleeting diversion. Black Ops 7 isn’t unplayable, but it’s rushed and uninspired. Die-hard fans may enjoy a few sessions with friends, but most players will likely turn to more polished competitors like Battlefield 6 or ARC Raiders.
So, what can we take away from this Nintendo Switch 2 re-release of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2? First and foremost: these games remain absolute masterpieces of 3D platforming. Eighteen years after the first installment, their level design is still a model of clarity and creativity. Every galaxy, every mechanic, every jump is perfectly calibrated to delight without frustrating the player. The magic still works, and the emotion remains intact. However, when it comes to the port itself, the disappointment is hard to ignore. This is essentially just a 4K/60fps polish, a cosmetic texture cleanup, and compatibility with both the Switch and Switch 2, nothing more. No 3D model overhauls, no new lighting effects, no significant additional content. Rosalina’s Storybook and the assist mode are nice touches, but they feel anecdotal compared to what you’d expect for a 40th-anniversary celebration. And the price, €70, is particularly steep for a duo that doesn’t include any real expansions or “next-gen” remastering. There’s a slight feeling of incompleteness, or even deliberate laziness, which the most demanding fans will notice immediately. If you’ve never played these two galaxies before, dive in, they’re pure joy. But if you already know them, it might be wiser to wait for a sale rather than support Nintendo’s new pricing approach.
Pokémon Legends Z-A is a game that tries to shake up the franchise with some interesting ambitions, but unfortunately, the technical and artistic resources don’t keep up. Between a fresh urban setting that is poorly utilized, a struggling graphics engine, and archaic level design, the open-world experience is disappointing and fails to convince. The streets are empty, the buildings are rudimentarily cloned, flat textures and constant clipping make the city of Illumis feel like a cardboard movie set.Yet, not everything is bad. The real highlight of this episode is the real-time combat. Abandoning the classic turn-based system is a risky move, but here the gameplay gains pace and tension. Positioning, timing, and strategy take center stage, while the variety of attacks and the reintroduction of Mega Evolutions add tactical depth.On the other hand, all other aspects of the game fall short: the story is somewhat flat, side quests are repetitive and uninspired, and the overall art direction suffers from a glaring lack of personality. In the end, the game feels like an ambitious prototype, limited by an outdated graphics engine and insufficient resources. Younger players and long-time fans of the franchise will find enjoyment here, but for adult or more demanding players, the experience remains frustrating. It’s clear the franchise has potential to evolve, but Game Freak needs to seriously invest in its tools and design to deliver a truly modern Pokémon open-world game.
After a Battlefield 2042 that left many players disappointed, Electronic Arts did what was needed to make amends. The result is a Battlefield 6 of remarkable quality, whether in its single-player campaign or its multiplayer experience. EA’s military FPS finally regains its identity, with the return of the saga’s iconic classes, massive battles, partially destructible environments that are downright satisfying and strategically meaningful, and that constant sense of intense warfare. Sure, the single-player campaign may be less scripted and explosive than a Call of Duty in terms of narrative, but Battlefield 6 excels in pure gameplay, freedom, and the feeling of total war. The Frostbite engine delivers a visual punch, maps are cleverly designed, gunplay is satisfying, and the in-hand feel of the controls is incredible. Of course, it’s not perfect: the French voice-over is uneven and mandatory (as there’s no original English option unless you change your console’s language), and some script, collision, and animation bugs still linger here and there. But compared to a Call of Duty that has started to feel a bit repetitive, Battlefield returns stronger, more intense, and more coherent than ever. You can feel the passion and dedication behind Battlefield 6, along with a genuine desire to win back the hearts of disappointed fans. As for us, we came away completely convinced.
Expectations were sky-high for Silent Hill f, a true new entry in a series that’s been dormant far too long. Konami trusted Taiwanese studio Neobards Entertainment, and the result is stunning visually and technically, with bold choices like 1960s Japan and more action. The writing is subtle and sharp, making the game feel unique and ambitious. But the gameplay lets it down. It’s clunky, slow, and frustrating, with too many tedious fights, a poorly designed stamina system, and puzzles that feel overcomplicated. The potential is huge, yet the execution keeps you from fully enjoying it. In the end, it’s a polarizing game: impressive and daring in style, but clumsy to play. One step forward, two steps back. Silent Hill deserves better than a beautiful shell hiding rusty mechanics.
