A racing game, an endless runner, a pop album. Sayonara Wild Hearts is unique

The moment you start the game, you know it's going to be unique. MTV-esque vibes arise as you play through a pop album that consistently impresses. During this journey, you'll ride motorcycles, ride moose, skateboard, dance, shoot lasers, wield swords, and break hearts. All of this is designed as a true work of art. The game is divided into five chapters, each with its own boss. These are longer segments where the music takes center stage. What do you have to do? It's mostly simple: position your character correctly and use the A button when necessary. The impressive and well-crafted music sets the rhythm, and the stunning graphics provide a distraction. Everything happens at high speed, and that's where the tension lies. Will you make it in time or crash into that obstacle? It'll give you that adrenaline rush. Do things right, and you won't score bronze, but you might even get gold. Get gold everywhere, and you unlock a new game mode.

Within that tension, a powerful story unfolds about heartbreak, getting back up, and carrying on. The game is very short, very powerful, and can be finished in just a few hours. That deserves a place on the list of best games, too.

Ever wanted to be a refrigerator or a vending machine?

We all know Kirby. The pink blob who can suck up enemies and thus gain his powers. In this game, Kirby takes things a step further. Firstly, this is a true 3D game where you can move in any direction. Secondly, Kirby's suction power has been increased, allowing him to suck up many more things, such as objects. Think candy cabinets, traffic cones, and cars. Quite a leap forward.

And that's not all. Thanks to this game, Kirby has truly taken a leap in quality. While Kirby is always fun, simple, and enjoyable to play, it never lacks the underlying quality we know from Zelda, Mario, or even Donkey Kong. This Kirby changes that. Kirby can compete with the big boys. This game offers depth, challenge, and exploration. In this game, Kirby travels through dimensions and arrives on a post-apocalyptic planet that closely resembles planet Earth. Gone are the lollipop colors, and in come realistic buildings with vegetation. Everything seems to have been destroyed in the distant past. However, this planet isn't deserted. Animals have taken over and are immediately capturing the Waddle-Dees Kirby brought along. That's obviously not cool. It's up to Kirby to free them.

Each level in this game has multiple missions, tons of secrets, fun and tricky puzzles, collectibles, and power-ups. Where Kirby used to fly over almost all the challenges, now you have to truly explore, and that's incredibly fun. You learn to explore every corner of the world, you encounter bizarre power-ups, and you engage in battles like you've never done before. How about a mission where you have to defeat a boss without being hit or defending yourself? While Kirby always stood for simplicity and colors, this game is a different story. Fortunately, these more difficult missions aren't mandatory to complete the story. However, if you do want to reach 100%, you'll have to work hard.

Finally, there's a hub where you can enhance existing power-ups. This requires some effort, of course. Once you've collected enough Waddle-Dees, a weapon smith becomes available. He enhances your upgrades for a fee. You can only pay him once you've completed enough time challenges.

If you think there's nothing left of the familiar Kirby, you're wrong. This game is still 100% Kirby: familiar, fast-paced, charming, and still super simple in terms of story. But thanks to the challenges, completing it all has become much more fun, interesting, and challenging. A great game to let your child finish, after which you can continue playing the game to tackle all the challenges. Two for the price of one!

Minecraft, but better

Have we got your attention? Dragon Quest Builders is a branch of the Japanese story series Dragon Quest and focuses on building, which is very similar to Minecraft. The main difference is that Dragon Quest Builders combines the traditional Dragon Quest and the crafting known from Minecraft. So, while you're ultimately free, you also follow a vast story.

In Dragon Quest Builders, you're also guided through the building process, enabling you to do things with a purpose. Building is completely free, but to progress, you do need to achieve certain goals. Listen carefully to what's needed and ensure it's created so you can progress in the story. Why should you build? Well, there's only one builder left, and that's you. You have a forbidden profession. The bad guy has ensured that builders are blamed for the total destruction of the world. Besides building, you also have the noble task of convincing the inhabitants of your innocence. The rebuilding of the worlds can begin!

In the beginning, you'll receive a lot of help with the building aspect, and that's a good thing. Resources like wood, iron, steel, and gold are needed to build things. Soon, you'll be combining items to create defensive walls, rooms, doors, and entire buildings. Because you're a key part of the story, you'll receive instructions, primarily from the residents, on how and what to build. Think of it as a set of requirements for, say, a bedroom or a kitchen. This ensures you're building with a purpose. If you follow the instructions diligently, you'll soon see your first island grow into a beautiful village thanks to your efforts. That's what makes Dragon Quest Builders 2 truly charming. Can you picture it? A beautiful village, with satisfied residents, enriched with beautiful plantations of wheat, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables. It's the perfect life, and the residents agree. This will quickly increase the population, and almost every resident has a task or a wish. Happy residents lead to hearts, and if you've had enough, you can ring the bell. This bell signals that you're ready for further growth and new assignments and quests.

Another great thing is that you're not playing alone in this installment. You have help from Malroth, an NPC. He follows you everywhere and helps you gather resources and defeat enemies. This makes everything go twice as fast as in the first installment. The first installment is fantastic, by the way, so if you encounter him, don't miss out. Malroth is especially good at fighting, and strangely enough, you'll end up crafting strong weapons for him to ensure he can defeat enemies quickly. So Malroth seems like a huge asset, but as the game progresses, that changes...

Besides the story, exploring the world is a joy. Exploring this world is beautiful, exciting, and especially interesting because you'll encounter characters with questions or hidden treasures. Building, demolishing, and building communities works wonderfully in this game. This is one of those games where hours suddenly disappear, and you'll be staring at your Nintendo Switch with a smile.

Underrated gem

The developers of this game are credited with developing Metal Gear Rising and Bayonetta, among others. So, when it comes to action games, they're certainly no novices. In Astral Chain, you're immediately introduced to Platinum's definition of an action game: raw, over-the-top, bizarre, fast-paced, complex, and unique.

In Astral Chain, the world as you know it is all but wiped out. What's left lives on the Ark, a gigantic spaceship. You're an agent and a member of Neuron. Neuron agents have an additional task: they deal with the Chimera. Chimera is an alien race that's not exactly the friendliest. Fortunately, they can be tamed, and tamed Chimeras are called Legions, and this is the only weapon we have to defeat the Chimera. A Legion is connected to an agent via a so-called Astral Chain. Think of it like a dog leash. This structure gives a battle three elements: the Legion, the connected agent, and the astral chain, which you must monitor. As an agent, you use an X-baton, which can change shape with the press of a button (pistol, large sword, small sword). There are five different Legions you can use, each with significant differences, such as a Legion that primarily uses its claws versus one that engages in battle with actual weapons. You can summon a Legion at any time during a battle, and it will then attack automatically. It would be ideal if this could be done as often and for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that's not possible. Deploying a Legion is limited, so you'll have to make choices. The Legion is always connected by a chain (the astral chain); this chain keeps the Legion in check, but you can also deploy it in combat, for example, to paralyze enemies by wrapping it around them. You can use this to effectively keep enemies at a distance or hold them back. The three components can be combined extensively, and experimenting with them is rewarding.

Besides all the fighting and applying new styles and tactics, as an agent you also have to investigate. Each chapter also contains 'red' and 'blue' cases. The red cases are necessary to progress through the story, while the blue cases are optional missions. A true gamer will naturally go for both cases. Think of these cases as small puzzles connected to the environment or even riddles that need to be solved. These cases help you to thoroughly explore the environment and contribute to your connection with the world in which the game takes place. Here too, you sometimes have to use your Legion to solve a case, but not for fighting.

The story, combat system, and graphics are fresh. The alternation between action and investigation is nice. It also keeps your heart rate at a steady pace. If you're looking for an action game on the Switch, Atral Chain is one of the best available.

A game from a smaller developer that turned the world upside down. Hades II is the sequel to Hades, which is also available on the Nintendo Switch and is also a fantastic game. Hades is about the underworld. Who would have expected that with a name like that? You can't finish this game in one sitting; that's not how the underworld works. That's practically impossible.

The concept is such that you have to do dozens, if not hundreds, of runs to experience the story, to grow, and to progress. With each run, you learn a little more and can upgrade your character (provided your run was good enough). The upgrades are permanent, so they are always available from the moment you purchase them. And you'll definitely need those upgrades. Runs vary enormously in content; there are various paths, plenty to explore, more than enough to collect, and then there are those insane bosses.

So with each run, you gradually learn more about the fantastic story. And so, step by step, you also get closer to the end. Finished the game? We'll grant you dozens more runs like this, because you'll see they're different too. Visually, this game is no joke either. The underworld is beautiful, and Supergiant's art style is fantastic. Every frame looks like a painting. Add to that the fitting, phenomenal music and the top-notch voice acting. That voice acting is truly remarkable. Every character seems to have an infinite amount to say. No two dialogues are the same. If you die on the second boss, the characters know that too, and the conversation is adapted accordingly. Conversations are often hilarious, sometimes sparking romance. These conversations deepen relationships and help keep each run unique. It never gets boring.

Hades II improves on the original, which was already a fantastic game. Hades II offers more on every front: graphics, music, characters, storyline, gameplay. Supergiant has completely refined the formula. For fans of roguelike games, this is heaven. We call this game an essential experience.