Gothic 1 Remake and Mortal Shell 2 Beta reviews — the most interesting articles of the week

Here is a digest of last week’s coverage on the gaming industry.

• 10 iconic games from 1996. These titles from the industry’s golden age still offer the focused gameplay and distinct personality often missing in current AAA blockbusters.
• 10 popular demos from the Steam Next Fest. We look at a mix of unconventional experiments, promising indie debuts, and projects that might have benefited from more development time behind closed doors.
• Killer Bean struggles with repetition. The shooter launched in early access with a two-year roadmap, but its core loop currently suffers from a lack of variety.
• Can GAMEOVERSE succeed The Amazing Digital Circus. We analyze the new series from GLITCH and how the studio’s support helped relaunch this universe.
• Gothic 1 Remake: a legend reborn. After spending 90 hours with the game, we examine its strengths and weaknesses while highlighting specific changes that may alienate longtime fans of the series.
• Mortal Shell 2 impressions. The sequel feels significantly faster and more brutal than its predecessor, suggesting the developers addressed the primary criticisms aimed at the original title.