12 hour long expansion almost as good as the original game. [12/2015, p.42]

I had a lot of questions in my head when I launched Bayonetta 2 for the first time. Is it possible to design a combat system as awesome as before, make it familiar, but not hackneyed? Is it possible to outshine the closing moments of the first game? The sequel needed just a couple of minutes to dispel all my concerns. [Dec 2014, p.62]

Everything about Dark Souls III is great, but it fails to push the series forward. Bloodborne and both previous Souls squash it in terms of ambition. DkS3 is like a compilation album by your favorite band – you enjoy listening to it because you love these songs despite having heard them so many times before, but there’s no room for even a tiniest surprise. [06/2016, p.34]

Daemonhunters is basically XCOM in Warhammer’s clothing. While it has little in common with the original Chaos Gate, it will measure up to the expectations of most fans of turn-based tactics games.

Anyone who dreamed of exploring Skyrim on the go or during prolonged toilet sessions, will instantly forgive a slight downgrade needed to ensure fluidity (the game almost always runs at 30 fps). Apart from some visual trade-offs and a bit of exclusive Nintendo content (e.g. Link’s outfit) it’s the same game you know and possibly love. [01/2018, p.50]

SteamWorld Build will not push you up against the wall and leave you shaken like Frostpunk or grip you for hundreds of hours like Anno. Its ambitions are smaller, but it’s a beautiful, easy-to-digest and highly polished little simulation that will keep you captivated from the beginning to the slightly hollow end.

Don’t let your judgment be clouded by other people’s opinions influenced by terrible server problems they encountered when ArcheAge was launched. It’s a really good, beautiful game. [Dec 2014, p.76]

A truly next-gen game that I will invest dozens of hours in. You will not find another shooter like Battlefield 4, so complex, with such verve and so full of goodies. [13/2013, p.40]

House Flipper 2 is a very good sequel that fixes most of its predecessor’s flaws by offering more elaborate gameplay, an excellent sandbox mode, and better graphics. I’d be completely over the moon if it weren’t for some technical issues, annoying new painting mechanics, and the fact that assembly was relegated to a separate minigame.

Inspired by the works of Giger and Beksiński, Scorn is a visual masterpiece that will leave you uneasy, feeling defiled, possibly horrified. And worst of all – it will probably make you brood over uncomfortable things. It’s simply not a game everyone will enjoy. It will discourage some by exceeding the limits of good taste. Others will be too goal-oriented to take in the atmosphere, intellectually engaged in solving puzzles so much they’ll miss their consequences, too excited by encountering enemies to notice their weapons have an umbilical cord. But I’m sure some will appreciate Ebb Software’s captivating creation deeply.

FIFA 15 was a huge disappointment for me and instead of playing it for a year (like I used to do with previous renditions) I buried it on the shelf right after I finished a bitter review. FIFA 16 showed up at my door with flowers and we worked things out. Casual gamer may not notice all the tweaks (i.e. more responsive defenders and better AI), but for me they were invaluable as they helped to rebalance the gameplay and made the game enjoyable again. [12/2015, p.50]

Cities: Skylines 2 meets most of the expectations, it is addictive and gives you incentives to keep coming back. It’s an impressive new standard for the genre, essentially an ultimate city builder with a great potential to become even better. However, there’s a fly in the ointment, namely some graphical glitches, poor optimization, and balance issues involving a couple of features.

The sequel revived my faith in point’n’click games by proving that we do not have to settle for run-of-the-mill dialogues and flat characters. King Art is a seriously talented studio that could make a game about a snail crossing the street and still make me laugh regularly. [04/2015, p.54]

FM 2014 unnecessarily tries to be two games in one. Instead of investing in the intentionally limited Classic mode, the developer should work on increasing the role of the assistants in the primary mode. Changes in the tactics system are sensible, but would be more valuable if the game did a better job at explaining what all the options mean and what the consequences of using them are. [13/2013, p.50]

One of those games that truly deserves the reputation of a cult classic. [03/2014, p.76]

My first experience with Control was underwhelming due to my base PS4 not being powerful enough to do this great game justice. Now I wish I waited for the next-gen version. The Ultimate Edition finally looks and runs as it should (however, if you want ray tracing, you’ll have to accept 30 FPS) and also offers two expansions that tie the story to Alan Wake. [04/2021, p.34]

It’s not just the best game set in Warhammer 40,000 universe we’ve seen in years, but also the best modern space strategy. I need to warn you though – it is brutally difficult. [06/2016, p.48]

Insomniac Games did not just remake this classic platformer. They boldly bombarded it with ideas and then rebuilt it pixel by pixel using methods unknown 13 years ago. The result is magnificent. [06/2016, p.50]

It’s a tiny masterpiece, a merciless, brilliant mockery targeted at gamers, developers and the whole video games business. [02/2016, p.47]

Gnosia is a fascinating and extraordinarily engaging game. It’s based on written word and static illustrations but it engrossed me much more than any AAA title. [06/2021, p.62]

Arceus is the boldest revolution and the biggest leap in quality in the history of the main Pokémon game series. We’ve been waiting for some of the changes since the last couple years, while other are surprising – but all are welcome. I hope they remain in the series, because return to the old ways would be hard to bear.

As all of us I would like games to be ambitious, unconventional, surprising and thought inspiring. But sometimes I just want to blow stuff up and this intense, good looking traditional twin stick shooter satisfies this need perfectly. [November 2011, p.82]

The developer failed to eradicate all the bugs from the previous game but it doesn’t change the fact that Enemy Within can be honestly recommended both to veterans and those who want to check out a tactical turn-based game for the first time. [13/2013, p.62]

It might look like a Gunpoint clone but instead of stealth you have to rely on your swordmanship in turn-based combat sequences. [09/2015, p.49]

Royal Court is the expansion that all fans of Crusader Kings III have been waiting for. It improves the flawed aspects of the base game and introduces a range of new mechanics – not all of them are as engaging as the titular court, but all of them make the life of a medieval monarch far more interesting.

Sifu is a soulslike beautifully translated into the language of beat ‘em ups. Yes, the protagonist will die hundreds of times, but remarkably fluent combat system, a multitude of surprises, attractive visuals and terrific music will keep hardcore fans of either genre glued to the screen.

An highly enjoyable variation on a template we already know. We had the right to be worried that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is going to be just a cash grab, because it’s been just two years since XCX, but the developers managed to build another huge, wonderful world and endow the game with its own identity. [01/2018, p.58]

This is how you restore a classic game – it’s old school, but with modern presentation and some great ideas. [13/2013, p.66]