What do you do when your beloved game series – in this case Harvest Moon – keeps disappointing you? You make your own game, better in every aspect. Every moment spent with Stardew Valley is magical. It’s the Harvest Moon I’ve been waiting for my whole life. [06/2016, p.62]

Faster and more fluent – is there anything else to wish for, especially that the game itself is still amazing? Actually, the Special Edition has much more going for it, including a new difficulty level, new rendering modes (up to 4K 30 fps with ray tracing), and the ability to play as Vergil. Sadly, the new character doesn’t come with his own levels. I also need to point out fps drops in the 120 Hz mode, and lackluster use of DualSense’s features. [02/2021, p.48]

The Last of Us Part I is the best way to experience the wonderful story initially told in 2013. However, the original game, and especially its remaster, stood the test of time really well, so it’s difficult to justify remaking it so soon without substantial improvements to the gameplay and selling it at this price.

The game tells intriguing stories and leaves room for interpretation but is short, linear and devoid of true tension. [07/2017, p.60]

War of the Chosen introduces tons of new mechanics along with various improvements. It refreshes the original game so thoroughly that the campaign is truly worth replaying and the whole package deserves to be called XCOM 2.5. [11/2017, p.36]

Dusk does a decent job at recreating elements that were fun in Doom, Quake or Wolfenstein 3D, but as a whole it lacks a direction other than being a love letter to classic FPS games, a homage assembled out of components that do not always fit together well. [02/2019, p.42]

Great first impression fades away dispelled by primitive run-of-the-mill dungeon designs and the fact that instead of raising the difficulty level by clever enemy designs the game just throws more foes and buffs at you. [13/2016, p.82]

Monster Hunter Wilds is a no-brainer for dedicated fans of the the series, but it may also appeal to fans of... hack'n'slash games, provided they can ditch the isometric view, battles with dozens of enemies and dark fantasy atmosphere in favour of epic duels and a full-on Japanese feel.

Modern Warfare 3 deserves a 10/10 in a 'Call of Duty game' category, but we already know all its tricks, strengths and weaknesses. Some of the series' elements were successfully recreated in other titles but none has gathered them all on one disc yet – and this is why MW3 still wins. [December 2011, p.38]

Dishonored could well have been the fourth installment of the Thief series, but there are also traces of BioShock and Half-Life 2 here and there. If you compare it to these paragons it's a bit disappointing, but it still shines among this year's games. [12/2012, p.60]

We waited a whole year for the PC and PS3 versions of Limbo, but it was worth it – it's a pearl one in a million. Games like this just don't age. [September 2011, p.69]

An excellent therapeutic tool and a thoughtful study of the human psyche, allowing those affected to get back on their feet and everyone else to understand how complicated it can be to function after sexual trauma.

It’s the best racing game on smartphones. Simply brilliant. [11/2015, p.65]

No revolution here, but still it’s an absolute must-have for every Wii U owner. [08/2014, p.68]

Who could have expected such absurdly high quality from a level editor? [11/2015, p.62]

It doesn’t look too good and cartoony visuals suggest shallow gameplay but it’s one of the best space sims and one of those indie gems that focus on creativity and playability rather than technical aspects. [07/2015, p.56]

Mewgenics is a game with character that could share its content with many other games and still have plenty left over. If you give it a chance, it will keep you entertained for hours. I recommend it not only to cat lovers.

One of the best platformers is now more accessible (but even the lowest difficulty setting can be frustrating) and introduces a new area and two new useful skills. The Definitive Edition is a great opportunity to catch up if you haven’t played this amazing game (and you really should!), but also a good reason to revisit Nibel. [06/2016, p.59]

In terms of story (ambitious and mature) Automata blows every other AAA title from last couple of years out of the water, which evens out the fact that action sequences are no match for Bayonetta. I might have rated the new Zelda 10/10, but Nier will stay in my memory longer. [05/2017, p.50]

The game did not age a bit while it awaited its PS4 release. It’s still fantastic and looks stunning. [13/2016, p.71]

I adore A Way Out, so I had really high expectations for Hazelight’s new game. Instead of sticking to the proven, perfect formula of AWO, the developers decided to give us more of everything and as a result overdid it in many respects. The levels are too long and there are too many minigames, while the story can’t keep up. It seemed to me the narrative is just a pretext to introduce as many different gameplay mechanics as possible, and as a result the relationship between the protagonists is implausible. [05/2021, p.26]

There’s a lot borrowed or just slightly expanded upon what we saw in The Blind Forest in the game mechanics. Plus, the developers released the sequel with a bit too many glitches and bugs in it. Apart from that, though, it is still an utterly fantastic title. [05/2020, p.42]

Pentiment is one of the most intelligent and most engaging adventure games I have ever played. Just like Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”, Obsidian’s masterpiece intertwines crime mystery with historical, theological and personal threads and embeds all that in a very believable portrayal of human relations. I’m convinced this brilliant game will be remembered for decades to come.

All the distinguishing features of the series – the Templars, parkour and brutal assassinations – are here, but now they are not the core, they are just elements of the best pirate game ever, of a Red Dead Redemption at sea. [13/2013, p.52]

There’s a scene in Left Behind proving that Naughty Dog not only has ambition to elevate games to the rank of art form, but simply does it. [05/2014, p.64]

It offers a very good story and vast freedom of action and lets you dispose of enemies in various, often sophisticated ways. But there's more – tropical islands with their intriguing mysteries, superb acting, crafting, additional challenges and broad possibilities of character development. This game is everything Far Cry 2 was supposed to be. [CD-Action 1/2013, p.38]

Insomniac made us wait long for new Ratchet & Clank adventures but it was worth it. Looking like a Pixar movie, Rift Apart is the first truly next-gen title and the first proper reason to buy a PS5. It is absolutely stunning in almost every aspect – from guns and story to optimization and use of adaptive triggers. It’s a pity though that inter-dimensional portals were not used to their full potential, and both playable characters (the second one being the female lombax Rivet) differ only in appearance. [08/2021, p.28]

Rogue Legacy 2 is simply a bigger version of the original, with art style being the only significant difference. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a stellar roguelite with lots of natural charm and unique humor.