Brilliant visuals, great music and unusual user interface will score points with people who like games that have a soul despite being very complex. However, to reach a broader audience, the developers would have to significantly improve the transparency of gameplay mechanics and iron out rough edges. [10/2021, p.40]

There’s a lot of gameplay ideas here but I’d rather the game was a half shorter, so that it would constantly surprise the player. [06/2020, p.45]

Due to repetitive gameplay Airborne Kingdom might not be the best city builder of 2020, but it definitely is one of the most interesting. Its mechanics nicely reflect the fact that your city floats in the air, but even though you need to consider the weight distribution and be careful not to tilt the whole thing, the game is easy and relaxing. [02/2021, p.37]

Doomsday is not as good as previous Deponias – not as funny (but still funny enough), considerably easier and heavier on mindless minigames. [05/2016, p.58]

Aliens: Fireteam Elite would really have been worth recommending if it had been more polished and offered more content. In its current state the game is definitely no Left 4 Dead, but it’s still pretty fun and you can give it a chance as you look out for a new Aliens vs. Predator. [11/2021, p.40]

It’s not the best Lego title, but it’s a fun game for a family friendly co-op (it does stutter a bit on PS4 in split-screen mode though). I was not very impressed, by my kid was over the moon. If you’ve already finished better Lego games (City, Hobbit, the latest Star Wars), you can pick up Ninjago – it will be fine, but nothing more. [13/2017, p.53]

For me the most important feature of this remaster is the inclusion of the optional chronological mode. It makes the story a bit less flashy but way easier to comprehend. [01/2016, p.65]

Steel Rats is built around a fun, refreshing concept, offers more than meets the eye and is varied enough to keep boredom at bay for the whole duration of the game, but could use better visuals and audio, and more creativity when it comes to enemies’ design. [01/2019, p.55]

There’s less content here than in many games in early access but everything is polished almost to perfection. Also, next to a spectacular shooter/slasher gameplay, there is an interesting story and universe here. [06/2020, p.50]

An interesting mix of a stealth game and a point’n’click adventure, set in the Wild West. As a six-year-old boy, you have to cleverly use the environment to escape from bandits and find out what happened to your mother. Enemy AI could be better and some minor technical issues spoiled the fun a bit, but every puzzle in the game can be solved in many ways, and that’s something I always welcome with open arms. El Hijo is a fairly easy but satisfying game that you can play with your kid, as there’s not a drop of blood here. [02/2021, p.40]

GreedFall won’t win over those who can’t stand certain gameplay half-measures and lack of polish but those who are not opposed to playing budget games should enjoy it just fine. [12/2019, p.44]

This sci-fi RPG with frequent turn-based battles and a hefty dose of repetitive puzzles offers a good story, an interesting combat system and decent voice acting. Sadly, everything else is mediocre, which, along with a considerable list of various bugs and flaws, made it impossible for the game to live up to its potential. [10/2021, p.46]

A calm, almost meditative game with no violence – something there should definitely be more of in the industry. Engages the player’s imagination more than anything else with its modest visuals, great ambient audio and a simple but engaging story. [06/2020, p.56]

The best idea for a game ever – an octopus must pretend to be human in front of its wife and kids. When it comes to the story it’s a great cartoon, amusing both to children and adults, but gameplay has some difficult moments and peculiar controls result in some odd bugs. [04/2014, p.62]

The Thaumaturge is a game of undeniable cultural value, and the opportunity to explore early 20th century Warsaw (realistic, but enriched with fantastic elements) alone made it worth my time. I wish I could tell you that the rest of the game – the story, the mechanics – is on par with the unique setting, but sadly, that’s not the case, as we’ve already seen all of it done much better elsewhere.

A minimalistic strategy/puzzle game, simple but inventive. [01/2016, p.71]

Contents of the original Saboteur! (1985) is just a prelude, as the game got about fivefold larger, having been expanded with new levels, enemies and traps. It does a great job at imitating various classic platforms (i.e. ZX Spectrum, Amiga) and although jerky animations and absence of a map get tiresome with time, Saboteur! still kicks ass and I enjoyed this nostalgic return to the first game I have ever finished. [01/2019, p.62]

The reinvigorated editions of the first three Final Fantasy games look great, run smoothly and offer some very welcome new features that modern audience expects (e.g. the auto-battle mode and auto-save). The new music arrangements done by Nobuo Uematsu himself are marvelous and the redrawn visuals are vibrant and full of details. Of course, these games are heavily outdated in terms of gameplay and storytelling, so their simplicity might discourage newcomers, but they are still a lot of fun and a great opportunity to experience the revered classics. [10/2021, p.50]

You will probably enjoy Tsioque if you bear in mind that it’s a two-hour (tops) classic animated film which sometimes needs you to do some light thinking and influence the story. A perfect plan for an evening with a kid. [01/2019, p.64]

The main goal of Haven is to relax you, and all gameplay mechanics work in harmony to help convey the beauty of living in a happy, trusting relationship. Exploring an alien planet indeed is calming, but monotony creeps in after a couple of hours. [02/2021, p.46]

Pac-Man World Re-PAC is a faithful remake of the 1999 platformer with all the strengths and weaknesses of the original (the former prevail). It’s a fun game with enjoyable graphics and almost no violence at all, so it’s a good choice for kids. However, grown-ups will enjoy it too, especially if they are nostalgic for Pac-Man.

Everything that was good in the original Dead Island and Riptide (like the combat system and the co-op) is still good in the new versions remastered with the Dying Light engine. Unfortunately everything that was bad (like the writing and repetitiveness) is still bad. [08/2016, p.59]

In its best moments Stygian really reminded me of the two original Fallout games but heavily spiced up with Lovecraftian horror. [12/2019, p.53]

I did not find The Last Wind Monk as thrilling as the first Inner World, because the effect of novelty has faded, but I still feel the need to recommend it to point’n’click lovers, especially those who enjoyed the original game. [13/2017, p.59]

It’s a well-made remaster but also one without which we could easily get by. Only for those who didn’t play the original game in the first place. [06/2020, p.58]

I fully recommend Orwell’s Animal Farm as a great way to familiarize oneself with the timeless novella. It lacks a lot as a game though, because the adaptation is completely faithful and therefore restricts the player’s freedom heavily. [02/2021, p.47]

Steelrising is completely different from what the fans of Spiders’ previous games could expect. It copies traditional soulslike mechanics but does stand out thanks to an interesting art direction and options that let you adjust the difficulty level to your liking. It should have been optimized better though, because the game’s visual quality does not justify its thirst for processing power.

Let’s Go, Eevee! is without a doubt a crucial step for the series. Or rather 18 steps back, 19 steps forward, and 15 steps sideways. It’s a remake of classic Pokémon games, although not a nostalgia trip for hardcore fans but rather a bridge for 147 million of Pokémon Go players – hence many elements were cut to simplify the gameplay. [01/2019, p.66]