Xenoblade Chronicles 3 perfectly combines threads from previous instalments while remaining welcoming to newcomers. It’s based on very enjoyable combat mechanics and offers an interesting world to explore, but it’s a shame that dated graphics and intrusive invisible walls make it look like it was released a few years ago. I’m also disappointed that the developers decided to stick to what worked well twice before instead of making a step forward that the series could use.

Four years later swinging across the city is still an awesome experience and combat inspired by the Batman series remains fun. However, today I was more annoyed by numerous and tedious Ubi game-like side activities, some of which are necessary to upgrade Spidey. The PC version looks great with graphical settings maxed out on a powerful machine, but I came across some minor technical issues.

Even though it has no action sequences and lacks tension characteristic for modern TV series, I found South of the Circle to be more engrossing than As Dusk Falls. This narrative game turns out to be more ambiguous than it seems, and uniquely tells a wonderful tale using distinctive art style and a setting that sets it apart from other love stories.

Eyes in the Dark is a small but feisty mix of a roguelite and a 2D platformer. It’s atmosphere, art style and engaging gameplay make up for the lack of originality and not the best controls (controller highly recommended!).

I fell in love with this highly addictive gem after just a couple of turns. If you don’t mind that it was created with RPG Maker and looks like a decades-old relic, if you’re able to turn a blind eye to poor enemy AI and you’re willing to give the story time to really get going, you’ll probably lose track of time. Just like I did when I spent 16 hours with Symphony of War just on the first day with it.

Kaiju Wars is a fantastic title for the fans of old-school strategy games and kaiju movies. The best turn-based tactics game I’ve played this year offers tons of content with a long story mode at the center, exciting combat, stylish visuals and excellent soundtrack.

MADiSON borrows a lot from lamented P.T., obviously Visage was also a source of inspiration, but you can’t say the game lacks its own identity. It’s actually one of the best horror games of recent years. It tells a gripping story, does a great job at building tension, randomizes jump scares, offers interesting puzzles, looks good and sounds fantastic. On the downside, it tormented me with incessant backtracking and annoyed with strictly limited inventory space.

Rogue Mage lacks the scope and ambition of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, but despite that provides lots of fun thanks to its addictive, well-balanced gameplay. It’s also a great way to get acquainted with Gwent.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak focuses on introducing new content and does not offer substantial changes or improvements in gameplay mechanics. It was made for players who have spent dozens of hours in Monster Hunter Rise and provides a reasonable challenge, but I was annoyed by the fact that some quests look like they were copied from the base game. Also be aware that, unlike the latter, Sunbreak lacks single-player content.

It’s a good effort to introduce the series to a new generation of gamers. Beautiful music and an accessible difficulty level should guarantee time pleasantly spent for anyone who feels like jumping around a bit, especially younger kids (naïve story and childish art style might annoy older players) and those who are new to video games.

Endling: Extinction Is Forever is not only a beautiful, touching and important game, but also a unique one, as you control a mother fox, the last of its kind, trying to keep its cubs alive in a world devastated by humans. The problem is, Endling’s gameplay loop is painfully repetitive and the game begins to get boring about halfway through.

Stray is a melancholic game that tells a simple story about a cat lost in a world of robots pretending to be humans. The feeling of solitude is magnified by nostalgic music that captures the mood of the moment well and beautiful environments cloaked in twilight. I liked the cat’s perspective and enjoyed snooping around the underground city, but weird jump mechanics made exploring a bit harder than it should be.

As Dusk Falls is an engrossing interactive crime drama with memorable characters. The art style and voice acting are great and the well-written, complex story branches out depending on your choices (which are meaningful, not illusory!), making the game worthy of replaying. I recommend giving As Dusk Falls a try instead of binge-watching a show on a streaming platform, but I suggest you launch the game early in the evening, because once you start it, it’s really hard to turn off the console until the end credits roll after 6-7 hours.

LOUD is very polished and offers light, quick gameplay perfect for a handheld. I’ll be surely coming back to improve my score on some levels, but due to the game’s disappointingly simple story and bland songs the primary feeling I was left with was the urge to dust off DJ Hero.

Mario Strikers: Battle League Football relies too heavily on whether you fall in love with the core gameplay. Because there’s not much else here, you can either consider it a highlight of the year, or a really mediocre entry in Next Level Games’ track record.

The vibe of a decade long gone was not enough to make me happy. There were moments when I had genuine fun, but almost every one of them was quickly spoiled by dubious design choices, terrible AI or one of many other flaws.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, one of the best musou games of recent years, is Omega Force’s return to form and a title that should make Fire Emblem fans nostalgic. If you enjoyed the turn-based original, you’ll probably appreciate Three Hopes too.

The Delicious Last Course offers more of what we loved about Cuphead, namely challenging, brilliantly designed boss battles and wonderful animations. It also introduces a third playable character and a handful of new equipment. I only wish the expansion was much longer – after all, it spent four years in development.

As an RPG with roguelite elements and tactical turn-based combat, The Hand of Merlin doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but is engaging and quite pretty. It’s a shame that its feeble story squanders the potential of Arthurian legend. The game is also surprisingly short and can be completed in 4-6 hours, provided that you’re not forced to start over after losing the entire party. However, randomized elements and the ability to chose your path make The Hand of Merlin replayable.

F1 22 is one of the best racing games on the market, especially when it comes to the career mode. I’m also happy with the VR support, but putting so much emphasis on supercars and cosmetic items is a step in the wrong direction.

This interesting free-to-play shooter set on an intriguing alien planet can be immensely satisfying or (more often) painfully frustrating depending on how you fare and how well you manage your equipment and finances in the face of losing everything you’re carrying upon death.

Fans of Outriders should be happy with Wordslayer, as it’s still a very enjoyable shooter and the expansion’s story, while silly, does its job of motivating you to push forward. It’s a shame that it ends so quickly and the endgame – while slightly improved over the base game – probably won’t engage you for very long.

Neon White is a brilliant, immensely satisfying and stylish hybrid of an FPS and a platformer. It’s gameplay is crazy fast, the level design is stellar, and although the game takes place in Heaven, it’s devilishly addictive. It’s one of the best games of 2022, no doubt in my mind about it.

Although it’s not very impressive as far as graphics are concerned, this old-school tactical RTS is a game that all fans of Paul Verhoeven’s "Starship Troopers” are going to enjoy.

Zorro: The Chronicles is a fossil from the PS2 era, a painfully repetitive and tedious game with awfully basic stealth mechanics and barely competent action sequences.

Released 16 years after The Guild 2, the third entry in the series disappoints. Dated graphics, simplified gameplay, unintuitive interface and various other flaws greatly diminish its substantial potential. The Guild 3 spent six years in Early Access and judging by its state, it should have spent there an additional year or two.

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is a great movie and an engaging detective game. The story is its strongest point and even though not all deductions seemed well-grounded to me and gameplay mechanics resemble simple jigsaw puzzle, solving the mystery gave me a lot of satistaction.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is what happens when passionate developers and artists set out to create a “worker simulator”. Blackbird Interactive came up with a fantastic idea for a game, made it real using an excellent physics engine and wrapped the whole thing in stunning graphics.