Ignoring Sucker for Love: First Date would be a huge loss. It’s the best dating sim I’ve ever played and potentially the game of the year. It perfectly blends comedy and horror, features phenomenal voice acting and truly funny dialogues, and offers multiple endings. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Unlike Dynasty Warriors 9 released in 2018, Empires focuses mainly on free play. Battles took the form of conquering enemy fortresses – it’s a breath of fresh air, but the AI copes with this new premise poorly. The graphics are disappointing as well, but despite many flaws the game is highly addictive.

A perfect finale to the Warhammer trilogy. It will entertain not only the fans of the Old World, but everyone who appreciates the Total War series and is eager to experience battle on a truly epic scale.

Three years later Dead Cells is still an excellent, highly enjoyable game that hasn’t aged a bit. The Queen & The Sea DLC is a solid set of additions that will make you especially happy if you’re into tough challenges and creating perfect character builds.

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.

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.

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.

Strange Horticulture is a puzzle game where you identify plants and mushrooms for the clients of your herbal store and explore the map following the clues. It’s a game for you if you don’t mind staring at one screen or browsing a swelling botanical handbook – especially if you enjoyed Potion Craft.

Elden Ring is a crowning achievement of over a decade of Miyazaki’s and FromSoftware’s work, and an amazing example of how to find a whole new level of fun in a well-known and somewhat worn-out formula. The open world turned out to be a perfect fit for the genre and you can still tell this masterpiece was created by the famous Japanese studio. I honestly haven’t been so excited about a game since the first Dark Souls.

Aeterna Noctis is a beautiful metroidvania from an indie studio. I was enamored with its challenging but fair platforming sequences and the multitude of varied worlds to visit. On the other hand, I was not convinced by its nonlinearity, which makes it impossible to get involved in the story quickly and complicated things for the developers in terms of introducing new gadgets related to exploration. Nevertheless, Aeterna Noctis offers almost 20 hours of genuine fun.

All I need from such a simple first-person shooter is an array of badass guns and hundreds of stampeding enemies. Siberian Mayhem has that, but it failed to get some important aspects right – its maps are too bloated and the optimization is poor despite subpar graphics. It could have been a great game, but turned out merely decent.

KotOR on Switch is the best KotOR there is, I have no doubt about it. It runs smoothly and loads quickly, so nothing prevents you from savoring the excellent story. You just need to be aware of the original game’s flaws – it’s a just a port after all.

Scarf tries to win attention with its creative puzzles and attractive fairy-tale art style. It indeed does have those qualities, but if I were to describe this platformer with just two words, I’d say it is simple and charming.

Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator is a quirky, weird game with a great premise, but repetitive gameplay. It can be entertaining in small doses.

Big Brain Academy returns in decent shape – it’s still a simple but enjoyable and engaging game that additionally exercises your brain. Possibly. A doctor’s opinion would be welcome.

The developer behind PUBG tried its hand at a cross between a shooter and Commandos. The result is… weird. The single-player mode is undercooked and annoying, mainly (but not only) because of the terrible AI. In co-op, where you don’t have to babysit your dumb comrades in arms, you can experience Thunder Tier One’s much better side, as it becomes really enjoyable.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection has everything I expect from a game inspired by exhilarating adventure movies in the vein of the Indiana Jones franchise. Naughty Dog, the grandmasters of enrapturing details, effortlessly prove how much you can squeeze out of this seemingly worn out formula. If there’s anything to complain about, it’s the small number of changes introduced in the remastered versions. On the other hand, do these still exceptional and visually stunning games need changes?

Once again I was enamored by this unique, fascinating world and Guerrilla’s whole vision of Earth after the fall of our civilization. In terms of gameplay Horizon Forbidden West is not a revolution, but rather a natural evolution that introduces many improvements. You can think of it as a supercharged Horizon Zero Dawn – bigger, more beautiful and richer in content. It’s not a perfect game, as the human enemy AI needs a major overhaul and there are some technical issues to sort out, but it’s a thrilling, memorable adventure.

Dying Light 2 is a solid sequel that creatively amplifies the pros of the predecessor. Its multi-layered story is engaging and the player’s choices have actual impact on the game’s open world. Admittedly, there are some shortcomings, but not substantial enough to ruin the overall very positive impression. I had tons of fun playing DL2 and sometimes lost track of time.

Heavenly Bodies is a surprisingly enjoyable physics-based puzzle game about an astronaut fixing a space station. Unusual controls and weightlessness can be frustrating, but most of the time they are really fun. The game shines especially in local co-op, where clumsy interactions between two astronauts are often amusing.

The classic game was skillfully remade with respect and love. Everything that made the original amazing was left intact, while the additions fit the gameplay well. The difficulty level of the campaign mode was sometimes too high for my taste and the challenge mode is repetitive but overall it’s a very enjoyable journey back in time.

The PC version of Monster Hunter Rise is a solid port that in general does not differ much from what we saw on Switch. Therefore, praise and complaints about the Switch edition mostly still apply. It’s a bit disappointing that the year that has passed between the releases brought us little more than graphical improvements, but the game itself is still stellar.

Rainbow Six Siege’s co-op oriented spin-off is an enjoyable alternative that closely resembles its cousin in terms of gameplay but puts more emphasis on action. The game is quite rich in content and offers a distinct change of atmosphere but unfortunately fails to properly reward cooperation between players and has some balancing issues.

Logic Artists once again proved that they know how to make RPGs and shortened the distance between their games and the genre’s greatest. Promised strategic elements were introduced with moderation, so they are visible but did not dominate the gameplay. Card-based legion management is disappointing, but traditional turn-based combat is as enjoyable as always. Just bear in mind that the story needs quite a lot of time to really get going.

A fun, although relatively simple platformer inspired by old school Nintendo games. Colorful levels are easy on the eyes and when you catch the right rhythm, finishing them is pure pleasure.

A game that combines ideas from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Shadow of the Colossus sounds like something PC players desperately needed. Unfortunately, the three-person team behind Praey for the Gods bit off more than it could chew. The game’s survival elements are tiresome, while boss encounters are decent but plagued by many flaws. Overall, it’s a barely solid copy of Team Ico’s cult classic

This is a God of War PC players were waiting for. The game didn’t age a bit since it was released on PS4, it still looks amazing and brings tons of satisfaction that comes not only from the thrilling combat, but also from the interesting story. It was definitely worth the wait, especially that I didn’t encounter any technical issues with the port and I got used to keyboard and mouse controls relatively quickly.

Nothing will save you in this hell of repetition, not even solid shooting mechanics and a large arsenal of weaponry. Fifteen minutes is enough to learn everything about this game, as each new level only brings increase in difficulty, higher enemy congestion and mounting frustration that you threw your money down the drain. [12/2021, p.83]