The biggest advantage of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is that it lets you play the early installments of the series on modern platforms. As a fan of the franchise, I enjoyed additional content such as Master Books, screenplays, visual novels, and the soundtrack, but unfortunately this is not enough to rave about this bundle. Konami could have done much, much more for these classics but didn’t and missed the opportunity to reach younger players with them.

Ghostrunner 2 is not the sequel I expected. Instead of just “bigger and improved”, I got a real rollercoaster of crazy events, brilliantly designed levels and new additions that turned a one-dimensional story into a futuristic anime. From rushing down neon corridors to riding a motorbike through wastelands to exploring cyberspace – everything offers incredible experiences.

The sequel is bigger and better, sometimes truly epic. Two cool protagonists, a story full of twists and turns, sparks of humor, well-designed side activities – what more could you want? There are some shortcomings, including significant departures from the Spider-Man canon established in other stories (if things like that bother you), but overall, I had a great time and didn’t skip anything the game has to offer. Spider-Man 2 is undoubtedly one of this year’s top titles.

The gameplay of EA Sports FC 24 differs from FIFA 23 in nuances only and the overall changes are minor. While the game can be impressive thanks to the most realistic animations to date, it is just as often irritating due to its erratic physics engine. All that’s left for football fans is to hope that next year’s edition will be bolder, because this new start under the altered title is underwhelming.

The Switch edition of Gothic offers comfortable controls, improved inventory system, a quick save feature, and everything the game’s admirers love about it. If you’re a die-hard Gothic fan and you’re enthusiastic about crossing the Barrier again on Switch, go for it. Everyone else should bear in mind that it’s a pretty basic port of a 22-year-old game and carefully consider spending their money on it.

How good Starfield is depends on how much you’re willing to forgive it. Skyrim developer’s new RPG caters to a specific audience and although you can feel at every step that the eons-old “Bethesda game” formula is wearing out, Starfield can still be an extremely addictive experience.

The latest entry in the heist series has the potential to become a worthy successor to Payday 2 which managed to bring together a huge community of players. We just need to wait until the developers provide more content and add some pretty basic online functionalities that are missing (e.g. voice chat), because the game’s current state leaves a lot to be desired.

The Crew Motorfest is a very satisfying, constantly surprising racing game with a great single player campaign and an engaging multiplayer mode. Sadly, microtransactions significantly slow down the process of unlocking new vehicles and the interface can be distracting while driving. The developers of the Forza Horizon series can still rest easy, but they need to be aware that a worthy rival has joined the race and in some respects overtook their creation.

Mortal Kombat 1 is not a revolution but rather an evolution that continues the franchise’s good streak. Excellent combat system, solid story mode and some truly noteworthy additions (like Kameo or Invasion Mode) make it really difficult to tear yourself away from the controller. Sometimes you can feel that the series is starting to chase its tail, but for now it’s hard to find a similarly accessible fighting game.

Lies of P is a solid, well-thought-out game that – apart from some minor touches of originality – sticks closely to the formula developed by FromSoftware. Although every aspect of this Soulslike could be better, I believe fans of the genre will have a lot of fun playing it (if you can call dying 30 times in a row a lot of fun, that is).

Sea of Stars is a flavorful game that tries to imitate jRPG greats with varying degrees of success. It has some obvious flaws and treads a beaten path in terms of the story, but it is also beautiful and boasts an interesting combat system. I recommend it especially to newcomers to the genre. Sabotage Studio seams to be heading in the right direction and if it decides to evolve their gameplay mechanics in a sequel, the effects may be impressive.

More a movie than a game, Fort Solis surprises with top-notch acting and creates a pretty decent atmosphere, but doesn’t offer any real challenge. It focuses on exploration but the protagonist’s sluggish movement effectively discourages it. This walking simulator will either captivate you enough to finish the story in one sitting or bore you in the first fifteen minutes.

Ride 5 proves clearly that when it comes to motorcycle physics, Milestone currently has no equal. It’s by far the best installment to date and while the pace at which the series evolves may not be fast, the most important thing is that the Italians are heading in the right direction.

Turbo Overkill is an action game that throws in pop-culture references at every step and draws heavily on the genre’s achievements but combines everything it borrows in a surprisingly creative way. And unlike many retro shooters that end after four hours, you can actually get your fill of this one.

With its atmosphere, brilliantly written characters, action-packed missions skillfully set in the open world, and multitude of side activities, Red Dead Redemption can still rival games released years (and console generations) later. I recommend it even to those who don’t much care for the Wild West setting.

This is exactly how legendary games should be revived: with respect for the source material, enhanced and expanded, not tarnished or turned upside down. Quake II Remastered offers the main campaign, two original mission packs, a completely new expansion and Quake II 64, and thanks to a handful of improvements plays even better that 26 years ago.

At first glance Blasphemous 2 may look just like its predecessor, but it offers much more content and significantly improved gameplay. It’s a polished, addictive metroidvania that every fan of the genre should play.

Forza Motorsport lets you enjoy the atmosphere of racing and recreates driving sports cars brilliantly, but it definitely needs updates that would introduce more tracks and some graphical improvements. However, minor shortcomings do not take away from the pleasure of experiencing the game’s excellent driving model which is close enough to a serious simulation but at the same time accessible to mass audience. In terms of gameplay it’s undeniably the best Forza ever.

I wish Mirage were the game I’ve been waiting for as a fan of the franchise, but it’s not. The developers’ desire to make it similar gameplay-wise to classic installments of the series is obvious and welcome, but as a whole, this is a surprisingly bland product with an average story, poorly written NPCs and embarrassingly weak dialogues. Moreover, Basim’s adventures do not bring anything valuable to the series. It’s a hollow, shallow and basically unnecessary game developed to showcase the Middle Eastern setting.

It’s a pity that Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t look like this at launch. However, Phantom Liberty works great not only as a showcase for the Update 2.0 which completely overhauled the game, but also on its own, as a powerful spy story with tough choices and outstanding Idris Elba as Solomon Reed. Overall, CD Projekt Red has again released a DLC superior to the base game.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of those games that become part of the generational experience. Just like its predecessors, it will be included amongst the greatest cRPGs for many years to come. Not only is it engrossing and immensely entertaining, but perhaps for the first time in history, it offers players the impression of participating in a real-life RPG session.

Immortals of Aveum’s quality is very uneven and for every well-executed element there’s a “but” of some sorts. The combat system is great but not as unique as the developers claimed. We get 60 fps but at the expense of blurry graphics. The game’s intriguing lore deserves attention but is obscured by silly humor.

Armored Core VI is not your typical action game. It’s a game about building robots, going into battle and verifying the effects of your engineering efforts. The enormous possibilities of modifying your mech, the undying joy of combat, and the hefty challenges you need to overcome greatly outweigh the little flaws on this diamond.

Dave the Diver is the best thing I’ve played this year and I wish I had more such stellar games in my life to help me escape the grey reality. Its gameplay loop is terrifyingly addictive and the “one more dive syndrome” lies in wait for anyone who decides to check out this dark horse of the GOTY race.

Lifting heavy things was never so fun! Moving Out 2 is a very enjoyable game that truly shines in the local or online co-op mode. The level design is stellar, while the variety of objectives makes this gem difficult to put down.

The beginning of Atlas Fallen is simply awful but later, when the story unleashes the player on the open world, the adventure becomes more interesting. The game features a clever character development system, dynamic combat and very enjoyable exploration, but the developers forgot to polish all the other elements, which sadly represent the level of lower-budget sandboxes from a decade or two ago.

Requiring creativity and spatial imagination, this puzzle game draws you in from the very first minutes. If only it told its story better and dared to be more difficult and bolder, it would be nearly perfect.

Ratchet & Clank’s first-time PC appearance is a great occasion to revisit the amazing adventure or get acquainted with the duo. There’s a condition though – you need a monster computer to truly enjoy this port. Although Rift Apart works surprisingly well on Steam Deck, on an older desktop PC (i7-3930K, GTX 1660 Ti, 16 GB RAM, HDD) I experienced significant framerate drops and sometimes even crashes. On a powerful config (i9-13900K, RTX 4090, 64 GB RAM, SSD M.2) it ran perfectly and looked insanely good, defending the title of one of the most beautiful games in history.