Everspace 2 is a great space combat game infused with the spirits of Descent, Freelancer and Elite: Dangerous. To some degree it also resembles Diablo or Skyrim in space. You roam around planetary systems and complete missions, while upgrading your ship with heaps of varied armor pieces, weapons and gadgets. Overall, it is a very good game with tons of content, but sometimes you can notice that the developers had to cope with a limited budget.

Was it worth the 10-year wait? Well, the game itself was, because it is still good, but the port is straight up awful, which is kinda funny, because it was made by the same studio that developed the infamously terrible PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight. There are moments when the graphics are impressive, but optimization is horrible and the game will surprise you with crashes more often than it will with story twists.

Anno 1800 is a stellar strategy game and while the Console Edition has some flaws (e.g. large interface windows cluttering the screen, some technical issues, the lack of major expansions available on PC), they’re not so annoying as to suck the fun out of the experience. However, it seems the PS5 and Xbox version of the game was developed with novices rather than veterans of the series in mind. Regardless, I enjoyed my time with Anno 1800 Console Edition very much.

The beloved highlight of the Resident Evil franchise returns in a form that makes it even easier to love. Capcom did a great job with the remake and it shouldn’t be hard for new players to understand why RE4 is revered by the fans of the series and considered one of the greatest achievements in the genre. Veterans shouldn’t expect changes as far-reaching as those introduced in remade Resident Evil 2, but I believe they will appreciate some well thought out improvements, welcome additions and pleasant surprises.

A “Souls with guns” type of game (think Returnal), but more forgiving than most representatives of the genre. It looks barely decent and its level design is obsolete (invisible walls!), but it turned out to be quite enjoyable, although in short sessions only. A couple of original ideas make Scars Above distinct enough and ultimately it’s a shame it is so modest. It would definitely benefit from a bigger budget and more boldness on the part of the developers.

Historical fiction served as a game full of swordfights, content and design choices straight from the past. Apart from some shortcomings arising from the fact that we’re dealing with a remake of an almost decade-old title, it’s hard to point out any major flaws of Ryu Ga Gotoku’s latest offering. More than just an engaging action game, Like a Dragon: Ishin! lets you experience an incredibly romantic era and a charming story of a warrior with a heart of gold, who’s always ready to put his quest for vengeance aside to go fishing, cook a dinner, pray at a shrine, help someone write a love letter or show kids how to find Japan on a globe. Although it’s a spin-off, it works great as in introduction to the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series.

After devoting almost 40 hours to Company of Heroes 3, I’m having serious trouble rating this game, as I could easily justify any score between 6 and 7+ out of 10. Overall, it’s a solid strategy game that provides a lot of content in the form of two campaigns – linear and dynamic. I enjoyed them both but found neither of them outstanding.

Inspired by Quake and other classics but devoid of any distinctive qualities that would help it stand out among other boomer shooters, Dread Templar is pretty fun but ultimately forgettable.

While the VR Horizon is targeted mainly at the fans of the series, I believe others too will enjoy the game’s large world, great close encounters with machines, fun archery, and a number of other activities that highlight PS VR2’s capabilities.

New visuals look great without completely ditching the distinctive style of the original Pharaoh, more fluent animations add to the positive experience, while the gameplay is still demanding and addictive. Overall, Pharaoh: A New Era lives up to expectations for remakes of classic games, but Triskell Interactive should have worked much harder on the interface, as its new version makes the game harder to enjoy.

An engaging story about a group of dirty cops in cyberpunk Hong Kong, Wanted: Dead is a modest but highly enjoyable game dripping with the atmosphere of violent B movies and full of intense, memorable shootouts and swordfights. Be prepared to die often, because the game’s difficulty level is a throwback to the PS2 era.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty features some really cool ideas – unusual mechanics related to combat, a rich array of spells or a reputation system that rewards exploration. Its outdated, linear level design trails behind Dark Souls, not to mention Elden Ring, and sometimes I was annoyed with uneven difficulty level but I still believe every soulslike enthusiast should at least take a closer look at Team Ninja’s game.

I appreciate the new interface (it needs getting used to though) and talent system (those dilemmas!), as well as changes to crafting that raise its importance. I enjoyed dragonriding a lot and found quests to be engaging, but was disappointed by dull dungeons and repetitive endgame content. World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is a pretty safe expansion and I expected a bit more from it, but I do feel it has a huge potential that could be fulfilled in the near future.

Choo-Choo Charles is short and flawed, but you can give it a chance if you enjoy silly, kitsch horrors that are a motley of bizarre ideas which miraculously work together in some absurd way. Not for a full price though.

McPixel 3 is as crazy as it is funny. It demands a grasp of Monty Pythonesque humor, but if this requirement is met, every second with the game is a delight.

Session: Skate Sim is the best skateboarding game right now. It’s difficult, it’s challenging, but it offers unbelievable possibilities for a video game and is very realistic without going overboard. I’ve been dreaming of something like this for the past 20 years. If you like skateboarding, you must play it.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide makes a great first impression. Unfortunately, over time, some flaws come to light, like an awful main story or scant content. It’s still a good game that WH40K fans should play, but it could’ve been much better.

In some respects Forspoken is a truly modern game that ditches the past generation and its limitations. Sadly, it turned out to be no more than a beautiful foundation ultimately used to create a benchmark rather than a compelling experience. I greeted the end credits with some relief and I’ll remember this game mainly as a case of a criminally wasted potential.

Hi-Fi Rush is a wonderful reminder of why we play games in the first place. The point is to enjoy yourself, to get away from everyday reality for a moment, to have an amazing adventure, to feel rewarded when you make progress and to smile at the thought of returning to the colorful world on the other side of the screen. This brilliant rhythm/action game gives you all that and much more.

Avalanche Software made us wait a long time for the effects of their efforts, but today I can only take my hat off to the team behind the game and admit it was worth it. Hogwarts Legacy is not just an amazing gift for Harry Potter fans, but above all an excellent action RPG that provides many hours of fun. It brilliantly fulfills a child’s dream of a journey to the world of magic, for which the credit goes primarily to the gameplay and world designers, because what the writers delivered is sadly no better than fan fiction.

It’s a solid remake that brings back the memorable experience but also enhances and modernizes it through a surprising multitude of subtle changes, giving Isaac’s tale a chance to delight new generations of players. The team at EA Motive clearly understood why Visceral’s survival horror was great and while they rebuilt it from scratch, they managed to retain the most precious ingredient – the tense, overwhelming atmosphere, now even more palpable thanks to stunning lighting and great 3D sound. However, while I did not mind backtracking and repetitiveness 15 years ago, they did bother me now, especially since new optional activities force you to run around the ship even more.

Changes introduced by the update are not far-reaching or crucial, but such improvements as fast loading or more comfortable controls make the experience more enjoyable. Looking at character faces, animations, and some elements of gameplay design, it’s hard not to notice The Witcher 3 was released in 2015, but it plays great in 60 FPS, the Continent is beautiful like never before and it’s still the immensely fun game many people fell in love with.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns is an innovative mix of different genres that does many things well. Its combat system is satisfying, characters have depth, the atmosphere is great. However, you have to search for the game’s strengths under a massive pile of bland, tiresome dialogues that constantly keep you from actually playing, lame humor and endless tutorials.

The Callisto Protocol is a strange game in which high production values contrast with serious problems that stem from the very basis of its outdated gameplay design. It looks awesome and sounds great but it is botched in so many ways. Clunky combat, bland weapons, awful boss encounters, heavy scripting, unintuitive interface and run-of-the-mill story built around boring characters with no personalities – it all adds up and amounts to a chore rarely interrupted by some enjoyable moments. What’s more, it’s not even a good horror game, as the designers went for annoying jump scares instead of trying to create real tension.

What a wonderful surprise at the end of the year! Blacktail, a real gem dipped in Slavic folklore, delighted me with its distinct atmosphere, engaging narrative, sense of humor, and excellent music. What did not impress me, was the combat, but as a whole the game is a fantastic experience.

A 15-year old title brought back as a tasty appetizer for those who can’t wait for the second part of the new Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a very good remake with an addictive combat system. You can tell it’s a smaller-scale game designed for PSP, but it was remade with love and although it won’t change anyone’s life, Final Fantasy VII fans will definitely enjoy it.

Need for Speed Unbound has some issues (e.g. in-game economy needs immediate balancing), but is still quite satisfying and I consider it one of this year’s best arcade racing games (not that there’s a huge competition…). You may also like its unusual art style, but I personally think the developers took it a bit too far and should’ve worked harder on technical aspects of Unbound’s visual side.

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is by no means a leap forward, but it is in every aspect superior to its already excellent predecessor. For me, it’s a perfect battle royale, although it’s a shame that right now, plagued by countless technical issues, it looks more like a prerelease build than a finished game.