Enjoyable combat and puzzles, memorable bosses, and a hard-to-replicate sense of mystery make Metroid Prime 4: Beyond a real treat - not just for fans of Samus Aran’s first-person adventures, but for all Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 owners.

Code Vein 2 left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s a game full of interesting ideas that build on the foundations of the original; on the other, it’s not without its share of underdeveloped elements. The overall experience is further undermined by technical issues, which aren’t excused by the game’s outdated visual design.

Despite its shortcomings, Marathon delivers solid fun and can really pull you in. Its distinctive art style and Bungie’s signature shooter feel are without a doubt something the competition doesn’t offer. That alone could keep players engaged for the long run, especially once the game gets more content and irons out some of its early issues. For now, I’m giving it a 7/10, but I believe even a 9/10 is within Marathon’s reach.

It’s nice to see that Capcom isn’t chasing trends - something you can also say about a few other Japanese studios. Pragmata is a linear action game that’s fun, engaging, and pleasantly old-school in its design. It doesn’t try too hard to be cinematic or overloaded with mechanics, and it’s not a live-service game either. It’s simply a great adventure for a few evenings.

Crimson Desert is undoubtedly an original and ambitious game, but at the same time it feels a bit like a soup with too many ingredients thrown in. On one hand, it offers an intriguing world where almost every hour of play can bring something new; on the other, it overwhelms with an excess of mechanics you constantly have to learn, often without much guidance. When you take a closer look at its gameplay systems, you’ll notice plenty of missteps, yet despite them it’s hard to remain indifferent to this game. If you can accept its flaws and invest a good amount of time and attention, you’ll likely get hooked just like I did - discovering an adventure on a scale beyond anything we’ve seen in video games so far.

Twelve hours with Leon and Grace were a hellishly satisfying experience, from the very first moments of gameplay to the thrilling finale. Resident Evil Requiem is one of the strongest modern entries in the series - technically polished, full of genuine emotion, and impressively varied in its gameplay ideas. The only major complaint is the game’s length - with such diverse mechanics on display, you can’t help but wish there was more, just to see it fully spread its wings.

The formula known from Little Nightmares has undergone a subtle evolution, and you can feel that Reanimal is a different brand, sharing only similar DNA. On paper, the changes might sound slightly off-putting, but in practice everything works exactly as it should, and it’s hard to tear yourself away from the screen. It’s a strong title that avoids excessive grotesque elements, bluntness, and violence; instead, Reanimal resonates on a different, much deeper level - somewhat like This War of Mine. It’s an experience worth going through.

Tennis doesn’t get more fun than this. While the biggest new addition in this entry - the Fever rackets - could use a bit more balancing, this shortcoming hardly overshadows the game’s rock-solid foundations: an excellent ball-hitting feel, a great rally pace, and pure fun in every match. Mario Tennis Fever works just as well as a party game for couch multiplayer as it does as a more demanding, skill-based experience for fans of online competition. Unfortunately, it falls short when it comes to the relatively limited amount of single-player content.

Nioh 3 is not without its clear flaws, which makes it hard to justify a solid nine out of ten. In terms of gameplay, however, it’s a highly polished experience and one that’s immensely engaging for fans of hardcore challenges. It’s been a long time since a video game kept me up so many nights.

Anno 117: Pax Romana clearly builds on the foundations laid by Blue Byte with Anno 1800. However, the developers have introduced plenty of freshness and new ideas, and the whole experience is both engaging and fun. I won’t hesitate to say it’s one of Ubisoft’s best games in recent years. Much like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, it shows that slightly more niche projects with smaller budgets than yet another Assassin’s Creed installment can offer more interesting ideas and higher quality.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a real mishmash. After several fairly successful entries in the series, we’re getting a mix of styles and ideas that don’t mesh well and fail to work as a whole. This year’s story campaign is one of the weakest in the series, and even the callbacks to older installments can’t save it. The Zombies mode also comes off as rather mediocre, and only die-hard multiplayer fans will find anything truly good and engaging here.

It’s devilishly addictive, dazzling with its visuals and cohesive retro-futuristic world. It rewards knowledge of enemies and items, as well as careful decision-making. It delivers unforgettable solo gameplay and tons of excitement in co-op. ARC Raiders is one of my most pleasant surprises of 2025.

I really wanted to like Bloodlines 2. After all the production turmoil and underwhelming previews, I never expected it to be even half as good as the cult classic original - but I quietly hoped that a talented studio like The Chinese Room could at least pull the troubled project together. And while the game has a few enjoyable elements, they’re nowhere near enough to overshadow its many issues and downright inexcusable flaws.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a game that will please fans of collecting battle creatures, yet deeply disappoint with how much potential this massive franchise leaves untapped. A series of this stature deserves far more than what it gets here.

The Outer Worlds 2 lags far behind other games in the genre. I don’t doubt that some players will enjoy it - much like you can enjoy a decent action movie you forget about the next day. Still, from a big-budget game set in such an interesting universe and made by such a respected studio, I expected more. Here’s hoping Microsoft gives Obsidian another - and hopefully not the last - chance to truly surprise us in the future.

Battlefield 6 is exactly what fans of the series have been asking for over the years. It plays things relatively safe, but perfectly captures the essence of the franchise’s most beloved entries. It’s refreshing to see a major publisher actually respond to player feedback instead of doubling down on bad decisions and pretending that’s what the community wanted. The campaign is a typical ‘play it and forget it’ experience that the game could easily do without, but the multiplayer delivers pure, explosive fun in a pleasantly old-school fashion.

Ghost of Yotei is a worthy successor to Ghost of Tsushima, building on its predecessor’s formula while improving on many aspects. It’s also a rare example of an open-world game that manages to stay engaging even after dozens of hours.

As long as you know what kind of strange journey you’re signing up for, you’re getting the chance to comfortably revisit - or experience for the first time - one of the most unique and phenomenal games ever made, presented almost exactly as it was two decades ago.

With the best parkour in the series, a satisfying combat system, and an engaging story, the game more than makes up for its minor flaws. Thankfully, it feels much closer to the first game than the second.

Cronos: The New Dawn feels like a ‘Greatest Hits’ album - only instead of radio anthems, you get a blend of the best gameplay elements from classic survival horrors. Bloober Team may not have added quite enough of their own creative spin, but they’ve certainly delivered an intriguingly crafted world and an engaging story.

Mafia: The Old Country isn't a AAA title, so it should be judged by slightly different standards - but still, more was expected from Hangar 13. Sure, the first and second Mafia games didn’t have outstanding gameplay either, but they made up for it with atmosphere, charismatic characters, sharp dialogue, and the chemistry between the protagonists - especially Vito and Joe. That’s what helped players overlook the gameplay flaws. The Old Country, unfortunately, lacks that spark. That said, it’s still worth playing - if only for the stunning vistas, impressive world design, and well-directed cutscenes.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a dynamic and challenging soulslike that combines a handful of original ideas with many systems refined within the genre over the past years. While not all of its solutions feel fully successful, this steeped in Asian aesthetics game is impressive and stands as a commendable debut from Chinese studio Leenzee. A must-play for any fan of games inspired by the works of FromSoftware.

Donkey Kong Bananza is a wild ride of destruction that’s hard to resist. It’s absolutely packed with content and turns our gaming habits upside down - and it’s devilishly addictive. I keep telling myself I’ll grab just one more banana and then take a break. But it never stops at just one!

Fans of Death Stranding will find more of what they know and love in the sequel - only bigger and better. Those who dismissed the series as a ‘delivery simulator’ probably won’t change their minds. But both camps are likely to appreciate the boldness and freedom with which Hideo Kojima continues to blur the line between game and film.

The Alters impresses with its sci-fi setting and the story seamlessly woven into it. It's not just another survival game with base-building elements - those mechanics serve a greater purpose: telling the story of Jan Dolski, a man forced to do the impossible in order to survive. While it’s not without a few rough edges and technical shortcomings, The Alters stands as another strong entry in the portfolio of 11 bit studios.

The idea of bringing the iconic Mario Kart into an open-world setting sounded great on paper, but it ended up being a bit too ambitious for the developers, who didn’t fully tap into its potential. Thankfully, it’s still the same classic Nintendo racing fun we know and love, with the refined gameplay perfected in previous installments continuing to deliver tons of enjoyment. On top of that, we get new driving tricks, beautiful tracks, the always-excellent music, and an impressive visual presentation.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is undoubtedly an interesting experiment that could bring a much-needed breath of fresh air to the soulslike genre. Its gameplay loop, built around relatively short matches, offers an intriguing alternative to the traditional, hours-long campaigns FromSoftware is known for. However, as the studio’s first foray into multiplayer-focused gameplay, it suffers from some early growing pains - issues unlikely to be fully resolved through patches alone. The lack of built-in voice chat is a major drawback, and I wouldn't recommend the game to players who don’t have at least one reliable teammate and access to an external communication tool. Playing with randoms can be a frustrating experience.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon makes a pretty rough first impression. It feels low-budget, is undeniably janky, and frankly not very pleasant to look at. The choppy framerate alone might turn off a lot of players within the first few minutes. But if you're a fan of The Elder Scrolls or Souls-like games, and you've been craving a deep, immersive RPG that blends the best elements of both, you'd be making a mistake to ignore this one.