It’s easy to get overpowered to the point where you can enter a melee completely naked, and emerge victorious. But still, you’ll find yourself putting on your best armor just because it feels right. KCD2 isn’t about powergaming – it’s about immersion in a very unique setting that’s obviously a labor of love. [Issue#266]

What trailers failed to convey is that Machine Games managed to replicate the golden ratio of the classic Indiana Jones movies. Stealth, action, puzzles, dialogue and beautiful scenery are perfectly measured and mixed in a way that gives you a taste of a true Indiana adventure. [Issue#266]

A great entry point for people new to the Warhammer 40k franchise, as well as a nice throwback to the action games of old. No open world, no Souls-like mechanics, no “meaningful” story choices. Just you, your bolter and a whole lot of enemies to mow down. [Issue#265, p.72]

Since the story is told in-game via a book, and its main character can pop out into the “real” world to interact with said book, designers got really creative with puzzles. For example, you can replace adjectives to change the properties of an item, or lift a page to make objects on an illustration fall where you want them to. [Issue#265, p.80]

Most horror stories focus on the monster, while this one is about people. There won’t be any insights about cosmology or biology of the impossible creature threatening the oil rig; neither is there an abundance of diaries with innermost thoughts of our colleagues. But that down-to-earth approach is exactly what makes this story so believable and relatable. [Issue#265, p.60]

Despite being a little inexperienced, Bloober Team delivered a remake as great as Resident Evil 2 (2019). Long-time fans of Silent Hill won’t be disappointed, while newcomers will get to experience one of the best horror games ever in all its terrifying glory. [Issue#265, p.56]

Nomada Studio is very open about Neva being inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s works. And I have to admit – they’ve really hit the mark: the game is very heartwarming and emotional. [Issue#265, p.82]

11 bit studios were trying to improve core mechanics and expand the scope of the game, but ended up with a completely different gameplay formula. The number 2 in the title probably hurts the game more than helps. [Issue#265, p.76]

Fresh setting and vibrant locations belie some serious gameplay issues, like very uneven difficulty and sluggish movement of the main character. [Issue#265, p.66]

This rather short, but very eventful journey will send Astro up in the air, out to the deep waters, or even inside gargantuan monsters. [Issue#265, p.70]

There’s a lot to see here! [Issue#264,p.48]

A sequel to a story that didn’t need a sequel. A dull walking simulator with puzzles that require very little brainpower to solve. Still, it’s an extremely beautiful game with amazing fight choreography. [Issue#264,p.74]

Combat in Rise of the Ronin is far more nuanced than in Ghost of Tsushima, so even after many hours of gameplay you may discover a new aspect to it that will come as a pleasant surprise. [Issue#264,p.68]

The world is incredibly detailed, so instead of rushing to the next quest objective, make sure to take your time and let it all soak in. [Issue#264,p.58]

The heart of Alone in the Dark is not in its action sequences – it’s in the narrative. And believe me: you’ll want to see how this horror detective story plays out. [Issue#264, p.52]

Even if you’re not a fan of the online competitive scene, Tekken 8 has a lot of content to offer: assisted mode that is great for parties, a story campaign, and an absolutely fantastic Arcade mode that features its own story and unobtrusively helps you become a better player. [Issue#263, p.36]

Rogue Trader has some serious bad luck coming out so soon after Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s a good story-driven game with meaningful choices, memorable characters, brutal battles and rich character-building system. But it’s hard to get into it after experiencing the colorful and user-friendly world of BG3. [Issue#263, p.72]

It’s a mass-market game: extremely well-polished, reasonably difficult and very safe. It doesn’t break any new ground and doesn’t take any risks, so once you’re done with The Lost Crown, you’ll hardly remember any of it. [Issue#263, p.40]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has made Roadside Picnic famous, but it harshly mangled the book: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s Zone was a zone of armed conflict between various factions and mutants, instead of being a place of mystery and supernatural. Pacific Drive, on the other hand, pays an unexpected tribute to the “feel” of the original book, despite nominally being “a car-driving game”. [Issue#263, p.62]

A quality remake of a 2004 game that will keep you entertained for many evenings. [Issue#263, p.53]

Infinite Wealth is a kaleidoscopic parade of everything that made original Like a Dragon great. Except there’s more of everything, and everything is more interesting than before. [Issue#263, p.66]

“Modest” is the first word that comes to mind. Modest graphics, modest story about EEEEVIL, Diablo-esque gameplay... Except it’s not – the amount of skill customization is staggering, and unlike Path of Exile, you can change your build on the fly. [Issue#263, p.48]

It perfectly captures the essence of “Starship Troopers” movie without quoting it directly. Good gunplay doesn’t hurt either, and a healthy dose of friendly fire chaos brings some spice into the mix. [Issue#263, p.42]

A true milestone not only for Legend of Zelda series, but for the industry as a whole. [Issue#262, p.61]

Respawn Entertainment still looks up to Dark Souls, but at the same time they try to make a hardcore game with the most softcore experience. For example, there’s always plenty of shortcuts, so Cal never loses much progress after his inevitable demise. [Issue#262, p.58]

Let’s face it: Jagged Alliance had always been a game about superheroes with guns. New installment simply cranks that concept up to eleven. [Issue#262, p.54]

Type-O used to be the darkest and most mature game in the franchise, but now this title is usurped by Final Fantasy XVI. At times, the amount of blood, swearing and sex rivals even The Witcher’s. [Issue#262, p.48]

A paradise for gamers that leave no stone unturned. There’s no procedural generation involved, so every nook and cranny were hand-made, and there’s a generous amount of loot to be found. [Issue#262, p.68]

If you want to live out a larger than life sea story, Barotrauma is your game. Here, you’ll have your arrogant captains, jaded engineers, malpracticing doctors, epic adventures and a myriad dumb ways to die horribly. [Issue#262, p.66]

This installment is a lot closer to modern Civilization games than to classic Age of Wonders. The differences between factions are so few and far between, everyone might as well be humans under various banners. [Issue#262, p.72]

It’s hard to call Conquest of Eo a sequel, because it’s so different from its predecessors. But at the very least, it’s a great spiritual successor, and it knows how to keep player’s interest. [page 60]

As far as remakes go, Resident Evil 4 is very solid, but very safe, to the point of losing some of the original’s spark. Early RE games used to be unashamedly goofy, and RE4R seems to be afraid of that legacy. [page 64]

Knights of Honor II: Sovereign is by no means a perfect game, but it’s refreshingly original. Some of its concepts deserve to be adopted even by renowned studios like Creative Assembly. [page 48]

Beautiful, cozy and incredibly detailed, Hogwarts Legacy suffers from overabundance of side activities that offer no story, substance or good gameplay. [page 42]

If you want to replay first Dead Space – the remake will scratch that itch. But don’t expect any meaningful improvements over the original. [page 54]

Great level design, dangerous enemies, good gunplay and intriguing story come together to deliver an unforgettable game. [page 38]

Story battles take about 20 minutes, while dialogue, inventory management, practice fights and everything else that takes place in-between them can take up to two hours. Nevertheless, the quality of story battles makes up for the wait because they offer a lot of variety, and every problem can be solved in a multitude of ways. [Issue#260, p.44]

Leisurely promenades and simple puzzles are interspersed with action moments where you have to flee from local aggressive fauna. There’s also some stealth involved. These segments aren’t stellar, but they do shake things up nicely. [Issue#260, p.58]

GT7 doesn’t feel like a truly new game – more like an upgraded version of Sports. But it’s par for the course for the series: each generation, Polyphony Digital makes a solid foundation and then builds upon it. [Issue#260, p.38]

The studio took a few liberties with the story, changing some things around and expanding certain segments, but thankfully, they didn’t neuter Crypto’s humor to cater to the easily-offended. [Issue#260, p.50]

While some of the wood-and-metal pinball tables are true mechanical marvels, video game environment allows for a far richer experience, with actual enemies, leveling up, items and even a nice storyline. [Issue#259, p.58]

Selling Ogres as a separate Day-1 DLC is definitely an anti-consumer practice, AI would be best described as “braindead", and some mechanics only work because of duct-tape solutions like “background income”. Yet, CA has managed to capture that certain “je ne sais quoi” of Warhammer: every faction plays differently, but they all feel awesome. [Issue#259, p.42]

High difficulty accentuates every problem, like wonky camera, weird timings and unpredictable invincibility frames of enemy attacks. But at its highs, Sifu is incredibly dynamic, picturesque and rewarding, a great companion for a nostalgia trip to the VHS era. [Issue#259, p.52]

Lo Wang is a child of another age, when shooters were lightning-paced and enemies had no qualms about hitting you from behind or covering the entire area with projectiles. So, it will be difficult for him to gain popularity among the crowd raised on slow-paced cover-based shooters, but hey – Wang never backs down from a challenge. [Issue#259, p.70]

Acreus came out just a few months after Diamond & Pearl remake. Isn’t that too soon? Actually, no. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the most innovative, revolutionary, and maybe simply the best Pokémon game of the last decade. [Issue#259, p.48]

This game is fast. So fast you don’t see levels, just splashes of color and sound cues, – like “ding” of an upcoming crystal, which means that you need to perform grab. There are no two ways about it – you either do the grab, or you faceplant. [Isssue#259, p.56]

There’s nothing wrong with learning from your competitors, but what’s the point of copying stuff that’s mocked even by Ubisoft fans? Hopefully, next time Guerrilla will focus more on Horizon’s own strengths: unique world and mechosaurs that are so fun to take apart. [Issue#259, p.72]

No matter how many studios try to replicate the formula, From Software is the only one that can deliver authentic Souls experience. [Issue#259, p.36]

It’s just three new missions without new characters or gameplay mechanics (well, with one small exception). They’re interesting, they’re difficult, graphics, music and voice acting are top-notch, – but Aiko’s Choice is still too small to be sold as a standalone game. [Issue#258, p.54]

Medieval Dynasty delivers a nice blend of survival sim and economy game with a story layer behind it. The only thing that’s lacking is social aspect: Stardew Valley proved how important are neighbors for a farming game, but in Medieval Dynasty they’re just puppets with some basic needs and no actual character. [Issue#258, p.56]

There’s not much to do in the open world, but thankfully, it doesn’t play a big role either. Infinite mostly sticks to what makes Halo great: first-person action. Smart level design, great mobility mechanics like grappling hook, and good AI make for some really memorable moments. [Issue#258, p.42]

Farming Simulator 22 got a whole bunch of new stuff, which makes the learning curve even steeper, but the payoff is so much more rewarding. For example, the game now has proper seasons, with ever-changing weather to boot. So you need to plan your activities ahead and keep an eye on the forecasts – for example, it’s a very bad idea to harvest the crops while it’s raining. [Issue#258, p.52]

It’s hard to put a genre tag on Expeditions: Rome. It has small-unit skirmishes, clashes between armies, some strategy planning on the campaign map, camp management, crafting, role-playing, and so on and so forth. But the best part is that you don’t need to be Caesar to keep track of it all, because they are perfectly interwoven. [Issue#258, p.46]

Liberation severed all ties with Disciples’ strategic heritage. There’s only one playable faction, and our capital exists in a separate dimension so it never gets attacked. The resources are abundant, units and items are cheap, and fights are easy, so that nothing would distract the player from following the story. [Issue#258, p.58]

Great parkour, gory combat, improved story and beautifully detailed open world make Dying Light 2 the best game of the last few months and a very strong contender in game of the year race. [Issue#258, p.38]

If you have a Switch and at least 50 hours of free time, if you can handle the stress of losing progress due to manual saves, if you like complex story, nuanced mechanics and turn-based combat – you definitely have to play Shin Megami Tensei V. [Issue#257, p.72]

Peter’s flashbacks deserve a special mention. Eidos Montreal went all-out on them, so instead of a cutscene, we get to explore a lovingly detailed place from Star-Lord’s past. [Issue#257, p.48]

Superstars could be bigger and better than it is. But it’s still the ultimate version of Mario Party. Though I wonder how the next game could possibly surpass it – there’s basically no room for polish, and another volume of “Greatest hits” won’t have the same impact. [Issue#257, p.70]

Forza Horizon 5 still is a great racing game, but there’s no denying that the series is in a torpor-like state. It’s obvious that Playground is afraid not only to innovate, but to make any sort of significant change to a successful formula. [Issue#257, p.64]

It’s like Diablo, except you mostly fight dressers, fridges and street lights. [Issue#257, p.76]

Don’t come in expecting a suspenseful horror or a psychological thriller. This time around, Supermassive Games treats us to an action-horror with adrenaline-filled scenes and great camera work. [Issue#256, p.28]

If you don’t mind the cliché story, you’ll probably enjoy Tales of Arise – it has good graphics, good pacing and fluid (if a bit too easy) combat. [Issue#256, p.64]

The game looks like a Yakuza reskin, but that’s not quite true. Lost Judgement is more refined, so to speak: there’s more emphasis on the detective work, and Yagami isn’t so keen to get into fights. Although there’s still plenty of random street thugs for you to beat up. [Issue#256, p.36]

Back in the 90’s, a lot of games were made by small teams or even a single person who did what felt right, creating entirely new genres in the process. It’s hard to imagine something like that happening today. But with Highfleet,it did happen: it’s a truly unique blend of arcade, strategy and fleet management. [Issue#256, p.46]

It’s like TV series: during the first season, actors are still getting to know their character, so the show really kicks into gear only from season 2. Same thing here: original Atom RPG was still searching for its identity, but Trudograd shows that it was finally found, and now Atom is a franchise of its own. [Issue#256, p.60]

There are plenty of unusual or downright bizarre situations in Get It Together microgames: for example, you might need to shave the armpits of a statue of Zeus when all you have is a robo-singer. But every game lasts only a few seconds, so no matter how weird it is, it never outstays its welcome. [Issue#255, p.64]

Many games go for the cyberpunk vibe lately, but few can live up to this style as good as The Ascent does. [Issue#255, p.44]

Every detail in the game shows that, despite the 17-years gap between the original game and its sequel, Raz still holds a very special place in the hearts of Tim Schafer and his team. [Issue#255, p.48]

Rich storyline, impactful choices, difficult fights and great adaptation of pen-and-paper mechanics make Wrath of the Righteous a true RPG gem. [Issue#255, p.34]

It’s ironic that the original game used to satirize the stagnation of video games industry, but now, No More Heroes 3 is afraid to leave familiar ground. Still, long-time fans will enjoy this new chapter of Travis Touchdown’s adventures. [Issue#255, p.54]

Well-designed metroidvania elements, prominent storyline and dynamic action – Metroid Dread delivers on almost every front. [Issue#255, p.28]

With Dontnod, there’s always a small town and the death of a friend to get the story rolling. But this time around, characters, plot and setting are far more developed than in previous games. [Issue#255, p.62]

Humankind offers a fresh take on historical 4X strategy genre, with a lot of creativity thrown in, but the team sorely lacks a lead designer who could tie everything together. So even though each innovation is really cool on its own, the whole turned out to be less than the sum of its parts. [Issue#255, p.40]

A great way to dive into the folklore of the Russian North. The setting is remarkably fresh, the story is well-written, and while the card battles are rather mediocre, the game doesn’t penalize the player for skipping them. [Issue#255, p.50]

Prequel duology took a long time to reach Western players and it shows, especially since the graphics were originally created for 3DS. But hey, it’s more Ace Attorney with the same humor and the new setting! [Issue#254, p.42]

Don’t forget that it’s a remaster, not a remake, so models are rather low in polygons, and textures are a little blurry. It also can feel a little awkward if you play it with new control layout instead of classic motion controls. But the game itself is still a masterpiece. [Issue#254, p.38]

They tried to tell a very epic story on a very limited budget. A contrast like this sometimes really grates on my nerves, but, paradoxically, it’s also a part of Scarlet Nexus’ charm. [Issue#254, p.40]

Returnal has everything you’d expect from an exclusive that comes early in a console’s life-cycle. It shows off everything PS5 has to offer, while delivering a solid roguelike experience. [Issue#254, p.54]

The experience is so captivating, you’ll probably want to blast through the entire 10-15 hour story in one go. But the final is really disappointing: basically, the entire game is just a warm-up, while the important events will happen in the next one. [Issue#254, p.36]

There’s only one problem we could find with this game: it doesn’t have mechs from beloved franchises like BattleTech. Just imagine if you could fix a Jenner or an Atlas! Alas, it’s just a dream. But Mech Mechanic is still a great fun. [Issue#254, p.44]

Like any golf game, Mario Golf is a niche product. But it has that amazing Nintendo magic – even if you aren’t a golf aficionado, you’ll still have a lot of fun. [Issue#254, p.66]

Each fighter is very unique, so, even though there is a good tutorial, it will take a long time before you’ll learn how to fight properly. Still, if you have even a slightest interest in Japanese fighting games – you absolutely have to check out Strive. [Issue#254, p.56]

Chaotic melees give little opportunity to use more sophisticated fencing mechanics, but there’s no denying that there’s a lot of pure visceral fun to be had here. [Issue#254, p.58]

Anna’s Quest first came out on PC in 2015, but its appeal hasn’t lessened over the years, because beneath a fairy tale there is a mature story about fate and determinism. [Issue#254, p.63]

Village is not a “survival horror”, but a “survival action”. One particular episode aside, you are always armed and expected to face the problem head-on. Even boss fights are all about strafing and filling the enemy with lead. [Issue#253, p.38]

Beautiful music, great humor and a lot of customization – Miitopia on Switch proved to be a great remaster of a 3DS classic. [Issue#253, p.66]

Josef Fares wasn’t kidding when he said that It Takes Two is unlike any other platformer: it’s amazing how many various mechanics and ideas found their place in this game. [Issue#253, p.32]

Until now, Famicom Detective Club duology had never been officially released to the western market. Now these adventure games from late 80’s are here with new graphics and full localization, and they’re well worth your time. [Issue#253, p.68]

Until now, Famicom Detective Club duology had never been officially released to the western market. Now these adventure games from late 80’s are here with new graphics and full localization, and they’re well worth your time. [Issue#253, p.68]

The combat is lacking, the story-telling is awful, the faction system is barebones. Yet there is something to Biomutant, some unexplainable quality that makes you want to keep exploring its wacky world. [Issue#253, p.34]

Mario games still set the bar high for all 3D platformers, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is a good remaster of an already excellent game, which will please both newcomers and old-time fans. [Issue#252, p.64]

Music and design is the strongest suit of the game. At the same time it’s unfriendly to newcomers and suffers from slow battles and tedious craft. It’s one of those cases where love and pain go hand in hand. [Issue#252, p.60]

Breathedge has great visuals, engaging story and good humor, but its survival elements prove to be more of a burden than something that enhances the experience. [Issue#252, p.58]

Pixel games are not everyone's cup of tea, but Olija looks quite good. It’ll be a good fit for people who miss games where you can help those in need, or simply want to challenge their reflexes. [Issue#252, p.53]

The Medium didn’t manage to become a spiritual successor to Silent Hill, but it’s still a significant step forward for Bloober Team. [Issue#252, p.50]

The second game proves to be faithful to its predecessor in terms of lore and atmosphere, and simultaneously manages to break new ground in gameplay. It makes us look forward to further evolution of the series in a potential sequel. [Issue#252, p.48]

Outriders has its flaws, but they’re compensated with gory firefights and enjoyable co-op. Another upside is that it doesn’t try to be an open world: the levels are tight and packed with action. [Issue#252, p.44]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Breath of the Wild set the bar for the genre, and since Link never got around to visiting Ancient Greece – there’s no shame in sending Fenyx there instead. [Issue#251, p.56]