Of course, FM7 has its share of problems, like shortage of tracks for some car classes, lack of management options in career mode and all-but-braindead AI, but the point is – it’s finally possible to play for the driving experience itself.[Issue#224, p.50]

It must’ve been very tempting to fix some quirks of the original, to make a legendary game a bit better. And maybe add something that had been planned back then, but wasn’t finished in time, or perhaps brush up the dialogues. Luckily, team behind Special Edition avoided all these temptations and delivered a game that’s 99.99% faithful to the original (the only joke that got removed is “Fony” logo on a TV) [Issue#209, p.66]

As expected, Odyssey is basically Origins 2.0, bigger and better in almost every regard, from leveling options to wide open world with procedurally-generated mercenaries to keep you entertained for hours and hours. [Issue #233, p.54]

CD Projekt got into a Catch-22 situation with Cyberpunk 2077. Investors wouldn’t forgive another delay, and now no one will forget such a troubled release. Still, even with all its bugs, Cyberpunk is a great game: main story and sidequests are terrific, and Night City is probably the most immersive and detailed city in the history of video games. [Issue#250, page 38]

Everything is made just like fans of first few Colin McRae Rallies wanted. Now it’s up to them to reciprocate with high enough sales numbers – and classic rally sims will have a bright future again. [Issue#205, p.42]

Not only Twilight Princess was first released ten years ago, its development began five years earlier, when game design conventions were rather different. HD-version stays faithful to the original even when it shouldn’t have – for example, if you don’t approach a ladder from a right angle, Link will ignore it. Still, there are some improvements to the interface, and a few absurdly time-consuming tasks were toned down. [Issue#207, p.62]

Cadence of Hyrule might be THE surprise release of the year. Not only Nintendo let third-party studio to use its IP, but the result is on par with mainstream releases of the big N. [Issue#239, p.67]

It has its ups and downs. On one hand, there’s a lot to do and graphics are top-notch by 3DS standards; on the other – there’s basically no story and virtually no new ideas. It’s up to debate what outweighs what, but there’s no doubt that in its genre Monster Hunter has no real competition on 3DS. [Issue#211, p.61]

In the first few hours, you get to know and love Inscryption. Then, it genre-shifts to the point of total unrecognizability. [Issue#257, p.78]

Despite the sharp turn toward pacifism one can easily recognize Croteam style: unusual for puzzles large open locations, majestic architectural forms of ancient civilizations... It seems that you are about to hear the cries of a headless kamikazes. So when a screaming figure dashes nearby you start spinning the mouse wheel in search of shotgun on pure reflex. [Issue #195, p.68]

The game made its debut at a very fortunate time, when its closest competitors are at their weakest: new iterations of Cities XL content-wise are closer to a DLC, and SimCity remains a total disappointment. While Skylines doesn’t offer any groundbreaking novelties, it does genre’s basics very well and tries to make city-building interface as user-friendly as possible. [May 2015, p.60]

Nintendo brings back Samus Aran with a remake that’s better all-around than the original. Hopefully, N’s next move will be to finally make a completely new game starring her. [Issue#224, p.54]

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]

Clichés and predictability don’t make the playthrough of Wasteland 3 any less enjoyable. After all, good post-apocalyptic RPGs are always in short supply. [Issue#248, p.36]

Contrary to popular wisdom, Almost Human Games’ lightning did manage to strike the same place twice. Legend of Grimrock 2 is not ideal in any respect but still manages to keep players in front of the monitor with challenging battles and interesting puzzles. [Dec 2014, p.78]

At the very least BioWare managed to present a workable concept of an RPG which is completely detached from the legacy of pen-and-paper RPG. [Jan 2015, p.52]

Vanillaware’s signature style is evident in every scene of 13 Sentinels. Both long-time fans and newcomers will enjoy this gorgeous Japanese game.[Issue#248,p.42]

Somehow, monotone side activities are a perfect match for the game’s atmosphere of bad dream you just can’t wake up from. Disarm a bomb, secure an outpost, disable a watchtower; disarm a bomb, secure an outpost, disable a watchtower; repeat ad nauseam. After 100% completion you’ll feel as tired as Batman himself. [Sept 2015, p.68]

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]

Control takes a while to get in gear, but overall it’s one of the most memorable experiences of the year. [Issue#240, p.36]

There are multiple ways to complete each mission, and to spur player’s imagination, developers offer additional challenges – for example, a playthrough with no firearms, or a pacifist one. So, even though Blades of the Shogun only has a dozen missions, it will keep you entertained for a long time. [Issue#216, p.40]

While holding hand on the sacred Mario cap we should admit that SSB is not the most suitable game for small screen 3DS, even for XXL versions. It is so difficult to follow flickering characters on the background of richly animated arenas. Especially when opponents flee in different corners and the camera drives away. [Nov 2014, p.104]

A lack of new ideas is compensated by solid design and the simple story is diluted by charming humor. Yacht Club Games managed to create a distinctive game in intriguing world offering old-fashioned exciting adventure for a few hours. [September 2014, p. 80]

Developers reused a lot of assets from the first game, did nothing to address its shortcomings, and probably hope that combat alone (which is as good as it was before) would be enough to sell the game to the public. [Issue#245, p.54]

Both games deserve much more than a simple re-release, but it’s great to be able to play these masterpieces on the current-gen consoles. [Issue#243, p.54]

Compared to the original game, digging became a far more linear experience. That doesn’t mean that exploration element is gone, but it’s definitely different: now you need to keep an eye out for cracks in the rock that can be cracked open to reveal secret areas. [Issue#226, p.48]

“As is always has been” is a major problem for the series. Just to list a few issues that it lovingly keeps since PS2 era: unwieldy save system, clumsy camera, a separate loading screen for every shop and venue even though the “open world” is so small they could’ve been easily integrated into it, and, of course, abrupt transitions from lovingly rendered cutscenes to plain text dumps. Still, it you can stomach all that, Yakuza is worth a look due to its uniqueness. [Issue#217, p.78]

The setting is intriguing, but the story is bland. Open world promises exploration, but there is nothing to find. The combat has all the beats – but it just isn’t interesting. [Issue#254, p.68]

Thanks to some new content and numerous little tweaks to its gameplay, Pikmin 3 has become even better. It’s an unparalleled mix of RTS, adventure and puzzle game.[Issue#249, p.80]

In some respects, R&C remake all but copies original game: same mini-games, same fighter flights, even some locations are basically copy-pasted. Still, Insomniac realized that industry standards have moved on, so it follows the original formula only when it holds up well. [Issue#209, p.70]

There’s a definite focus shift from tactics to strategy – which is risky, considering that tactical combat had always been a staple of Total War series. It couldn’t be avoided, though: unlike Medieval and Rome settings, China simply lacks variety in troops types. So fights end up being very predictable – while Chinese politic field is anything but! [Issue#239, p.48]

Thronebreaker drifts ever further from Witcher 3 version of Gwent: now there’s only two rows, for example, and victory conditions vary from battle to battle. But on its own, Thronebreaker is a very enjoyable experience. [Issue#234, p.36]

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]

The first half of the game takes place in believable, but not exemplary colonial buildings on Mars. Only when Marine gets to Hell does the game really get into gear: the number and strength of opponents begins to match Marine’s phenomenal murdering skills, and Doom finally transforms into a fierce, high-speed shooter that’s all about holding your own in the middle of a demon’s horde and making sudden comebacks when all seems lost. And yet, even in Hell the game manages to give you breathers to explore and look for secrets. [Issue#209, p.52]

We can’t say that Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle has no other issues besides graphics: some people won’t like weird scenery of the Mushroom Kingdom, others will be annoyed by somewhat blunt humor. But there’s no doubt about the bottom line: Switch owners got a good brand-new tactic game. [Issue#223, p.68]

If you like platformers, Crash will suck you in for a week or more – and you’ll keep finding things you’ve yet to complete or unlock. [Issue#249, p.50]

As often is the case with Codemasters, Dirt Rally 2.0 failed to properly build upon the success of its predecessor. Even if we disregard the blatant DLC-milking, there’s still the issue of quirky physics and poor sound effects. [Issue#237, p.42]

It doesn’t really bring anything new to the Hitman formula. Still, Hitman 3 offers the biggest and the most intricate levels in the trilogy, as well as the satisfying conclusion to the current story arc. [Issue#241, p.52]

After you get used to the world of Shadow of Mordor understanding comes: there is nothing to do in it. Chieftains – pretty serious opponents at first – in the end due to the lame balance become the whipping boys. Storyline is buried under muddy reasoning about rings, elves and dark lord. As a result you like the Shadow of Mordor gameplay but you do not want to go to the finish. [Nov 2014, p.64]

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]

Alas, developers were way too eager to copy FromSoftware’s ideas, so Salt and Sanctuary never became anything more than “2D Dark Souls”. Nice concept, but a forgettable experience. [Issue#208, p.73]

343 Industries managed to rectify some of Halo 4’s mistakes, but most of its shortcomings are still present. [Issue#203, p.56]

Turn-based combat aside, it’s the same old Yakuza, with aged graphics, long-winded dialogues and kooky sidequests. [Issue#250, page 64]

Budget deficit is the main problem of DD – you’re all but forced to replay the same dungeons over and over. On the other hand, that gives you ample time for experiments with party composition and skills. [Issue#206, p.65]

When you push the restart button, you know that it wasn’t a single disaster or a mistake that cost you the campaign, but a whole bunch of wrong decisions you’ve made in previous hours. But when you start over, you’ll discover that path to victory is unfortunately narrow – not to mention that most of the challenges you face will be exactly the same as the last time. [Issue#230, p.40]

It’s no secret that beat ’em ups are better in co-op, but it’s especially evident with SoR4. If you’re playing on your own, prepare to get juggled to death, but if you bring a friend or two – you’ll be the one having a party. [Issue#246, p.54]

Developers compare HDL to Legend of Zelda, but their biggest similarity is that the world is split between surface and dungeon “halves”. In HDL, you don’t explore dungeons, you clean them out: enter a room, kill everyone, proceed to the next. [Issue#209, p.72]

Shredder’s Revenge is one big nostalgia trip that doesn’t even try to do something more – like offering actually good and nuanced beat’em up experience, for example. [Issue#260, p.52]

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]

Skyscrapers and palm trees of New Los Angeles contrast nicely with dinosaurs - indigenous species of our new home planet. Our end goal? Restoration of humanity. [Issue#204, p.82]

The only thing SOMA does well is monsters. If Frictional took a lesson from Alien: Isolation and let them roam the entire map, the game would’ve had a chance to shine. Alas, every encounter is totally predictable, so they fail to sufficiently spice SOMA’s totally bland and predictable story. [Issue#203, p.77]

Perfect reward system, very tactile gunplay and great visuals make Division 2 the best loot shooter on the market, and one of the best co-op games in the recent years. [Issue#237, p.36]

Making a good open-world is a difficult task even for an experienced studio, so what chances did Platinum Games (that has pretty much no experience in this area) have? Better question yet – where was the quality control of Square Enix, that should’ve either postponed the release to let the studio develop their sandbox mechanics further, or told them to cut it altogether? It’s especially sad since at its core Automata is a great action game that easily could’ve been turned into an unforgettable six-hour experience. [Issue#218, p.46]

ICEY is as normal of a platformer as The Stanley Parable is a normal adventure game; and though it will take just a few hours to find all hidden endings, Easter eggs and achievements, the experience is more than worth it. [Issue#217, p.84]

Even though it touches upon the themes of death and saying goodbye to your loved ones, Spiritfarer feels warm and upbeat. It also doesn’t feel like work, which is a rare thing for management games. [Issue#248, p.43]

It’s nice to know that Dave and Sandy from Maniac Mansion are doing fine, but they have no relation to this story. Same can be said for many others: storyline is chockfull of side stuff that ends up going nowhere. It’s also missing an ending – instead of resolving everything, Thimbleweed Parks plays a postmodernism card that leaves an extremely bad aftertaste [Issue#219, p.78]

Developers took their favorite episodes from the first five Sonics, took them apart and made a remix with some special additions: several new elements came from Sonic games that were never released, others – from cut content, and some were made from scratch. So they ended up with a game that’s bursting with secrets and gameplay mechanics. [Issue#223, p.61]

Because of the story mode, sometimes it feels like FIFA 17 is not a football sim, but a football-themed RPG: there’s family drama, conflict with a friend, press conferences, building rapport with teammates, and many other things. And it’s the story mode that kept us playing FIFA, even though Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 is arguably better at simulating football match itself. [Issue#213, p.46]

It’s a good thing to have wide range of racing disciplines, but seriously – who would buy Project CARS 2 for its carting or Formula Rookie championship? And no, you can’t just play what you like: more than half of the championships are locked from the get-go. [Issue#224, p.46]

Soft aquarelle palette and meticulously composed soundtrack make GRIS a true work of art. [Issue#235, p.43]

Ubisoft Montreal managed to make Egypt not only beautiful, but extremely atmospheric. When you’re admiring the city and a mounted patrol rushes past you, you always get that urge to step aside to avoid getting trampled, even though you know you can eviscerate them all in a blink of an eye. [Issue#225, p.32]

Shin Megami Tensei is like Pokemon for a more mature audience. You’ll still be capturing monsters, breeding them and using them in fights – but characters will talk about life and death, freedom and obedience. Another important thing is that you’ll be able to draw your own conclusions and make your own choices with consequences, which are sometimes so severe that you’ll want to replay the entire chapter. [Issue#217, p.72]

Crate Entertainment made an “anti-Diablo 3”. Blizzard’s ARPG was too cheerful for you? No problem, here you’ll find blood, guts and piles of bodies in abundance. [Issue#206, p.62]

It feels as if Sucker Punch decided to make the most picturesque open world ever, while still keeping it grounded in reality. Not an easy task, but the studio really nailed it. [Issue#247, p.38]

Iga promised to make a spiritual successor to all but defunct Castlevania series – and that’s exactly what he did. Not only that, but he managed to successfully expand upon the familiar formula with nifty additions like skill shards. [Issue#239, p.74]

Sadly, Persona 5 Strikers has some value only for the fans of original Persona 5. For others it will prove to be an odd mix of a dull visual novel with a pretty average musou game. [Issue#252, p.56]

The game puts as much emphasis on narration as it does on turn-based combat, but if you’ve ever played a JRPG or two, Valkyria’s story won’t surprise you – you already know by heart these character types and plot twists. Same goes for combat – it’s so similar to the first game, it’s embarrassing. [Issue #233, p.60]

Shin Megami Tensei IV will grab you as firm as any demon and keep you playing your 3DS until it starts to whimper about dwindling battery power. [Dec 2014, p.92]

Why would a celt undertake a journey to Helheim, which has nothing to do with Celtic mythology? How come a historically correct pict from Orkney islands manages to find a mythological place in the first place? And why there are so many voices in her head? The premise of Hellblade raises a lot of questions, and the game answers most of them in due time. [Issue #222, p.70]

Nominally it’s a remake of the very first Crash Bandicoot racing game, but there’s plethora of content from its sequels, including characters and race tracks. [Issue#239, p.70]

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]

The first seconds of acquaintance with a maze game makes it clear that we are facing an improved and expanded version of Etrian Odyssey – a niche game of good quality from the same Atlus, the Japanese anime relative of Wizardry and Might & Magic. [Issue #195, p.74]

Over the course of 5 episodes Max will find time to play detective, visit alternate realities, fall in love (perhaps), take a lot of photos and make a lot of choices... only to have the slate wiped clean by the final scene. [Issue#203, p.80]

You're going to visit Olympus, Monsters Inc, Toy Story, even Winnie the Pooh – and each world is created up to the highest standards. [Issue#236, p.44]

Absence of story campaign aside, Black Ops 4 managed to keep the traditional gameplay of the series as well as venture into the uncharted territories of Battle Royale genre – with a reasonable amount of success. [Issue#234, p.44]

You can’t escape the feeling that story-wise Mankind Divided is just one big filler. It’s well-made, it has great ambient atmosphere, the gameplay is fun – but its events do not alter the status quo of Deus Ex’s world. [Issue#211, p.50]

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]

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

Played regularly, Ring Fit Adventure may become a cheap alternative to gym membership, or at least make morning workout less boring. [Issue#241, p.69]

Think of every obnoxious sidequest you’ve ever had to do; chances are, you’ll have to do exactly the same in Replicant. It has everything from mail delivery to mass-slaughtering sheep for an occasional drop of mutton. Its only saving grace is the new battle system, created by experts at Platinum Games.[Issue#253, p.52]

Surprisingly, not every racing game is about races. Some of them are mostly about cars, or driving with friends, or exploring a nice open world. But Project CARS is, first and foremost, about races and driving. [Issue#199, p.72]

PvP in Splatoon 2 is so good that Nintendo wouldn’t be Nintendo if they didn’t try to squander it: three of four game types are only available on schedule (isn’t that why we play games – to follow some arbitrary schedules someone in Nintendo HQ came up with?). Well, at least Turf War is always unlocked – and it’s the best one of them anyway. [Issue#222, p.66]

Song of Life is one of the best installments in the Yakuza series, mostly because Sega finally switched to quality over quantity mentality. The game no longer weights you down with hundreds of boring little side quests that make you run around so much you end up forgetting what was going on in the main storyline. [Issue#228, p.54]

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]

There is one major caveat, and it’s the amount of content. You’ll keep seeing the same dynamic events over and over; same goes for PvP maps. Not to mention there’s only one raid, and it accommodates only 6 people. Still, Destiny 2 remains a fun Diablo-like FPS, and it works surprisingly well on PC, so if you’ve skipped console-only Destiny 1, it’s definitely worth a look. [Issue#225, p.42]

Blitz definitely can be qualified as a success. The seemingly impossible task – to port a thoughtful, slow-paced game to a platform that’s all about instant gratification – was accomplished. And the product is not a Frankensteinian monstrosity, but something new, fast-paced and captivating. [Jan 2015, p.100]

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]

A rare gem that was polished to near-perfection during its time in Steam’s Early Access. [Issue#203, p.87]

A fight with an ordinary enemy whose level is slightly higher can drag on for minutes, especially if you’re fighting it alone. The combat itself is also rife with problems: sometimes main character even fails to draw his weapon, or locks onto a far-off enemy, while another already is eviscerating him in close combat. [Issue#226, p.64]

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]

The game keeps shifting the mood, going from upbeat light novel to horror, hitting all stops in-between. The same can be said about gameplay: developers did their best to make sure that MiSide never goes stale in the 4 hours it takes to complete a single playthrough. [Issue#266]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Despite its visual similarities with Wargame series, Steel Division Normandy 44 is nothing like it gameplay-wise. “If a bunch of tanks couldn’t take care of a problem, just send more next time” way of thinking doesn’t work here: two infantry platoons, a reconnaissance unit and a properly placed AT gun can lay waste to a whole battalion. And if you throw some machineguns and a mortar into that mix, enemy’d be hard-pressed to crack this nut without some serious artillery support. [Issue#222, p.52]

The game has good economics system, interface shortcomings will probably get patched and DLCs will add stuff that’s missing right now (like spying mechanics or ability to play in early Cold War period). But that bloody mandatory AI assistance is obviously here to stay, so there’s only two options – either learn to accept it, or wait for a total conversion. [Issue#211, p.70]