Despite completely original story, Man of Medan feels more like an Until Dawn expansion pack than game of its own. It also is noticeably shorter and less varied, although still fun to play. [Issue#240, p.32]

Large selection of classes, good AI and wide variety of missions make Fire Emblem: Three Houses one of the best turn-based tactics. [Issue#240, p.50]

DXM introduces a lot of interesting mechanics, but they are sorely underutilized outside of specific missions. Picking up a rusty car and smashing enemy with it looks great – but you won’t be doing that, since proper weapons deal much more damage. [Issue#240, p.46]

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]

Despite the initial skepticism, Borderlands 3 turned out to be great. It does have its faults, but for the entire 30-hour campaign it will keep you entertained not only with its main story, but also with sidequests, exploration and searching for the perfect build for your character. [Issue#240, p.24]

Every aspect of Astral Chain is captivating in its own way. [Issue#240, p.42]

Poor climbing and fighting aside, the gameplay loop is mind-numbingly tedious: eat, drink, make babies, sleep. Keep doing that for hours, and you’ll unlock one semi-useful perk or another, so you can eat, sleep and drink some more. [Issue#240, p.40]

Departure from fantasy setting didn’t turn Age of Wonders into a must-have game, neither did it break some truly new ground for the genre. Nevertheless, it’s a very nice strategy/tactics mix. [Issue#240, p.28]

Chaosbane levels are all made from a small variety of large “building blocks”, so when you’re sent to clean out another sewer of monsters – it’ll look just like every previous sewer you’ve cleaned so far. Boring and uninspired. [Issue#239, p.68]

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]

In addition to constructor mode, the game also has a solid single-player story with over 100 levels. SMM2 will have you race, fly, explore labyrinths, solve puzzles and fight monsters – every interesting concept of the past 30 years found its place in this game. [Issue#239, p.72]

For the entire game you’ll have the feeling that something significant is going to happen soon – but it won’t. Story never takes a sharp turn, every interesting character is introduced in the first third of the game and there are no meaningful rewards to find in Oakmont openworld. [Issue#239, p.56]

Original Pathologic was way too early to the “sandbox survival” boom, now its years too late. As for story – it’s basically the same: rich in ideas and lore, but very poorly written. [Issue#239, p.60]

Mordhau is basically two games in one: on one hand, it has a complex fighting system with feints, ripostes and so on. On the other – you can forget about all that fancy dueling stuff and just charge in with your halberd, hoping to chop off a few heads before losing your own. [Issue#239, p.62]

The painter had been replaced by an actor, and old mansion morphed into a ship – but the gameplay and scare tactics have changed very little. [Issue#239, p.64]

It’s obvious the team didn’t have the budget of Yakuza 6 for this game. But that gives the game its own charm, like those criminal dramas on TV that you would never watch on purpose, but if you stumble upon one, you’re going to see it to the end. [Issue#239, p.52]

Combat is rather simplistic, but effective: situations and objectives vary greatly, and each fight requires its own tactics and equipment. Unfortunately, it’s also the best part of the game – although writers managed to draft an intriguing world, they failed to populate it with memorable characters and stories. [Issue#239, p.66]

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]

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]

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]

American Fugitive is what GTA would’ve looked like if it never went 3D. [Issue#239, p.59]

Over six years of Early Access, developers added to Space Engineers a lot of options and objects, including entire planets. There’s only one thing that’s still missing: meaningful gameplay. [Issue#238, p.40]

Beautiful and varied world, high-speed vehicle combat, fine-tuned gunfights - on its own, every aspect of this game is great. But Rage 2 as a whole is somehow less than sum of its parts. [Issue#238, p.34]

Even a great setting can’t save the game that’s mediocre in every other regard. [Issue#238, p.46]

At its core, MK11 is a great fighting game – and free-to-play elements, while unfortunate, do not significantly diminish the experience. [Issue#238, p.52]

I’d like to believe that in time, with a few DLCs, Imperator will become a worthy Antiquity simulator. Still, it’s a worrying sign that a brand new Paradox game has basically no original features at its launch. [Issue#238, p.66]

Bend Studio made a great game with a rich, believable and captivating story. They’ve also resisted the lure of trends: there’s no multiplayer, no lootboxes, no “game as a service” plans – just a very solid (and finite) singleplayer experience. That makes it a rare gem these days, maybe one of the last of its kind. [Issue#238, p.42]

Close to the Sun is great at atmosphere-building, but the ending is nothing short of disappointing: too many big questions are left unanswered, as if developers couldn’t bring themselves to choose one version of the events over all others.[Issue#238, p.64]

BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! Is easy to pick up and play to the end, but getting the highest ratings will be quite a challenge, as it requires to gather all crowns on the level while using as few boxes as possible. [Issue#238, p.62]

Once, RTS were a challenge that required quick thinking and foreplanning, never afraid to humiliate inept player. Today, they’re exact opposite, eager to please paying client. Anno 1800 is a perfect example of such strategy: good-looking, predictable and forgiving. [Issue#238, p.48]

As she gains new options, Amicia gradually transforms from a victim into a predator, which doesn’t exactly fit the atmosphere. On the other hand, it assures that you will enjoy the rollercoaster storyline without getting stuck at any particular puzzle. [Issue#238, p.58]

Yoshi will fight in a sea battle, pilot a mecha-dinosaur, run away from Death, make his way through a ninja castle – and that’s just a tiny sliver of all adventures in Yoshi’s Crafted World. [Issue#237, p.48]

Limbic Entertainment just took the reins of the series, so they didn’t change much, but when they did – they made the gameplay better and more diverse. [Issue#237, p.32]

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]

There’s no leveling (in Soulsborne sense of the word), no covenants, no multiplayer, no variety in armor and weapons. It could be written off a stylistic choice, if the rest of the game didn’t feel very similar to the previous FromSoftware games. But it does, so Sekrio comes across as rather shallow. [Issue#237, p.28]

Generation Zero was designed with co-op in mind, but it lacks basic quality of life features, like dedicated servers, ignore list for matchmaking and even something as vital as integrated voice chat. [Issue#237, 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]

Astroneer is a nice survival game that’s hopelessly behind the curve: we’ve already seen everything it has to offer in one game or another. [Issue#237, p.40]

After a while, suspicion sets in: perhaps EA doesn’t believe in BioWare anymore, and had them release not only unpolished, but basically unfinished product to cut losses and avoid another total rework. [Issue#237, p.44]

Studio managed to do the impossible: turn a difficult subject that's of interest only to specialists, into a product that doesn't feel like "edutainment", but rather like a touching indie game. [Issue#236, p.37]

The game may appear to be monotonous since heroes never learn new abilities – but as levels go, they find new applications for skills they already have, so Unruly Heroes never goes stale. [Issue#236, p.36]

Although it deserves recognition for its attempt to be historically faithful, for hardcore damage mechanics and good combat dynamic, Tannenberg is also a little disappointing: weapons are more or less the same, unlocks lack impact, and class division is basically pointless. [Issue#236, p.38]

A shining example of what remake should be. [Issue#236, p.24]

Classic characters, familiar worlds and epic music – the game is like a portal to 8-bit past of the series. But its strength is also its weakness: New Super Mario doesn't even try to surprise you. [Issue#236, p.48]

Metro has always been a very niche game series with poor storytelling, broken stealth and unsatisfying shooting mechanics, which are offset by original setting. The same is true for Exodus, although it also adds "pointless open world" to the pile. [Issue#236, p.28]

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]

Open world in New Dawn exists for one single purpose: to let player engage next group of enemies on his own terms. Hopefully, in next game Ubisoft will finally get rid of RPG elements (mainly, bizarre multi-tiered guns) and go back to the formula of first Far Cry. [Issue#236, p.54]

DMC 5 takes the best from previous titles, like over the top action and nuanced battle system, adds a great new character and makes the best use of modern technologies. [Issue#236, p.20]

We can't recommend Crackdown 3 in good faith. It has its moments, but you need to be a fan of uncomplicated run'n'gun gameplay to enjoy them – and even then, the action takes way too long to pick up. [Issue#236, p.42]

It feels like the most challenging missions are difficult not by design, but rather by design mistakes. For example, one of them gives a very limited time to bomb a number of targets – which wouldn't be so bad if allied fighters actually engaged enemy interceptors. [Issue#236, p.52]

Beneath the fantastic eyecandy lies a very precise mechanic that rewards tactical thinking, good positioning and ability to make split-second decisions. [Issue#235, p.40]

It’s hard to make sense of the game that’s basically a Switch port of iOS/Android remake of Pokemon Red/Green. Is it a step forward, step backward – or maybe just a shameless cash-in? Turns out, it’s a great remake – the world looks exactly as we imagined it back when we were staring at black and white pixels of original Red/Green. [Issue#235, p.44]

It’s hard to make sense of the game that’s basically a Switch port of iOS/Android remake of Pokemon Red/Green. Is it a step forward, step backward – or maybe just a shameless cash-in? Turns out, it’s a great remake – the world looks exactly as we imagined it back when we were staring at black and white pixels of original Red/Green. [Issue#235, p.44]

You have to spend hours crawling around, looking for lone enemies that you can gang up on and take out without raising the alarm – because there’s no way you’ll be able to fight everyone at the same time. To put it bluntly – it’s not fun, and Mutant doesn’t have anything else to offer. [Issue#235, p.46]

This game from a small independent studio managed to one-up triple-A series like CoD and Battlefield. Insurgency: Sandstorm has a very clear understanding of what kind of experience it wants to deliver, and it doesn’t waste effort on timesinks like lootboxes or unlocks. [Issue#235, p.34]

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

Well, the coveted Russian Fallout has finally been made. Hopefully, next time instead of Russian Fallout 2 AtomTeam will make simply Atom 2. There’re plenty of original ideas here that deserve to be developed further. [Issue#235, p.38]

Each of the ten chapters has a storyline that somewhat overlaps with numerical Yo-Kai’s. But whatever the plot reason is, in the end you’ll find yourself plowing through enemies using the same two basic attacks. It’s a grind game, plain and simple – and an uninspired one at that. [Issue#234, p.58]

Each of the ten chapters has a storyline that somewhat overlaps with numerical Yo-Kai’s. But whatever the plot reason is, in the end you’ll find yourself plowing through enemies using the same two basic attacks. It’s a grind game, plain and simple – and an uninspired one at that. [Issue#234, p.58]

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]

iOS and Android versions of TWEWY couldn’t handle the unique combat system with two different fights on two different DS screens, so they cut one of them. Switch port mutilates the game even further. [Issue#234, p.74]

JJ has to impale herself, burn herself alive and suffer all other kinds of mutilation in order to progress. Even when you get accustomed to that, The Missing keeps getting under your skin in many other ways. [Issue#234, p.62]

Complex and unpredictable board game, numerous mini-games and being able to play as your favorite character – those are the three pillars of Mario Party’s success. Neither of these elements was polished to perfection over the years, but together they offer a very enjoyable experience. [Issue#234, p.72]

Origins is a surprisingly good successor to the famous trilogy. There’s a big galaxy to explore, choices to make and memorable characters to meet. Dialogues are great, and arcade parts are simple, yet fun. Together, they make a game that will easily keep your interest for a week at least. [Issue#234, p.54]

The studio redrew every model and changed the engine, but managed to keep the gameplay faithful to the original. Level architecture, Spyro’s abilities and his enemies – Reignited Trilogy plays just like the originals, only with modern graphics. [Issue#234, p.63]

Story and exploration in Kingmaker are grade A. Adaptation of Pathfinder system is probably even A+, since it’s simplified, yet still incredibly complex and satisfying. But. Some elements, like titular kingdom-building, are astonishingly bad, and overall technical execution is subpar at best. [Issue#234, p.76]

When Ubisoft brought forth subscription service Just Dance Unlimited, it became the focal point of Just Dance experience, and every new game basically adds new songs to it, albeit with a timed exclusivity. [Issue#234, p.48]

Just Cause 4 is just like its predecessor, but bigger, better, faster. Most of the grind was removed, while “creative destruction” aspect is better than ever. [Issue#234, p.34]

It’s more like a Season 2 to Hitman (2016) than a proper sequel, so there isn’t a lot of changes – just a few new story tidbits (in case anyone actually follows the plot), as well as 6 new incredibly detailed levels. [Issue#234, p.52]

Day 4. I’m still in the shop, watching tutorials, writing down names and brands. Of course, proper tools are way out of my price range, so I’ll have to go with cheap equivalents. …Have you ever tried to find cheap equivalents for stuff you’ve never even heard of before? [Issue#234, p.50]

Yes, it’s underpolished compared to predecessors. Yes, darksouls-esque mechanics don’t exactly click with traditional combat dynamics. Yes, acrobatics are straight up bad. But let’s give Darksiders 3 a little break – after all, the series did just come back from the dead. [Issue#234, p.64]

The car physics are more appropriate for a “shoebox on linoleum” simulator than a Dakar racing game. [Issue#234, p.59]

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]

Call of Cthulhu is an atmospheric game with a rather gripping detective storyline. Unfortunately, it fails to evoke any kind of fear of the unknown, which is essential for Cthulhu mythos. [Issue#234,p.66]

Battlefield V still has the magic of its predecessors: you do feel like you’re taking part in a big battle in some Hollywood movie. But everything about it, from bugs to the amount of content, makes you feel that EA is trying to sell an Early Access game without labeling it so. [Issue#234, p.40]

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]

Insomniac definitely went overboard with collectibles and routine side activities, which is definitely detrimental to game interest (especially since equipment upgrades are directly tied to them). But they nearly made up for it with attention to details and quality of cutscenes. [Issue #233, p.74]

Soulcalibur had always been relatively accessible fighting series, and now it is even more so: certain moves that previously required multiple button presses are now relegated to shoulder buttons. Still, it doesn’t oversimplify combat, as inertia from miscalculated strike still can drag you out of area boundaries, causing an instant loss. [Issue #233, p.66]

Lara’s new adventure is definitely the best in trilogy, but it still lags behind the leaders of action-adventure genre, such as Uncharted 4. [Issue #233, p.44]

It’s astonishing how many animations, dialogues and scripted behaviors were made for this game, and how well they work with each other to create such a complex, immersive world. [Issue #233, p.38]

It’s basically a puzzle, but variety of situations, solutions and environments never lets it get stale. [Issue #233, p.72]

Having a co-op partner is essential for Overcooked 2, otherwise you’ll miss most of the funny situations, entertaining confusion and surprising difficulty of this game. [Issue #233, p.64]

Diaz brothers’ debut isn’t groundbreaking, but it proves that Dontnod still can produce an engaging drama. You can’t help but feel sympathy for protagonists, especially since the stakes are much higher this time around. [Issue #233, p.48]

Forza Horizon 4 sets a new mark: from now on, any open-world racing game that doesn’t feature passing of the seasons will feel like it’s missing something very important both for immersion and variety. [Issue #233, p.50]

Besides the advancements in story mode, some changes were made to core gameplay. It’s hard to say if they’re for better or worse, but the game definitely feels a bit different. Maybe that was the entire point, as you can’t just update team rosters of FIFA 18 and sell it as a new game. But tweak the balance a bit – and you’ve got FIFA 19. [Issue #233, p.53]

While it really is a mix of FTL and XCOM, it lacks the quick pace of the former and budget of the latter. You’ll be fighting in the same levels against the same enemies for over and over again, which will soon begin to feel like a chore. [Issue #233, p.73]

Like other InXile games, Bard’s Tale IV lives and breathes oldschool design decisions, which is a rare and valuable thing these days. Where else would you find a party-based RPG that focuses on puzzles, music and unusual combat solutions instead of common grind and hunt for loot? [Issue #233, p.68]

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]

Procedurally generated world is undeniably big, but it’s also bland to the point it hurts the story. It’s hard to stay invested when every plot advancement requires you to walk along the indistinctive streets for dozen minutes. [Issue#232, p.74]

First trailers gave the impression that this would be a fresh take on the familiar police chief formula, putting us in the shoes of the young Lily Reed. But no – once again we’ll be playing as Jack Boyd, doing the same old job with some half-baked new features. [Issue#232, p.60]

Open world is sadly underutilized: there’s no need to explore it to find new races, and unlike original The Crew, mini-activities like slalom are few and far between. [Issue#232, p.54]

It’s Part 3 of the trilogy, so if you’ve missed the previous two, there’s no reason to play this one first. But if you’ve been anxiously awaiting the finale of the story that began 4 years ago – The Banner Saga 3 won’t disappoint. [Issue#232, p.58]

Every kind of shot from flat to backspin, various environmental objects and special abilities of characters – Mario Tennis Aces might very well be the most complex and difficult Nintendo game of this generation. [Issue#232, p.64]

Most of the time our heroine needs to race from floor to floor to complete given tasks. Along the way she’ll meet other students and teachers that have some interesting stuff to tell, but there isn’t much time to chat – the clock is ticking, and if the time runs out, you’ll have to start over. [Issue#232, p.66]

You’d think that in a zoo, there would be a team that handles healing of animals on its own (at worst – after getting chewed out via intercom). But in Jurassic World Evolution, director has to personally oversee that process, as well as numerous other tasks. [Issue#232, p.62]

Early on, it’s not that burdensome to personally lug around materials and process them into useful things, but as the technology marches on, you’ll have to do more and more menial tasks to make that new sword or casket that you need. [Issue#232, p.70]

Combat is very satisfying: strikes have proper weight behind them, hitboxes are where you expect them to be and controls are very responsive. Procedural generation, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired: from playthrough to playthrough, levels feel too similar. [Issue#232, p.68]

NeocoreGames masterfully channels the grimdark atmosphere of Warhammer, but the actual gameplay is very barebones. There are three different classes, but they play pretty much the same, and most of the perks only add 1% to this or 1,5% to that. Oh, and that "open-world sandbox" you see on Martyr’s Steam page? It actually means "procedurally generated missions with simplistic objectives." [Issue#231, p.60]