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]

Everyone wants to repeat Hearthstone’s success, but most new CCGs stick to fantasy setting, and the rest go for sci-fi. For people who can’t stomach either (or just prefer something more grounded in reality), KARDS will be a real treat. [Issue#245, p.62]

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]

Gravity Rush 2 missed its chance to enter major league thanks to its basic story and weak combat system. There’s no arguing it’s an incredibly beautiful “flying game” in an unusual world; you can fly around for hours just enjoying the sights. But all this time we’ve felt absolutely no desire to land and get another ridiculous quest. [Issue#217, p.74]

Is Far Cry 4 worth buying? If you liked the previous game, then definitely yes. Although charismatic madman Vaas is absent for obvious reasons, local dictator Pagan Min effortlessly fills in for him. As for the game mechanics, they are exactly the same, but polished to perfection. Herein lies the main downside as well: Far Cry 4 sticks way too close to its predecessor’s blueprints. You won’t find anything truly new here except Kyrat’s beautiful mountains. [Jan 2015, p.58]

Pokemon Sword/Shield is uncharacteristically user-friendly: now there’s no need to backtrack half across the world to heal your entire team of pokemon or to get to a particular city, for example. [Issue#242, p.66]

When it comes to reimagining decades old games, there are only two options: change the graphics and release it as is, dated gameplay and all, or keep the general idea and build everything from scratch. Not surprisingly, both of them lead to an uphill battle. [Issue#241, p.46]

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]

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]

FreeStyle Games managed to make a good guitar game for people who aren’t all that awed by rock-lifestyle while keeping long-time fans of the series content. [Issue#203, p.84]

Even though people familiar with the original LiS already know how Rachel and Chloe’s friendship is going to end, it doesn’t spoil the game – on the contrary, that shadow of inescapable tragedy adds a subtle but important tone to the story.[Issue#224, p.48]

“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]

Remaster proves that Gravity Rush became a thing on PS Vita mostly because of Vita’s game drought – for home console its gameplay and story are both rather lackluster. [Issue#206, p.74]

Some of the stories may leave you confused, others might make you uncomfortable, but there’s no denying that despite its simplistic appearance, Essays on Empathy manages to evoke some strong emotions. [Issue#253, p.57]

I can’t say that Origami King is a great game – it has too many annoying battles with weak enemies, filler dialogue and trial and error puzzles. But it’s definitely a very original game, and a real treat to anyone looking for new gameplay mechanics. [Issue#247, p.64]

The final choice of Clem is the most powerful moment of the second season. All the preceding gameplay (or we’ll better name it "watching") does not affect the outcome in any way: the epilogue is determined by three possible Clem’s actions at the very end of the game. Despite the fact that there are just five endings and it’s so easy to replay the last scene and see other four, it would be better not to do it because the second time you will not cry so heartily. [Oct 2014, p.86]

Total War: Attila clearly goes beyond the usual add-on, but it hardly can be considered as sequel. Despite the serious work on the bugs and several significant innovations it is almost the same Rome II. This is what Rome II should have been from the very beginning – with hard, dynamic and diverse gameplay which is equally alluring both to green neophytes and hardened professionals. [Issue #195, p.58]

It’s as if you traveled to the past, changed some miniscule detail and time went along very similar but different timeline. On one hand, it’s the good old WoT prior to introduction of French tanks; on the other, now the valley on El Halouf map has a lot of vegetation instead of being a barren deathtrap, tank improvements are gained in packs, and weather has an effect on visibility. So even people who are sated with original WoT are prone to once again get that “just one more battle” syndrome. [Issue#207, p.66]

In Tales of Berseria you can find every single thing which caused “traditional” JRPG to fall out of favor: world is almost empty, balance is non-existent and instead of truly intricate story we have a cheap, unbelievable drama. Sure, most of these can be explained away as a JRPG tradition – but that doesn’t mean we didn’t get tired of them. [Issue #217, p.76]

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]

Tactical and role-playing variety suffers from imperfect system of procedural generation. Lady Luck may start throwing at you rooms where you can’t build anything, or give pitiful amount of energy, or leave you with no way to improve your technologies. It’s like reversed Russian roulette: you get one balanced gaming session per five ridiculously difficult. [Dec 2014, p.95]

Most importantly, it’s an interactive movie made by professional movie-makers, not by game designers (for example, writer Michael Robert Johnson also worked on 2009’s Sherlock Holmes). Its biggest gameplay shortcoming is that you can’t skip dialogues you’ve already heard in previous playthroughs – but for a 2-hour long movie it’s not that much of a deal.[Issue#220, p.72]

First person perspective is not exactly the best choice for melee combat – it’s hard to keep your bearings when all you see is a mess of rat bodies. Still, this inconvenience is more than compensated by execution: there are few things more awe-inspiring than seeing your sword separate skaven’s head from body, while your pal sends a whole bunch of them tumbling down the stairs with his huge hammer. [Issue#203, p.88]

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]

Valiant Hearts is not going to pretend to be a colorful history textbook: gameplay does not allow you to doze off. A leisurely pace of puzzles is punctuated by action at the front line. Playing cat-and-mouse with security guards during the escape from the camp are replaced by blistering chases on clunkers. [September 2014, p. 74]

Unfortunately, not every “branching point” is real. If you’re destined to fail, you’ll fail no matter what you choose. Sometimes your decision will be overruled by others, and once – even by your own character. Still, there’s not a whole lot of those false branches. [Issue#201, p.56]

Most modern AAA games have a photo mode, so there’s no need to buy Snap just to play photographer. But for a Pokémon fan, there’s the appeal of seeing these creatures in their natural habitat. [Issue#254]

LittleBigPlanet is a rather unique game: beneath the bright cover of “platformer for children” there’s a complicated tool for game development, one that doesn’t require special knowledge – just a modicum of good taste and desire to create. [Feb 2015]