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]