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]