You should look at Yakuza: Like a Dragon through the lens of it's protagonist. This game is unapologetically brash, unmistakable bold, life-affirming and insanely charismatic. The legend of Ichiban Kasuga journey, like a bright flame, tells us one familiar, but sweet and romantic idea - each and every one of us can become a true Hero, even if you have to fight the fate itself, while making your way through hundreds upon hundreds of random encounters.

Arc System Works tried to turn Guilty Gear -Strive- into more accessible game, that can be enjoyed by newcomers. But Strive still have plenty of gameplay depth, great visuals and cool music. If you ever wanted to try Guilty Gear, now is definitely the right time.

Nine Sols is a notable step for the Taipei-based studio, but too high a bar for a small game company to set.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a gift to anyone who have strong feelings towards the universe. It's a great shooter, the best one that came out under 40K brand, and probably one of the best games this whole year.

Even if there is no a definitive happily lived ever after ending to this tale, it's the process that matters and it's a fun endeavor every single time. Here's hoping that there are more fun adventures coming our way in the future.

Eriksholm - The Stolen Dream was a bright debut by the new studio. It offered an interesting world with intense gameplay and a captivating plot.

Resident Evil Village is a loud and bombastic game, paired with an over the top story, a great set of characters, and really impressive visuals. The more action-oriented gameplay approach in the latter half may leave a bitter taste to the more orthodox fans of the series, but nevertheless, Village is on its way to becoming one of the best games this year has to offer.

ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist is a worthy sequel to the ENDER series that manages to improve on an already good game.

Spiritfarer is a unique indie title, that is impossible to put into one single genre. There's so much to see here - from exquisite style and great ideas, to a heartwarming and clever writing.

All you need to know about Heroes of Hammerwatch is that it's pretty damn addictive! It's hard to stop playing! Using simple and clear mechanics, this game is capable to get roguelike lovers into a rattling maelstrom of exploration and battles for many weeks.

NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound offers a compact campaign, where visual diversity and intense dynamics are hidden behind apparent simplicity. The game itself is perceived as an almost flawless prologue to NINJA GAIDEN 4.

Berserk Boy is an uncomplicated and highly colorful retro adventure that combines the nostalgic experiences of the Mega Man days with touches of classic Sonic the Hedgehog adventures.

Ghost of Tsushima is a stunning mix of Assassin's Creed and The Witcher 3, based on samurai films and traditional Japanese contemplation of nature. At the same time, this is the best Assassin's Creed ever created. There are no emasculated positive heroes and unambiguous villains, the tasks are exciting and interesting. And this is currently the most fascinating and visually impressive game on the PlayStation 4.

If you've missed Trials, love dark and well-designed worlds, and dream of short play sessions, there is simply no better choice for a few minutes before bed than Laika: Aged Through Blood.

Persona 5 Strikers is a true sequel to Persona 5 and a real gift to fans of Atlus' masterpiece.

If you don't feel threatened by huge amounts of text and menu-based systems, then Crusader Kings 3 can turn into huge and epic journey, with hundreds of hours of gameplay, and a full world of unique medieval intrigues.

The silver lining here is that now the game is finally freed from the cage of old hardware. And that's a great thing.

Loop Hero remains as charming as ever. It's an easy to pick game, with a fun concept and great execution, and the Switch release gives it a whole new life. Now you can save the world anytime and anywhere.

Reanimal has delivered what Little Nightmares III could not. Tarsier Studios has shed the constraints imposed by the Little Nightmares universe, subjecting its audience to an emotional bombardment while simultaneously pushing them out of their comfort zone.

Next gen console systems gave a new life to an already beautiful game. Judgment have plenty of unique charm, even compared to other games in main Yakuza series, so if you like Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio games, and a good detective story is something you can enjoy, then don't miss this title.

And now it is time for NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…, which corrects almost all the flaws of the original release. You can still easily see glimpses of old NieR here - it's almost the same exact game. And that's great, because even after all those years there's still nothing like it. rn

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 turned out to be a very pleasant surprise in 2024. This is the first game of the series in recent years, which was developed thoroughly and expertly. As a result - the output is a really strong shooter.

MIO: Memories in Orbit is an example of a safe and very player-friendly Metroidvania with medium-difficulty bosses and flexible difficulty settings.

Stray is a very cute adventure game where you can relax and engage in solving various puzzles using feline methods. It is worth mentioning that there is a couple of creepy moments in the game that can scare a child.

If you never played Dead Rising before, then Deluxe Remaster is probably the thing you should be looking for. It's a great game and you can always try the original at a later date. But for die-hard fans the situation is quite different. Deluxe Remaster is mostly the same old thing you already know and love. One can only hope that by buying this we can show Capcom that Dead Rising still is such a unique franchise that really needs to come back with a new title.

Some would say that the modding scene will solve the game's most glaring problems, and that may be true. But it's still worth noting how many problems there are, and how lots of them managed to escape Bethesda's attention. We'll hope that game will have extensive content support in the future, as was promised by the dev team.

Jusant is a very unassuming and cute ecology-themed game with simple mechanics and a non-trivial plot. If it weren't for the self-repeaters and bugs, it would be much more enjoyable.

MiSide is one of those games that is hard to write about without spoilers. So we just recommend that you try it out on your own.