This is how you make a retro survival horror game. The graphics are heavily stylized, sure, but the dread is present, as is the unease, a brilliant soundtrack and a story flirting with insanity. The gameplay may be traditional, but it’s also been sensibly and sensitively modernized. If only the inventory wasn’t as restrictive and you weren’t forced to backtrack as much…

The universe of Galactic Civilizations III is so great - gigantic environment, generous editor and ever-improving game balance is hopefully a good apology to fans disappointed that new installment doesn’t change anything.

A great RPG is not afraid of doing things differently. Although graphically awful and even technically not perfect, Age of Decadence still is one of the most original games of its kind. It’s just not for everyone.

A meditative, visually enchanting adventure that draws you into a surreal world brought to life through a lonely lighthouse and its avian companion. It thrives on gentle exploration, interaction through light, and a softly implied narrative, with each location unfolding like a living work of art. While the puzzles are simple and the fixed camera can occasionally hinder navigation, these small shortcomings never overshadow its unique atmosphere and poetic charm.

Planet Zoo will first make you remember Zoo Tycoon and then happily forget it when you realize you’ve got yourself a new game, as good as its ancient predecessor.

A beautiful open world full of fun activities, well-made cooperation with a variety of companions, absolute freedom in how you purge a crazy cult... Far Cry 5 is an excellent, though slightly repetitive, game, until it is backstabbed by a stupid script in combination with unusually annoying bugs.

This is basically Age of Empires II modernized and with asymmetrical factions - and it’s great. The mistakes it makes are relatively minor and can be fixed, the exception being a weird, narrative-breaking choice of framing the campaigns in the style of a documentary film.

SteamWorld Heist II is a sequel done right. It retains the best aspects of its predecessor—turn-based combat with precise aiming and trick shots—transports it to an appealing pirate setting, wraps it in a meaningful storyline, and adds simple world exploration with an excellent class-mixing system that could use just a bit more depth. Regardless, it's a fantastic return for a great game, appealing to both fans and newcomers alike.

Syberia: The World Before doesn’t make the same mistakes as its awful predecessor. Good old mouse controls are back, as is the beautiful architecture and weird automatons the series became known for. The story takes a while to get going but once it does, it’s gripping.

A brilliant arcade game about a bloodthirsty ballet dancer with a deadly aim - could there be anything more awesome? But beware - if you don’t like your stuff very much over the top in the vein of Japanese videogames, you might not be able to tolerate Pedro.

Typical sick humor, clever satire, and underneath all the great RPG with great combat design – this is the new South Park game. Not very good logic puzzles are the only unsuccessful thing in this great game.

Dragonfall brings a brand-new content along with slightly altered "Berlin" feel to it into the Shadowrun saga. Otherwise, it's the same as its predecessor – wonderful, concentrated and also slightly problematic.

One of the surprises of the year. There’s a huge open world full of content waiting for you, and in this world you’ll fight, solve puzzles and enjoy a light-hearted story. And it has Czech subtitles.

The best instalment of the series, that much is without question. There could be more changes, sure, and the graphics feel dated. But the new turn-based strategic map is a great addition which transforms the traditional singleplayer campaign into a massive operation for many an evening.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! manages to combine the mechanical familiarity of the Yakuza series with a unique historical setting. The combat is fun, the story is thrilling, the content is rich enough to last dozens of hours. Technically speaking, though, it could’ve been much closer to a true remake instead of getting stuck halfway between there and a remaster.

Yooka-Laylee is back, waxing nostalgic again. This spin-off celebrates 2D platformers of a bygone age and brings tasteful fun, even though it’s not very original at all.

Great, entertaining hack 'n' slash that could use some trimming and refining of certain design elements. However, its fun combat system and a slew of creatively grotesque enemies outweigh the studio's beginner mistakes.

A hardcore strategy game for hardcore strategists; however, even relatively newcomers are going to be enthralled by it. Ignoring minor flaws such as the military unit price or the extensive military unit range - this is an unconventional and above all an entertaining title that will catch you and won't let you go.

A pleasant job for both stealth-style fans, and those who have not yet enough of the Dishonored playability. Yet most of the time, the sequel does not reach the quality of its predecessors.

SteamWorld Quest can’t quite reach the heights of the previous games in the series, but there’s a lot of fun to be had regardless thanks to simple, yet clever combat system, typical sense of humour and many possible styles of play.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is more of an interactive experience than a game. Despite a bigger budget and grander visuals, the sad reality is that what worked so well before may not suffice the second time around. Nevertheless, it's a creation worth experiencing at least once.

This is a well done tower defense and action RPG mix in all respects that has once again managed to turn on the cooperative network madness. If you have someone, who would play with you, there is no need to think about what game title it should be.

Black Ops III is a proof that it is not always necessary to change the basics at any cost, when you don’t bring a better solution. Especially in single player the creators attempted to make a revolutionary change and unfortunately it ended in disaster. Multiplayer, fortunately, stands on the same principles as in previous parts; it works excellently and entertains players for many hours, even though it brings nothing substantially new. Finally, MP is the only reason, why to play Call of Duty this year.

An immensely stylish ode to kung-fu – challenging, well done, fun. It’s a bit short and the difficulty is all over the place, but you still should absolutely play it.

You will hardly find a more elaborate sci-fi 4X turn-based strategy. Functional diplomacy, solid AI and brilliant battles are further supported by a highly modular approach to hero and unit customization.

Who’d guess that rolling a ball could be so much fun? If only we got more than just the first game for PS2 - a collection of all the installments would have been so much better.

The environments are beautiful and varied, the combat is very well done and the PvE content is satisfying. But why would you lock it all behind daily limits and randomness?

The original game rejuvenated and accelerated a little bit, but otherwise nothing much has changed. We must say there’s not much space for the improvement with the game like this. On the other hand, there is no reason to buy the game for again if you already played God of War III before.

A beautiful action game that mostly entertains royally but sometimes spoils the experience with unpolished design or overly simplistic mechanics.

Remake of the seventh part from cult series is excellent from both the technological and gaming point of view even that all issues related to the age of game couldn’t be removed. Yet it is a beautiful adventure for dozens of hours.

A beautiful, pleasant adventure game, designed very well, if not very originally. This lack of invention, in addition to a story that’s just not too interesting, keeps Kena from truly shining, but it’s still well worth your time.

A classic adventure game that doesn´t try anything radical and relies on its great puzzles. In addition, this game is also witty and is not afraid to make fun of more famous competition. It doesn't always succeed, yet it deserves your money.

When we compile a list of the greatest surprises of the year, we certainly won’t forget Gears Tactics. This is a full-blooded, genuine turn-based strategy with its own identity that will please both seasoned strategists and connoisseurs of preposterously huge biceps.

A great action game that innovates the “musou” genre and might be a good point of entry for otherwise disinterested newcomers. And if you liked Fire Emblem: Three Houses, this is definitely something for you.

This lawyer trilogy, standing somewhere between a game, a book and a TV show, finally found its way West and brings hours of great fun. Just be prepared to read. A LOT.

Based on solid Company of Heroes 2 they created a purely multiplayer expansion pack that perfectly completes the original game bringing two new ways to play it right away, and it will not even cost you.

Quite a decent expansion pack that's been trying to look big. However, this expansion was made for a bad game, in which only a half of things actually work, and whose potential wasn't fulfilled even over rich history of the series. A value of this expansion pack is not worth its price. Even though the original game is bad enough, the expansion pack is helping to overcome this problem - mainly because of its great religions.

The score would be higher if not for the fact that this very same series managed to reach much greater heights with its previous instalment. This time around, the socializing seems perfunctory at best and the story itself feels very, very flat. The combat system is still amazing, but the narrative struggles pretty badly.

Though it may not seem this way at first, The Elder Scrolls: Legends is at the core a relatively fresh card game that offers some surprisingly deep tactical options. Game impression is spoiled by bad styling and sound, but also by the fact that on the surface it is too much like Hearthstone. The actual gameplay is good, fans of the genre who will get over the initial embarrassment, will eventually like the game.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is a brave spin-off that reaches surprising heights. The combat is great, so are the puzzles and the environments, the visual doesn’t lag behind, neither does the music, the storytelling… It’s really tough to find anything wrong! The only slight drawback is the controls which feel rather weird, but you can certainly get used to them.

This game is a very pleasant surprise that's throwing down the gauntlet to GTA V with its Cantonese oral insult. The game's story along with plenty of gaming mechanics' innovation make Sleeping Dogs a truly remarkable and never-ending joyride with no intention to imitate the original at all costs. I'm so sorry Niko, you've been great, but at the end of the day Wei Shen takes it all.

A great remake of a very specific game for a very specific audience. Crash Team Racing is a solid alternative to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but it’s not for everybody - and you should know beforehand what you’re getting into.

The new Halo game is far from flawless. There’s no co-op, even though there should be, and there’s a boring open world, even though there shouldn’t. The multiplayer feels unfinished as well. Still, at its core, it’s a solid story-driven shooter with a more-than-acceptable Cortana replacement.

Trials Fusion is like a dream come true to all acrobats on motorbikes. Obstacles on tracks are so mad you won't have time to take breath, and care that's been put into the game by a community of fans will motivate you to play it ceaselessly. It's a pity though its FMX stunt regime is imperfect.

MGS V: Ground Zeroes is not a large game, but it offers very pleasant (few) hours of fun to the stealth-action and techno-thriller admirers. Most of the PC gamers will be "lost in translation" with the story but nevertheless this game is still worth to try.

An excellent story RPG, which excels with scenario, the dark portrayal of the world and with the rejection of the traditional elements of game fiction.

A new Fate, a new era, fresh gameplay, but familiar concepts. The epic story, as if borrowed directly from an anime, is enhanced by outstanding music and voice acting. It's regrettable that the boss battles lack depth, and encounters with standard enemies could be shorter. Nevertheless, Fate/Samurai Remnant does justice to its renowned name.

Football Manager 2017 offers improvements on all fronts, but mostly scores with better controls, clearer interface and overall better gaming experience.

Season: A Letter to the Future is an emotional trip full of stories you have to immortalize in your diary. You will watch, you will listen, you will sometimes utilize your creativity and you will think about many topics relevant for us all.

Westerado is a pleasant piece for all the Old-West lovers, who do not get discouraged by minimalism. It offers an open world and multiple ways to problem solving. This guarantees a high level of replayability to the game.

A must-have for those fans of the series. For the others it is like getting to know the whole game concept that is additionally rewarding to those interested in history. Revelations does have a good story, several great ideas and a sufficient number of historical details letting you immerse yourself in the game database and other sources of information after finishing the main campaign.

A throwback to the kind of real-time strategy games rarely made anymore, Tempest Rising nails the basics with explosive flair. While the story feels a bit formulaic and the limited choice of just two factions can grow repetitive, the core gameplay hits as hard as a heavy tank shell. Add in a striking visual style and a killer soundtrack, and you’ve got a must-play for any strategy fan who’s been craving the glory days of classic RTS.

F1 25 is a worthy evolution that once again pushes the virtual Formula 1 experience forward. It strikes a fine balance between accessibility for newcomers and depth for veteran fans, offering an authentic sense of racing and team management. The driving model is more advanced, the My Team mode more robust, and the race atmosphere superb. While there are no major weaknesses, the lack of significant technical leaps, only slightly improved visuals, and lingering minor AI and presentation quirks make this a "better" rather than a "revolutionary" entry. Still, it firmly remains one of the best racing games on the market.

Robin Hood-ish futuristic play with a number of interesting game mechanics, imaginative environment and entertaining gameplay. The icing on this delicious cake is a level editor that makes life span and the possibilities of the game grow geometrically.

A game that is disturbing, charming and full of spirit, all at the same time. It draws from H. P. Lovecraft and does it very well – and it also manages to stay on point, not wasting your time with anything that isn’t needed. You should make the journey, even if there are some blemishes to be found.

This time devs cleaned up their act. The Evil Within 2 fights with immortals in a richer, better-designed and well-crafted action. It is not just a thoughtless brutality, as it may seem. Good ideas are rewarded by a pleasantly long game time.

The terrifying mysteries of Algerian catacombs await you in Amnesia: Rebirth, a very good next instalment of the famous horror franchise. The game mechanics are almost identical, but the emotions are new, along with the glorious, creative environments.

Banner Saga is a fascinating trip to Norse mythology. Half leg deep in snow, you will enjoy your wars, dilemmas and also emotions, all in its graceful audiovisuals. Several of its flaws and ambiguities are not worth mentioning. You should not miss this visual novel.

Eternal Lords game brings an inexhaustible quantity of new choices between good and evil; war and peace; between life and ... "afterlife". New content with a necromancy touch makes the third AOW installment one of the most attractive strategies on the market.

Trine is back, basking in the sunlight where it belongs. It’s beautifully stylized and the gameplay is great fun - and not too difficult, apart from some well-placed puzzles. Consider this a thorough recommendation.

A compact horror experience filled with the essence that made the original Little Nightmares so memorable. Its cryptic, nightmare-like narrative resonates and maintains tension until the very end, leaving lingering questions. Every scene—from camera work to lighting and sound—is meticulously crafted. While not striving for radical innovation, Tarsier Studios demonstrates clear growth in what it does best.

A card game in which you don’t actually play cards? This extremely original, creative adventure will fascinate you with its complex story interweaving history and politics, it will pull you in the shadowy world of professional hustlers and amaze you with its unique graphics. You’ve never seen something like this before - that we can guarantee.

An action RPG from the zombie-filled island that pleases by its great gameplay and surprises in many ways – like in a fine cooperation mode. The game suffers with some faults, but you can find those faults in de facto every sandbox game out there knowing that those faults have almost none eventual impact for your experience.

A very good action-adventure game with varied and entertaining gameplay. However, it's quite boring to watch all those characters and scenario as well as it is a tiresome experience to use all those new functions of the PS Vita handheld. Fortunately, you don't need to use them to the full. And then, when you click off all the dialogues there is nothing that could stop you from your enjoyment of cool graphics and great action passages that are plenty.

This lightweight canapé with a taste of the 80s B action movies aesthetics will keep you busy, laughing.

The new Football Manager is a good game, of course it is - nothing’s gotten worse, some things got better, it’s once again the best instalment in the series. The advances, however, are so minuscule as to be almost imperceptible. We really cannot pat the developers’ backs for this effort.

If you forgot everything about the big comeback of the first game, you'll get one neat, suprisingly coherent "supercop behind the wheel" piece with plenty of Burnoutish (almost) fun to it. Not taking itself so seriously would do San Francisco good. However, when you are seated behind the wheel, you can't deny the great qualities of the game.

Sonic X Shadow Generations combines a remastered hedgehog adventure with a brand-new chapter focused on Sonic's rival, Shadow, and the result is both fun and engaging. Sega nails the gameplay, with Shadow bringing a visually captivating style, while Sonic compensates with an abundance of content. Though the mandatory challenges can feel repetitive and occasionally tedious, this double-hedgehog adventure hits the mark.

An addictive turn-based strategy lets you manage a group of mercenaries. Occasionally it is hard and demanding, but it is a nice and unusual game for the fans of the genre.

A little but perfectly accessible, even greatly playable game. It puts forward its hero protagonist and his helplessness, its whimsical hazard, and its great number of properly placed scripts. While playing Outlast you will relive plenty of convulsive experiences, but you will chuckle at the very same time. Gameplay aside, if the game was a bit more creative, it could get a better grade.

Because of its minimalistic design and unique feel, From Dust is one of the most intriguing experience of this year. However, its flaws in controlling and dependance upon coincidence in the game ruins the gameplay and make it somewhat frustrating to no avail.

Forget the action set-pieces, forget the puzzles - the main draw of this sci-fi adventure is the irresistible chemistry between the main heroes. The story drives everything forward - and since it’s a very good story, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a very good game with a brilliant soundtrack to boot.

Gripping horror adventure game excels in amazing sounds, music and visuals. Although the originality of the story won´t take your breath away, the game will succeed with its atmosphere and touchy experience. Try it, you won´t regret.

Pop and RPG mixture. Certainly we cannot say that this game has no style ... and an incredible amount of fights.

A brutal and explosive spectacle that serves as a testament to everything that makes Warhammer great. The action never lets up, the game looks and sounds fantastic, and watching hundreds of Tyranids swarm never gets old. The excellent multiplayer, with fun progression and a rich character editor, is the cherry on top of this epic sci-fi blockbuster.

No great surprises here - the new Pokémon RPG again offers dozens of hours of good, predictable fun. The database is smaller and the graphics don’t look all that impressive, but the core experience was upgraded in several useful ways.

Do you want shifting boundaries? Then play Super Mario Odyssey. Do you want a sophisticated old-school platformer with modern graphics? Then nothing can surpass New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe.

You can focus on the journey, not the destination – even when some "road work" signs will bother you for the time being in the reincarnated Elite. But their numbers are declining with every new update so a thirty-year-old vision becomes more and more complete.

One of the most characteristic Rockstar games has not aged a bit. Even though its clichés as well as its design, that's outdated here and there, are striking now more than ever, it's still a hilarious ride with style and functioning gameplay crashing as little as possible. There is no way you can find the experience of the same value for a mobile platform than this polished classic title.

The graphics are awful but underneath the surface you’re going to find a perfectly designed combat system, fun gameplay, and brilliant level design. The bosses are a bit bland, however, as is the loot. And please, give us the option to change the difficulty!

Full of verve, Kratos returns and wounds everyone and everything like in his past years. Do not worry about its multiplayer game, and enjoy the exceptional mythical opus written in the golden age of PS3. For the PlayStation 3 owners this is a must, for the others this is a very good reason to buy SONY's gaming machine.

If you compare it to the rest competition of the same genre, even this Deponia installment may be considered a gem, offering quite a unique world along with its antihero that is simply adorable. However, unlike the previous installments this one is more daring now a then, and its brain traffic is not for everyone.

Global warming isn’t truly catastrophic, diplomatic victory falls a bit flat, but there are plenty of very good minor improvements - and they are crowned by a slew of fantastic new civilizations.

Visual novel about an artificial intelligence, digital, emotions and soul hidden in a PCB is brilliantly written, but perhaps too simple from the gameplay perspective. Still it’s a good choice for fans of the genre.

The first few hours are just delightful, carrying you away into the ancient Roman world, but it soon starts to get quite repetitive and the story loses its legs. But the worst offenders of all are the terrible, sometimes game breaking bugs.

An outstanding story-telling survival of a non-traditional style that plays with the unprecedented feeling and humor on a horror note. The fight does not have to suit everyone, but if games like this are not completely strange to you, the phenomenally tense atmosphere, great art style, and the gorgeous background story you must unravel yourself, will catch and hold you until the end.

The sentence, "Board that means the world" takes a true meaning in the case of Puppeteer. This platformer takes place on the stage in a puppet theatre. Awesome style completes its solid gameplay that becomes stronger and stronger.

If you look at its style and atmosphere, Brütal Legend is the amazing journey into the depth of the metal fan's soul. However, the game itself is not so special - stereotypical missions, not very optimized controls but mainly its malfunction game mechanics preventing Tim Schafer to reach the Metal Mount Olympus. Anyway, the game is working and entertaining at the same time. And that is the most important thing about this game title.

The harrowing journey of Czechoslovak legionnaires along the Trans-Siberian Railway in Last Train Home brilliantly combines tense strategy and management of an armored train filled with tough decisions and dramatic missions. Moreover, the entire adventure, centered around the incredibly original theme of stranded soldiers, is presented in beautiful graphics with a fantastic soundtrack and authentic Czech and Slovak voice acting.

Wildfrost feels fresh among the many roguelike card games with its focus on timing, tactics and captivating graphics.

Octopath Traveler 0 is not a bad game, but the silent protagonist and somewhat impersonal party diminish some of its narrative impact. The individual storylines compete in their darkness and at times push the drama unnecessarily far. However, new features such as village building and the addition of two combat rows refresh the proven formula, resulting in an addictive and entertaining JRPG that can easily provide dozens of hours of enjoyment.

Moving Out 2 doesn't try to reinvent the wheel (or the couch, fridge, or wardrobe, for that matter), but it confidently enters the relatively niche realm of physics-based couch co-op games. Unlike its characters, it stands on solid ground, delivering hours of fun within masterfully designed levels. However, it's worth noting that not all of its content may suit your preferences, potentially causing frustration rather than enjoyment. In such cases, you can take advantage of its numerous accessibility options to tailor the challenge to your desired level of fun.

A complex, rich game full of secrets and the joy of their discovery. It offers freedom, replayability, difficult yet engaging combat. The passive skills aren’t great and enemies appearing behind your back can get annoying, but there’s only one true drawback: poor optimization.

Company of Heroes 2 has its number two in the title somewhat wrongfully. This is not a sequel in its true meaning because it does not guide the series to a new way. This is only an enhancement enriching it with a few trifles and one new playable nation. Once again, it is the strongest in its multiplayer game. If Relic continues to deliver its usual expansion packs, the CoH 2 game is going to be better and better.

Crash Bandicoot works well after twenty years, not only because we do not see many similar games today. With minor exceptions, the game is still a good, fun and stylish platformer that will catch also the audience not yet familiar with Crash.

Visually stunning adventure game with such pleasant gameplay and imaginative puzzles. You can easily ignore any of its minor flaws. Give it a try, you will not regret it.

Successful port of known Diablo-like game brings a compact RPG gameplay to the mobile environment. Inconsistent controls and missing content lower the overall score though.

The unique invention of a beautifully gloomy RPG is ruined by the essential technical issues. Whether they are tedious controls or its embarrassing visuals on the touch screen, the tablet version simply upsets in a different way than the creators intended.