A surprisingly robust culmination of a phase in the famous football series. Football Manager is gearing up for significant changes next year, but this year it has already delivered an excellent experience that addresses some of the most pressing issues. Coaching your own team on the green pitch is once again fantastic.

Wings of Ruin can drag on a bit which isn’t helped by its trite story, but you’ll have so much fun all the same. And the amount of content is simply stunning.

Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is a smart game. Despite its abundance of systems, it manages not to overwhelm, gradually revealing the full breadth of its mechanics. To fully enjoy it, you'll need to look past the weaker graphics and the limited variety of enemies and security systems. The story relies heavily on imagination and reading, as many of the things mentioned are never actually shown. Still, it stands out as one of the most accomplished turn-based tactics games out there, with excellent execution of both stealth and combat.

Donkey Kong Bananza occasionally slips on its own banana peel, but thankfully has enough charm to recover with a smile. This inventive platformer leans into playfulness, destruction, and enjoyable co-op, supported by great physics, vibrant visuals, and a big heart, outshining most of its technical and design stumbles.

A refreshingly original, visually striking adventure with a wonderful world full of detail. Beware, however, the extreme amount of written dialogue, reading of which will be your full-time occupation.

This game demands quite a lot from you, but if you’re willing to immerse yourself in micro-management and suffer infrequent frustration from a district gone wrong, you’ll find a brilliant old-school city-builder set in one of the most interesting locales imaginable.

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.

Persona 5 Tactica is a bit deceiving addition to the series and rather an experiment. It's easy to get the impression that Persona loses some of its charm due to the shift to a turn-based strategy, but the series is more taking a step sideways and introspecting. Despite criticisms of the narrative and its pacing, it is more than just an entertaining venture.

Mandragora successfully blends metroidvania and soulslike elements, offering meaningful character progression and excellent dialogue filled with bizarre characters. It’s wrapped in a striking dark fantasy aesthetic and backed by a strong soundtrack. However, the experience stumbles in frustrating platforming sections where a single mistake can mean death, especially during repeated treks to boss fights. The main story also never rises above a basic and predictable premise. It’s not a masterpiece, but still a very solid soulslike that will keep you entertained for many evenings, even if it occasionally drives you mad.

Much like Void Shadows, Lex Imperialis is a well-crafted DLC that adds both narrative depth and new gameplay mechanics. The grimdark space enforcer is a solid addition to the already expansive story of Rogue Trader, and the best part is, you get to play as this uncompromising arbiter of the law yourself.

One of the best RTS in recent years shows that simplicity is the power. 8-bit Armies commemorates the first Command & Conquer game, features an addictive gameplay and has a great chance to charm the community.

The new installment of FIFA Street is the precise shape of how its creators wanted to evolve the game concept that we took as worn out and dead. The realistic approach suits the game the most. Nonetheless its overall feel is stylish and attractive. This is the best freestyle football game, not only of the EA series, so far.

Spellcaster University is a perfect example of an independent project done right. There’s humour, there’s micromanagement galore, even the weird graphic design will grow on you almost instantaneously. I don’t think there are any better games about building a magical school.

A very stylish RPG from the masters at Obsidian is certainly not a disappointment, even though we’ve seen better from this very studio. The story is a weaker point, as are the dull fights, but I love the environment of the terraformed planets. This is a game to be savoured several times over.

Superliminal freshens up the whole puzzle game genre through its unique brain twisters based on weird shenanigans with perspective. You will be fascinated by this game long after you’ve finished its lamentably short story.

An excellent addition to an already fantastic RPG. Void Shadows introduces a brilliant new character to your party, who is a joy to play as, while unraveling a galaxy-spanning conspiracy. Once again, the story is masterfully written and seamlessly woven into the base game. My only wish is for more varied environments and fewer cosmetic bugs.

In Ride 4, you’ll get an uncommonly beautiful racing game with a brilliant driving model and superb utilization of the DualSense controller. But be warned - the difficulty is punishing and the AI is intent on crashing your bike.

An experience above all genres built on mundane concepts will hit gamer with its story of love, loss and dealing with one's destiny. Balancing on edge of interactivity and kitsch has turned out well and even though some lines have been made too sweet and the other ones too complicated the moments when those two meet each other have no parallel in video games.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade shows the correct way to conclude a console generation’s journey. But beware - the Intermission episode won’t really satisfy the hunger for the next instalment - on the contrary, your impatience will probably only increase.

Become a detective, who's using obstacles on his way as launching pads to his success. Gunpoint is a dope to the action-stealth genre with its entirely new and unorthodox gameplay. The only thing spoiling the overall experience is that the game is short.

A unique experience that has more in common with virtual tourism than with a game. Abzû looks great and sounds wonderfully, but that's all. Don't expect anything beyond the three-hour splendor. Swim, repeatedly press the square on the driver and eventually get lost in a philosophical opus without words.

A host of minor improvements, a revitalized manager career mode, impressively deep tactical options, and a solid new game mode. EA Sports FC 25 still has some on-pitch shortcomings, as usual, but overall, this year’s entry is surprisingly well-executed.

A reminiscence of the good old times with early grid-based 3D real-time action role-playing video games. However, this game was never meant to be solely for nostalgics, quite the contrary, The Keep is catchy and it excels thanks to its clever controls along with its magic system.

An add-on for an excellent game, which will again nail you to the chair with its “Jules Verne-like” mood, phenomenal work with language and narrative. On the other hand, fighting is not so convincing.

An unconventional action game that chaotically dances to the bizarre rhythm of Goichi Suda’s drum. It is flawed, incoherent, and narratively disjointed, offering little emotional payoff, but also undeniably great and refreshingly different.

Sometimes unnecessarily frustrating and obsolete, but still top turn-based strategy with great emphasis on RPG elements. Fans of the series will be thrilled. And the others? For them, it's just another good reason for buying 3DS, and to try Fire Emblem finally. It's really worth it.

In Reigns the reign simulator shakes hands with Tinder. Sometimes you will be angry, sometimes you will laugh and often you´ll have to think. But most of all you will be well entertained.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 is a bold remake of the series' most divisive entry, which, instead of cutting the mocked segments, puts them on display. A modernized combat system and a mountain of side content keep pace with today's standards, even if the innovations are minimal. As a whole, it is an accessible and more dramatic version of the third game, and simultaneously one of the most personal chapters of Kiryu's story, which is well worth playing to understand the later entries.

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

An excellent revival of a classic that has not gotten a chance to grow old, and thanks to many improvements and extensions it charms not only the people who do not know it but also those who are its old time fans. It delivers a solid challenge and long hours of puzzle solving in an excellently elaborated game with a great atmosphere. If you are into first person adventure games that are focused on secrets and their discovering, you should not miss modern Shadowgate.

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.

This is how you end a trilogy. If you love this murderous series, you simply cannot miss its latest instalment. The campaign is a bit barebones, though, and a pause might be the best thing for the whole franchise.

A racing arcade game with entertaining driving model which is based on the maximal socialization of gamers through clubs and personal challenges. It is a concept that is working well by itself, and in upcoming months and years it will get better and better.

Splatoon is an original title that will delight first of all the players who do not play multiplayer shooters much. Experienced users should consider if the innovative concept is enough to accept insufficient number of maps and a certain imbalance in the game.

An amazing story, great fighting sequences, clever puzzles and a brilliant Star Wars atmosphere. You just have to suffer through some technical problems and a surprisingly boring opening.

Fortunately, after more than a quarter of a century since the fall of the Iron Curtain we can just play totalitarian. Luckily for us, Beholder is top class. As a career snitch, you destroy people's lives, but perhaps you even repent afterwards. The classy strategy with variety of options is nearly flawless, although shame on so many restarts in the campaign!

This is a very solid JRPG with a fun story and a decidedly unfun protagonist. But his companions are great! You’ll be further pleased by this game’s tough boss fights, further annoyed by its repetitive music.

Mini Metro shows that all the brilliant ideas are actually very simple. The game looks like a map for tourists, but no other map offers so much fun and education.

Anno 2070 is a pleasantly exceptional direction of the series. In spite of the fact that it changes the style drastically, it doesn't redo the well-known mechanics; it tunes them up to perfection. Newcomers might only be discouraged by its higher difficulty, but believe me when I say it's worth it.

Pacific Drive cleverly combines roguelite elements with arcade driving gameplay that will delight all gamers who want to upgrade everything from tires to body panels on a virtual car. Despite the repetitive gameplay and sometimes frustrating difficulty, it is an atmospheric ride that can conjure up impressive scenery.

Emotional, nerve-wracking and technically polished is the game Inside, the spiritual sequel of the Limbo platformer. You will be amazed by its depressive thoughts and horror atmosphere and perhaps slightly disappointed by the relatively short campaign and a few other flaws.

Mafia: The Old Country is a return to the roots, banking on a strong narrative, believable characters, and the breathtaking atmosphere of Sicily. While the core gameplay doesn’t break new ground and the action sequences occasionally lose momentum, its audiovisual execution, cinematic flair, and storytelling focus make it a standout experience. A solid gangster tale you shouldn’t miss.

Soul Sacrifice has a soul of a complete traditional Japanese video game. Do not be looking for an RPG along with exploring its world - small arenas, a branched and huge character's specialization system, and mainly the addicting gameplay are the king here.

The attempt to diversify Batman's universe by using a controllable Batmobile paradoxically hurts the game by adding too exaggerated arcade action in it. In addition, the creators failed to find a sufficiently strong duo of bad guys after the Joker's death. Nevertheless, Arkham Knight is a dignified farewell to Gotham and an almost perfect action-adventure.

Worm massacre is back in all its glory and bringing with them not only tanks and tons of fun, but also hours of entertainment, which is accomplished primarily by the multiplayer part. Worms W.M.D. don't offer revolutionary gameplay mechanics and breathtaking graphics. None of this, however, is needed for the royal entertainment.

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.

Crysis has gotten a new facelift and on the console it suits it very much. It is a pity there is no multiplayer. But otherwise this game stays true to its great action, neat graphics and exotic surroundings.

With hands of good craftsmen a great basis turns into gold, literally. Well, at least if you render homage to frantic fighting games, or to Kojima's obscure opuses. You see, you'll get the best of both.

A nostalgic love letter for Tomb Raider veterans, a merciless experience for modern gamers. The remastered trilogy perfectly captures the qualities of the old games, but the gameplay is fully faithful to its time. Newcomers should approach with caution.

There are not many new things in NHL 17. But despite the absence of major changes, it is still a game that is worth considering. Small innovations in gameplay upgraded the game; and improved management mode along with the online modes will entertain you until next year comes another episode.

By its impressive setting, missions great variability and a perfect screenplay, dignity has been restored to the Transformers' game series. This is a great mound scrap iron performance that is going to make every Transformers fan happy.

A short but strong, malleable and believable story of an awkward morning after a wild night. Some of the endings work better than others, but most of them are worth living through.

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.

Once again, NHL 13 is with its ice skating one step closer to the ideal hockey experience. For your money you get a huge pack of fun along with its gaming modes. And because of the online game aspect you are going to do just fine with this one until the next volume comes.

What a strange and delightful game! You’ll spend many hours tending to weird plants and dealing with occult mysteries – and it works so very well. If, that is, you like your simulation games and don’t mind a bit of routine.

The most frantic party game since Mashed, the most elegant Budokan since Budokan. A surreal elaboration delivers more juice to its engaging swordplay, the engaging swordplay delivers more juice to any of its random jousts.

Persona 3 Reload is an excellent remake of the cult JRPG that rewards the patient with compelling stories, engaging gameplay, and a detailed high school simulator. Despite pacing issues, Persona 3 Reload retains its stylish flair and serves as an excellent entry point for those who have been avoiding the series. Playing it is worthwhile, especially for its fantastic soundtrack.

With Beyond Earth, Firaxis looks back at Alpha Centauri with dignity. Interaction between different gameplay features and the gamer's free will shape this strategic game into a fine gem. Structurally speaking, however, the new Civilization game does not appear polished, which is the reason preventing the game to be among the best ones.

The great expansion pack upgrading the original game in many things, it lengthens it out, and it brings both neat new missions and enhancements, making you to play it and finish it again.

A great game with a good atmosphere, amazing graphics and excellent level design that rewards you for choosing the silent approach option with long hours of fun stealth gameplay. However somewhat empty plot and mediocre fights with bad AI lower the final score… and there are also a number of technical issues and flaws, which are thankfully being worked on.

You will hate this game and you will love it. It won’t stop torturing you and fraying your nerves, but at the same time, it’s glorious fun.

Nicely done Deus Ex world adaptation changed into a turn-based game. Slightly lazy, sometimes maybe even too austere, yet highly enjoyable, and with perfect game design and fabulous visuals.

Notwithstanding little issues here and there, this is an RPG sure to be loved by every fan of HP Lovecraft. For everyone else, it’s a serious challenge comparable to reading the master’s work for the first time.

A peculiar logical game able to both put in fear and to make think not only about your rules. Every now and then it manages to do so with difficulty, however, its storytelling opened to your interpretation, and its eye-catching execution help to not fall down into the abyss.

A brilliantly executed variation on BioShock with a lot of its own ideas and an original, unseen world. It's a shame about the technical problems and certain user discomfort that prevented it from going one step higher.

Anime action with soul the of 80‘ and gameplay of the present. Crazy story and boatload of absurdity is marred by small technical difficulties.

Rise of the Ronin may not win any beauty contests, and Team Ninja could use a crash course in UI design, but this Japanese adventure is a fantastically fun action ride with plenty of swords, severed heads, and political intrigue. And as a bonus - cuddling with kittens!

Amazing football freshened by realistic mistakes from players. PES is back in form, even though its old issues are back, especially bland game modes. At least the career mode got significantly better.

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.

Thanks to its motion control, online multiplayer, system of tournaments and its minigames this sport title that's been fairly executed is going to entertain you for a very long time.

An excellent mod commercially distributed for the Mount & Blade: Warband game is brutal and full of vivid wars of the Napoleonic era. All of you tacticians, strategists, artillerists and even sharpshooters, you must rejoice because it's a great gaming piece that's been obviously made by people, who love it, understand it and who know its players.

Captivating action, wide shot and unprecedented user-friendliness. Shadowgun Legends is on its way to become the king of mobile shooters. However, on the way to the throne it is stopped a few stairs beneath it, because of its unimaginative design.

Payday is no Dog Day Afternoon, so you won't make friends with hostages in a bank. Otherwise, this simulator game of a rubber will make your dreams come true. Yet the game lacks of some technological elegance.

If a traditional 3D arena action merges with a roguelike, it can be hell, or hell of a lot of fun game. Tower of Guns is the latter.

This is a modern-looking homage to Chris Roberts’ space classics, especially Privateer and Freelancer, and one of the best space games you can get right now.

An attempt to make an online game of the present day has turned out well. The game is enjoying, thrilling, making fun out of us and tormenting our brains, but at the same time it offers the moments of ecstatic rejoice, happiness and relief.

This is a licensed game done right. It doesn’t rely on cheap jumpscares and instead takes you on a journey inside the soul of a very broken detective.

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

Are you a business simulator aficionado and love video games? Then you’re hardly going to find better fun than Mad Games Tycoon 2. It’s full of so many possibilities that there’s hardly anything you’ll miss. The depth of the simulation is impressive and the resulting game surprisingly addictive.

Turn-based game with elements of Slavic mythology, in which a number of sophisticated features create a complex and addictive experience. Sometimes luck plays too great role and user interface would deserve quite a few improvements. But otherwise Thea: The Awakening is an original, exciting and great game.

World of Goo 2 takes the best elements of the legendary original and enriches them with a heap of fantastic new ideas. The sheer number of unique puzzles built around the seemingly simple concept of constructing physics-based structures from quirky goo balls is breathtaking, consistently pushing players to think outside the box and discover creative solutions. It's still a refreshingly inventive puzzle game—but at least on PC, it suffers from very problematic controls that can lead to considerable frustration.

An imaginative, funny, nimble, but also highly difficult. Such is Fractured Soul. This remake to the 3DS hit delivers on PC. But bear in mind those are your nerves that play a concert at the very end of it.

Watch Dogs 2 excels where the first part did not. If you can get over awkward characters and dull story you get a funny city action with colorful possibilities and lots of activities from the beginning to the very end.

DiRT Rally makes us forget the troubles that plague the genre of rally simulators. Codemasters mixed the best essence of fun and high realism. Now it only remains to add more content and fix some technical issues.

Cave Story+ is quite an engaging, an entertaining, even nostalgic experience if you are inclined to be swept over by a wave of nostalgia. An ideal game for everyone, who is longing for classical times of video games, and who is not ashamed of it.

An excellent multiplayer shooter that steps upon a new ground with its infantry and robotic battle approach. To be flawless, however, it needs to be smoothed down and touched with the final brush-stroke.

The core of the Frictional Games horror recipe has not changed; just a few ingredients disappeared from the concept and were replaced by other - equally good. Soma is still scary and exhausting, but at the same time it constrains to deeper reflection. Maybe because of this it won't please everybody, especially fans of the previous games from FG; on the other hand, it opens the gate to new players who are already tired of banal titles, but are still attracted to fear.

Midnight Fight Express is a great fighting game, simple, yet varied and inventive. There’s also loads of pop culture references and a crazy story, even if the narrative loses its way a bit near the end.

Wreckfest will surprise you with its perfect driving model, top demolition, entertaining artificial intelligence, and a career full of funny challenges. There is some space for improvement, for example the user interface and old school multiplayer which will probably discourage the spoilt players.

Tents and Trees is a fantastic, meditative, and endless puzzle game that engages your attention, imagination, and logical thinking just right. While its immediacy fits better on mobile platforms, it still makes perfect sense on a computer, proving to be addictive and capable of easily consuming hours of your time. Considering that its puzzles take mere seconds to solve, it's truly impressive.

Excellent add-on brings not only new historical era, but also actual changes in gameplay. Someone will be discouraged by a relatively small campaign map, but the game makes it up with smarter AI, greater focus on diplomacy and more balanced overall experience - thanks to a more compact map.

Nintendo, how typical. It gives you a game that looks like a child's play. However, it gets you immediately, and it won't release you until you exploit everything that's hidden inside.

Final Fantasy XVI leaves its RPG roots behind and focuses on action gameplay… And it’s a gamble that works out very well. This is a spectacular, breathtaking game, even if it sometimes buries the good under the average.

Not a revolution, but a very solid third instalment of the famous colour shooter series. The gameplay is great, it’s got fun multiplayer and, surprisingly, enough to do if you play alone. But it does miss an unexpected spark of some kind…

A bigger, better, more action-oriented sequel, with everything that's been great in the original title on top of that. Hello Games did a fantastic job and they proved that even on a simple concept such as a bicycle hurdle race you may still find many great ideas.

The Bookwalker doesn’t really manage to refresh the venerable old point-and-click genre with new systems because the new systems simply don’t work all that well. The worldbuilding and story are immensely compelling, however, and guided forward by great dialogue. The gameplay itself doesn’t have to be awesome if you tell a story such as this.

A thrilling detective adventure game that will get you into the plot, where you play the main role, with its story and its cinematic narratives. Even though you won't find many logical challenges, and your gameplay interactions will be very limited, surely you will have fun. This is the kind of a game title you should not miss.

Killzone: Shadow Fall is essentially a heavy shooter of the classical design that, however, won't surprise by its content. Still, it's a great fun, and its graphics will take your breath away. Besides, it has a pretty elaborate multiplayer game.