Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remakes the original in all the elementary ways, but also improves it in a few key aspects. It recreates the mechanics and the atmosphere of the first games with genuine precision, and injects simple ways for new players to immerse themselves into the paper world of Mario.

Nine Sols is truly the revolutionary Metroidvania we were waiting for. Even though it doesn't do anything groundbreakingly new, it is a truly masterful creation. From its elaborate taopunk world, gorgeous art and design, challenging Sekiro-like combat, and remarkable enemy diversity and originality, it is a game that any fan of the genre must experience.

Mullet Madjack is a simple but fun and frantic FPS with a great stylized approach and engaging gameplay. The game has retrofuture anime vibes that come with great music and atmosphere. It might not blow you away, but it will give you an opportunity to play as a power fantasy 80s movie action hero. Who could say no to that?

Except for making the game more widely available, the PlayStation 4 version brings almost nothing new. It is still that old, fun, and loveable game it was back in 2021, which raises the question: when can we expect the sequel?

You can almost smell the confines of the original platform from which Monster Hunter Stories emerged. A tiny, linear, and restricted 3DS title did not lose much of its likeability, though. With just a little bit of facelift, Stories oozes charm once more.

Upgraded models and textures do bring new life to this 11-year-old title. That which once was absolutely superb is now being drawn back by an obsolete “pocket design” and a few elements that slow the experience down. But in whichever way you look at it, it is one superb game and possibly the greatest game of the series. It did not age well, no matter the quick facelift the studio performed.

Let Bions be Bygones is one of the most immersive and fun cyberpunk adventures I have ever played. It absolutely flourishes with its vibrant and gorgeously crafted dystopian world. It gives so much choice to the player, and even with some small pacing issues and weird bugs here and there, it is a must-play for all adventure enthusiasts who love a good story, dialogue, and choice-driven experiences.

The battle between quality and performance that the Switch port of this game brings is one of the fiercest encounters I’ve seen in gaming in years. The disgraceful technical difficulties luckily fail to extinguish the greatness of the game itself but do bring the experience to its knees at times. The Switch version is worth your time, but I would recommend any other platform nonetheless. You will get a vastly better experience.

Shadow of the Erdtree is probably the best DLC for any video game ever made. It is hindered by the lackluster optimization of its PC port, but it offers such an enormous amount of content and probably the best world design we have seen so far, not only from From Software but gaming in general. It provides nerve-wracking bosses and stellar enemy and gameplay mechanics.

Vanillaware does it again! It's a strategic RPG with a simple story yet full of charm. It borrows, reshapes, and presents a certain genre in its own unique way. It certainly isn't the greatest game the genre has to offer, but it is undoubtedly one of the sweetest ones! It's just another one of the instant classics from this studio.

Regarding tennis games, Top Spin 2K25 is still the king. However, selling it as a completely new title, even though it’s a glorified remaster of the remarkable Top Spin 4, is an absolute travesty. Top Spin 2K25’s gameplay is currently the best in the market, but its outdated graphics, lacklustre choice of players, and pretty simplistic career mode really damage the experience.

Drawing inspiration from the greatest age of video game platformers—the 16-bit era—The Cub creates an atmospheric world that is a joy to traverse. The somewhat stiff controls and the basic level design can't take away the charm built by the gorgeous visuals and the juicy story, which is told through a cheeky radio broadcast—from Mars!

South Park: Snow Day! Is a decent attempt at ‘’mixing things up’’, changing genres and stepping into a 3D plane, but it falls somewhat short of reaching that milestone of excellence. With its shallow gameplay and repetitive and poorly balanced combat, Snow Day!’s only saving grace is its 4-player co-op. It’s great for South Park fans, too.

Highwater takes us on a new adventure across a flooded post-apocalyptic Earth, presented in a distinctive style Demagog Studio is known for. With its unique approach to turn-based combat, road trip-esque vibe, amazing visuals, soundtrack and immersive atmosphere, Highwater is living proof that video games are an art form.

Children of the Sun is a fun sniper shooting puzzler that offers very engaging gameplay, but just as it uses its mechanics to its fullest potential, it ends before you even realize it. It is very light on its story but flourishes with such a great dark atmosphere and flavour that it makes you wish it explored its world more and offered additional levels or alternate game modes.

Biomorph is a classic metroidvania-style game that doesn’t break any known genre rules. However, the morphing mechanics enhance and add variance to the gameplay loop, whether you’re exploring or fighting enemies. A future Metroidvania Hall of Famer, if you ask me.

Fun combat, spectacular action sequences, an atmospheric world, glorious visuals, an intriguing story and loads of interesting model choices are all the vitamins a developing gamer needs. A truly stellar experience.

WWE 2K24 is probably the most complete and refined edition to date, especially under 2K. It presents really fun and in-depth MyGM and Universe modes, and while its MyRise and Showcase modes could bring more to the table, its fun gameplay and focus on actual singleplayer fun starts slowly redeeming the franchise after some serious pitfalls in the past. Well, unless you are a PC player…

Exploring Warsaw at the onset of the 20th century and its many political and social topics is a fantastic experience. Expect intriguing characters, mature themes, enjoyable exploration and plenty of narrative role-play options. On the negative side, the combat quickly becomes repetitive, and some gameplay mechanics feel undercooked.

Team Ninja delivers yet another game inspired by the “soulslike” genre. While some of the narrative mechanics and world design feel obsolete, the characters and especially the action are stars of the show. Fights carry the weight of most of the game’s appeal, and if you can see through many of the design downsides, you will probably have an unforgettable action experience.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a fun-packed title for the youngest of gamers and for those that want to join the ride. Colourful and refreshing, full of exciting mechanics, yet at times simply yearning for upgraded Nintendo hardware to perform better on. If you know what to expect, you will surely have a great time. Just try not to let a few imperfections ruin the experience.

As someone who has never played Persona 3, I tried to make myself a believer but never managed to do so. The Persona system is great fun, the theme is not for my taste, and the school segments are beyond boring, at least for me, and I am probably in the minority. Apart from the price, this game will scratch that Persona itch and let you relive your childhood with gorgeous graphics and quality-of-life improvements, but it did not make me fall in love with the series.

Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition is a fantastic PC port. The optimization is great, and it works well on a variety of PC configurations. With multiple graphical enhancements and AI upscaling, this game plays best on PC. DualSense is also fully integrated and will use all the features the PS5 has to offer, just a bit better. Oh, yeah, and the game is amazing as well!

When it comes to games, you’ll rarely find yourself saying: ‘’Let your expectations run wild, for they will surely be met with excellence’’. Rebirth feels more like a spectacular conclusion than a midway point of a trilogy. Bursting with content, rare are the moments where you won’t feel the utmost joy. It is easily one of the best Final Fantasy games ever conceived and one of the greatest titles this genre has to offer. A true masterpiece that makes us excited for what the series will have to offer next.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a controversial game, and it is truly not for everyone. On the other hand, it is so revolutionary compared to its predecessor, especially in this day and age, that it would be an easy GOTY contender if CAPCOM just showed a bit more leniency and knowledge of its audience. Unnecessary microtransactions and despicable optimization followed by few weird design choices hinders this release, that below all of the fuzz and stupidity hides a masterfully crafted world, with a fine narrative and remarkable combat that is unique and interesting with every step of its long journey.

Alone in the Dark remakes the original in all the elementary ways that were perfected a long time ago. It recreates the mechanics and the atmosphere of the first games with genuine precision yet fails to improve on the formula in any meaningful manner. It’s an experience you will probably enjoy getting bored with.

Sovereign Syndicate offers a refreshing departure from traditional fantasy RPGs, blending Greek mythology creatures with Victorian-era steampunk London. Thanks to its superb writing, expect an intriguing and intricate story with a lot of colourful characters and unexpected twists.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered could have easily been a massive hit if the developers had just added more quality-of-life options and tweaked some issues that plagued the original. If you’re an old fan, I would definitely recommend it, as it’s the best way to experience the original Tomb Raider trilogy.