Of all the remakes that were released in 2014, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is truly a born again game. What once was just a sketch, turned into a beautiful painting.

Still Wakes the Deep is a great horror game with an intriguing story, good acting, and intense chase sequences. I recommend it to all fans of the horror genre.

Spatial puzzles and meticulous optimization tasks go hand in hand with frantic escapes, intense shoot-outs and tense moments of silence. This mix is so engrossing that at first you don’t even notice all these minor annoyances that DotE is rife with. Still, even with them, the game is very enjoyable.

The fourth installment of Uncharted is exactly what you were waiting for: awesome action sequences, kick-ass graphics, and, finally, a full point in the story of Nathan Drake.

TowerFall: Ascension is polished to almost perfection in both style and substance.

Despite truly ancient visuals, this is the best heir of Crimsonland that I've ever played.

Stardock built a sturdy 4X platform to build upon in future expansions.

This game is a strong anti-war statement.

Even though Pendragon’s short roguelike format doesn’t allow for sprawling sagas, as all stories are quite abridged and simplistic, this game is absolutely engrossing, and there is enough excellent content to last you for several years.

Despite grim subject matter, Plague Inc. is a relaxing, entrancing game.

The Banner Saga 3 is a good game, but if you have to take a step back and look at the trilogy as a whole, you will truly appreciate the whole greatness of this saga.

This brutal saga about power and burden of choice is such a captivating adventure that you quickly forget about the game's minor flaws.

Cyberpunk 2077 tells a story of a dark future, while stumbling over technical problems and some weird design choices, but even with all these flaws, you‘ll want to finish this story.

SMB 3 pretty much cancels its two predecessors by improving even the smallest details — now that’s an evolving franchise!

If the original dilogy is Iliad, Shenmue 3 is Odyssey, a sequel that even exceeds expectations in some regards.

Battle Brothers needs more text to fully bring its world to live, but if you like turn-based battles and open worlds, this game is as good as it gets.

It’s a massive, deep, exciting sea adventure, although the developers do run aground on some reefs here and there.

Wealth of Nations offers even less scope than Conquest of Paradise, and the changes it introduces are hardly game-changing, yet they’re all thought-out and very appropriate. If you’re going to play as a trade empire, don’t skimp on this expansion.

SoulCalibur 6 joins Injustice 2 on the front line of modern arcade fighting games. I hope the amazing character editor will only increase its popularity over time.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Souls-inspired, turn-based combat system can ruin your mood. If you can handle it, you'll discover a rich, surreal world with an interesting story full of emotion.

Lies of P is a stylish game with clever ideas and original solutions. It lacks words at times, but this is not a big problem for an action/RPG.

For the first time in its long existence, Frogwares created a mature, multilayered, intense adventure that will keep you in its tentacled grip until the very last second.

Othercide is low-key but stylish, smart, exciting, even though it doesn't have the budget and technologies of Gears Tactics. It does fall into the same gameplay cracks sometimes, yet, unlike GT, it always keeps you engaged and invested in the fate of your team.

An unforgettable, incredibly depressing adventure, and the finest work by Frictional Games so far.

Brothers, unlike many recent indie hits, is very down to earth. It is not rife with intellectual puzzles like Braid, it is not as open to interpretations as Journey. It just makes you think about simple human values.

Basketball fans, NBA 2K18 is your new best friend… until the next fall.

Colony Ship is a true spiritual successor to The Age of Decadence.

A great opportunity to feel yourself like one of the soldiers from Starship Troopers and dive headfirst into an intergalactic war.

Dragon Quest XI may delight even the staunchest opponents of JRPGs.

A great example of interactive storytelling where the story changes greatly depending on how you ‘read’ it.

Even though tactical freedom is just an illusion, Afrika Korps can keep you captivated for hours thanks to its unpredictable dynamic scenarios.

High Voltage Software produced a solid PC port, with a 60 fps frame rate, better visuals and excellent keyboard support. I wish they did not unlock all the characters, outfits and fatalities right off the bat, though.

Pillars of Eternity is a good RPG even when you play it without your rose-tinted nostalgia glasses.

Syberia - Remastered is more like a remake. Despite this, the developers managed to preserve the style and atmosphere of the original.

Super Mega Baseball 2 doesn’t have photorealistic graphics or licensed Mike Trout and José Altuve, but this is, hands down, the best baseball sim this side of PlayStation.

Resident Evil 2 is thrilling enough to warrant a second walkthrough to get that extended ending. It’s a great remake, but, more importantly, it confidently stands on its own. This is the best introduction to the Resident Evil series and to survival horror in general.

At the heart of Valhalla is a surprisingly smart, cynical story about overly ambitious leaders, big hopes and soul-crushing disappointments. There are cool twists, nail-biting dilemmas and some very bitter consequences for you. The world of Valhalla is huge, but don’t be afraid to dive in.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a solid game, but if you are new to the series, I suggest to start with Valkyria Chronicles Remastered. VC4 builds on its ideas and the fans will enjoy it a lot, although I am a bit worried that the developers do not know where to go next — it is painfully apparent in their approach to gameplay mechanics and evolution of their fictional universe.

Elden Ring is massive, sometimes to its detriment. A thorough walkthrough might take up more than 100 hours to complete, and at some point it becomes clear that From Software did not have enough manpower to produce that much unique content. Still, it remains incredibly addictive even after those 100 hours pass…

Behind the plain-looking graphics lives an excellent logic game with perfect balance and multiple ways to solve each puzzle.

If you manage to power through the dull first third of the game and let some of the design limitations slide, Beautiful Desolation will reward you with one of the best post-apocalyptic worlds ever created.

If you've been putting off getting to know Age of Wonders 3, now's the time to do it.

A swarm of bugs is the only serious flaw of Wrath of the Righteous. While the developers managed to avoid a Kingmaker-level catastrophe, please do save this game for the upcoming holidays, or maybe even take a vacation — it’s worth it.

If you’ve never heard of words like “metroidvania” and “beat-‘em-up”, Guacamelee! is an excellent entry point for you.

Bland location design aside, Devil May Cry 5 is excellent in all other aspects. Deep combat system, charismatic characters, nice graphics, vibrant soundtrack — this is one hell of a crazy-ass meaty slasher.

Nioh has come a long way since its inception. It's not ideal, but very impressive nonetheless. Its brutal, unforgiving combat in a fresh setting more than makes up for flawed narrative.

There aren't any major graphical improvements that would justify the $30 price tag. But Outlaws is a fantastic shooter, and I highly recommend giving it a try in any form.

While Darkest Dungeon has more layers of complexity, turn-based combat in Iratus is just as compelling. You have to pay attention to negative effects, preempt potential threats, exploit loopholes in the game’s sophisticated rulebook and build effective combos.

This simple story about the importance of family ties will definitely tug at your heartstrings — if not with words, then at least with beautiful pixel-perfect dungeons.

It seems that From Software has finally realized that bad game design decisions were a poor addition to an already uncompromising game, and fixed them, while keeping the same level of ruthlessness.

Ghostrunner, with all its pretty neon lights, persistent rain and moody darksynth music, looks deceptively simple, but those expecting an easy adventure, will tap out after a couple of levels. But if you like to plan your moves one step ahead and are willing to git good, you will spend hours beating your own records.

Touching, exciting and all-round beautiful adventure somewhat tarred by its monotonous gameplay and the ludicrous image of the Big Bad Enemy. And it is almost a perfect way to explain the concept of war to your kids.

Mount & Blade 2 transports us into an endless chaotic world full of events, battles and amazing adventures. At times it feels like a victim of its own complexity — some of the game's intricate systems don’t mesh together or never work as advertised, the economy is flawed, there’s a frightening dearth of conventions… Yet this elaborate medieval world will eat up at least a hundred hours out of your life.

Even though Citadel, like other Mass Effect 3 expansions, plugs into the final third of the campaign, this is probably the closest thing to a happy end that Shepard & Co. will ever have. And if you think that there is no place for fan service and inside jokes in the gloomy universe of Mass Effect, you’d better stay away from this DLC.

If you still haven’t played Company of Heroes 2, The British Forces is a good reason to do it.

The Thaumaturge is a supernatural detective with good dialogs, strong characters, and a fun battle system.

Just like other Nintendo’s first-party offerings for Wii U, Pikmin 3 carefully walks the same twice-beaten path. And it is refreshingly stern with the players – colorful vistas and charming characters hide a hardcore game.

The world of Ancestors is an intricate system with its own rules generating exciting events and stories. That is why it’s so fun to explore.

NBA 2K13 is very smart game that offers so many tactical possibilities.

NBA 2K20 makes a few missteps in several modes and the gameplay is pretty much the same as before, but it’s still a reigning champion in its genre.

If you’re a fan of hardcore games, try Dark Souls 2. It is not as memorable as its predecessor, and yet it is still a phenomenal experience.

Please, resist the temptation to write this game off as yet another survival horror, and give it a chance. You will discover pixel-perfect art, a neat combination of familiar gameplay mechanics, and a great story with a cool twist.

Coming off of a string of failures, Fatshark has finally managed to release a solid game.

Among the Sleep is yet another good example of a successful game made possible thanks to Kickstarter.

Boring puzzles and at times jarring low-budget visuals stir a lot of negative emotions, but all this anger and frustration will be wiped away by the narrative tide of sincere emotions and soothing nostalgia. Ragnar Tornquist creates colorful character, and writes witty dialogue; he knows how to carry on the intrigue, make you laugh and, when the gods of drama demand it, sucker-punch you with full force.

Hack ‘n’ Slash is not an introduction to programming; if you’re a dummy, you’d better off playing the old classic Roboforge. But, if you do code, this game will make you ecstatic. Unlike Scribblenauts, where you being god removed all the challenge from the game, in Hack ‘n’ Slash you don’t have to invent your own adventures – the developers will keep you occupied.

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is a good remaster. It can give you a dozen hours of a solid thriller about a terrible disease, scary rituals and haunted houses.

XCOM: Enemy Within is a good expansion. I envy those who had never gotten around to playing the game until now.

Nice-looking, with bright, colorful landscapes, lots of nostalgic references to the old RPGs of yore, and a very high degree of freedom, this game wanted to grab as much audience as it could. But in reality, only somewhat masochistic power players will be able to beat it. Are you one of them? Welcome to Rivellon, then!

The sheer scale of "cosmetic surgery" in Resurrected is mind-boggling, and that’s exactly what we’ve been promised. At the same time, 20-year old gameplay tropes raise quite a few questions, especially if you’re used to the conveniences of modern action/RPGs.

A new benchmark for “branching narrative” games. The Wolf Among Us turns players into viewers by almost ditching gameplay, but you will enjoy watching this show.

To make fun of video games, just like they do it in The Stanley Parable, you have to love them with all your heart.

Tropico 5 has room for improvement, but even in its current state it brings sheer joy.

This is a solid and filled with new content remaster of one of the most popular and technologically advanced first-person shooters of the 1990s.

Despite a somewhat muddled ending, this single player campaign is one of the best in recent years.

Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars has some downsides, but they pale against the interesting story and unusual gameplay.

There are tons of interesting stuff to do and see in Yakuza 5, it will entertain you for dozens… no, hundreds of hours.

If you like XCOM, and you want more of the same — well, here you go.

Millennia is the most serious competitor of the Civilization series since 1991.

Age of Wonders 4 didn't overwhelm my expectations. But even now, without all planned DLC, you can easily spend dozens of hours on this game.

Disharmony is the next step in the development of Endless Space. It is not big even if you count new research options, heroes and buildings, but still, you’ll get a lot of nice stuff for your 10 bucks.

It's a short, but very intense adventure, with brief cinematics, compact maps without padding or copy/pasted elements. It brings a lot of variety into the world teeming with bland "sandboxes".

Nice 2D graphics, intense battles, a right degree of ‘hardcoreness’, almost no show-stopping bugs, well-written story and dialogues – that is quite an achievement for an indie studio.

Payday 2 is basically SWAT 4, only you play as criminals instead of cops. Stylish, exhilarating, and quite hardcore, this game is a treat for fans of team-based coop shooters.

A few years ago, Spelunky was a unique phenomenon. Now, when its ideas have been adopted and improved upon by Super House of the Dead Ninjas, Binding of Isaac, and Rogue Legacy, this remake is simply first among equals.

This is an unforgettable trip into the horrifying world of bureaucracy.

The RTS genre will be alive and kicking until the day they stop making games like this one.

Just like Victoria 2: A House Divided, Heart of Darkness is a well-done expansion pack. Its improvements are focused on some very specific gameplay aspects, but they’re really deep.

Yep, we’ve already seen everything Fester Mudd has to offer. This game is a well-polished amalgamation of old plots and jokes that doesn’t dare venture far on its own. Although, considering that most modern game developers can’t even match the level of quality set by their predecessors, I think we should forgive Fester Mudd for its slavish admiration of the old classics.

On one side, you have linear gameplay, at times simplistic game design and plenty of clichés. On the other – an exciting opportunity to star in a very cool horror ‘movie’.

The remastered versions now look like interactive animated movies, with familiar levels recreated in a completely new engine with real-time lighting, new models and animations, visual effects and re-recorded sounds. But still, keep in mind that classic Crash games were a product of their era, so if you played this trilogy on PS1 back in the 90s when you were a kid, you won't get that the same feeling again.

If you wanted Company of Heroes 2 only for the single-player campaign, don’t waste your money – the story and mission design are atrocious. On the other hand, its multiplayer battles are lightning-fast and ferocious – easily the best in the RTS genre right now.

Suzerain has problems with how it presents information as well as some logical holes, yet its non-linear narrative, moody atmosphere, the tingling feeling that everything will end badly, awesome soundtrack, and a well-developed world are all valid reasons to veto any criticisms and return to Sordland for more socio political experiments.

Was it worth it to sacrifice the single-player campaign? If this was the only way to create this awesome multiplayer package, then yes, absolutely. Black Ops 4 channels the spirit of the first two Modern Warfare games, and this is an achievement by itself.

Res Publica is a less significant expansion than Wealth of Nations, but it is cheaper, too. Pick it up if you plan to play as Poland or The Netherlands.

The title of Miss Video Games in 2017 goes to… no, not to Billy Lurk, Chloe Frazer, or Itō Ayami, but to a tomboy with no name from A Hat in Time.

Guardians of Galaxy makes you laugh out loud, and that’s a rare feat. The story and production are so good that they offset its flawed gameplay, especially combat.

This is a solid remaster of a classic of the action-adventure genre. Even today Tomb Raider 1, 2 & 3 are fun to play.