Morales’ New York is just as basic as before. There is nothing to do except complete the same missions, and the city cannot offer anything more except spectacular bird’s eye view panoramas.

Art of Rally is an opposite of a hardcore rally sim; it requires very little effort and revels in its meditative approach. Drive, listen to pleasant electronic tunes, enjoy the scenery. But I wish there was something more besides career mode, because when it’s over 20 hours later, you’re done.

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.

Abundance of bugs is the biggest problem plaguing 9 Monkeys of Shaolin. Other than that, it’s a fun beat ’em up which requires a bit more finesse than mindless button-mashing.

This is a full-fledged, honest to God remake. Some changes to the story will upset hardcore fans, but I think this approach is absolutely justified. Even though this remake is not as amazing as new versions of Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy 7, it’s still a worthy update.

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.

An enthralling sci-fi thriller mixed with a touching melodrama that captures the zeitgeist. Although, unlike Penumbra, it’s not even remotely scary.

I see no reason to pay a full price for a mediocre single-player campaign, watered-down (compared to last year's offering) multiplayer and a zombie mode with just one map. I’d recommend trying a free Warzone instead.

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.

Hades is so captivating that you can easily spend days trying to escape the realm of the dead.

All in all, NBA 2K21 still holds the bar, but there is very little incentive to switch to this version if you had your fill of 2K20, unless you’re a dedicated fan of MyTeam.

Little Hope is a slight improvement over Man of Medan. It’s still not scary at all, but at least it's less annoying than the first game. This time around, Supermassive wrote a better story, used decent camera angles, and purged awkward jokes (dumb "screamers" are still in there, though).

Partisans 1941 is not a puzzle that makes you go over all the available tactical options in search of the most ingenious solution, but a lengthy exercise in mundanity.

Brevity (just 4 hours to credits roll!), serious subject matter, good sound design, easy platforming and accessible puzzles almost balance out the many shortcomings of Inmost, like its non-interactive climax, weird controls and empty talk in lengthy dialogues. But not the mind-numbingly dull knight episodes — those are beyond redemption.

There’s a good concept at the core of Star Wars: Squadrons, as flying a space fighter and managing its systems can be a lot of fun, however, you have to be a very dedicated Star Wars fan to enjoy a drab campaign with just a handful of memorable moments and watered-down multiplayer modes from Battlefront 2.

I wouldn’t venture to judge as to what troubles befell on poor Sam. Maybe he’s been through development hell, maybe he’s having a mid-life crisis, but in any case, this calamity is far worse than a horde of alien invaders.

Avengers is aimed at the most naive Marvel fans willing to absolve their idols of all their sins for a chance to stand next to Captain America or Iron Man — even for just a minute. So yes, fans like Kamala Khan are the perfect target audience for this sort of drivel. Ironically, she’s also the central character of the story.

Panzer Dragoon has simplistic core gameplay and disappointing low-budget visuals to elicit interest in this remake.

As an abstract total conversion of Total War, Troy is a passable game, but it does very little to convey the atmosphere of Iliad (or that movie with Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, for that matter).

A charming, but not well-thought-out game. If you’re not ready to travel like a grain of sand on the wind, it’s best to avoid it for now.

Paradox Interactive will be growing Crusader Kings 3 for years to come, but don’t be afraid — this is not an early access release, but a full-fledged game that often makes you stay “just for one more turn.”

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.

Different drawing style and monk-like garments of the main villain, which caused a stir among fans before the game’s release, are actually the least of its problems.

Death Stranding is asking you to find variety in a daily rut, cooperation possibilities for a character who has fear of contact, scientific explanations in clear-cut mysticism. Today, you’re annoyed that the story doesn’t move forward, and you have to trek into the same ghost-infested area as before, but tomorrow you’ll gladly spend a few hours hauling resources for a new highway and feeling good about it. This source of joy is very weird and defies explanation.

A happy marriage of deep space horror and Souls-like ruthlessness, Hellpoint is a nice game, but there’s still some room to grow.

An excellent follow-up to Wasteland 2. You want to finish it as soon as possible just to start the campaign all over again and take different decisions.

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.

Mediocre graphics is a big letdown of Fairy Tail (a common flaw of many Japanese video games based on anime/manga), but it plays much better than you might assume by looking at screenshots and watching trailers.