The biggest potential issue with the game is that it offers too much freedom and too little structure. It might drive players away if they feel that their progress is too gated. But I love the feeling of freedom that Boomerang X offers when it is at its best and the huge adrenaline spike that a good fight against seven waves can deliver, regardless of the result.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition is not just a love letter to fans, but also a great gift that BioWare is making to newcomers to the series. Although some of the issues present in the original games haven't been fixed, there are so many improvements to the first two Mass Effect titles that I'm willing to overlook the minor bugs. The entire trilogy sends players throughout this amazing sci-fi universe that feels alive and vibrant everywhere you look. Perhaps these games should have been remastered separately to get the attention they deserve, but having the entire trilogy in a single bundle that's perfectly playable nearly 15 years after the release of the first game is surely convenient.

Backbone is a good game that will disappoint some of its players. The world is engaging and the detective mechanics are limited but cool. A sequence at the end of Act III is one of the most stunning I have experienced in a video game, both from a narrative and presentation standpoint. The game also delivers on its tonal shift and twist and does things that a simple noir detective story could not. Backbone understands the value of good writing and works hard to make words matter. The development team has already said that it has more stories to tell in this universe and I very much want to see how they expand on the best elements of Backbone and how they can make the world even more intriguing.

Realpolitiks II is a good grand strategy experience. It has plenty of mechanics to engage with and cool ways to push the player to try new things depending on the nation he chooses. The international system is underdeveloped but the project concept is an innovation that works well. The development team at Jujubee has also focused on the modern world, a period that not many titles in the genre try to tackle (Paradox has not yet moved much beyond World War II). Realpolitiks II might seem complex for newcomers but its mix of ideas and execution will work well for anyone who has even a little experience with the grand strategy space.

Mighty Goose is a very good experience for a clearly defined set of players. One needs to love old-school arcade action to love it. An interest in wacky characters helps, as does a focus on gameplay and an interest in trying to best one’s old scores. The game knows what it can deliver and offers a very pure experience for those who know what they want from it. The problem is that the developers do not push the limits of the space they settled in. The companions and the special powers are attempts at this but limited ones. After three or four levels even the idea of battling new bosses failed to excite me about the game. Mighty Goose is another title that needs more than very good execution of core concepts to stand out.

Green Hell is a console port that unfortunately does not manage to rival its PC counterpart. What can accomplish is to stand out from the relentless wave of survival games, as a title with personality, with both perks and flaws. The gameplay manages to keep its edge, but the challenges are even more frustrating because of the technical issues. If you are in your element when facing impossible odds, Green Hell is right up your alley. The abuse on players is relentless and creates an almost Stockholm syndrome-like experience. All the survival enthusiasts will keep coming back for more and more punishment.

Roguebook is a competent game, both a good and a bad thing to be in the crowded rogue and card game spaces. For a newcomer, this is a solid entry-point, with engaging battles, a good long-term progression, and an interesting way to explore. For someone who has played the obvious inspirations the ink-linked ideas are not innovative enough. The team at Abrakam was too conservative in its approach. The game needs more weirdness and more tweaks to the battle formula to stand out. If they get the chance to create another Roguebook experience they need to take the good bones of this game and then push the entire genre forward in some way.

The Magnificent Trufflepigs almost instantly draws a comparison with Firewatch. But it fails to deliver in the same way and actively made me regret spending the 2 hours required to finish it. The development team wants to both tell a poignant story about growing up and making choices and to (slight spoiler) deliver a twist ending that makes almost everything that comes before feeling empty.

Ninja Gaiden became an instant cult classic from the moment it was launched, thanks to its gameplay and “git gud” attitude. The level of difficulty was high back then and it is even more so nowadays. I appreciate the thought of dusting it off and presenting it to the current generation of gamers, but this series would have deserved more attention and love. With more effort and care it could have achieved the quality level Nioh can brag with, and prove to us again why gamers fell in love with ninjas. As it stands now, even with the Day1 patch released, the Master Collection is lacking on every front. The games are still enjoyable, but there is nothing masterful in this collection, the publisher being content releasing a mere port instead of a remaster or alas, a remake.

I don't feel that Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a major upgrade over the previous title, but the presentation got up a notch or two, and so are the graphics. While I love the sandbox and semi-open world aspects, I think the implementation feels artificial and ruins the immersion more often than not. Sniper Ghost Warrior Contract 2 doesn't bring too many new things to the table, so it more of a safe rather than an evolutionary sequel. The sniping experience feels satisfying enough to keep you entertained for the entire campaign, and the way the maps are designed leaves room for different tactics. I think this a solid entry in the Sniper Ghost Warrior Contract series, but it's nothing revolutionary.

We Are Football is an intriguing attempt to offer another take on the football management genre. The game has a very good match presentation and some solid club-focused mechanics but I am not sure that this is enough to make it a contender. The developers really need to get at least one major league full license (the Bundesliga is probably the most accessible) to draw fans in. An editor that is both faster and easier to use just to engage with names would also help. The football management space needs more options and more innovation. The developers clearly try to focus on the match and the squad interactions while also offering more club-based features for those who want it. I liked the time I spent with We Are Football but it’s unlikely that I will use it to play a ten-year-long Liverpool campaign anytime soon.

Overboard! is a great game for anyone who has played a previous inkle title and liked it. The characters are fun, the lines of dialogue are well-written, the possibilities are all interesting. Veronica manages to be sympathetic despite being all too capable of murder. The replay value of the experience is higher than for any of their previous titles. This means that even for newcomers to the genre this is a great title to take a chance on.

Call of the Sea is a beautiful adventure, and the first thing that will draw you in is undeniably the gorgeous visuals. The gameplay may not be perfect and the story may be a one-time experience, but the game still is worth a playthrough. The atmosphere of the game is an engaging one, though it will make you feel as safe as a baby in a cradle. If you are a fan of the Lovecraftian universe though, you might leave disappointed. The game lacks all the heavy and tormenting atmosphere that made famous the works of the American author. Call of the Sea remains an adventure game that will be enjoyed by the fans of this genre.

Pro Cycling Manager 2021 is not a game I would recommend right now, especially given the recent history of the franchise. Wait for a few patches and one big community mod delivery. The core gameplay has not evolved in any major way and the additions feel half-baked. The presentation is pretty much the same, with minor tweaks.

Devolver often delivers weird games that take familiar ideas or mechanics and deliver cool twists on them. Loop Hero is a very good example of how this approach can succeed. Sludge Life has good tunes and a new presentation style but it needed more in the way of either gameplay or narrative to deliver a truly cool experience.

Beautiful Desolation is a mature game for mature audiences. If you like dystopian stories, classic point-and-click adventures, and you miss the magic of hand-drawn environments it will be right up your alley. On the other hand, younger audiences will have a harder time with the game, since it does not offer instant gratification, and the action scenes are utterly useless. Beautiful Desolation raises a lot of questions but leaves the answers open for most of the time. It is an experience that makes you wonder about humanity and what the future will bring. It is fun only for those who are looking for deep-reaching experiences, that will stick with you long after you finished the game.

Academia: School Simulator is a medium commitment simulation experience, meaning that it’s engrossing without overwhelming. Gamers do not have to worry about coming tweaks or the introduction of entirely new mechanics because the game is content complete. The title also has a very extensive set of mods that can introduce variety when a player feels like a master of the core experience.

Imagine Earth is a very good title for both fans and newcomers to the building and management genre. I loved the likes of Pharaoh (when much younger) and Cities: Skylines (more recently) and really appreciate both the foundations and the quirks this game has to offer. For someone who is exploring this gaming space for the first time the difficulty ramps up gently and there is plenty of info on how to engage with the mechanics. There are times when the title seems to deliver more core ideas than it has to, possibly to add more challenge even if it does not need to. But most of the time the game from Serious Bros is both engaging and enchanting. Imagine Earth shines in both campaign and free play and I cannot wait to see how the team expands on its core mechanics.

Biomutant is flawed from almost every angle we look at it but still manages to be fun. Nothing is truly original or innovative, but it is melded together in a fashion that makes the game work. It is an RPG in a huge open world, with tons of action, even more freedom, and its very own personality. For a first game, it is not bad. Some things can be improved, but you can lose yourself in the game world and you will have fun with it. Despite the flat jokes and repetitive secondary quests, Biomutant is a game worth a try.

Of Bird and Cage is not a good game and I can only think of a small subset of people who might enjoy it: fans of progressive rock with a love of soapy narrative drive titles and an ability to ignore presentation issues. Anyone else should avoid playing the game, even if it is relatively short at around two hours. The developers are certainly attempting an ambitious mix and they should be applauded for that. But a lot more investment in coherent gameplay and a good story is required to make it a success. Get the soundtrack created for Of Bird and Cage if you love the artists involved because it really does not work as a video game.

Even though its roguelike recipe feels flawed, Returnal's exhilarating gunplay, clever story, and mesmerizing atmosphere elevate it to a higher than average rank. Its addictive gameplay loop, gorgeous visuals, and amazing 3D sound create an immersive atmosphere that is difficult to imitate.

The Invisible Hand could have been a great if simplistic stock trading-focused game, if it dropped the satire elements, choosing to focus on how the market can be manipulated and on how rivalries develop between traders. The title could also have been a solid satire of modern wild capitalism and the way it lacks morals or compassion if it allowed itself to invest more in relationships and good dialogue and less in the actual stock-based gameplay. The problem is that the development team wants to deliver on both concepts and fails to reach the potential of either of them. The limited appeal of the presentation does not help with either of them.

Resident Evil Village is one of the best entries in the series, hands down. It has some minor issues, but nothing to interfere with the overall experience. There are tons of extras and plenty of replay value from new levels of difficulty, to new weapons, challenges to the new Mercenary mode. You will have to discover this for yourself, along with the story, since we do not want to cross into spoiler territory. You can rest assured that although the innovations are not as obvious as in the case of Biohazard, Village refines the gameplay experience and fixes the shortcomings and critics of the previous episode. We highly recommend Resident Evil Village to all fans of video games.

World Splitter has a killer core mechanic. The dimensional rift introduces a wide array of possibilities even in a relatively simple level. I spend a lot of time moving it around, seeing how it affects enemies and the environment, trying to see the best way it can help me get from left to right. The game also knows when and how to introduce new elements and twists to keep the gameplay fresh through the six big worlds. The problem is that discovery and experimentation are directly linked to failure and frustration. My rabbit dies repeatedly and sometimes I don’t exactly understand why, so I kill him some more to test out theories. After some time I understand what and how to do and finish a level with a decent result (the targets the game sets are for much better players). I only wished the development team offered more ways to cut down frustration to make more gamers enjoy World Splitter for longer periods.

Base One is a mostly solid game that never impresses. The story and writing are not a big part of the management genre but here they are so bland that they actively hurt the experience. Managing a space station is a chore when the narrative gives me no reason to look forward to new objectives and cool interactions. The game also feels limited by the fact that everything happens on one plane. A futuristic base will need to use space in complex ways and three dimensions to truly maximize efficiency and create a structure that can be easily defended or moved. Base One is too conservative in its take on the future, its approach to mechanics, and its story to create an experience that can keep gamers engaged with the campaign in the long term. The custom game mode offers ways to engage with all core mechanics in a variety of player-defined scenarios.

Poker Club is fully functional, but a totally bland experience. You have many gamification elements implemented on top of the actual poker game, like the customization options and the clubs. But these do not bring added value, since they do not have real effects on the gameplay experience. Having fixed most of the technical and visual bugs that plagued the initial release, Poker Club cannot overcome the issues that haunt all the poker simulators. The unpredictability of the human element brings tediousness and a slow pace, without being able to replicate the thrills of playing face to face with another human being.

Legends of Ellaria is one example of how too much ambition can lead to a hard to enjoy the final product. There’s simply too much here to have fun. The transitions are too long. The strategic layer does not add any sort of fun. The management can be enjoyable but does not mesh well with the rest of the experience.

Legend of Keepers is a good mix of ideas that could use some more variety. For the first 10 to 15 hours it has the pace and content to throw new ideas and new options out. It’s very fun to take down new groups of more powerful heroes and see what’s the best combination of monsters and traps to sap their spirit or to destroy their health points. The game also has plenty of long-term goals. But once I learned more about the monsters and the enemies I found it hard to get excited, even when I got a new powerful creature or when a powerful hero dropped in. Goblinz Studio understands the two genres it is mixing but it should have added a pinch more innovation to make Legend of Keepers into a long-term fun experience.