If you like horror adventure games, DARQ Complete Edition is definitely worth trying. If you played the game already, you can now replay it in its complete form with better framerates. If this is your first contact with DARQ, the Complete Edition offers the best experience possible. Still, it is hard to forgive the length, the lack of the story, and the fact that after you played or, replayed it once more, there is nothing more to do here. The atmosphere is special, the puzzles are well thought out, and the environment is very detailed, but each player has to decide for themselves how 2-3 hours of fun should translate into a price tag.

If Disco Elysium The Final Cut would have been launched a bit later, with the subsequent patches already incorporated there would have been little to complain about. It is a masterpiece that needs to be played by every RPG fan out there. Despite the state the game was released in, the developers went through a lot of trouble to bring the experience they promised. Right now Disco Elysium The Final Cut is damn close to that vision. It is not often that I can forgive a messy launch, but the fixes that patched up things quite quickly and the experience itself outweighs any issues that are already in the past. If there was any game from the ones presented in a while that I wholeheartedly recommend, this is the one.

Ashwalkers has a few good ideas that it executes well. The problem is that the development team wants to make the game seem to be more than it actually is. If everything moved faster and with clearer decisions then it would be worth an extended time investment. As it stands after a first completed expedition I had no desire to try another. The characters stay the same and the management element never adds new twists. The end screen for each playthrough shows quite a few possible conclusions to work towards but the world never feels interesting enough to try and get them all. Unless you truly love slow, moody stories and choice-focused titles avoid Ashwalkers unless updates deliver a tighter, faster version of the experience.

Overall Superliminal is a great puzzle experience, and you feel throughout it that the developers had fun putting it together. This is a dream therapy that actually works, being funny and creative at the same time.

Say No! More is an example of what a small team with a clear message and design direction can deliver. Studio Fizbin has crafted a short but happy game that explains why uttering a certain word is necessary and makes players feel powerful while saying it. I felt like a better human being after I finished it, even if it might not actually lead to more instances of “No” in my own life. There’s a little bit too much earnestness in the writing at times, especially during the final third, but once one buys into the premise it is easy to get past it. Say No! More talks about the importance of choice and self-expression and curious players should ignore its thesis and say “Yes” to this narrative-driven experience.

Everything that Capcom included in Monster Hunter Rise feels like it's been curated by a perfectionist. The soundtrack, visuals, gameplay mechanics, monster-hunting loop, and multiplayer have been thoroughly designed to offer players the ultimate Monster Hunter experience on a handheld device. With a little bit more investment in the narrative, Monster Hunter Rise could have been a perfect game. Without that it's just one of the best games in the series, a must-play title for every Nintendo Switch owner. I'm amazed that after two incredible Monster Hunter games, Capcom still finds a way to outdo itself and push out another nearly perfect monster-hunting title.

Signs of the Sojourner presents itself as a contemporary art piece, where the truth and the beauty are in the eye of the beholder. It is carefully put together, it conveys a series of messages and it is based on an original concept. Unfortunately, it fails to create harmony between the gameplay and the story, so the result feels fractured. The story is too slow, the card play is not engaging enough, and the gap between the two elements is never actually bridged. Signs of the Sojourner remains a bizarre experiment, that had potential, but where the artists stumbled being tripped by their own feet.

Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a great story with minimalistic gameplay. It feels that through the entire game the developers focused mainly on the diary, Estoria being more of an afterthought. Still, overall, the magic is there and the game is worth a playthrough especially by young adults. There are some original and innovative ideas in the game, but in the end, is a very casual experience. Those who love a good story will love Lost Words: Beyond the Page. But those who are looking for deep gameplay, have nothing to see here.

Nanotale – Typing Chronicles manages to put words at the heart of both the action and the story in a unique way. The centrality of typing is justified in the world that the developers have created and makes for some interesting challenges for gamers. The more classic exploration elements, based around the word magic system, also work well. The biggest problem is that the constant keyboard action can become a little tiring. Keep sessions to a little under an hour to make sure that you do not simply burn out from spelling. Nanotale is also a video game that would benefit immensely from an investment in a very good keyboard.

Black Legend is a game that has potential but fails to fulfill enough of it to keep a player interested. The tactical, hex and turn-based, battles are good. The humors are intriguing. But the game offers nothing to make them meaningful.

Paradise Lost is a story worth exploring once, the alternative ending targeting those who were roped in by the story and the character development of Szymon. Sadly, there won’t be too many, because despite the strong start, the magic fades and ultimately Paradise Lost proves to be a walking simulator that could have been very interesting in theory, but actually it is just conventional and flat.

El Hijo A Wild West Tale is a stealth game that also tries to juggle puzzle elements, and the balance is lost along the way. It is not a bad game, but one that starts you hiding in the environment, but by the end of your adventure, you will remember mostly the puzzles. It teases you with all the possible approaches but does not grant you enough freedom to actually put them into action. Although it targets the whole family, it can be recommended only for those who are looking for the challenge due to the steep difficulty level. Still, El Hijo A Wild West Tale radiates candor and innocence, two qualities that recommend it to everyone.

Redout: Space Assault is a relatively simple game that satisfies some very arcade itches. Taking out enemies while dodging waves of attacks and finding some time to take stock of the situation can be exhilarating. But in its current form, the mechanics are simply too limited to make the game engaging for more than a few hours. Its phone-based origin is clear. The big battles are, at first, fun and exciting. But the fourth or fifth time when almost the same scenarios appear it is hard to summon the energy to do it all again. More variety is needed to make this on-tails space combat experience attractive in the long term.

Star Renegades although borrows many elements from other games, manages to feel fresh and entertaining. It offers plenty of content, and though you will have to go through several attempts to crack it, the game manages to avoid feeling repetitive. The deep combat system, the different heroes, the procedurally generated maps, the different difficulty levels all contribute to the high replay value of the game. Star Renegades builds on the nostalgic factor and is targeting mainly the fans of TBT, but it proves to be enjoyable by anyone who decides to try it.

Neurodeck is an engaging take on the deck-builder genre. The enemies are varied, the cards have cool synergies, the runs in their entirety integrate combat and other activities well. Some difficulty spikes feel unfair. The good news is there are no opponents that cannot be taken down with good card selection and battle strategy. The game does not have the breath or innovation of the best of its class. But the focus on phobia, mental health, and stress make it an interesting experiment. Neurodeck shows how you can create a video game that offers information about the real world without looking preachy while also offering good core mechanics.

Newcomers to the franchise will find Battle Brothers very hard to pick up, especially due to the lack of a proper tutorial. I do love those games that don't hold your hand, but I think Battle Brothers is in a league of its own and some more complex aspects should be made more clear. Although the learning curve is quite steep, once you get the hang of it, Battle Brothers is actually a very enjoyable experience. I strongly recommend those looking for a challenging turn-based RPG to give Battle Brothers a try, not just for the complexity of building the perfect company of brothers, but also for its stunning soundtrack and art style.

Hot Brass is an intriguing game that restricts its ability to keep players engaged. The SWAT fantasy is well transferred into mechanics but the overall look of the game makes it hard to fully enjoy. The missions are designed for multiple approaches but different ways of engaging with the title do not deliver a variety of thrills or failures. The focus on real-time action is probably the biggest drawback because it undermines the importance of planning. While the pressure and tension work well the top-down action title is too confusing at times. Trying for an objective, again and again, becomes frustrating.

The developers have nailed the sense of progression and the tension that the genre is built around. The presentation is very old-school, which can be a problem for players who have never interacted with MS-DOS titles. It is also integral to the spirit of this game. Loop Hero is a great game for fans of its genre and has plenty of cool mechanics and hooks for those who want to try it out for the first time.

Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 is fun, at least for a couple of hours. After that, you will not be inclined to run the game again, because you will already have figured out everything it has to offer. It feels like even the developers designed the game as a temporary distraction, aware that the magic quickly fades out. It is only a small improvement compared to the first Monster Jam Steel Titans and even with a more modest price tag and online multiplayer, it is hard to recommend for someone. Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 is way too arcade for the fans of the sport and offers very little to anyone else.

Atelier Ryza 2 brings new, interesting gameplay features into the series, but it doesn't revolutionize the Atelier franchise. The alchemy system hasn't been simplified, but it's much easier to pick up if you're a newcomer to the series. There are new biomes to explore thanks to the introduction of the swimming and mount abilities, but the balance between combat, alchemy, and exploration is what makes Atelier Ryza 2 an enjoyable experience. There's no doubt about it, Ryza 2 is the most refined experience you can get playing an Atelier game as long as you're not expecting a top-notch story. Aside from the lighthearted tone, nothing stands out when it comes to Atelier Ryza 2's story; it's as generic as it can be and there's nothing wrong with that.

Sword of the Necromancer is a game that will scratch a very particular itch for fans of rogue-lite experiences that feature more narrative than the genre is known for. The gameplay mechanics deliver one cool idea, the monster resurrection, but fail to make full use of it, especially when players need to deal with bosses or the more capable enemies of later levels. I wanted the game to give me more reasons to use the monsters I revived, to understand them, to build strategies around the ones I chose to carry around. The development team clearly understands how important is to ground players into a narrative. But they need to make sure that there’s deeper integration between the world and the gameplay to create a successful rogue-lite. Right now Sword of the Necromancer is like one of its monsters, intriguing at first but quickly dropped when it no longer seems useful.

Imperator: Rome is an example of how hard it can be to reconcile gameplay and history. On launch, the game failed to deliver the mix that players expected from Paradox. The Marius update, especially with the tweaks to warfare, is closer to the historical record while also offering gamers plenty of agency. Heirs of Alexander is a good paid expansion, even considered apart from the free update. The Diadochi wars are fascinating and complex. I played quite a bit as the Antigonids and I still have options to explore. The other successor kingdoms have the same amount of content. For anyone who exhausts the stories of the Diadochi, there's more to discover and more places to conquer when playing as Rome, Carthage, and the rest, making Imperator a joy to return to.

Olija is a god game built for a specific audience. If you loved classic exploration and combat titles on the PC from the ’80s, then this experience has plenty to offer. The graphical style will be charming, the gameplay challenging enough but not impossible to master. The narrative is not too engaging but it will keep players interested. Unfortunately, there’s little to bring in those who simply lack those gaming memories. The pixelated look can easily be judged as hard to understand, stifling experimentation and making it hard to enjoy the exploration. The harpoon mechanics are solid but they cannot sustain the game on their own. More care to make it accessible for a wider range of players would have made the entire experience more attractive.

Field of Glory II: Medieval is a great game for anyone who already has an interest in the genre or the historical period. The core concepts work well, the presentation does not get in the way of gameplay and the computer fights well. Byzantine has a great track record when it comes to delivering free patches and extra content for their titles. In the coming months, they will tweak the mechanics for the better and deliver more nations and army lists to improve variety.

The Dark Eye: Chains of Stainav despite the best efforts of Daedalic Entertainment was and remains a mediocre adventure game. It is not completely bad, but it is not remarkable either. The story has quite a few gaps, and the gameplay can be frustrating due to the interactive objects that play no part in solving the puzzles. If you are a point and click adventure fan going through a dry spell, it may be worth picking up Chains of Satinav to fill a winter weekend, when you would just rather stay inside. If you just discover this videogame genre there are far better options out there to immerse yourself in.

The Dark Eye: Memoria is the best reason to play Chains of Satinav, not just to fully comprehend the story, but also to appreciate the evolution of the series. With memorable characters, interesting gameplay elements, and attention to detail turns Memoria into a pretty good adventure game. Yes, in some places the story feels a bit rushed and Geron is just as gray as ever, but the adventures of Sadja bring life into the game. The ending feels right and the fact that you have a choice finally plays into the overall theme of breaking free from the chains of faith.

The quality of the overall experience is impacted by the limited appeal of the presentation. Combat can also become repetitive, with the dice system somewhat restrictive later on. Curious Expedition 2 is a good run-based title that will show-off the series to a wider section of gamers than the original, allowing them to go on complex resource-constrained adventures.

Ocean’s Heart is a good game with a specific audience in mind. The overall atmosphere and the presentation will capture the attention of anyone who has had even a casual relationship with the classic Zelda releases. But the game has more to offer than a simple homage and adds humor, cool levels, solid combat, and a quirky look that make it unique. Using the sword, bows, and bombs to get through enemies and puzzles is simple and engaging throughout. There are moments when the difficulty spikes a little too harshly but that’s compensated by the simple continue system. The map can be unhelpful and the borders between spaces a little hard to always detect. But Max Mraz knows how to make the player feel welcomed inside the world he builds and I cannot wait to see what he can deliver next, after Yarntown and Ocean’s Heart.