Operencia: The Stolen Sun is an excellent throwback to old-school first-person dungeon crawler games, complete with solid mechanics, a predictable yet enjoyable story and a very well written cast of characters. While the old-school influence is dominant throughout the game, many of these features have been modernized, so even those who never played the classics will find something to enjoy in Operencia, from the beautiful art style to the turn-based battle system and dungeon exploration.
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World is a small breath of fresh air for the Atelier series, featuring a town-building experience that's different from anything that has been seen in the series before. The mechanics, while not particularly deep, are quite solid and they manage to make the gameplay loop quite engaging, together with the excellent character interaction. The game is clearly aimed at longtime fans of the series, but even those with a more generic knowledge of the Atelier games will find something to like. Just don't expect anything outstanding or revolutionary.
Ghost of a Tale is one of the most unique action role-playing games released in recent times. Its highlights are the charming story and characters as well as the stealth-focused gameplay. Sadly, some technical issues do get in the way on PlayStation 4, preventing the game from reaching its full potential. However, if you're looking for a game that can make you think, look no further, as Ghost of a Tale tackles a handful of very important issues in a mature and very thoughtful way.
Conarium is an enjoyable first-person adventure game featuring a very nice atmosphere, an interesting story featuring core themes from Lovecraft's works and unusual spin on game progression reminiscent of Metroidvania games. The game, however, does very little outside the usual for the genre, so if you're not into Lovecraft-inspired games there isn't anything unique that Conarium can offer you.
Devil May Cry V is the best entry in the series and one of the best character action games ever released. In addition to its excellent combat mechanics and level design, which expand greatly on the elements introduced in past games, the story and characters had never before received such focus in Devil May Cry. The game may be lacking in extra content such as the fan-favorite Bloody Palace mode at launch, but don't let this small flaw prevent you from getting what will surely be one of the 2019 Game of the Year contenders.
Astroneer is a nice and relaxing survival game that does away with some the typical mechanics of the genre to offer an experience that's mostly based on exploration and crafting. The basic gameplay loop is very engaging at the beginning and manages to carry the game quite far, but the complicated controls, especially on pad, and the repetition, which will eventually set in after a while, damage the experience a little. Still, Astroneer is a very solid game that no fan of the genre should pass on, especially if they love outer space settings.
Wargroove is the game fans of tactical role-playing games have been waiting for. The huge amount of content and play modes, solid gameplay almost completely devoid of RNG and excellent presentation make it a game that no fan of the genre should pass on.
Sunset Overdrive is one of the very few open-world games that sets itself apart from the competition with its unique and wacky setting, Parkour system and hectic gameplay experience, and all these are faithfully represented in the PC port. While solid, the port does lack some features that are expected out of a PC game in this day and age: this, coupled with the removal of co-op multiplayer, ends up damaging the experience. If you have no other mean of enjoying the game, however, Sunset Overdrive on PC is more than worthy of your time and money.
Onimusha: Warlords is a game from another era and the remaster, despite its many enhancements, sadly highlights how the experience hasn't aged too well. This doesn't mean that the game isn't good, as many of its ideas, such as combat, leveling system and puzzles, only required a few small tweaks to be truly excellent. The fact that it's a game from 2001 is clear when playing the game, but Onimusha: Warlords can still provide a sweet, albeit short, experience.
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is a solid remaster of one of the best classic JRPGs released during the previous console generation. With a colorful cast of well-developed characters, an incredibly fun battle system, and engaging gameplay mechanics, the game still manages to hold its own ten years since release, even with minimal tweaking. The huge amount of new content is also meaningful to the experience, making the Definitive Edition truly the definitive way to experience the game,
Ashen is a very good action-adventure game sporting interesting lore, good character development, and solid gameplay features like combat and exploration. Unfortunately, the game does almost nothing to separate its gameplay loop from the one seen in the Dark Souls series and therefore ultimately feels like a lite version of the series developed by From Software. The well-made overall experience does make it easy to look past this issue, but if you're looking for something innovative, you won't find it here.
With its interesting world and characters and excellent gameplay mechanics which advance the genre with the introduction of stealth and seamless exploration, Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden is one of the best turn-based tactical games released in recent years. The story may have received a better focus, and the combat may have been a little less frustrating, but don't let these small issues block you from getting the game if you're a fan of the genre, as Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden is well worth your time and money.
With its compelling story and characters, and engaging exploration mechanics, Little Dragons Cafè is a worthy spiritual successor to the original Harvest Moon, introducing some new mechanics that spice up the experience without doing away with what makes the series great. Some technical issues like bad performance and unresponsive controls, however, prevent the game from reaching its full potential. If you can look past them, however, you will find a surprisingly interesting adventure that it's more than worth the time of those looking for something relaxing yet involving.
The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is the best way players have to experience the first three entries in the Spyro the Dragon series. The remasters are extremely faithful to the originals, with a couple of additions and smoother controls that make all three games a joy to play. Sadly, some technical issues prevent the Trilogy from being the best remaster ever released, but it's definitely close to it.
With its excellent story, charming characters, varied and engaging gameplay experience, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales can be considered a true The Witcher game, despite not being a traditional RPG. The game may be too easy, but this small flaw in no way compromises the game's overall quality.
Deliver Us The Moon: Fortuna fully delivers on what it promised, offering a very interesting take on the narrative-driven experience, an interesting sci-fi story, a great atmosphere, enjoyable puzzles and gameplay mechanics, and some interesting story twists. The experience, however, is irremediably ruined by the abrupt cliffhanger ending, which makes the game feel incomplete. While free DLC with the ending is coming, it's hard to recommend the game at full price in its current state.
The Surge: The Good, the Bad, and the Augmented is a decent addition to the overall experience, with some new mechanics, such as the modifiers, which work well. The gimmicky nature of the mini-stages and bosses, and the lack of a proper story, make it a worthy purchase only for die-hard fans of the game.
Transference is a competent narrative-driven game featuring some well-crafted puzzles and an amazingly eerie atmosphere. Sadly, the narrative doesn't really go anywhere, despite a very interesting premise, with no twist and no surprises at all, making it very hard to recommend to people looking for an interesting story. Coupled with its very short length, Transference is not really worth its current price.
Hover had all the right qualities to be the true successor to the Jet Set Radio games, with solid high-speed parkour action, a stylish presentation, and an excellent soundtrack. Sadly, these do little to alleviate some of the game's biggest issues, such as unfocused narrative and bad mission design, issues that prevent the game from being nothing more than an acceptable title.
Being the first action role-playing game set in the universe created by Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr is a worthy purchase for fans, with a well-crafted campaign deeply invested in the universe's lore. Sadly, the gameplay experience, while functional, is quite derivative, and the few features setting it apart from other action role-playing games are not enough to make it an essential purchase for those who aren't familiar with the Warhammer 40,000 universe or aren't big action role-playing game fans.