Richard Costa
- System Shock
- Subnautica
- Disco Elysium
Return of the Obra Dinn breaks the mold of the gaming medium as an enthralling first-person mystery adventure with overtones of Edgar Allan Poe. This is an extraordinary conjunction of cerebral puzzle, supernatural nautical tale, and ornate art direction.
The Occupation is a taut investigative simulation and stealth thriller. It's infused with a realistic and multidimensional approach to mechanics, systems, and level design. This is a must-play for fans of Deus Ex and Dishonored.
Phantom Doctrine is a life-consuming espionage simulator that offers a deeply complex cluster of systems to explore. Its turn-based tactics gameplay is a feat of engineering that will offer players many hours of combat thrills and stealth schemes.
Slay the Spire is a vertiginously challenging and infinitely replayable roguelike deckbuilder set in a highly original dark fantasy universe.
Nowhere Prophet is a unique and thoughtful single-player deckbuilding card game set in a fascinating Indofuturistic world. It features compelling convoy management with hints of The Oregon Trail, and a highly innovative 'living card' mechanic.
Months after the final release, Gwent: The Witcher Card Game is still going strong. The minigame-turned-esport continually goes through iterations and patches, shedding skins and morphing into a real beast of a card game. It has a wistful past, a solid present, and a bright future.
Outer Wilds is a triumphant first-person exploration adventure with innovative (quantum) physics puzzles. More than that, it's a microcosm in itself that pleads to be explored and untangled in its minutiae.
At once a love letter to classic point-and-click adventures and a beautiful, brave experiment in its own right, The Lion's Song revitalizes its genre.
A swaggering sequel that reaches for the future as it embraces the past, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a unique and ambivalent roleplaying experience.
FAR: Lone Sails is a miniature masterpiece, no less great for its compact simplicity. A must-play for anyone interested in post-apocalyptic scenarios, atmosphere-heavy games, and low-key environmental narrative.
While it doesn't offer much in the way of closure, The Forgotten Sanctum is a satisfyingly eccentric expansion with Cronenbergian elements and an atmosphere vaguely reminiscent of Planescape: Torment.
Red Faction Guerrilla was a frantic open world romp and mayhem simulator. This remaster is a total recall of the original with a fresh coat of paint.
What Beast of Winter lacks in content it makes up for in depth with an intriguing plunge into the history of Eora.
Unavowed succeeds as a mature point-and-click adventure set in an urban fantasy world, though it falters in some of the fine print.
Eastshade is an immersive and contemplative adventure set in a quirky fantasy universe. In spite of some performance issues and underdeveloped mechanics, it achieves a memorable gaming experience.
A Woman's Lot is a rewarding coda for Kingdom Come: Deliverance that might make you itch for a new playthrough. It features two tense questlines where you'll survive the Sack of Skalitz as Henry's love interest Theresa, and help the devout nurse Johanka in her complex theological conundrum.
If you've already played Heavy Rain on PS3, you won't miss anything. If you're totally new to it as a PC gamer, it might surprise you with its branching narrative and raw drama, even if the writing occasionally misses the mark.
Though tainted by a broken difficulty mode, Thronebreaker stands on the shoulders of The Witcher as a morally complex and often harrowing Macbethian tale of royal revenge and revolt.
The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon is a bundle of glorified side quests that you might enjoy if you already enjoyed the base game quests featuring Hans Capon and the Charlatan of Sasau.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a competent albeit narratively underwhelming tactical RPG with novel stealth mechanics and solid turn-based combat.