Bogdan Robert Mateș's Reviews
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters' focus on clarity and aggressiveness allows for a calculated, more active approach to its tactical battles. A varied enemy roster that consistently outnumbers you coupled with the Bloom's effects make each fight feel like a battle against the odds. This feeling extends to the campaign as a whole, your barracks consistently housing Knights recovering from their wounds earned in painstakingly won battles.
Metal: Hellsinger's infectious blend of rhythm game and first-person shooter elements gripped me all the way through its story mode and beyond, despite its mostly disappointing boss battles. Its roaring metal soundtrack ebbs and flows around how well you deal death to Hell's denizens, constantly pushing you to do better.
Aware of its past yet looking towards the future, Company of Heroes 3 offers something for everyone. The dynamic map of Italy is a great experience, although it's slightly marred by passive AI, abilities that don't always work, small UI issues, and a gameplay loop that doesn't encourage the use of all available tools.
Age of Wonders 4 reshuffles some elements of the traditional 4X strategy formula in rather significant ways, making for an entry that puts choice and customization at the forefront. It does so excellently, offering plenty of spells and culture combinations that let you roleplay a variety of archetypal or contradictory factions while seeking the most overpowered spell and unit mix.
Diablo 4 doesn't revolutionize hack and slash RPGs like its predecessors did, but its blend of new and old features works quite well. Its return to a darker, gothic art style that embraces gore, ugliness, and religious imagery really makes its world effortlessly etch into your mind the detailed shapes of demonic sculptures and remains of obliterated foes.
The Lamplighters League's stimulating turn-based battles encourage you to carefully consider your actions each turn. Use your agents unique abilities in just the right order and you can go well beyond the default number of action points, while taking down entire groups of opponents.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales succesfully brings tactical card battles and RPG storytelling together into one great whole.
Children of Morta's excellent combat and gorgeous pixel art are only surpassed by how genuinely human its cast of characters feels.
Cute and spooky, funny and sad, Little Misfortune is an interactive story with a lot of strange charm.
Short and sweet, Untitled Goose Game lets you live out the fantasy of being a jerk goose.
Darksiders Genesis' action-packed combat and gorgeous visuals prove that the franchise still has plenty of juice left.
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break undoubtedly treads familiar ground, although not without showing that, nine years on, Ace Team’s concept still has juice left in it. Aside from a couple of technical issues and cutscenes whose humor miss the mark, its unique hybrid gameplay that mixes boulder racing and strategic defense segments remains captivating while the majority of its hilarious Monty Python-esque skits act as welcome interludes in between its action.
Atomicrops’ mixture of farming sim, bullet-hell game and rogue-lite make it a compelling indie title that’s well worth giving a shot.
From its rich, detailed pixel art, to cheesy lines, from ironic commentary to flat out mayhem, Tower 57 comes off as an action-filled, top-down twin-stick shooter that’s a lot of fun to play through.
Hand of Fate 2 understands what makes a good sequel. It both improves and expands upon the core gameplay of its predecessor while staying true to its original recipe. Good efforts were made to retain as much freshness as possible with the addition of companions, a more narrative-focused campaign and, naturally, new cards and mechanics.
From an audiovisual perspective, there’s no doubt that Figment is one of the best titles that have come out this year. Its world is greatly built; its puzzles strike a balance between player involvement and reward without being too difficult.
Tooth and Tail never overstays its welcome being a good choice for both longer sessions and for moments when you want to play something but only have 15 minutes at your disposal.
Two things are dragging Mirage: Arcane Warfare from being a full, easy recommendation: its lack of explaining advanced techniques in game as opposed to an, otherwise informative, Steam guide (this being the lesser of the two) and the small number of players.
The best thing about Little Nightmares is the disturbing, terrifying aesthetic it masterfully presents and uses to unsettle the player. It never feels like it’s overused, either. You get just the right amount, so that the idea that you’re part of a little girl’s nightmare is maintained until the end.
The moment you accept that you’re just another critter trying to survive and hopefully reunite with its family, is the moment you’ll be able to enjoy the title properly. As long as you can push through the frequent setbacks that death brings with it, Rain World will be a great experience of survival and discovery in a world that’s quite unique.