Endling - Extinction is Forever is a warning signal about humans that should pay more attention to their environment and avoid it being ruined by the pollution born out of greed. At the same time it is also a truly engaging and immersive game with well thought out mechanics. It manages to combine the social message with a fun experience.
South of the Circle is barely a video game and would have probably worked better as a movie. Players who don’t quickly become engaged with the story will have a tough time finding reasons to push on. And even for those who want to see how the narrative ends, some sequences drag on with limited payoff.
Bright Memory: Infinite has its moments, but in the end, it feels like a project that could have been great if it was developed by an entire team with all the necessary resources at their disposal.
Cartel Tycoon goes all in on the drug cartel leader fantasy and mines the setting for as many concepts as possible. The management game is good, with a mix of mechanics and with clear challenges for players to work through. I like the look of the game and most of the writing fits well with the ‘80s Latin American world it is evoking.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is not the turn-based strategy game that fans of the series are patiently waiting for, but it’s a great waiting room for a Three Houses sequel. If you just want another slice of Fire Emblem and don’t want to replay Three Houses again, there’s a high chance that either (or both) Warriors games will quench your thirst for more Fodlan action.
Considered by many a masterpiece, the original Xenoblade Chronicles is not without flaws. Thankfully, the Definitive Edition addresses many of the issues. The story remains just as amazing, and with all the improvements of this release it elevates the game to new heights.
Neon Blight has a clear gameplay loop that can become addictive. Kill enemies, explore the wilderness, make progress on some quests, find guns, take them back to the store and see who wants to pay to become the new owners. More depth would have been appreciated but the game mechanics mostly work as they should.
Loopmancer is a good game for gamers who want a very specific experience: a mix of action and rogue ideas that tells a cyberpunk-themed detective story. The combat mechanics require time to master and there are solid challenges to engage with. The rogue aspects are a little underdeveloped and it feels like unlocking weapons requires too much money.
Strategic Command: American Civil War is a video game for fans of turn-based wargames who also have a love for the conflict that defined the XIX century for the United States of America. It requires patience, careful analysis, and knowledge of history. The core mechanics are familiar but solid and can deliver pretty interesting results both if trying to replicate history or change it.
Despite all the frustration, REDO! can be quite satisfying. In theory, you can finish the game in 5 to 6 hours. In reality, it will take you a lot longer, due to some of the flaws of the concept on which it is based.
fault – StP – Lightkravte feels more like a side story that happens before the first two fault games rather than a full-fledged prequel. Revisiting the fault universe just to tell the story of an unremarkable boy who desperately wants to be a painted feels a bit forced, but it’s probably a decent waiting room for those who can’t wait to play the sequel to fault – milestone games coming later this year (or when it's ready).
Red Solstice 2 is a game that requires at least another friend to deliver a decent experience. The strategic and tactical layers work, from a purely mechanical point of view, but everything is too focused on repetitive actions to keep the game fun when playing solo. The limited immersion does not help.
Gordian Quest is focused on mechanics to both its advantage and detriment. For a player who has not explored the card and tactics space a lot, this is a perfect experience both as an introduction and for long-term engagement. For someone who has tried out a lot of titles in the genre, this game is a little too by the book for its own good.
I was really curious about Deliver Us the Moon on PS5, but after finishing it I am struggling to find anything good about it, beyond the obvious passion of the developers. It is not a bad game, but it is just flat, and it does not have anything memorable about it.
Starship Troopers: Terran Command shows how hard it can be to use a cult status intellectual property and make a good video game out of it. The core mechanics are solid, but the narrative is mediocre, and the presentation fails to impress. There’s fun in finding new ways to kill bugs but there’s not enough variety. The game lacks multiplayer.
Frozenheim is a video game in search of an identity. It would have been better served by leaning into its city-building side, challenging players to find the best ways for their Vikings to thrive in inhospitable lands. The combat is so limited that it would have been easy to drop it entirely or just abstract it in some way.
It cannot be denied that Spellforce III was launched more than five years ago and the new release while not bad at all shows its age. The good news is that with the DLCs included, the countless patches have been implemented as well, so the Reforced edition offers the best experience.
If you like 80’s horror movies there are high chances that you will enjoy The Quarry. But, if you have played Until Dawn and you start this game with the same expectations chances are you will be disappointed. It rises up to the promise of a summer flick, but it is far from the best production of Supermassive Games.
Souldiers has interesting core mechanics and the sort of art style that will certainly attract fans of the Metroidvania genre or those looking to activate their nostalgia. But the story is mostly there as a reason for the action and combat can quickly become overwhelming in terms of difficulty. The game also has significant problems with the camera and there are plenty of reports of corrupted saves.
Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is surprising and a little underwhelming at first. But, if one gives it time to reveal its systems, it offers plenty of tactical depth and a solid narrative. The fact that there’s no direct control over combat makes it more important to think about force composition and careful squad deployment. I never became fully invested in the story, but the tactical puzzles were always fun to work through.