Football Manager 2024 is a great experience for anyone who has played the series in the past 10 years. It refines all the core gameplay, adds some interesting new ideas, and gives players a lot of freedom to engage with the mechanics they like and delegate the rest.
Howl is very good without being too complex. It’s turn-based tactical gameplay has depth, designed to satisfy fans of this genre, but is accessible enough for newcomers. And the narrative elements are strong enough to keep both groups engaged, trying to collect as much confidence and skulls to open up new options.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a complex and very open game that will mainly appeal to players who loved Mimimi’s previous entries in the stealth action genre. All the mechanics are refined, and character choices open up a ton of options for each mission. Success requires patience and good planning, but improvisation often creates more memorable moments.
A Highland Song looks good and has plenty of impressive moments. Moira is a great character, able to take her love for her uncle and Scottish legends to imbue the world around her, harsh as it might be, with magic.
Anomaly Agent is a great retro-inspired side-scrolling action title. The combat system has depth and delivers some frantic engagements. Surviving a big fight with just a sliver of health feels great. The presentation is solid, with a special mention for the music, and the narrative, despite its familiar beats, is engaging.
Ultros major issue is that it isn’t as weird and hallucinatory as it wants to be. Sure, this space burial site that overflows with life offers an interesting setting with some impressive visual touches. The narrative is somewhat obscure, and occult tinged.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is without any doubt the biggest game of the series published so far and arguably the most engaging one. Each and every part denotes the developer’s passion for their craft and the end result is one of the most atmospheric games I have had the chance to play lately.
Inkulinati is impressive in its ability to marry theme, mechanics, and presentation. The ink-driven combat is exciting and tense, rewarding experimentation and good use of gestures and abilities. The world, inspired by the marginalia of Medieval manuscripts, is beautiful and immersive.
Solium Infernum is an exquisite gamer, with carefully honed mechanics and a lot of freedom. Dominating Hell involves both careful plans and smart reactions to unforeseen events and surprises created by adversaries.
Children of the Sun is a great video game, designed for players who want a hyper-violent revenge story that remixes puzzle and slow-motion mechanics in a unique way. The narrative is familiar but gripping, delivered in small chunks and with a distinctive style. The entire presentation communicates dread and determination.
Beat Slayer’s core mechanic is good. As long as players stay on the beat and mix and match their attacks, kicks, and dashes, they can deal with a wide array of enemy combinations. The game also has a good variety of upgrades for Mia and two extra weapons to unlock. This futuristic version of Berlin is interesting, although her sidekicks can be a little forgettable.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is the perfect opening for a much richer experience that Phantom Pain promises to offer. Ground Zeroes is intense, philosophical, dark, brutal, but full of hope at the same time.
Deathtrap is a fortunate tower defense / aRPG hybrid that checks all the requirements a game needs to stand out from other titles in the same genre. The amount of skills, powers, traps and towers allows for incredible levels of customization and strategies that players can employ in each scenario.
Nevertheless, the story and combat mechanics makes up for anything faulty, so I can't recommend it enough to those who love JRPG games. Finally, a game where playing the villain feels kind of … right.
I just hope that we won't have to wait too long for another Uncharted game comes out, though I have the feeling that Naughty Dog has a couple of aces under the sleeve, which will probably make us forget that there was once a treasure hunter by the name of Nathan Drake.
Despite these shortcomings, I believe the God of War series is in good hands, and I wouldn't want anyone else touching it but Santa Monica Studio. Here is hoping greater times are coming to Midgard in the not so distant future.
Obviously, Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue is now without its flaws, but it appears that Stardock managed to considerably reduce the number to just a few. Although almost every aspect of the base game has been improved, I feel that some of the newly added features need a bit of balancing or tweaking.
As far as the single player content goes, I would say that Monster Hunt is even better than Dungeon Run. Its high replayability and the element of RNG make Monster Hunt the funniest single player experience ever created by the folks behind Hearthstone.
And for those sitting on the fence about whether or not to jump into the action again, there's only one thing I can say: Battle for Azeroth is the perfect opportunity to come back to World of Warcraft. I have to give the folks at Blizzard credit for pouring their hearts and souls into the game once again, it definitely shows.
I also think the game perfectly catches the Cold War atmosphere of the early 80s, and delivers it in the form of a tactical stealth turn-based formula. Phantom Doctrine tackles a sensible but fascinating subject, the Cold War, and does a damn good job at it.