Jan Kalný
At its core, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is an awfully good game with a solid story, an awesome atmosphere of the Zone, and generally great gameplay. Audiovisually, it's a beautiful game, and its gameplay mechanics, along with its higher difficulty, won't give you anything for free. Excellent! If only it weren't knocked off its imaginary pedestal by some pretty serious technical issues, ranging from not-so-good optimization to pretty major bugs, game crashes, inability to complete quests and other flaws that simply ruin this otherwise great experience.
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Factorio: Space Age is in a complicated segment. On the one hand, it's more of that Factorio we love so much. More of what we all wanted. On the other, there's untapped potential that could have really pushed the game the step forward it deserves. And unfortunately, that's not happening. There's nothing wrong with what the DLC offers. We find fault more in what's missing...
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In recent years, remakes have been held to significantly higher standards, and remaking something like Silent Hill 2 is a thankless job that could never satisfy everyone. And somehow, the Bloober Team managed to do precisely that. The game retains, almost word for word and room for room, everything that made the original so timeless and legendary and promises precisely the same experience it did all those years ago. At the same time, though, it's expanded to include entirely new locations or altered puzzles. Everything, however, completely respects the original, and I'm not afraid to say that when it comes to remaking an old game into a new one, Silent Hill 2 from Bloober Team sets a new bar.
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Ara: History Untold is not "just" another Civilization clone, although it looks like one. It carries its core from that legendary series, but it also brings some interesting mechanics that expand the complexity to a new level. However, it does, on the contrary, languish in some parts, namely the political options. That will hopefully be fixed in time, though, because this foundation is more than solid.
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Astro Bot doesn't break new grounds of platformers and collectathons. Whether it needs to is at the discretion of each player. The reality, however, is that this is a highly entertaining title from start to finish, taking us across diverse worlds with stunning audiovisuals as we try to save the other robots, half of which are inspired by the biggest and best-known PlayStation titles. Whether officially or not, Astro Bot is quite simply the mascot of PlayStation, and his new game proves it.
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Black Myth: Wukong is a game that, while not without flaws, cannot be denied its above-average result. From the narrative to the audio-visual aspects, this is an adventure that fans of action RPGs should not miss. However, don't expect it to break new ground within the genre. There's no (r)evolution to be found here. But that doesn't matter when the result is still a game you can't get enough of even after finishing it.
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Nobody Wants to Die is a great walking simulator set in an interesting dystopian world. It has its flaws—and frankly, we could easily see how the game could have become something more than "just" a walking simulator—but it's still a title we don't recommend passing up.
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Shadow of the Erdtree is by no means a perfect expansion. For that, it would have to have a better ending, a final boss, avoid technical errors, repetition of some enemies, and maybe even add some extra weapons. However, that doesn't bring it down significantly from being a worthy expansion to the original game and something that its fans shouldn't miss under any conceivable circumstances. Because otherwise, it's a great experience. The level design is top notch and the atmosphere, story extensions and new weapon categories are absolutely brilliant. This 30-hour adventure is definitely worth it, just don't expect it to do much more than "just" add those 30 hours to the original game.
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The developers at Ninja Theory had a clear goal with Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. And they did it almost perfectly. The script of the amazingly crafted story is complemented by perfect acting performances and the entire audiovisuals, from sounds and music to graphics that will take your breath away. If this is precisely what you're looking for and liked the first game, then you know what you're getting into, and you definitely won't go wrong. It's a shame that it's more of a movie than a game. Because, as a game, it's languishing in many ways. Even as a walking simulator.
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Stellar Blade excels in many areas, making it a remarkable debut for Shift Up. This action-packed, well-crafted action RPG honors its genre and its Korean developers. The game remains thoroughly enjoyable despite some flaws, such as drawn-out sections in the second act and a story that doesn’t hit as intended.
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Dragon's Dogma 2 essentially reprises and enhances the concepts from its predecessor, focusing on exploration and engaging combat. While it generally succeeds, the game suffers from repetitiveness in enemies and combat, and has notable optimization issues. Despite these flaws, it remains a must-play for action RPG enthusiasts and fans of immersive worlds.
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Alone in the Dark seeks to introduce new audiences to the game, series, and story that started one of the most popular genres so many years ago and enjoys overwhelming support today. Unfortunately, compared to its direct competition, this new reimagining of the original doesn't stand out as much as it could. However, it's still an entertaining and well-executed title that I hope is merely the start of something more.
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Helldivers 2 doesn't do anything special, exceptional, or unique at its core. But what it does, is it does damn well, and it enhances it with similarly good mechanics, audiovisual design, impeccable atmosphere, an emphasis on co-op, and an overall gameplay loop. In other words, it's just incredible fun to play. We couldn't have hoped for more.
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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is Rocksteady's first attempt to delve into the waters of live-service titles, and unfortunately, it's not one of the happiest examples. It's a bone-dry shooter that currently has no choice but to rely on the story and recycle the minimal content one can find in it. Will that change in the coming seasons? Maybe yes, maybe no. There's nothing to do but wait. In terms of release, though, this title doesn't even come close to the studio's previous games, and one that may very well end up like most live-service titles that fail to impress from day one.
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Against the Storm is a surprisingly well-functioning combination of city-builder and rogue-like game. The gradual expansion of options that increase your responsibilities creates an excellent gameplay loop that many similar games can often lack. Bravo!
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Alan Wake 2 is a masterful work of craftsmanship that pushes the boundaries of audiovisual and story presentation to the next level. Sure, It lacks in some ways - especially in the gameplay, which could still use more. All in all, though, it's a unique experience that won't get lost in the wave of other big titles this year.
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The new Lords of the Fallen does many things well and stands with both feet very solidly on the ground. But also against a strong wind at the same time. It stumbles here and there in its parts. For veterans of souls-like titles, though, this is a great experience that shouldn't be missed as the technical issues are gradually resolved.
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Lies of P is an excellent attempt by Neowiz to break into the problematic segment of souls-like games. And they handled almost everything with aplomb. Although, on the one hand, the game sometimes blatantly copies familiar elements, especially from FromSoftware games; maybe because of that, you won't realize you're not playing a game made by them. That's how good Lies of P is. It's a shame that it's brought down by some fundamental problems, though. Some of the biggest ones can be counted among the strange emphasis on unintuitive boss attacks, significantly underused lying mechanics, and the uninteresting nature of some of the locations. Fortunately, this is offset by the fantastic gameplay and overall atmosphere. Thus, Souls fans should not overlook this game.
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Mimimi Games is closing its gaming career in a big way. Pirate fantasy in the form of Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is pretty, fun, enjoyable... just great. Unfortunately, it's not without its flaws, the monotony of the environment being the biggest one. Still, it is a game of unique caliber in its genre.
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Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is a title that is unlikely to make it into the mainstream despite its efforts. It's headed in the right direction, yet it's particular with an exciting theme that will only appeal to certain players. Those that do, however, are in for an incredible audiovisual spectacle with great gameplay. As well as, for the first time in a long time, a simply excellent mech game. It's just a shame about the uninteresting story because, in other respects, it's an amazing and robust package.
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