An environment that is cold and vast, and ready to "amputate" your enjoyment over one bad decision (provided you don't like to "rewind"). We went into this story expecting a competent but formulaic "Haunted House in Space." In the end, we rewound the ending three times because we didn't like the epilogue, and that somewhat spoiled the enjoyment. We gave in to temptation. That's motivation enough — or demotivation enough — for you to take a look at this title.

When I launched HALO: Campaign Evolved, that same sound returned, only now renovated, deeper, richer. For a moment, I forgot that I was sitting in my living room at my desk with my child on my lap. Instead, I found myself in a room where chaos from a torn-open box was decorated with the hum of cables and the terrible guilt of an approaching December exam period.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater takes players back to the Cold War, before Solid Snake even existed. We step into the skin of Naked Snake, whose story only reveals its full weight once the campaign ends and the chain of events that follows becomes clear. The plot remains the same as in the original: an infiltration into the Soviet jungle, a rescue-and-assassination mission, and a fight to survive both the animal kingdom and human stupidity.

Gothic Remake is that game. And somehow, without any conditions and without any shame, I recommend it to everyone. Yes, even you who are used to the Rewind function from Race Driver GRID. Yes, even you who are used to relentlessly GRINDING opponents in DOOM. Yes, even you who shamelessly breeze through Wolfenstein on Blaskowicz difficulty with a pacifier in your mouth. From time to time, it's good for the brain to be gently pulled out of its comfort zone.

The Adventures of Elliot drew me into its world despite not doing anything revolutionary. It has completely legitimate flaws, but despite them, the combination of exploration, fun combat, visual style, and a pleasant story is capable of keeping you in that laid-back rhythm that's hard to tear yourself away from. As a parent, I'd say it's an easy recommendation if you're looking for a relaxed, feel-good adventure. ​

In hindsight, I think that was a good decision, but also the reason I never played Star Fox 64. So when I was offered the chance to review the remake, it felt like a kind of redemption and an opportunity to finally see exactly what I had missed nearly three decades ago. For those unfamiliar with Star Fox, it is an arcade-style space shooter.

In this game, your population can only survive on mountain peaks. You need to stockpile food and water to make it through the initial days. Successful survival hinges on careful settlement building, resource production, and protection from disasters.

If we were to be objective at the very start of this review, we could say the base game had quite a few shortcomings. Although the shooting mechanics were good and the narrative solid, the world and aesthetics were truly unusual and stood apart from everything else on offer.

The game features persistent supernatural horror themes, ghostly enemies, rituals involving death and sacrifice, emotionally heavy topics such as grief, guilt, and loss, and frequent jump scares. While there is no graphic blood or gore, the psychological intensity, dark atmosphere, and mature narrative themes — including a tragic ritual involving twins — make it unsuitable for younger audiences.

Ascendance squanders a decades-long wait with shallow combat, a one-dimensional new protagonist who retroactively damages the franchise's legacy, and a runtime so brief it barely justifies its existence as a standalone release. ​