Pragmata is not just Capcom’s first new franchise in 16 years, but also a bold step toward narrative-driven games with maximum audience reach. It's yet another project we didn’t really expect anything from, but in the end, we got one of the best games of the year. It doesn’t revolutionize anything, but it delivers what every game should: excellent gameplay, creative mechanics, an interesting story, beautiful visuals, and the joy of flawless technical execution. Pragmata is the first game in a long time that we simply couldn’t put down, and in this review, we’ll explain why you should give it a try.

While Bioware is going through a wave of layoffs and still can’t find a creative direction for the new Mass Effect (rumor has it the project is in early pre-production), many other studios are preparing to release their own space operas. Both indie teams and veterans from Bioware itself have joined this race. Their projects, without exaggeration, could overshadow the iconic series about Commander Shepard’s adventures. One of the main contenders is The Expanse: Osiris Reborn from the well-known studio Owlcat Games. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a beta version of the project, and we’re ready to tell you what this game is all about, how it plays, and what the developers still need to work on for their magnum opus to exceed all expectations at launch.

Samson: A Tyndalston Story is a new game from the developers of Just Cause and Mad Max, which, for some inexplicable reason, the audience dubbed the next "GTA killer." In reality, though, this couldn't be further from the truth. First and foremost, this is a conceptual project whose idea sounded interesting on paper. In this review, we'll try to explain why Samson could have been a good game and why its creators are unlikely to fix it, even with the promised patches.

The Occultist is yet another walking simulator in a horror setting that, unlike EMOTIONLESS: The Last Ticket, which we covered in a recent review, deserves attention not only from let's players but also from those who enjoy wandering through interesting places and solving puzzles. It's a solid, high-quality project with a decent story, good graphics, and interesting ideas, but unfortunately, it's absolutely not scary — even by the standards of the worst horror games. What makes The Occultist stand out and why you should spend your time on it — we'll tell you in our review.

Most modern indie horror games are mediocre entertainment in the spirit of "walk around, read some notes," played mainly by streamers and YouTube Let's Players. This genre essentially serves as a starting point for many developers, since creating such projects doesn't require special knowledge or significant financial investment. Steam is literally flooded with these kinds of horror games, but only those featured in a popular blogger's video have any chance of success and attracting at least some audience. EMOTIONLESS: The Last Ticket is one of those games. It's a standard walking simulator with a mishmash of different settings, trying to scare not with classic jump scares, but with clumsy game design and uncomfortable environments.

Marathon, the new project from the creators of Halo and Destiny, has faced harassment, criticism, and outright aggression from almost every other bystander since its first reveal and all the way up to release. However, all this informational mudslinging turned out to be nothing more than baseless bullying. Marathon turned out to be so cool, stylish, and engaging that it became the first true extraction shooter: no 20-minute match load times, no half-hour bush camping, no “don’t shoot” pacts in PvP, and no sterile AI-generated visuals.

We finally got to play Crimson Desert with our own hands… and you know what? This game is real. It’s not a fake, not AI-generated slop, and not a scam like The Day Before. It’s truly one of the most ambitious games of the past five years, one that’s physically impossible to complete quickly or to experience all its content in a short time. We tried to see as much as possible of what Crimson Desert has to offer to give you a comprehensive picture of the project, and to answer two main questions: what is it really like, and who is it made for?

Nioh 3 is not just a correction of past mistakes, but a full-fledged attempt to restore its former glory. Having gained experience from failed projects, the developers took the best from their experiments and created a worthy threequel. Here’s what makes it good and why you should play it, even if you’re just waiting for the next FromSoftware game.

Mewgenics literally came out of nowhere and, in just a few days, became the absolute hit of February 2026. At first glance, it seems like a typical turn-based tactical strategy game with roguelike elements and a quirky visual style — so why all the hype, as if a media revolution had happened? We spent dozens of hours in Edmund McMillen’s latest creation to unravel the “magic” of Mewgenics and understand why players are flocking en masse to breed cats. At the same time, we’ll answer the main question: is this really the masterpiece of the year, or just empty hype?

The first Code Vein was remembered as the most accessible entry point into the world of Soulslikes: unobtrusive combat, linear levels, and anime aesthetics created comfortable conditions for getting acquainted with the genre. The developers seemed to be saying, "Want to try Dark Souls but afraid of the difficulty? Start with us." In most cases, players praised Code Vein for its accessibility and engaging story, which, by the way, FromSoftware couldn’t always boast due to its peculiar storytelling methods. Now, inspired by the scale of Elden Ring, the studio has decided to step out of its comfort zone. But while many can mimic the atmosphere of the first Dark Souls, repeating the triumphant success of Elden Ring’s open world is a challenge of a completely different level. Did the developers manage to pull off this trick in the second part and create the most comfortable version of one of the best games in the Soulslike genre? Let's find out.

Highguard is a multiplayer shooter from former Respawn Entertainment developers, which the public practically hated from its very first appearance at the close of The Game Awards presentation. In our review, we tried to ignore the criticism and gamer feedback to evaluate the project on its own merits. So let’s imagine for a moment that The Game Awards showed us Half-Life 3, and Highguard suddenly appeared on store shelves without an overly enthusiastic announcement.

Unlike the second part, Pathologic 3 is primarily a psychological thriller with nonlinear storytelling in the spirit of Disco Elysium. Now, you don't have to survive in a plague-ridden town; instead, your task is to help the remaining citizens make it to the next morning. And trust me: this is much harder than just searching for food and shelter, as the protagonist will be burdened with a mountain of responsibilities that will drive not only him but you as well crazy. In this review, we’ll discuss whether it’s worth playing Pathologic 3 if you’re new to the series, how difficult its gameplay is, and how Ice-Pick Lodge addressed the mistakes after the unsuccessful launch of the second game.

Misery is a post-apocalyptic co-op survival game in the spirit of Lethal Company, featuring procedural level generation, crafting, anomalies, monsters, and a manual gnome that you can give alcoholic drinks to. We spoke with the main developer from Platypus Entertainment, who originally worked on Misery alone, as well as a representative from the publisher Ytopia, and found out a lot of interesting things: how difficult it is to make games solo, how the idea for the project was born, and why there were so many bugs at launch. In this interview, you’ll learn how to start creating your own projects and what challenges you may face if you decide to embark on the path of game development.

In this selection, we've gathered 10 games released in 2025 that don't require a high-end CPU or graphics card. These are vivid examples of how talent and attention to detail can triumph over raw engine power. Considering that such projects are becoming increasingly rare each year, and the ongoing hardware crisis only raises the price of upgrades, games like these may soon become the most coveted by millions of players around the world.

In this article, we’ve gathered games with unjustifiably high system requirements that need high-end hardware just to run properly. Yes, some of the titles listed here won’t truly impress with quality graphics or photorealistic environments, but without modern components, they simply can’t run at a good frame rate or provide stable gameplay. However, if you’ve managed to build a top-tier PC and want to put it to the test, the games in this top list are perfect candidates for benchmarking.

Games about sailors and piracy aren’t particularly popular with either developers or gamers. If in the past, series like the legendary Age of Pirates, Sea Dogs attracted a massive audience, nowadays such projects are often niche and don’t aim for mainstream appeal. The fairly well-known Sea of Thieves barely fills its servers with players, and Ubisoft’s recent AAA product — Skull and Bones — completely flopped at launch. Nevertheless, pirate games are still being released, and if you’re a fan of the setting, then a small indie studio has brought out Salt 2: Shores of Gold, where exploring the open seas is perfectly combined with classic survival mechanics.

Originally, we planned to cover Dune: Awakening at the time of its release, but as it happened, the review had to be postponed indefinitely. And you know what? That turned out for the best. Without time constraints, we were able to thoroughly explore Dune: Awakening, analyze its game design, and come to the conclusion that, as an MMO, this game is a true “desert” — both literally and figuratively. Let’s figure out why that is.

In this review, I’ll explain what’s wrong with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and why the franchise desperately needs a complete reboot — otherwise, it’ll quickly sink into obscurity right next to Medal of Honor.

Syberia is one of the most enduring franchises in the point-and-click genre, and 23 years after its legendary first installment, it returns as a full-fledged remaster. Although adventure games are no longer as popular as they were two decades ago, this series still remains well-known and beloved by players. Created by the late comic artist and writer Benoît Sokal, Syberia became the pinnacle of the genre's development after Myst and LucasArts projects, offering outstanding graphics, a deep story, and inventive puzzles. Thanks to all this, the game gained a huge army of fans who, by the way, greeted the updated version rather coolly. What went wrong with the remaster? We’ll tell you in this review.

The extraction shooter genre has always been considered niche due to its high entry barrier, complex mechanics, hardcore PvP, and unclear progression. For example, to learn to play Escape from Tarkov at a decent level, you need to spend a hundred hours of your free time. Many studios that openly copied Tarkov’s gameplay loop tried their best to simplify most mechanics to attract less hardcore gamers, but as a result, their projects quickly and predictably failed. ARC Raiders could have met the same fate due to excessive simplifications, but surprisingly, it not only became the main hit of the season but may also earn the status of the new flagship of the genre. So what’s the secret of ARC Raiders? Let’s try to figure it out in this review.

No, I’m not a Human is, without exaggeration, one of the main indie phenomena of this autumn. This inherently niche game has broken out of the indie “for insiders” sector, becoming a subject of widespread discussion and analysis. We spoke with its game director from Trioskaz studio to ask about all the most important things: from behind-the-scenes development secrets and the plot to upcoming large-scale updates for the project. In this interview, fans will finally get answers to the most pressing questions (or at least hints at those answers) regarding the lore, and aspiring developers will get a great dose of motivation to create their own video games.

My first impressions of Battlefield 6’s multiplayer were extremely positive, as it’s been a long time since we’ve had a solid military-themed shooter where every element of game design is polished to perfection. However, the more time I spent with the gameplay, the clearer the problems and unfortunate moments became — issues that not only overshadowed all the good sides but also managed to significantly spoil my overall impression of the project. In this review, I’ll discuss what’s wrong with Battlefield 6 and why the developers absolutely need to rework key elements to maintain a stable online player base.

Battlefield 6 has finally been released and, as expected, has caused a stir in the gaming community. High online player counts on Steam, good press reviews, mass depression in Activision studios (against the backdrop of poor Black Ops 7 beta numbers), and, of course, universal adoration. Yes, the multiplayer part of the game really turned out to be very cool and engaging. But what happened to the single-player campaign? Why did EA say nothing about it throughout the entire marketing campaign? Why do gamers try not to mention the game's storyline in their reviews? Or did Battlefield Studios actually manage to destroy Call of Duty on the field of cinematic shooters? The answers to all these questions are in our review.

Created from drafts for the second DLC to Dying Light 2 Stay Human, the threequel The Beast was supposed to become the true successor to the first game and fulfill all the wishes of the fan community. The developers brought back most of the systems from the 2015 original, including firearms and vehicles, and literally reimagined the tone of the series, returning the open spaces from The Following expansion, simplified city geometry without skyscrapers, intense nighttime chases, and, of course, Kyle Crane, once again voiced by Roger Craig Smith. It would seem like the perfect formula for an ideal sequel, but we just can’t call The Beast a worthy continuation or the best game in the series. Why is that? We explain in our review.

After the notable success of the Silent Hill 2 remake, the team at Bloober Team understandably gained confidence and continued exploring the survival horror genre, abandoning their usual “walking simulators”. Their next project, Cronos: The New Dawn, looked in presentations like a true spiritual successor to the Dead Space series — a role that The Callisto Protocol (according to players) never managed to fulfill. However, after release, the game turned out to be quite different from what the developers had so vividly promised. This is far from Dead Space and certainly not on the level of Resident Evil, which, by the way, are the main pillars of the genre. So what is Cronos: The New Dawn really like? We’ll tell you in our detailed review.

In this article, we have gathered 25 projects that defined the evolution of CRPGs. From pixel classics to modern masterpieces reimagining the genre. Many of them may be graphically outdated, but their narrative magic still captivates. If you’re a fan of the genre but missed out on a huge swath of CRPGs, now is the time to catch up and play the “golden collection” of universally recognized masterpieces of the gaming industry.

Instead of giving players updated versions of Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3, Microsoft has once again decided to re-release the outdated first installment, only slightly “powdering” its appearance. Undoubtedly, the original caused a stir in the gaming industry back in 2006 and forever changed the third-person action genre, but now it rather feels like Steve Buscemi from the popular “How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?” meme. Is it worth playing Gears of War after 10 years since the full-fledged remaster and almost 20 years after its original release? What exactly has changed? And how does the project feel on PS5? We’ll answer all these questions in our review.

It’s alive! After several delays, the firing of the mastermind and author of the first game, dropping writer Chris Avellone, changing developers, and a complete overhaul of the concept and game design, the development of Bloodlines 2 is finally coming to an end. Six years after its announcement and almost ten years since development began, the sequel to one of the most iconic RPG's has turned into a troubled long-term project that in its final iteration has little in common with the original. We were lucky enough to get a look at the first hours of Bloodlines 2 and to get an answer to the most important question: will the Vampire: The Masquerade franchise get another cult classic in its portfolio, or was all the time spent on development wasted? The answer is in our preview.

After the not-so-successful and lukewarmly received Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield 5, many players lost faith in the series and began to massively criticize EA and DICE for their irresponsible attitude towards the franchise. And yes, it’s hard to believe, but the widespread backlash and vocal statements from fans really did force the publisher to change its approach to developing the next main installment. Battlefield 6 can be described as a soft rollback to the gameplay and atmospheric formula of Battlefield 3 and 4, but with total improvements to all the aspects gamers have been asking for over the past 10 years. We spent about 20 hours in the open beta test and can confidently say: Battlefield hasn’t just returned to the industry in full force, but is also ready to show Activision and its Call of Duty how things should be done.

Yiwa Be Lost is a psychological horror game from the small Bangkok-based studio FourTeen Rain, which tries to resemble Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame all at once. Just imagine — somewhere in Thailand, a project is being developed that manages to include zombies, ghosts, several main characters with unique gameplay, a 15-hour story campaign, action, puzzles, and even schoolgirls! To be honest, even big companies don’t always dare to implement such ambitious ideas. At ChinaJoy 2025, our editor-in-chief Rodion Ilyin interviewed the key developers of Yiwa Be Lost and found out when gamers will be able to get their hands on this unusual alternative to Resident Evil.

After the stunning remake of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 duology, we eagerly awaited updates for the next installments, as those were the games we spent the most time with. The third part was the quintessence of all the ideas and developments from the prequels and offered the best gameplay experience in the series. The fourth became the starting point for the subsequent Underground duology, where freedom and MTV vibes were taken to the extreme. Despite the impeccable quality of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 remake, these are far from the games that once brought us together in huge groups around the old PSone in the early 2000s. In this review, we’ll explain what’s wrong with the updated versions and why they might disappoint devoted fans of the series.

The crazy year of awesome releases continues. The Alters is yet another game that no one really expected much from, but it not only surprised everyone with its fresh gameplay, it literally blew our minds with a wild mix of science fiction, philosophy, drama, and... survival mechanics with resource gathering. Although, coming from the creators of This War of Mine and Frostpunk, we expected nothing less. 11 Bit Studios has once again reinvented the classic base management genre, but this time with some insanely emotional storytelling. In this review, we’ll explain what The Alters really is and why you absolutely must play it.

To be honest, I didn't follow the development of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon and wasn't really planning to check out the release version—it looked like a The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim clone on the Unity engine at first glance. However, after seeing dozens of positive reviews on Steam and a stable online player base (okay, and at Rodion's request), I decided to give it a try—and ended up losing myself for dozens of hours, forgetting all my basic needs. Yes, it's hard to believe, but a small Polish team with a tiny budget managed to create not just one of the most atmospheric RPG's—but in many ways, it surpasses the latest works of Obsidian and Bethesda. A true hidden gem that shouldn't be missed. I played through Tainted Grail from start to finish and want to share my detailed impressions.

Elden Ring Nightreign is the most unusual project from FromSoftware, one that could easily be mistaken for a fan-made modification or a free DLC that the publisher decided to sell as a standalone game. The developers simply took ready-made assets from their most popular game and wrapped them in a roguelite shell with a cooperative mode. Despite the obvious cost-cutting, in the end we got a rather entertaining thing that you actually want to play. We have quite a few complaints and questions for Nightreign, but the idea of half-hour multiplayer runs not only works, but is also very addictive. We explored all the available content and even reached the end credits (yes, this is a regular game, not a live service), so we could tell you about the strangest experiment from FromSoftware, whose experience will be used in the upcoming The Duskbloods.

Despite public expectations, there were few major announcements at Xbox Games Showcase 2025 — Microsoft focused on showcasing already announced projects. Together with you, we learned more about the upcoming The Blood of Dawnwalker, Clockwork Revolution, The Outer Worlds 2, Ninja Gaiden 4, and Cronos: The New Dawn. The latter received a new gameplay segment, from which we learned more about the combat system, visuals, and overall atmosphere of the upcoming horror title from the creators of the recent Silent Hill 2 remake. In this article, we have gathered all available information about the project to give you a complete picture of what awaits us in the fall of 2025.