I don’t even know how to rate this game. Hollow Knight was already peak Metroidvania, and somehow Silksong is even more peak. It’s bigger. It’s more polished. It’s more challenging. In Hollow Knight, you explored a ruined, forgotten kingdom. In Silksong, you’re exploring a kingdom in its prime it seems, though with full of problems. You meet so many new NPCs, almost on every screen. You fight a huge variety of enemies across beautiful zones. It’s incredible. It was well worth the wait. Hornet, our new main character feels familiar if you’ve played HK, but she’s also very different. Her downward slash works differently, she has plenty of unique tools, and she’s much more agile and acrobatic, which also makes her harder to controll. If you liked or loved Hollow Knight, you will absolutely love Silksong. That said, I can’t give it a perfect 5-star score for one reason. In the first Hollow Knight, I didn’t like how far apart the save points were. Dying to a boss often meant running for a long time just to try again. Silksong improves this. At least in the early game, there seem to be more benches, and retrying after death usually only takes a few seconds. But what hasn’t improved is my biggest pet peeve: contact damage. I know it’s part of the design, but I can’t stand it, and will never stop complaining about. Just walking into an enemy and taking damage feels outdated. It’s frustrating, and I really hoped it would be gone. Even with that, Silksong is an amazing game and for ~20€ it is almost a steal.
Hollow Knight is, quite simply, one of the best metroidvanias I’ve ever played. For the asking price and the amount of polished content in it, with great replayability, it is truly incredible. It offers huge beautifully interconnected world, a lot of player freedom on how you want to explore it, great lore, exploration and snappy, fast combat. Devs also added 4 major free updates, altrough they focus mostly on combat. That said, I do have two gripes. First, the runbacks after dying can be highly frustrating. Games like Elden Ring have shown that you don’t really need to pad difficulty with long treks back to the fight. The other big issue is contact damage. It is a mechanic I absolutely hate and will never stop complaining about. When touching an enemy hurts you, movement itself becomes an attack. This feels cheap and limits how you approach fights. Despite those problems, HK is an absolute mustplay for fans of the genre. It's gorgeous (with amazing soundtrack!), challenging, rewarding, and truly worth being called one of the greatest metroidvanias of all time.
Primal Planet feels like someone took an early-90s PC platformer, added metroidvania elements, and thought: what if we threw in dinosaurs too? Here you’ve got dinosaurs, cavemen, high-tech gadgets, and aliens all put into one lush, pixelated jungle. It’s gorgeous but more importantly, it plays like an old-school adventure with minimal handholding, big open maps, and the thrill (and occasional frustration) of figuring things out yourself. The first hour pushes you along a set path, but after that you're free. How you explore depends on how you build your character, invest in diving skills for deep waters, or craft torches to burn thorned brambles. Story comes in brief, wordless cutscenes, surprisingly touching at times. Exploration is the heart here. You’ll wander, get lost, make mental notes about obstacles, figure out which plants you need, and decide when to fight or run. Early on there’s a nice survivalist angle, emphasizing collecting, crafting, and using what you have. I loved touches like burning grass to reveal hidden paths or planting your spear to reach higher ground. Combat’s snappy but simple. Unfortunately, exploration isn’t always rewarding. Many secrets just give resources. The map is also unhelpful, making aimless wandering common. Underwater sections feel restrictive since you lose much of your moveset. Visually, it’s mostly jungle. Pretty but repetitive. Survival elements fade as resources become plentiful, some upgrades feel pointless, certain mechanics like luring enemies with food are only useful early on, and the day/night cycle barely changes anything. The pacing stumbles near the end when you’re forced to backtrack for items, and the abrupt ending doesn’t help. At 8–10 hours, it’s short, but despite the flaws, Primal Planet is still a great retro-styled pixel Metroidvania with a strong identity and some clever ideas.
A Glorious Resurrection Heretic was my first 3D FPS, as I've played it before original Doom, and it’s been etched in my memory ever since. So when Nightdive Studios announced Heretic + Hexen, I was instantly on board. And what an amazing drop. I absolutely love premieres like this: game is announced and bam, immediately playable. No waiting, just here it is. Nightdive really cooked here. This isn’t just a lazy re-release. You get Heretic + Hexen with their expansions, AND Additional episodes for both. Then you get modern upgrades: higher resolution, proper mouse support, customizable FOV, accessibility options etc. And also a remixed soundtrack that slaps. While Heretic is "just" a Doom clone, Hexen is kinda its own thing, leaning into classes, puzzles and complex levels. It is as cryptic and sometimes frustrating as it was in 1995, but now some levels were slightly altered to be more managable and there is an actual objective markers on map. No more: "Oh, you don’t remember where the sixth key is? Good luck backtracking through a medieval labyrinth while fighting the same dozen enemies with your four weapons”. You can turn those off if you want the full classic experience, but for most players, this is a much needed quality-of-life addition. In fact many levels got some changes just to give more visual oomph and flair, without ruining the original layout or pacing. Nightdive once again proves they’re the best in the business at bringing classics back with care and style. And best of all, if you owned the games on Steam or GOG, this remaster is free. I hope we will get Hexed 2 one day, or even better - Heretic 2. Easy recommendation.
Heretic was my first 3D FPS, as I've played it before original Doom, and it’s been etched in my memory ever since. So when Nightdive Studios announced Heretic + Hexen, I was instantly on board. And what an amazing drop. I absolutely love premieres like this: game is announced and bam, immediately playable. No waiting, just here it is. Nightdive really cooked here. This isn’t just a lazy re-release. You get Heretic + Hexen with their expansions, AND Additional episodes for both. Then you get modern upgrades: higher resolution, proper mouse support, customizable FOV, accessibility options etc. And also a remixed soundtrack that slaps. While Heretic is "just" a Doom clone (and I still love it), Hexen is kinda its own thing, leaning into classes, puzzles and complex levels. It is as cryptic and sometimes frustrating as it was in 1995, but now some levels were slightly altered to be more managable and there are an actual objective markers on map. No more: "Oh, you don’t know where the sixth key is? Good luck backtracking through a medieval labyrinth while fighting the same dozen enemies with your four weapons”. You can turn those off if you want the full classic experience, but for most players, this is a much needed quality-of-life addition. In fact many levels got some changes just to give more visual oomph and flair, without ruining the original layout or pacing. Nightdive once again proves they’re the best in the business at bringing classics back with care and style. And best of all, if you owned the games on Steam or GOG, this remaster is free. I hope we will get Hexen 2 one day, or even better - Heretic 2. Easy recommendation.
Is this just a remaster of the original System Shock 2 from 1999? Yes. Would you get a similar experience playing the original with mods? Also yes. But is it easier now to just boot it up without worrying about modding? Absolutely. Would I have preferred a full remake like what System Shock 1 got in 2023? Of course. Is this game still janky as hell, with weird hitboxes and a game engine that wasn’t really made for shooters? Yes, 100%. But despite all that — is it worth playing? Definitely. System Shock 2 remains one of the OG immersive sims. It laid the groundwork for so many others, and even now, it holds up surprisingly well in terms of atmosphere, design, and the sense of tension and discovery. I really hope we see System Shock 3 someday, because this IP still has so much potential. Just be warned: this is not a casual game. You need to pay attention, navigate maze-like corridors, remember where things are, and maybe even take notes. It’s a very faithful "remaster" that doesn’t sand down all the original’s rough edges. But it’s still fun and rewarding in that old-school way. Highly recommend it for people that know what they're getting into.
I honestly don’t know how I missed this. Planet Crafter turned out to be one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played in the last five years. It’s one of those titles that sneaks up on you and suddenly takes over your evenings. And mornings. And whenever you have time. The Planet Crafter is an open-world crafting survival game where your mission is to turn a dry, dead rock of a planet into a place humans could actually live. You’re juggling oxygen, food, water, power while also building machines, exploring wrecks, mining resources, and slowly pushing nature back into existence. There's something deeply satisfying about watching this once-hostile world bloom into something beautiful, all because of your efforts. The game has this really addictive loop. Every time you think you’ve got things under control, it throws a new system or milestone your way. You're always working toward something, but somehow, you keep getting sidetracked. You just log in to do a certain thing and then suddenly it’s three hours later and you’ve built a biodome, unlocked jet boots, and discovered a new canyon. What really stands out is how the environment changes with your progress. It’s not just cosmetic either. New paths open up, lakes form, weather shifts—it makes exploration feel dynamic. If I have to nitpick then... Music here is great—really atmospheric—but there's just not enough of it. After a while it starts to feel like you’re hearing the same couple of tracks on loop, which can get a little repetitive, especially during long play sessions. Also, the game is janky. But in a charming way. There’s clipping, weird physics moments, random graphical bugs—but they don’t ruin anything. In fact, there’s a dedicated button to unstick yourself, and another if your vehicle decides gravity isn’t a thing today. In the end, it just works. Despite the rough edges, or maybe even because of them, Planet Crafter delivers a kind of scrappy magic. You can feel the love that went into it. Highly re
It’s another game from Kyle Thompson, and you can definitely feel the same DNA from his previous titles like Sheepo and Islets. The world, enemies, even the attack indicators and sound cues feel familiar, not to mention the music—but everything is so much more polished here. The presentation is super charming, and the animations are incredibly smooth. It’s challenging as always, but it feels fair, and the puzzles even have these subtle cues that gently push you towards the solution without being too obvious. This might be Kyle's best work yet.
New System Shock excels in many aspects, breathing new life into the cult classic. The graphical overhaul is a sight to behold, immersing players in a beautifully dark and atmospheric world. The attention to detail is remarkable, enhancing the sci-fi elements and transforming the game into a visual feast. The revamped sound design further elevates the experience, with an eerie ambient soundtrack that keeps players on edge. It dramatically improves over original upbeat audio mess. The variety of weapons and combat-enhancing stimulants offer a versatile approach to combat, allowing players to experiment and adapt their strategies to the ever-present dangers. The narrative has also been given a fresh coat of paint, offering a compelling and thought-provoking storyline. The chilling presence of a rogue AI SHODAN remains as captivating as ever, constantly taunting players and questioning their actions. The controls can feel a bit clunky, unresponsive and frustrating at times, especially when engaging in intense combat situations. Certain sections lack proper signposting, resulting in moments of confusion and backtracking. Navigating this monstrous maze quickly becomes very daunting, as you can technically go everywhere right from the start. This can hinder the overall pacing and immersion, especially for newcomers who are unfamiliar with the original game. I got lost so many times that I eventually started making my own notes. Another area of improvement lies in the cyberspace "hacking" minigames. They are improved dramatically over the original, but I found them confusing and frustrating, and I dreaded each time I had to go through them. Despite its flaws, the System Shock Remake stands tall as a worthy homage to the original masterpiece. I hope to see System Shock 2 reimagined in the same way.
And I'm glad I didin't because Chained Echoes is an amazing jRPG. Pros: - it is seriously impressive that this was done by mostly one person - it borrows heavily from Chrono Trigger, FFVI, IX, XII, Suikoden etc - it has a lot of quality of life improvements like autosaving, fast travel and even quest log - no random encounters and no grinding - specialized party members - You regenerate HP & MP after each fight, which encourages all out battles where you don't have to worry about conserving your resources - world map while seemingly small, has a TON of locations - there is plenty of side content to do, including optional hard bosses and side quests - plenty of enemy models - no recolors Cons: - there are a lot of systems in the game, but I'm afraid that some are not really fleshed out - crystal system and UI is overly convoluted and too random to be useful - some character portraits look laughable or unfinished. One of main characters has such a dull face that it was hard for me to take him seriously - many characters are optional and join your party very, very late - as I'm writing this there are still occasional bugs, softlocks etc. Overall it was an amazing experience and a true surprise at the end of the year 8+/10
