One of the best strategy games of all time when it comes to interweaving narrative themes and mechanics. Absolutely harrowing when you first play it and after you learn the game's tricks and finish all the scenarios, still a replayable and addictive city-builder. Highly recommended.
A traditional roguelike with great atmosphere, a really cool and unique setting and very deep gameplay that is still more accessible than most of the other games in the genre. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys roguelikes, open-world games, post-apocalyptic narratives, theorycrafting character builds, deciphering obscure lore and the aesthetics of stuff like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Adventure Time and Gamma World.
The isometric cRPG is my favorite genre and I have played thousands of hours of Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape, Arcanum and the likes. My love for the genre started with the original Pillars of Eternity and I'm happy to say that the sequel is also fantastic: it's well-written, the combat is phenomenal, the music is incredible and the art direction is unparalleled. It's definitely the most gorgeous game in the genre. The DLCs are also really good and I highly recommend them. If you like RPGs at all yu owe it to yourself to play this one.
Deserts of Kharak is the rare prequel that actually makes the original game even better. It retains the subtle storytelling of the original Homeworld and, despite not being set in space, manages to have similar feeling gameplay. It's very polished too, with some of the best art direction I've seen in an RTS, hell, gaming in general, a killer soundtrack and cool mission design. If you love the original Homeworld, you really need to play this one. If you've never played Homeworld in your life, this is also a great place to start before you get to the Remastered edition of the original.
This game's writing and dialogue system are the most innovative elements the cRPG genre has seen this decade. If you have any interest in RPGs whatsoever, and especially if you're a fan of the genre, you owe it to yourself to experience Disco Elysium.
Dusk is a throwback to classic FPS titles of the 90s, namely a mixture of Doom, Blood and Quake, but it is also more than that, a worthy title in its own right, with incredible atmosphere, fast and fun gunplay and, above all, incredible level design. Worth playing even if you never played the games that inspired it.
Brilliant gameplay that improves on the classic Build Engine games, beautiful sprite work (the guns in particular look really good) and complex level design that manages to maintain the flow of the action, create a mood and keep you attentive while you look for specific paths and puzzles. Music is good too. If you like Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Blood and other old-school FPS games you really need to play this.
Brilliant gameplay that improves on the classic Build Engine games, beautiful sprite work (the guns in particular look really good) and complex level design that manages to maintain the flow of the action, create a mood and keep you attentive while you look for specific paths and puzzles. Music is good too. If you like Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Blood and other old-school FPS games you really need to play this.
