Martin is closed
We offered more reviews in February than almost any other month, reflecting how busy it was with the release of exciting new games. As a fan of the genre, I probably should have been most excited about the big trio of JRPGs, but my heart ended up being stolen by a low-key indie survival game from a new studio: a game called Pacific Drive. I first sunk 70 hours into it on PC (you can finish it in 20 hours, but I really enjoyed it and loved it), and then I played it again on PS5, and I like the second playthrough even more than the first. The captivating combination of a melancholic night forest in the rain, behind the dashboard of your car, with beautiful songs playing on the radio, while all sorts of paranormal anomalies flash around you in the darkness, I was completely engrossed, similar to the games Inside or The Inscription in the past.
March will also be rich in new interesting games: from another story-driven Japanese role-playing game (Dragon’s Dogma 2) to an impressive open-world co-op samurai action game (Rise of the Ronin), a very stylish strategy Unicorn Overlord, and the return of a horror series. Alone in the Dark, another very promising platformer from Nintendo, this time starring Princess Peach or perhaps a Polish “Persona” or a historical RPG with demon miracle workers. We’re very lucky that, despite the brutal layoffs in the gaming industry, we still produce so many interesting games. Let’s see how long this lasts.
Daniel Jarocki
In February I mostly went back to select older games. First up was the SnowRunner simulator, which will be replaced in early March in the form of Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. He will try to implement a larger number of different gangs and offer a more diverse composition of individual missions. However, I must admit that even almost four years old, SnowRunner still has a lot to offer thanks to ongoing support and the delivery of additional content.
I also spent some time with Codemasters’ latest version of F1 racing, a series I’ve been returning to regularly since the real world championship starts this weekend. Coincidentally, this week we saw the announcement of a new edition, which will be released at the end of May. At the end of the month, I also got to play the recently released survival game Pacific Drive, which I liked primarily for its emphasis on building, gradually improving and then repairing your own futuristic car.
And what am I looking forward to in February? In addition to the already mentioned off-road simulator Expeditions: A MudRunner, I will be interested to see the first impressions of the full version of Survival Horror Alone in the Dark and the expected news from the Team Ninja studio in the form of the Action RPG Rise of the Ronin, which attracts me mainly for its setting and a noticeable desire for maximum variability in the field of combat and the offer of weapons. Less popular games include the action game South Park: Snow Day from publisher THQ Nordic and the turn-based strategy game inspired by the XCOM series, Classified: France ’44, which introduces players to the World War II period. II.
Jan Urbanczyk
While game developers are unfortunately going through some very tough times and not a day goes by that we don’t write about some layoffs, the pace of game releases hasn’t slowed down and February has been another busy month. Early on, I reviewed the surprise release Silent Hill: The Short Message, which is a very unconventional but truly powerful experience. This was followed by a successful DLC for Last Train Home with a good dose of story and humor, as well as an excellent remake of the puzzle platformer Mario vs. Donkey Kong, which I highly recommend for Switch owners.
In addition to reviews, I played Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, where I recorded about 10 hours. The story and characters haven’t disappointed yet, but the gameplay is already a bit bland and the combat system is very flat, so we’ll see how it goes. On the Steam Deck I then finished the first part of the Zero Escape series (999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors), an incredibly interesting combination of visual novel and quest with an intertwined and extremely exciting plot, but also excellent characters. Looking forward to moving on to the next part.
March will also be strong, but luckily some of the big games in the genre have already passed me by, so hopefully I’ll have plenty of time for my favorites. I’m especially looking forward to the very creative Princess Peach: Showtime and the reboot of Survival Horror Alone in the Dark.
Philip Svoboda
For me, the biggest game of February was Banishers from Don’t Nod. I’ve started working on them since release, but I’m progressing quite slowly. However, there was enough for me to struggle with the narrative or characters, which the developers just know how to do. I found a few complaints about the game, but I like the cutscenes and the action.
I also played the already mentioned Pentiment, one of my big vacations. I hope that in the future Obsidian has the opportunity to move away from things like Avowed and The Outer Worlds and move on to smaller things, because if there’s one thing you can’t deny about Pentiment, it’s the sheer uniqueness.
March will bring some interesting games, such as the delayed pair of The Thaumaturge and Open Roads. Add in next week’s interesting-looking Reveil and the post-apocalyptic Highwater, and there’s plenty to choose from.
Pavlina Nouzova
My February was marked by small but excellent and, above all, original games. And also a legend. In news, I played the metroidvania Ultros (review here), full of colors, plant juices and a hallucinogenic story told. Add to that a great soundtrack, sometimes sluggish and sometimes really booming. Games like Ultros remind us how different games can be.
I also gave last year’s indie hit Cocoon a chance, a puzzle game where you’re also sometimes not sure what you’re looking at. This is how I imagine the microscopic world at the molecular level. A sort of fly prince solves puzzles, defeats strange enemies here and there, and jumps from reality to reality, which he then folds into himself in the form of colored balls. Again an independent game, but full of original ideas – and at the same time, polished to form without errors or technical problems.
And then… I returned to childhood. I played the original Half-Life and couldn’t put it down. Yes, everything is so square, the voice acting is hellish, and in some moments you can’t do without a tutorial on YouTube (or a lot of patience). But years later I managed to beat the game and defeat Nihiliant! Part 2 could be out next month, along with a possible delayed smaller title, Open Roads, about a family road trip. Of the bigger games, I’m definitely interested in Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Rise of the Ronin, but they’re coming out on the same day, so I guess I’ll flip the coin eventually.
Ondrej Zeman
February turned out to be filled with more games than I initially expected. Speaking of which, I thought I’d play a bit or two, but it ended up being a decent avalanche, triggered by the Helldivers 2 event, which left me diving into Skull and Bones on an ocean cruise, which I’m sadly not too happy about. Fortunately, after that the Solium Infernum strategy appeared on the scene, with which I worked up an appetite.
As for March, it already looks like an unusually bloated month. The sequel to the legendary Dragon’s Dogma or the no less famous event The Outcast will be released soon, and there will be a lot more of them. It’ll get competition from Civilization over the millennia, and when it arrives, a full version of the building fun of Farthest Frontier will also arrive. In short, there will be a lot of worlds to visit, so hopefully there will be enough time to explore them.
Source :Indian TV
