Recent reviews by Entarion

Action RPG with good combat, exploration, and visuals, but lacking proper depth in many areas

+ Exploration
+ Combat
+ Gunz

Set in the world of Pillars of Eternity, a few years after Deadfire. An unknown scourge spreads across the Living Lands, and you, an envoy of the Aedyran Emperor, are sent to investigate. The story is mostly self-contained, and important lore is explained through a glossary, so prior knowledge isn’t required.

The game is divided into fairly large regions, and while it's not a true open world, it encourages you to explore every nook and cranny to find important crafting materials, unique weapons, and hidden quests.

Along the way, you’ll meet four companions. They have fairly good personalities and react to your adventuring or chat between each other.

Combat is fun, and you can use many distinctive weapons, including melee options, guns, and spells. The game offers three basic classes (Fighter, Ranger, Mage), each with its own ability tree. You can either specialize in one or combine them. And you can respec anytime, which provides great build flexibility.
Progression is heavily tied to gear upgrades, requiring you to gather scarce crafting materials as enemies become stronger when moving between regions.

However, the game lacks depth in several areas. The story has an interesting premise but limited role-playing and consequences. World interaction is minimal as you can’t kill most NPCs, steal, or meaningfully interact with the environment. Crafting is also fairly basic, and the music is surprisingly unmemorable compared to Pillars of Eternity.

A polished sequel to successful CRPG

+ Exotic setting
+ Open-world exploration
+ Improved combat and character progression

Set a few years after the first game, you once again step into the role of the Watcher and you're quickly drawn into another cataclysmic conflict involving the gods that will change the world of Eora forever.

This time, the story takes place in Deadfire, a tropical archipelago where the Vailians, Rauatai, native Huana, and pirates vie for power. While the main story is short and more straightforward, the game strongly emphasizes side content and exploration of the Deadfire islands.
I also liked how the story expands on previous events and characters, as well as your interactions with the gods.

Very early in the game, you acquire your own ship, allowing you to travel across the islands. The ship can be upgraded and staffed with a crew. There are also naval battles, which can be resolved through a text-based minigame, or you can simply board enemy ships and steal their riches.

Combat can be played in Real-Time with Pause or Turn-Based mode, and it features several improvements. More spells and abilities can be used per encounter, making combat more fluid without the need to rest as often. Character progression is also improved with strong multiclassing options and a clearer overview of abilities. I played on a higher difficulty, which made combat more challenging and fun.

The three available DLCs represent endgame content and feature some of the most difficult encounters in the game. I’d definitely recommend getting the complete edition.

Modern-day successor to Infinity Engine games

+ Beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds
+ Real-Time with Pause combat
+ Companions and world setting

If you've ever had that itch to play old Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale (and you still should), this game is just for you and offers one of the purest CRPG experiences you can get in modern times.

The completely new setting takes place in the world of Eora and has impressive depth and quality. It features its own pantheon of gods, races, geography, established history, and even languages.

The main story revolves around a broken reincarnation cycle, and your character is at the center of it as a Watcher, a person who can read other people's past souls. The storytelling slowly unfolds as you explore the world and uncover the secrets behind the crisis. You’ll meet many companions along the way who are very well written, and I definitely had a few favorites.

Combat is classic Real-Time with Pause (or Turn-Based), providing strong tactical depth and many opportunities to resolve challenging encounters. Alongside traditional character classes, there are new ones with interesting mechanics, like Cipher and Chanter. During combat, you can use abilities that are limited per encounter or per rest. Combat was definitely a highlight for me, as there are not many RPGs with this system nowadays.

Other things worth mentioning include the music, which eventually grew on me and fits the setting perfectly. As you progress through the story, you’ll also gain your own stronghold, which serves as your base of operations. You can upgrade it with merchants, bounties, and more, and beneath it lies a large dungeon that you can gradually explore.

I would also recommend the White March expansion, which is designed for higher-level characters and adds new challenging encounters, Soulbound weapons, and companions.

Bethesda's original buggy mess in glorious Unreal engine

This was a hyped-up and spontaneous purchase for me, and the nostalgia hits hard right from the very start. The main menu, with the Imperial Legion soldier and glowing Oblivion gate, immediately takes you 20 years back.

The remaster looks visually fantastic, and it's a joy to explore Cyrodiil again. The first time you see the menacing Oblivion gate opening in the distance still makes for an unforgettable moment. Unfortunately, the game is very demanding and not very well optimized, so some settings tweaking is recommended.

But under all the visual improvements lies the same twenty-year-old game. The same "enemies scale with you" leveling system, clunky inventory, awkward NPC behavior, basic combat, bugs, and glitches are all still here.
It’s actually very amusing to play with enhanced graphics while dealing with systems that feel outdated by today's standards.

Simply put, Oblivion Remastered is the same old game (but still great RPG) in a new coat. Take it or leave it.

Cinematic masterpiece in feudal Japan

+ Incredible visual style
+ Smooth controls and performance
+ Great combat

Set in Japan during the Mongol invasion, Ghost of Tsushima is first and foremost a stunning visual experience. Its distinctive art style makes the world sharp, colorful, and incredibly atmospheric. Most of the time I was just admiring the world around me. Whether it's beautiful sunrises and sunsets, moonlit nights, or storms rolling across fields. It’s a joy to just saddle up your horse and explore. There are simply no bad views.

Gameplay-wise, it follows a standard open-world formula. You explore the world, complete main and side missions, liberate enemy-controlled areas, collect and upgrade equipment, and improve Jin with new abilities. What stands out for me how thoughtfully it integrates the side content and all the small details.

Activities like composing haikus, meditating in hot springs, fighting iconic duels, following foxes to hidden shrines, or climbing to reach altars feels immersive and relvant to the period the game is set in. There’s also no traditional GPS navigation. Instead, you follow the wind to objectives, which improves immersion and keeps your screen clean of unnecessary UI elements.

The PC port is excellent. Smooth controls and great optimization make the overal experience even better. Ghost of Tsushima is one of those rare games that ticks all the boxes - beautiful visuals, satisfying combat, and immersive gameplay.

Super fun and polished little adventure

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a classic action platformer packed with weapons, collectibles, puzzles and multidimensional characters.

It has fast-paced action and great gunplay with many upgradable weapons. Exploration is also rewarding, with smooth traversal, collectibles, semi-open maps, and small platforming challenges scattered across beautiful environments.

The game is shorter and more straightforward, but it’s fun from beginning to end, with constant action and no dull moments. Visually, it looks fantastic, with great animations and excellent performance. Overall, it’s very polished and enjoyable experience that’s easy to recommend.

Suprisingly great third-person shooter

You’re accompanied by several squadmates that you can command, even using voice control, which is quite unique. Your decisions throughout the game matter and affect companion relationships and story paths, which adds replayability.

Game has great combat where it matters where you shoot enemies. Targeting limbs, armor, or weapons affects their behavior, and they dynamically react to the damage. Also includes great bossfights.

The only downside is slightly clunky controls and camera, but overall it's great game and I highly recommend it.

"Rip and tear, until it is done". Superb addition to Doom series

+ Medieval setting
+ Enhanced melee combat
+ Great level variety
+ Old Ones

I wasn’t sure if I needed another Doom, but I was honestly surprised by how great the game is. The dark medieval setting fits perfectly with the brutality of Doomguy and the horrors of Hell. The story is simple, but it focuses more on the Sentinels rather than the Maykrs, which I appreciated.

Combat is as great as ever. A variety of familiar weapons is mixed with new combos and enhanced melee combat. Melee plays a pivotal role this time, giving you several brutal options to tear through Hell’s minions. It fits the setting and makes combat feel heavier and more aggressive.

What I enjoyed the most is the level variety. Apart from more traditional levels, there are also semi-open areas where you can complete objectives as you see fit. The real standout moments are the sections where you ride a dragon or control a giant Atlan mech. These levels bring a lot of excitement and are very well implemented.

As performance is also great, I highly recommend it.

Polish retro-futuristic Dead Space

+ Dark sci-fi setting
+ Tense atmosphere
+ Overall level design
+ Soundtrack

Cronos takes place in a distant future where Earth has been devastated by an unknown virus. You play as a Traveler who must journey back to 1980s Poland to retrace the steps of your predecessors and uncover the origin of the outbreak.

The overall story and level design are fairly linear, focusing on strong storytelling without unnecessary filler and enhanced by a great dark synthwave soundtrack. Time travel is well integrated into the story and easy to follow, and you can explore at your own pace to learn more about the world and the characters around you.

Despite the linear structure, exploration is still important. You’ll want to search every corner for scarce ammo, resources, and upgrades. Exploration is rewarded with new weapons or weapon improvements that make survival easier.

Combat is intense and mostly focused on close-quarters, forcing you to use everything at your disposal to overcome the odds and ocassional bosses. You have a limited selection of weapons, each with additional variants and upgrades. Your suit and accessories can also be upgraded. Overall, Cronos is a good survival horror experience. Such is our calling.

RPG with great exploration, combat, companion system and attention to detail, but weaker storytelling, side content, and performance

The game starts slow until you reach the first big city. Even then, you’ll spend a lot of time exploring the vast world on foot before things improve later with limited fast travel.
Exploration is one of the best parts of the game and genuinely feels like real adventuring. You’ll climb the highest peaks, dive into deep dungeons, visit seaside towns, or explore a volcanic island. The world is visually beautiful, feels handcrafted, and is full of hidden secrets.

You’re never alone thanks to the pawn system. You have your own main pawn, plus up to two hired pawns from other players. These pawns actually retain knowledge from their original players' worlds and will often help you with quests, combat tactics, and pointing out interesting locations or treasure. Because of this, the world feels very lively, and you'll grow attached to your pawns over time.

Combat is great, with many vocations like warrior, archer, mage, and more advanced hybrid classes. You can freely switch between them and level them throughout the game. The ragdoll physics and enemy climbing system also make fights more dynamic. You can grab onto large enemies like cyclopes or minotaurs, attack their weak spots, sttager them, or even knock them over.

Game has some noticeable downsides. The story has a few strong moments but overall feels unfinished. Enemy variety is limited, and the world lacks meaningful side content to keep you busy. Performance is also rough, FPS is unstable, and the game is demanding even on high-end hardware.