Recent reviews by Sifo Dyas

Sins 2 sets the gold standard for the 4X RTS genre as did it's predecessor before it in 2008. The concept here is refined and distilled by Ironclad in a well optimised sequel, it's only a shame it took so long! If like me you would simply be happy with a 64 bit remaster of Sins 1 then rejoice because the game runs extremely well even into the late game. There are many improvements to the formula that keeps it fresh and the developer has promised a lot more to come.

There is a simple joy in assembling your doom-stack fleet and sending it to an enemy star, turning on the cinematic camera and watching the chaos unfold.

It's Larian's "Divinity: Original Sin 2" but set in Faerun with excellent turn-based combat based on the DnD 5e ruleset and an incredible array of fully-fleshed out, compelling characters.

If any part of that makes sense to you, this amazing game will already be part of your library.

Everything that was great about Cities Skyline 1 with some nice quality of life improvements and the new cities look amazing. There are a ton of great new assets (though not as many as CS1 with mods of course)

Engine needs some tweaking out of the box, depth of field needs to be disabled as its currently glitched and tanks performance, motion blur, V-sync and FidelityFX are enabled by default which is weird. Apart from that the game runs fine on a 3080ti despite the concern I had from the negative reviews.

Starfield should be another nail in the coffin of Creation Engine, but clearly Bethesda cannot fathom working without it.

Starfield's reach exceeds its grasp in terms of traversing the game universe. It is still the same old loading cells from Morrowind in space and on the ground and they haven't even attempted to disguise it, instead the player is expected to rely on Fast travel to circumvent invisible boundaries which kills immersion.

The game is also buggy as to be expected, with event triggers, animations etc the worst offenders (like all Creation engine games). In terms of the engine, it was clearly developed with consoles in mind, as graphical/ display options and aspect compatibility is lacking. No DLSS native support is unforgiveable, and the foggy green hue to everything is an awful design choice. so ensure the following after (if) you install:

1. Download the DLSS mod
2. Download Reshade

Having said all that- the immense scope, narrative and gameplay options of the rest of the game more than make up for the shortcomings. If you think of it as Deus ex/ Mass Effect & FO4 in space you will completely understand and enjoy the vibe of what is being offered.

If you are expecting No Mans Sky, Star Citizen or Elite, this is in no way the game for you.

An excellent remake and well worth playing even if you completed the original Resi 4. Tons of upgrades, secrets and tense combat encounters. Runs well and the engine looks great. It did crash a number of times with Ray-tracing implemented, but still looks great without it. Extra points for Ultrawide support.

Crusader Kings III like it's predecessor can be a daunting prospect. It's an impossible experience to describe in one sentence but some have called it a "grand strategy, feudal dynasty simulator" which is probably as close as you can get.

You take the role of a single character who is the leader of a family or dynasty and when that character dies you keep playing as their heir whether through elective or hereditary succession, if you have no heir the game is over. This cycle continues for hundreds of years as you forge whatever dynastic accomplishments you see fit. You could conquer the entire map or you could play as an insular Earl sitting in your little corner; manipulating politics and the court of your liege.

In CK III there are an incredible amount of different gameplay elements; Diplomacy, subterfuge, military strategy, research, building, economics and personal character development. Most of these are now second nature to me after hundreds of hours playing the series but I can remember a time when I had no idea what i was doing. The tutorial and tooltips come highly recommended. Make sure you read everything and there are many helpful people in the community who can help.

For myself the aspect of the Crusader Kings series that sets it apart from the other grand strategy games, (including other Paradox titles) is the role playing. It's incredibly addictive to build a continent wide dynasty with intertwining character narratives and distinct notable characters. You won't need to look far in reviews or forums to hear some ridiculous personal stories and each play through is unique.

It's even fun when your empire is usurped by your satanist, eunuch uncle and everything comes tumbling down around you. But as long as your family is alive you can rebuild! Prepare to sink hundreds of hours into this game once you learn the mechanics. I would also highly recommend playing on Ironman as much as possible to enable achievements and gives you a better feeling of risk and reward.

Cyberpunk themed noir thriller. With the late, great Rutger Hauer as protagonist. Has slight techno horror themes and overall an enjoyable ride in a well crafted but restrictive world. Effectively a walking simulator and would appeal if you are a fan of these types of games. Some fun interactions and detective work and some not so fun sneaking sections. worth getting on sale, clearly a lot of love went into the narrative here. Can frustrate with the overuse of headache inducing noise and visual cacophony.