Games | Vahan Arsenyan

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sandfall’s debut leans on the reactive parry/dodge trick to keep turn-based combat tense without abandoning the genre’s bones. The art direction does a lot of heavy lifting — Belle Époque painting brought to life — and the soundtrack earns its reputation.

Story sticks the landing in a way most JRPGs only attempt.

Dishonored

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Arkane at their best. The Chaos system gives weight to how you play, and Dunwall is one of the most fully realised cities in the genre. Blink alone changed what I expect from movement in stealth games.

Dishonored 2

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Clockwork Mansion and A Crack in the Slab are the level-design high water marks of the decade. Emily’s powers feel mechanically distinct enough that a second run as her plays like a new game.

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Billie Lurk’s toolkit trades some of the freedom of the previous games for a sharper, more curated experience. The Bank Heist mission is one of Arkane’s finest standalone sandboxes. A fitting send-off to the trilogy.

Divinity: Original Sin 2

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Larian’s combat sandbox is the rare turn-based system that begs to be broken. Elemental surfaces, teleport chains, polymorph nonsense — every encounter has a “wait, can I…” solution that almost always works.

The writing punches above its weight too. Fane is one of the best companions in the genre.

Dredge

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The genius is in how comfortably the mundane loop — cast, sell, upgrade — sits next to the dread that creeps in once the sun drops. Sanity, panic mechanics, and a map that slowly reveals what’s actually underneath you. Short, tight, and beautifully paced.

Half-Life

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Black Mesa cold-opens on a tram ride and never breaks the camera until the credits. In 1998 that was revolutionary; it still works now. Scripted set-pieces, environmental storytelling, an arsenal that earns every weapon — every modern FPS owes this game something.

Half-Life 2

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

City 17 still holds up as one of the great game settings — oppressive, specific, lived-in. The gravity gun is a thesis statement about player agency, and Ravenholm is the most committed tonal pivot in the medium.

Half-Life 2: Episode One

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Smaller in scope but designed around a single brilliant idea: trap the player in the dark with one ally and one flashlight. The whole episode is a character study disguised as a shooter.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Trades City 17’s corridors for forests and back roads. The car-and- silo segment is one of Valve’s best set-pieces, and the final ten minutes are the most quoted cliffhanger in PC gaming for a reason.

Half-Life: Alyx

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Valve’s return to Half-Life and to VR. Saving it for when I can give it the headset time it deserves.

Inscryption

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Going in blind is the entire point, so I’ll keep this vague: Daniel Mullins built three games inside one shell, and the seams between them are the best part. Act 1 alone would be a tight little roguelike; what’s around it makes it a thing I won’t forget.

Path of Exile

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

GGG keeps adding mechanics faster than I can learn them, and somehow it mostly works. The build depth is unmatched in the genre — a passive tree, gem links, ascendancies, and cluster jewels mean two characters of the same class can play nothing alike.

Currency-based trade is still rough, but the league treadmill keeps pulling me back every few resets.

Portal

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Valve took one idea and built a perfectly paced game around it. GLaDOS’s deadpan menace, the cake, the dawning realisation that the chambers have walls you can break — it’s hard to think of a game that respects the player’s time more.

Portal 2

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Cave Johnson alone makes this a top-tier writing achievement. Gels, funnels, and the co-op campaign expand the toolkit without diluting the ruthless puzzle design. One of the few games I’ve replayed straight through more than once.

SAND: Raiders of Sophie

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Customisable Tramplers stomping across a post-apocalyptic Austro- Hungarian desert is one of the more singular pitches in the genre. Waiting for the Early Access dust to settle before committing.

Sid Meier's Civilization VI

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Districts and unstacked cities push you into actually planning a map instead of optimising one tile. The expansions paper over most of the base game’s rough edges; with Gathering Storm on, late-game diplomacy finally has teeth.

Still the easiest “I’ll just play an hour” trap I’ve ever fallen into.

Slay the Spire 2

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mega Crit gave the formula another pass: new characters, new cards, and co-op for up to four. Early Access, but the runs already feel distinct from the first game.

Subnautica

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The way the map teaches you fear is masterful — every biome edge is a soft threat, every depth meter is a question. Building a base in the Grand Reef the first time is one of those gaming memories that sticks.

Played without any spoilers, which I’d recommend to anyone.

Subnautica 2

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Co-op was the one missing piece in the original. Waiting for Early Access to settle before diving in.

Subnautica: Below Zero

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Smaller in scope than the original, and it shows both ways. The map is denser and more curated, but the wide-open dread of the first game’s deep biomes is mostly gone. Still a beautifully made follow-up; the above-ice sections are a genuinely new vibe for the series.

Baldur's Gate 3

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Larian let reactivity off the leash. Every encounter has three or four answers the designers actually thought about, and the party banter keeps pulling me back in. Act 3 wobbles in places, but the highs are high enough that I forgive it.