Latest Reviews
More than token replaya-Billy-ty
Speaking to Push Square during Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons' July 2023 release, developer Secret Base's Raymond Teo described adding highly replayable roguelite elements to create a brawler with an ingenious way of counteracting the beat-'em-up genre's innate repetitiveness. It takes just under two...
Review Remnant II (PS5) - Dark Souls with Guns Still Has Room to Grow
Ashes tests
For every sequel that manages to pull an Assassin's Creed II, there are many more that almost make it. Whether it's a result of not quite realising a project's full potential or introducing issues the original never had, these games are just as enjoyable as they are disappointing. Remnant II, a follow-up to the unexpectedly good Remnant:...
Review Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening Review (PS4) - The Demon King of Owari Rises
No-man's fool
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is the sixteenth entry in the venerable strategy franchise (which celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year) from Koei and its most accessible yet. While still convoluted compared to even another strategy title of this scale, the love and dedication to Japan’s iconic Sengoku era and the...
Review Exoprimal (PS5) - One of the Most Promising Online Co-Op Shooters in Eons
Jurassic spark
Capcom has been searching for a successful online shooter of its own for quite some time, and its catalogue is littered with misfires like Umbrella Corps and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City as a result. Exoprimal is the closest it’s come yet, delivering a breathless blend of hero shooter and horde mode that’s underlined by...
Mini Review Viewfinder (PS5) - Unique Puzzler Is a Snapshot of Great Puzzling Potential
Let's see how this develops
Viewfinder is a first-person puzzle game that challenges your perception with a brilliant core mechanic. Essentially, you can apply a z-axis to two-dimensional images, stamping them into 3D space and letting you walk into them. Initially you only have particular pictures with which to reach the goal of each stage, but...
Review Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (PS5) - Solid Sequel Feels Finely Tuned
Stranger pings
Generally put on a pedestal and welcomed by all, new IPs are what keep the gaming industry fresh. While other publishers create sequel after sequel, it's those new experiences — particularly in the indie space — that start to live longer in the memory. Night School Studio managed something memorable with 2016's Oxenfree, but what...
Review Trails into Reverie (PS5) - Action-Packed Epilogue Is a Brilliantly In-Depth RPG
Everybody's here
Trails into Reverie is essentially an epilogue to the Trails of Cold Steel series. It brings every character — and we mean every character — back for one last hurrah as yet another threat casts a shadow over the continent of Zemuria. Just to get it out of the way: if you haven't played through the four Cold Steel games, as well...
Mini Review Gylt (PS5) - Ex-Google Stadia Exclusive Is Serviceable Survival Horror
Innocent until proven Gylty
Finally freed from the purgatory of Google Stadia exclusivity, Gylt is a title from RiME developer Tequila Works. While that previous adventure takes the brunt of its influence from titles like Zelda, Gylt veers in a decidedly scarier direction. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Silent Hill, Gylt is a solid title...
Review Rogue Legacy 2 (PS5) - A Worthy Heir to the Rogue-Lite Throne
Following footsteps
For many, Rogue Legacy's more tangible sense of progression elevated it above other titles in the rogue-like indie boom. Pioneering the rogue-lite some 10 years ago, the first game was a very stern challenge, but one that you'd eventually overcome thanks to meaningful, permanent upgrades. The loop of running through the game,...
Review Aliens: Dark Descent (PS5) - An Express Elevator to Hell Fans Won't Want to Miss
This time it's war
Aliens: Dark Descent captures the sense of terror and claustrophobia made famous by the legendary horror franchise to which it belongs, despite being a tactical strategy game played from an isometric perspective. It alternates between intense tension, explosive action, and contemplative strategy, occasionally undercut by a...
Mini Review Synapse (PSVR2) - Some Incredible Gameplay But Not Enough Content
Make it Synapsey
While Fracked, the last title from nDreams, wasn’t flawless, it had great gameplay and a lot of style. And that’s largely what you’re going to get from Synapse, a rogue-lite shooter where you have to break into a mind to steal memories. Rogue-lites are all about incremental improvement. You have to walk, so that eventually...
Mini Review Sonic Origins Plus (PS5) - The Wrong Library of Games to Bring Back
The Game Gear should be remembered, not celebrated
As much as it's good to have access to older games on current platforms, the new content that Sonic Origins Plus brings only reminds us how poor quality the SEGA handheld library was compared to its home console offerings. The original Sonic the Hedgehog games are great, and Sonic Origins is worth...
Review AEW: Fight Forever (PS5) - A Superkick Party Pooper Fit for Elite Fans Only
Meh-EW
It’s been close to three years since All Elite Wrestling’s first video game was officially announced. Many performers within the company itself have long extolled the virtues of 90’s wrestling video game royalty – and in particular, WWF No Mercy – even going so far as to position AEW: Fight Forever as something of a homage. But with...
Sissel be good
If you like Ace Attorney, you should play Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. It's as simple as that. You may already have done so, since the point-n'-click visual novel hybrid originally launched over a decade ago. However, this remaster is the perfect opportunity to either revisit the cult hit on modern hardware, or discover it for the...
Review C-Smash VRS (PSVR2) - Squashed Potential
Get ready to serve... if you've got the space
In a comeback that no one really saw coming, SEGA’s arcade Cosmic Smash series has made the jump to the modern age, with a fully reworked and rebranded PSVR2 title. C-Smash VRS will thrust players into a minimalistic world to play games of squash in virtual reality. On paper it might not sound like it...
It's Life Is Strange, Jim, but not as we know it
On paper, Life Is Strange developer Don't Nod pivoting to the visual novel genre makes sense given its penchant for twisting, choice-based narratives. In practice, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is an underwhelming first foray into the space, lacking the world-building necessary to truly sell a story...
Review Crash Team Rumble (PS5) - A Pleasant Surprise That Might Not Last Very Long
It's about time... limited rewards
When Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time fans were daydreaming of what would follow the former PlayStation mascot's platforming return, we can't imagine an online multiplayer game with a Battle Pass ranked very high on their wishlist. Fast forward almost three years, though, and Crash Team Rumble makes emotes and...
Mini Review Dr Fetus' Mean Meat Machine (PS5) - A Brutal Match-Four Puzzler Lacking in Meaty Content
All skin and bones
Dr Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine is a Super Meat Boy spin-off title from Team Meat, taking a well-known match-four mobile puzzler, similar to the likes of Puyo Puyo, Tetris, and Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine and adding it’s own saw-blade spin to the genre. You’ll be aiding the titular Dr Fetus in his mission to recreate the...
Review Final Fantasy 16 (PS5) - Final Fantasy's Triumphant Return to the Top
Flames of Rebirth
Final Fantasy 16 is the furthest the mainline series has ever strayed from its traditional RPG roots. It's more of an action game with RPG elements bolted on than it is an RPG with action combat, but at the same time, it boasts all of the ingredients that we associate with the greatest Final Fantasy titles. Its character-driven...
Review Park Beyond (PS5) - Shallow Park Builder Besieged by Technical Issues
Beyond a joke
At its heart, Park Beyond evokes memories of the Theme Park games from a couple of decades ago, and it's perhaps due to our nostalgia for those titles that we enjoyed our time with this as much as we did. There's something to be said for the simplified theme park builder, in which you don't need to worry about navigating a dozen...
Review EA Sports Super Mega Baseball 4 (PS5) - Fourth Entry Feels Familiar But Doesn't Drop the Ball
Get outta here
Arcade sports games, once the cornerstone of any good console catalogue, have generally become unfashionable and outdated. Unless you count fantasy sports like Rocket League, the era of NFL Blitz and NBA Street is sadly long behind us. Super Mega Baseball, now in its fourth instalment and officially under the umbrella of EA Sports, is...
Review Layers of Fear (PS5) - A Collection That Brilliantly Reframes the Series
A new coat of paint
Bloober Team has had a time of it when it comes to making games. The original Layers of Fear was a resounding success upon launch back in 2016. However, that success has been much more elusive in the following years, what with Blair Witch, Observer, and even Layers of Fear 2 receiving mixed responses. So why not return to that...
Review F1 23 (PS5) - A FIFA Level Experience for F1 Fans
Lights out and away we go
The world of Formula 1 is bigger than ever, with its popularity steadily increasing thanks to the likes of the Drive to Survive series. So it feels fitting that F1 23 is speeding onto PS5 with the biggest offering the series has seen to date. These yearly EA Sports releases can often feel too iterative to warrant full...
Mini Review Pixel Ripped 1978 (PSVR2) - Atari Adds Impressively to Newest Nostalgic Treat
A matter of time and place
Gaming heroine Dot is back for her third adventure, and this time, developer ARVORE has gone even further back in time than with Pixel Ripped 1989 or 1995. Now, we travel back to 1978 and bask in the glory of the era of Atari. Not only does the game deify and lampoon all manner of Atari projects, but with 1978, the title...
Review Amnesia: The Bunker (PS4) - WW1 Terror Marks an Upgrade for Frictional Games
The darkest descent
After effectively pioneering a new type of horror experience in 2010's Amnesia: The Dark Descent, developer Frictional Games hasn't shown much willingness to create something wholly authentic all over again. Two sequels followed the revolutionary original — with a few years of production set aside for SOMA — but with little...
Review We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie (PS5) - A Great Version of the Series' Highlight
Is it too on the nose to say We Love Katamari?
After the immense success of Katamari Damacy, The King of All Cosmos deems fit to send his miniature son back to the planet earth to grant the requests of fans of the original game. This bizarre fourth-wall destroying plot serves to kick off a suitably bizarre game: We Love Katamari. Following on from...
Mini Review Red Matter 2 (PSVR2) - Soviet Sci-Fi Sequel Makes for an Exquisite Follow-Up
In space, no one can hear you solve puzzles
Vertical Robot has delivered a stellar follow-up to its 2018 puzzler, Red Matter. Stepping into the shoes of Sasha, it’s up to you to chase down and locate your friend — believed dead — before uncovering an SOS message. This message leads you to a Soviet space station orbiting Saturn. One thing...
Mini Review Budget Cuts Ultimate (PSVR2) - Strong Stealth Adventure Cut Back by Tracking Issues
Don't run with scissors
Budget Cuts Ultimate is a virtual reality stealth action adventure from indie developer Neat Corporation. You take on the role of the last human worker within TransCorp, a factory that has taken optimisation to a whole other level by replacing employees with robots. After you receive a mysterious briefcase from an outsider,...
Mini Review Killer Frequency (PS5) - An Intriguing Call-in Murder Mystery
Radio is dead
Killer Frequency is an odd concoction that just about delivers on its unusual premise. Playing as Forrest Nash, a smooth-talking DJ on a small town's local radio station, you're in charge of a late night call-in show. On top of that, though, a serial killer is on the loose, and the tiny police department is in disarray. Somehow, it...
Mini Review The Tartarus Key (PS4) - Quality PS1 Horror All About Puzzles
SAW loser
If games paying tribute to the low poly graphics of the PS1 era are going to be this good, then long may the renaissance continue. The Tartarus Key is a lot like classic Resident Evil without any of the combat or the undead enemies, told from the first-person perspective. You've woken up in a booby-trapped mansion, and a series of...
