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Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom is platforming bliss. It takes the best parts of old-school collectathon games, and infuses them with a huge amount of off-the-walls charm and bright, bubbly art that's all topped off by incredible music and fluid, fun taxi-flinging action.
Unicorn Overlord's bounty of tactical systems, beautiful visuals and compelling medieval fantasy make it an early choice for strategy RPG of the year.
Planet Zoo: Console Edition offers the same enjoyable park building as its PC forerunner, and though it's a slightly slower experience, Frontier have done an excellent job translating the detailed park building to controller.
Torn Away is a peculiar game. Numerous technical issues do their determined best to spoil an otherwise powerful narrative; one that is elegant in its simplicity. Those haphazard controls, visual limitations, and laughable stealth sections will succeed in turning many players away, but, if you manage to put up with them, you'll find that Asya's tale is one to relish.
At the end of the day that's the chief purpose of these remasters: to offer fans a way to play these older Star Wars Battlefront titles on current consoles, with slightly spruced up visuals, and the option to play online. They're still inherently rough around the edges and play a little clunky, but the Classics Collection does what it says on the tin, giving these beloved games a quick dip in the Bacta tank instead of attempting to forge them anew.
What Valiant Hearts: Coming Home lacks in engaging gameplay, it more than makes up for in story and characterisation, and on these specific terms it is an unprecedented success. With a historical authenticity that would make many AAA games green with envy, the developer tells a brave and deeply moving tale with seeming ease. Valiant Hearts: Coming Home certainly doesn't pull its punches, and is all the better for it.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is an approachable take on the city builder for players of many skill levels. It encourages experimentation with your settlement layout and exploration in the Ursee, but some design decisions don't feel as smooth as they could be, like selecting buildings or interacting with other factions. If you are a city builder fan you can sink hours into this, but do not expect it to have the same depth as others in the genre.
Millennia is a 4X game that's bursting with new ideas and ways to tackle the historical strategy genre. I enjoyed how regions grow and sprawl across the map, the management that this provides, and the alt-history ages provide some fun twists on reality, but Millennia also comes up short in some key areas and a number of concepts aren't fully explored. In particular, the aesthetics of the UI and the combat visualisation are very rough, the diplomacy lacking and there's certainly areas that C Prompt can and will hopefully improve.
I really wanted to like Hightower and I kind of do, thanks to all of the passion and cute touches that are peeking through the cracks. Whether it's the inclusion of old movie trivia that can skip a battle, some Charlie Chaplin footage, a scene where you're trapped behind a wall and more, it's clear there was a real vision here, and while it may not be fully realised, I admire the effort. The end product falls short on a number of levels, but I have a soft spot for it regardless and will be keeping an eye on the developer's future games.
After the successes of both Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole, South Park: Snow Day! is a big change of pace that left me with mixed feelings. It's an enjoyable game with some nice ideas, but at the same time, you'll be left wondering was this it?
Rise of the Ronin is a massive gamble for Team Ninja, known for its more linear action games, but it's one that has paid off. Rise of the Ronin has a lot of depth to it from the satisfying combat, to all the side activities across three broad regions, and the plethora of excellent characters. This game should mark the start of a grand new era for Team Ninja.
Princess Peach: Showtime! is a good game, but It will not be for everyone and those with decent gaming experience won't find a challenge here... but that isn't the point. This foray with Peach into acting scratches that itch of a game that is just a fun little time within minimal stress or worry – something we all need right now. Peach's adventure isn't anything groundbreaking, but the commitment to its theming and spades of the classic Nintendo charm make it worth sticking with until the curtain call.
While it's great to witness the return of survival horror royalty, Alone in the Dark haphazardly follows modern genre trends where it once invented them. While it mostly succeeds at drawing players into a Lovecraftian mystery, it's hard to ignore the underbaked action elements used to patch these story beats together.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a triumph of a game that wants you to just take your time and see everything you possibly can. You'll be constantly pulled from your path by a new cave, a random quest, a chest one of your Pawns has found, random fights, and it's all part of the experience. I adore this game, and while it has some aspects I think some will find too clunky, it's a masterpiece.
Mediterranea Inferno is an achievement in storytelling - not only through it's uniquely direct tackling of the effects of COVID-19 on young adults, but in how it uses the most outlandish, awe-inspiring visuals and sounds to tell that story.
Berserk Boy is a love letter to classic platformers, but in combining its inspirations together it carves out it's own path as an incredibly promising new game and, hopefully, the first entry in an unforgettable new series.
New Star GP captures the intense racing action of an F1 season, from on track action and pit strategy to building your team, but does so without losing any of the fun of an arcade racer.
For a brief moment of brilliance, Contra: Operation Galuga is the modern interpretation of a 2D run 'n' gun that we always wanted. But it's a fleeting moment, and what comes after is a deeply onerous experience that proves a trudge to see through to completion.
Manic Mechanics is a reasonably sufficient attempt to do Overcooked! in a garage, but lacks the magic that made its influence such a classic. Entirely disposable fun for a weekend then, just don't be expecting your friends to be begging to play more next week.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game continues the series legacy in emphatic style, with a true pioneering spirit that'll keep you coming back for vehicular adventures for months to come.