Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is a wonderfully inventive iteration of the classic tile-puzzler that manages to blend well-realised gameplay with a particularly contemporary story that will strike a chord with a great deal of people who play it. Every aspect of Arranger is bursting with personality and care, and I couldn't help but love every moment I spent with Jemma and her chaotic powers. Playing with a good pair of headphones is essential!
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is an uneven experience that features great shoot-em-up elements wrapped in a bizarre cinematic focus that only seems to take away more than it gives. Particle effects can be disorienting and the story feels only partially realised. In the pursuit of cinematic excitement, it feels like the base experience has been compromised and damaged with a lack of focus across the board. If this was just a top-down shoot-em-up, I'd be far more positive here. If you can stick with it, you might find an enjoyable arcade-adjacent experience with cutting-edge presentation. Otherwise, maybe not.
There's a solid foundation to be found in this crossover fighter, and more than enough content to satisfy the appetite of a fighting game aficionado. Unfortunately, the exciting prospect of this crossover is somewhat watered down by a ho-hum presentation that lacks the punch and impact that it needs to really seal the deal. Despite that, fighting game fans will appreciate this re-release of a classic game that offers a solid amount of content and a variety of options to explore. Just don't expect a friendly experience for newcomers.
SCHiM is a wonderfully inventive puzzle-platformer that challenges you to explore a familiar world through a completely different lens. A distinct visual style and soundtrack marry with an effective story all about overcoming obstacles and remembering what life is all about. I found myself absolutely absorbed by the world and the satisfying loop of jumping from puddle to puddle. SCHiM is a must-play in a year already full of hits. SCHiM is a game that I will come back to time and time again when needing to unwind and relax.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a wonderfully innovative fusion of genres that managed to take me on a journey from frustration to being totally absorbed in the world that it offers. Across a lengthy campaign, everything comes together to create a story that feels well and truly realised. Some rough edges do little to diminish just how impressed I am in how quickly this game managed to turn me around. While it might take a while for it to truly soar, it soars high.
Until Then stands as a heartening example of a narrative adventure game and manages to strike a chord with its delicate balance of the supernatural and highschool drama. Managing to deftly avoid the tropes that dominate the space, every choice in Until Then feels intentional and every interaction feels far more earnest than some of its contemporaries. I very much enjoyed experiencing this story and being able to almost relive some of my own silly highschool stories through the eyes of Mark. Lying underneath the teenage awkwardness is a story about growth and acceptance, and it is one that everyone will be able to see themselves in.
A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars offers more of what made the original campaign great. Imaginative puzzle design and new layers of complexity offer a compelling challenge for players who might have exhausted the already impressive catalogue of challenges. Despite the slight imprecision that comes with the territory of this type of puzzler on controller, I found myself enjoying this set of puzzles to a great degree. Impressive scope and out-of-the-box thinking means that this is an expansion that no fan should miss.
The core concept of Backpack Hero is one with incredible potential for an awesome conbination of two classic genres, but the result feels slightly muddled and confused in the final product. Where the foundations are solid, convoluted and poor explanations of complex mechanics lead to an experience that left me scratching my head more than a few times, and not in the intended way. Despite oozing with personality from the very beginning, and offering a wide variety of content to sink your teeth into, I didn't find myself meshing with the offerings on show here. Sometimes less, is undoubtedly more.
Making ample use of its inspiration, Megaton Musashi W: Wired is a formiddable mecha-action game that manages to delicately balance narrative and action into a compelling package. Despite some oversimplistic gameplay and inconsistent pacing, the overall experience is engaging enough to grab your attention and keep it well rewarded. Megaton Musashi W: Wired is a title full of character and ambition that manages to stick the landing for the most part, even if it isn't quite reinventing the wheel.
BIT.TRIP RERUNNER is a polarising game that manages to mix some of the most heartening extra features that I've seen in a remake collection with some of the most frustrating gameplay that I've experienced in a rhythm platformer. I can absolutely see the foundations of a solid rhythm platformer here, but I feel like in being so rooted in tradition, this remake loses the potential to bring new people in. While I could see myself getting used to the heavy physics and visual language of RERUNNER, the unfortunate lack of visual variety in this package means that I found myself growing relatively tired before I reached the end. The level editor is a wonderful addition that suffers from this as well. Despite this, I left RERUNNER feeling generally impressed with the care that's been put in, but this is one for the fans.
For what Paper Trail sets out to do - it does so with a clear passion and mastery of craft that is rarely seen in the industry today. While not everyone might resonate with the story in the same way that I have, those who do will feel every fold and every step of Paige's journey through a whimsical and wonderfully designed world that manages to mix an inventive new twist on top-down puzzling with a heartening premise that will sit with me for a long time.
A novel concept is unfortunately lost in a muddle of confused mechanics and cheap presentation that makes me question exactly why this foregone Stadia game even made the jump to major platforms. Where I managed to have some small fun on the virtue of this still being the PAC-MAN we know and love, I found myself quickly wanting to reinstall other versions of the game. Given that this isn't even the first instance of a PAC-MAN battle royale, I'm sad that this didn't manage to emerge as a worthwhile competitor.
Another Crab's Treasure sets out to try and create a Soulslike that trims down the complicated foundation into a new approachable format and succeeds in every regard. A variety of accessibility options mean that anybody can dive in and experience the journey of Kril and have a part to play in the hunt for his shell. While inviting newcomers, Another Crab's Treasure manages to offer an exceptionally unique approach to combat that manages to stand out among the crowd. Technical hiccups throughout sour the experience very slightly, but the game on show here is ambitious and a strong candidate for anybody's first foray into this well-beloved genre. All managing to come together under an appealing and consistently entertaining journey and cast, Another Crab's Treasure is a great time.
Managing to step out of the shadow of its inspirations, Freedom Planet 2 is a brilliant 2D action-platformer that balances all of its elements in a near-perfect harmony while trying plenty of new things. Painstakingly detailed visuals, an entertaining cast and toe-tapping soundtrack help to set this game out as a game that any platformer enthusiast should seek out, despite some small hiccups.
Far more than a one trick pony, What the Golf? is a brilliant party sports game that manages to entertain in every way that it sets out to do. From beginning to end I found myself surprised and entertained by what new twists were thrown my way and I look forward to seeing what the team has in store next. Some technical hiccups here and there led to some small frustrations but none were enough to get me to hang up the club. Well worth a look for all who are interested!
Marrying the very best of the action-combat genre with the satisfaction of a rhythm game, Hi-Fi Rush is a titanic achievement that offers plenty of both style and substance. Luscious animations, appealing character designs and a hilarious cast help to elevate this title beyond the level of enjoying for the gameplay alone, I was here for the story too. Learning curves and a few too many dry spells in the main campaign do very little to dampen this rocking good time, a must play for action fans.
Unicorn Overlord is yet another standout game from a revered developer that sets out to innovate on classic strategy conventions. It achieves these goals with style and substance, resulting in a game that strategy afficionados should absolutely consider jumping into. While I don't think this title is a particularly good entry point for newcomers to the genre, this game is clearly aware of its audience and it plays to those strengths. Spectacular.
With layered yet totally approachable gameplay mechanics and a fully-realised world to put those mechanics in, Penny's Big Breakaway is a breakout success that should be experienced by absolutely everyone with a passing interest in 3D platformers. Every moment I spent with this game was utter bliss and learning the intricacies of movement and learning my way around imaginative levels was a treat. Genuinely phenomenal.
King Arthur: Knight's Tale succeeds in achieving the goals that it sets for itself but I rarely felt it go above and beyond the standards that I have become accustomed to over years of tactical game experience.
A Little to the Left is a satisfyingly methodical puzzler that had me feeling relaxed from the minute I started shifting items around. Every part of the game feels intricately crafted to feel as relaxing as possible and each puzzles offers a real sense of satisfaction that I don't often get from other games.