Whether you've come for a good yarn, intense drama, or intriguing puzzles, American Arcadia has you covered nicely without ever overstaying its welcome. Experiencing Trevor's story and the interplay between Trevor and Angela is engaging and high-quality entertainment. It's brief, and the characters aren't particularly interesting, but American Arcadia is a game with plenty to say - an inspired, brief, but pleasurable title that deserves attention.
Subtle improvements and the amalgamation of ways F1 25 engages players aren't enough to stave off the fact there's no bold step forward with this latest series offering. It's another year and another entry, and while you'll still want to return if you've been dedicated to F1 games for years, there's not enough here to justify F1 25 as a must-buy.
Feel free to give this one a go and milk it for all its perks to reach the top of the ACPD, but you may want to send this one down with a DUI once it's all set and done.
Some believe that in order to truly "remaster" a game, there has to be a mastered game to begin with, and in the case of Onimusha 2, it certainly (with all due respect) isn't a game that was made with mastery to begin with. A derided sequel given an appreciable but unsurprising remaster, Onimusha 2 is worthwhile to play if you didn't play it in 2002, and is a capable study for new players.
If you took the journey five years ago to Journey to the Savage Planet, you'll want to book a trip to Revenge of the Savage Planet as well. Marmite humour and low-key exploration pleasures aside, Revenge of the Savage Planet is a good and enjoyable time that allows you to scan to your heart's content and mosey through unknown landscapes to complete objectives and challenges en route to your ultimate revenge. Revenge of the Savage Planet won't take up much of your time either, but just know that this brand of revenge is a dish served with a slice of weirdness and a platter of squirt burgers—meaning you should just go and have fun for a while.
If you're familiar with Spirit of the North, this sequel may impress you with its evolutionary strides over its predecessor, such as granting you an open expanse to explore at your leisure, not to mention the fact it's double the length of the previous title. For newcomers, Spirit of the North 2 has an enchanting and calming essence you'll gravitate towards despite its technical shortcomings and unnecessary upgrade system.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World provides a raucous and exciting platformer that you'll want to keep exploring, and for those who've already played it, there's even more to unearth now, and a new world.
By retaining the qualities of the old and bringing in new flourishes, Monaco 2 will please the virtual money-stealer within you. Co-operative play has been enriched with more strategic nuances than ever before, the levels brim with a classy glamour that's hard to resist, and the fun-yet-short play sessions make each mission digestible without getting overbearing or tedious. There is a pervading sense not much has changed here besides the alluring graphical overhaul, and single-player doesn't do Monaco 2 justice, but as a co-op game it glimmers like a crystal inside a display case ready for snatching up. If you have some pals go and raid Monaco of all its glitter; just don't expect to break the bank.
If you're looking for a decent Metroidvania, then Rusty Rabbit is solid enough, though there's not a lot here to suggest it's more than towing the genre's line rather than branching out in unexpected new directions. Collecting junk is enjoyable in Rusty Rabbit, but maybe it could've done with more fervor and less grit, even if the game's name informs you of its weathered vibes.
A beautiful and wonderful surprise, South of Midnight is a delightful fantasy adventure title that crafts a uniquely southern story about connection and rebuilding harmony in a way that’s rare in videogames today. Hazel and the cast of characters are pleasant, the powers and abilities Hazel uses are plentiful and pleasing, the world is rich with engrossing natural environments, and the breeziness inherent within the game’s storytelling and accessibility makes it a stunning experience. The repetition does grate, and scrapping against haints could use more sparkle and empowerment, but otherwise South of Midnight is one of the best games this year and thoroughly deserves your attention.
Remarkable is one of the most appropriate ways to describe Atomfall. So many triple A games these days are situated in American cities and smother you with their American cultural values, but Atomfall is as British as a Yorkshire Pudding, and thus it's an absolute treat. The array of difficulty options, the elegant scenery, the incentive to discover and go off the beaten path, and all the pleasant sights and sounds of Atomfall make it an unforgettable and outstanding survival game that is irresistibly moreish and well-worth your time.
If you loved the remastered Tomb Raiders I-III released last year, then you'll definitely want to grab IV-VI remastered as well. The nostalgia and the novelty of revisiting the old Tomb Raider games is certainly worthwhile, but with IV-VI you're witnessing three Tomb Raiders that gradually lose track of what the series was all about. The Last Revelation and its new ideas are successful, and you'll enjoy your explorations in Egypt, but Chronicles and Angel of Darkness reek of missed potential and both of them come off as rush jobs. The remaster efforts are good enough in terms of uplifting these relics visually, and the framerate is crisp as well, but you'll still need to wrestle with terrible design choices inherent within these three games, and the pounding desire for these Tomb Raider games to be remade for a contemporary audience.
Much in the same way as the previous two Two Point entries, Two Point Museum is a delightful and cheeky, yet deliciously approachable management sim that's top of the class when it comes to comedy, irreverence and accessibility. While Two Point Museum continues the series momentum rather the delving into something entirely unexpected, it still contains many subtle and not-so-subtle new features that improve the entire Two Point franchise. The variety of exhibits, the discoveries and treasures you can uncover from undertaking expeditions, as well as items, structures, personnel, and children, keep Two Point Museum plodding along as an entry that fascinates as memorably as attending a real museum. Although you're continuously extinguishing the problems of running a successful gallery of grand exhibitions, you're rewarded with unlimited progression, and you can move along at a pace that serves you more than ever before. Now that's the third great Two Point experience in a row to savour. Undoubtedly, Two Point Museum is a Jurassic success.
If you've got room in your catalogue for another giant and glistening RPG, then you can do much worse than Avowed. The glowing and diverse environments give off a unique hue that does look majestic in its own particular way, the combat is satisfying and meaty, and the story is layered with intrigue and political tensions. However, Avowed is let down by an experience that's a bit too generic and toothless when compared to the stalwarts of the RPG genre. The sacred and special sparkle that fizzes up the best of the genre is missing in Avowed, as it fails to scintillate in its initial hours. Avowed gets better the more you commit to it, but when there are many RPGs that fly out of the gate with memorable opening gambits, it's comparatively a bad indictment for Avowed to drone along in an uninteresting way until you plough a handful of hours into it. Don't allow these negatives to diminish the positives though, Avowed is a strong RPG that will please anybody looking for a good and tasty role-playing steak to tuck into, it just deserved to shine as bright as its beautiful setting, instead of wallowing in middle-tier purgatory.
Even with its rechristening, Dynasty Warriors: Origins brings to the war table, it's hard to shake off the feeling that this latest entry in the long-running franchise isn't doing enough differently to truly distinguish itself from its predecessors, despite the sense the series is starting afresh by calling itself Origins.
Altogether, Sniper Elite: Resistance is a fine entry in the Sniper Elite franchise which gives us more insight into Harry Hawker, as well as a shiny protagonist spotlight for him to be recognized in. The meat and potatoes (or should that be bullets and bones?) of the Sniper Elite experience is all here and accounted for, and although there are various new locations to be in awe of, and navigational options to test out, Resistance fails to truly push the envelope in exciting directions despite shifting the focus onto a new hero and a new story.
Altogether, Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is a return to form for a franchise that has struggled to regain its footing over the past several years. This is a strong entry in the franchise and deserves your full attention. Black Ops 6 certainly doesn't have the best campaign or multiplayer in the franchise, but it does what Call of Duty does best, and is thus in the upper echelon of the series. Now go raise hell in the Persian Gulf and nab those juicy killstreak combo medals to rejoice in Call of Duty returning into the book of good graces.
A worthwhile retro survival horror experience that utilizes every inch of its three-to-four hour runtime while paying homage to the greats. Even though it's lacking in scares, it manages to enthrall with its excellent brain-scratchers and deft design decisions. A small and successful slice of survival horror.
Everything you enjoyed from Dead Rising is here and the flurry of meaningful enhancements to the core game make it the complete package. Sure, some lingering quibbles remain from the original game like the time-sensitive gameplay, the pop-in, and bosses that repeat the same predictable attack patterns, yet this remaster refines many of the drawbacks of the original game, and fine-tunes it for a game befitting of the year 2024. Now get out there, snap photos, mow down zombies, and savor all the juicy lunacy Dead Rising has to offer - cos it's a real treat.
On the outside, Tiebreaker looks impressive with its plentiful roster blossoming with talent, a dedication towards providing the most authentic tennis game experience, and a presentation that wraps you up into the star-studded allure of a tennis icon. However, it all starts to unravel when you actually play it with its frustrating physics, its lack of non-generic modes, and the overall feeling it's just another me-too tennis game. Forget a tie-break, this one couldn't tie Novac Djokovic's ASIC's, which isn't the kind of impression that a new tennis game contender would want to make, yet Tiebreaker sadly fails to be anything more than just another pretender to Top Spin's crown.