Overall, We Were Here Tomorrow is another solidly designed co-op puzzle title that tests brain power, skill, and teamwork. It’s a lot of fun to work as a team to solve the tests, and adds enough new ideas to the mix to make it well worth a look even if you’ve beaten the rest of the series.
All in all, Forever Ago is a wonderfully told tale of love, loss, and how we manage our emotions through the passage of time, even when we’re thrown a curve ball. The relationship between Alfred and Audrey feels genuine, and it genuinely hit me in the feels multiple times. A few technical hiccups mar things slightly, but anyone looking to have a short but sweet experience should absolutely add this to their life plan.
It’s been a long time since I’ve played a DLC that felt this engrossing, deep, and genuinely more like an expansion than just a handful of new missions. Not only has Dark Arisen given us loads of new gameplay in both the new area and the challenge dungeons, it’s proven the perfect excuse to head back to Dragon’s Dogma II to remind us just how great of a game it is.
Rivage requires willing on the part of the player to really get invested in the world, but let it sink its hook in you and it’ll be an immersive adventure that you won’t soon forget. Excellent stuff all round, and another notch in the already impressive bow of Raw Fury’s output.
That seems to be the prevailing feeling towards Normal Golf Game as I sit and think about it. It’s maddening, frustrating, and simply ridiculous at times, and yet, all I want to do is keep playing and trying the harder challenges. I wouldn’t go so far to say it’ll be a game of the year contender, but it absolutely will be one of my most memorable experiences, and one that I’d recommend without hesitation.
In some ways, The Blood of Dawnwalker feels a bit old-school in its design, but once we settled into its rhythm, we found a satisfying, if slightly clunky RPG that is well worth a recommendation from us. The time limit means we can’t be the all-in-one hero, and there’s a story here that…ahem..sank it’s fangs into us early on.
Sniper rifles usually spell disaster for those on the wrong end of one, but in Sniper Dan it becomes a tool to help people. That the game manages to pack so much to do within what is a singular method of interaction is excellent, and there are so many extra challenges to find that it’ll last you quite some time indeed.
WWI - Gallipoli brings more intense WWI-era multiplayer shooting, with realistic depictions of all things war. It can be grim, and certainly makes us respect those who had to do this for real even more, but it’s a good way to remember the horrors of the past whilst still having some fun with large scale matches. It’s unique rhythm might not suit all, but if you’re after a shooter that feels different to almost everything else out there, then this comes recommended.
No More Room In Hell 2 has won us over with fantastic objective based gameplay, letting us pair up with up to 8 players to survive the madness. The maps are huge and offer plenty to explore, the new Survival mode is a great change of pace, and the constant risk of losing it all feels well balanced. If Torn Banner can sort out the buggy menus, we’ll have one of the best online multiplayer games we’ve played this year on our hands.
While it’s not a perfect remake thanks to a few niggles (and a distinct lack of PvP), there’s no denying that Halo: Campaign Evolved takes what was so beloved about the original and improves on it in many ways. It looks incredible, the quality of life improvements and reworked levels are welcome, and whether you’re back after 25 years or brand new, this is still a standout FPS that needs to be played.
Fun, bright, packed with challenges and with one of the year's best soundtracks, Denshattack! is a joy to behold at all times.
Overall though, there’s a lot of charm to Fixforce. It can be frustrating, and the RNG can feel like it’s working against us at times, but get a few friends in for an evening and the co-op building/collecting can be a blast once we get into the swing of things.
So overall, if you’re looking for a pool simulation that nails the basics - physics, game types, controls - then Pure Pool Pro fits the bill. The on table action is great, I’ve had fun going up against the AI in competitive matches and I look forward to jumping online once there are others to play against. But a dull presentation - full of AI generated guff - lets the side down.
Overall, D-topia has been a refreshing and enjoyable experience. The puzzle difficulty is pitched well for the most part, erring on the easier side to keep things flowing, and interacting with the people of D-topia is rewarding as we get to know and help them. Being able to use items we purchased in any way would have been nice, but it’s a small blemish on what was otherwise a well paced take on AI, and the future of humanity alongside it.
Roguelites can feel punishing for the sake of it at times, but Abyssus seems content to give us a good pasting while also offering a hand out to pick us back up and shove back into the fray for another go immediately. Simple, good fun and very moreish in every regard.
It’s a well put together collection of what I love about the old school games, and Hollowbody holds it all together with a compelling, dark tale, and decent puzzles and progression. That the controls don’t quite work as well as we’d like is a small downer – it’s far from unplayable, just a little more awkward than we’d hope – but it’s not enough to make this any less than a solid recommendation to retro survival horror fans all the same.
There is still a spark of what made Industria intriguing in some of the settings and lore we can find, but the package as a whole just misses the mark for me. It is technically average at best, with slow, plodding, and uninteresting gunplay and a story that feels like a step backwards from the original in almost every regard.
All in all, it’s great to have The Dark Pictures back with us after an extended break. The Turning Point feature is fantastic (we’d like to see the older games retrofitted with it), the story is full of interesting twists and turns, and the extensions of more traditional gameplay are welcome. Some choices still leave us screaming at the screen to meet in the middle, but on the whole Directive 8020 maintains the series high bar.
Celebrating the 90’s, excellent music and how it impacts and marks our lives, and the joy of growing up with a few close friends, Mixtape is a stellar experience from start to finish.
Replaced has been a long time coming, and for the most part we’re happy with how it has turned out. The combat and presentation are the highlights here, with incredible animation making every encounter look and feel awesome. A slow opening and generally heavy platforming and exploration can drag things down at times though. As it is, Replaced winds up being worth a play for sure, even if it isn’t quite the next best thing we were hoping for.