Simon Parkin


148 games reviewed
81.2 average score
80 median score
66.0% of games recommended
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Unscored - Street Fighter V
Feb 15, 2016

The greatest fighting game series of them all is back, but its return is half-cooked, with much of its advertised features yet to materialise

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Unscored - Nier: Automata
Mar 16, 2017

It's testament to Taro's talent for storytelling that the game inspires replay as much through its narrative hooks as its baser promise of trophies and a 100% competition record.

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Unscored - Abzu
Aug 16, 2016

Abzû is a beautiful audio-visual treat that's light on challenge but big on wonder.

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Unscored - Final Fantasy XV
Dec 5, 2016

Final Fantasy XV takes the series in a new direction, but despite some memorable moments, it remains remains a confused, uneven package.

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Oct 2, 2015

Glitch-ridden and seemingly unfinished, this is a tragic swansong for Tony Hawk's video game career.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Rodea the Sky Soldier
Nov 13, 2015

Glimpses of Yuji Naka's outmoded genius can be seen in Rodea's barren skies, but a paucity and dissonance of ideas make this a failure.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Lost Sphear
Feb 2, 2018

Lost Sphear is a more ambitious JRPG than its predecessor, yet it risks abandoning its purpose to return to the genre's simpler days.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Late Shift
Apr 24, 2017

The FMV thriller is fully exhumed in this splicing of game and cinema, where high production values fail to obscure the creative fissures.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Rain World
Mar 29, 2017

Relentless and brutal, this post-apocalyptic pixel art survival quest is a gruelling, if often beguiling, challenge.

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No Recommendation / Blank - 1-2-Switch
Mar 2, 2017

A characteristically imaginative minigame suite that lays out the possibilities of Nintendo's new console, without feeling like a guidebook.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood
Jul 3, 2017

Samurais vs. Chocobos.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Double Dragon IV
Feb 3, 2017

This period study of the arcade's formative beat 'em up has its charms, but the sense that this is a game out of time is not easily shaken.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Birthdays the Beginning
May 5, 2017

The designer behind Harvest Moon returns with a game that frustrates as much as it fascinates.

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No Recommendation / Blank - World of Final Fantasy
Oct 26, 2016

Billed as a grand, lavish piece of fan service, this is as much a tribute to Pok'mon's charms as those of the series whose name it bears.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
Jul 1, 2016

A painfully undercooked Japanese RPG that shows how far the genre has fallen behind its western rivals.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Pokemon X and Y
Oct 4, 2013

Pokémon X & Y is the finest expression of Satoshi Tajiri's obsessive vision yet.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
Nov 6, 2013

Elementary.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Bravely Default
Dec 3, 2013

Post fantasy.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
Sep 26, 2014

Pocket fighter.

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No Recommendation / Blank - Shadow of the Beast
May 16, 2016

Heavy Spectrum's affectionate, idiosyncratic reboot summons the spirit of the original Shadow of the Beast, as well as some of its faults.

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