Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
As witty, eccentric and imaginative as the 2005 action-platformer, with a more developed understanding of mental health.
The Ascent's arcology setting is splendid, if heavily derivative - shame that all you can do here is gun and grind.
Witty writing, evocative art and engrossing battles combine in a wonderful homage to classic tabletop games
Sumo Newcastle's debut is an engrossing but substanceless heist game - and an interestingly grim take on Robin Hood.
A simple but quietly captivating 3D collectathon with a gorgeous setting.
Outriders is its own greatest victim. There are some decent ideas in here – an absorbing cauldron of combat variables, some majestic geography, even a few guns worth holding onto – but they're dragged down and suffocated by a game that doesn't want to entertain you but hypnotise you with the prospect of another trinket.
In this brief but insidious information game, you're an aide to a defeated commander-in-chief who is refusing to concede
IO's final World of Assassination game is closer to a seasonal content update than a sequel, but it's a thrilling endeavour all the same.
The novella's dated metaphors are ousted in the best moments of this interactive homage, but its alternative endings pull their punches
A lovely, mildly experimental city sim with some sinister undertones it never tries to explore.
Supermassive still knows how to plunge you into paranoia, but the second Dark Pictures entry feels a little lost in the woods.
Awe Interactive's hellbound original finds the music at the heart of the first-person shooter
A squirming body horror labyrinth whose mix of ability-gating and backtracking slightly cramps its matchless creature design.
A weird, wry and wholesome underground puzzler with spellbinding art direction and music.
Persona 4 is a twisting tale of dreams gone rogue in a town sapped of purpose. It brings personal demons to life in gaudy but plausible ways, and uses this to rejuvenate the dog-eared framework of a town-and-dungeon fantasy RPG. Unceremonious as it is, the PC port leaves all of that peculiar magic intact. It’s just a shame that the insight and empathy on show here doesn’t extend to everybody.
A couple of nifty concepts can't save this uninspired genre piece from its shortage of character or fear.
This is far from the most polished remaster I’ve played, and the original was a hit-and-miss affair to begin with. Judged in terms of Platinum’s own end-of-level trophies, this earns a silver award at best.
Hypnotic art, otherworldly audio and captivating writing meet in an undersea exploration game that wants you to take your time.
An even faster and bloodier but slightly wayward follow-up to a thunderous shooter reboot.
An absorbing, tense and well-wrought samurai adventure let down by a little too much recycling and some muddled new systems.