Matt Sainsbury


1586 games reviewed
74.0 average score
80 median score
60.6% of games recommended
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Aug 19, 2025

Now, if we can just get Nightdive to give us a remaster of the original Aliens Vs. Predator from 1999, I really will be set. Yes, I know that there is the Aliens Vs. Predator Classic 2000, but I want Nightdive, specifically, to be on all these kinds of projects.

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Aug 18, 2025

Even as it is, Iwakura Aria is better than 99% of the other visual novels out there. It’s essential as-is, and right on the cusp of being a masterpiece, and that’s ultimately why I’m disappointed that it doesn’t quite get there.

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What distinguishes Mado Monogatari is its extreme enthusiasm and relentless humour. With a joyful art style, hugely entertaining character design and a painfully catchy and exuberant soundtrack, Mado Monogatari ends up being more memorable than it has any right to be. It’s been a stressful couple of weeks for me with an almost overwhelming workload, but whenever I loaded this up I found myself smiling and relaxed almost immediately afterwards.

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Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game is such a great idea, but it becomes way too apparent, far too quickly, that the developers either didn’t have the budget to fully explore their idea, or simply had no idea how to turn the great idea into a compelling game. It’ll leave such a warm impression on you, but once that’s worn off, the game sours more quickly than a poorly cooked rhubarb pie. Hobbits like that for some reason. I do not.

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Aug 11, 2025

I would have happily purchased 20 (if not more) of the games in this collection as standalone titles. Having them all in one package feels so generous I almost feel like we’re all taking advantage of the developers here.

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Really, the question of whether this game is going to be worthwhile to you is ridiculously simple: Do you enjoy nonograms? If you do, then you don’t really need to be a Miku fan to get value out of this. You’re getting 1000 puzzles, and most of them are very well-designed nonograms. That is, by default incredible value. If you don’t like nonograms, then… well, I just don’t know you.

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Aug 4, 2025

The issues with Wild Hearts S are minor enough that I’ve been more than willing to put up with them to enjoy the greater context. This is an excellent take on the Monster Hunter formula with stunning production values, an excellent and challenging range of monsters to track down, and, ultimately, a satisfying world to inhabit. It’s just incredible to now also have it in a portable format.

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I genuinely didn’t know that I wanted Golden Tee Arcade Classics until it was released, and now I fully expect to be one of my most played games with Nintendo does its annual “what did you play” wrap. It’s challenging, it’s rewarding, it’s nostalgic and, as strange as the entire project is, it’s so very entertaining.

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Overall, the disappointment of the Switch 2 launch window, despite being essential if you haven’t played it before.

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Jul 28, 2025

The Wandering Village is the kind of game that you can end up spending a lot of time in, and may just leave you feeling reflective and pensive.

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No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: The Somnium Files is a kind of filler release, and that’s okay. Not every game needs to be something that overs tens of hours of highly emotional plot and deep gameplay, and the first two AI: The Somnium Files games have already established an intelligent pedigree for the series.

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Neverwinter Nights 2 is an artifact of its time, and today straddles a somewhat uncomfortable spot where it’s not quite so nostalgic that it feels “retro” while at the same time, the games industry is now producing far more complex and nuanced narratives, in particular. With that being said, as a stand-in for getting a group together to play some tabletop Dungeons & Dragons, it’s difficult to look past this. Basically, it’s the right kind of kitsch.

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Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is the perfect launch window title for the Nintendo Switch 2. It highlights the kind of creative whimsy that Nintendo can achieve with its new hardware, demonstrates that the Switch 2 really is more than a slightly bigger Switch… and is just a very fine game on top of all of that. Donkey Kong has finally appeared in a 3D platformer worth a damn.

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Jul 8, 2025

What’s in Tamagotchi Plaza is well-made enough and entertaining, particularly for the younger audience, but this is a very limited and shallow game that somehow manages to lack the meaning and intellectual value of Tamagotchi themselves.

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The man is a genius and he will be remembered as the game industry’s first real auteur. Miyamoto and many others were great game developers and artists before Kojima, but Kojima is a true, bona fide auteur. Death Stranding 2 doesn’t harm that legacy in any way.

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Jun 30, 2025

Overall, however, I found myself playing long and deep sessions of Against the Storm. There are times when complexity can be a good thing, if it’s done well. Against the Storm gets that much right, giving us a challenging and also rewarding city builder with a compelling replay loop that will have you playing right through the night for weeks at a time.

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The thing is, though, I did find myself having fun with this stupid thing. Each time you unlock a new minigame, that little Dante guide (actually a body-less mouse-creature with long arms) gives you a very self-aware summary of what the minigame is.

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“Director’s Cut” is the right term for this Yakuza 0 release. The biggest addition is additional minutes of narrative footage, and it’s been spruced up to work on a handheld console for the first time. That’s really all it needed, because it was already the pinnacle of one of the greatest JRPG properties we’ve ever seen.

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Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is one of the more niche Atlus classics, but the remaster has been well worth the time and effort. There is a dark and culturally interesting heartbeat at the centre of this one, and while I do prefer turn-based combat to this action button-mashy stuff from Atlus, I was more than willing to put up with it for everything else about the game.

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Jun 16, 2025

Mario Kart World is magnificent. It features the tight and refined gameplay you expect from the series, a brilliant new Knockout mode, and such colourful energy and vibrancy that it was the perfect title to launch the console. I really didn’t think there was much else Nintendo could do after Mario Kart 8, but I stand corrected.

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