The best bit of The Occupation is creeping around and scrabbling through paperwork, and that bit is bloody brilliant.
If nothing else, this is a game where you, a gorilla, can punch a man so hard that he crumbles into his constituent parts, and then pick up his arse and hoof it at one of his mates. I don’t know what else to tell you.
I want to want to spend more time with it, because there are bits of it I really enjoy. But it needs more than the world map to change a bit, or have seasons, or better social interaction. It needs changes to how it actually works, which is a lot to ask. But the biggest fight I’ve had with Anthem so far is against Anthem.
When you reach a milestone you get a moment of pure, unadulterated glory, but it’s fleeting, like craving a cigarette and quickly realising that nicotine is a chemical lie and cigarettes are shit. Progress feels so gradual as to be nonexistent, and can be instantly wiped out — but not in a calculated way like the difficulty of Dark Souls. In a sort of hopeless way. Each warrior is a tiny Sisyphus.
I’m sort of cross with it! But also want to play it again! Because it might be the most stunning game I have ever seen! Argh!
All Bad North needs, really, is a little bit more consistency within the random, because currently it’s an experience that I want to go back to, yet am frustrated by.
The final, pivotal choice in the game wasn’t that difficult for me, because I’d run out of all reasons to care.
Starman isn't big or brash, but sometimes you just need to sit quietly for a couple of hours and focus on something nice.
Vampyr serves delicious ladles of angst and drama with a hearty slice of excellent, morally grey choice system that will genuinely surprise you, all wrapped up in a wonderfully gloomy London. It's just a shame the combat turns a bit sour.
Quarantine Circular, while lacking the same focus as Subsurface Circular, is another engaging untangling of science fiction concepts with interesting characters, and it leaves you waiting for the next instalment.
State of Decay 2 has some fun additions that can keep things interesting. Just not quite interesting enough (especially when contending with a clutch of performance issues).
The Thin Silence has a satisfying, creative approach to puzzle solving, alongside a sad story told in equally sad snippets. Though you can reset puzzles and try again as often as you need, you might sometimes still be left at a loss.
God of War achieves a very impressive balance between the epic and the mundane, between the ultra violent and the domestic. It's undoubtedly the coolest and most interesting God of War to date.
Rare's piratical playground looks lovely, but you have to make a bit too much of your own fun. The sound and the fury of the waves is lovely, but for Sea of Thieves to be properly good it needs to give the players more to work with.
A game about a game within a game, Legendary Gary is weird and cool and utterly, genuinely unique. Some parts may be frighteningly familiar, and surprisingly emotional.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance has some nice ideas and pretty countryside, but is ultimately still buggy, broken and, perhaps worst of all, boring.
Fe is all very lovely and (literally) harmonious, with fun layers of platforming. Coloured flowers and singing is a nice enough way to spend a rainy afternoon.
The Station is futuristic sci-fi puzzling delivered with polish, but the trouble is that what you receive doesn't feel very new.
Dynasty Warriors 9 still has the 'levelling hundreds of dudes without breaking a sweat' core loop so you feel like a badass, but the open world removes some of the depth. Fans can still enjoy, but it won't win any new hearts this time.
Kitty Powers is back, and she's giving you a lot to grab onto. Love Life isn't paced quite as well as Matchmaker, but organising the entire relationship of a town full of couples is a great challenge. Kitty always leaves you wanting more.