Flipping Death is heartfelt, ambitious and wonderfully creative. I love everything about it, faults and all.
Lunar Great Wall Studios have crafted a thoughtful and lasting experience that defies convention and pushes new boundaries. A fantastic achievement
Despite its limitations and drawbacks, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition remains one of the best stories in the genre and comes highly recommended if you’ve never experienced it before.
Hunted is a strong start for the Legacy of the First Blade portion of the Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey Season Pass. I’m intrigued to peel back some of Darius’ layers and learn more about The Order of the Ancients pursuit of the Misthios. Amazingly, Hunted has made me want to play even more of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey which, after a hundred or so hours, is quite an impressive feat.
While Silver Lining is certainly a concluding arc to this chapter of game development, it never feels like an ending. The over-familiarity will wane on you, but it’s clear there’s much more to come from this franchise. Even though Silver Lining has plenty of optional extras to mop up once the final credits roll, it’s hard not to be more excited about the future. In that, the DLC has served its purpose perfectly.
Broken Toys gets the Season back on track and has helped prepare me for the curtain call, the episode I never really wanted to play, but one I knew had to come.
In Tanta We Trust is a short, sweet DLC that has a good flow and energy. It paints a picture an intriguing, compelling picture of the wider world, and sets the scene for a future, despite the fact it remains uncertain. Content size, occasionally clunky dialogue and no major changes in content from the base game may be offputting for some, but what is here makes for a solid, well-rounded addition to Forspoken, whether it serves as a continuation for a player or an entry point.
Etrian Odyssey has an easygoing nature that blends beautifully into the background, making it a perfect summer game for nights in the garden or while you’re watching TV. The map building is surprisingly satisfying, the visuals are stunningly rebuilt for Switch and the soundtrack transports you to wonderful retro eras past, while being a fulfilling, rewarding game in the modern era.
Final Fantasy 16 is sure to split fans down the middle as it pushes toward a more mainstream audience, watering down some franchise staples, while removing others entirely. It is, however, a great entry point if you’ve never played the series before and one of the most spectacular-looking games so far this generation, accompanied by an enjoyable core loop that kept me invested for over 80 hours and some of the most memorable characters the series has produced in years. The localization is the best I’ve seen in FF history, with some incredible performances, and its breakdown of world history and character development is sure to be emulated and studied for years to come. Perhaps not the strongest instalment by its own huge expectations, with story that gets tonally confused, grindy quests, and some characters getting sidelined, but it is a remarkable achievement all the same.
Archer’s Paradox is a fantastic way for Telltale to reannounce itself to the world, doing what they do best, while working with one of the best narrative studios in the world. The Expanse: A Telltale Series starts off in an affirming, hard-hitting way, with fun mechanics, optional objectives, and some impactful decisions that will certainly have wide-reaching implications. Slight graphical hiccups, sound quality issues, and a short length do hold this one back a bit, meaning it’s not among Telltale’s best, but none of that is anywhere near enough to stop me from getting hyped for what comes next.
The Making of Karateka is a fantastic ride from start to finish, full of heartwarming moments, incredible gaming history, and never before seen looks at one of the industry’s most important games. Complete with a solid reimagining of the game for a 2023 audience, along with a surprise redo of an early Mechner prototype, this is a great start to the Digital Eclipse Gold Master Collection. We cannot wait to see what they do next.
Armored Core VI is not the usual FromSoftware jazz but it’s still not going to take it easy on you. From its deep layers of customisation, its huge amount of missions and the surprising amount of variety within them, and the wonderful free-flowing, fast-paced movement, this game stands apart as a fresh-start for their forgotten franchise and a throwback to their glory days. Fires of Rubicon is a showcase of a developer at the peak of their powers, able to switch up things to great effect and still manage to deliver a high standard of quality.
Sonic Superstars is slick, smooth and the best Sonic game in a long, long time. It captures the spirit of the original series, modernises it in a way that will connect with today’s audience, and finally sets up an exciting pathway for the future of a franchise that has struggled to stay relevant. Not all concepts are the finished article, its ideas do run a bit dry late on and there is some stop/start gameplay here that can get a bit frustrating, but the creativity, energy, vibrancy, and thrill-seeking that permeates throughout will ensure this is one adventure you won’t soon forget and one you’ll want to replay again and again.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is exactly how a licensed game should be made, really respecting the culture, identity, and style of the world James Cameron has built, finding ways to really gameify the experience and make it enjoyable, all while adding something to the universe that even connects to its future. Navigation is quite cumbersome in general, and you’ll start feeling like some missions are a bit too filler’y as you progress, but this is a must for fans of the series. In fact, it’s one of Ubisoft’s better open world offerings in recent years.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is an absolute delight, chock-full of optional extras that fans will revel in, and a narrative journey that takes fun and fascinating twists and turns. Delivered with an unmatched tone and energy, an impressive, evolving art style that enables players to see how the franchise evolves in real time, and some smart mechanics that have been well adapted from handheld systems, this collection is a must for first timers, new fans or old school fans with its variety and consistent quality.
While Wildlands never really gets out of third gear. it is the funnest, thrillingest, most epic third gear we’ve played online in a very long time.
Technical issues aside, Sports Bar VR is solid interactive fun with quirky elements that help it stay fresh and authentic at the same time.
LEGO Worlds is tons of fun and full of charm but feels a few major updates away from being complete
The definitive edition of a classic, bogged down by technical hiccups and rebellious controls
Numenera is so deep and heavy that it’s liable to change the landscape of console RPGs forever