Ultimately, The Pathless is somewhat an uneven experience. Its epic boss battles are thrilling, and the majority of its puzzles are enjoyable to solve. It’s just a shame that there’s so much aimless running around between all the fun. Even dashing around at full speed grows tiresome after a while. Providing some sense of direction may go against what The Pathless strives to be, but it would help make your time with the game feel less wasted, and more fulfilling.
Like almost all of The Sims 4‘s expansion packs, Snowy Escape adds plenty of content, making this a worthwhile addition to any collection. The new location of Mt. Komorebi might just be the prettiest yet, and seeing your Sims try (and often fail) at skiing and snowboarding is wonderful. The new Japanese-inspired furnishings are the cherry on top, allowing you to create homes in a completely new style. If you’re a regular Sims player, you won’t regret walking into this winter wonderland.
As far as quiz-based party games go, Family Feud is solid. It’s put together very well and manages to capture the feel of being on a gameshow better than most. It’s of course more fun if you have friends over, but it’s a welcome touch that you can play solo if you want. With the holidays just around the corner and family gatherings (hopefully) on the horizon, Family Feud is a worthwhile party game to add to your collection.
In terms of gameplay mechanics, there are undoubtedly better rhythm games out there than Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory. Being able to use any of three buttons just feels a bit slapdash. And as fantastic as the Kingdom Hearts’ soundtrack is, much of it doesn’t feel particularly suited to rhythm play. As such, you should probably think twice before jumping in if you’re simply after a new rhythm game. But if you’re a fan of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, its issues are easily overlooked, making it much more of an interesting prospect.
If you’re a roller coaster aficionado, theme park sims don’t come much better than this. An incredible amount of work has gone into making Planet Coaster feel at home on console, and Frontier has done a commendable job of doing so without making sacrifices. It looks fantastic, performs admirably, and designing the park of your dreams has never been more enjoyable.
Bugsnax is a joyful, lovely experience from start to finish.
If you’re a music lover, there’s a lot to love here. FUSER looks great, its track list has something for everyone, and its gameplay is a hell of a lot of fun. I guarantee you will not be able to keep your feet still as you drop your mixes together.
So, if you’re looking for an engaging but relaxing puzzle game that you can unwind with, you can’t go far wrong with TENS!. It packs in plenty of single-player content, and its multiplayer offering is a lot of fun if you have someone to play it with. It looks great too, brought to life with bright colours and cute characters. A game that we can while away the hours with, without ever getting frustrated, is something we all need in our lives right now.
I’ve loved all three Watch Dogs games, but Watch Dogs Legion may be my favourite. Perhaps it’s the familiarity of London, or perhaps it’s the unique joy of being able to take control of pretty much any character you want. There’s so much to see and do; the amount of character and life breathed into the city is unrivalled by pretty much any other open world game.
If you’re a fan of Bakugan, there’s no doubt you’ll get a kick out of Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia. It’s a great-looking game, and seeing those huge beasties in battle for the first time is quite a thrill. But the game’s dull and repetitive combat quickly loses its excitement, and the fact you’ll be looking forward to completing a mindless side quest simply to get a reprieve surely tells you all you need to know.
The second entry into The Dark Pictures Anthology is an improvement over the first. As much as we enjoyed Man of Medan, Little Hope ups the ante in just about every way.
Supraland pushes boundaries to try to create something unique, and for the most part, it succeeds with gusto. It’s a game where you really feel like you’re exploring someone’s imagination; a hodgepodge of wonderful ideas that combine together well to create a delightful experience. Its combat may feel superfluous, but its excellent puzzle design and beautiful world more than makes up for it.
If you’re up for a challenge, then Double Pug Switch certainly does offer that. It’s nicely presented, too; the short animated story scenes telling the tale of Otis, Whiskers and the scientist, are a welcome touch. As are the purely cosmetic hats you can place on Otis’ little puggy head. It’s short and utterly brutish in its difficulty, but if you like equal amounts of cuteness and cruelty in your games, then look no further. Especially considering its pocket-money price.
You’ll have to leave any run-and-gun sensibilities at the door when you jump into Crown Trick; it’s a game about thoughtful manoeuvres and carefully-planned attacks. But it results in combat that’s extremely rewarding, and a challenge that’s a lot of fun to take on. Progressing in Crown Trick may be tricky, but it’s never insurmountable – and you’ll be enjoying yourself so much that you’ll want to keep jumping back in, seeing if you can get that bit further next time.
Ring of Pain probably isn’t something you’ll sit and play for hours at a time. It’s the sort of thing you’ll enjoy a few rounds of before turning it off, more than likely feeling defeated. But it won’t be long before you’re itching to jump back in and try again. There’s something infectious about its simplicity; it’s a roguelike dungeon crawler like no other, and despite the lack of action or actual dungeon-crawling, it’s huge amounts of fun. Even when you’re exploding left, right and centre.
All in all, there’s a decent amount of depth to Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed despite its simple appearance. There’s plenty of single-player content, thanks to the hefty Story mode, but seasoned fighting game fans will notice the absence of online multiplayer. Still, there’s an enjoyable fighter here – and getting to control a giant dinosaur-shaped mech is a novelty that doesn’t quickly wear off.
So a masterpiece it is not, but Dustoff Z has its merits. Its polygonal art style is cute, and its easy pick-up-and-play level system means it’s the ideal game to stick on for a few minutes while you’re waiting for an update to install elsewhere. It might feel like little more than a mobile game, but it’s an entertaining way to pass the time in between more engaging endeavours.
But as annoying as the decision to completely separate single player and multiplayer is, there’s no denying the actual gameplay of Torchlight III is a joy. It’s very polished; we’ve encountered a few hiccups, but nothing too frustrating – when passing through a portal, we’ve occasionally been taken back to the entrance of an area rather than where the portal opened, for example. But that’s about it. Very few – if any – Diablo-likes have been able to grab our attention like Torchlight III has. It’s the type of game that begs you to explore just one more area before turning it off; and when you succumb to the ‘quit game’ option, you’re already looking forward to being able to jump back in again.
It may be old-fashioned in its design, but The Uncertain: Light at the End has enough charm to see you through its five-or-so hour adventure.
Ben 10: Power Trip is a game squarely aimed at a younger audience, so don’t expect to find a challenging and deep experience. In our opinion, though, it absolutely nails it as a kids game. It offers an engaging story mode packed with fun and varied missions, as well as a big open world that’s ripe for exploring. Throw into the mix the well-voiced familiar characters, the range of skills offered up by Ben’s aliens and the wealth of side content, and you’ve got an excellent entry point into the genre of open-world adventures.