For all its new flourishes Yooka-Replaylee continues to feel like a game just a touch out of time, true, yet this is largely easy to forgive thanks to how much easier to appreciate this unabashedly slavish 3D platforming throwback it now is. Don’t go in expecting an entirely different experience, but one revamped mostly for the better.
While the truly new the additions may only be slight (the sheer mention of ‘amiibo’ in these games left me shook) but why disrupt an already perfect experience? Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2 look and play sharper than ever, serving as the definitive versions of some of Mario’s most inspiring outings.
By doubling down on some seriously in-depth customisation, finding a way to celebrate Sonic in nearly all his incarnations, and embedding new mechanical gimmicks like Travel Rings and the simple yet genius Rivals system into what is already an excellent arcade racer, CrossWorlds has leapt ahead of the competition to provide a racing foundation I can’t wait to see get expanded upon. In almost every regard, this is about as fully formed a kart racing game can get!
While the actual ‘Beast’ elements of the game are a slight let down from a pure gameplay perspective it still feels good to hulk out without fear of falling in among the undead hordes. This, combined with easily the most diverse setting Dying Light has ever offered in Castor Woods and an overall tighter scope, makes The Beast another solid zombie game worth chewing through.
Sure, the story is somewhat straightforward and there could be a touch more underling enemies to fight, but this in no way detracts from Lizardcube’s second successful revival of a classic Sega arcade series, one that takes the merits of the past and updates them to create an immensely tight modern 2D action-platformer.
Ultimately, The Old Country fails to make the most of its world’s uniqueness, as evidenced any time you must leave your vehicle to interact with it.
The result is a near-perfect concoction that makes roleplaying a ninja not only something to be enjoyed in the moment, but also something not afraid to test these skills by offering up a decent challenge.
It’s a shame Unfinished Business doesn’t improve upon the original Rogue City in terms of polish, then, but it’s easy to forgive thanks to the same blood-soaked action being further enhanced by having new enemies to fight and new ways to do it.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, at least judging by its first 25 hours, isn’t some grand reinvention of what made the original game so beloved and divisive then. It is, however, an equally as plodding yet enthralling story about the importance of connection – and the beautiful monotony required to make this happen.
If you’re seeking answers, this brief follow-up adventure is well worth a dip. Just don’t expect them to be the exact ones you went in seeking.
However, thanks to improved visuals and framerate that do real justice to the franchise’s futuristic inclinations, the new hyper jump ability, and the surprisingly flexible fusion mechanic, racing through stylish circuits at a fast pace has been given additional depth and dimensions.
Survival Kids won’t win any awards for being the prettiest or flashiest game exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 at launch, but it largely succeeds in its goal to offer younger audiences a charming and wholesome family-friendly adventure where working together conquers all.
can’t say I ever truly invested in Aran’s personal plight, but I very much enjoyed the way he goes about resolving it, all thanks to one of the most unique and thoughtful melee combat systems I’ve experienced in the past few years. Blades of Fire borrows from the past, but when it comes to combat and creativity it also forges its own way forward.
This bigger, better, sillier sequel easily delivers some of the most fun I’ve had in an action-adventure game this year, to the extent that I’ll keep on investigating savage planets for as long as Raccoon Logic continues to develop them.
This is a story of heartbreak and loss, yes, but also the importance of persevering. That’s not a hard thing to want to do when a game looks and plays as wonderfully as this.
Luckily, a thing can be beautiful and undercooked in its design at the same time, and South of Midnight is certainly that. I just wish that, much like the spiritual weaver at the heart of this journey, Compulsion Games spent a bit more time better tying up loose ends.
Atomfall doesn’t get every piece of the survival sandbox puzzle right, but this is easy to forgive due to how much fun it is to scoff down Cornish pasties to regain health, uncover a mysterious sci-fi plot in myriad ways, and craft a needle bomb before lobbing it into a group of cultists. It’s the most quintessentially British open-world I’ve had the pleasure to explore in a video game, possibly ever, and I already can’t wait to go back to peel back even more layers of its environmental onion.
In the end, then, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is still an open-world RPG with an Assassin’s Creed skin placed over the top of it, and likely won’t change the minds of naysayers who aren't on board with what the series has become.
WWE 2K25 isn’t a perfect wrestling game, but it comes pretty darn close. Refinements to zanier match types such as Special Referee – which is now applicable outside of one-on-one bouts – and Backstage Brawl are appreciated, while the inclusion of intergender matches shows a willingness to celebrate both divisions in a way WWE itself seemingly isn’t able to.
Mio and Zoe’s growth really is where much of the focus is given – to the extent that you can guarantee heart strings will be pulled upon a couple times before you roll credits.