Gareth Brierley
You can see the love poured into The Knightling. It has lovely visuals and a great family-friendly story, complete with Zelda-like vibes. The shield riding is a great touch, as are the other abilities you gain. The combat is fine too, and you’ll enjoy taking in the multitude of quests present.
The Nameless City isn’t the first, and it won’t be the last, to examine and play around with the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
To Farm Lands is not going to trouble any Game of the Year lists, but perhaps that doesn’t matter, because sometimes all you need in life is the chance to place some cute farmyard animals in neat little stacks.
Sengoku Dynasty is a game for the long haul. You could spend many hours exploring and just surviving. But the opportunity to play Sengoku Dynasty how you so wish is the real draw, ensuring you can create your own narrative in the process.
I would have liked more side missions and a greater opportunity to explore the beautiful world of Mafia: The Old Country, but the stunning visuals, exciting set pieces and immersive journey are more than enough to tempt you into a Mafia game again.
If you’re a fan of Assassin’s Creed, hooked from the very first game, you’ll find a lot of love for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It feels very familiar, but still manages to do a great job of adding extra relish in terms of combat, visuals, and storytelling. There’s no doubt that the double protagonist pivot, with different playstyles, is a winning formula.
If you’re seeking a tense and atmospheric horror experience, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is an excellent choice.
It’s for games like this in which I bought an Xbox Series X; the reason I love playing games. This is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II.
I could have done without the stealth sections but if you are truly after a new experience that takes you to a far away land, Chants of Sennaar will be right up your street.
Frank and Drake is a unique example of indie gaming at its best, mixing great storytelling, unique artistry, and good puzzles in a delightful combination.
Varney Lake is a charming addition to an interesting game franchise. Seeing returning characters come back with a fresh new story to tell, working an X-Files and Stranger Things vibe, isn’t a bad thing at all.
If you are after a night of horror and are looking to play something a bit different with unusual gameplay techniques, The Childs Sight might be worth a punt, mainly as it's very cheap to pick up. The sound design is excellent and the concept is unique, but for me the gameplay wanes quite quickly and eventually you’ll become more frustrated than scared.
For the price asked, ADVERSE is good for what it is – a trial action-adventure game for skilled gamers to flourish with.
TAURONOS on Xbox is a game that I have enjoyed playing, particularly due to its old-school visuals and fascinating take on the old great myth. I like the idea of being stalked by one creature and experiencing a hero’s strange journey to escape the maze. However, some of the traps are utterly unforgiving and having to restart the game from the beginning makes things tiresome.
Jet Kave Adventure on Xbox is something that you’ll begin to enjoy the more you progress. The extra gameplay features that are brought about via the use of the jetpack add a new dimension to the platforming genre and manage to give the game a sense of urgency and speed.
Spending time in the Bermuda Triangle with Down in Bermuda on Xbox is tremendous. It's a game where you can just kick back and relax, solving puzzles in your own time without anything trying to kill you, or you ever needing to worry about silly time restraints.
So, Cyberpunk 2077 on Xbox. This is a game I had been looking forward to for what seems like a lifetime, and it was never going to live up to the high expectations that CD Projekt Red, I or the world as a whole has been putting on it. It’s a great RPG, but at the same time it doesn’t do anything grounding breaking in terms of style and gameplay. Yes it has bugs, there is an annoying UI and I can’t ignore the mission stutters, but similarly it’s a game that I constantly think back to when I’m not gaming, looking forward to my next deep session with it.
The Complex on Xbox One is a good sci-fi experience that delivers a decent tale about pharma-terrorism with many complex and interesting themes running throughout. The production values, acting and the script are all very good and it’s a very enjoyable yarn, with all this helped by the fact that there are several different – and hugely interesting – outcomes in place. But the actual choice-driven gameplay has not been able to make me feel connected to the story enough
If you’re looking for an strange little alternative to No Man’s Sky then look no further than The Long Journey Home
Instead, it has a very unique tale to tell, a brilliant concept for a platformer and some interesting game mechanics that both innovate and surprise