Your mileage with NO THING will depend on how much patience and thought you’re willing to give it. There’s a story buried in a trippy, simplistic autorunner that actively works to frustrate the player at times. A cool vaporware aesthetic and a hand full of decent songs don’t make it any less aggravating to play or help the delivery of a tale that needed clarity.
A series as imaginative and as entertaining as Trollhunters deserved a better tie-in video game. Defenders of Arcadia has a few enjoyable moments and it certainly looks the part but uninspired combat, tired level design and a story which feels more like a TV clip show than a cohesive narrative means it falls well short of fan expectations.
If you like those slide puzzle mini-games you find in many other games, Cubicity is a cutesy, leisurely game built around that core concept. There’s 6 to 8 hours of content in this original package with the hint of more to come later but in less than half of that time, you’ll have seen everything this game has to offer. It’s easy – far too easy for my taste as it becomes boring quickly – but this is a comfortable way to kill an hour or 2 before the monotony sets in.
The moments of quiet crafting and contemplation in Isle of Spirits is what this game does well. The core loop of collecting a small pool of resources and putting what you can towards a unified goal encourages a chilled out, relaxed experience. Unfortunately that’s often at odds with the core of the game which is filled with cheap perma-death dangers and trial-and-error repetition.
A bopping 8-bit soundtrack and an interesting variety in game play-altering hats are the main positives from Many Faces, a retro shooter that’s otherwise short on content and game modes. If you’re hankering for a game that looks like it comes from the late 80’s/early 90’s and can keep you busy for an hour for a few pounds Sterling, that’s what you’ll get here. It is sorely missing multiplayer, leader boards and game modes that could really elevate it to bigger and better things.
I’m sure those who loved The Wonderful 101 the first time around will get a kick out of playing this game again on modern day consoles with nicer visuals. For those that hadn’t experienced it before though, this remaster feels like an artifact from a bygone age that couldn’t adapt to a new set of input’s without the Wii U controller. The combat and concept are still sound 7 years on. Everything else needed to be reworked or tweaked further.
If you’re a veteran of Solomon’s Key and are desperate for more, Ghost Sweeper will provide you with what feels like the levels from the 1980’s classic that didn’t make the cut. The mechanics and enemy types have been recreated with a spit shine for modern TV’s and having a second playable character is a nice touch. Compared to modern day puzzle platformers though, Ghost Sweeper feels like a relic from the past that needed more of a refresh that simply updated visuals.
A futuristic whodunit set in an open world, The Casebook of Arkady Smith has far too much filler, not enough "find the killer".
Bouncy Bullets is one of Petite Games’ better concepts but it’s a game that doesn’t make full use of its potential with its design. It’s a colourful game with an excellent soundtrack but the frame rate issues when using bounce pads, the thicker than custard AI and the shortness to the game relegate this to yet more Trophy Hunter fodder and little else. A real shame.
It’s the repetition that truly hampers The Princess Guide however. Aside from new traps to use and increasingly larger and more dangerous foes to fight, very little changes throughout the game. Beat up monsters. Move on to next area. Beat up Monsters. Repeat Ad infinitum. Because the mechanics are either poorly explained or shallowly implemented, the sheen of this game wears thin very quickly and without the unique aspects of its predecessor Penny-Punching Princess, it becomes a slog very quickly.
As a port of a mobile game, Lightwood Games have done a good job of bringing their One Word by POWGI game to PS4. It works flawlessly on consoles. For those desperate to play word puzzles on their PS4, this (and POWGI’s other titles) are the only real options. The “written for a lift” music, forgettable nature of some of the quotes and unnecessarily obtuse nature in how they’re often presented however means there’s plenty of other, better, cheaper competition out there – just not on the PS4. Still, an easy Platinum trophy will make the hunters’ dreams come true.
While the innovations Super Destronaut DX bring to the Space Invaders formula are welcome, they don’t go far enough to really bring depth to the package. If you’re looking for a quick boost to your PS4/Vita trophy count, there’s a 30 minute Platinum trophy waiting for you here, otherwise, I’d just stick with the original and best Space Invaders.
InkSplosion is fast fun but due to the lack of content and simplistic design, gets boring within an hour. The only positive selling points are a decent soundtrack and the fact that, for trophy hunters, it’s a quick and easy Platinum to unlock (much like many other titles from Ratalaika Games) but these are not enough to drag InkSplosion out of mediocrity.
Rad Rodgers might take its inspirations from the Apogee masterworks of the 90’s but it needed more modern day thinking to avoid mediocrity.
If you're looking for a perplexing puzzle game that'll fill a bus journey with some head scratching enigmas, Ninja Usagimaru: Two Tails of Adventure might be the game for you – but approach with caution
It manages to strike a unique tone by blending Arthurian legends with the mystery of the Jack The Ripper murders, but Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey struggles to stand out due to a lack of thought provoking puzzles, painfully slow movement speed and a lack of polish.
While there are positives, EDENGATE: The Edge of Life feels either poorly planned out or unfinished. The narrative is disjointed and confused, the puzzles are simplistic and there are a few too many frustrations with the game play. There was potential here, but it feels unfulfilled in most facets of the game.
While the path might be pleasant to look at, the traveller isn’t. While the road can be interesting, it can be equally as dull. While the ability to conjure rain with music should be an interesting hook, it’s used too infrequently. A Winding Path is a short, sincere but decidedly mediocre adventure that’ll leave you wanting more.
Micro Pico Racers is a perfectly fine attempt to replicate the Micro Machines formula. It’s nowhere near as charming and the formula has aged quite a bit in the intervening 30 years between when it was first realised and now. If you’re hankering for a budget racer with a 90’s feel though, this will certainly fit the bill.
Its issues mean that Rover Mechanic Simulator is a middling experience. There’s a solid core to this game surrounding some impressive 3D rover models. It offers that methodical game play that accommodates gratifying ‘flow state’ sessions to really get engrossed in. It gets repetitive quickly though because of clunky controls, limited depth and a lack of personality.