...Deep Rock Galactic finds a way to create one of the most compelling co-op games I’ve had the pleasure of playing in recent memory.
Risk of Rain 2 is definitely a content-rich experience. The game has ripened and matured throughout the Early Access process and has turned into a co-op game well worth experiencing. Even solo, the Roguelike elements keep things feeling fresh and fun with so much potential for satisfying chaos. Take a bit of time to get over the initial difficulty barrier of this game and you’re set for an incredibly cathartic experience.
When it works, Fall Guys is a remarkably fun experience. It’s a rich and satisfying romp that silly yet rewarding. It’s the exact kind of game we needed right now, a perfectly joyous distraction from a lot of the shittyness around us. Fall Guys has the structure of a delightful game with a lot of longevity. All it needs now is continued support and smart updates to propel it even further forward.
Cyberpunk 2077 is an exciting game. It’s very easy to put a huge and ambitious title like this under a microscope and point out all the ways it could be better. But at the end of the day, I enjoyed my time with the game and found some parts that I really did love. I can’t help but feel that if Cyberpunk 2077 was a more focussed game that didn’t try to do so much it could have been a better experience that was more achievable for the developers. Although in its current state there’s no denying that some elements work better than others. Ultimately though there’s no regrets in checking out Night City. If you have a powerful PC that can run the game comfortably then I have no problems recommending this daunting yet engaging experience.
I really really enjoyed my time with Curse of the Dead Gods and am happy to call this a great game. It’s an idea that’s been done before, but Curse of the Dead Gods executes on that idea almost flawlessly. The game is polished and deep with a really solid amount of content that’ll keep players entertained for hours. For those seeking a challenging combat Roguelike game, you won’t be disappointed with this release.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is another action adventure triumph for PlayStation and Insomniac Games. It’s got a world that’s so full of colour and life, lovable new characters who bring clever diversity to a well-established cast, and an ever-changing gameplay loop that’s downright fun and engaging. Even if the game panders a little too heavily to a younger audience for my taste, it still excels in enough areas to make this an easy recommendation for nostalgic fans and newcomers alike.
DEATHLOOP is a cathartic blend of stealth, gunplay and powers that culminate in a satisfying gameplay loop as you explore the eccentric island of Blackreef. Whilst the narrative payoffs don’t always live up to the intriguing premise, there’s an undeniable sense of style and substance that help carry the game into really favourable territory. Knowledge really is power in DEATHLOOP and there’s a pleasurable novelty to much of the game’s design that allows it to feel engaging even when the player’s hand is held a little too tightly. Even within a year of time loop releases, DEATHLOOP stands out as its own unique beast worth experiencing.
Lost in Random depicts a stunningly unique and eccentric world filled to the brim with character and personality. The Tim-Burton visuals and the kooky cast of characters you’ll meet in each distinctively different region means there’s never a dull moment to this journey. Clever strategy card elements help to mask the game’s rather unremarkable real-time combat, with some control issues that hurt the overall experience. Yet despite its flaws, Lost in Random still brings the goods and had me engaged from unlucky start to triumphantly random end.
Though Raft may lack content once you’ve reached its closing moments, the lead-up to that point is a surprisingly delightful and novel experience. The basic gameplay loop of collecting and crafting keeps you busy, whilst a set of on-foot areas to explore keeps the gameplay ever-evolving and gleefully varied. An absolute solid co-operative choice, there’s an ocean of content to be found on this humble raft.
Featuring a fun and slightly silly setting for this genre, Grounded comfortably provides the basics that allow it to create an engrossing and at times horrifying survival experience. Add a good amount of worldbuilding and a narrative that compliments the gameplay nicely and you have a cooperative experience well worth your time, even if a few bugs (and not the good kind!) have stuck around throughout its pre-release period.
Rise of the Ronin is another action-heavy success story for samurai heavy-hitters, Team Ninja. The world and setting are perfectly suited to enhance the roleplaying depth of the game's design as your unnamed hero makes important choices in a divided world. Fun is always at the forefront, even if certain open-world tropes lead to rinse-and-repeat content. This is because the moment-to-moment gameplay, including both traversal and combat, remains delightfully engaging throughout. The dialogue can be hit or miss, but Rise of the Ronin still finds a way to satisfy, in both its big action setpieces as well as those tiny little details.
Wylde Flowers is what you get when you take a farming/life sim, such as Stardew Valley, and focus more heavily on the narrative and characters. A constant shift of events and huge amounts of voiced lines brings this world to life, even if that focus does mean the simulation aspects of the gameplay are reduced. With a lovingly detailed world and equally lovely examples of diversity, you could do a lot worse than spend your week playing Wylde Flowers.
Bramble: The Mountain King finds ways to excel throughout the ~6-hour adventure. With superb audio design and some really satisfying and engaging storytelling centred around Nordic folklore, the game showcases glimpses of greatness and refuses to hold back from depicting the horrifying and grim world around you. It's a shame that every new enemy's introduction and build-up is undermined by the inevitable average boss fight. It's true there's obvious room for improvement with Bramble's gameplay, though the overall experience is certainly still worth uncovering, especially as the game goes from strength to strength with some seriously impactful core moments.
A curious world of delightful wonder, Pikmin will never fail to be a series that invites warmth and joy with its vibrant world and colourful companions. New gameplay ideas are plentiful with Pikmin 4, many of which work towards expanding the game in interesting new directions. Not every new mechanic lands as elegantly as others, with Night Expeditions and co-op mode being two notable disappointments. Though overall, Pikmin 4 still finds a way to bring about that same glee that has lasted within this series since its inception.
The Cub is a fascinating romp through post-apocalyptic Earth. Balancing dark themes with delightful levity, the game finds a way to showcase both the best and worst of humanity with biting wit, vivid visuals, and impeccably implemented audio. It's all let down somewhat by gameplay sequences that can't maintain the same quality as the game's other elements. However, even with that rather big caveat, The Cub still manages to present a lovely package worth opening.
Bloodroots isn’t overly long but the game length was more than satisfying. There’s a story that will carry you through the game but it certainly isn’t the most important or noteworthy element of the experience. Impressively, Bloodroots mixes things up as you play with boss fights or sections of game that differ from what came before it. I particularly enjoyed the moments where the game would spice things up, alter the perspective, or change up the playing field to keep things fresh and stylishly new.
Gods Will Fall left me a little torn. It’s a game with interesting ideas and enough confidence to pursue those ideas even if they go against the status quo of typical game design. I love how the game creates this reactive and adaptive world and asks the player to deal with the consequences of their losses. It’s a highly replayable game too, and a game that creates a challenge worth pursuing. But some roughness and awkwardness in the combat, traversal, and design mean this won’t be a game everybody will enjoy. Regardless, I had a good time with Gods Will Fall and would love to see the concept iterated upon again in the future.
After 8 years of annual releases, The Jackbox Party Pack 8 certainly doesn’t feel as special as past games, but the entertainment found within is undeniable.
With deep strategy elements found both inside and outside of combat, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story makes for an undeniably engaging and challenging adventure. Fans of League of Legends get to see the world of Ruenterra from a new lens and will be hooked by the endearing character moments found within the game’s story. Ruined King may not find the wide appeal that other League properties have managed, and some of the interactions found outside of combat are admittedly cumbersome, but it’s hard to deny the excitement and depth of content found within the turn-based battles of Ruined King.
The Quarry proves to be a worthy successor and a notable release within Supermassive’s lineup of branching-path slasher games. A frightful narrative full of tense moments creates a satisfying experience for horror fans, made even better when played alongside others. An ambitious amount of choice proves to be a double-edged sword as the game teeters on the edge of quality and quantity, with one particularly egregious mechanic dampening the experience for those who don’t like to replay large chunks of a game. Though, despite its obvious shortcomings, there’s a level of campy fun that’s undeniable as the game engages from one freaky sequence to the next.