The Last of Us Part II combines a brilliant overall narrative with the best visuals and physics we’ve seen this entire generation. Despite what you may think about the actual story and the events which occur, the entire experience is GOTY material thanks to the emotional and distressing storytelling. I personally enjoyed it more the second time around, due to picking up on all the references and seeing how the two portions of the game intertwine with one another. Each location you explore has been created with tonnes of care and attention and the combat is very realistic, both mechanically and visually, so certain scenes are quite graphic and disturbing. If you enjoyed the first game, or like survival games in general, you should pick up this game today.
Night Call is an original take on the narrative-driven investigation genre, playing almost like a visual novel with lots of choices. Also, no two playthroughs will be the same thanks to the abundance of passengers which you can interact with and the evidence you’ll collect to help you come to your final conclusion. Despite my issues with the case board (mainly revolving around how confusing, unintuitive, and not very user-friendly it is), I still thoroughly enjoyed talking to the passengers, learning more about the case, investigating the suspects, and coming to my own conclusions around who I think is the serial killer. This is a game which makes you think without giving you the answer on a plate – certainly a recommendation from me for the passenger interactions alone!
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is a very faithful remake of a beloved classic 3D platformer. Fans of the original game will love how they can replay this brilliant adventure with updated visuals that match their nostalgic memories, new gamers will love the playfulness and entertaining gameplay which still holds up today. Despite not adding anything new to the actual main story, the additional co-op Horde Mode allows you and one other to prolong the gameplay and fight against Robo Squidward, the boss which was cut from the original game. Sure, the game does get frustrating and annoying at times, with it’s early 2000’s design and mechanics, but it makes up for this with all of its charm and the addictive gameplay.
Desperados III is by far one of the best stealth-based games I’ve ever played, offering multiple ways to not only complete your objectives but also kill your targets. The brilliant Showdown mode further enhances the immersion and strategic gameplay by letting you simultaneously control all five protagonists in a synchronised string of events, single-handedly set up by the sole gamer. The very challenging badges, difficult goal criteria, and multiple routes will all have you replaying each mission numerous times until you know it like the back of your hand. Plus, once you’re done with the exciting and thrilling story, the Baron’s Challenges allows you to take on new mysterious and even more challenging missions – if you’re brave enough!
The new PlayStation 4 version of Ys: Memories of Celceta is a great upgrade over both the original and the PC versions. Despite having a single technical issue in Comodo Village and a resolution which doesn’t seem to be above 1080p, the game itself looks beautiful with it’s living and breathing world, unique characters, interesting enemies, and grand vistas. The combat is incredibly satisfying, the bosses are fun to face, and completing the numerous side-missions felt exciting and rewarding rather than repetitive and dull. If you’ve never played the game, or only partially completed it on the Vita, you have no excuse to not pick up Ys: Memories of Celceta today (or on June 19th in EU and Australia).
Atomicrops is a very addictive roguelike farming twin-stick shooter which is oozing with charm and colourful visuals. It’s a challenging game with a slow permanent progression system, yet each run feels unique and exciting due to the sheer amount of temporary boosts and abilities you can obtain, not to mention all of the animals you can free then enslave on your farm as free labour. Whether your growing crops, killing mutated veg, wooing your potential spouse, or exploring the hostile biomes, you’re sure to get hours upon hours of fun out of this unique indie game.
If you’re looking for a new psychological thriller which will make you jump (a lot), Those Who Remain is for you. Despite the pre-launch technical issues, which I believe will get fixed over the coming weeks, the game is held together by its interesting story, tense and exciting stealth segments, fun puzzles, and intriguing moral dilemmas. Although I personally got stuck and lost a few times, the fact the game doesn’t hold your hand and requires you to seek out clues and discover the next step in the narrative yourself is great and very satisfying when you figure it out – not many games do this these days. Thanks to the moral choices, lack of manual saves, and multiple ending trophies, replaying the game multiple times is a must to see everything the game has to offer.
Saints Row: The Third Remastered is one of the best remasters in recent years, completely overhauling the visuals and performance. Almost everything has been updated and upgraded bar the engine underneath, a similar concept we saw with Outcast: Second Contact. The game is a mindless mayhem sandbox with a bunch of missions and crazy activities to work your way through at your own pace, offering tonnes of fun either playing on your own or with another player. The game was fun back in 2011, offering crazy non-serious GTA-style gameplay, and it’s just as fun playing it now, in 2020.
Despite the performance and realism issues I had with the game, Maneater is an incredibly fun and satisfying slaughter-fest shaRkPG experience. You must eat to grow, grow to fight, fight to survive, and survive to rip your mother’s murderer to pieces! The visuals are incredible, the gore is glorious, the story was funny whilst holding everything together, and the range of armour and abilities helps create a unique experience in this Adult-orientated Feeding Frenzy-a-like. If you’re looking to inflict some mindless carnage and earn a shiny platinum without too much issue, check out Maneater today!
As the third game in the DDU (Doctor Dekker Universe), Dark Nights with Poe and Munro was an original and creative FMV cinematic adventure I won’t forget. The episodic nature, which is presented as a TV show complete with title and credits, fits the experience perfectly, providing six self-contained stories of mystery and suspense. The music, dramatic camera work, humorous yet well-written narrative, and brilliant acting all combine into such a fantastic and enjoyable series of stories which I’m sure to replay numerous times.