The Devolver Bootleg collection is cute, and the more of the games included you’ve played, the more giggles you’ll get out of what is essentially a one note larf.
I’m going to give the game a Bestest Best sticker
I don’t think I played a single match that I didn’t enjoy. The game offers an immediately recognisable concept, that manages to innovate and surprise, and it’s entirely unlike anything else I’ve played before. Just like a secret clubhouse, it’s likely to lose its allure if you spend all your time there – but it’s exciting as hell to to visit in a snatched moment.
Aside from the plot, I’d say most of what held my attention about Green Hell was how dazzlingly beautiful and technically impressive it was, but the more traditional survival elements are all solid enough that I look forward to playing more.
Overland isn’t that one friend on a road trip who has packed emergency supplies, and has the itinerary worked out to the hour.
Warsaw has the makings of a genuinely fascinating, unyielding tactical game with a lot of heart and reverence for the events it’s based on. Still, as is, it’s currently a hard sell unless you’re really intent on a challenge that, while thematically resonant, often feels more arbitrary than it is complex.
I had a great time with John Wick Hex. It tiptoes the line between tactics and puzzler in an engaging way, has a ton of character, and feels exactly as minimal as it needs to be
I had a genuinely good time with it for at least 75% of the time I spent playing it. If you’re actually into the series as a whole, I imagine you’ll have an even better one.
Iceborne is an essential expansion for a game that is paradoxically both enormous and niche. I’d recommend it to everyone – even if only because it’s likely to convert a few of you to veganism.
It’s a game that pays homage to genre conventions like hacking and exploration, but with forward facing design. Rather than backwards. Then side to side. Then 90 degrees to the left. Monch monch.
It’s a winner. Sixteen tons of detail, sixteen tons of character, sixteen tons of riotous bug blasting, spelunking co-operative goodness. Deep Rock Galactic is a company I’ve got no qualms about selling my soul to for hours more to come.
My only real major disappointment with Atmomicrops is that the advertised simulation bits turn out only to be a few light nods to the genre. It’s got some simulation-shaped aspects, sure, but they’re flimsy plastic ferns in comparison to the very much alive and dynamic creeper vines of its shooty-dodgy core. This said, the farming does make fighting more interesting simply by providing a worthwhile distraction, leading to almost unbearably chaotic instances of frantic multitasking. As long as you know what you’re getting into, and are up for sewing a few hours of practise in before you reap the rewards, I think it’s well worth your cashews. Which I’ve only just realised are a play on ‘cash’. Ooh.
King's Bounty 2's hexed-based battles, customisation and army management are all a good time. The RPG they're packaged with, while sometimes gorgeous, is baggy and bland.
Occasionally neat visuals and cyber magic can't save this cyberpunk shooter from firing damp squibs on all cylinders.
The frequent combat in this ARPG is hit-and-miss, but behind it is a sweet and sincere tale set in a land you'll care about saving and starring the G.O.T.Y (grape of the year).
Aragami 2's ninja garb is frayed around the edges, but it's still an easy, breezy fit. Perfect for a quick-fix of stealth, and joyfully light on its feet.
Short of somehow also being a massive box full of toys, secret envelopes, and bears to rummage around in with a group of mates, I couldn't ask for more from this loving and skillful adaptation.
A sandbox tactical/RPG hybrid with gritty, low fantasy charm, Wartales is systemically ambitious, but sturdy and clever enough to hold its own.
An admirably odd and confident golf mini-game/ARPG hybrid, brought down by a tedious structure.
A compact, complex 4X with attentiveness to the source material. But an inconsistent midgame and lack of narrative decision making hold it back from maximum spiciness.