Despite a sputtering start, As Dusk Falls eventually finds its footing with a character-driven story that rewards replays with insight into the backstories, motivations, and psyches of its troubled cast that’s been battered down by their everyday existences. It’s a tale that grows increasingly engrossing, provided a tolerance for some sensationalised theatrics and protracted payoffs.
Blowing stuff up is fun, and Teardown gets that. Its varied voxel environments combine with nuanced physics and deformation systems to make levelling buildings, eviscerating vehicles, and orchestrating massive explosions a thrill. An inconsistent campaign and lack of multiplayer don't keep it from setting a new standard for video game destruction.
The Last Worker’s principal problem is that it’s a game made for VR that’s better without it. Fulfilling online orders in a capitalism-induced apocalypse is an excellent idea marred by inconsistent execution and confounding restrictions placed on VR movement. It’s short enough not to overstay its simplicity, but it’s not smart enough to make any astute thematic statements.
It isn't quite a full-on sequel and doesn't do much to move the franchise forward, but Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2 is still an incredibly enjoyable extra helping of walker-slaying entertainment. Its smattering of new additions and novelties prove compelling enough to make post-apocalyptic New Orleans worth the revisit, especially if you passed on the initial Quest 2 release for a more polished, well-performing, and visually pleasing product.
However, as it stands today, PSVR2 has breathed new life into Zenith’s servers with a salvo of fresh faces willing to give the game a shot. The level 40 veterans we’ve come across have all been happy to help newcomers with advice, and there’s the promise of more content to come without any subscription fee to speak of. We can hope that future support will turn Zenith into something more thrilling or fix its crashes which we encountered several times. But right now, even after a year of steady support, Zenith: The Last City is an unexceptional affair.
Cave Digger 2 is no technical showpiece, and annoying little issues do have a tendency to pop up just often enough to be a distraction. Pickaxe swings often don’t register right, you can find yourself lodged into nearly inescapable crannies, and hand tracking has a tendency to bug out occasionally. So, Cave Digger 2: Dig Harder is still a delightful diamond in PSVR2’s launch catalogue, but its intermittent issues and wanting variety cause it to lose some of its lustre.
Song in the Smoke Rekindled brings one of virtual reality's top survival experiences onto a platform where it can be enjoyed at its best. If you're willing to muscle through some run-of-the-mill resource management, you'll be rewarded with delightfully tense sequences punctuated by superb sound design.
No More Heroes III is a pleasant sendoff for Travis Touchdown – especially so now that it's no longer stuck on hardware that couldn't keep up with it. The lack of performance problems make it so much easier to enjoy its wide variety of combat encounters, eclectic minigames, and zany story sequences. It comes at the cost of its other flaws becoming more pronounced, but it's still a brash and daring passion project from a Grasshopper Manufacture that continues to do whatever it desires.
The Nioh Collection crams two great games and six story expansions into one complete, content-stuffed package. Despite its extensiveness, the lack of exclusive content or noteworthy new features make it a hard sell in its entirety. It gives Ninja Theory a good excuse to try and grab some more attention for some legitimately great games, but calling these remasters is perhaps a bit of an embellishment.
Teensy quibbles aside, it's difficult to imagine how this Demon's Souls remake could be any better. It looks great, it sounds amazing, and it's extremely respectful of the PS3 original, which has aged surprisingly well after all these years. This is an exceptional remake, and it's exactly what Demon's Souls deserves.
The Surge 2 still has the same great combat, satisfying exploration, and a mess of an inventory system that remains cumbersome to navigate. Many of the original game's problems are still here, but small quality of life improvements and a neat new setting make this outing just different enough to be worth a look.
There are plenty of gripes to contend with in GreedFall, but the striking setting, flexible character building, and rock-solid action RPG core make it easy to recommend to fans of the genre.
Wreckfest may feature some lackluster racing, but its dynamic vehicle deformation is so dazzling that it almost doesn't matter. Barreling across tracks that gradually fill with automotive debris, or jumping into a demo derby to wreak some havoc yourself, serve to fulfill a destruction-fueled niche that knows no equal on consoles.
Presentation and polish aren't its strong suit, but Remnant: From the Ashes features gripping third-person gunplay and simple but satisfying progression that enable enticing entertainment regardless of whether you're playing cooperatively or solo. The visceral variety and delightful design of the environments and enemies elevate Remnant above other Dark Souls doppelgangers.
The simple synergy-focused combat can be fun with some friends, but Ultimate Alliance 3's padded plot proves pernicious for its diverse cast of wretchedly one-note characters. Add to that a campaign that's poorly paced and painfully inconsistent performance, and you're left with a repetitive and unexpectedly plain package that doesn't adequately justify the revival of a franchise.
Painfully plain mechanics and an inadequate narrative render SolSeraph insufficient entertainment for nearly anyone. ActRaiser fans will find its flaws indefensible, and anyone else who manages to stumble upon it will fail to be captivated by the excruciatingly repetitive tower defense and tiresome action platforming.
Nitro-Fueled gives Crash Team Racing a much-needed visual facelift while keeping the first-rate kart racing mechanics intact. The small amount of single player content doesn't give you much to do by yourself, but the healthy helping of multiplayer modes and unforgiving AI provide plenty of reasons to keep you coming back.
While it's crammed full of fan-service alongside good core combat and exploration, Ritual of the Night's technical instability and some discomforting design decisions keep it from rivaling its influences. It was clearly made for the fans, so those without an already-established fondness may find it hard to enjoy.
Team Sonic Racing offers a hopeful glimpse at how compelling a team-based kart racer can be. However, inadequate AI, limited loot box progression, and a poorly-polished multiplayer suite make this seem more like a stepping stone that'll hopefully lead to something more well-realized.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is legitimately captivating in its atmospheric depiction of the plague-stricken and war-torn France of the Middle Ages. The mechanics rarely shine and the plot has a fair share of contrivances, but there are plenty of outstanding sequences that put this unique setting to excellent use.