Joe Apsey's Reviews
Krillbite should be commended for what the achieve with Mosaic, crafting an experience that wholly commits to its themes, atmosphere, and narrative. Each moving part of the game contributes to the whole journey and creates an exceptional replication of the bleak, hostile, and depressing lifestyle that is modern capitalist-fueled city-life. It isn't a particularly enjoyable game to play, but that lack of gratification is just another part of the magnificent mosaic that is, Mosaic.
Darksiders Genesis is a rousing achievement, taking the pillars of the franchise and bringing them to a new genre and perspective. That shift is pulled off almost to perfection, creating one of the better games in the franchise and a satisfying and rewarding combat experience with a lot of meat on its bones.
Journey To The Savage Planet is a fun, arcadey ride with its comedic characters, cartoony art style and unique blend of game genres. Secrets and secondary objectives galore, creative creature design, and a rewarding gameplay loop only add to that ride. Although the co-op disappoints, you shouldn't overlook Typhoon Studios' great first game.
Ashen is one of the best souls-likes around and its quality matches that of the games that gave birth to the genre. The mystery and lore help to build a fascinating world that excellently complements the open and varied environments and strange, contorted creatures you will fight in them. A44 have provided a big breath of fresh air in a genre desperately in need of reinvigoration.
Avicii Invector is a wonderful tribute to the EDM artist and celebrates his work by creating a diverse tracklist from across his career. The rhythm gameplay has its own unique twists and provides a challenging experience. The visual effects can get a bit much at times, throwing off your streak, but the game is still a wonderful way to surround yourself with some of the best EDM music from the past decade.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is the most average game I have ever played. Nothing it does is particularly memorable or amazing, but it isn't broken or bad either. The gameplay can be both enjoyable and clunky depending on the situation. The story is forgettable and environments aren't appealing. But, the game's open-ended levels and tick box-style gameplay make it a great game to play whilst listening to a podcast. Overall, it is a half-step forward for the franchise, but much like the previous games, there isn't much reason to check this entry out.
Just Dance 2020 pushes the franchise forward by creating more complex choreographies and introducing new themes and styles of music through its diverse songlist. The returning modes remain as solid as they were with a few noticeable quality of life improvements. At its conclusion the All-Stars Mode feels a little underwhelming, but no matter what occasion or reason you want to buy it for, Just Dance 2020 is highly recommended.
Afterparty is a fantastic and incredibly funny tale of friendship and the role drinking alcohol plays in society and the effects that drinking has on us. Night School Studio has created one of the funniest games ever made and their version of Hell is fully realised. The stellar voice acting and writing left me smiling from ear to ear constantly. Afterparty is a joy to play and everyone should take a trip to Hell.
The Surge 2 is a much better, engaging, and rewarding experience than the first game. Dozens of quality of life improvements, more interesting environments and characters, and the addition of parrying makes The Surge 2 a must-play for anyone who even slightly enjoyed their time with the first game. However, the game holds itself back from being an excellent souls-like with some poor lighting in areas, intense difficulty spikes, and a final area that is just plain unfun.
The Sojourn is one of the best games of the year and one of the best puzzle games available, if not the best. Every single puzzle is meticulously designed and challenges you in satisfying ways, without ever feeling impossible. Carefully crafted, beautiful levels. An uplifting, philosophical story that asks you to reflect upon your actions and the world around you. All of these ingredients create an experience like no other and a game you will be thinking about even after the credits have rolled.
Decay Of Logos is the worst game I have ever played. It is filled with poor design decisions and mechanics that don't challenge the player and instead decide to punish them for no reason at all. The game actively tries to make your experience worse. The list of issues with Decay of Logos is long: a bad and jarring camera, no meaningful connection to the world or characters, framerate issues, pointless mechanics. I could go on. Just save yourself twenty dollars and don't buy this game.
Gunfire Games have created a deep looter shooter, with meaningful rewards and tough bosses, combined with a fascinating world packed with lore and story reveals that are worth experiencing. Remnant is a replayable, bitesize adventure that I will be hopping back into again and again. However, the PS4 version at launch is marred by frame rate drops, crashes, and a few fights that feel broken and unbalanced.
Discovering the secrets of the Freedom Town cult, who has power and influence where, as well as the inner workings of the leadership are the best parts of The Church In The Darkness. That combines with excellent stealth gameplay, a dynamic and engaging scenario-based narrative, and some excellent characters with great voice acting to create a memorable and unique experience. An experience that is only held back by a few technical issues and some missing quality of life features.
The Blackout Club is what happens when a concept isn't executed well. Everything about the setting and lore should lead the game to be a surefire hit. But, with the lack of a main story path, painfully repetitive levels, and a torturously grindy progression system, The Blackout Club feels unbalanced, unpolished, and immensely unrewarding. The only thing saving it from being a complete waste of time is that communicating and working as a team, planning out your strategy can be enjoyable, although only in short bursts.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is an excellent stopgap before the inevitable Wolfenstein 3. You can dip your toes back into the world and the new combat changes come together to create the best combat in the series. Light RPG elements help add a new flavour to the franchise as well. Jess and Soph are the standout stars of Youngblood and help lift up the underwhelming and largely inconsequential main narrative. The overall package isn't as good as The New Order, but Youngblood is a silly, fun, and gory romp worth experiencing.
Etherborn is a great and unique puzzle-platformer with some smart level design and gorgeous views, thanks to its colourful, yet simple art style. It is a tad short and I would have liked to see a little bit more experimentation; however, Etherborn is clearly one of the better, more rewarding puzzle games in recent memory and well worth a playthrough.
Offering a better experience than the Homecoming tie-in, the Far From Home Virtual Reality Experience is exciting and fulfils the 'I am Spider-Man' dream by allowing you to swing around New York as much as you want. Although it doesn't have much replay value, it is free and offers a fun twenty minutes of fantasy fulfilment in its Story Mode.
A short and satisfying dungeon crawler with a litany of skins and crazy weapon designs to unlock and slash at a variety of enemies with. Co-op makes it a great family game when you combine it with how easy the game is. It may be a little long for how simple it is, but there is still a great five-to-eight hour experience here.
Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is a solid remaster that allows you to experience the campaign, DLC levels, and visceral, satisfying shooting the game is known for again in 2019. Some aspects of the game have not seen much of an upgrade if any upgrade at all, with the game's AI and the audio system showing its age. Despite that, the game is an enjoyable way to hop back into Rebellion's classic franchise.
Ultrawings Flat is one of the most repetitive and dull games I have played. Offering up tired and simplistic mini-games, poor controls, and a bland environment it isn't worth taking to the skies, even for just a few minutes, especially given the price charged.