Mick Fraser's Reviews
Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection is a big, loud spectacle of a trilogy and absolutely deserves to be experienced by all fans of brutal action-adventure.
The family-friendly blasting of Earth Defence Force: World Brothers should tide over the franchise fans until the arrival of EDF 6 later in the year.
Fast-paced, loud, and unashamedly grim, Necromunda: Hired Gun is a competent, fun shooter when it all works.
Legend of Keepers is a decent dungeon manager with enjoyable if overly simple combat. It does nothing badly, but also does nothing in particular well enough to stand out.
Beautiful Desolation is an enjoyable point and click adventure in a unique world, but the slow pace and obtusiveness may put some people off.
Biomutant is a game that overreaches early, and spends the rest of its run time trying, mostly successfully, to regain its balance. It's lovely to look at and its world is a joy to explore, boots on the ground, but the combat lacks impact and precision, and technical issues mar the experience.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids presents a good 12 to 18 hours of new story and side content, with loads to get stuck into.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a pretty good craic with a group you know, or people who know what they're doing, but a bunch of amateurs without a mic between them may struggle.
Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition presents the original game along with all the DLC and greatly enhanced ray tracing technology.
Returnal's fluid, graceful movement and satisfying, punchy gunplay combine with a sense of exploration at once both wondrous and morbid, and a drip-fed progression system that makes you feel like you're always discovering or unlocking something new.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is quite simply like nothing else in the medium. If you missed it on PC, it's absolutely worth picking it up on console and investing some time and effort in its wonderfully complex world.
Demon Skin isn't a bad game, but it is ropey and certainly needed more work where the animations and menus are concerned.
Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a gorgeous, moving tale of two young girls facing an increasingly frightening world and eventually finding beauty where those less innocent might not, and that's the kind of writing that transcends mediums.
Trials of Fire is a masterful combination of several genres that manages to establish its own identity early on and build on it throughout.
Nanotale: Typing Chronicles will be a difficult sell for some people for very obvious reasons, but those willing to try something else and give themselves over to something a little bit different to the games we're all used to will find a charming, likeable adventure.
Despite a largely forgettable story and a few misfires, Outriders is a great looter shooter that feels satisfying to play alone or with others and easily holds its own among contemporaries.
Narita Boy's difficulty is balanced well enough to offer challenge without frustration, and the combat is sublime. Not to mention it's visually incredible.
Anyone who ever dreamed of being the villain building an island base to rival Dr. No should give Evil Genius 2: World Domination a fair shot.
Monster Hunter Rise brings enough quality of life improvements that it's arguably better than World was at launch. A strong line-up of monsters, loads of stuff to grind through, and the series' highest level of accessibility to date make Rise one of the Switch's best games and an absolute must-have for series fans.
For people who like their puzzles just a little bit different and their pixel art filled with severed limbs Red Ronin is an absolute must.