Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a thoroughly enjoyable and action-packed time that'll satiate both series veterans who've long been awaiting a return and newcomers who've always wanted to check the franchise out. With Lizardcube utilising the best parts of their game design DNA while truly understanding what it means to be a Shinobi game, they have crafted this retro-infused adventure that celebrates the old and embraces the new. With kickass challenging platforming, combat, boss fights and setpieces that'll take some mastering, meaningful progression that fits right into the series, and gorgeous, gorgeous sights that run the gamut on this shinobi-starring journey, Art of Vengeance is simply artful. It's a pinpoint precision strike to the gut of those after some good old-fashioned ninja action chaos.
Being perhaps what you might expect, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a remake that is far from an out-there reinvigoration, instead opting to refine and fine-tune elements of its past rather than offering much new. That can take away from the grandeur and excitement of the experience a little, and it's undoubtedly not helped by the choice to favour fidelity of environments and character models rather than the stylistic filtering and other artistic decisions we know and love the original for. With Delta, there's now ironically a bit of an oroborous situation for Snake Eater, where the cycle continues, bringing a wonderful and memorable tale to audiences old and new, but also harming itself and its image in the process. Still, a bloody good game is a bloody good game. You're in safe hands, wading through the dense forestry with Snake, and to many, the journey to a 1960s USSR setting will feel like coming home.
With Drag x Drive, Nintendo's latest multiplayer jaunt is both the things we hoped for and the things we feared. It feels immersive and thrilling in the middle of matches to be giving it your all as you speed across a court and try to sink shots as best you can, being one with the chaos. Similarly, it's a concept and control scheme that we haven't seen before in games, one that deserves credit. In the same breath, though, this hyper-specific control scheme and skill ceiling will leave a lot of players, both casual and lesser-abled, behind with how demanding it can be. It doesn't help that the Nintendo charm isn't quite there, nor is there enough substantial side content. Fun in controlled doses, Drag x Drive remains a game I will eagerly keep an eye on, hoping and praying it gets the post-launch support, quality of life and updates it needs to be the hallmark of quirky and accessible multiplayer game design it is so clearly desperately trying to be.
MAGES. Inc. delivered and then some with Iwakura Aria. What's within is an electric and rich visual novel story, a page-turner that is filled to the brim with memorable and beautiful prose as it expertly weaves its themes. Better yet, it sands off all the rough edges of the genre with quality-of-life improvements. Where there's sacrifice and power found within the halls of the Iwakura mansion, there's also love, adoration and devotion. Whether it's in protagonist Ichiko's investment in the illustrious Aria or the player following along at every beat, you're both in for an artful and magnificent ride.
Dead Take is a solid adventure for the FMV genre that provides an eerie and moody atmosphere set in the Hollywood hills. What's there is an intriguing exploration of the powers that be and the dog-eat-dog nature of the film industry, and how it can consume people. It may not contain the deepest or most complex puzzle, nor does it make replayability easy for optional objectives, but you don't stay for that. What you're there for is the stellar performances; the likes of Ben Starr, Neil Newbon, Laura Bailey and more giving it their utmost all to deliver you a sufficiently chilling horror experience. There are horrors in that mansion, and though not all in there may delight, it's a worthwhile and memorable jaunt behind Hollywood's closed doors.
With the release of PATAPON 1+2 Replay comes vibrant and wonderful flashbacks to a colourful, vibrant, arcade-y and, most importantly, fun, era of games that don't really exist anymore. It was a joy for me to visit these games for the first time, and I'm finally well invested in the majesty and magic of the RTS and rhythm fusion harmony that the franchise is known for. With how grandiose and exciting the battles get with their devotion to music and busy, frantic chaos that explode across the screen, I'd be hard-pressed to find any fan, new or old, who doesn't find joy here, smiling like a huge dork as your units chant and stomp across the world. Though there's still the oddball of funk, including some poor tutorialisation in the first game and real brick wall moments that require grind, I'm glad PATAPON is back in a largely unaffected package. Players should jump right into this here nostalgia-infused release. The water's fine, and you'll be remembering the Patapons' spirit songs for years to come.
Kojima Productions' best project yet is Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, and it's largely thanks to how refined and an improvement it is on its predecessor, rather than being the perhaps expected unconventional sequel. The star-studded cast and their conjoined chemistry have helped craft a more interconnected and personal world this time, only bolstered by the unbelievably gorgeous, detailed and technically impressive open world where every journey is its own story. Every job and delivery is a delight and an immersive challenge against the greater elements. Picking you up off your feet and prodding you along are all the other players' structures and creations around the world. In Death Stranding 2, you are never alone. That remains true whether it's paying respect to those that came before, or paving the future of open world games that Kojima Productions, and even you, the player, are actively doing at all times. What a bright future it is.
PEAK is, well, the peak of climbing games. Aggro Crab and Landfall Games' combined talent resulted in an incredibly tactile, aptly challenging and delightfully chaotic puzzle platformer. With lots of colour, whimsy and charm, every pitfall or plummet to your death on the trying climb is just another opportunity for you and your friends to pick yourself up off your feet, and get moving again. It's dangerous to go alone, take this plush alien toy, healing balm and your best pals with you. You won't regret it.
Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster is a wonderful return to a game previously locked behind the 3DS. With it, history is repeated: there isn't all that much of a reason this should only be confined to the Switch 2, limiting audiences for an RPG classic once more. Yet it is. Still, A great game is a great game. My first journey with the Warriors of Light has been fantastic and magical, depicting beautiful environments full of rich tapestries, a classic fantasy story with some surprise twists and turns and an incredibly robust, creative and experimental combat system with oceans of depth. Whether returning to Luxendarc or a newcomer like me, this is one of the first no-brainer RPGs for the Switch 2.
Survival Kids doesn't take any big risks in its kid-friendly approach to survival games. Yes, it is technically kid-friendly in mood and scope, but that's also underselling the maturity and capability of children playing games. Its level-based approach doesn't evoke a sense of wonder and exciting exploration that its counterparts are known and beloved for. Its tasks are monotonous and very quickly become repetitive, almost as if they're not trusting you to understand the same thing they're teaching and showing you every few minutes. With only nine levels, but with rough pacing in those missions, it's an experience that somehow passes you by in a flash, but also feels like a slog. There's fun to be had if you're with friends in the silly and chaotic gameplay moments, also working together as a refined, well-oiled survival production machine. Still, at the end of the day, Survival Kids isn't all that much of a successful return, remaining hardly a splash in the ocean.
Robots at Midnight is a solid enough romp for the action RPG space. The robot infested world of Yob is a curious and colourful place infused with retro nostalgic futurism, dusty droids and bright purple stormy skies. A lot of flowers should be given to Finish Line Games for making a palatable Soulslike that can be played by all, even offering some engaging play in the supercharged MITT abilities that have you soaring around environments or sucker punching bots. Thanks to other elements, such as a lot of stock standard combat pacing and flawed exploration, Robots at Midnight doesn't necessarily do a lot to significantly distinguish itself in the hugely populated genre crowd, but it is a different flavoured experience for the space if you're looking for yet another to eat up. It's not quite a home run, but it's a damn solid swing and crowd pleaser nevertheless.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is amazing and well worth the wait, and Level-5 bringing it to multiple platforms to experience it in all its whimsy and wonder was an incredibly smart and measured decision. I'd struggle to find anyone who wouldn't gel with how effortlessly endearing it is, with its vibrant world and charm, dopamine-providing levelling system, a bounty of activities and things to see and do. The side-games that feel like their own games, whether that's exploring a Breath of the Wild-like open world or creating a cute and cozy village of locals à la Animal Crossing, are substantial and meaty, adding to the fun and delight that awaits around every corner. Even the most monotonous task of chopping down a tree is suddenly super exciting. The Fantasy Life series, and The Girl Who Steals Time, are just that magical and effective in doing so. This is a level up for Level-5. Job complete.
Strange Scaffold have done it again and has made another wonderful romp that is well worth your time, this time adapting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles name and world. Dispel any doubt: the indie studio's writing chops and style transfer well to the universe of the team of amphibian martial artists, bringing over so much charm and pizazz from the IP in its first-ever turn-based affair. With plenty of visual and audio flourishes and delights, you're transported to the franchise's heyday and better yet, while you're at it, you're engaging in some good old-fashioned tactics fun, using the turtle brother's skillsets to take down wave after wave of thugs. It might not be the most mechanically deep or hardest of the genre, but it's all worth it to see those lovable crime-fighting teens back in action.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is still a good game, like the original was all those years ago. The excitement of wandering the open world of Cyrodil is still there, getting into shenanigans with goblins in caves, doing away with the undead coming through Oblivion Gates, and getting into thievery and tomfoolery across the great unknown. There are meaningful changes to how skills work and how to read the world, making it the cleanest and smoothest run through Bethesda's great RPG yet. However, it is bogged down by the change in art style, where fidelity disappointingly removes any colour or substance that was once found. A blemish on one of the greats. Much like an old car that's been plodding along a little too long, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered mostly still runs, and a new coat of paint helps some, but don't be surprised by the sensation of feeling like things are going to fall apart at any moment.
The Midnight Walk is undeniably a big stab at both a moody experience and a satisfying puzzler. MoonHood's debut stumbles a bit at the latter, running into some lacklustre puzzle design and monotony with how scarcely it mixes this up, but it makes up for it in setting. There are a lot of cool, eerie horrors that await on the mountain hike, depicted and animated to unbelievable detail, all the more striking than the last. Backed by enthralling 3D sound design that has you dreading every little footstep of those creepy crawlies, it's a fairy tale horror adventure that is more than the sum of its parts.
LUNAR Remastered Collection is a warm and welcome return to the important and severely underrated '90s JRPGs. Within are those iconic anime cutscenes, a charming cast of characters and a magical universe that spans a millennium. Though more could've been done to modernise the pair of adventures, including minimising the frustrating difficulty spikes and at times disorienting level design, it's worth it for how this special and unique collection is enshrined today. The LUNAR games are an endearing and wonderful affair that shouldn't be lost to time and are begging you to play them. If you make the right decision to do so, the rest will be history.
Many Nights A Whisper is another magical story and experience from Deconstructeam, now with the added co-development of Selkie Harbour. Though some could take issue with its brief foray, it's worth it for the incredibly pragmatic lens of teaching players to be okay with the unknown, while also questioning rituals and the everyday norm. How much stir and bubble you want to put out into the world is entirely up to you, and through controlling the protagonist known as The Dreamer, you get a microscopic look at what it means to put good out into the world, but also what implications that could have. Backed by an entrancing lo-fi soundtrack from the wonderful fingerspit, along with a colourful vignette of a greater world, Many Nights A Whisper reminds us that there is hope yet for this world. Through it all is that fiery, bright shining beacon of light in the distance.
Blasting the door down and becoming an instant masterpiece classic, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 defies all expectations and ambitions and then some. Looking at decades of genre refinement and somehow still managing to innovate, creating immensely tactical, thought-provoking and rich combat is nothing short of a miracle achieved at the hands of Sandfall Interactive. Accompanying it is an entirely fresh and magnificent world full of wonders and beauty, even despite its intricate and often harrowing narrative that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and so many RPGs that have come before it, the little expedition that could will be plastered across history with the greats. Bravo.
Proving once more that Strange Scaffold is the indie king of weird, creative titles, Creepy Redneck Mansion 3 is another joyous romp under the studio's now 10-titles-deep belt. Continuing the current Match 3 renaissance with meaningful turn-based battles with countless implementations of strategy, it's only let up by the occasional frustrating encounter and not all that fun ending chasing in the game's last act. Still managing to find the time for topical commentary on the state of game development amongst its kooky world, it's a venture that's more than the sum of its parts and with a surprising amount of bite for a puzzle game… just be wary they may very well come from that creepy Pclowntadactyl awaiting you around the next corner.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened is an already incredible game made more amazing thanks to meaningful quality of life additions, stellar graphical remastering and insightful new content in the new campaign and developer commentaries. It's beautiful, tranquil and pensive. Filled with philosophical platitudes, brain-wrinkling puzzles and sheer tranquil vibes in all the environments, Croteam have masterfully reworked their beloved puzzle game to be as quintessential as ever.