As an ode to '90s JRPGs, there's no doubt that Octopath Traveler 2 has chops. Its aesthetic and combat system are perfectly judged to recall the old while feeling new. The fragmented nature of its eight separate plotlines, however, means the world and its characters lack coherence and room to escape simple archetypes, while the stories themselves lack sufficient nuance to hold the attention.
Some gripping ghost stories justify gathering around Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden's campfire, but an open world full of routine skirmishes and mindless repetition might just scare you off again. As Dontnod's longest game yet, Banishers underlines the value of a tighter focus.
Oddworld: Soulstorm is an advancement on previous games in the series in every way, but that’s both its biggest achievement and the source of its problems. The complexity and variety in its locations is commendable, as is the wealth of tools at your disposal for dealing with its many tricks and foes. But many of its systems don’t work together reliably, or don’t respond with the necessary speed, which leaves an experience that’s rarely as entertaining as it promises to be.
The tactical flexibility in Bravely Default 2 is among the best in class, and tinkering with its possibilities is a fine pass-time in itself. But it gets bogged down in a churn of routine battles, wayward balancing and humdrum fantasy. While the original game’s compact focus felt comfy on a 3DS, the Switch magnifies the blemishes of the sequel and leaves it looking a little underdressed.
Equal parts stunning achievement and terrible mess, for every wonder in Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4 there’s a handful of frustrations. Performance issues affect not just how the game looks, but how it plays and feels, constantly taking bites out of what would otherwise be an impressive and exhilarating experience.
Ghost of Tsushima bravely steps into a genre that contains some of the generation’s most cutting-edge experiences. While it forges its own identity and doesn’t make any major mistakes, it’s not bold enough to escape their shadows.
Pleasant but rarely compelling characters undermine this spiritual sequel to Gone Home.
Intriguing puzzles aside, this metroidvania is plagued with systems that seem designed to frustrate.
There's a half-decent time to be had bashing your way around Stranger of Paradise's dungeons, but routine level design, rough edges and messy narrative delivery stop the experience evolving into a compelling adventure. Despite its efforts to create ordered systems, chaos has the final word.
It's proficient in some respects, adequate in others, and manageable at worst. But that leaves a creative void in its world and the way you interact with it that calls into question the value of the whole endeavour.
Robocop: Rogue City reflects its protagonist's qualities. It's well-built and robust, a few glitches aside, and capable of triggering explosive action. Yet it's also mechanical in its design, its dialogue slow and plodding, and limited in its forms of interaction. Short on engaging mission design and the film's punchy satire, Detroit's finest needs better backup to enliven this drawn out adventure.
"Many of the mechanics aren't quite developed enough to feel meaningful"
Somerville never hits its stride, thanks to flat direction and frustrating mechanics.
If Fort Solis really was a Netflix series, it wouldn't get a second season.
"Opening and closing fields to match the thing you're trying to kill has all the fussiness of a game of Simon Says – in that nothing you do counts unless you've remembered to hit the right button first"
It's not often that the promotion campaign might be more enjoyable than the final product, but Wanted: Dead may have to grin and bear this ignominy. Despite some effort to subvert genre norms with its characters and amusing mini-games, the core action is bogged down by low production values, imbalance, and repetition. For every moment it hits its stride, there's another where it stubs its toe, and some slick execution animations are as imaginative as it gets.
"The upside of treading old ground is that the Oxenfree 2 story gets to link back to the original in some fun ways"
Biomutant’s feature list seems to include everything a successful open-world action RPG needs. But journey through its towns, fields and bunkers, and there’s no intrigue in its exploration or weight in its relationship building. Not even a worthy combat challenge to hold everything together. With so many ideas left under-developed, it wastes a setting that had far more potential.
Perhaps, ultimately, you have to accept with “The Centennial Case” that you’re not so much Sherlock Holmes as Dr. Watson, offering up ideas that might be taken on board by the real star, or given short shrift. If you don’t mind playing second fiddle to its fine cast and weaving plotlines, there’s plenty here to keep you gripped. As with any good TV murder mystery, the intent is to keep audiences guessing. “The Centennial Case” should keep you guessing throughout.
Too many glitches, too few truly memorable moments, and an overabundance of wombats prevent the game from becoming a truly majestic beast.