Jon Bailes


72 games reviewed
70.1 average score
70 median score
41.4% of games recommended
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May 9, 2024

Without giving anything away, it suffices to say that this rabbit hole goes a long way down, and if Animal Well is a Metroidvania, it's so much more besides.

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Apr 22, 2024

Tight design and compelling mythology compensate for a few too many borrowed ideas.

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Apr 10, 2024

"Many of the mechanics aren't quite developed enough to feel meaningful"

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56 / 100 - Open Roads
Mar 27, 2024

Pleasant but rarely compelling characters undermine this spiritual sequel to Gone Home.

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Mar 22, 2024

Like the original game, Dragon's Dogma 2 excels when you're out in its open world with your pawn allies – finding hidden caves and treasure, fighting monsters, and generally losing track of time. Also like the original, it falls short in terms of quest design, convenience, and general polish. A somewhat conservative sequel, then, but one that retains the charm of its predecessor.

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Mar 19, 2024

Returning to its interwar period roots, Alone in the Dark successfully reworks and expands the original game's scenario and characters, but its exploration, puzzle solving and combat largely stick to now familiar survival horror routines.

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Unscored - Pacific Drive
Feb 20, 2024

There's much to admire in Ironwood's car-based survival sim, not least the detail that's gone into the old banger you pilot and the weird lands you have to explore, which force you to learn their quirks and keep your wits about you. As a crafting game, however, it's rather unforgiving and laborious, requiring a lot of thankless graft if you want to stay on the road and unlock more inventive equipment.

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86 / 100 - Helldivers II
Feb 15, 2024

Server issues aside, Helldivers 2 is a bombastic, strategically engaging and funny squad shooter.

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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.

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Unscored - Flashback 2
Nov 21, 2023

No doubt pushed out the door before it was ready. Yet, even when you cut through the mess there's an overall lack of quality and imagination to contend with, making it a strong contender for worst game of the year.

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Nov 15, 2023

American Arcadia is a sharp, snappy production that could make for an entertaining film if it wasn't peppered with ingenious puzzles and platforming challenges. The dual character scenario is exploited brilliantly, adding variety, originality and humour, and even if some sections lack a real sense of participation, the visual design of Arcadia, along with some smart turns in the plot, ensure momentum through to the end.

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77 / 100 - The Invincible
Nov 2, 2023

An admirable adaptation of a classic sci-fi story, despite a few stumbles.

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Oct 31, 2023

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.

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Oct 16, 2023

Endless Dungeon is an entertaining, polished, and finely-tuned roguelike, expertly blending action and tactics to fill each trip with dozens of impactful micro-decisions. While visibility can be an issue during packed battles, presentation overall is bright and clean, and supported by some classy character design. Co-op play is the icing on an already tasty cake.

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90 / 100 - Cocoon
Oct 2, 2023

A puzzle adventure of rare ingenuity that thrives on its tactility as much as its design.

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Sep 28, 2023

An over-ambitious and technically flawed tactics game that can't live up to its more accomplished influences.

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Aug 28, 2023

It's a joy and a relief to realise that Sabotage hasn't merely mimicked classic '90s JRPG, but committed to understanding what makes them tick. Its nostalgia is neither gratuitous nor cynical, instead working disparate references together with original ideas into a coherent whole. While it's a little disappointing to discover that there's isn't great depth to the turn-based battles and other systems, the immense quality and detail in the pixel art, soundtrack, location design, characters and plot ensure that Sea of Stars remains a stunning achievement to the end.

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Aug 23, 2023

Armored Core VI: Fires Of Rubicon's stylish main character, varied level design and effective story are balanced by a few out of place boss fights and too many similar battles. Like a mech itself, Armored Core VI is versatile and packs a real punch, but also somewhat bulky and not always perfectly balanced.

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40 / 100 - Fort Solis
Aug 22, 2023

If Fort Solis really was a Netflix series, it wouldn't get a second season.

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71 / 100 - En Garde!
Aug 16, 2023

En Garde! flares brightly with its slick, slapstick combat, for a while at least.

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