There’s a whole bunch of Easter eggs here, not to mention an expansive world brimming with secrets and plenty of busywork to keep you playing long after the main quest has finished. The combat is pretty fun, especially late on when you can mix and match spells, and you can tell a lot of care and attention has been putting into this. Hogwarts Legacy isn’t the best open world game on the market but it is a surprisingly polished experience and the perfect thrill-ride for Potter fans.
The few glimmers of brilliance in Forspoken are overshadowed by an abundance of problems that are hard to overlook. A horribly written story is accentuated by a morally disengaged protagonist; an empty open-world with the usual checkbox of meaningless busywork gives no incentive to explore; while the magic system sports lots of control and options but very little reason to deviate from spamming the same moves. This is a game in desperate need of another year in development rather than the bland-fest we're served up. Forspoken? More like For-shame.
Dead Space is a shining example of how to do a remake – and do it well. The tiny changes to the core gameplay are all beneficial to the overall experience, while the aesthetic is absolutely stunning all round. It’s testament to how good the original is that even now, 14 years later, Dead Space holds up as one of the best survival horror games on the market. If you haven’t played it before, or fancy reliving a classic, you should absolutely give this a play.
Minor narrative gripes aside, NeverAwake is a surprisingly great twin shooter. It's a fun, chaotic and beautifully designed game that's well worth your time. This Indie gem is easy to pick up and difficult to put down; once you start though you'll be glad you did as this could prove to be one of 2023's best console games.
As a tranquil Indie experience, SEASON certainly isn’t bad but it's not a particularly good game either. It does have some stand-out moments and the general worldbuilding is pretty good but everything else around that is woefully substandard. Traversing the world on your bike is surprisingly dull (don’t expect to fall off your bike or find any physics applied to this), while both the animation and general mechanics at play here leave a lot to be desired. SEASON's simplistic design is both its biggest selling point and its Achille's heel.
If this was just a collection of the mini-levels thrown together with a sort of hub area to hone your skills, Frontier may have been a solid Sonic game. As it stands though, there’s so much wrong with this that it’s hard to know where to start. Some will undoubtedly have fun with this one, pointing out other, worse, Sonic games on the market, but compared to platforming giants like Mario and Crash Bandicoot, this one barely stumbles out the gates before being left in the dust.
Children of Silentown is a very solid and enjoyable point and click adventure. While it’s not particularly innovative, or very long, what it lacks in length and originality, it more than makes up for with polish and atmosphere.
Midnight Suns is definitely worth checking out. The game has a lot going for it and the story is actually pretty interesting across the board. There’s a lot of scope for the future with this one, including playable characters like Venom and Morbius (not to mention THAT teaser after the final battle!) this game may just be the brightest star in a dark Marvel sky this year.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is not a perfect game but it is a perfect example of how to take everything that's come before and improve all facets of its development. From the beautiful soundtrack to the stunning locales; from the thematically resonant story to the tight gameplay mechanics; Plague Tale: Requiem is an absolute joy to play through and easily one of this year's best games.
Ichiban’s journey is an epic tale of loyalty, love and honour, and this is likely to be an experience you’ll remember for years to come. Like a Dragon is an absolute must-play.
Freshly Frosted isn't the most innovative title of 2022, but it is easily one of the best puzzlers. It's armed with a simple premise, but the way the gameplay constantly evolves, along with a near-perfect difficulty curve throughout, makes this doughnut factory tick at every turn.
Good graphics and lighting can only go so far and unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing else here worth getting excited about. The Callisto Protocol is this generation’s The Order: 1886. It could have been great. There are flickers of greatness here. But in the end, this turns into a great big disappointment.
The Devil In Me should be a devilishly moreish entry in the Dark Pictures anthology, and it definitely has the narrative chops to make for a bloody good horror. Unfortunately, those aforementioned bugs and glitches haunt this title and hold it back from being a better experience. If you can get around these issues though, there’s lots to like here.
There’s a lot of love that’s gone into crafting this game and Stray deserves its plaudits. This is a fantastic game and easily one of the best in 2022.
In many ways, The Quarry is just as good as Until Dawn, which is a solid 8/10 in this reviewer’s eyes. However, the lack of narrative depth and meaningful choices, the annoying graphical glitches mentioned and a surprising lack of ways to kill characters until late on, hold this back from being an outstanding offering in this genre.
Horizon: Forbidden West is undoubtedly a beautiful game, with expanded lore and a pretty good story (minus a disappointing sequel-baiting third act.) The platforming is still terrible though, some of the design choices are questionable and Aloy’s constant chatter is borderline game-breaking. Having said that, there’s been a good deal of improvement and care put into fighting machines – which is still this game’s biggest draw. There’s nothing quite like the adrenaline-soaked fights with the larger behemoths in this world. Forbidden West is not perfect but this is a solid sequel to one of the better open worlds in recent times.
While Gran Turismo gets a lot right, it also gets a lot wrong too. The microtransactions and insidious roulette gambling are absolutely disgusting and have no place in a “AAA” game. Oh, and that’s before mentioning the mandatory always-online connection too. Without them this would be an easy 7.5/10. If you can stomach the inherent flaws and don’t have a history of addictive tendencies, Gran Turismo 7 is a decent racing title on the track but it misses a podium finish by spinning out on the home stretch.
Dying Light 2 is not a good game. It’s a frustrating medley of intriguing ideas and concepts buried under a thick, post-apocalyptic sludge of mediocrity. From dull combat and dull characters to an abundance of dull side quests, Dying Light 2 is one of the biggest disappointments of recent years.
Reverie Knights Tactics is a simple tactical RPG, one with a lot of potential that’s never quite explored as much as it perhaps should be. Despite its story flaws and simple battle tactics, this is still a fun game to play. With no microtransactions, predatory lootboxes or noteworthy bugs at launch, this is not a bad title to splash £20 on.
It’s such a shame then that the narrative fails as badly as it does because when it comes to gameplay, most of It Takes Two is brilliantly designed. Much like The Last Of Us Part 2, this is going to be a narrative that divides many people. Unlike TLOU2, the mature themes here are tackled immaturely, with a weird tinted veil that completely brushes over the complexities of the issues being discussed. Gameplay-wise, this title is a blast to play through. Narratively though? This one’s a clanger.