Paul Hunter's Reviews
1348 Ex Voto is a game with a strong setting and genuine highlights that gets undermined by its own combat system.
Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club on Nintendo Switch 2 is a thoroughly enjoyable action-puzzle adventure. The persona swap system keeps investigations satisfying, the mini-game variety adds great pacing, and the story is warm, funny, and faithful to the Peanuts brand.
Pokémon Pokopia absolutely delivers on all fronts. The gameplay is deep and genuinely hard to put down, and the amount of content is impressive enough that the credits only feel like the halfway point.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is one of the best horror games you can play right now on PS5. The Camera Obscura combat is the sharpest it's ever been, Minakami Village is completely rebuilt and larger than ever, the story is even more involved with new side stories and brand-new endings, and the presentation is the best the series has ever produced.
I had a great time with Scott Pilgrim EX and I think fans of the series will too. Tribute Games built something with real passion here, with the combination of deep, satisfying combat and gorgeous pixel art creating a package that's easy to love.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition — Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t just revisit one of the most grandiose RPGs on the Nintendo Switch, it brings sweeping improvements to an already exceptional game.
Resident Evil Requiem is one of the best Resident Evil games ever and a clear Game of the Year contender. You get two epic campaigns with very different playstyles and a satisfying story that ties up some long-running threads while setting the stage for the next chapter. To top it off, the level of visual and audio polish is outstanding so don't be surprised if you snap dozens of photos along the journey.
I had a great time with Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition, and I think most gamers who grew up in the 90s will too. It gives you five different versions of Rayman to play through, packs in a History section that is genuinely one of the best game documentaries I have watched, and includes enough quality-of-life features to make every version a pleasure to play.
God of War Sons of Sparta is polished smaller project that delivers on all fronts. The canon prequel deepens Kratos’ history, while the comat feels freat and gets better the further you get into the adventure. The pixel art presentation has tremendous style and polish, and the voice acting is top-notch headed up by TC Carson.
All considered, this has become my new go-to sports game on Nintendo Switch 2.
Styx: Blades of Greed is a strong comeback for Cyanide’s goblin thief, delivering excellent stealth mechanics with a fun story payoff for long-time fans, and big, dense sandbox regions that are a joy to sneak through. I wish there was a detailed map and there are some odd technical hiccup, but they're overshadowed by just how great it is to play as Styx and cause trouble.
Roaming Tormentosa, dipping back into the fair hub, and slowly powering up your guns and health never stopped being satisfying. Strong audio and visuals pull it all together into a campaign I was happy to finish, and immediately dive back in for another run.
High on Life 2 takes the hilarious, chaotic shooter idea of the first game and builds upon it in satisfying ways. You get a stronger story and a larger arsenal, plus the new skateboard traversal system makes even simple fights more entertaining. The whole thing is wrapped in a bold art style and has great voice acting, with a tone that balances filthy jokes with real heart. Even with a few technical hiccups, this stood out as one of the most memorable shooters I've played in a long time.
Tokyo Scramble is a neat experiment and it mostly works, as long as you play the game in shorter bursts as it's designed.
Reanimal stands out as a serious horror highlight, tying a bleak, personal story to tense 3D platforming and a dark presentation that never lets up. The campaign is tight and deliberate, and perfect for playing with friends through couch co-op or online using the free Friend Pass.
Super Bomberman Collection is the definitive way to experience classic Bomberman action and is one of the strongest retro compilations on PS5. Seven games with full regional versions, two Japan-only titles now in English, quality-of-life improvements, and a bonus content suite that celebrates the franchise history all make this a great value.
Grasshopper Manufacture delivers something special with Romeo Is A Dead Man. The mix of time-hopping investigation, tragic romance, and gory hack-and-slash action is very much on par with what you'd expect from Suda51.
The 9th Charnel ends up as a scrappy horror experiment, but one that's rough around the edges in many places.
Nioh 3 is Team NINJA firing on all cylinders, with the semi-open world structure being a huge improvement to the flow and momentum. I also loved the dual-style Samurai and Ninja setup that keeps combat flexible, and lets you experiment and instead of locking you in.
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined on PS5 takes a massive Dragon Quest quest and upgrades the full experience with modern quality-of-life features and improved combat flow. The story’s island chapters are just as heartwarming as I remember, and the revamped vocation systems with Moonlighting make customizing your party faster and easier than ever.