Toby Andersen


112 games reviewed
67.7 average score
70 median score
56.3% of games recommended
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Oct 17, 2022

A masterclass in narrative games design, A Plague Tale: Requiem is one of the most atmospheric and beautiful games you could ever wish to play. Amicia and Hugo's journey is powerful, evocative and downright disturbing and somehow manages to be greater than the original. Asobo Studio has crafted satisfying streamlined rat, light and stealth gameplay that perfectly serves the story it's trying to tell and only adds to the narrative intensity. A Game Of The Year contender for certain.

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Nov 15, 2022

An incredible adventure from beginning to end, God of War Ragnarok is epic in scale and nuanced in character. Its combat and gameplay haven’t changed much but why fix almost peerless systems? Ragnarök is an absolute must-play on the PS5 and a worthy contender for Game of the Year.

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Mar 16, 2020

Ori 2 is a triumph of the Metroidvania genre and takes its place alongside Hollow Knight as the absolute pinnacle available on any system.

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Apr 7, 2020

It’s not quite perfect, but its closer than any JRPG has come in the last decade or more and breathes new life into a lagging genre. If you like RPGs, anime, engrossing narratives, or just a second life to live, and you are anything like me and have lamented the dearth of real quality JRPGs in the last decade, you owe it to yourself not to miss this.

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Apr 20, 2020

Little things have been lost along the way, but what we have gained far outweighs the losses. What matters is still intact, and that’s the heart and soul of one of the greatest stories in video game history. It’s a return to form that has felt a long time in coming, and what’s even better is that there’s still at least two more games of this quality to come.

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Jul 21, 2020

Ghost of Tsushima is Sucker Punch’s masterpiece. With the depth of its combat, its incredible open-world design and its rich historical authenticity and cultural legacy, it’s a heady contender for the most incredible release of this console generation. It’s definitely the best samurai game ever made.

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Sep 17, 2020

13 Sentinels is the deepest of narrative experiments, with none of the form of a normal RPG, and a visceral and addictive strategic mech battler. It channels everything good about Japanese mech anime and games from the last 40 years into something beautiful, timeless and incredibly niche. A real contender for RPG of the year.

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Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is the perfect distillation of classic gameplay, and modern gaming demands. It is full to bursting with content, things to earn and masses of replayability. Though its difficulty may be too high for some, it’s definitely the best Crash Bandicoot has ever been and deserves its place alongside the original trilogy. A classic modernised and a modern classic.

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Oct 15, 2020

A deep cyber detective tale, with a unique take on the tools of the trade, Lucifer Within Us is special for its use of intuitive timelines and mechanics to control and manipulate every part of the mystery. Add an engrossing narrative and interesting characters, and you have a recipe for a short, but very cerebral experience.

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Nov 5, 2020

A very special point and click visual novel, Chicken Police is the perfect hard-boiled detective game you always wanted, just populated with animals. Atmospheric and funny, with some fantastic writing and voice work, Chicken Police is one of the best indie games of the year.

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9 / 10 - Narita Boy
Mar 29, 2021

Narita Boy is a feat of imagination, one of the most conceptually interesting games I’ve ever played. The retro world of the Digital Kingdom – its pixelart, design and art direction – are some of the most eye-catchingly beautiful ever committed to code. Its soundtrack is mesmerising, truly special synthwave. Narita Boy ends up more than the sum of its parts, going beyond the source code to deliver a game that should take its place alongside the greatest indies.

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9 / 10 - Scarlet Nexus
Jul 5, 2021

A triumphant new IP from Bandai Namco, Scarlet Nexus is probably the best RPG of the year so far. Its compellingly dark story will keep you guessing through two necessary playthroughs, while its engaging psychokinetic combat is in a class of its own, albeit with exceptionally streamlined progression. Throwing your toys around has never been so much fun.

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9 / 10 - Hades
Aug 14, 2021

Hades is the new standard by which we measure roguelites. A stunningly modern narrative scenario told in bitesize morsels perfectly designed around roguelites, it also manages to have infinitely replayable combat full of constantly changing moves and powers. It demands your skill and a lot of your time, but it rewards you by providing meaning to the grind.

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9 / 10 - Eastward
Sep 14, 2021

A post-apocalyptic action-adventure framed as a train journey through a cute heartfelt story of discovery, loyalty, and the bonds we form with others, Eastward shines like a diamond on the Switch. It’s wholesome, it's original, it's quirky, and it's full of that special ingredient that turns a little indie into a must-play. Eastward's graphics, narrative, and characters draw you in almost effortlessly and keep a tight hold until this train has come to a complete stop.

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9 / 10 - Beacon Pines
Sep 21, 2022

As a straight story of Stranger Things meets Sylvanians, Beacon Pines is written beautifully, drawn evocatively, and compelling to play. But as a deconstruction of narrative that lets you rebuild your own story from the pieces, it’s stellar, captivating stuff. An unfettered joy from start to finish.

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Mar 13, 2023

masterclass in narrative convergence, the eight-fold seemingly disparate paths of Octopath Traveler II come together to form a tightly plotted and engaging whole. Though its gameplay is not ground-breaking, its battles are fun and rewarding and manage to cut out much of the grind of its predecessor, making it an essential JRPG experience.

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8 / 10 - HyperParasite
Apr 2, 2020

HyperParasite is an enjoyable twin-stick shooter with loads of character, sorry, characters. It’s humorous and fun. But it’s also painfully unforgiving.

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8 / 10 - Cloudpunk
Apr 29, 2020

With a few technical restrictions and its demands on your gaming rig, Cloudpunk isn’t perfect. It’s a quite simple in structure and though it promises a lot of freedom, it’s a freedom within certain boundaries and confines of the tech, and within the heavily limited actions available. This is not Grand Theft Auto in a futuristic metropolis. It does however feature the most wonderfully realised sci-fi city I’ve ever had the pleasure to fly around, and goddamn, it’s the first flying car game I’ve ever played, and I can’t believe the stunning lack of flying car games in the gaming market.

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May 7, 2020

The chillest rocket in the galaxy is a fun mascot, even if he’s a little shallow, but he’s not really the star of the show. Instead, it’s that oscillating vector, the new wave sinusoid that you actually control. The wave that is both your new favourite toy and in so many courses your cruel mistress. It’s the creation of a whole new sub-genre, which I am dubbing, the Waveformer. When we talk about game physics in future, I hope Wavey is name-checked along with the likes of Portal.

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8 / 10 - Inmost
Aug 27, 2020

Pixels shouldn’t be this scary. Inmost is a short but very memorable metroidvania horror, full of cinematic lighting and intricate diorama-like levels. The visual storytelling is masterful, and it’s without doubt the most atmospheric 2D game since Hollow Knight. Grab some noise-cancelling headphones and turn off the lights, you’re in for a fright.

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