Gareth Brading
I can definitely see Dreams having a long lifetime, especially if a PS5 version is swiftly released after the new console. Being able to dive in and try out what’s new and exciting in Dream Surfing is always great, as is slowly building up your skills in Dream Shaping. I don’t think I’ll ever to able to create a masterpiece of my own, but I admire Dreams greatly for empowering those people who can.
Neversong doesn’t do anything incredibly different from games before it, but everything it does do it pulls off excellently.
If you’ve been put off from trying a JRPG fearing they are a complex timesink, Ys: Memories of Celceta is a fantastic place to dispel those aspersions. It gives you an experience that feels meaningful and worthwhile.
Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories is clunky, broken and buggy. The framerate regularly struggles to stay in the high 20s. It’s ugly, with small, bland environments and some occasionally finicky controls. And yet despite all this, Disaster Report 4 is remarkably engaging, using a variety of small scale stories and encounters put together against the backdrop of a cataclysmic earthquake. Disaster Report 4 might be technically lacking in a lot of areas, but it is stuffed full of heart.
Maid of Sker doesn't break the mold of traditional survival horror, but it executes its formula with proficient aplomb.
The Revenant Prince has a lot of interesting ideas, most notably its different approach to a battle system and a story which presents a number of difficult ethical choices.
Crusader Kings III is a truly great sequel; a fascinatingly deep and rewarding game with options to make it easier than ever for newcomers to get acquainted.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a solid game, severely hampered by technical and control limitations on consoles. The best way to play remains the PC version, as it suffers from none of the PS4’s control problems and a lot less of the technical ones. Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a game positively overflowing with content, and will keep you entertained for countless hours if you wish it. It’s not a game that necessarily does anything new to reinvent the genre, but it shows great love for the original source material which should indebt it to fans of the tabletop RPG.
Windbound is fine for a short pleasure cruise, but you're unlikely to want to complete the full voyage.
Iron Harvest is a decidedly old-school RTS with some modern trappings, with a bombastic main campaign with a surprisingly well written story.