Silt’s plot is delivered very similarly to that of the Playdead games, being entirely dialogue free. It’s certainly a game about the experience and emotions of what you’re seeing and hearing, as you swim your way across an alien underwater world, filled with beauty and nightmares galore. While there are elements of horror here it’s not as deliberately horrifying as Limbo with its grisly death animations, and is more interested in invoking a sense of wonder as you explore. For fans of the Playdead games Silt is an easy recommendation, but it’s also fully accessible for newcomers to this style of puzzle game.
Although South of the Circle failed to touch me emotionally at anything other than a surface level, it is nonetheless a nicely paced and structured linear narrative adventure, merging the frozen wastes of Antarctica with the golden afternoon sunshine of Cambridge. If you enjoyed Virginia, this game is an unquestionable recommendation given its stylistic overlap, but if you’re put off by linear narrative adventures of this type, South of the Circle probably isn’t going to win you around.
It’s also quite a short game, although I personally thought the length was sensible given this kind of overwhelmingly horrifying atmosphere can become tedious if used too long, which was one of the criticisms pointed at the otherwise excellent Alien: Isolation. Scorn is a difficult game to love, but for its singular visual flair, it is one I respect.
Goat Simulator 3 is undoubtedly a meme game, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t also some meat behind the memeing. Goat Simulator 3 is deliberately mindless, easy-going fun, with no plot to speak of and activities designed to give you an easy laugh. Its brand of humour is a somewhat acquired taste but I will admit to chuckling at the absurdity of many of the situations you can get into with a goat who knows no fear. Goat Simulator 3 is a bigger, more action-packed version of the same madcap wackiness which many enjoyed in the first game, and I suspect for most players, that will be the bee’s (goat’s) knees.
Gungrave G.O.R.E. is the kind of game that is going to appeal to two different groups of people: Fans of the original two games, or people nostalgic for this particular style of bullet hell third-person shooter. Returnal in 2021 is an example of this kind of game done in a modernized format with some Roguelike elements, while Gungrave G.O.R.E. deliberately eschews any modernization in an effort of being an authentic, era-appropriate experience. If you’re in the mood for some over-the-top action and can stomach some repetitive shooting, Gungrave G.O.R.E. will satisfy that itch.
While the hard sci-fi story is consistently interesting, the slow pace of The Invincible may be frustrating for some.
SteamWorld Build is still a lovely merger of streamlined city-builder and dungeon delver.
A Highland Song is frequently beautiful, elegiac and magical, but one’s tolerance for its somewhat uneven gameplay will impact how much you will get back out of it. It should also be mentioned that on PC there is no mouse support, and while it plays fine with a keyboard, a controller is certainly the preferred method. Nevertheless, I did enjoy my jaunt across the Highlands, whenever I wasn’t falling off them or getting lost in the rain.
Starfield is an enormous and impressive experience, but it struggles to make its myriad parts feel like a cohesive whole.
Highwater has some good writing and atmosphere, but the light exploration and turn-based battles don’t feel particularly engaging.
It’s worth seeing for the unique setting, but its brevity, lack of character and worldbuilding leave The Plague Doctor of Wippra feeling rather underbaked.
Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 skews rather too close to simply redoing the original game again but in a futuristic setting.
Murder at Castle Nathria is another strong expansion to the now venerable Hearthstone, but it doesn't address the game's core problems.
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.