Slave Zero X is an old school game that is great to look at, thrilling to play at times with excellent animations and a feedback loop to the combat that makes smashing enemies into a bloody mess amazingly fun, but it's difficulty spikes and how those spikes are escalated only work to wear you down. By the end of the game those things you might've enjoyed about Slave Zero X are being crushed under a pile of frustrations as high as the body count you'll rack up across a full playthrough. When the wins no longer provide any feeling of satisfaction, it's easy to be left wondering what you continue for. But all the things that are so well executed in Slave Zero X still make it worth checking out, especially if you're already intrigued by the difficulty barrier-to-entry to cross the line into 'enjoying Slave Zero X, even if it makes you want to throw something.'
Pacific Drive is a game absolutely dripping in atmosphere and excellent spooky vibes, with an exploration-to-looting-to-tense extraction-to-crafting/upgrading and back again gameplay loop that doesn't get old, and a story that is both emotional and intriguing. While pacing issues do hamper it down some, that doesn't damage the experience enough to leave it off anyone's must-play list for 2024.
Survivorman VR: The Descent walks a difficult tightrope between trying to be a fun game, and an authentic educational tool, and it does an okay job. It's quality as an educational tool is extremely high, but that doesn't always mesh with being a fun game, and it feels like there's a lot of missed opportunities with how it goes about teaching you. Still, it's a fun, short time that is a great to experience for how it depicts nature alone, especially at such a great price.
Ultros is ultimately an excellent game, and I loved almost every minute I spent with it exploring what is really a giant work of art. The storytelling, the music, the art, the design and exploration are all wonderful to experience, even if its biggest puzzle mechanic is also its biggest frustration. But those frustrations don't overshadow the things that make Ultros shine, and they are all why it is a must-play game for Metroidvania fans, or anyone that just wants to be awed by what they're looking at every five minutes.
Song Of Nunu: A League Of Legends Story is a simple game with excellent storytelling and truly endearing characters. Willump and Nunu's story and adventure will warm your heart even in the icy regions of its setting. It's a cinematic, Pixar-like experience that shouldn't be missed by adventure fans or anyone looking to get a new game for their young kid.
Resident Evil 4 Remake's VR mode is an immersive thrill ride from beginning to end, and what was already one of the best games ever made has been elevated to new heights on the PS VR2. It is truly a must-play experience for anyone with a PS VR2.
Ghostrunner 2 fails at being what it should be, a proper sequel. Instead, it ends up feeling much more like a 1.5, or a big DLC expansion, because of how little is changed or evolved from the first game. Where it does try to expand, it more often than not fails on the execution, and while the core combat is still just as insanely fun as it was the first time around, Ghostrunner 2's failings get in the way of that core experience so much that it drags down your whole experience.
Payday 3 is a good game right now, with great heists that are fun to play no matter the direction you take, though the overhaul to stealth gameplay steals the spotlight more than anything. How it launched was however unacceptable, and further highlighted the issues prevalent with games that require you to always be online. It also doesn't help itself by not providing a well-thought out experience for an online game. Due to that online nature though give it a year and it'll likely be fixed, and a great game, but its a shame it didn't launch like that.
Lies Of P is one of the best Soulslike games to enter the genre, and on multiple occasions builds on the games that inspired it, adding refinements that result in a better gameplay experience. However it emulates its influences a little too closely, and fails to hit the same highs as the games that it has clearly used as a skeleton, inviting comparisons that aren't always flattering. Along with an incredibly disruptive difficulty spike, Lies Of P stands as a game that is very nearly great, and will scratch the right itch for fans of the genre to stick with it.
Nour: Play With Your Food is an interactive work of art that lets you create your own playful, vibrant and artistic images, with an inviting soundtrack that's all packaged in a cozy game you can take at your own pace, but it ultimately feels lacking and the gameplay loop just didn't ever feel enticing enough.
Sea Of Stars is an excellent, retro-inspired RPG that I would recommend anyone play, with feel-good characters, intricate and engaging combat, a stunning soundtrack, and beautiful world with a wonderful sense of adventure, friendship and love. While the story doesn't break any molds, its characters are all charming and endearing, to the point where I feel like I'd follow them to the ends of the world and beyond.
Patrick's Parabox is an excellent puzzle game that you'll want to be going back to not just to clear its 364 puzzles, but because it is the perfect cerebral-cozy game that has a calming yet exciting vibe as you solve puzzles and relax with a soundtrack that amplifies your ability to enter a calm flow state of thinking. The pacing of each new mechanic and rule to the puzzles is great, and discovering each new mechanic as you solve a puzzle only makes you want to play the next puzzle more to see how creative developer Patrick Traynor gets with it, and he certainly doesn't disappoint.
C-Smash VRS is an absolute must-buy game for anyone armed with a PS5 and PSVR2. It's a brilliant execution of a game that balances fun and challenge while taking full advantage of what makes VR special, and it absolutely shines brightest when playing one of its four VRS modes, even if for now it feels light on content.
Death Or Treat can be a fun 2D rogue-lite at first, but the gameplay becomes bland far too quickly, well before the much more polished final stage which comes too late to be the game's savior, and the charm created by its admittedly excellent visual style and animation isn't enough to keep you going, especially when that visual style is bogged down by commentary that only distracts you from the game's world.
What The Bat? doesn't really do a whole lot to make it an essential experience among the PlayStation VR2 launch window of titles, but if PSVR2 is your first VR headset ever, then you'd only be doing yourself a favour to jump into Triband's hilarious and fun bats-for-hands world.
Jett The Far Shore + Given Time definitely makes for a more complete experience of Jett's narrative if you're a newcomer, who'll get to play them back to back, but those initial frustrations even for a veteran player like myself made me feel like not picking up the controller. Jett can still be beautiful, and Given Time does provide a satisfying conclusion, though fails to really offer any answers to the big questions it began asking in the original campaign. Try Given Time out because its a free upgrade, but it's not a must-play.
Gris on PS5 is an absolute marvel, because it truly delivers an experience that cannot be had anywhere else. Nomada Studio's excellent incorporation of the DualSense's feature-set amps up what is already an emotionally charged time to new heights, and made my first experience of Gris even more beautiful than it could have been on any other platform. Whether you've played it a hundred times or not at all, PS5 is the place to best experience Gris.
Neon White is overall a very good, even exceptional game, with addicting, thrilling, and wonderfully crafted gameplay. The characters are all incredibly endearing in their own way, even if the overall narrative doesn't break any molds. It's easily one of the best 3D platformers today, and one game from 2022 that is not to be missed.
OlliOlli World's Finding The Flowzone DLC is an absolute marvel, with every single new level somehow a breath of fresh air among the high level of creativity already included within the main OlliOlli World campaign and the Void Riders DLC. The newly introduced Wind Zones add a new layer of complexity to levels that makes them all the more fun to explore. Discovering new paths and new ways to a high score never feels dull, and it's all topped off with arguably the best level across the entire game.
NHL 23 isn't EA's best year, but it's not the worst either. Stumble actions and loose-puck plays help enhance gameplay, but they remain less than groundbreaking. The addition of IIHF Women's teams is long overdue and quite welcome, and the visual quality in this year over last is a noticeable step up. The expansion of franchise mode is the biggest improvement over last year, though it almost feels like the only mode that was actually worked on, while everything else was simply lifted from NHL 22, unchanged in their function. Disappointing, when there's still plenty of changes that could be made.