Nathan Hennessy
Nothing else hits that adrenaline button quite like slow-walking through hostile territory with your squad formed in a tight conga line.
The magic of manual map drawing is curbed with the handy auto-map feature, yet pulling off risky expeditions into Etrian Odyssey's dangerous labyrinths remains unmatched.
Adol Christin's most agile adventure excels but its PS5 port can only be recommended to first-time players
Fans won't want to miss this recontextualised yet authentic Yakuza brawler. Hopefully, newcomers attracted to the theme can forgive some poorly aged systems and jank.
The best video game adaptation of the wildest manga property gets a better-than-average port. For Jojo's fans only, though.
Lean, light, and pleasingly presented, this is a perfect snack on the Switch when travelling on your next exciting adventure.
Playing in this Western sandbox is a joy when it is rewarding your exploration and moral choices with strange outcomes and interesting characters. A lack of late-game variety brings its flaws to the fore.
Humankind is an impressive showing of what Amplitude can do with historical turn-based strategy but is edged out by the series that clearly inspired it. The promise on the box of building a culturally diverse empire is not yet fulfilled, with successive playthroughs showing the moral choice and culture systems as being underdeveloped.
SMT3 Nocturne HD Remaster realises that the less time we can spend with the cobwebs of the past by opting into the new Merciful difficulty, the more time we can enjoy this world and its story anew.
Lords of The Fallen makes up for its clumsy combat and opaque systems with the fantastic Umbral lamp and its impressive audiovisual design.
With writing this outstanding and characters this endearing, Zero fans get a satisfying conclusion to the Crossbell Saga minus the sense of déjà vu.
Those that love Mahokenshi will adore the fully realised blend of deck-building and digital board game, but will forget the threadbare mythological Southeast Asian theming.
Iron Man VR is an achievement in fully realising a Marvel hero power fantasy and is a must-try experience for any interested Quest 2 owner.
Redeeming a fantasy metropolitan police department is a strangely pedestrian setup for a JRPG. Forgettable plot aside, Zero features some of the best writing and character narratives in the genre.
Rebellion treads little new ground, however Sniper Elite 5 remains the chief among WW2 stealth action games.
Wiktor Szulski battles with Geralt as my favourite Polish RPG protagonist in this impressive dialogue-driven mystery that deserves a franchise.
Immortals of Aveum is an enchanting battlemage adventure and a satisfying spell-shooter in a breathtaking world filled with annoying personalities.
Ys VIII remains a fundamentally great action JRPG that looks its best on PS5, but its underwhelming DualSense feedback is a huge missed opportunity.
nirvanA Initiative combines the best of AI: The Somnium Files’s presentation with the sharpest puzzles and best writing across Team Zero Escape’s catalogue.
Opening up the gruesome and adult world of Conan to school-aged children is a hilarious surprise but Chop Chop’s greatest feat is lowering the rogue-lite barrier of entry for the curious solo adventurer or group only to slay them mercilessly.