Neil Bolt's Reviews
This collection of titles from a golden age of Sega has some of the greatest 16-bit games ever made included, and also features a few important, if dated, gems. The extra challenges and nifty menu screen are pleasing additions, but thanks to minor latency issues and the existence of multiple Sega game collections over the years, this is only really recommended for the sake of convenience and/or curiosity.
The fanservice (not that kind) Little Witch Academia Chamber of Time provides can be ever-so-pleasing. Unfortunately, it's not enough to excuse a rather dull game.
There's promise to City of Brass that sadly doesn't quite come to fruition. For a roguelike, it commits the ultimate sin in having no compelling hook to keep going for multiple playthroughs. It throws up some fresh and interesting ideas though, and that makes it worth at least a cursory look.
Vibrant, ridiculous, endearing and just plain enjoyable to play, The Swords of Ditto is an absolute pleasure to tuck into. It doesn't always marry its creative streak to its combat particularly well, but it doesn't prevent this adorably gorgeous action RPG from winning hearts and minds.
The initial setup for Impact Winter's frozen post-apocalyptic world is effectively haunting and grim. The trick does get repeated a little too often though, and the bleak situation you were previously invested in becomes too much of a chore and less about humanity struggling against nature.
Infernium is a vague, inconsistent jumble of a game, and that bleeds into its horror all too often. A shame really because what Infernium tries to do with its setting and storytelling is refreshing. This may be a trip to Hell, but it needn't play like it.
A co-op experience like no other, Hazelight's A Way Out goes all in on its defining concept to deliver a remarkable game. It may be a touch lacking in character development and storytelling, but that seems insignificant given what the game itself can give you.
The chance to properly spruce up Dante's first three adventures has been missed here, and instead we get the already miserly remasters that appeared on PS3. At a time where it'd be great to remember why Devil May Cry can be so good, we get minimal effort and Devil May Cry 2.
What The Long Reach may occasionally lack in originality, it more than makes up for in inventiveness, personality, and bubbling slow-burn horror chills. This is a well-written, atmospheric horror adventure, and it deserves your attention.
It may be relatively cheap, and alluring to trophy-hunting fiends, but is losing a portion of your humanity really worth playing a game as despicably dire as Little Adventure on the Prairie?
There's no denying that Past Cure is born from lofty ambitions. Regrettably, those ambitions are not joined with the necessary skill or understanding needed to make Past Cure anything close to a competent, coherent experience. A messy bore of a game that vomits its incoherent nonsense on your shoes as it rambles on mindlessly for ten minutes about why that's important.
Immortal Redneck works best as an occasional snack, or a palette cleanser, between heavier gaming meals. Playing for any length of time shows up its shortcomings, but in bite-sized pieces it's a good time. The game's humour is rank and dull, but it luckily doesn't detract from the rather pleasing colourful action the game provides.
No, it is not a good Metal Gear game. Yes it is somewhat difficult to love thanks to a laborious and shonky opening act. Yet Metal Gear Survive is a good survival game underneath the grime of its controversial existence. Whether people will give it the chance to show that is a whole other issue.
Kerbal Space Program is a fascinating educational tool. There's a childlike joy to be had in experimenting with your space-faring efforts. You'll find it hard to appreciate that on PS4 though, as this version is a mess on multiple levels. A genuinely good game is spoiled by a terrible port.
A promising premise and some well-executed puzzles aren't enough to save The Station from the dull nature of its story and characters.
The transition to an open world has not been easy, quite rough in fact. Still, Dynasty Warriors 9's many changes to the musou formula hold great promise for the future. This is the rebirth the series needed, regardless of its issues.
The new and improved Shadow of the Colossus brings the game into the modern era successfully. It carries over a few flaws and annoyances, sure, but it's been refined where it matters most, and the net result is a return to the forbidden lands that's just as achingly beautiful and magical as it ever was.
While there are plenty of good aspects to Lost Sphear, it does suffer from dipping into the well of nostalgia a little too often. It captures the essence of 90's Japanese RPGs quite well at times, but the application is uneven and that effectively scuttles a lot that Lost Sphear does right.
It took two troubled years, but Street Fighter V is finally where it should be with the Arcade Edition update. If you haven't gotten round to it yet, there's never been a better time to tackle this true king of the fighters.
Iconoclasts isn't a trendsetter within its genre on a mechanical level. It has great puzzles and poorly-handled combat. Yet there's such huge amounts of time and personality poured into how Iconoclasts looks, and how its game world is built up, that it's easy to forgive such issues. It's a gorgeous 2D puzzle platformer with interesting characters, and that is enough to see it rise above merely being 'good'.