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John-Paul Jones


Favorite Games:
  • Shenmue
  • Final Fantasy VII
  • Battlefield Bad Company 2

629 games reviewed
78.3 average score
80 median score
59.8% of games recommended

John-Paul Jones's Reviews

A games writer with over eight years experience of scribing for a variety of different outlets, I've attempted to channel my passion of videogames through my writing. I'm a big fan of movies, anime and games that aren't called Overlord: Fellowship of Evil or Afro Samurai 2.

Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition then is deeply flawed and arguably struggles to trace a satisfying gameplay loop over the lines of its source material. However, it gets enough right with the atmosphere and general presentation that it ends up being one of the best 6/10 games I've played in a good while. Though that might be damning with faint praise and certainly far from a perfect organism, I still feel Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition is worth checking out for Aliens fans all the same.

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10 / 10.0 - Ghost of Yotei
Sep 25, 2025

Ghost of Yōtei is that rare sequel that not only maintains the essence of its highly successful predecessor, but also qualitatively leapfrogs it in just about every meaningful way and metric. Underscored by a grippingly furious tale of revenge inspired by a layer cake of classic Japanese samurai cinema, the best combat ever seen in a samurai title and the most compelling open world since Red Dead Redemption 2, Ghost Of Yōtei is a jaw-dropping demonstration of Sucker Punch Productions operating at the peak of its considerable powers. Ghost of Yōtei redefines the term 'must-have' and wholly validates PlayStation Studios broader approach to embracing single-player epics such as this.

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Sep 23, 2025

Look, the story sucks, the use of Unreal Engine 5 isn't really that well optimised and the progression system feels like an arguable step back from what we saw in the first game. However, taking all of that in consideration all the same, Forgive Me Father 2 still provides a frequently impressive looking and appropriately blood pumping shooter that allows players to live out their Lovecraftian carnage fantasies.

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5 / 10.0 - Lost Soul Aside
Aug 31, 2025

There's no getting around the fact that Lost Soul Aside feels like it belongs in the mid 2010s and honestly that would be fine were it not the fact that the game feels so compromised in so many other aspects of its design that it's difficult to shake the feeling that it just feels outdated, rather than a heartfelt love letter to the past. Though the soundtrack is frequently excellent and the combat reliably exciting, neither are enough to save Lost Soul Aside from tumbling into a deep abyss of rank mediocrity, which is a shame; especially considering the sheer amount of graft that has gone into the game since its inception all those years ago.

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8 / 10.0 - Karate Survivor
Aug 27, 2025

Purely operating on a bang-for-buck ratio, Karate Survivor figuratively karate punches far above its weight, that much is for sure. For around five bucks, you're getting a modestly made, though ultimately enjoyable take on the increasingly worn Survivors-like formula that satisfies with its bone-crunching action that riffs on the trashy martial arts cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. Just don't expect to be so reliably entertained in the longer term, as Karate Survivor's staying power leaves something to be desired.

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9 / 10.0 - Heretic + Hexen
Aug 19, 2025

Thanks to Nightdive Studios, that ultra reliable bastion of remastering excellence, Heretic and Hexen have never, ever looked this good or played this well on console. Certainly then, Heretic + Hexen might just be Nightdive's best remastering gig yet and that really is saying something when you consider the heady calibre of their output to date. They don't make em' like they used to - luckily, we have Nightdive Studios to make sure that they do.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Lucy Dreaming
Jul 31, 2025

The best point and click adventure effort to come along since Thimbleweed Park, Lucy Dreaming is a relentlessly entertaining genre effort that deftly blends well structured puzzle design with the sort of delightfully irreverent and offbeat humour that will have you grinning and quietly chuckling like a loon throughout its duration. A great point and click offering that you can enjoy with a nice cup of PG Tips, I suspect that a cuppa of Yorkshire Tea would be more in line with what the creators intended.

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Ultimately, if you can forgive the crusty aesthetics (and I would encourage you to do so - even if there is a lot of forgiveness to be dished out), Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition will still absolutely decimate your social calendar as it thoroughly draws you into its Dungeons & Dragons setting. It's just a shame that some more care and attention wasn't lavished to give this re-release the proper love it deserves.

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Jul 16, 2025

While Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream won't win any awards in terms of its challenge or implementation of stealth mechanics, I absolutely fell in love with its opulent setting, excellently heartfelt performances, gripping story and linear stealth adventure goodness that did just enough to satisfy my stealth hunger. Though some may rightly decry its lack of challenge relative to other entries in the stealth genre, Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is nonetheless a stunning debut for Swedish based studio River End Games and I can't wait to see what comes next.

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Jul 14, 2025

So, EA Sports College Football 26 is better than last year albeit demonstrating its superiority in a measurement of inches rather than miles. That said, the raft of incremental improvements, massive amount of content to stuck into which when married with EA's reliably all-star, blockbuster presentation which succeeds in emulating the audiovisual sensation of the real-life spectacle mean that EA Sports College Football 26 remains an essential purchase for those looking to hit digital college gridiron. All in all, EA College Football 26 is the best football game to come along for a good while and once again supplants the Madden NFL franchise as the premier gaming series for America's most passionate sporting pastime.

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Jun 26, 2025

Unlike other seemingly similar efforts that want to tempt players down 3D platformer memory lane for a concentrated hit of nostalgia and leave it at that, Ruffy and the Riverside doesn't just take that well-worn idea and repackages it, but instead adds something refreshingly compelling to the formula. Though some minor flaws and polish issues do abound, they aren't enough to take the shine away from one of the most charming and thoughtful 3D platformers in ages.

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7.5 / 10.0 - Zombie Army VR
Jun 13, 2025

Zombie Army VR then isn't going to set the VR landscape alight and neither is it going to bring untold masses into the sweet bosom of VR adoption. What it will do however is give you a nice, fetid and appropriately rotting slice of zombie meat cake to devour and you'll do it with a grin on your face as you chase high score multipliers and all the unlocks in one of the more surprisingly effective arcade style VR blasters to come along in a good while.

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Jun 3, 2025

Considering how revered the Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion games were from the 16-bit era for their mastery and level design, there is still absolutely oodles of potential for a contemporary genre effort to hit those highs, while still retaining the roundly attractive visual presentation that we see here. That game however, isn't Disney Illusion Island. Then again, if your age has yet to hit double digits and the idea of watching live-action Disney remakes and suchlike make you giddy rather than making your eyeballs roll into the back of your skull, or you're just in the mood for a super relaxing, breezy and zero stress platformer, then by all means feel free to add another point or so to the score seen below.

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9.5 / 10.0 - Roboquest
May 28, 2025

From blistering fast and satisfying FPS action through to a thoughtfully layered series Roguelite mechanics that always manage to entice you to have another go, everything works in harmony to create one of the best FPS Roguelites money can buy. Roboquest gets so much absolutely right that this is really just about everything you could want from a Roguelite FPS and one of the easiest recommendations of the year.

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May 27, 2025

A welcome surprise, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon really clicked with me. The Euro indie Skyrim that could, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon might not be as technically sound as other genre efforts, but across its 60-80 hour playtime there's a lot to enjoy here, while its inventive take on Arthurian legends and surprisingly effective writing all add up to make it a compelling prospect for RPG fans everywhere that don't want to wait 89 years for the next mainline Elder Scrolls title to drop.

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Apr 29, 2025

For those who have already sampled the grim delights of Days Gone on PS4, paying £10 for the definitive version of one of 2019's most underrated open world adventures that brings with it a hugely entertaining and worthwhile horde mode, seems like a bargain to me. As for the rest of the package, it really did surprise me just how well Bend Studio's most marquee effort has endured, offering up a smart take on both open world game design and the zombie apocalypse more broadly that other developers have struggled to match. Put simply, if you haven't played Days Gone before, this is the point where you leap in with both feet.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Wanderstop
Apr 1, 2025

Wanderstop won't win any awards for its deliberately thin gameplay mechanics, but over its 10-15 hours you'll be reminded how a simple act of kindness can change lives and that just slowing things down and taking time for yourself away from the stresses and white noise of daily life is perhaps just what the doctor ordered.

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Feb 3, 2025

Though not without some flaws inherited from the previous game, Warhorse Studios has nonetheless done it again with Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. An eye-wateringly authentic, historical open world RPG that will utterly take over your life with its evocative depiction of Medieval Europe and frequently hilarious side quests, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is the single most immersive medieval power fantasy there is and the first essential RPG of the year.

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Oct 17, 2024

Though Killing Time: Resurrected can't really hang with other boomer shooters in 2024, let alone more contemporary fare from a fundamentals perspective, I'm still happy that Nightdive Studios has cemented its heroic status by remastering it to an extremely high standard anyway and its love for the source material is abundantly clear. In spite of its clunky and flawed fundamentals, Killing Time is indicative of a shooter that wasn't afraid to try new things in 1995 and if there's one thing that remains true even now, it's that more FPS efforts could certainly learn to take a risk or two.

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6.5 / 10.0 - Throne and Liberty
Oct 3, 2024

There's no denying that Throne and Liberty is a visual treat and certainly one of the best looking MMORPGs to come along in some time. Furthermore, though its massive world event battles impress, as does its innovative take on shapeshifting traversal, Throne and Liberty's flair-free combat, banal quest design and cluttered UI all weigh down a genre effort that deserves better.

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