John-Paul Jones's Reviews
An indie adventure with far Eastern inspirations that does a great job of masquerading as a big budget spectacular, Shiness will delight those looking for a fix of action RPG goodness with one eye on the classics of yore.
The bountiful promise of Rain World's grim world and the assortment of cunning creatures which inhabit it are summarily undone by fiddly controls and an overwhelmingly punishing level of difficulty. Underneath it all there's an assuredly decent effort here; it's just a shame that all but the most masochistically inclined will ever summon the requisite determination to plumb its intimidating depths.
Though the premise is intriguing, and the game does have its moments from time to time, StarBlood Arena isn’t quite in the same league as PSVR’s launch effort, RIGS.
Awash in a frankly ridiculous amount of charm and bolstered by a genuinely innovative time travel mechanic, The Sexy Brutale is one of the most deliciously refreshing puzzlers to come along in a good long while.
Shortcomings aside, hack and slash fiends who are looking for their next fix should definitely check out Vikings: Wolves of Midgard, a genre effort which more than earns its passage into Valhalla.
An inventive and relentlessly atmospheric detective effort, Kona's last minute stumbles and clumsy combat system don't considerably detract from an effort that breathes some fresh life into the first-person adventure genre.
For fans of FlatOut your patience has been rewarded; the series has reached its zenith at a time when nobody expected it to resurge, let alone do so with such brutal conviction. For the rest of you, FlatOut 4 is the perfect antithesis of all those sensible racers out there; a real, rough around the edges prospect that demands your attention.
Overwhelming in size and overflowing with freedom with which to tackle its sprawling campaign, Styx: Shards of Darkness is an unapologetically pure stealth title that might struggle to expand its hardcore appeal beyond the die-hard fans of the genre.
Clever and charming in equal measure, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is a decent enough, if overly lean and uneven excursion into VR for one of Double Fine’s most cherished series that could have been so much more.
The PSVR update to Dirt Rally not only serves to considerably refresh Codemasters consummate 2016 racer, but also give PSVR owners their next must-have purchase. Dirt Rally on PSVR is utterly essential.
A small handful of flaws aren’t quite enough to dull the appeal of For Honor’s peerless combat and deceptive depth. For Honor looks like it’ll be my go-to multiplayer game for quite some time and if you give it a go, chances are it’ll be yours, too. For anyone with even the slightest love of melee combat, For Honor is a must-have.
With its new narrative and additional characters being as well-received as they are, Road to Boruto is a solid expansion that is somewhat let down by uneven side quests and a far too brief story mode.
Impressively single-minded in its aim, Knee Deep strips everything back from aesthetics to player agency to fashion a non-linear narrative adventure quite unlike any other. Fans of well-written adventures would do well to not sleep on Knee Deep.
Representing a T-Virus level shot in the arm for Capcom’s venerable survival horror franchise, Resident Evil 7 combines old and new alike to create the most essential entry in the series since its fourth core instalment.
A wondrous melting pot of Japanese cultural excess distilled into a relentlessly compelling synergy of RPG and action elements, Yakuza 0 arguably represents the consummate entry point for newcomers to the series. Without a doubt, Yakuza 0 is a masterpiece and the first must-have title of the year.
Steep refines the winter sports template in a way that no other title has managed to this extent; skillfully marrying open-world and social aspects to create one of the freshest genre entries around. Steep is the most fun I’ve had on the digital slopes in a long time.
Though an ambitiously modest venture, Lethal VR nonetheless hits all the right targets when it comes to fashioning a compelling arcade blaster stuffed with enough engaging score chasing activities to keep players busy for a good while.
If you're looking to immerse yourself in a meticulously rendered world for a few minutes at a time, or just relax for a bit after a stressful day, then Perfect has you covered. If however, you're expecting anything, anything more than that then Perfect simply doesn't do enough to maintain interest.
Though its meagre duration and challenge make it better suited for younger audiences, The Little Acre arguably remains greater than the sum of its relentlessly charming parts; offering up a point and click affair that reliably elicits laughter and joy from anybody, young or old who decides to pick up that DualShock 4 controller and set off on its grand adventure. Entrancing me in a way that very few games have lately, I cannot wait to see what Pewter Games comes up with next.
Lara Croft GO is that rarest of beasts; a puzzle effort that not only elegantly distills the core essence of the franchise with which it shares its namesake, but one which is equally at home on PS4 as it is on PS Vita. There's no getting around it; this is one of the best puzzlers of the year.