The Last Friend is a solid casual experience featuring a fun, if cheesy story and characters.
Age of Empires IV turns back the hands of time in more ways than one. Whilst it would have been good for it to turn back enough time that I would be able to deliver a full review at this stage, I have played enough of the game to deliver this review in progress.
Impressive visuals and a combat system that offers a lot of experimentation are the pillars that make Bright Memory: Infinite. While still a shorter experience that most players will beat in a sitting or two, it will give the player an experience more akin to a blockbuster action movie.
All in all, Exo One is an intergalactic experience made excellent by its high-quality design on all fronts.
Solar Ash was a bit of a mixed experience, with not all aspects meeting the high quality of its core features. The first-rate visuals and the fluid movement system do lots of heavy lifting and do still outweigh the negatives to provide a world worth exploring in a way that will be hard not to enjoy.
Lo Wang's return is a joy to play, with all the systems combining seamlessly. Movement, weapons and well-designed arenas are the centre marks for this experience, an experience that would be enjoyed best over a day or a weekend.
Overall, an enjoyable RPG with a little bloat, allowing you to progress at your own pace as you quell rebellions across the Roman Empire.
There are a lot of interesting ideas at play in Aztech Forgotten Gods, even if they have not all coalesced in a way that knocks it out of the park. Still, there are joys to be had when flying around an interestingly designed world and colossal bosses in a way that their size can be fully realised.
The opportunities within Weird West do feel endless at times due to the emergent gameplay, story beats and the way you are endlessly rewarded for exploration. Capped off by some excellent presentation, atmosphere and fascinating story, Weird West's detracting factors are only minor marks on an overall great experience.
Overall, my time with Endling - Extinction is Forever is ultimately an emotional experience that can firmly be praised as an example of why games are art. Thematically deep, the game uses the control you have over the Mother Fox to deepen your connection and explore these prevalent themes.
Live a Live is an eccentric game that has been brought into the modern gaming landscape not just through its stunning pixel work but also with some modern features that make it a breeze to play through. Its unique structure was intriguing throughout, and the short, self-contained chapters throughout most of the game make for an easy pick-up and play experience.
Wylde Flowers' comforting ambience will surely be a hit amongst its target audience. It sticks to the Farming Sim/RPG formula in tried and true gameplay structure and focuses on the relationships amongst the citizens of Fairhaven and fully voiced characters to set it apart from similar games.
A horror game that frequently treads into the action-adventure territory, The Chant had me engaged with its awkward but functional combat, interesting visual design and lore. However, it was never able to consistently build and maintain tension throughout the game.
Between the story sequences, the army management and tactical combat were equally as meaty and enjoyable, challenging you to defeat all comers. Overall, Tactics Ogre Reborn is a recovered gem from the past that I'm glad to have discovered.
There are flashes of potential that could have elevated Wanted Dead to be greater than the sum of its parts, but these flashes are drowned out by its mission to be a throwback experience complete with jank.
Returnal is the latest of Sony's first-party games finding a new audience on PC, and it feels right at home on the platform through a solid port. The fluid and swift movement is a pleasure to control with a keyboard and mouse, and the port coming without some of the teething problems of the PS5 release makes Returnal an approachable proposition.
Storyteller left me wanting more, which complements the strength of its gameplay formula and is helped by solid polish in the visual and audio departments.
Everything in Octopath Traveller II coalesces in a way that makes an enjoyable classical style of RPG.
The zippy speed, 80s-style death sports game show aesthetic and sound tactical decisions all coalesce into an experience suited to both tactics veterans looking for a shorter sugar hit or novices wanting an easy way into the genre.
It is almost uncanny how the story of Jumplight Odyssey is analogous to its current state in Early Access, with both the game and the flagship SDF Catalina in functional yet imperfect states, as both seek to work towards optimisation, development of systems and eventually the salvation of the Forever Star/ 1.0 Launch.