Doraemon Story of Seasons shows a lot of promise. The world's design is simple but beautiful, with the music adding to the relaxing atmosphere this offers. With a variety of actions available, this title is unlikely to get boring. Although advancing the story can be tedious, there is potential here. While perhaps a little bit too simple, it somehow magically manages to pull the player in to a point where it is difficult to stop playing.
While the premise is great, and it's very polished in execution, sometimes World of Horror can be a frustrating and messy title due to its rogue-like nature. That said, it's so unique, charming, and horrifying, that it's impossible to put down once a good run gets going. It is genuinely gripping, and has just enough intrigue to make players protective of the main characters. Here's hoping this keeps receiving updates, and that the developer rides this success into a new project filled with just as much endearment and love. To conclude, insanely cathartic when luck is on one's side.
Although Going Under is a short venture where the art style and humour may not be for everyone, the fun action, creative world, and addictive gameplay make this an excellent roguelite well worth the work hours. And again, Jackie can pat the office dachshund!
Tadpole Treble: Encore feels like a long-lost Nintendo IP from the SNES era. It takes a simple idea and runs (or swims) with it to the fullest extent, providing a large variety of music, locales, and mechanics within its relatively short runtime. There is much love and passion present in nearly every facet of the game, so much so that it's easy to overlook the few flaws that it has. Whether being a fan of rhythm games or not, Tadpole Treble: Encore is a joyful experience that's absolutely worth diving into.
Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition may not be for everyone. It is a grind-based dungeon crawler that relies on the ability to endlessly run through dungeons, earn better loot, and repeat against harder and stronger enemies. For those looking for an enriching story in the world of Warhammer Fantasy there isn't much to see, which is a shame, but the enjoyment here is based on buying into the gameplay loop. It may wear thin for some, while being a treasure for those who seek nothing but the menial grind of repetitive dungeon-crawling and looting for that never-ending quest of creating the optimal build. While this won't earn any accolades on the PlayStation 5, this is hardly a title to gloss over, and is worth checking out at the least.
Dragon Quest XI remains one of the best entries in the series, and thanks to this Definitive Edition - which boasts all the new content originally included in the Switch port - it manages to feel more polished, more streamlined and more enjoyable. The fact that this is an incredible experience is only marginally diminished by some controversial graphics alterations and a less than savoury removal of previous versions from virtual storefronts in favour of this edition. Still, the content that is on offer here is superior to the original version of the game and more than justifies a re-entry into this endearing, fantastical tale.
Hitman 3 succeeds in every respect by being a fantastic ending to analready great series. It's also a joy to see that IO Interactive ensured players would be able to slip right back into the shoes of a veteran killer,but didn'trest on their laurels by not offering anything new. Although the touches of permanent shortcuts and new gadgets may seem small, once implemented it's hard to imagine playing without them as they integrate seamlessly into mission stories. Add to that the same freedom to approach a hit that the series is famous for, as well as ensuring every playground looks absolutely stunning and its clear that even without good friends, Agent 47 really does find the perfect blend.
Unpolished, unbalanced, feeling half-made, and being way too easy for an action-adventure dealing with a zombie apocalypse, Red Colony is hard to recommend to fans of survival horror. This is strictly only for those who can enjoy its - intentional or not - b-movie-esque campiness and fanservice… reviewer included, of course.
Underneath the extreme simplicity of WRITHE's "shoot worms until dead" concept, lies a very good, and surprisingly addicting horde/survival/endurance-centric FPS that has a neat retro vibe, and which can make you want to play it again and again, just to improve your time by a second or two, and reach a higher place on the leaderboards. There's no denying that it could be infinitely better with a couple of additional mechanics or modes, but it would be a shame to miss out on this tiny, yet still very shiny gem from Mission Ctrl Studios.
Much like Halcyon 6 before it, this has tremendous potential, but is simply lost in its own slog. As such, it remains tough to recommend on a higher level, as battles just take too long, with too much punishment for straying from an ideal strategy. If there was an expansion of story, streamlining of combat, upgrading character pixels, and overall improving some of the aspects touched on, would go a very long way. In a game that felt like it could have been a awesome Edge of Tomorrow kind of deal, it feels more like being an accountant with a glitchy spreadsheet piece of software.