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For everything The Quarry does right, it has just as many glaring issues or niggling problems to bring it right back down to Earth. Supermassive Games has been trying to better Until Dawn for seven years now, and at this point, it looks like it's never, ever going to happen. The Quarry is just a bit dull, and that's the exact opposite of what these types of titles strive to be.
Overall, this is a handful of games and a legal settlement away from being comprehensive, but it undoubtedly gives you a flavour for Pac-Man’s storied career – and between the ups-and-downs, there’s plenty to chew on.
So we recommend Super Perils of Baking, it's a solid seven out of ten, and we promise, scouts honour, no word of a lie, we'll never do a review like this again.
It takes nothing away from the real triumph Silt is, though, with stunning visuals, disturbing sound cues, and an enjoyable gameplay loop. Silt represents what's so special about indies: a great game just outside the norm.
Kao the Kangaroo makes his big return in 2022, but the game feels like it's leapt straight out of PS2's back catalogue. Despite many rough edges and old-fashioned design principles, it ultimately succeeds in delivering a fun, breezy 3D platformer for fans of the series. It manages to evoke feelings of nostalgia despite being a brand new title with its simple gameplay and colourful worlds. It does fall apart under modern scrutiny, but it just about gets away with it, thanks to its harmlessly old-school approach.
Sniper Elite 5 knows exactly who it's aimed at, and Rebellion is on target as always. The developer's dense French sandboxes are hugely replayable, and look fantastic to boot. There are some sloppy gameplay mechanics, like the climbing and twitchy camera, but these are easy to forgive. A wide array of difficulty options mean both super-agents and rookies can eke something out of this title, and with the release accommodating so many different play styles, it represents a real bullet to our heart – or should that be balls?
The game's best design choice is how its variety of playable characters significantly alters the gameplay mechanics. Cotton Fantasy's Producer, Shinya Nagatomo, told Issue 231 of Retro Gamer magazine that "It's an all-star game with not only characters from other games, but also new systems from other Success games". This means controlling Ria incorporates the risk/reward Buzz System from Psyvariar, and you can unlock playing as the final boss character, Tacoot, with wand flinging abilities. It's these deeper systems, and unlockable stages that make Cotton Fantasy an intricate cute-'em-up that core shoot-'em-up fans will relish mastering and replaying.
Landing itself somewhere between a twin-stick shooter and a rhythm game, Soundfall feels like it's not really doing one or other of these particularly successfully. Saved by an incredible soundtrack, Soundfall has the potential to be a really incredible game with an exciting concept, but is let down by repetitive gameplay and a weak story.
It's a shame, because so much of what's here is still so enjoyable. The combat is intense, challenging and varied, with a huge number of enemy types to battle against. You've got a ton of weapon options to tailor your build, and the capacity to level up seemingly hundreds of different stats in order to bring the fight to the Mages. It's just that those fights can be so unfair and one-sided due to the more random elements that can throw a spanner in the works. A brave attempt at something new, yes, but ultimately misguided.
The overarching feeling while playing this game is that it's wonderfully relaxing. Save for a handful of tough difficulty spikes or moments where you lose your way on the sprawling map, A Monster's Expedition provides a genuinely pleasant puzzle experience you can enjoy at your own pace. A few options for tips mean you have some help if you want it, and no loading means it's a doddle to get into. If you're after something chilled out to wind down with, it's certainly worth taking this journey.
The best game of its kind that we've had the pleasure to play, Evil Dead: The Game is equivalent to its source material in being way more fun than you could reasonably expect it to be, and it's faithful as hell to the movies and TV show in a way that'll thrill fans. Post-launch support is a total roll of the dice - if the content ain't there, nor is the audience, and if the audience isn't there, there's no game, because the single player content sure isn't picking up the slack. Evil Dead, though, is more fun than having a chainsaw for an arm, delivering a pleasant bloody surprise at each turn. Shall we say it together? Groovy.
Swansong's biggest problem is that at times it's perhaps not as clear as it could be about what you're actually meant to be doing or how to bypass certain problems, and you'll find that it's trial and error that gets you through. There's also a couple of technical issues, including one in which we spent ages wandering around trying to solve a puzzle only to reset the game and discover that the solution to the problem hadn't loaded the first time around. Not cool.
Quote not yet availablThe game nails absolutely everything it sets out to accomplish, with the exception of maybe the controls. While the cursor system functions adequately on a controller, the title is definitely better suited to a mouse and keyboard. Additionally, placing items behind other objects or trying to tuck them into corners will very often be uncooperative. But these are minor obstacles on the way to enjoying such a uniquely wonderful game.e
If you can stomach its disappointingly dull quests, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a solid enough action RPG. Some pretty visuals and a cosy JRPG vibe do a lot to mask its flaws.
All in all, this is a beautifully crafted cautionary tale about the horrors of war and the true devastation it can rain on ordinary civilians. Like real war, every story you play will be different with different outcomes, and you’ll be led to make increasingly more desperate and erratic choices to ensure the survival of your characters.
Trek to Yomi is a decent samurai action game, elevated greatly by its superb presentation. Clocking in at only a few hours, this is a brief but ultimately satisfying tale, stitched together by some simple but very effective environmental design, and a combat system that rewards careful play. It's not quite side-scrolling Ghost of Tsushima, but it is an impressively atmospheric love letter to samurai cinema.
Samurai Bringer is an addictive and dynamic roguelike that we heartily recommend.
It’s a valiant effort, and an impressively authentic recreation all-in-all, but it just doesn’t hold up from a modern perspective – especially without a lightgun in-hand.
Despite this occasional lapse, Chernobylite manages to stand out with a brace of compelling mechanics, elements of horror, and some deft storytelling. Don't ignore this one.
Visually it's definitely an improvement, although it's behind the curve by modern standards. It makes up for that by doubling the size of the game with all-new content, alterations to existing endings, and more that fans will adore. If you've played The Stanley Parable before, Ultra Deluxe gives you lots of reasons to revisit the experience. If this'll be your first time, well, lucky you. Once the element of surprise is gone, there's little reason to return — but while it lasts, this is easily among gaming's most unique and memorable journeys.