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On the surface, Bear With Me appears to be little more than an amusing, story-driven, point and click adventure, infused with the tone and style of noir classics like The Maltese Falcon. However, there's much more at play within this clever episodic tale.
Metal Wolf Chaos XD shows its age in pretty much every way, but its enjoyable and simplistic gameplay loop is enough to give you something to chew on. Alongside one of the most insane narratives in all of video games, it's a From Software joint that needs to be seen to be believed.
For those looking for a new party game to play with some chums, this is certainly different, but you'll be done with it faster than it takes you to buy it.
Thanks to simple controls and near constant progression, this can quickly become unbelievably addictive. There's a lot more to Forager than meets the eye. Save for some occasionally fiddly controls, this is a pleasant surprise indeed.
The Church in the Darkness has some good ideas, but they're not properly realised. Gameplay never ventures out of its basic boundaries, while the narrative doesn't offer up enough variety or compelling subplots to engage with. The Church in the Darkness is competent for a couple of playthroughs, but it's an experience that you'll quickly forget about.
A brief, but memorable experience is at the core of Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot. Downright stunning environments serve as a backdrop to exploring the streets of 80s infused France. Between the solid performance level and the fluid controls, this is Bethesda's best excursion into virtual reality. Given how well the title succeeds at pretty much everything it sets out to do, we hope that this is step one to a fully fledged Wolfenstein VR title down the road.
Overall, Doughlings: Invasion is a surprisingly fun time. Though it appears on the surface to be little more than an unpleasant looking clone of Space Invaders, its surprisingly deep gameplay elements, well sloped difficulty curve, and some banging tunes make it a simple yet effective bit of arcade fun for short bursts. Though players are unlikely to pick it up for more than an hour due to the lack of multiplayer or meaningful rewards for completion, that hour will at least be entertaining. Don't let the ugly graphics put you off; if you've got a spare bit of dough, it might be worth a look.
Wargroove is finally on PS4, and despite launching with practically no fanfare, it's very much worthy of your attention. The pixelated exterior houses surprisingly deep tactical gameplay that's easy to grasp but will soon give your grey matter a workout. With highly customisable difficulty and a vast range of modes to enjoy, this is a decent turn based strategy game that fans of the genre shouldn't pass up -- although we suspect many will have played it to death already.
Thanks to questionable tactics, a tedious and boring structure, bullet spongey enemies, and a narrative that's completely throwaway, Wolfenstein: Youngblood is far and away the worst entry in the franchise this generation. Some of its inventive combat mechanics remain intact, but they're completely overshadowed by throwaway side quests that we were tired of five years ago. This is a boring, tedious slog through Nazi-occupied Paris that you can probably skip.
Kill la Kill - If certainly looks the part, but once you're past the striking art style and eye-popping visuals, it's only a matter of time until the gameplay falls flat. As a bombastic anime fighter it can hold up for at least a few rounds with friends, but beyond that, this is a lacking release, both in terms of mechanical balance and bang for your buck.
While Telefrag VR might be light on content, what is there is fairly impressive. Each of the game's maps and weapons have strong identities that set them apart from one another, and the gameplay is exciting as well as polished. But ultimately, we're just really worried that not enough people are going to show up and play. Finding a match proved tricky almost immediately, and if this trend continues, there may not be reason to add content going forward, which is not what the title deserves. Prove us wrong. Please.
Etherborn is well worth checking out if brain teasing is your thing. As it toys with gravity and shifts surfaces to the forefront while you traverse them, mechanics come and go to keep the experience fresh at all times. This environmental puzzler doesn't last particularly long, but it's sure to provide an afternoon's worth of challenge and enjoyment.
All in all, Judgment of Atlantis is probably Assassin's Creed Odyssey's best DLC episode. As a standalone adventure it feels the most complete, the setting is superb, and the finale does a great job of tying the Eagle Bearer's story together.
A game based on Stranger Things seems like a winning combination, but this effort based on the recent season three leaves a lot to be desired. Most of what makes the show so good is missing here, and the gameplay and presentation are terribly flat. Retelling the latest season, sometimes word for word, also alienates the game from both people who've seen the show and people who haven't. Our advice to you is to watch the source material and leave it there; the game isn't going to turn your world upside down.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 does a lot of things better than its predecessor. A better story is propped up by better characters, and even though the opening hours are slow, there's a better overall flow to the game. All in all, Square Enix has constructed a rock solid sequel that, while safe and undeniably familiar, should satisfy both returning players and newcomers alike.
It's hard to call Sea of Solitude a bad experience, but it feels very pedestrian at almost every turn. Bland gameplay means you'll rarely be doing anything too exciting, in turn making the short run time all the more suspect. Beautiful visuals and themes that may resonate with some are minor highlights, although they're not enough to make up for insipidity.
Sairento on PlayStation VR may not be a big-name title, but it deserves to be. Excellent combat, unique movement mechanics, and a steep learning curve make it a must-play for anyone looking to unleash hell in VR.
The Sinking City is a captivating detective undertaking that dives into the hauntings of H.P. Lovecraft with a compelling narrative that is sure to question your viewpoint as well as reality itself. If you can look past its presentational shortcomings and mediocre combat system, the plight of private eye Charles Reed is one worth seeing for yourself.
With some very smart additions, Vacation Simulator is a suitably more free flowing and open ended experience than its predecessor. Larger locations, reasons to revisit, and a huge range of things to see and do, this is a successful evolution of the silly sandbox antics Owlchemy Labs does so well. Despite PS Move tracking issues and no real step forward in writing, this is another mindlessly fun time-waster for when the summer Sun dips behind the clouds.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a wonderful love letter to Castlevania fans. It's gothy, camp, and unabashedly old school. But it's also a meticulously crafted game that constantly rewards players for exploration and offers unbridled options in combat. For long-time Metroidvania fans, Ritual of the Night is an unmissable celebration of the genre from the mind of one if its chief architects, while for newcomers it's an accessible entry-point that's easy to pick up and oh so difficult to put down. Let's hope the next one doesn't take quite as long.