Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Reviews
Sleek and stylish art direction won't make up for shallow combat and a tiring gacha treadmill.
Building on Sekiro's parry system in a layered and fascinating metroidvania world, Nine Sols is a punishing but encouraging 2D soulslike spilling over with personality and creativity.
A fussy and demanding, but utterly singular and impossibly absorbing planning and logistical sim that other city builders can barely hope to match.
A knotty, dense expansion that's home to some of the best moments in Elden Ring, but also some of its most frustrating.
A first-person North Sea horror that doesn't push the boat out but still excels within its genre
Engaging from start to arguably too-soon finish, Felvidek is a raw, strange, and brilliant RPG that alternates between deadly combat, plummy prose, crass jokes, and odd beauty.
A few bugs and grumbles are utterly brushed aside by a charming and accessible modernisation of 80s RPG detail.
A compact but effective expansion for an already brilliant game, The Splintered Sea's additions are sure to make considerable waves for your toolbox of destruction.
A puzzler and twinstick shooter that's just as pretty to discover as it is to look at. There's a hint of Super Mario Odyssey in there, too, if you're into that.
A more uncompromising version of the first game, Hellblade 2 offers a well told story and immaculate presentation. But it's also even simpler, to the point where it treats interaction like an inconvenience.
A colourful army building and smushing strategy game with clear rules and a heap of RPG levelling-powered possibilities.
Galacticare is a smashing space management sim in the Bullfrog tradition, with a great implicit and explicit sense of humour. It's not super challenging, but its levels are imaginative and fun.
A neo-noir adventure with an overly kooky cast and an obsession with video game references.
Mullet Mad Jack is a no-nonsense FPS that's super stylish and a lot of fun in short bursts.
A beautiful paper-folding puzzler that screwed up the last remaining scraps of my self esteem and yeeted them into the bin.
A lavishly presented, detailed, often gripping RTS with most of the atmosphere and tone you'd expect from the series, held back from greatness by playing it too safe, some control issues, and favouring reaction speed over tactical depth.
A gorgeous and immensely absorbing metroidvania platformer that is both easy to get into and dense with secrets.
Crow Country puts more emphasis on puzzles than the survival part of survival horror, but it's a well-observed love letter to the genre with great attention to detail all over the place. It's somehow equal parts charming and creepy.
Even more streamlined than before, and still easily one of the best survival games out there.
A fun-loving follow-up shakes up the underworld without fouling the Hades formula.