Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Reviews
An endearing fantasy adventure driven by a more puzzle-led variation of Papers, Please's border checks. It may lack the moral greyness of its source material, but this is still a winsome tale about the rippling effect of everyday decisions.
After 11 years of development, Ubisoft Singapore's open world pirate-venture is a deeply ungenerous live service that's so dull, I'd turn anywhere else for entertainment.
There are a few lingering bugs here, but for the most part, Solium Infernum is a devilishly tricky backstab simulator that's rich with strategic possibility. Its handful of solo scenarios are meaty and challenging, but the long tail here is definitely in its multiplayer.
Last Epoch is a worthy mid-point ARPG that has fun with its fantasy time travelling world, and makes crafting and building towards percentage point increases actually rewarding. Even fun!
There's much to admire in Ironwood's car-based survival sim, not least the detail that's gone into the old banger you pilot and the weird lands you have to explore, which force you to learn their quirks and keep your wits about you. As a crafting game, however, it's rather unforgiving and laborious, requiring a lot of thankless graft if you want to stay on the road and unlock more inventive equipment.
A clever roguelike card game about cheating your way to victory, Balatro is a generous and mesmeric take on poker with endless strategic possibilities.
Riot Forge bows out with an overly grindy crafting game that annoys more often than it delights.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a slick and colourful JRPG that knows what it thinks is cool. The combat is kind of weightless, but it's layered and fun - if you can be bothered to get to the bottom of it.
Impeccable action and clever details make this a rare breed of live service co-op shooter, where the focus lies squarely on laughter instead of racking up loot.
Late-game fiddliness spoils what is otherwise a vibrant and always interesting Metroidvania, whose emphasis on growth, connection and (tripping out on mad monsters) make it one of the most sumptuous games of 2024 so far.
Don't Nod's new third-person goth-tragedy action-adventure RPG is full of swashbuckling ghost hunting, bound up in a story unironically about the power of love. Despite some repetition and busywork, it's a great time.
Rocksteady's latest is a giddy little action-shooter bogged down by conventional loot-chasing guff
There are simple pleasures to be found in Palworld's enormous list of crafting tasks, but look beyond its base building and its world, monster taming and combat all feel quite stale and undercooked.
A repetitive journey through a year of quirky yet cheesy high school relationships, interspersed with tedious turn-based combat.
Best-in-class building and a lovely atmosphere war against technical difficulties and an uninspiring premise for this early access survival crafting game.
It's a lot like Tekken 7, but angrier.
A colossal JRPG that improves on its predecessor in ways big and small, making for an unmissable Hawaiian retreat.
Definitely the lesser trilogy in Capcom's long-standing lawyer 'em up series, but among the gimmicks and gadgetry there are still plenty of highlights to be found here, and Spirit Of Justice is up there with Ace Attorney's best.
An underexplained but ultimately rewarding tactical RPG with a rich and broad character customisation system that grew on me the longer I played it.
Turnip Boy Robs A Bank is my second favourite Turnip Boy game, but it leans into the lite in roguelite and has a lot of fun with it, even if it lacks a bit of focus.