Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Reviews
A grand action RPG adventure where you'll make travel plans and have them disrupted by a vengeful griffin whose wing you'd whacked two hours earlier.
Returning to its interwar period roots, Alone in the Dark successfully reworks and expands the original game's scenario and characters, but its exploration, puzzle solving and combat largely stick to now familiar survival horror routines.
A tormented action fantasy that has heart, imagination and style in spades.
A satisfying daily loop turns into a speedy momentum in this open world farming game, but its early access release raises questions that need answers.
A poor (and bored) man's Avatar, Outcast: A New Beginning is a tedious open world shooter that simply doesn't have anything new to say.
A quick adventure with extremely easy puzzling, but it's nonetheless a joy to exist in.
Zoria is systems-heavy and a bit janky and undercooked in places, but it's a hearty RPG with a lot of spirit and great promise.
General clunk, confusing crafting, and a numbers chase make this survival game a tedious grind in its current state.
More offroading excellence from the series formerly known as Spintires, although its scientific theme is not as interesting as it could be.
Berserk Boy is a dashing action platformer that borrows from the greats, and builds frantic, ever-changing movesets on top.
There are a few rough edges here and there, but The Thaumaturge is a compelling and meaty detective RPG with a rich and reactive plot, and whose branching storylines really let you walk the line between vice and virtue.
A properly transportive trip to an island full of jerks - if you look past the clunky combat and immersion-sapping progress gates.
A handsome remaster of an already modern-feeling Star Wars FPS, but even Nightdive's welcome updates can't disguise some of its older, more obtuse edges.
A familiar yet solid revival of late 90s FPS action that brings back a few annoyances but still sticks the landing.
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.