PlayStation Universe
HomepagePlayStation Universe's Reviews
Signalis is a brooding, atmospheric slice of survival horror that unfurls its dread in a slow, tantalizing manner. Its bleak retrotech world is a fine backdrop for the disturbing mysteries that must be uncovered in the frozen wastes of an ice planet.
Resident Evil Village: The Winters' Expansion is packed full of great content and definitely worth putting down the cash for. While Shadows of Rose feels cut a little short in terms of potential, it's still a great narrative-based DLC and a unique look at some familiar areas, while the third-person view and extra Mercenaries content is the icing on the cake.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord roundly excels because it lets players be whatever they want to be and rather than penalise those choices, instead makes players own those decisions and provide a peerless theatre for them to thrive. Though technically not perfect, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord invites players to weave their own tapestry of ambition and be whomever they like in their own Game of Thrones, letting them wage war, engage in diplomacy, fight in the arenas, trade illicit goods, be a town alderman and absolutely everything in between in one of the most ambitious PS5 games to date. If you'll let it, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord II will become your new obsession. And you should.
Though that Tenchu shaped hole in my heart remains unfulfilled, I do appreciate how NIS America have reached back some sixteen years in time to bring Kamizawa: Way of the Thief to an all-new audience. Sure, it's very much a relic of its time that struggles to escape the gravity of its PS2 era origins, but for those willing to invest the time and patience, Kamizawa: Way of the Thief is a steadfastly warm-hearted stealth yarn that satisfies so long as you can forgive its largely archaic/nostalgic design.
Don't let the delightfully twee My Little Pony style aesthetic fool you, Them's Fightin' Herds is an ultra legitimate, one on one fighter with an abundance of charm and an unexpectedly compelling story mode. Though the diminutive roster is a concern, Them's Fightin' Herds is nonetheless a superb fighter that I fear owing to its decidedly cutesy presentation, not nearly enough folks will play.
The Last Onicru features some cool narrative choice work, putting some true impact on your choices. If you can get on board with the cheeky dialogue and peculiar main character, you should be able to overlook the lackadaisical combat.
Gotham Knights step out of the shadows of the Dark Knight and provide a breath of fresh air with four unique characters that provide a different approach to protecting Gotham. Gotham Knights' combat may feel stripped down, but it still provides some of the best melee combat on the market. Gotham City has plenty of crimes to solve and challenges to get through. It's just a shame some of its traversals can be so bothersome.
Certainly it's difficult to make a strong argument for exactly whom should be buying Persona 5 Royal on PS5. If you've absolutely never played Persona 5 before than that person would be you, although you there is a compelling argument for just buying the PS4 version at a cheaper price anyway. For everyone else that has already sampled the delights of the game on PS4 and PS4 Pro, Persona 5 Royal not only doesn't offer enough to make the leap worthwhile but the lack of charitable continuity when it comes to save files and cross-gen upgrades makes it that much more challenging to provide a reason for its existence in the first place. This should have been a free PS5 patch upgrade, it's that simple.
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on PC not only cements Sony's commitment to delivering some of the best single-player games money can buy on the platform in optimised form, but also brings the best of Naughty Dog's whip smart action adventure series to PC gamers for the first time. As true as it is for PlayStation gamers the world over - Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is utterly essential for PC gamers.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed brings family-friendly fun to the asymmetrical multiplayer horror space, and provides warm nostalgia for Ghostbusters fans.
The Eternal Cylinder then remains a roundly entertaining survival adventure with a true eccentric streak that runs through every aspect of its design DNA. Equal parts Q Bert and Spore, if you've been sat on the fence regarding ACE Team's excellently off-beat survival adventure offering, now is the time to hop in thanks to this superb PS5 update.
A Plague Tale Innocence set the beautifully grim tone, and A Plague Tale Requiem goes beyond it and tells a captivating tale of hope and misery that builds on the original's promise in almost every way. It may struggle to match its ambition in places, but Requiem is nothing short of a remarkable achievement.
LEGO Bricktales not only clearly shows that the LEGO property is more than capable of standing up on its own two block-feet without the aid of a fancy licence, but it also more importantly reminds us why LEGO is loved the world over in the first place. LEGO Bricktales is all about firing up the imagination to construct LEGO to solve challenges as you subconsciously grin with the sort of wide-eyed wonder that LEGO has always prided itself on inciting in builders both young and old. Quite simply, LEGO Bricktales is brain-teasing, warmly charming and purely distilled joy that everybody should play.
Unusual Findings is a brutal point & click adventure that pays homage to classic titles in the genre. The traditional puzzle-solving and lack of direction may turn off a lot of players, but those that stick wit hit will find a rewarding experience that uses more of your critical thinking than most games ever have.
Valkyrie Elysium is a very fun game with a mildly-intricate combat system that allows for plenty of satisfying moments of pulling off long combos to create a visual feast. Its narrative is lacking but the core characters are charming enough that by the end you can't help but almost feel attached to them all, as you've fought your way through to whichever ending you've chosen. If it weren't for the fact that you're constantly having to make everything work in spite of a camera and lock-on system that feels against you specifically, it would be a much easier game to recommend.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous represents not only a significant improvement over its predecessor, but an enormous and sophisticated CRPG that players with a hankering for epic adventure and narratives will surely enjoy. Though it still isn't quite as polished as it needs to be and is complicated enough that genre newcomers might struggle with its information packed menus, largely text driven dialogue and detailed mechanics, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is nonetheless a vastly epic, incredibly entertaining and meaty adventure that is deserving of your time.
One of sports gaming's longest partnerships ends with a shrug of the shoulders. FIFA 23, positively and negatively, doesn't feel like the end of an era. That's mostly because it's hard to see EA revolutionizing the underlying formula after the FIFA license has departed. All in all, FIFA 23 is a solid football spectacle with the same old woes.
A beguilingly beautiful and practically pitch-perfect mixture of Legend of Zelda and Dark Souls mechanics, Tunic is a boundlessly charming and highly challenging adventure that gets so much right that it borders on ridiculousness.
Sam & Max make a largely triumphant return, with a reminder of just how special and stupid a series it can be. Save the World benefits the most from the overhaul, but Beyond Time and Space remains the peak of this former Telltale Games series.
Sam & Max make a largely triumphant return, with a reminder of just how special and stupid a series it can be. Save the World benefits the most from the overhaul, but Beyond Time and Space remains the peak of this former Telltale Games series.