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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.
The missing piece in the Legend of Heroes franchise finally makes its way west. Trials of Zero is a great addition to the franchise featuring a great cast of characters and a fantastic strategic combat system. It's just unfortunate that the PS4 version of the game didn't get the same upgrades that it did on other platforms.
Sure enough with its relatively simplistic challenge, brisk battles and unspectacular presentation, The DioField Chronicle will likely struggle to find an audience among the burgeoning throng of armchair generals looking for their next tactical fix. For everyone else however who would like to a dip a toe or two in those genre waters, The DioField Chronicle is the sort of easily accessible, dip-in/dip-out tactical RPG that you need in your life right now.
Though the actual core mechanics of flying and fighting dragons in Century: Age of Ashes are both hugely satisfying and ably complimented by a decent set of game modes, the presently hefty paywalled economy means that players have little choice than to dive into their own pockets to buy the shinier cosmetic items. Coupled with a wildly inconsistent level of technical performance, it's clear that while developer Playwing has an intriguing online multiplayer effort on their hands, more work is required to balance out its economy and iron out the performance issues that otherwise detract from a highly enjoyable offering.
Moonscars is a standout example of what a 2D souls-like should be. From its beautifully atmospheric world, exceptional animations, to its fluid and gratifying combat, makes Moonscars an absolute pleasure to play. A best in class 2D souls-like.
It may take time getting to show it, but Hokko Life is a delightfully deep and engaging community sim that lets you move at your own pace. Patience is very much required to see the best of it.
Potion Permit offers up quite the accessible life sim experience, making growth progress more quickly than most games in the genre. A bit of the luster is lost in this change of focus, but the product itself is a fun, engaging, light-hearted, and accessible time.
Session: Skate Sim is unique amongst its peers. Its control scheme, while taking time to master, is massively rewarding. Rolling around the streets and finding your own skating lines is addictively entertaining. It's a shame about the quest system, its overall presentation and some of the rough edges but do I feel Session is a few patches away from greatness.
Metal: Hellsinger is an absolute head-banger of a game with amazing tracks to accompany each level, but it's rhythm-based gameplay does little to stop it from constantly reminding you of the games that inspired it, games that are fundamentally better executed in their core gameplay. It's repetitiveness and lack of any innovation doesn't make it a must-play game for shooter fans, but it's music does for any heavy metal fan.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker is an expertly crafted work simulator. The methodical dismantling of the ships is very satisfying. It contains an addictive gameplay hook and an intriguing story that focuses on the exploitation of workers. It is a job well done indeed.
By maintaining its easily accessible JRPG mechanics, gorgeous tabletop aesthetic and engrossing narration, Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden manages to elevate itself above its Voice of Cards brethren thanks to a neat, Pokémon style monster collection mechanic. Much more than just a token inclusion, this new monster collecting mechanic not only expands the player's arsenal in battle, but provides ample additional incentive to explore The Beasts of Burden's painterly, card-flipped lands far and wide in search of rare monsters to recruit.
Soulstice etches its own namesake in the hack n' slash genre. While it lacks the same level of combat depth and demand, it focuses more on narrative quality, accessibility, and presentation to reach success.