PlayStation Universe
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A robustly entertaining cyberpunk dungeon crawler wrapped up in some of the most sublime audiovisual presentation and thoroughly satisfying combat to come along in a good while, though it isn't quite as ambitious as I would like it to be, the Ascent is nonetheless a fantastically entertaining offering that will appeal to genre fans of cyberpunk settings and dungeon crawlers alike.
An old-school turn-based rpg with a charming visual style, plenty of deadpan ironic humour and many hours of content awaiting discovery. Unfortunately, despite the humour, there's a strange xenophobia to the representations of 'natives' and colonial plundering which makes the whole experience feel a bit grubby. If you can get over this, there's a satisfying and deep experience to be had.
Shinju Mikami does it again, this time in a new genre. Ghostwire: Tokyo brings inspirations from the horror genre into the open world, finding great success with this combination. Despite its hiccups, Ghostwire: Tokyo is another compelling experience from the mastermind behind Resident Evil.
A beautiful abomination that almost breaks under the weight of its thick but ultimately compelling worldbuilding, Paradise Killer is a stupendous detective yarn that reimagines the genre in bright sun-kissed colours with a cast of truly bizarre characters all living in a world that feels like a microcosm of sci-fi storytelling for the last thirty years. Exceptionally constructed, boundlessly enjoyable and fiendishly stylish, Paradise Killer is your new favourite detective game.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Dawn of Ragnarok is a sizeable expansion offering a gorgeous new realm to explore, memorable characters, while new abilities such as the Hugr-Rip adds a new dimension to combat and traversal. Beyond that it's more of the same however, so that'll determine whether or not you'll want to dive back into Valhalla once again.
A highly original puzzle-platformer from Lithuanian developers Flazm which combines an emotional time-travelling storyline with some intricate and very relaxing exploration filled with highly ingenious level design. Another indie gem which offers a very memorable and loveable gaming experience.
A breezy brawler with a dash of RPG sensibilities and oodles of charm, Young Souls reveals itself to be a resolutely engaging offering that stands out on account of its opulent presentation, loot scooper gameplay and cast of witty and entertaining characters which allows this genre hybrid to punch above its weight.
Stranger of Paradise is the perfect example of gameplay towering above the sum of its parts. I loved the combat and job system, which allows for dynamic battles and strategy. It's just a shame that the rest of the game feels low budget and unfinished. If you're looking for an origin story to the original Final Fantasy, you'll get it here, but chances are you may want to forget it as soon as you're done.
Babylon's Fall flat out needed more time. The graphics make the experience just horrible at times, with the filter even giving me headaches. The combat can be enjoyable, though there is a grind to it, it's something I still enjoy along with the music. Beyond that however, there are still just too many aspects of this game that can make your time with it headache-inducing more often than not.
With its massively upgraded visual presentation and much more responsive racing together with a surprisingly immersive DualSense implementation, one of the best hardcore racing simulators out just got even better on PS5. This is the definitive version of Assetto Corsa Competizione on console and that fact alone should be a cause for celebration for anyone with even a passing interest in highly detailed racing simulations.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is one of those re-releases that's accessible to everyone. It has challenge, accessibility, a fun story, and Persona flair. Not everything ages well in terms of visuals, but nothing gets in the way of this game succeeding a decade after its initial launch.
Though it's a hardly a tall hurdle to clear, WWE 2K22 is the best WWE 2K game since they started appending '2K' to the title. Much more than that though, it's the best wrestling game to come along in a long, long time and one which almost completely banishes everything that has been historically wrong with the franchise, while also managing to strike out in a bold direction for the series future. Here's hoping that the likely return to annual release schedule doesn't result in a lapse to bad habits and lazy innovation because, well, we've been there for the last ten years or so - and it isn't fun.
While Roguebook may not be my favourite game in this genre, it does offer a lot of variation and a few interesting tweaks to the genre. It's jaw-droppingly beautiful, incredibly creative and the crucial card play is very entertaining. The exploration is a nice addition and creates a risk and reward system to proceedings, as is the card crafting. While you may not be able to create a lean, all-killing deck, what you can create is a heaving bag of frivolity and opportunities.
35MM tries a lot of things but succeeds at only a few of those things. There's a unique tale here, but you have to get past many limitations along the way.
Shadow Warrior 3 isn't lacking in bombastic, blood-splattered shooting or giddily puerile humour. It comes up a bit short in gameplay variety and its scattershot approach to jokes produces more than a few misses, but as a fairly relentless and compact first person shooter with its heart beating to the drum of nostalgia, it's a pretty tasty morsel
A unique and finely crafted take on the musical rhythm genre, with lovely animated pixel-art stills and a truly excellent soundtrack telling the achingly heartfelt tale of a group of poor but talented musicians striving for success on their first tour. It's a brief experience and the lo-fi indie sensibilities may not be for everyone, but if you err towards left-field art and music, it's highly recommended.
Gunborg: Dark Matters excels with engaging gameplay, approachable difficulty buildup, and a wonderful visual style. The game is unfortunately all too brief and doesn't get the kind of time it deserves to truly bloom. Equally so, Gunborg places itself well high in the chaff of the side-scrolling genre, even though it doesn't quite reach the same full excellence as the greats.
Though Gran Turismo 7 certainly carries the baggage of some of the weaker elements from previous games, a steadfast return to the generous single-player campaign offerings of old, together with a significantly upgraded visual presentation and most importantly a deeply felt love for cars that bleeds through every aspect of the game all ensures that one single statement is true - Gran Turismo is back.
Faultless presentation, an absolute raft of superb vehicles across 9 categories, 130 brilliantly rendered circuits in 22 international locations and a 6 hour story mode alongside a huge career and promising online play. But there's nothing here that hasn't been done before and there's a soulless tedium involved as a result which begs the question - why?
Elden Ring took the best parts of previous FromSoftware games and expanded them across a living open-world with endless discovery, excitement, and danger. It's not lost the edge of previous titles, but it is the most approachable FromSoftware game yet, and is an excellent point for players to jump in on if they've not tried previous titles. While its technical issues can be annoying, even they can't dampen the experience of playing Elden Ring. FromSoftware's latest is an artistic, innovative and cultural achievement like nothing before it.