PlayStation Universe
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Control: Ultimate Edition is the definitive version of Remedy's adventure. Bringing together the worlds Remedy has created under one roof and looking stunning while doing so, Remedy has done a fantastic job of upgrading and improving the experience in meaningful, additive ways, such as the use of the DualSense controller and Ray-Tracing. There isn't a universe more worth exploring and losing yourself in than the one in Control.
Waves Out! manages to suck all the fun out of its own potentially enjoyable concept of magnetising balls in order to score goals with fiddly play areas, sluggish gameplay and no sense of competition whatsoever. Stir in a missing four player option and some truly dated visuals and you have a recipe for disaster.
Don't be fooled by the impressive visuals. This dated and deeply unsatisfying arcade shooter manages to make space combat feel flimsy, boring and anything but immersive. Perhaps on a mobile phone, its limitations can be overlooked but on a console it's not worth bothering with.
Ginga Force is one of those shoot-em-ups that gives you exactly what you want all while giving just enough variety to the formula to keep things feeling fresh. A few choices along the way don't meet the mark, but nothing gets in the way of Ginga Force's fantastic gameplay.
Beautiful and joyous, TOHU is a point and click adventure that warms the heart. It looks stunning and has puzzles that are enjoyable. A unique help system means you will never have to run over to Google for hints. It is dripping with lovely characters and great scenery, as well. TOHU is a perfect length, thoroughly enjoyable, and well worth your time, as long as you can forgive a few very minor issues.
Olija is a masterpiece, a graceful and gorgeous 2D action platformer that oozes style and substance, with engaging gameplay, fast, fluid action, and varied challenges to always keep you on your toes. An engrossing narrative and some truly incredible sequences make it one of the best indie games available on PS4.
Well thought out puzzles and a fantastic art style really propel The Pedestrian to the top of my list of recently played puzzle games. It is so different and that is something I really admire. While it will not be for everyone I think it does enough to even tease non-puzzle game fans into trying it. Striking and clever, The Pedestrian never overstays its welcome. It's short, sweet and I enjoyed every minute of it.
A nice but brutal little stealth game with an enjoyable multi-ending story. Classic Metal Gear fans especially will get some joy out of sneaking around Robocop-style biped robots in this title. The core gameplay and narrative are strong, but an absence of variety makes Disjunction just short of a home run.
Whilst Gods Will Fall has the potential to provide some genuine excitement with its unique features, its randomised difficulty feels unnecessarily obtuse. There's certainly a challenge you can embrace, but it seems to come down to luck more than skill that sees you progress. If you've copious amounts of patience, Gods Will Fall has some stellar moments, but by flaw of design they are too few and far between.
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy improves many of the flaws from the original game while carving out its own identity. Ryza and her companions are some of the best this franchise has seen. With a bigger focus on story, combat, and character progression, Atelier Ryza 2 feels more like an overall RPG experience rather than just a crafting simulator. It's not a perfect game by any means and it does suffer from some issues but they in no way hamper the overall experience.
In many ways, Ride 4 gets its racing simulation so right. The intricate detail of the bikes themselves and the tinkering you can do with them is a testament to that. Unfortunately, the attempt to make its A.I. riders more realistic results in an unwanted level of unpredictability that makes an already challenging experience tougher than it should be.
Using dismembered limbs to solve puzzles has never been this much fun, and aside from a few fiddly control issues, this fresh, original and highly irreverent comic book adventure through an alternative Nordic afterlife is highly recommended.
Hitman 3 closes out the World of Assassination Trilogy with developer IO Interactive in confident mood. Lessons learned from the past five or six years have worked their way into this splendid epitaph for a series that looked dead and buried more than once along the way. As with its predecessor's, there are some lows to go with the highs, but those highs? They are truly something special and make the future of IO Interactive an exciting prospect.
Much more than just a sterling evolution of arcade legend Gauntlet, Heroes of Hammerwatch melds superbly robust dungeon crawling gameplay together with ingenious roguelike design to create the genre's next must-have title. If like me you missed out on Heroes of Hammerwatch when it first release, now is the time to correct that mistake. You won't regret it.
Not quite the next-gen (currently gen, I guess) debut that motocross fans would have hoped for, MXGP 2020 nonetheless does a relatively commendable job of filling a distinctly motocross shaped hole in the PlayStation 5 library. It's just a shame that more hasn't been done to make use of the cutting edge technology that has brought MXGP 2020 to life - doubly so given the resoundingly solid core racing experience that developer Milestone has wrought and refined here.
The landscape of the beat 'em up genre may have altered in the ten years since Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game first released, but it's return is wholly welcome. A wonderful compliment to the graphic novel series, and a stylish throwback to the delightfully gaudy brawlers that boomed and bloomed loudly in 90s arcades. Add friends for maximum impact.
Override 2: Super Mech League is a playable game, but almost all of its parts feel poorly thought out or are lacklustre to play. The gameplay is repetitive and uninspired and the few technical issues and lack of players mean you will just be fighting bots the entire time. Ultimately, this experience really isn't worth a look.
Colt Canyon is really just what the doctor ordered to kick off 2021. A breezy and consistently satisfying twin-stick shooter roguelike with a surprising amount of depth and where gunfights, stealth murder and dynamite powered destruction go hand in hand, Colt Canyon is a smart, wild west shooter that's well worth saddling up for.
Despite its few flaws, When The Past Was Around tells a beautiful love story through simplistic mechanics and themes. The only thing that gets in the way is puzzle pacing at the end, which breaks the formula in an uncomplimentary way.
A brief but mesmerising monochrome puzzler which constantly impresses with its audio/visual brevity, and occasionally stumps you with some impassable brain-teasers. Highly recommended for fans of graphic novels and puzzles, but with the caveat that you'll be on a YouTube walkthrough at least once during your time with Iris.Fall.