Expansive's Reviews
Blasphemous 2 is a bold, bloody, brilliant sequel that betters everything that came before it. The Game Kitchen have polished, refined, and re-energised this franchise, crafting a fantastically unique and compelling souls-like, metroidvania that may just be one of the best things Team 17 have ever published.
Atlas Fallen toys with some clever ideas and comes close to making a breakthrough on a few of them, but between its dull story, characters, world, and frustrating, unbalanced combat, the game just can’t achieve its true potential. The full campaign co-op seperates it from other titles and can alleviate some of the frustrations but the good elements just take too long to get rolling and aren’t quite interesting enough to help you stick around.
Moving Out 2 is delightful. It’s not a huge reinvention of what’s come before, but at the same time it adds enough to keep it fresh with newly styled levels and mechanics, new ways to work together to get bigger items around faster and full online crossplay. It’s smooth, stable, steady and an absolute blast to play together with friends and friends you’ve yet to meet. It’s my favourite party game this year!
Everspace 2 does have some repetitive content and the story is a tad underwhelming, but the content loop is about as enjoyable as you’ll find anywhere with satisfying combat, thrilling exploration and discovery, and some intriguing puzzles to solve. It looks incredible, sounds wonderful and there are few space exploration games that are as approachable and engaging as this one, with even fewer able to cross genres so successfully.
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is one of the most creative, original and interesting games to come along in a long time. The voice acting is world class, and its cast are clearly having the time of their lives. The comic book artstyle is beautiful, the story is compelling enough to keep you hooked, but unfortunately it is hindered somewhat by its limited gameplay and simplified mechanics. Beyond its save issues on Xbox, however, if you’re looking for a different kind of gaming experience from anything else out there, this one won’t lead you astray.
WrestleQuest might just be this years’ best wrestling game, certainly it’s most unexpected. With a cast of who’s-who legends, some interesting twists and turns and a sense of humour fans will love, Mega Cat have built something quite brilliant. The mechanics are smart, the environments are full of easter eggs, and the game holds itself up surprisingly well despite a slow start.
Kao and the Five Pirates of Mara is a stunning looking, decent platformer with heart, charm and fun to be had. Unfortunately it all feels quite simplistic, stutters and stammers, controls awkwardly, and frankly, other games have just done it all so much better.
Remnant 2 takes the typical Souls-like formula, blends it with many other fantastic games, while also giving you a surprisingly deep, customisable experience that matches a dynamic playstyle with its ever-evolving environments. Throw in some solid co-op, epic battles, and an intriguing story that blends gritty post-apocalyptic warfare with high fantasy and you have something really quite special. PS5 performance issues, cheap boss tactics and slow-burning ability growth aside, Remnant 2 is the game you probably weren’t planning to play this year but one you absolutely must.
Archer’s Paradox is a fantastic way for Telltale to reannounce itself to the world, doing what they do best, while working with one of the best narrative studios in the world. The Expanse: A Telltale Series starts off in an affirming, hard-hitting way, with fun mechanics, optional objectives, and some impactful decisions that will certainly have wide-reaching implications. Slight graphical hiccups, sound quality issues, and a short length do hold this one back a bit, meaning it’s not among Telltale’s best, but none of that is anywhere near enough to stop me from getting hyped for what comes next.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is a smart reinvention of the side-scrolling beat-em-up with its roguelite spin, selectable missions, and explorable environments. There’s some really clever ideas bubbling around in this game, in fact it probably holds the key to the future of the genre in its DNA, but sadly Secret Base don’t lean into it quite enough and give us the content to sustain the concept.
Viewfinder is one of the most complete and compelling puzzlers in years with a unique hook that seperates it from the rest of the pack. The aesthetics are mind-melting and the concepts are dazzling, despite the short length and the ease at which you can cruise through the game. All told, Viewfinder is one you won’t soon forget and a game we’ll look back on with the greatest fondness for generations to come.
Aliens: Dark Descent does a wonderful job of blending genres, taking the familiar troop management and base building of XCOM, then plying it with stealth mechanics, and a surprising amount of customisation. There’s a tense story brewing under the surface and a genuine horror at every turn. You will absolutely feel every death. A high difficulty curve may be offputting for some players and others could encounter a glitch or two along the way, but none of it is enough that I can’t recommend this as one of 2023’s best games and a delightful horror experience that really gets under your skin.
Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals is a fascinating follow-up that smartly continues adventures in a world we know and love, while adding in exciting twists and turns that tie up loose ends from the first game and expand it convincingly. Some minor technical issues and narrative speedbumps aside, there’s clever new mechanics and a bigger, richer game to explore that makes for one of the most satisfying stories this year.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is outrageously entertaining and still holds up masterfully over a decade later. Between its beautifully rebuilt HD visuals, a timeless sense of humor, suitably ludicrous storytelling with smart, logical puzzle solving, it’s the perfect game to chill, unwind and relax with, while being taken on an unforgettable ride. A true delight and worth remaster that is another huge win for game preservation.
Final Fantasy 16 is sure to split fans down the middle as it pushes toward a more mainstream audience, watering down some franchise staples, while removing others entirely. It is, however, a great entry point if you’ve never played the series before and one of the most spectacular-looking games so far this generation, accompanied by an enjoyable core loop that kept me invested for over 80 hours and some of the most memorable characters the series has produced in years. The localization is the best I’ve seen in FF history, with some incredible performances, and its breakdown of world history and character development is sure to be emulated and studied for years to come. Perhaps not the strongest instalment by its own huge expectations, with story that gets tonally confused, grindy quests, and some characters getting sidelined, but it is a remarkable achievement all the same.
AEW Fight Forever is a solid starting point for a franchise with really exciting potential. Yukes have absolutely nailed the in-ring action, paying a ton of respect to No Mercy while successfully modernising it for today’s audience. Rosters and content are a bit on the slim side, while other areas like Road to Elite and Online need more developing and fine-tuning in future installments, but what we have is a successful, enjoyable alternative to other games on the market that’s easy to get into and difficult to put down.
Final Fantasy 5 is the most liberating, customizable of the games in the collection, letting you experiment with classes, while pursuing side quests. But the game is also the most story-driven of the series to date through cutscenes and characters you can really connect with. Final Fantasy 5 proves that every game in this collection moves the series forward slowly, gradually but ever-evolving, painting the clearest of pictures of how we got to the games we know and love today.
Dr Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine shows great respect to what SEGA and Sonic Team achieved all those years ago, bringing Puyo Puyo into more homes while adding their own unique spin on an established genre. But the lesson it didn’t take from it is how to balance its ideas, develop them to the full and show more respect to the player as opposed to reveling in their misery.
Rogue Legacy 2 is everything you loved about the first game and thensome. It’s the most satisfying roguelite since Dead Cells and a game you’ll just keep coming back to again and again. Even if the original wasn’t your cup of tea, Rogue Legacy 2 does enough different to be worth a second look, though you will need patience to contend with its early stages. Stick with it and you’ll be heavily rewarded with refreshing content, a great challenge and some truly wonderful moments
Park Beyond is one of the most satisfying, enjoyable management sims I’ve played in years and is the spiritual successor to Theme Park I’ve waited over twenty years for. On PS5, there’s definitely controller frustrations with the DualSense, as well as weighted cameras, in-game pathing issues and texture breakdowns, so playing on PC is probably the way forward. But issues aside, if you’re looking for a game to play to relax or to really test your skills, this one does it all.