Expansive's Reviews
Lost in Random certainly finds itself admist a treasure trove of creative indies. But despite some pacing issues and some issues around its combat and navigation, I really got sucked into this fascinating, creepy world and its enchanting story and mostly found myself enjoying what the game itself has to offer amidst its side quests and unique activities. Definitely worth a peek!
Lost Judgment is great. Its over-generosity means you’ll be playing hours before, during, and after you’re done with the story, and the story at play is still much more engaging than most anything else out on the market. Rather than try to reinvent the wheel too much this time, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios have given us more of what we loved last time and flesched out the mechanics even further, ultimately still trying new things. Judgment feels like a franchise ready to step out of Yakuza’s shadow and stand-alone, but it’s still not quite there yet. That said, Lost Judgment is a must-play and an enjoyable ride from start to finish.
Deathloop just works on every level and will be a game I’ll revisit time and time again. It may be one of the final Bethesda games PlayStation owners will be able to get their hands on, but it’s undoubtedly one of the very best they’ve ever published. To no one’s surprise whatsoever, Arkane have smashed it once again!
I was glued to Life is Strange: True Colors right up until the end and the messages that flow throughout the game will stay with me for years to come. Some of the dialogue is extremely powerful and the quality of direction is first class. Everything flows beautifully. I cannot wait to see what the series has in store for us next.
(7/10) Apart from being one of the most stunning, atmospheric depictions of Dublin in recent memory, Wrath of the Druids adds another 10-15 hours of content to a game that’s already loaded with it. For the most part, that content is good, I like the focus on building up Dublin’s reputation by supplying resources, and performing Kings Requests with sub-categories, but the DLC goes back to these mission types a bit too often over the course of the campaign, and ultimately feels a bit stale and not quite varied enough for it.
New Pokémon Snap is lovely, not just as a solitary, soul-cleansing experience, but as a shared adventure with friends and family both in your living room and all over the world. Trust us, it’s been worth the wait.
Village is a hit, and a more than worthy sequel to Biohazard. Without doubt, the best showcase yet for just how dazzling the RE Engine truly is and most importantly, a great Resident Evil game that will stand the test of time.
Whether you want to dip into it for an hour here and there, or stay glued to the screen for an entire weekend, Rise is an incredible accomplishment in every sense of the word. With a ton of depth to get the most of your battles, a fulfilling end-game, and a ton of updates still to come, this is the most generous and rewarding third party exclusive on Switch. If, for some reason, you still don’t own one and you’ve been holding out for a quality exclusive that makes it the envy of other formats and doesn’t have a single Mushroom Kingdom resident in sight, Rise is the reason you’ve been waiting for to buy a Switch!
It Takes Two doesn’t outstay its welcome, and it manages to tell a story that stirs all sorts of emotion. Some of its themes don’t always hit the mark, and some moments can be a bit more frustrating than others, but this will undoubtedly go down as one of the best collaborative puzzle adventures ever made. And it comes at a time when we all need that the most.
Murder on Eridanos feels like something of a fresh take on The Outer Worlds as you search for clues to build your investigation and try to wrestle the truth from guilty parties with secrets to hide. The build to the conclusion is a fun ride, though, admittedly, that conclusion may not be to everyone’s tastes. For me, though, it was not only a great excuse to dive back into a game I really enjoy, but it’s also a pretty fine piece of content that, actually, has me more excited for the future of the franchise than anything else I’ve seen from it to date.
Basically, if you enjoy a good puzzler, don’t mind a scare or two, and appreciate a refined noir aesthetic, you really can’t go far wrong with Darq Complete Edition. It was a genuinely nice surprise from the time I booted up to when the credits rolled and one I’ve already recommended to a few friends. Don’t sleep on this one!
There’s much deeper experiences out there, no question, but if you’re looking for something low risk, easy going, with a cheap price point and lovely musical score, this might just be the perfect palette cleanser.
I really worked my way into Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection and some of the later levels need to be seen to be believed. A lot of the time the game isn’t even remotely fair in the enemies it throws at you, and there are some sections that truly test the patience, but all in all, this is a solid side-scrolling platformer that more than pays homage to its predecessor. There’s just enough tweaks in here to make it suited to today’s gaming expectations, but also plenty to keep fans of the original happy.
What you’re getting here are four incredible games which many had assumed were lost to time, never to be seen again. Now they’re playable on the latest hardware. Sure, nothing really beats playing the games as they were originally intended, but short of full remakes, Flashback is about as close to perfect as you’re going to get. Turrican will always be memorable because of that soundtrack, but Flashback also proves that the games themselves hold up way better on their own merits than anyone could have dared imagine.
My expectations were high coming in, and, in some part, those expectations were met. At times, I would go as far as to say that The Medium feels the best thing Bloober Team have ever done. But it clumsily attempts to handle subject matter which cannot just be brushed over and several mechanical missteps really jar and grate at the wrong time. If you own GamePass, this is worth dipping into to see what the talented team at Bloober can be capable of. But this one does not stick the landing well at all.
The launch of Godfall is a little bit of a misstep, especially considering the competition it had to go up against and the price it was retailing for, but there are some really clever, interesting mechanics in play here that are keeping me glued to my DualSense, along with a lot of promise for the future. Hopefully, the team persevere and get the chance to explore it.
By the end, I was fully onboard with our new protagonist and I truly hope Like A Dragon is just the beginning for its unique cast. I want to see more from them, I want the series to continue to evolve this new RPG style combat and progression, and I love looking at this world through a more current and modern day lens. Between this and Judgement, we’re seeing the series evolve to some exciting and interesting places and I feel like somehow, the best is still yet to come.
If you’ve somehow never played either of these games – or even if you have – and you feel like you haven’t rowed enough with your family this year or had too much fun with your buddies, there’s no better alternative to dive into this Christmas. Next-gen and the world needed this game, and Team 17 and Ghost Town Games have not disappointed.
Aside from the graphical upgrades, there’s not much else new to find here. If you’re hoping for great use of PS5’s unique UI and controller, this is absolutely not a showcase title for that. But if you’re interested in a PS5 game on the cheaper end of the scale that will leave you with some lasting memories, Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition will certainly tug those heartstrings, occasionally tax the gray matter, and even give you a few reasons to smile.
It was just a real pleasure to get to replay the game again. I loved this the first time around but now I absolutely adore it. All of my main issues have been resolved, the game has aged like a fine wine, and it now looks and plays better than ever. Devil May Cry 5 is now where it always belonged.