Expansive's Reviews
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is the best Ghostbusters release in years. The way it handles and plays, the respect it shows the source material, the way it marries up into recent canon and the gameplay asymmetric hook itself is actually quite enjoyable. While content is a bit thin on the ground and the bot AI is a bit lackluster, I’m excited to see how the game continues to grow and what else Illfonic have in the works. Get a group of friends together and dive in, it’s one of the most refreshing multiplayer takes you’ll see this year.
A Plague Tale: Requiem took me on a journey I won’t soon forget. I loved its gameplay evolutions over its predecessor and much like Innocence, I fell in love with its characters, laughed and smiled gleefully at their exchanges, all while bearing my teeth and holding my breath through some of its chapters. While the story pacing is slightly off and stretches on longer than it needs, this is a beautiful, compelling and enriching game with a budget to provide some truly epic, jaw-dropping moments.
Star Trek: Prodigy Supernova has an enjoyable gameplay loop that, undoubtedly, is best enjoyed in local co-op and played with a fan of the show. It doesn’t break new ground in the platforming space and certainly isn’t among the best Star Trek games, but the story really befits the characters and the game stayed fresh enough to remain interesting over the long term.
The Curse of the Golden Idol keeps you guessing right up until the end. It smartly connects its cast and cases, really immersing you in its mysteries and intricacies. Some minor UI issues aside, this is a must play for adventure game enthusiasts or anyone looking for a good, memorable journey.
Chasm: The Rift is a brutal challenge that is a perfect throwback to 90s First-Person Shooters. While ahead of some of its predecessors with its mechanics and gameplay approach, control frustration, AI difficulty, and map confusion make this a hard one to love and a tough sell for a modern generation.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous has one of the most interesting cast of characters and gripping stories I’ve played in a good, long time. It hooked me from its opening moments and despite some misgivings and frustrations with its controls and mechanics, it’s a CRPG that will stay in my rotation and remain with me for years to come.
If you fancy something fun, co-operative, charming, but not entirely relaxing to sink your teeth into, Falling Out is available on pretty much every platform going and is really enjoyable in short, medium and even extended blasts.
Splatoon 3 is pure joy in a video game. It gives you a dose of the familiar, splicing it with the new and giving it all a sparkling coat of paint. It’s a complete package that will continue to delight for years to come with updates and additions. Without question, this is the defining game in the franchise and one that is sure to provide an exciting, interesting and bold new future.
Dome Keeper is the game I didn’t know I needed but now I cannot stop thinking about. One of the most enjoyable, replayable, tense and enriching roguelikes I’ve played in a long, long time with atmosphere in abundance.
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow is one of the most memorable and engaging games in recent years and is both a wonderful throwback to a classic era and a marvellous step forward in design and execution. You’ll be hanging on its every word and desperate to discover the truth from one turn to the next. Just brilliant!
Return to Monkey Island is a smart reinvention of the adventure game that caters to new audiences while still managing to appease long-term fans of the genre. From the witty dialogue, to the beautiful visuals, the excellent voice acting, and the clever puzzles, this is an adventure you won’t soon forget from beginning to end and a joy throughout.
Destroy All Humans 2! – Reprobed is a good gaming distraction. It handles its mechanics relatively well, has a decent flow, and this remake looks really great on modern formats with some stunning 4K shine. Much like its predecessor, however, it is beginning to show its age, struggling with performance and crashes as well as dated humour, and so the hope remains for an all-new entry that really shows off the potential of the franchise on current-gen hardware.
Inscryption is one of my Games of the Year and is an absolute must-play. If you even have a passing interest in card games, mashed in with a bit of horror and puzzle solving, you’ll find this impossible to put down until you get all the answers to your questions. From the well designed mechanics, to the gradual narrative and creepy, menacing score, this has atmosphere and engagement in abundance and won’t let up until the credits roll.
BROK is a really well written character in a world that is rich, thoughtful and well laid out. The artstyle is stunning, the characters really come to life through voice acting and the hybrid gameplay works really, surprisingly well. Some clunkiness, presentation and puzzle frustration aside, this is a great point (punch?) and click adventure you really should take a chance on.
A remake that opens up the possibilities to more players and communities than ever before, The Last of Us Part 1 has never looked or played better, despite the game now being several generations old. It feels natural and completely at home on PlayStation 5 despite the stripped-out multiplayer and the eye-watering price-tag. All that considered, there’s never been a better time or place to enter the world of The Last of Us in a version that’s definitive and ensures the franchise continues to evolve and won’t be lost to time.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a fine party game that offers a nice alternative to other Nintendo properties, uses the Kirby license well and is at a competitive price point to other indies that it borrows elements from. The variety is limited, and the games are quite repetitive, so it’s not of the same caliber and quality of other party games but what Dream Buffet does, it does very well.
Chenso Club looks, sounds, and plays the part for a good hour or two, but you soon see its limitations the more time you spend with it. Whether it’s the slippery controls, the overly chaotic gameplay, the half-hearted story or progression uncertainty, it’s a game that is confused by its own identity and never really stands apart from its competitors.
Thymesia has some well developed, in-depth combat mechanics that are well implemented and executed. And for the most part, it is an entertaining Souls-Like, though it’s been really overshadowed by Elden Ring and others in the genre that bring all these elements together in a more cohesive and enjoyable way.
The Cowabunga Collection truly is one of the best compilations of retro quality I’ve seen in a long time. Not every title is a hit and particularly enjoyable, but the way each game has been lovingly presented and masterfully recreated for modern formats deserves infinite praise. It’s also a fantastic reminder of how important this license was for Konami and the love, respect and care they showed it can teach publishers important lessons for years to come.
If you ever loved Tony Hawks, Jet Set Radio, Max Payne or any/all of the above, you should definitely look into Rollerdrome. It’s a smart, well-designed, polished genre hybrid that genuinely does something a bit different while still giving you a game you’ll enjoy and be familiar with.