GameSpew's Reviews
With improved visuals and fully-voiced story scenes for the first time, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is, technically speaking, the best entry in the series yet. Add in more kinetic movement options, a bright and vibrant town to explore and a whole new market stall mechanic, and it's the best Story of Seasons game in other ways, too.
While fans of the anime will no doubt get the most out of Space Adventure Cobra: The Awakening, its engaging mix of run 'n' gun gameplay with platforming and Metroidvania elements make it suitable for all. The unique Psychogun with its guidable bullets is the standout feature here. It's just a shame that the overall experience is brought down a little by some minor issues that can cause frustration.
With Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Konami has achieved what it set out to do: breathe new life into a classic while keeping it as authentic as possible. With that in mind, its only real faults are some mechanics which now feel a little awkward and dated. The visuals here are phenomenal, bringing more nuance to the game's cutscenes, and the new modern play style is great for newcomers and those annoyed by the restrictive camera of the original game.
Available at a budget price, Drag x Drive is a unique sports game that doesn't boast a great deal of content. Still, it's fun to play as long as you can get along with using your Joy-Cons like mice, though performing some advanced manoeuvres can feel a little hit or miss.
Seriously slick and responsive to play, The Rogue Prince of Persia will likely win you over instantly thanks to its stylish traversal. Add to the mix some wonderful storytelling, a world that's a joy to explore and challenging (but rewarding) combat, and you have one of the best roguelike platforming games of recent years.
This long-lost chapter of the Shantae series provides more of the hair-whipping and belly-dancing action that it's known and loved for. Some might get a little frustrated by the amount of backtracking that's required, though, as well as navigating some of its maze-like locations without a map.
It's not the deepest or most expansive online multiplayer game, but you can have a lot of fun with Midnight Murder Club, especially when playing with friends. Sneaking around a pitch-black mansion armed with just a flashlight and a revolver can be a tense affair. And thanks to the Guest Pass system, just one player needs to purchase this bargain offering to play with up to five others.
A puzzle game about meeting everyone's demands when finding them somewhere to sit, Is This Seat Taken? is as challenging as it is cosy. You can enjoy it at your own pace, and thanks to its wonderful animation, it's a joy to play.
Heavily inspired by Streets of Rage and Final Fight, Fallen City Brawl is a retro-styled side-scrolling beat 'em up that has some some unique ideas but ultimately falls short in a number of areas.
A side-scrolling beat 'em up in which it's feasible to simply shoot your enemies rather than actually punch and kick them into submission, Ra Ra BOOM stands out in what is inexplicably becoming a crowded genre. It has some issues that bring it down, though, including poor balancing and some technical woes on PS5 Pro.
Dear Me, I Was looks absolutely stunning, with every screen of the game feeling like a work of art in its own right. But taking less than an hour to complete, the story here lacks substance, and being told entirely through visuals makes it more difficult to connect with.
Enhanced for modern consoles and PC, Heretic + Hexen bundles together two first-person shooters that still manage to feel somewhat unique three decades after their original release. These truly are the definitive versions of these games, with Nightdive Studios even taking steps to alleviate Hexen's hub level woes.
A roguelike first-person shooter with a brinepunk aesthetic, Abyssus provides a lot of frantic fun, especially if played in co-op. Its progression could do with a little work, though, with you needing to grind Soul Fragments to unlock basic upgrades that feel necessary for your survival, alongside some pesky difficulty spikes.
You may be limited as to how much you can do each day in Hello Kitty Island Adventure, with many of its missions being tied to a real-time clock. But it's hard to mind too much when the game is so delightfully charming and just a joy to spend time with.
While the gameplay throughout Mafia: The Old Country is nothing special, generally being a mix of basic stealth and action-packed shootouts, it has some highlights. It's the game's gripping story and sumptuous visuals which will really win most players over, making this one of the most enjoyable Mafia games yet.
Gradius Origins not only bundles together the first three Gradius games and makes multiple versions of them available, it also includes a trio of Salamander games and Life Force. These spin-offs dramatically boost the collection's value, especially with Salamander 3 being a brand new game that's been developed by M2. Add in plenty of options and museum-like content, and you have a genuine treat for shoot 'em up fans.
Beautiful and charming, Tiny Bookshop is a game for literature lovers, tasking you with selling and recommending books to the residents of the fictional town of Bookstonbury. Its charm wears thin rather quickly though, and a lack of variety and depth will likely see you getting bored in a matter of hours.
If you've got a taste for the macabre, you really can't go wrong with The Necromancer's Tale. It makes you work for your necromantic powers but its gripping story will have hooked from beginning to end.
Cyber Clutch: Hot Import Nights has all the ingredients to make it an enjoyable cyberpunk-inspired car combat arcade racer, but ultimately it's a let-down. The handling is awkward, there's no real sense of weight or impact, and on PS5 Pro performance is terrible. Things could be turned around with an update or two, but until that happens this is best avoided.
Thanks to its stunning visuals, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers certainly makes a good first impression. Its gameplay is what will keep you hooked in the long-run, though, even if it is perhaps a little too derivative of the early Souls games by FromSoftware. Still, being able to freely respec your character here is a fantastic touch, allowing you to experiment if a boss is proving to be a tough cookie to crack.