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At first, I felt slightly betrayed that Vampire Crawlers couldn’t offer more ways for me to die but, with some time to mull it over, I am thankful that I can complete it and leave it behind me. Vampire Crawlers was a fling, but an intense one.
Whilst you may well be drawn in to MOUSE: P.I. For Hire by the visuals and soundtrack, once in, you’ll discover a game that is so much more than just that - an investigative, story-focused, secret-hunting, first person shooting platformer that is an absolute joy to play.
I think I would change very little about Hades II. It’s a game that’s so easy to love that I can’t imagine someone disliking it.
I loved my time with PRAGMATA. Playing it genuinely feels like a breath of fresh air and fondly reminds of games from the 2000s.
I absolutely love the thoughtful pacing of Sumerian Six. Weighing up every movement and action, knowing that one wrong step could mean the end of your life and the level, is thrilling.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection feels just like a turn-based Monster Hunter game. For the first time in the Stories series, they’ve nailed the feeling of every fight feeling like a boss battle.
Plant of Lana II is the success we suspected it would be. A brilliantly told tale combines with stunning visuals, cracking gameplay mechanics, intriguing puzzles and a soundtrack to die for. But it lacks wow moments and any sense of difficulty.
Is Dice A Million here to usurp Balatro? Not a chance – rolling dice lacks strategy, and the various unlocks are too chaotic to truly master. But there’s still a lovely alchemy in Dice A Million which means that the chaos brings fun. When a collection of dice works, it really, really works, and the ludicrous combos and resulting multipliers give you a satisfying pat on the back.
Resident Evil Requiem is a pitch perfect love letter to fans of the series. Capcom has absolutely nailed the dual protagonist mechanic which sits at the core of a truly incredible piece of storytelling. The result is a must-play title for those both familiar and new to the series. Put simply, it’s an absolute tour de force.
But it’s the unexpected that makes this a winner. The Souls mechanic, an upgradeable new artifact system, is a peach. It makes Monster Train 2 more overblown and ludicrous than it was before, all while tempting us to replay over and over. More of this in Monster Train 3, if you please.
Carmaggedon: Rogue Shift is chaotic, challenging and consistently fun - and that’s despite the absence of online play.
On balance I very much enjoyed Baseless and I honestly can’t pick many faults at all. However, the strenuous gameplay will prove make or break for some, especially when the control niggles only make things more problematic.
The start of the year used to be a barren place for exciting new games, but MIO: Memories in Orbit disputes that statement. It’s thrilling to play, a Metroidvania where you can feel confident giving yourself over to the development team as they present surprise after surprise.
The components of a really fun game are present, the world is well-designed and aesthetically it is beautifully done. But many of the roadblocks in Nice Day for Fishing feel like a way to pad out the time.
Those issues won’t ruin your time with the game, and the main ideas are strong enough to shine through, but at times, this can be a frustrating experience. If you can forgive that, A Pizza Delivery might be worth ordering.
I don’t care about the lack of fancy camera tracking on my Xbox. What I do care about is having an uplifting and emotionally twisted story that makes me consider the lives of all those found in-game. I also care about game mechanics that surprise, allowing the player to do things they may not have necessarily done before in their gaming sessions. Goodnight Universe does all of this and much more. Get it downloaded.
Satisfactory knows what it wants to be and it executes that near flawlessly. It’s a game that players will easily sink dozens, if not hundreds, of hours into, especially if it gets its hooks into them. Time flies when you’re having fun, after all, and who knew being a foreman of a factory on an alien planet could be this much fun?
Wreckreation feels a bit like a budget Burnout. There are interesting ideas with the Live Mix stuff to completely make your world feel unique, but when an open-world racer feels this empty, should it really fall on us to populate it?
Castle of Heart: Retold rounds off a few rough edges from the original. However, it remains a run of the mill platformer which, despite the intriguing affliction Svaran carries, does little else to innovate or differentiate.
The art style and core gameplay loop of Becastled are great. The concept is a solid one, and the way the city comes together is satisfying. It’s a shame then that it just doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to.