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Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess succesfully brings together elements of the tried-and-true strategy and action genres to offer up something truly unique. While there will be debate about how worthwhile the replay value is here, Path of the Goddess leverages some incredible enemy and objective variety to keep things fresh from beginning to end.
SCHiM has moments where it lives up to the promise of its concept, and levels where fresh ideas and fun mechanics elevate the experience. Unfortunately, it also feels padded and simplistic for long stretches, and the narrative doesn't quite hang together. It looks great, but it's often frustrating, too.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak isn't just a great JRPG, but it's also a great jumping in point for anyone wanting to dive into Trails for the first time. Despite some initial complexities and some uneven pacing, Trails Through Daybreak is engrossing from start to finish, and has me keen to see what else this storied franchise has to offer.
Anger Foot has all the makings of a cult classic. Shooting and booting your way through the bonkers assortment of enemies remains exhilarating throughout with plenty of replayability. From the cartoonish flying feet to a vaping, ski-masked adorned girlfriend, it's endearingly quirky if a little juvenile. Levels might blur together and hold it back from greatness, but if there are plans to establish a franchise of ass kickers, I'd wholeheartedly welcome the news.
Unsurprisingly, Spin Rhythm XD is as good on PlayStation as it has been on other platforms. It's a top-tier arcade rhythm title that's remained sorely underappreciated, a fact that will hopefully change with this release. With novel mechanics, a banging playlist, fantastic options for gameplay customisation and a fun (if strange) VR mode, there's never been a better spin on this experience.
Beyond Good & Evil's 20th Anniversary Edition does a commendable job of freshening up an experience that had long aged out of its must-play status. Enhanced visuals that don't dull the original charm, welcome quality-of-life and control improvements and a nice smattering of extra content go a long way to making this a worthwhile revisit to Hillys.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape is another achievement amidst Bungie's countless triumphs. An ending delivering on its seemingly impossible promises with inventive and unique new additions that prove Bungie are far from done with Destiny. While that future remains somewhat uncertain, The Final Shape does offer certainty in its sheer quality and commitment to creating unforgettable player experiences.
Though it does little to stray from the formula, Banana Rumble is a worthy original entry in a series that has somehow survived decades on a fairly simple concept. With a worthy Adventure Mode full of fun stages and addictive challenges, some great inclusions for approachability, a healthy suite of unlockables and some amusing, if not particularly compelling, multiplayer Battle modes, this is a decent overall package for Monkey Ball vets and newcomers alike.
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is exactly as it sounds. It's the second game in the series with a very fresh coat of paint. Unfortunately, while the visual upgrade is a decent effort, it ultimately still harbours the same design quirks that made the original game so controversial. While it falls flat in the face of the games that came before and after it, it's a great grab if you're looking to experience some more Luigi's Mansion.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is yet another masterpiece by FROMSOFTWARE. It doubles down on all of the best parts of Elden Ring and bolsters them through an inviting new world, an engaging story, and a ridiculously moreish gameplay loop. It won't change your mind on Elden Ring if it never clicked for you, but will undoubtedly wow you if it did.
Falling short of its potential, Still Wakes The Deep's linearity and simplicity of gameplay does disservice to a great concept. Despite this, it's still well worth a look, owing to its stellar art direction, well-written characters and strong atmosphere. The result is an inviting and alluring world that's a joy to take in, even if it doesn't quite scare the player in ways it intended.
At the end of the day though, the Kingdom Hearts games being on Steam is a big deal not because they’re very moderately updated or because it’s at all new to be able to play them on PC, but because it’s a huge portion of the PC audience that can finally play them via their distribution platform of choice. And, in the amount of time I’ve been playing the Steam versions prior to launch, everything looks great and works as intended, which is wonderful news.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance doesn't just feel like the definitive version of Shin Megami Tensei V, it also feels like a new potential template for ATLUS's future re-releases. Between a much improved narrative, the same addicting gameplay loop, heightened visuals and a smorgasbord of content, it's hard to find a lot to dislike in this package.
I jumped into The Smurfs - Village Party on a whim, hoping to feel the same dumb glee that I did when burning through Garfield Lasagna Party's trophy list. To my surprise, Village Party's ambitions rose much higher than a lot of games like it, but unfortunately the ensuing fall was much, much deeper than I could have imagined. This isn't worth your time, your kids' time, or anyone's.
The Rogue Prince of Persia enters its Early Access stage with a little less punch than you might expect but Evil Empire's pedigree means the foundation is rock solid. Thanks to fluid and responsive movement and an overarching commitment to vibe, this is a prince with eyes set firmly on the crown.
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami sets out to be a quick, breezy mystery and at this it excels. It's full of fascinating characters with interesting relationships, set in a world brimming with detail to inform your investigation and when at its best makes you truly feel like a detective on the case. While I feel it's fill-in-the-blanks system could be a smidge more helpful, that's a small blemish on an otherwise excellent little mystery title that's well worth settling in with one afternoon with a cup o' joe and a sleuthing mind.
While the changes to the ending and some quality-of-life improvements do great work in improving this remake, System Shock still brings with it the thirty years of baggage that the original game did. Despite its resounding influence and its impact on a genre it arguably helped to carve out, the System Shock remake does best with what it has to offer an experience that's authentic to the original game, for better or for worse.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is yet another arresting, artful chapter in an adventure now two games long. Though it might approach iteration with a very safe hand, only going so far as to correct the original's shortcomings, Ninja Theory's clear strengths in story craft, audiovisual design, as well as their care for the dark subject matter manage to shine through brighter than ever before.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year-Door is a masterful remake that improves on the original in practically every way while keeping everything that made it a mainstay in the Nintendo canon. While its timelessness is reflected in the strength of its humour, wit and story, a major visual overhaul and much needed quality of life improvements make The Thousand-Year Door an adventure that can't be skipped.
Indika is a thoroughly compelling work that succeeds in throwing out the narrative adventure game rulebook and building on processes from all forms of art to create something wholly unique. It's a brisk, bold, frequently dark, sharply critical and deeply weird thing that deserves to be played by anyone with the stomach.