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A truly one-of-a-kind take on first person puzzle games, Superliminal may not be the longest game on the market. But what it lacks in length it makes up for in ingenuity.
This remake of Destroy All Humans! is really quite incredible and the developers at Black Forest Games should be applauded for what they’ve achieved. The original has been torn apart and rebuilt with the benefit of modern day visuals and game play design while retaining the game’s original character.
As a remake that you can enjoy as a farming game and very little else, there’s plenty to enjoy about Mineral Town. Fans of the original will enjoy the modernised visuals and most – not all, sadly and obviously – will appreciate the aforementioned marriage options. There’s little else to differentiate the two, Mineral Town doesn’t feel like a new game by any stretch of the imagination and whilst we can focus on the various plus points (the marriages, the farming festivals are a delight and the overall sweetness of the game can’t be ignored as a tonic to daily life), it’s difficult to recommend over the likes of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing.
Othercide does not skimp on the hours it will take to complete, and the interruption mechanics are rewarding, but without any characters, hook or impetus to work through the difficulty, it became little more than a sequence of creepy battles, that are going to be far too hard for most people to progress through.
If you like those slide puzzle mini-games you find in many other games, Cubicity is a cutesy, leisurely game built around that core concept. There’s 6 to 8 hours of content in this original package with the hint of more to come later but in less than half of that time, you’ll have seen everything this game has to offer. It’s easy – far too easy for my taste as it becomes boring quickly – but this is a comfortable way to kill an hour or 2 before the monotony sets in.
This game is obviously a labour of love for Spicy Gyro Games. That said, compared to it’s peers in an era when we have retro inspired titles that are actually pushing the genre forward, it doesn’t do enough to look anything other than a pale imitation of the original’s its trying to emulate.
Ghost of Tsushima is Sucker Punch’s masterpiece. With the depth of its combat, its incredible open-world design and its rich historical authenticity and cultural legacy, it’s a heady contender for the most incredible release of this console generation. It’s definitely the best samurai game ever made.
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break is more of what worked in the previous games with a handful of new modes and a creation suite. A tactical tower defence game that’ll have you scratching your head combined with an arcade physics derby that’ll have you grinning over the destruction left in your wake, it’s a lot of fun to play. It’s still not perfect but for those who’ve had fun with the previous 2 games, this instalment builds on that formula in the right places.
It doesn’t offer anything new in “old school” regards, but the solid run-and-gun gameplay paired with two cracking soundtrack options should appeal to the curious.
Radical Rabbit Stew does start to get a bit dull pretty fast. It seems there really is a limit to how long you can play a game where you fling rabbits around (who knew?) and it seems to be about two hours, when that trophy pops. It’s better than a mobile game, because it’s on console and you can use buttons, but please don’t go in expecting much more than that formula. Probably best played in a dozen bitesize sittings than one marathon.
It’s not easy, but then, nothing fun usually is right off the bat. Give it time, get used to the mechanics, and Neon Abyss will take place as that frustratingly fun game in your library.
SUPERHOT: Mind Control Delete is an exquisite game that ticks all the boxes of what a sequel should be. I loved my time with this game with some playthrough's taking me into the wee small hours of the morning. (If you know me and how much I need sleep, this is quite the accomplishment) What this game does beautifully is condense all the flare and pageantry of a full-on FPS into a few minutes of intense bullet-time action which will leave you smiling from ear to ear.
Towaga Among Shadows is something of a case of missed potential. What story it has is obtuse and hidden away in lore that no one will bother using their shards for. There’s some beautiful animation and smoothly made gameplay. It’s by no means a badly made game. For a little while the two battle modes will seem fun and offer a bit of challenge. But give it a few hours, and the odd design choices, lack of variety and a story that has little to no impact, and those good mechanics crumble under the weight of things that just could have been done better. It becomes stale, and no amount of survival mode score-chasing will entice me back.
Seasoned veterans will take to this like a duck to water, but that shouldn’t put a novice off. Hell, if I can enjoy it, then so can you.
Snakes and Ladders on PS4 is a functional, child friendly recreation of the timeless board game. It has a few convenient features which make it easy to play and the board you play on has some 3D snakes which give the game personality. For the asking price though, the real world alternative is much cheaper and just as enjoyable. There’s no innovation here and the game doesn’t take the opportunity to explore what a digital Snakes and Ladders could evolve the game into.
For an indie pixelart RPG, there’s a lot going on, and Crosscode is polished, ambitious and charming. Combat is a treat, although it can get very challenging with the tactical demands of some enemy types. The puzzles are up there with the classics of the genre, but there are so many of them that the temples can become a marathon slog, only to find an unbeatable boss that’s so hard it’s no longer fun.
The narrative, while eventually realised, takes some odd turns and because the overarching plot spans 40+ hours and is drip fed to you at regular intervals, the pacing can feel slow and disjointed. The transition from PC to PS4 has not been kind on the menu systems either. It’s during combat – a blend of RTS with time stopping/slowing mechanics – that Tower of Time is most unique, really pushing the player to understand the beasts they’re fighting and how best to strategize against them. If you liked the Baldur’s Gate or Neverwinter Nights games from the 90’s and have been hankering for something similar and traditional yet modernised, Tower of Time delivers just that.
If a slow paced beautiful walking simulator is your bag, with an added bit of shooting then you may find some enjoyment here.
A colourful third person party shooter with adorable aquatic characters, Otterman Empire is rough around the edges with a tutorial that does more harm than good. The single player and co-op game play flits between fun and pedestrian while the Versus mode might as well be the games saving grace.
If you are looking for something to whet your horror appetite, and you only have a Switch, then you can’t go wrong with Blair Switch. However, if you have an Xbox, PC or PS4, then you’re better off experiencing it on something with a bit more technical capability.