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Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox Series X|S is a remarkable achievement, and one which brings the flight simulator experience into your living room with emphatic effect. There's no sense that this is a cut-back console port, but one that widens the genre's influence into places it's never conquered before.
The Sims 4: Cottage Living is a gorgeous expansion that adds some of the best and most on-trend in-game items and experiences we've ever had, but it's come with that it seems are causing issues for pretty much everyone playing the game. There is a lot to do, a lot to see, but also a lot of glitches to fix in Henford-on-Bagley.
The Ascent has got all the grimy character that you would want from its sci-fi cyberpunk setting, and there's a great combat system to go with it. Simply put, The Ascent deserves your attention.
My time with Omno was pleasant, and while I don't think it's a life-changing experience by any means, it does have a certain life-affirming quality to it. Simply put, Omno is an enjoyable journey through a magical world, where so many other games would fill such a setting with chaos.
Samurai Warriors holds onto its status as the best of the three Warriors series. Omega Force has refined their aged formula with a focus on narrative, more challenging combat, and more rewarding character progression. Let's just hope they can hold onto this momentum...
Night Book is a good example of the kind of modern FMV game that Wales Interactive produce. It brings together an interesting story with some strong performances and a topical site of anxiety. At a run time of about 45 minutes for each playthrough this is perfect for a quick play with a glass of wine but may not feel like the best value. There's plenty of replayability though if you want to unlock all the endings, but many of them involve only slight variations of events you'll have seen before. Night Book is very much an FMV interactive experience rather than a game but it is undoubtedly a solid example of its kind. Just don't go into it expecting much in the way of gameplay.
NEO: The World Ends with You is way too cool, way too fun, and way too good. For fans of the series, this is a sequel that goes above and beyond 14 years of hopes and expectations. For newcomers who have never even heard of the Reaper's Game, this is one of the most genuine, polished, and stylish games I've ever played. Personality and style ooze out of it constantly, and in a post-Persona 5 world where society is starting to clamour for more immersive and all-encompassing JRPG masterpieces, this might just be the next big thing.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles has all the hallmarks of the Ace Attorney series, with excellent characters and brilliant writing through the remastered duology's ten cases, but there's some clever flourishes that make the story and gameplay far more interesting and enjoyable. The only objection we have is that it took far too long for these excellent Victorian adventures to reach the West!
Cris Tales is an absolutely incredible homage to classic JRPGs, whilst taking care to modernise their core mechanics for modern audiences. The gorgeous visual style, superb voice acting, clever mechanics and emotive story-telling all combine together here to make an incredible title. Then, with the addition of comprehensive and innovative uses of time in all parts of the game, it becomes a near perfect experience. Cris Tales has arguably surpassed its JRPG inspirations and absolutely deserves your time (pun entirely intended).
Ragnaröck is a fantastic new addition to the rhythm action genre and is one of the most enjoyable games to hit VR. It's a perfect blend of aesthetic and mechanics and offers some incredibly satisfying gameplay. While its tracklist may not be to everybody's taste, the ease of adding custom songs and the sheer bloody fun of the core game makes it a must-buy.
Toilet humour can be very funny if it's written well and I'm not sure it's written well here. That's a shame because the rest of The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk is a decent effort at the tactical genre, with some genuine replay value thrown in. Why not give it a stab? Or perhaps, a backstab?
This is what people truly want from a Switch port. A gentle, well thought out, genuine upgrade that captures the heart of the original game and allows it to flourish at a higher standard. Although it is still perhaps a little simplistic, the game has redeemed itself through the quality-of-life updates that were sorely needed the first time around. Skyward Sword is finally a winner, and will undoubtedly delight newcomers and old fans alike.
Boomerang X is the 2AM food truck run of arena shooters. You're in and out before you know it, but holy shit is it amazing. The boomerang abilities that form the core of the gameplay are unique and insanely addicting, but there's always new foes and features constantly revealing themselves as the game progresses. It's a brief experience, maybe too brief, but it's still an unforgettable one.
Fantastic new units and the best lizardmen campaign yet, paired with a cathartic but comically overpowered beastmen stampede.
F1 2021 is one of the broadest depictions of the sport ever created, building on familiar cars and handling alongside returning multiplayer, esports, and My Team career modes, while the new Braking Point story gives you a taste of the teammate drama you loved to watch (and mock) in Netflix's Drive to Survive.
Where the Heart Leads offers a supremely compelling and fascinating overall narrative, one that is filled with genuinely meaningful choices – surely a rarity in video games? Unfortunately, its tall tale is also bogged down with numerous presentation issues that result in dull characterisation. Overall an uneven experience that's both brilliant and boring – sometimes at the same time.
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance fails to live up to both the potential of its placement in the D&D canon and the legacy of the Dark Alliance name. As a mediocre-to-good game, depending on whether you're alone or with friends, the whole experience is sluggish and dull in execution, and sails close to the average tabletop D&D session where you play for four hours and somehow only walk down a single corridor, but without the enjoyment that comes with that experience.
Out of Line is a good little puzzle platformer that will last you approximately 2-3 hours. It flows nicely but some may find the puzzles a touch too easy to solve. The artwork and music are great but the story remains unclear, with the ending just leaving you with more questions.
As we wait for the inevitable Sniper Elite 5, this is one virtual reality shooter you won't want to miss. Sniper Elite VR hits its mark with immensely fun sniping gameplay, delivered in perfectly portioned bursts of action.
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is an ambitious addition to the Elite formula that doesn't quite hit the highs it should. It instead serves as a preview of what the game may be like in 6 or 12 months from now, and is hard to recommend as it currently is. Personally? I'd wait and see how Frontier Developments improves the game. Let's face it, there's still plenty to explore in Horizons.