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Alba is the kind of game that all young people should play. Not only is it a heart-warming romp where you get to look at animals, it's educational and empowering, inspiring and beautiful.
I persevered with Battle Hunters and finished it (admittedly after dropping the difficulty down) but there wasn't really a point where I actually enjoyed my experience. The most frustrating thing is that there were moments when it nearly came together in tactical combat, but it was continually held back by the need to rest characters and not sharing XP to non-party members. As a result, this is one adventure in which too many heroes spoil the game.
You can have the most advanced drone piloting physics in the world, but if the tutorial is dull, the career structure nondescript and the racing lacklustre, I'm afraid the combined package does not enthral. A pity.
Even without the original's VR elements, Chronos: Before the Ashes' compelling and somewhat challenging combat is still its main draw, in which you have to attack, dodge and parry your way, with refined precision, towards victory. Its aging system also adds an interesting twist to combat, imbuing your battles with a sense of prudence. That said, it doesn't offer anything new to the genre. Just watch out for its clumsy camera angles and you'll do fine.
Does The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV have a great story that's a worthy capstone to a ten-year JRPG saga? No, it doesn't. As a standalone experience, it's an impenetrable mess of fizzled out character arcs and bloated cutscenes. Despite all that, Trails of Cold Steel IV has addictive gameplay, dope music, and gorgeous character designs. If you want a fun and grind-heavy JRPG with a wild amount of options and battles, but don't mind turning your brain off to ignore the story and glaze over poorly-written cutscenes, then this is one's for you.
Call of the Sea's original setting, narrative, and overall feel totally hooked me – even when I wasn't playing I found myself working over the puzzles in my head. If you're a fan of emotional stories and challenging logical puzzles then you should dive straight into this adventure.
The Wild Eight is an accessible and rewarding survival game that works on so many levels. Considering that I'm not a fan of survival games, the fact that I enjoyed my time with The Wild Eight is high praise indeed. If only the combat wasn't such a bore, then I'd have no hesitating in giving it two thumbs up. As it is, one thumb and a pinkie will have to suffice. Or a seven if you prefer your scores out of ten.
Unto The End is a challenging game, but not overwhelmingly so. Each combat scenario is unique which keeps things fresh, while the world itself looks nice and hints at a wider world that cares little of your character's adventure. A handful of fights are frustrating and will hold you up, but Unto The End does not overstay its welcome and is easy to recommend to those who enjoy tough fighting challenges.
Submerged is a wonderful, melancholic exploration game, that builds a more defined and evocative world than many AAA games do.
Although purists may balk at Worms Rumble, I found Team17's reinvention to be a welcome change in direction for the series. Real-time action wrapped around the battle royale genre works a treat here when combined with the zany, explosive world of Worms, but in order to become a multiple mainstay it needs more depth both in terms of strategy and player progression.
Not needing to reinvent the wheel, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 delivers the same fun and brilliant mash-up of two of the best drop-puzzle games ever with a healthy dollop of content, both classic and new. The jury's still out on whether the new Skill Battles will change things up, but regardless, this is a great puzzle package for parties or pros, and hopefully a great jumping off point for newcomers to discover the marvel and skill of competitive puzzle battles.
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a great top-down Soulslike with the right mix of challenge and reward. It makes good use of the systems and mechanics it borrows from the genre staples and combines this with a darkly beautiful aesthetic and some memorable boss fights. It's not always clear how or the best way to progress, but if you've got a hankering for a bloody good time then you won't go too far wrong with Morbid.
Happy Ray Games succeeded in what they were aiming for with Ikenfell, I just wish they aimed a bit higher. The story doesn't pick up for a long portion at the beginning of the game, and the battle system is interesting but nothing groundbreaking. There is still some enjoyment to be had with Ikenfell, but it feels like it's missing some magic.
Partisans 1941 is an enjoyable take on the real time tactics genre, but too often your perfect ambush is then undone moments later by hyper-alert enemies spotting your squad. There's some balance issues (which will hopefully be improved with patches), but there's a solid tactical game here with an enjoyable story and some gameplay mechanics that we've not previously seen in the genre.
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla effortlessly plants its banner as the best open world RPG available for the new consoles. This Viking epic flexes its gore-soaked, tattooed muscles when it comes to world-building, and medieval England wows with its enchanting untamed vistas. It's also portioned out at a steady pace and, if not for the repetitive, limited combat, Valhalla could have ranked even higher among our favourite games in the series.
A compelling take on a Martian colonisation and terraforming project, Per Aspera also comes with a gripping mystery to unravel as you fight to survive and thrive. There's some muddled pacing and it's not always how you can proceed, but this is a thoroughly enjoyable sci fi planetary sim.
Chicken Police is far better than I'd expected it to be, due in no small part to the way it nails the noir aesthetic. It's clearly had a lot of care and attention put into it, with puns, jokes and background information tucked behind every corner and in every bit of dialogue. It's a surprise, but Chicken Police is excellent and comes highly recommended to anyone whose egg it pickles.
A handful of excellent new units, a much needed faction rework for the Wood Elves, Drycha's campaign, and a host of quality of life changes make The Twisted and the Twilight's lacklustre Vortex campaigns much easier to overlook.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos proves that visual novels can work surprisingly well in virtual reality. The ways in which your mode of interaction are worked into the setting are clever and really help to increase the sense of immersion. It might not feel like many of your choices have an effect on the story, with most branches being a result of clear binary choices at set points, but I have enjoyed my time in the world of Lieutenant Chloe and will delve back in to seek out the last couple of alternative endings.
I really, really wanted to love Phogs!, but I simply couldn't. It really is a lovely idea, set in a lovely world and there's a simple joy to the game's opening. It's clear just how much love went into this game, right down to the Hollywood Bowl carpet at the bowling alley, but the execution just leaves you wanting. Between the repetition and the bugs, there's just too much to get frustrated with, making the game, at times, an uphill struggle.