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Crabmeat is a great short-form horror game that delves deep into the existential dread of both being in debt and being stranded in an unforgiving sea. The challenge and threat amps up throughout the 3-hour playtime and everything culminates in a conclusion that works as a suitably fantastic payoff. Similar to a game like Threshold, this is a one-sitting experience that shows the range of indie horror gaming.
Calamity Angels: Special Delivery brings some unique ideas and a loveable cast of weirdo characters to the table. I just wish it brought more interesting and engaging gameplay and combat along with it.
To summit up, Laysara: Summit Kingdom is a great little town builder. Set in a pretty unique location and providing plenty of satisfying management without the constant threat of invasion by a horde of enemies, it's incredibly relaxing and enjoyable. At least, until you underestimate the power of an avalanche and bury half your workers in snow. If you're at all interested in a builder like this set on a mountain, I'd be surprised if you didn't enjoy Laysara, even if you usually prefer something more challenging.
Toxic Commando never really manages to be more than the sum of its parts. It's enjoyable, and the big horde set pieces remain a gaming highlight, especially at its peaks in the finale, but like a 90s family holiday, there's also just a lot of time spent looking at a map to plan your route, and then driving to the next sightseeing stop while the kids in the back pretend to shoot stuff out the window.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is probably the best of the series so far, with an atmosphere and narrative that will hook you in and leave you feeling incredibly immersed. There is a great deal of depth to the camera-based combat and exploring the village is a wonderfully atmospheric experience. I could have done without the stalker enemies and the game throws a vast amount of lore and optional side stories at you at times, but the core game deserves to push the series into wider appreciation.
Love Eternal is an experience that lingers, with a story that can be interpreted in many ways depending on your own views. It's both unnerving and tough, which will appeal to those who enjoy the challenge of precision platformers, but it may prove frustrating to those with slower reactions than the game demands.
I'm pretty disappointed with Greedfall: The Dying World. Despite going through Steam Early Access, the end product is buggy and messy, and the combat uninspiring. This combined with slow pacing that gives three false endings to the opening before you get into the open world makes it get old quickly. Perhaps wait for a sale, or a lot of patches to fix things up a bit.
Under the Island is the perfect fit for gamers who long for the older days of dungeon exploration focused Zelda titles and is one of the most polished and enjoyable retro throwbacks you'll find. The charming story and characters, and the high quality of the level design help this to really shine.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the best entry in the spin-off series yet, with gorgeous artwork, impeccable world-building, and an excellent Monster Hunter tale to tell. I can't imagine a better gateway to the world of Monster Hunter than this.
God of War: Sons of Sparta is a bog standard retro-inspired Metroidvania. There's energetic combat and strong boss fights, though neither can quite make up for the dreary exploration and boring story, resulting in an OK experience. For me, when it comes to a franchise as legendary as God of War, OK isn't nearly enough.
With superb retro visuals, OTT combat, and four player co-op, Scott Pilgrim EX is a suitable love letter to the brilliance of the original graphic novels. Sure, there's some issues that will spoil you and your pals' fun on occasion, but overall Scott and his friends – and enemies – are well worth your time.
Ratcheteer DX is not a bad game, but it does have issues that stop it from being great. The story and the world that we see is well put together, but navigating that world can be a chore at times. It is a game that has moments of brilliance through its puzzling, yet I can't look past some of the game's more frustrating elements.
I still love the series and am keen to see it continue, but Legacy of Kain: Defiance just hasn't aged well and represents the very nadir of PS2-era action adventure games. The repetitive combat and uninspired level design grow tedious and the new additions are not particularly exciting. The use of AI upscaled textures helps explain the underwhelming nature of the graphical updates and is emblematic of a remaster that feels cheap. Considering the original game is still available on Steam and PlayStation, I'd suggest picking that up instead. Like so many modern vampires, this game's resurrection is more of a curse than a blessing.
A gorgeous cinematic puzzling adventure, Planet of Lana 2 features perfectly pitched puzzles, a moving narrative, charming characters and stunning visuals that will live long in your memory after finishing it.
Esoteric Ebb is an achievement in video game storytelling, and one of the most endearing, hilarious and immersive roleplaying experiences I've ever had in the medium. It's absolutely a must-play, and carves out an astonishing identity for itself beyond the D&D and Disco Elysium inspirations that drive it.
Whilst Mimimi Games might be sadly gone, real-time tactics lovers shouldn't fear as Artificer Games are here to continue their legacy. Not only a brilliant console conversion, Sumerian Six is a thrillingly inventive real-time strategy game in its own right, one that encapsulates much of what made Shadow Tactics, Desperados 3, and Shadow Gambit so great, though this time with the added fun of mauling Nazis.
Pokémon Pokopia is almost exactly as cosy as we hoped. It's more active and goal-oriented than Animal Crossing, but there's still a laid-back, charming atmosphere to rebuilding the world and making it a new home for yourself and all the other Pokémon left behind.
I Hate This Place is close to being a really good fusion of base building and isometric shooter, but never quite nails the game feel. Stealth is mostly a case of sneaking through vents, combat is repetitive and becomes too easy with more powerful weapons, and the base building parts function more like an idle game. To top it off, the story kind of fizzles out and the game ends just as the mechanics start to get established. There is a fun pulp horror experience here, but it doesn't meet its clear potential.
Resident Evil Requiem is a superb entry in the series and feels like a 'best of' at times with the persistent Easter eggs, references, and gameplay callbacks to the full range of earlier games. There is a vast amount of wider lore for fans of that part of Capcom's legendary titles, but even newcomers will be caught up in the narrative and balls to the wall gameplay. RE Requiem is up there with the very best of the series.
The Prisoning: Fletcher's Quest isn't a bad game, and the handful of hours you'll spend with it will certainly pass the time with a decent level of enjoyment, but there isn't really anything particularly memorable here. The procedural generation means that subsequent playthroughs will feature slightly different layouts, though this undercuts the intricate level design that good search adventure games need. Coupled with the sometimes questionable humour and you have a title that can offer a passing distraction but won't stay with you.