TheSixthAxis
HomepageTheSixthAxis's Reviews
Beautiful, British and bold, Forza Horizon 4 sets a new benchmark for open-world arcade racing.
Following on from Max and Chloe's time-twisting adventure was always going to be a tricky task, but Dontnod have pulled it off with aplomb in Life Is Strange 2's first episode. Sean and Daniel's relationship, the tragedy that sends them on the run, the contrasting people that they meet and the supernatural twists on a modern day drama all come together in wonderful fashion.
Final Fantasy XV Pocket HD is a bullet-point RPG that just about gets away with its narrow focus thanks to the charm of its lead characters, fun combat, and having been able to crib some of the original's great production values, particularly the epic soundtrack. It's more or less impossible to recommend to PlayStation or Xbox owners, but for Switch fans it's a light snack before next year's deluge of proper Final Fantasy games.
Burning Bridges is a lot less action-packed with no major set pieces that stand out. Instead, this episode Louis interacts with only a few of the inhabitants of the island with most of the discussion taking place between himself and Mortimer. These chats do reveal a lot of information as well as secrets that have been the focus of Sarah's investigations, with a number of revelations being dropped without much fanfare.
Amongst the most generous expansions of all time, Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country is one of the year's best RPGs. Returning players will love diving further into the history of Alrest and discovering more about the events that shaped the world, while newcomers can rest assured that they're starting out with the most refined and welcoming introduction to Xenoblade yet.
My Brother Rabbit is a great little hidden object adventure that tells an emotional story with style and sensitivity. Its world is a pleasure to explore and there is a nice balance between static screen exploration and logic puzzles. It is clear that Artifex Mundi are experts in their field, and this would be the perfect introduction to the genre or gaming more generally. It would certainly work to counteract the public perception that gaming is all guns and swearing teenagers. While clearly a simple game, it deserves to be played by more than the usual genre fans. It doesn't outstay its welcome, its full of lovely touches and is a great example of a nice game. Here's hoping that, like the creature in its title, My Brother Rabbit will multiply and more such heartwarming titles will hop onto the scene.
The Gardens Between is a short and simple adventure that holds a lot of charm. It plays upon the nostalgia we all have for childhood and focusses on experiences we've left behind in adulthood. It's also distinctly bittersweet in how it deals with the nature of change within relationships. While it's not the longest game, it's perfectly put together, and though the puzzles aren't too difficult, the way they're crafted should be praised as should the whole package.
If you'd never seen, heard or played a video game before, you might be moderately impressed. For everyone else, you should steer well clear of Fall Of Light.
Azure Reflections has got to be one of the most pleasant surprises I've had all year. After being burned by a number of Touhou Project spinoff games, I was prepared for just as much disappointment with this one. Instead, I was met with a fan-game that remained faithful to the original series, while introducing concepts and systems that elevated that experience to an entirely different level. The sparse amount of content and shoddy visuals hamper the experience slightly, but regardless, Touhou fans and bullet hell buffs are sure to have a great time with this one.
It is difficult to recommend City of the Shroud. It offered so much but delivers very little.
While the Senran Kagura series has always been rife with fanservice and hyper-sexualization, these moments were at the tail-end of addictive action gameplay, funny character interactions, and classic anime cheesiness. These things are what make up the heart and soul of Senran Kagura, and by removing those and placing full focus on the T&A virgin wish-fulfillment, Senran Kagura Reflexions is just a lifeless alternative to an afternoon with your Chrome Incognito tabs.
Zen Studios has raised the bar with its supreme table designs in Solo: A Star Wars Story, making it a near essential purchase for any Pinball FX3 fan. Much more than that though, it has managed to do the impossible. It has made me interested in watching the Solo film. Marvellous.
PES 2019 is a good football game. It isn't a major improvement over last year's title, but despite the lack of the Champions League it isn't worse either. The matches play well, the modes are well crafted for the most part, and there's plenty of fun to be had. There are some things that do need addressing which haven't been touched since over recent iterations, but hopefully they can be fixed in future patches and updates.
Hideo Kojima has been accused at various points of promoting style over substance, and in this remaster of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner that's more apparent than ever. For all of its fantastically designed mech, and its tight and often enjoyable combat, Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner is an ugly, poorly-told and overly short slice of nostalgia that can't be saved by the introduction of VR.
Building on the foundations of Rise of the Tomb Raider, there's more depth to the actual tomb raiding, more flexibility in the combat, and the city of Paititi is a hub that you can easily get lost in as you explore it and the surrounding jungle. So, while Shadow of the Tomb Raider's story lacks some of the meaning and impact that it sets out to, this is another action packed romp for fans of the series.
When the original Valkyria Chronicles dropped for the PS3 in 2008, it came about during a dearth of quality Japanese video games in the west and took peoples hearts with its unique visuals. Sega failed for years to properly build upon the success of that original game, and now, ten years later, a lot of what made Valkyria Chronicles unique is all too familiar to many people. Despite that, though, Sega has managed to craft an incredible entry in the long-suffering franchise that is fun, fully-featured, and gorgeous. In a time for the industry where a game like Valkyria Chronicles should struggle to find footing, Sega has proved that this dark horse has many bright years ahead of it.
It's almost heartbreaking how much fun SNK Heroines is, because all of that fun is wrapped up in a fetishistic presentation that didn't need to be there in the first place. By putting out a cool, casual-friendly fighting game that happened to only have a roster of female characters, SNK could have reached a wider audience of people and rekindled some of the magic they made 18 years ago with Gals' Fighters. Instead, though, SNK put Mai Shiranui in a cowprint bikini and gave Terry Bogard breasts, alienating a massive amount of people in the process. SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is one of the funnest new fighting games I've played this year, but I can only hope that a future installment trades the fanservice for familiarity, and gives us the Gals' Fighters sequel the world deserves.
It has been a long wait for Chasm and I am happy to report that it provides a great classic Metroidvania experience. It isn't as obviously polished graphically as the likes of Oni or Hollow Knight, and doesn't offer the Dark Souls stylings of Dead Cells, but it succeeds entirely on what it sets out to do. The art style is perfectly suited, the controls are responsive and focused (although I would have liked to move dodge from the Y button) and the world map is a real joy to explore, despite my worries about the procedural generation. It may not be the gamechanger that Dead Cells seems to be (having not yet played it myself) but it is a wonderfully pure and challenging experience. If you have even a passing interest in the genre, Chasm deserves a place on your playlist.
This might be the first Naruto game in a long time that does something new, blending anime with class-based online battles. The idea may seem a little strange but it works well, and it would be great to see Bandai Namco build off this with other anime franchises in future. Shinobi Striker is well worth your time if you like the Naruto series and even worth trying out if you just want a new multiplayer experience to get lost in.
Within it's ocean depths, there's plenty of fun to be found in coming back to Hungry Shark World every once in a while. The game's point system makes it competitive enough for players who want to beat their personal best score, but the game really puts emphasis on running the same stages with different sharks which can start to grind. So while the game itself is pretty fun, Hungry Shark is one of those games best played in short bursts.