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To sum it all up, Octopath Traveler II comes close to being the ideal sequel. It once again totes that amazing HD-2D aesthetic and style, and continues to build on the successful foundations of the series. The storytelling has also improved, with crafted tales that feel both easier to get into and remain invested in. Yet, the game does lack meaningful surprises in a sense, remaining steadfastly familiar to the 2018 release save for the new tweaks. It doesn’t make Octopath Traveler II any less of a great JRPG; just be sure to check your expectations at the door.
Wild Hearts occupies an intriguing position, both as its own game but also as one that takes its inspiration heavily from a beloved franchise. The familiarity is not a dealbreaker, and in fact, it helps as a starting point for players with its increased accessibility and improved quality-of-life features. The Karakuri system is easily the biggest innovation that takes things up a notch, and if more Kemono are on the way, then Wild Hearts is in a good place as the next step for your monster-hunting journey.
While the gameplay may fall into a routine that can grow stale, there is no denying that what Guerrilla Games and Firesprite have achieved is an adventure that will astonish and impress once players put on the PS VR2 headset and wrap their hands around the Sense controllers. It may still be early days, but Horizon Call of the Mountain is an undeniably great start for this new generation of VR gaming.
Even if you are a relative stranger to its source material, the way Hogwarts Legacy introduces magic and all of its astonishing quirks, helped by a cast whose performances are always worth a watch, and bookended by a satisfying combat and exploration loop, this is an unforgettable experience from start to finish. By melding the allure of the Harry Potter franchise with an interconnected gameplay system that is always pushing players forward to the next entertaining activity, the game is more than able to keep you under its spell for a long, long time.
The barebones nature of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is ultimately disappointing, especially when there is so much potential with the license. While it delivers the charm and characters from the beloved television series, the lack of creativity makes it a barely enjoyable video game experience. Even for the most ardent of fans, this is one game that should remain in a pineapple under the sea.
Having released in this day and age where the classics of the genre are probably a memory for most, Chained Echoes has everything going for it to make a mark. It meshes modern-day conveniences and improvements with old-school formulas, making it a much more refined JRPG experience that simply needs to be played. While there are some stumbles along the way, it is an impressive effort from a solo developer, and a giant leap in what is hopefully the first of many successes to come.
Forspoken is not charting new territory, so to speak, with what it brings to the table, but at least its magical slant delivers fun exploration and combat in a relatively short RPG of 15 hours or so. The checklist style of design might not be for everyone, but there is a rough diamond in here, and perhaps with some more work, it won’t become a new IP that gets forsaken.
All in all, our expectation of the Dead Space remake being just a marginally updated version of the cult classic was blown out of the water just a few minutes into the journey. Instead, what we found was an astonishing and impressive experience that will set yet another high bar for its contemporaries to follow, a true survival horror adventure chocked full of surprises both obvious and subtle, and a fabled return to pure ecstasy while trepidation coloured every step. Dead Space has never looked or felt better, and a homage has easily surpassed its inspiration and become a flag bearer for the genre. If this is what Motive Studio can do with a remake, then we look forward to losing our minds further for even more Dead Space in the near future.
Nevertheless, The Devil in Me runs close to being the best in the series alongside House of Ashes, with a good-paced story and genuine characters that are probably better off alive than dead. The gameplay sections have been freshened up, even if the engine and look of everything feel just a little dated for the final entry in the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology. Hopefully, the second will feel more like a killer attraction.
In the end, The Callisto Protocol ramps up the atmospheric horror with plenty of visceral action, with the linear design helping to keep the focus on the main objective from start to finish. Although it can have trouble when it comes to empowering the player and losing its horror edge, the main issue remains the fact that we have all seen and done this before. Depending on your preference, that might just be exactly what you want, but the nightmare fades a little, especially with the Dead Space remake on the horizon.
To sum it all up, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is everything a licensed game can be with a sprinkling of Firaxis magic in many areas. The action is bombastic and great to see in action, the top-tier tactical depth and strategic play deliver near-infinite replayability, and the narrative does consistently surprise in the most pleasant of ways. While there are areas that can be further refined, it shouldn’t take too much away from what is a quintessential turn-based affair, and a true superhero fantasy come to life.
All things considered, The DioField Chronicle does what it needs to for the most part. Players will be entering a world full of action-packed instances, plenty of opportunity for tactics and strategic nous, and a bunch of characters that can be made truly your own. As long as you can ignore the less-than-ideal controls and narrative, this is one medieval adventure that is still worth having.
Despite the nature of this recognisable mascot character, Sonic Frontiers is perhaps best enjoyed when you take the time to see everything each island has to offer. Be it combat, platforming, or exploration; there is something in it for every kind of Sonic player, even if frustrations are never too far away. Yet, the overall direction of Sonic Frontiers is exactly what the series needs, and hopefully, future releases will continue to build on this foundation and go full steam ahead.
Do the latest Pokémon games get everything right? Not always, but when they do, therein lie adventures that is giving players the keys to crafting their own experiences in a wonderful world filled with fantastic creatures. Whether you are chasing down the title of the best in the land or hoping to detail the hundreds of Pokémon out there, there is always something fun waiting for you down the line, and that’s a world we can all agree is one that is exciting to be a part of, much less a key figure in.
It is clear that there have always been high hopes for the sequel, but the fear was that the heights of the reboot could not be reached again or even surpassed. Yet, just like how it did four years ago, the final product blew our expectations out of the water, a divine experience that marries storytelling, gameplay, and presentation as flawlessly as it could. Descending upon the PlayStation audience like nectar of the gods, God of War Ragnarok is a game that truly deserves its place as one of gaming’s greatest achievements, and a legendary addition to the pantheon of best games ever made.
Moonscars remain an utterly impressive debut outing for Black Mermaid, an entertaining action-platformer that is full of atmosphere and cryptic worldbuilding, and a visual style that showcases just how awesome pixel art continues to be in modern gaming. At about 20-odd hours, it is a game not to be rushed but savoured, and the darkness never looked so enticing.
Gotham Knights brings to the table a still-satisfying blend of combat and stealth, four distinct enough superheroes that should really get their own standalone games, and some interesting story beats that could use more time to be fleshed out. Whether that is enough to mask the issues will be a decision players will have to make, just like the contrast with the Arkham games. No one said being a superhero was easy, and the growing pains of Gotham Knights are a clear indication that the mantle of Batman is one that is hard to wear.
Nevertheless, it is rare to find a game like LEGO Bricktales, which embraces the building aspect of things rather than going the more tried-and-tested route. It will be the closest thing you can get to building LEGO in the real world without the investment or mess, but this good idea comes with its own challenges when it comes to the controls and, to a lesser extent, the lack of a helping hand. Hopefully, this will only be the beginning of a new way to look at LEGO games, and certainly a good foundation to build off of.
With the sunset of the EA Sports-led FIFA franchise approaching fast, it is perhaps fitting that FIFA 23 goes beyond its usual remit by making a more significant improvement on the strong foundations already laid. While there are still areas of improvement to be made, like in Career Mode, everything else has been improved in big and small ways. Sure, players can afford to look less plastic-like, but that’s still a smallish gripe considering the scope involved. If EA Sports can keep this up, it won’t be a wonder to see EA Sports FC topple the next FIFA game around this time next year, and we are all for it.
Evaluating Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed is a difficult task. On one hand, it does a great job of updating a 2006 game to match, at least, the visual standards of modern gaming, but on the other, it never took the chance to make sure that the gameplay and writing are of similar quality. Even if the intention was to retain that B-movie style, this remaster just feels like a missed opportunity that makes it quite difficult to have your mind blown in face of an alien threat – unless you’ve always been a fan.