TheGamer's Reviews
It’s highly ambitious and one of the most intriguing triple-A games I’ve played in years, but I just wish so many parts of the whole weren’t inherently flawed. Now my journey in Pywel has come to an end, I’ll be leaving this one on the shelf for a while.
Not enough time is spent with characters to sympathise with their plight, while the narrative itself discordantly jumps between several themes without committing to a singular vision. It’s not helped by a middling combat system and exploration that is too simplistic and predictable for its own good.
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando focuses on delivering a very specific pleasure. Four buddies, a towering horde of undead, and a soundtrack that sounds like it escaped from something covered in dust in your basement. It identifies that particular itch perfectly, and it leans into it with a sense of gleeful, gory enthusiasm.
I just hope that it's realised that, with some more time and care, this series could be so much more than a decent tribute act to better games. GreedFall is a rich world, and so much love has gone into it. But that love is spread unevenly throughout The Dying World.
You’ll be perfecting your monstie team long after you’ve rolled the credits, and I’m hoping it will have the same amount of post-launch content as the last title for us to throw our monstie teams at, because the game is so good that I just want even more of it.
It raises the bar when it comes to puzzles and challenges, while giving us some much-anticipated answers as to where Mui came from and the more technologically advanced society that existed in the ancient past. Lana is more grown-up here, and so the darker story feels right at home as we continue this journey with her, and I’m now left in anticipation of her next chapter.
The just fine writing and exploration that doesn't add as much as I hoped mean that Scott Pilgrim EX isn't quite a genre-defining brawler like the stand-out Shredder's Revenge and Absolum. Instead, it's closer to Cosmic Invasion, a great beat 'em up that does a lot right with plenty of style and love for the source material, especially as an unabashedly biased fan. If this is as much of a sendoff to the series as it feels, then it's a worthy last hurrah.
As ever with Pokemon, there is enough charm to see it through, and the mechanics aren't shallow, even if they're used in aid of the same few tasks over and over again. It's Pokemon's take on a bunch of other villager games it's not quite as good at, but if you persevere there is a game waiting for you here. You just have to get the actual game over with first.
While I can’t speak in specifics, Capcom has once again assembled multiple new pieces on the series’ board that I cannot wait to see it start moving. I want to see where these beloved characters go and how stakes continue to be taken to places once thought unimaginable.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse is a strong follow-up to the first title, continuing the gorgeous art style and unique gameplay system, and cementing the series as the peak when it comes to supernatural puzzle visual novels. While the puzzles could have been more balanced throughout, the narrative and characters outshine those of the previous game and make for a deliciously moreish game that kept me captivated from beginning to end.
Even when I struggled to find a Golden Gear, I didn’t really mind that much since I knew it just meant spending extra time in Demon Tides’ moreish open world. The platforming is best-in-class, the characters and world left more of a mark than I expected, and Fabraz somehow managed to make going open-world seem both effortless and obvious. If the second game in the series is this good, I’m already counting down the days until the third.
Even as someone who isn’t the biggest fan of the original Rayman and its penchant for punishment, I still found a lot to love in the 30th Anniversary Edition. The many tweaks and enhancements make it the way to play the original, and the detailed documentary is a great extra on top of it all. It’s just a shame that the party is pooped a bit by the missing soundtrack and some teething problems.
In a genre crowded with self-serious shooters, there is something refreshing about a series so deeply committed to its own identity. Even when the bit falters, even when it reaches for the lowest-hanging fruit, High on Life 2 never feels timid. It is garish and intermittently incisive. At its best, it makes the threat of human extinction feel like an open mic night you’re moderately glad you attended.
It’s a true evolution of the Little Nightmares formula, and while some technical issues can frustrate at times, and it loses a bit of its tension as it draws to a close, it’s still an experience that I would easily recommend to any horror fan.
If you’re buying Mario Tennis Fever to have a few rounds of tennis with friends the way you would Mario Kart, then you’ll have a good time. It’s a solid arcade tennis game with some unique powers and cute character moments. But as an overall experience, it’s shallow, a little unbalanced, deeply lacking in creativity, and seems to deliver the bare minimum of options outside of its roster and rackets.
Whether it’s a compelling personality will vary from person to person, but it throws so much at the wall that surely something will stick. The combat is excellent, the enemies are memorable, and the balance between macabre and levity is well-tuned. Despite the stumbling story, there’s enough bounty in the chaos to recommend this game.
Overall, Yakuza Kiwami 3 is now the best way to experience Yakuza 3, especially since this retcon will likely now be the established canon. There’s no arguing that it has improved on the original in many ways, not only giving it a much-needed facelift and tinkering under the hood to make for a smoother experience, but adding a whole host of new content to whet our appetite. While I lament some losses during the creative overhaul and I am notably disgruntled by one major change, I can’t deny that the positives far outweigh the negatives.
I desperately wanted to love My Hero Academia: All’s Justice. It looks, sounds, and plays better than One’s Justice, while having tons of details that fans of the series are going to love. And in Free Battle, where there's no ridiculous difficulty spikes, they probably will. It’s just a shame that loving All’s Justice outside of that mode too often feels like getting hit with a Delaware Smash, leaving it as a decent and incredibly frustrating game that should have been great. Hopefully it will be with some sorely-needed balance patches.
Nioh 3 may stumble slightly with its narrative and a bit of bloating from the new open zone design, but it’s still far and away the best game in the series to date. Consistently excellent combat, well-designed bosses, and a new form that adds even more depth and value to already meticulously put-together mechanics make Nioh 3 more than a worthy challenger to Elden Ring. It’s so good, in fact, that even after 60 hours, I've already jumped straight into New Game Plus to keep getting my fix.
Reimagined solves that problem without sacrificing what made the original special. For series veterans, it's a chance to revisit a flawed classic in its best possible form. For newcomers, it's finally a reasonable entry point into one of the franchise's most rewarding narratives. And, for the first time, I can say I’ve finished DQ7 without needing a week of rest.