Entertainium's Reviews
Silt’s plot is delivered very similarly to that of the Playdead games, being entirely dialogue free. It’s certainly a game about the experience and emotions of what you’re seeing and hearing, as you swim your way across an alien underwater world, filled with beauty and nightmares galore. While there are elements of horror here it’s not as deliberately horrifying as Limbo with its grisly death animations, and is more interested in invoking a sense of wonder as you explore. For fans of the Playdead games Silt is an easy recommendation, but it’s also fully accessible for newcomers to this style of puzzle game.
Over the years, Rebellion have been the target of a lot of glib claims that they have merely “made the same game over and over” with Sniper Elite. While it’s true that the studio has never thoroughly overhauled their formula, the series has consistently improved with each instalment. With Sniper Elite 5, these enhancements are truly stacking up and Rebellion’s passion and experience shines through. While its thin story and demand for patience mean that it isn’t for everyone, this is an enthralling fifth entry in a series that has continued success firmly in its sights.
Dolmen is a sci-fi Souls-like action adventure game that spent many years in development and it definitely shows.
Loot River’s pitch is a strong one. Described as “Dark Souls meets Tetris,” Loot River is a roguelike wherein you move platforms (often in the shape of Tetris blocks) around while fighting enemies in Souls-like combat. It’s a roguelike that combines light puzzle solving in how to navigate the game’s tight corridors using the large platforms (especially when you’re trying to grab a treasure chest) and the lethal nature of Souls-like combat splendidly.
Even with a fantastic presentation, due to the issues with combat Trek to Yomi ends up amounting to a very middle-of-the-road action game. It’s disappointingly limited when it comes to truly challenging you, and outside of playing with 1-hit death – a feature that’s unlocked when you first beat the game – there’s not really a whole lot to the game to keep you coming back for more.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe has been deliberately designed so that whether you’ve never heard of the game before and are starting fresh, or you’re a seasoned veteran who experienced all the endings of the 2013 game, there is still plenty here for you to enjoy. The humour may not be for everyone’s taste, but the writing remains as sharp as ever. All of the new content adds about 3 hours to the game’s runtime if you go hunting for every last ending, plus a couple of minor amendments to the original game content are fun to spot. All in all it does flesh out the original in a meaningful way, making this an unqualified recommendation to those who have never experienced it. There has never been a better time to experience The Stanley Parable, where the end is never truly the end.
République is definitely a game which was deliberately designed as a throwback stealth title, and on those criteria, it certainly succeeded. That said however, the camera system is nonetheless frustrating, and while the stealth gameplay is solid, it does get rather repetitive as time goes by. The Anniversary Edition isn’t a graphical overhaul so it’s still the same visuals from 2016, but the story and world remain as interesting as they ever were. If you missed République the first time around on iOS or the second time on its original console release, and you’re a fan of old-school stealth games, this should certainly be a game you’ll enjoy. For more casual players, it will depend on your tolerance for struggling with the movement and camera system.
I’m blown away by the overall quality of Tormented Souls. It does very well what it proposes, and for as much as it can feel dated, it’s by design. And frankly, it’s a welcome return to a time when the scope of horror games was more limited and in that they found the ground they needed to deliver amazing, self-contained experiences which is exactly what Tormented Souls does so bloody well.
Intelligent games like Road 96 are few and far between, and even more so when they provide you with such a quality experience that keeps you coming back for more. And each time, it keeps delivering more and more exciting and deeply emotional moments that you won’t want spoiled in any way. This is easily one of my favorite games that I’ve played this year and I’m looking forward to seeing what Digixart will come up with next. No pressure, guys.
As it is now, Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition isn’t the ideal way of playing Chrono Cross, but it’s the best one we have. And with the aforementioned patch(es), it’ll be easy to recommend, even more so due it being the only official way to play Radical Dreamers, for as much of a letdown as it might end up being to fans who had yet to play it.
Games which work to revive the glory days of ‘80s platformers are a fairly common sight these days, and are a logical choice of project for developers like Small Bros. B.I.O.T.A. has the special qualities that are needed to stand out from the crowd. It summons up the memory of the run-and-gun games of yesteryear, but never becomes repetitive or frustrating as they did. Its modern conveniences, like save-anywhere and a flexible character system, turn the game into something more than just a retro revival. Games with a philosophy this obviously nostalgic aren’t for everyone, but anyone who digs this retro look is sure to enjoy a trip to Frontier Horizon.
Forgive Me Father can seem a little off the boomer shooter pace at times. While attractive, its aesthetics could be a bit more cohesive – for example, a pulsating Lovecraftian HUD would be much more appropriate than the flat comic book one that Byte Barrel went for. The level designs are certainly not as inventive as the ones found in the best of the genre. With that being said, the game has a lot to offer retro shooter enthusiasts and from time to time, it comes together wonderfully.
As it is now, though, for someone like me who’s casual enough not to be constantly after the next new shiny car but worried enough about not being taken advantage of when I just want to play the game as I should, Gran Turismo 7 is quite enjoyable – when it’s working, mind – if not somewhat bloated. Then again, it’s the sort of bloat I can overlook due to my passing interest in driving fast cars and racing. To someone who just wants to jump in and put their pedal to the metal, though, the eccentricity that comes in the form of its presentation and slow pace of its delivery will come as definite turn offs to Sony’s 7th iteration of the “Real Driving Simulator”.
Looking back at Cyberpunk 2077’s grueling multi-year development and catastrophic post-launch, a month and change after its release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is definitely more of what you’d come to expect from a Lego game if you’ve had any experience playing them over the years. It’s undeniably a blast to be had even more by fans of the source material and younger players or people looking for a game to play that doesn’t demand a whole lot of your attention or particular dexterity in order to enjoy it, but if you’re looking for something brand spanking new, you might have better luck at another space port.
Syberia: The World Before is a very pleasant surprise. Syberia 3 might have ended up coming out of nowhere, but its tepid reception didn’t inspire a whole lot of hope that the series would see a new game. Having a sequel/prequel at all and it being this good is just damn incredible. Here’s hope that there’s more to Syberia in the future and that its world can respectfully outlive its creator and present fans with more of what it has to show.
If you’re already into both of the Judgment games, you’ll know what to expect out of this DLC. It’s got more of the quality writing that manages to expertly mix humorous moments with extremely serious themes, which is a mainstay of the Yakuza series as a whole and continues to be so here. I’ll never need an excuse to jump back and explore that world, and having a story as great as this is more than enough reason to sniff and keep my ears perked around the seedy well-threaded streets of Tokyo’s fictional red light district again and again.
Ironically, though, Weird West is a game which could have been so much better had it been made by a much larger team with the resources to make good on its ambitious design. What has been achieved here is laudable, good and occasionally great, but WolfEye may have been better advised to take on a project of a more manageable scale. There is real imagination and talent on show here, but Weird West is not the best way to harness it.
Now armchair monarchs can enjoy one of the best games in years thanks to a great console port of Crusader Kings III.
Following up on Pinball FX3’s excellent catalog of Williams tables, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure is very much worth picking up, even if you haven’t much of a collection of tables for the game. The base Pinball FX3 is free to begin with, so if this is your first time playing, feel free to try it out first before forking over for new levels. And of course, if you’ve yet to buy a FlipGrip, do yourself a favor and grab one, it’ll make playing this THAT much better.