DayOne's Reviews
Ultimately, Thank You, Bus Driver is not a full-fledged game in any traditional sense or price. What it actually is may be more important for them right now; an assertion of the passion and creativity that Double Fine have as a developer, no matter what the budget or timeframe. A few hours of chaotic fun delivered with signature charm; it’s more of an entertaining curio than anything else. Even so, it is small, but worthy addition to the Double Fine catalogue for fans of the studio and hopefully – a good sign of things to come.
Warhammer 40K: Boltgun 2 is a solid sequel to a flawed original. It fixes my main issue, with smartly designed levels that help you feel like a proper badass.
Ultimately, Over the Hill is a lovely little adventure that understands the simple joy of heading out into the wilderness and seeing what you stumble across. For me, it’s at its best when you’re tackling its trickier trails with friends, where a seemingly straightforward expedition can quickly descend into a chaotic and often hilarious rescue mission where you’ll be eating popcorn by the bucket-load. Progression could do with a little fine-tuning, and I personally don’t find solo play to have quite have the same appeal as multiplayer, but regardless – there’s a lot to like here. If you like the idea of going it alone, or if you’ve got a few friends willing to pile into their 4x4s and head up the trail with you, Over the Hill is well worth the trip.
The music, gameplay, levels, bosses, & looks are all incredible. It's classic old-school Castlevania in many ways, for good and bad. A handful of modern conveniences, some devilishly tricky level design, and a decent story combine for something well worth your time.
While a solid bang for your buck, Valor Mortis ends up done in by an overly lengthy campaign in a genre that already isn’t known for respecting your time. It looks great, has a decent story, and some solid acting. It is available Day One in Xbox Game Pass. For fans of From and the Ghostrunner series, it may be worth checking out regardless. For everyone else, at only $40, it will be up to you if this soldier is worth reviving.
Ratatan is a game I really badly wanted to like, but fun gameplay is kept locked behind a poor roguelike that gatekeeps the genuine joy and passion that shines through in the presentation. While I understand that it is a genre that can help a modest budget punch above its weight, here the roguelike design has left a fun ten-hour game absolutely stretched beyond its limits to more than six times that. Hopefully a sequel could realise a stronger overall vision, but right now it is very hard to recommend Ratatan to all but die-hard fans of the original franchise.
Hellraiser: Revival takes an old, cheesy IP and turns it into a solid-assed video game. Seriously, there's a ton of butt cheeks, boobs, and more for the sexiest sickos out there. It isn't wasted, as mostly fun gameplay mechanics back up a decent story. At $40, it's a no-brainer for one looking to delight in the bliss of suffering.
Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is an excellent expansion. It adds a massive new landmass packed with fun content that makes an already great game even better.
I’ve had a good time running through a couple stages with Garfield in-between, as the familiar yet polished platforming made the dozens of levels at hand fly away nicely. Not a tremendously memorable game, but fans of the genre should consider giving it go!
A neon drenched, loud, frenetic good time. Neon Abyss 2 is yet another solid addition to the 2026 Game Pass Ultimate line up. Alas, there’s still a lot of room for polish, with the overall game balancing badly in need of an overhaul in its current state. Even so, I had far more fun than I was expecting and with some quality post launch support, this could absolutely end up being the rare roguelike I return to again and again.
My final thoughts on Forever Ago have ended up really complicated in the end. It’s been hard to navigate both my experience of a genuinely tearjerking narrative, and an overall videogame that frequently let that narrative down with even less gameplay than many of its obvious inspirations. As a long gestating debut title announced back in 2020, it’s not too hard to see there may have been some growing pains impacting the final game, and some of its originality may have been lost in that time. Even so, there is still some beautiful artistry here. It may not be for everyone, but this may still be a journey worth embarking on for more patient fans of the genre.
Fuse Games‘ Star Wars Galactic Racer is bold, spectacular, and offers incredibly satisfying gameplay chops in single player and multiplayer alike. It’s high difficulty and relentless intensity might scare some casual Star Wars fans who just want some spectacle, but if you’re looking for a killer track-based arcade racer, you’ve found it. The force is strong with this one.
The mission and level design for this DLC are quite lovely. Lots of traps await and you can very easily become incapacitated if you’re not careful with your exploration. Even the first mission might take a few restarts as you figure out how to rescue trapped victims. Much like the base game, fire flows rapidly and time is of the essence as it is very easy to get a failstate if you don’t shutter the electrical and gas pipelines on time. Unfortunately, the already frustrating AI really struggles here. Because these missions have more openings into facilities and more obstacles, you’ll find your teammates either trapped or putting out fires while staring the very valves that’ll calm those flames down in the face. A solid set of missions that, once again, I recommend with real human beings.
The Coalition have elevated the franchise to new heights, crafting an engaging, brutal and surprisingly intimate campaign that’s full of smart gameplay mechanics and wonderful surprises. It’s the best Gears has ever felt to play, and the best it’s ever looked and sounded on the big screen. Gears of War: E-Day? It's a fucking masterpiece.
There’s a wonderful ‘vibe’ that just clicks for me that I really gelled with, even if a few technical hiccups kept getting in the way of my overall enjoyment. If you’re a fan of atmospheric exploration and survival horror-inspired Metroidvanias, End of Abyss is worth venturing into the dark for.
Despite a lacklustre endgame and a handful of minor issues, it’s not hard to see Minecraft Dungeons II as the game the original was meant to be. The combat is flashier, tougher and more engaging. The world is bigger and more cohesive. The character builds are more varied. Most importantly, it all just feels confident. This isn’t merely Diablo with a Minecraft skin, but a fantastic dungeon crawler with a hopefully bright future ahead.
For all of its quirks, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve ultimately delivers exactly the sort of ridiculous aerial spectacle I was hoping for. There are a few rough edges here and the story borders on melodrama at times, but when everything comes together, there’s very little that compares to the feeling of pulling off some ridiculous high-G manoeuvre, watching your target explode, and immediately looking for the next enemy to shoot down.
NASCAR 26 convinces without going overboard with changes. Fairly minimal updates to the multiplayer, aside from the much-needed addition of cross-play, with likewise the single-player career receiving minimal but welcome new features. Yet, the overall on-track experience is just quite stunning, with high-intensity racing in ever-evolving race situations that few other racers on the market offer – let alone such an accessible one at that.
Forsaken Kingdom is an interesting addition to Warcraft III that features a good campaign that will appeal to a wide net of players and doesn’t involve many intricate real-time strategy missions. The prologue campaign is accessible (though difficult for newcomers). The Forsaken Kingdom campaign starts off slow but gets its pacing together along the way.
SiN: Reloaded manages to take an old, mediocre title and turn it into something worth your time. This is far and away the best, and in my opinion, only way to play SiN moving forward.