GGRecon's Reviews
Total War: PHARAOH presents an interesting window into the time and place of a tumultuous historical period while handing you the reigns to make your own story out of it. While learning the ropes takes some work to get into due to poor use of tutorials and the overwhelming amount of extra mechanics in the campaign layer, buried underneath is an excellent gameplay formula that continues to stand the test of time.
Detective Pikachu Returns is a charming sequel that relies on its beloved IP to get by, delivering a story that's more engaging than most Pokemon adventures but falling flat with uninspired gameplay and dated visuals. If you’re looking for a game to truly test your mystery-solving skills, you might want to take your detective hat elsewhere. Come for the cute Pokemon chats, instead.
Mechanics and narratives thought too bold and bright for some have been transformed into mere child's play by Geometric Interactive in a strong contender for the title of the best indie title of the entire year, and the team has proven that Carlsen's strokes of brilliance in INSIDE and LIMBO were far from flukes. The streak continues, not only proving the dev team to be strong by itself but also making clear that COCOON is the start of something truly incredible. The game is a triumph, and if it's a benchmark of what to expect from the team going forward, then they're about to be the smartest video game team on the planet. The future is here, and it's being carried around on the back of a bug.
Ultimately, I’m having a hard time trying to fathom why Ubisoft is selling Assassin’s Creed Mirage at a discounted rate. Sure, it’s much smaller in scale compared to the three RPG epics that came before it. However, when comparing Mirage to the greats like Assassin’s Creed 2 or Brotherhood, I almost certainly don’t feel shortchanged for my time. There are mild qualms with its accessibility (as a visually impaired person, I found picking out small pieces of evidence extremely tricky), and the occasional tailing missions are still as dull as they were a decade ago. On the whole, though, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the definition of a return to form. It’s stripped out all of the franchise's accrued bloat and brought everything back to basics, resulting in the first truly stealth-focused Assasins’ Creed game in years. I truly hope this isn’t the last we see of this formula.
Forza Motorsport is the best kind of racing simulator. It understands that some players sometimes just want to sit down and smash out a few laps in a Bugatti without having to think too hard about it. In the same breath, it’s also capable of letting you challenge yourself to become a better racer and provides a comprehensive number of tools to enable and encourage you to do so. Presented in a way that is truly player-first, and wrapped up in one of the most fully-fledged packages of cars and tracks I’ve seen for a long while, Forza Motorsport sets a whole new standard for racing games. Whether you’re a casual racing fan or a hardcore motorhead, this should be a permanent install on your Xbox for years to come.
There still remain many of the progression problems with Ultimate Team that are likely to never leave though, and while we are all used to them now, it doesn't make it any less frustrating to deal with as a 'free-to-play' player. Menus are also a big sticking point that I hope improves soon, and fans of Career Mode and Clubs will once again likely feel left out in favour of the bigger brother that is Ultimate Team.
The Lamplighters League is a fun turn-based strategy game that keeps things fresh with its pulpy aesthetic and characters, and a solid gameplay loop that's not afraid to dish out the consequences of your actions. While the decision to add a real-time element to missions doesn't fully pan out, it's not enough to diminish the game's best qualities.
Time will tell if Starbreeze can build upon the baseline it has built. As it stands, PAYDAY 3 is worth dipping your toes into for the curious, but almost certainly worth waiting a while longer to see if it reaches its full potential.
The Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways DLC is a polished piece of fan service that delivers the promise of the original DLC, and more.
From its breathless opening hours to its twisting narrative, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty would be worth the price of admission for its plot and characters alone. That it also offers an impressive new district, open-world dynamic events and even more ways to build your own Cyberpunk mythos make it an even easier recommendation.
Mortal Kombat 1 is the most complete package I have ever seen in a fighting game. It is an excellent new chapter for returning fans and a great jumping-on point for new players. In this new golden era of fighting games, where more people are playing them than ever before, Mortal Kombat 1 is exactly what we need. A fighting game for everyone, and a beautiful reminder of why we play.
Comparisons to the Forza Horizon series are excruciatingly apparent in The Crew Motorfest, with it almost sharing more DNA with its competitor than its own predecessors. That said, the learnings are almost all for the better, with Ubisoft presenting an arcade racer that’s very close to being just as fun and comprehensive. If you’re an Xbox player, Forza Horizon remains top dog. However, The Crew Motorsport is undoubtedly one of the more pleasant surprises of 2023, cementing itself as the best arcade racer option for those on PlayStation.
Lies of P is a brilliantly enchanting Soulslike for both those new and experienced with the genre - bringing together the gameplay of counterparts and its source material for a unique experience altogether. Albeit with some obtrusive difficulty spikes along the way, an extraordinary combination of its world, combat, and narrative will still make you want to see more when you've overcome its obstacles. For a game based on a story that's been told what feels like an endless number of times, Lies of P feels one of a kind.
NBA 2K24 showcases a franchise in need of going back to the fundamentals. Its clumsy implementation of VC is nothing new, but it's now actively hampering the rest of the game - especially given the disappointment of MyCareer. And yet, on the court, NBA 2K24 remains the finest basketball sim I've played in years - it just needs to find its form again.
While far from shallow, Under the Waves doesn’t quite reach the depths that it could have. Its ambient score, gorgeous stylised visuals and emphasis on tackling issues such as mental wellbeing, ocean conservation and how we deal with grief illustrate just how much love has been put into the game. However, some of its more striking moments quickly come undone as a result of a lacklustre protagonist, whose monotone line delivery and poor lip-syncing can break you out of the seafaring spell, as well as the occasional bug. Nonetheless, despite Stan and some technical hiccups here and there, Under the Waves shines when you are roaming around the ocean, taking photos of the various ecosystems and cleaning up the environment to later put to use for crafting materials. Spending your days exploring the ocean may seem like a quiet task, and it is, but it is a meditative one that you should allow to wash over you.
To some, Starfield may feel like more of the same in space. To others, that’ll be exactly what they’re looking for. When you give it time to breathe, the game shows you its strengths and invites you to play the way you wish. Not all of its features work out but most do, and the control you have over your journey makes it an excellent trip all the same.
Madden NFL 24 feels like it needs a team talk that'll ruffle some feathers, but without it, the franchise feels like it'll be doomed to repeat the same season again, and again. It's time for EA to break the cycle, but if history is anything to go by, we could be approaching a redemption story.
While The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's longevity will likely be drawn into question - and only time will tell if it will stand tall in the genre six months from now - for now, taking up the mantle of victim and family is raucous and riveting. Maybe this won't be the last hitchhiker we pick up, after all.
Armored Core 6 is an exceptional game that merges the classic mech combat of the series' roots with the new-age battles that FromSoftware has become well known for. Challenging boss battles are emboldened by a world left to waste, where your independence is challenged as a mercenary just looking to survive. Furthermore, the game endlessly encourages you to experiment with its many parts, leaving things feeling consistently fresh and malleable no matter what you want your approach to be. While it doesn't reach the astronomical heights of FromSoft's best efforts, it is still an outstanding game that is a worthy revival for the series.
Immortals of Aveum, in many ways, is a game about ambition. From its development as a new IP during the pandemic, to the overarching goals of the heroes and villains respectively. In its ambition, it has created a first-person magical shooter that looks and feels like everything it set out to achieve in forging its own identity. However, in its attempt to create a bold new world, it also sometimes falters under the weight of that same ambition. This results in some convoluted concepts that don’t quite hit all the right notes and narrative pacing that tries to cram in too much all at once.