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Avowed delivers satisfying combat, engaging exploration and fun weapon-switching combinations, making it an enjoyable action RPG despite its generic story, weak soundtrack and frustrating technical issues. Whether this is Obsidian’s greatest is debatable, but its strong side content and Game Pass availability make it at least worth a playthrough.
Kingdom Come Deliverance II impresses with its engaging story, complex characters, and realistic gameplay, improving upon the first game's mechanics with a more fluid combat system. While the game shines in its narrative and challenging gameplay, it's let down by occasional visual glitches, awkward facial animations, and persistent audio issues. Despite these flaws, the immersive world. brutal combat and compelling story are very well worth experiencing!
Synduality: Echo of Ada suffers from uninspired gameplay, sluggish combat and a tedious progression system that fails to deliver the mech-shooter experience promised by its early trailers. While the visuals and performance on PS5 are fine, the lack of any engaging mechanics and frustrating systems make it extremely hard to recommend.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the most refined entry in the series, blending hyper-musou gameplay with strong strategic depth and a solid 60 FPS on PlayStation 5. While the story and lack of multiplayer hold it back from legendary status, the game shines with its impressive fighting mechanics and exhilarating grand-scale battles.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle blends stealth, satisfying combat and classic adventure puzzles in a globe-trotting, action-packed journey. While its AI and stealth mechanics occasionally falter, the game excels in capturing the magic of the films, delivering top-tier voice acting, engaging side quests and a well-optimized PC experience.
From fast-paced, tricky time trials to relaxing photography sessions that are more chill than yoga, this simulator is an aviation fan’s wet dream… Well, when it wants to work, that is. Not only have people had issues simply reaching the main menu after installing the game, but it takes a good 2-3 minutes to start flying on PC every single time; even longer if your internet's as fast as a sleepy koala.
LEGO Horizon Adventures disappoints despite its humorous narrative. Repetitive levels, limited combat, and a lack of character variety make it a far cry from what a LEGO game should be. While the visuals are nice, the gameplay is stale and unimaginative. It's a missed opportunity for both the Horizon and LEGO franchises.
While the graphical enhancements, quicker load times and bundled Frozen Wilds DLC make for a strong package, they don’t exactly justify the Horizon Zero Dawn Remaster, given how polished the original 2017 release already was. However, through all the repetitiveness of its open-world structure and exposition-heavy dialogue, this game certainly has its moments of magnificence.
Ys X: Nordics introduces an interesting combat system with Duo Mode, but it quickly becomes repetitive due to limited party dynamics and a lack of damage type mechanics. While the exploration and improved graphics are highlights, the slow-paced story, Saturday morning cartoon villains and so-so gameplay make the experience fall short of expectations, especially when compared to previous entries in the series.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is a thrilling JRPG with a unique story and the typical engaging gameplay elements that Atlus is known for. The combat is challenging, featuring the press turn battle with a new risk-reward system adding depth to the classic turn-based formula. While the game shares some similarities with the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series, such as social stats and character bonds, it carves its own path with a captivating narrative and stunning world. The excellent voice acting, music, and visuals further enhance the experience, making it a must-play for JRPG fans.
Bloober Team have triumphantly maintained the essence of Silent Hill 2, all while adapting its gameplay and graphics for today’s audience. With its expanded exploration, tense combat, great puzzles, gripping story, music and atmosphere, this remake has fully realised the original’s true potential.
Despite FC 25 introducing a host of few new features, it still mostly feels like a retread of last year’s entry. That being said, the gameplay remains incredibly solid both online and off, with added realism to make passing and shielding truer to real life. Albeit, you will occasionally stumble upon issues like erratic goalkeeper behaviour and glitching/crashing on PC.
Even with the help of three Square Enix vets, Reynatis has regrettably fallen short. Its dated PS2-like graphics, copy-paste environments, blatantly reused boss fights and annoying mechanics inevitably damper this 12-hour action RPG. While Shibuya looks lovely, the combat is flash and the narrative about wizards overcoming oppression is intriguing, the gameplay, story and certain characters could’ve been fleshed out further. The drama does have its moments and the Japanese voice-acting is high quality, it’s just a shame that the experience leaves much to be desired.
The Plucky Squire features a beautifully charming aesthetic, blending a children’s storybook style with inventive, varied gameplay inspired by Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions has bolted down the formula with an exciting game of broomstick ball, featuring a diverse cast of Harry Potter characters, various positions to play, and simple-to-pick-up, hard-to-master controls. However, it severely lacks major gameplay modes and a dedicated story, while also suffering from highly repetitive commentary and a required internet connection just to start the game. Blimey!
Astro Bot is a delightful platformer that excels in delivering a fun, nostalgia-filled experience for PlayStation fans. The intuitive controls, immersive DualSense features, and visually stunning levels make it a joy to play. While the challenge might be lighter than some platformers, it more than makes up for it with its charm, creativity, and heart-warming nods to PlayStation’s history. If you’re a PS5 owner looking for a feel-good adventure, Astro Bot is an absolute must-play.
Age of Mythology Retold is an awesome remake of a classic RTS, staying true to its roots with a bunch of modern enhancements
Concord's story isn’t particularly intriguing, the characters aren’t memorable, half of the game modes don’t exactly fit and the progression is lacking at best. Does this sound like a live-service that has staying power? Probably not.
Hellblade II is an unequivocally bland game, with repetitive combat and puzzles that lack any overarching sense of excitement.
Stellar Blade is a fun hack-and-slash that leaves a little to be desired. The story is decent, the combat is challenging, but traversal and some mechanics bring the experience down. There is a lot to enjoy here, and despite its flaws, it should keep you entertained for a while.