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The Talos Principle II is a fun, but challenging, puzzle adventure. The narrative is intriguing, even if it is a little slow to get going. However, it is the puzzle solving gameplay that is the highlight of this title. The puzzles feel unique and very creative and will cause you to flex your problem solving muscles.
Sonic Superstars is a pretty decent throwback to the original 2D titles. With up to 4-player co-op, new abilities to experience and completely new stages to run through, this 5-hour adventure is generally filled with well-crafted stages and platforming gimmicks, even if some of them love to kill the momentum.
EA Sports FC 24 is exactly what you would expect from EA's yearly footballing simulator. There are a few new mechanics to enjoy, with some of them being more useful than others. Player career has seen a slight upgrade with the new contract objectives. However, outside of this there aren't any substantial changes and Ultimate Team is still great fun, for those that enjoy that side of FC. This is yet another solid entry in EA's yearly football sim, and proves that EA don't need FIFA's license to draw players in.
Starfield is a fun adventure that may just lack a bit of direction. The narrative is not exactly intriguing. However, Starfield throws a metric tonne of interesting side quests which will easily distract you from the meagre main plot. Combat is very reminiscent of the fallout series, with the gunplay in particular feeling pretty satisfying. The ship battles are also quite simple and avoid unnecessary systems which is ideal for this style of game. Whilst there are a few bugs, because after all this is a Bethesda game, thankfully they are minor and non intrusive, and often quite hilarious. Overall, Starfield is an entertaining sandbox that will give you hours upon hours of fun. I just hope you don’t mind sitting through (or skipping) the generic dialogue throughout the main quests.
Pikmin 4 contains some fresh ideas and quality of life features, but it still feels a little too simplistic from a gameplay and story point of view.
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened has received a rather elementary remake. Those returning from Chapter One will appreciate the witty writing and banter between Holmes and Watson, though it is missing a certain 'wow factor' for a remake like this to truly stand out in today's market.
With it’s blend of serious, yet indie/hipster graphics and presentation, The Wreck’s polished writing and powerful message of ‘letting others know they’re loved’ is something that Telltale or visual novel fans should enjoy.
If there’s one reason to pick up this game, it’d have to be the turn-based JRPG combat. The story is good in Mato Anomalies—don’t get me wrong—but the simple, yet highly complex battle system is where it’s at.
Scars above is a fascinating third-person sci-fi adventure. It features an intriguing narrative that starts out a little slow, but it does quickly pick up and becomes one of its biggest strengths. The gameplay is a lot of fun, but doesn’t do anything particularly innovative to stand out from other similar titles. The game features some aesthetically pleasing environments, as well some really uniquely creature designs but the characters lack polish with the mouth movements in particular making them look a little like puppets at times.
Atomic Heart has been steadily building up steam for the longest time now, but the final product hasn’t quite matched up to the hype.
Wanted: Dead is a fun, but challenging adventure. It brings together brutal swordsmanship and deadly third person shooting in one uniquely packaged experience. The combat is easy to understand and it does feel great, and its difficulty is definitely the drawcard here. Unfortunately, the combat can feel a little too simple at times and the level design can seem slightly same-y. The story feels tacked on, and most of the voice acting is B movie levels of terrible. Overall, Wanted: Dead is quite entertaining and will give you a good few hours of challenging gameplay.
Mahokenshi is a surprisingly good adventure strategy deck builder. The gameplay systems are simple and easy to understand, yet still provide a significant amount of challenge. The narrative is a bit of a disappointment, providing you with merely a very short blurb before throwing you into each level. However, this can largely be overlooked, because the gameplay is honestly quite addictive at times. The board game style level design is really charming, and works perfectly for Mahokenshi. Overall, it is a good game that is worth giving a go, even for just a few hours.
The numerous additions included in Crisis Core Reunion are impressive. However, even if the combat is more enjoyable, graceful and weighty with fewer stoppages to boot, the repetitive gameplay loop of battling down long hallways does start to fizzle out. The story will please rabid fans of Final Fantasy VII, but for everyone else, the general narrative only gets good around the 70% mark. A little too late for most.
Overall, Wavetale is definitely a fun adventure game that is really relaxing. With its simple narrative and relatively short playtime, roughly 3-4 hours, as well as its interesting surfing gameplay style, Wavetale achieves almost everything it sets out to do. It is a charming game that will entertain you for a few hours. Nothing more, nothing less.
Hello Neighbor 2 is a big step up from the original in more ways than one. Puzzles feel more intuitive, neighbour AIs act smarter, the story is easier to follow and the graphics are admirably stylised. While some of the original’s issues are still present, like the paper-thin plot or immersion-breaking bugs and glitches, the game is still worth playing for those who love environmental puzzles or enjoyed the first entry in the series.
The Callisto Protocol isn’t the greatest horror title ever, but it still has some wicked cool moments to witness. There are stutter issues with the frame rate on PC, the combat does get repetitive and the story is largely forgettable, but the general atmosphere and hand-crafted set pieces are worth experiencing.
Soccer Story has some fun and varied gameplay to keep you occupied between binge-watching the World Cup. This title does follow along with Golf Story’s DNA, albeit it does just enough to keep the festivities distinct and fresh as the football-themed campaign progresses. Even though it can get annoying having to constantly scavenger hunt and backtrack for things in large areas, hence the lack of a fast-travel option is severely frustrating.
Sifu is a great game for those who love fighting games. Lots of combos to learn, and some awesome finishers to go with it. However, the story is a basic revenge story and the levels are very linear. If this doesn't sound like your kind of thing, don't bother. However, if it does, maybe get it on something other than a switch, just a suggestion.
This action-focused, survival horror take features a number of magical attacks, enemy-specific consumables and the balancing of mind, body and spirit to brave the storm. However, Jess’ story isn’t memorable in the slightest, while other main character arcs come and go faster than green grass through a goose. There are some enjoyable puzzles and music scattered throughout, and the fast-travel, bestiary guides and skill tree upgrades complement the game quite nicely. But overall, The Chant doesn’t offer anything spectacular. It’s still worth checking out, especially considering the game’s low price point. Although, the best practice should be to keep your expectations in check.
The Shadows of Rose DLC is a decent conclusion to the Winters family saga. Since you can finish this expansion in around 3 hours, Capcom packed the experience full of fresh puzzles, tight corridors and monsters that want to eat your face. Quite literally. Rose’s ability to freeze multiple enemies at once and counter their attacks is balanced very well. Making for some tense encounters and puzzle-solving moments where you need to freeze specific objects on the move. However, Rose’s story is quickly over before it ever gets off the ground, and the recycling of several assets and locations from Resident Evil Village may turn off some players. But for the low price this DLC is going for, it still may be worth checking out.