Ixion perhaps could be used as an example of flying so high... and then missing the mark and falling pretty far down. There was so much to recommend and enjoy about the game, especially if only checking the first few hours. But the more you play, the flaws, difficulty, unraveling story, and pretty much everything else frustrates the player to such a degree that many players are not going to finish the game, either due to the difficulty, or simply not wanting to do the same thing for 5 hours and hoping their ship doesn't blow up randomly.

Pokémon Scarlet is as fun as the franchise has always been, no one can deny that. The new Pokémon creatures are endearing and the series still manages to create new and fun ways to get the player invested in their Pokémon training and catching sessions. As with Pokémon Legends Arceus before it however, this is all marred by a level of technical mastery that is downright inexcusable. Not only is the game still not quite up to the level of something like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released over five years ago on the same system, but it is, at least at time of writing, riddled with visual glitches and performance issues. It looks downright unfinished at times. This is simply intolerable. Therefore, it is impossible to give this a better score in good conscience as a point has to be made once and for all that things need to change going forward.

As someone who repeatedly had the Witcher series suggested by other reviewers and then digging in the heels and refusing to try it, what was missed was one of the best games created on a modern console. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt deserves all the plaudits it receives and in its new next gen update, there really is no better way to experience it. Although lacking in new content, the quality-of-life features and sheer beauty of the whole thing make this well worth a revisit.

An intriguing story, interesting battle system, and signature art style is usually a good combo, and Soul Hackers 2 is no exception. It is easy to get lost in the story or side-quests and enjoy battling a variety of demons. For anybody enjoying Atlus' other turn-based titles, this is definitely a must-have.

Forgive Me Father offers an evening or two of fast, somewhat fun, but mostly simplistic and repetitive FPS action, served along a paper-thin pseudo-Lovecraftian tale that few will care about. Once this one or two evenings are done, there's no reason to keep on playing this nice, but otherwise forgettable shooter.

Judgement is by far one of the better entries in the Yakuza franchise. It is a gritty detective story, with a killer in it that is legitimately scary, thanks to the performances. The Dragon Engine getting a boost from the new generation of consoles shows how Judgement was meant to be played, with extremely short load times and buttery smooth 60 frames per second that is unwavering. Judgement may be second to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, but being second to the best is a great place to be.

This has been one enjoyable ride and it is great to see how well Sonic has fared in his latest outing. Exploration is fun, running around an island and going from grind rail to grind rail. The variety of challenges and collectibles are balanced, and combat has evolved via the new Cyloop ability, although this does get a little repetitive by the end of the game. There is never really a dull moment to be had, and there is plenty of content to power through. This is a game that every Sonic fan needs to play. Hopefully Sonic Team and SEGA follow up with a direct sequel as they have the formula nailed just right.

In the end there are too many substantial knocks against the game to really recommend it at large. For a very specific type of gamer who wants a super deep, complex series of systems to dive into and a world free-form exploration system, they will enjoy this game; but the majority of players will be put off by the unnecessary complexity at so many levels, the lack of a clear progression, and many other small knocks that really take out what could have been cool.

Falling Out sadly falls under that underwhelming "ok" category of games that thousands of indies belong to. It's a nice rogue-lite exploration/platformer that can be played by two (in fact, it is fun only when played by two), but despite it having no real flaws to talk about, there's nothing about it that stands out either. It's… ok.

Pokémon Violet offers a ton of familiar and enhanced fun, but the lack of polish and outright unacceptable performance let it down as one of Nintendo's most iconic franchises. The open-world setting and gameplay additions hint at an exciting future for the Pokémon franchise, but the state this was released in too often overshadows that. Before it's been patched up and optimised, it's tough to recommend.

Gungrave G.O.R.E.'s gameplay won't be for everyone and most gamers who never played the last few games on PlayStation 2 will be lost. The constant combat can wear some people down and the sound of guns blazing becomes white noise after several minutes. Replay value is high - Grave's stats and abilities can be upgraded and there is more than just Grave to play as. Gungrave G.O.R.E. is definitely an acquired taste, but gamers who do have a taste for this brand of carnage will be in for a feast. This is the biggest and longest entry in the series, easily clocking past the 15-hour range. It borders on being excessive with how many stages there are, but this may be the final Gungrave, and it's great to carry that coffin again.

While building a Mars colony is a neat theme for a city builder, how that was executed in Per Aspera is underwhelming. Lots of time is wasted on simply waiting, and when you get to issue some orders there's not much in the way of thinking very hard about them. It's… ok, but that won't suffice.

Don't wait for a bargain bin sale. Don't accept it as a gift. Succubus With Guns is one more trashy "NSFW" game, like the thousands of others that can be found on Steam. It's a boring, repetitive, and sloppily crafted third-person shooter, where players shoot wave after wave of enemies, getting sleepier by the minute. The breast physics are hilarious for like a second.

A great stride for interactivity, The Devil in Me propels many aspects of the Dark Pictures Anthology forward, while retaining the choice-based storytelling that made Supermassive Games so popular. The setting, visuals and atmosphere are thick with horror and the story is full of curiosity and terrible darkness. This reviewer was so tense during the game he had to take breaks every few chapters... It's a masterful way to end off this set of games and for fans of horror media, add this to your library.

Today, much like mullets, the FMV is a niche prospect, but it is growing in popularity again. It's becoming a better fit for purpose in tandem with improvements in technology and streaming services, allowing for some more interesting and convenient delivery methods for the medium, blurring the lines of what a passive and interactive piece of media can be. The Gallery presents a compelling story, with some good tension, interesting concepts and even some decent jokes smattered in there, but it's the core concept of how the details shift through the two timelines that is its most compelling aspect. The marriage of content and the medium. Certainly, it would be recommended for an evening in with friends, which is a fair metric to judge it by.

It's hard to get invested with what Ankora: Lost Days has in store. The story and the characters junior ranger Mûn will meet are just… there, the visuals are bright and colourful, but in the end totally forgettable, and the gameplay is all about wasting time while trying to find the necessary resources that can help the little heroine craft the tools that will help her keep on exploring, with fun not being a part of the equation.

Sonic: Frontiers is an amazing experience that Sonic fans will eat up. There is so much to do across the title, supported by one of the most interesting Sonic stories in a long time. The new combat and exploration focus opens up Sonic's move set into an almost sandbox environment for players to play with which just feels so right. Obviously, there are a few tiny rough edges as expected with such a game but with a couple of patches this could easily be the best Sonic game out there. Highly recommended!

One of the finest retraux FPS games available, CULTIC pays homage to titles like Blood, and actually surpasses them. From running, jumping, sliding, and reloading, to chopping heads, firing and reloading weapons, and throwing explosive dynamite or flesh-burning Molotov cocktails at the feet of robed fanatics, everything feels awesome. The levels are large and decently non-linear, and the atmosphere, visuals, as well as the OST, are top notch. Solo-dev Jason Smith has every right to feel proud of this wonderful ode to the era it was inspired from.

This is not a collection of fantastic games, but a fantastic history lesson about gaming's most important company. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is a journey that begins from the distant '70s, with Pong and the 2600, goes through the 7800 and Jaguar eras, and actually concludes… today, as besides all the classic titles, small documentary-like videos, and so on, this even includes reimagined titles, plus unreleased prototypes - and more. Digital Eclipse crafted a rightful tribute to a legendary pioneer.

Despite featuring what's arguably the best combat system in the series, Bayonetta 3 is nothing short of disappointing. Bayonetta's core gameplay is outstanding, weaving fluid controls together with incredible weapon variety and tons of fun mechanics to play around with. The combo potential is high and battles just feel great to play… as Bayonetta. An unforgiveable amount of playtime is dedicated to newcomer Viola, stealth segments that make poor use of Jeanne, and relentless gimmick stages that wear out their welcome immediately. Tossing in mediocre level design, lacklustre performance, and a flavourless story that panders towards the current multiverse craze, it's clear PlatinumGames has lost its magic touch when it comes to the Umbran Witch. Bayonetta 3 is simply mediocre, at best.

The story in this sci-fi crime drama is nice and all, but a combination of below average voice-acting, awkward-looking characters, and bad pacing ruins it all. What makes the pacing so bad? Boring puzzle after boring puzzle, with very few of them having any connection to the plot, and even less being fun to solve.

Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef is a game where an Ork does orkish stuff for three to four hours. This translates to shooting stuff with large dakka, and then buying more dakka to shoot some more, in order to acquire even more dakka… and you get the idea. It's simple, mindless action, and it will definitely satisfy those who love these fun green Boyz - just wait for a heavy price drop, because this is extremely light on content and replayability.

The Chant is a surprising and impressive experience. It runs tight and brief; rarely wasting time but allowing enough breathing room for the player to explore at their own pace. It looks amazing, has excellent acting and a compelling narrative that explores some unconventional topics for a horror game. It is too bad it rarely is scary and is too easy. Making Jess a terrible fighter would probably be a worse design choice, but The Chant really needs to have more threatening foes and redesign them to be scarier. Fighting a massive toad that has a shark-like head feels more like something out of an off-brand Resident Evil than a 70s-inspired horror game with a new-age mysticism bent to it.

Castaway Paradise does a moderately good job of being entertaining. The quirky and demanding characters are funny, and there is something about the game that makes collecting all the items fun especially with the upbeat music. Fishing is not the easiest feature, and with real time affecting crops and other game elements it may not be as easy to play for those with limited time to play, but even played in short bursts progress happens. There were occasional crashes too, but it saves regularly so not much progress is lost. Once all island areas are unlocked and built there are still main quests to complete but unlike other games there does feel less of a reason to keep going other than unlocking new items.

Semi-open worlds with quests in the form of real-time strategy battles provide a sort of 3D role-playing game spin on the continuation of this odd match-up of Mario and the Rabbids. While Sparks of Hope improves on the formula introduced five years ago, some charm has been lost in the more generic lands the heroes traverse, with a story that doesn't offer much thanks to plain characters outside of the Rabbids. Battles are still as fun as before, with plenty of customisation possible, but there isn't much to think about when skill points can be redistributed at will. That may suit the target audience, though, and the additional difficulty options are pleasing in that regard, as well. Kingdom Battle fans will enjoy this, and there is some solid tactical gameplay to be found, but it's a bit too familiar and unsurprising to elevate it beyond the original.

Cathedral is basically 10 to 15 hours of decent exploration, with some decent upgrades to find, which will help you fight some decent boss fights, while enjoying the decent retro audio-visuals. Sadly, that's the best thing this has to offer: a decent time. In a sea of similar games, there's little reason to spend any time in here, unless a collector of all things metroidvania.

The definitive version of Judgment is here! It is an almost perfect blend of incredible details and mechanics reinforced by a huge technical upgrade. A long and impressive title that takes the Ryu Ga Gotoku game design and maxes it out for a new side story while their main game goes in another direction. Heartily recommended!

Odd design choices lead to a not so stellar action game with an unfortunately generic, asset-y world design. Valkyrie Elysium has great moments but is stuck in a mediocre shell that is missing the unique draws of the previous entries in the series. Once the story gets moving it's a good Valkyrie story, but a lack of polish leaves this game floundering instead of standing tall.