Pragmata has an original combat system, some smart toys and tight engineering, yet its rhythm and structure are a touch too singular. This is no mere 3D printout, but an exercise in the pristine and clinical nonetheless. [Issue#424, p.96]

There's scant variety as Nutmeg runs through the same handful of sequences repeatedly, and little tactical leeway within your deck. The beautiful game is thus made less so as the rose tint softens its essential texture. [Issue#423, p.121]

People of Note is a gratifying, if ultimately ephemeral, hodgepodge of ideas - a pleasant distraction but hardly an instant classic. [Issue#423, p.116]

Like a conversation made entirely out of pleasantries, it ultimately rings false. [Issue#423, p.108]

True, the early response to Reunion seems to suggest plenty of players are content with seeing Arcadia Bay's finest together again. The rest of us might wish we too had a rewind. Or, failing that, a particularly potent case of storm amnesia. [Issue#423, p.106]

For players to get more out of this world, Crimson Desert requires a greater sense of purpose - a reason to remain invested in persevering through its most testing moments, to press on for hours in the faith that it will attain some kind of shape. [Issue#423, p.98]

The Kratos we know would most likely growl in disdain. [Issue#422, p.122]

Until these closing stages, though, Relooted doesn't match its cast's bold determination and flexibility. Despite well-laid plans, the execution isn't as slick as it might be. [Issue#422, p.116]

As it stands, High On Life 2 makes a good case for throwing the baby out with the bathwater, then bleaching the tub. [Issue#422, p.114]

The problem is that, in the areas where Esoteric Ebb differs most from its clearest inspiration, it's imitating something else. [Issue#422, p.112]

Like the wings of your Rathalos in the opening, there's a majesty to this sequel, even if it doesn't really soar. [Issue#422, p.110]

This is certainly the MOST tennis Camelot has served up, if not the smartest or slickest. [Issue#422, p.108]

While it's diverting, Planet Lana II never feels essential as a sequel, mechanically or narratively. [Issue#422, p.106]

There are some good laughs here, along with sporadic moments of showstopping spectacle. [Issue#422, p.102]

With just those three levels, though, Rage feels a little slight - more a toy than a full game, even if there's plenty of room to perfect your scores.

Whether or not it warrants that DX suffix, Ratcheteer feels just as much at home away from home. [Issue#421, p.123]

There are pleasures in these moments, and plenty of charm (see: 'A Human Touch'), but the adventure itself never quite satisfies out wanderlust. [Issue#421, p.118]

If you can forgive the over-reliance on certain tropes and endure some short spells of tedium, this is a genuinely grisly, surprisingly deep hybrid of survival horror and FPS. [Issue#421, p.114]

For all its simplified inputs and friendly onboarding, 2XKO may fail to convert those who already harbour skepticism toward fighting games, or indeed toward League of Legends itself. [Issue#421, p.108]

Conversely, the game's reliable constant, its combat mechanics, begins to petrify through repetition. [Issue#421, p.104]

Cairn, then, is an awe-inspiring journey and a careful character study that captures the thrill and torment of climbing. Yet its flaws are central to that core act. While assist modes and optional visual aids help, the complexities behind the intuitive surface can grind together with unpredictable results. In creating such intricate systems, the developers gave themselves a mountain to climb, and almost reach the peak. [Issue#421, p.100]

If there's surprising strategic depth alongside the amusement of the premise, though, the package itself is on the miniature side. [Issue#420, p.107]

At first glance, this appears to be a game with a clear and confident vision, but playing it for a period of time reveals how much it's split between underdeveloped mechanics. [Issue#420, p.100]

The short levels, played to a time limit that rarely exceeds five minutes, may be ideal for speed runners, but this lightweight arcadey romp lacks the substance that many might need to keep returning to it. [Issue#420, p.98]

Like Borderlands, the promise of fresh guns, equipment and powered-up skills offers an incentive to press on. But unlike its parent series, the combat in Legends means it's not worth doing so.

Despite the game's lofty sky-mindedness, this is all about mastery rather than freedom. Thankfully, mastery brings with it plenty of its own rewards.

If the nostalgic, arcade sensibilities of Cosmic Heroes may not hold us as long as Absolum's Roguelike depth, then, mastering our favoured dynamic duo - to borrow a phrase from a rival universe - just might. [Issue#419, p.122]

Horses is a fascinating work, capable of moments that lodge in the memory, such as the late-game sequence when the projector's whirring finally stops and the tired clomp of footsteps registers to our ears like the sound of freedom. [Issue#419, p.122]

The story, meanwhile, is weighed down by needless convolution and stilted dialogue, even if its meditations on breaking the boundaries of human consciousness are admirably ambitious - and novel given that Huxleyian mysticism is well suited to the intimate and changeable perspective of a firstperson videogame. [Issue#419, p.120]

So why, despite jokes about this not being the golden age of comics any more, does Dispatch feel like a retrograde step? [Issue#419, p.118]

The island and its minigames, side conversations and beautiful backdrops hold their charm, and part of us earns to remain in Demonschool's world. Unlike Faye, though, we begin to resent that demons keep tearing us out of it. [Issue#419, p.114]

To put it in gastronomic terms surely familiar to Air Riders' star, we're left with the feeling of having visited an all-you-can-eat buffet. There's an array of options available, but tucking in to any one of them is unlikely to satisfy, because at the game's core is a soggy souffle that collapses almost before we can get the fork in. After two decades in the kitchen, was it too much to hope that this otherwise talented chef might have come up with something a little less...lightweight? [Issue#419, p.110]

The game feels somewhat tormented by its turgid dialogue and a one-note plot, both given preference over the raw thrills of doing kickflips in hell. [Issue#419, p.108]

The enthusiastic shouts that greet immaculate performances may be too generous a reception for Symphonica, but this disarmingly good-natured game is certainly worthy of appreciative applause.

While Once Upon A Katamari is too similar to its predecessors, then, a lot of the new ideas simultaneously also work against the classic sensations of fun and flow. [Issue#418, p.123]

Too often in Forestrike, you lose because you do what the game invites you to do. [Issue#418, p.122]

We can only guess that Possessor(s) needed more time than Heart Machine had left to give. Hopefully it hasn't run out altogether. [Issue#418, p.120]

And as it brings the melancholic undercurrent that has defined its parent series to the surface, Age of Imprisonment succeeds on two fronts: as a classy Warriors spinoff and a surprisingly vital piece of Zelda history. [Issue#418, p.116]

This is the fundamental flaw in Bloodlines 2. Troika's original game was not only about being a vampire but living as one, it's balmy LA nights riddled with chances to fulfill that fantasy. Bloodlines 2, in comparison, has no inner life. [Issue#418, p.114]

There's little variety in the 400-square-kilometre American midwestern locale where everything takes place, and roads rarely feel optimised to test your handling skills. [Issue#418, p.112]

We can't help wondering if a narrowing of scope, instead of crowbarred-in construction mechanics or a baffling option to interact with NPCs that function like in-world AI chatbots, may have given this fiction real room to breathe. For now, there are too many winds blowing in different directions. [Issue#418, p.108]

To The Sky also emphasises that this is a game to be enjoyed in groups, with co-op for up to four people, and it's true that it is more enjoyable alongside others. [Issue#417, p.123]

Upgrades are disappointingly basic... [Issue#417, p.121]

There is a design challenge here. [Issue#417, p.116]

But far too often in Keeper, rather than anything that has any greater meaning, what you're in conflict with is just muddled, unemotive puzzle design. [Issue#417, p.114]

In remaining more traditional, it fails to provide the kind of innovation that might have made it essential - something that, invariably, Nintendoes. [Issue#417, p.110]

Little Nightmares III is partially redeemed by its final third, as it picks up considerably both in terms of imagination and construction. [Issue#417, p.108]

An exercise in turning the volume up to maximum and keeping it there. The sound it emits is powerful, but with its constant presence can become mere noise. PlatinumGames has mastered the way of the ninja as a furious mass-death machine, yet somehow Ninja Gaiden 4 isn't a true killer. [Issue#417, p.100]

The campaign prevents Battlefield 6 from hitting all of its marks. [Issue#417, p.96]

Attempts to bring the fun back into Henry's life make for a more engaging third act, even as they inadvertently underline that they (and we) are largely going through the motions. By the treacly finale, we're more saddened by the unfulfilled promise of the start. Lululu's insistence on Saying Something over exploring the potential of its central mechanic proves, well, unbecoming; Henry Halfhead is at its best when possession is nine-tenths of the lore. [Issue#416, p.121]

Annoyances aside, there's a sense of pluck to Titanic Scion which may well power you through its most threadbare moments and its nagging UI quirks. [Issue#416, p.118]

Hotel Barcelona's horror-film pastiche amounts to little more than references, and without the unifying sensibility that defines Swery's best work, the game is a series of mismatched parts, idea in want of a whole. [Issue#416, p.116]

Like so many recent releases, Borderlands 4 has a magnetic, engrossing experience at its core that's been built on a hundred smart design decisions, but its performance on PC keeps you at arm's length. [Issue#416, p.114]

There are dozens of puzzles, with a Resident Evil-like fetishism for clicking locks and mechanisms. [Issue#416, p.112]

Like an electrified baseball bat, The Beast is silly and perhaps disposable, but you can still have a great time swinging it. [Issue#416, p.110]

Like the flesh-merging virus, which exponentially heaps meat onto meat onto meat, Bloober's better ideas can get lost in the pile. That it still feels worth playing to its conclusion is proof of the fundamental strengths at Cronos' core. [Issue#416, p.108]

Yotei is another breathtaking vision of Japan, then, which treads open-world paths familiar to Tsushima but explores a more captivating story, with characters you want to spend time with. [Issue#416, p.102]

In trying to please us all, it leaves a deeper puzzle unsolved. [Issue#415, p.107]

As diverting as it can be, this is a slim offering, a paucity of customisation options, game modes and progress markers providing no higher-level hook. [Issue#415, p.106]

If a chance to see the RPS Roguelike done right appeals, though, Abyssus' synthesis of systems is an enjoyable enough choice. [Issue#415, p.104]

Suddenly, your herd is let off the leash. As you witness a train rattling along a nearby track, it's hard to resist the urge to race it. [Issue#415, p.100]

The real art of Shuten Order isn't in the puzzle pieces, then, but the finished picture. A shame constructing isn't a more well-rounded journey. [Issue#415, p.98]

This is Nava's finest hour (or two) since the work for which he's still best known - especially when it focuses on the means rather than the end. [Issue#415, p.96]

Delta is compelling because of the quality of its source material, but it does feel disposable - a curio more in the vein of a talented bootleg modification than the kind of reenvisioning that would truly justify its existence. [Issue#415, p.92]

If you can forgive those insecurities, perhaps the result of trying to balance a mainstream genre game with more experimental narrative ambitions, The Old Country has an enormous amount of heart. [Issue#415, p.88]

By juxtaposing a hero who retreats in denials against an antagonist who'll go to any lengths to change the past, The Drifter offers a poignant take on trauma, and the ways it keeps gnawing at the soul the longer we refuse to process it. [Issue#414, p.123]

But at least there's less of the narrative mush to wade through this time, and if we start to flag late on, much is forgiven when Unfinished Business grants us control of an ED-209. [Issue#414, p.122]

It rarely becomes more than a pleasant distraction, rather than something that feels warm and real. [Issue#414, p.120]

Right now, there's enough here to capture the imagination for a handful of playthroughs, but for The Wandering Village to go the distance, Onbu may have to shoulder additional burdens. [Issue#414, p.118]

Ultimately, there's a good Pac-Man game buried beneath the hours of Shadow Labyrinth's trend-chasing mediocrity. [Issue#414, p.116]

Ragebound sparkles when it doesn't over-egg the pudding, confusing additional layers for mechanical depth. And we remain convinced that, whichever clan they're from, the best ninjas work alone. [Issue#414, p.114]

While it's initially exciting to explore Wheel World with just a pair of wheels and an agenda of your own making, that summer-afternoon aimlessness soon begins to go flat. [Issue#414, p.112]

Yes, the ideas are simple and well-worn, but they're treated with care and elegance, with a shimmer of luxury sprinkled across the top. [Issue#414, p.110]

Throw in a few low-level technical glitches - occasional stuttering, the rare enemy frozen in a T-pose in a doorway - and it's hard not to feel underwhelmed. [Issue#414, p.108]

True, there is little here that should deter the Souls veteran in search of a new challenge to add to the ever-growing pile. And while we may never be quite as interested in uncovering the backstory of our mute amnesiac as in retailoring her skillset or wardrobe, Wuchang does a commendable job of draping the Soulslike in eastern garments - provided the red mist doesn't have you tearing them asunder. [Issue#414, p.104]

With all the colour and oddness Date Everything musters, it can't overcome the fact that it treats its characters like objects. [Issue#413, p.122]

True, Splitgate 2 does a decent job implementing the fundamentals of a firstperson shooter, and occasionally makes a deeper impression with flourishes that can't be found elsewhere. But in moving too far towards established tastes, it more closely resembles what its creators profess to fight against. [Issue#413, p.120]

Rematch, especially with friends, is an immediate, exhilarating caricature of football. Its pared-down mechanics inject joy back into a sport that's been hollowed out, both in real life through surrender to capital and geopolitics, and as simulation, in the gears of service-game profit-making machines. [Issue#413, p.118]

It helps, too, that the story is surprisingly engaging. [Issue#413, p.116]

It's an amusingly quirky notion, but it wears thin as you empty bullets into pile after pile of stationary stationery. [Issue#413, p.114]

This is a grand, unwieldy behemoth of a sequel, buckling under the weight of its features and bombast. In lacking a sense of direction, though, it sometimes delivers in unexpected ways. [Issue#413, p.102]

Beyond breaking a set challenge score for each level, the prospect feels more like an endurance challenge than a great deal of fun. Strange Scaffold thus shows once again that it has no shortage of slick ideas. With this hook, though, we need a little more to keep us on the line. [Issue#412, p.123]

When it's embracing the ridiculous, Deliver At all Costs shines like a thrashing, paint-dipped monster fish. [Issue#412, p.121]

If patience is required, though, it's equally repaid. Playing as the Sandfox remains inherently pleasing, along with the game's story and atmosphere. A little post-launch care could see it truly shine. [Issue#412, p.120]

Above all, there's something fortifying in the game's message, however awkwardly it's delivered: keep walking; there's always a way out of the darkness. [Issue#412, p.114]

Despite its shortcomings, then, Revenge Of The Savage Planet turns out to be a game that was worth saving. [Issue#412, p.110]

Unfortunately, the solution it has landed on is missing some essential thing that has always made Doom work, another concept you wouldn't necessarily associate with this series: elegance. [Issue#412, p.104]

There's an interesting personal story here, yet when it comes to the work itself, we can't help but feel we've gone a little too far back in time. [Issue#411, p.123]

Yet despite these conveniences, Junkster never stops feeling awkward and clumsy to pilot. [Issue#411, p.122]

Still, the bits of level you ARE meant to interact with are as high-quality as ever. [Issue#411, p.121]

Unlike in a game such as Limbo, the main challenge is not finding solutions to puzzles but performing them. [Issue#411, p.118]

At first glance, Post Trauma appears to be a meaningful iteration on a familiar formula, but in practice it's more like a cover of a favourite song on the radio. You tap your foot, but you long for the original. [Issue#411, p.114]

Stick with Bloom & Rage through the hard times, though, and you might well be ready to take comfort in that lie. [Issue#411, p.110]

Fatal Fury may have to think again before taking on another fight. [Issue#411, p.108]

The early hours spent getting to know your airship suggest Forever Skies might soar. Sadly, from there, it struggles to get off the ground. [Issue#411, p.104]

It may not linger in the mind for too long once it's over, but it provides at least an evening's worth of quiet magic. [Issue#410, p.123]

While Sonokuni is a flawed action experience, we're grateful for it as a showcase of music we might not well have heard otherwise, and perhaps not appreciated in the same way. [Issue#410, p.122]

As the clear standout elements in a shooter that otherwise feels like it's been drafted out of pre-existing parts, we'd like more change to actually play with our cards after tearing the packet open. [Issue#410, p.118]