The waywardness of the physics and AI are easier to forgive in a game with such a taste for ludicrous knock-on effects. [Issue#328, p.104]

It's harder than ever to resist embracing the chaos, because with so many ingredients its bound to surprise you more often than not. As its title suggests, this is a sequel that pulls out all the stops, as you sense that Sakurai is going all-out to indulge his inner nerd for maybe the final time. It's a rapturous celebration, not just of Nintendo, but videogames as a whole. Now for pity's sake, let the poor man have a rest. [Jan 2019, p.102]

This may be Onion Games' most conventional release to date, but still Kimura finds a way to bend the rules. [Jan 2019, p.122]

For a while, Arca's Path promises to be a new kind of VR game, but in the end its problems are all too familiar. [Jan 2019, p.121]

The price of this intricacy is that Gwent is anything but accessible... It feels both remarkably grown-up, and finely aged by its years of open development. [Jan 2019, p.120]

As a first adventure for beginners, young or old, this gets a lot right. No alarms, then, but a fair few surprises. [Jan 2019, p.119]

As a first adventure for beginners, young or old, this gets a lot right. No alarms, then, but a fair few surprises. [Jan 2019, p.119]

Most egregious of all is that Deracine too often turns into a tedious game of hunt the sparkle, as you grope awkwardly around bodies to find the twinkle that triggers conversation audio. [Jan 2019, p.118]

If the worst part of war is the waiting, 11-11's writing is often strongest when it's lingering on the mirth, grief and boredom of soldiers before and after the bloodshed. [Jan 2019, p.116]

What's here is enough to be going on with, but we'll have to wait till next year's updates and in particular, that possibly seismic battle-royale mode, to discover whether this is truly a Battlefield that stands apart. [Jan 2019, p.114]

There are moments to savour throughout Hitman 2, and they all have a corpse lying somewhere. [Jan 2019, p.112]

It is a game you've played a thousand times before - yet there is nothing else quite like it. [Jan 2019, p.106]

The reality, inevitably, is that you want Fallout 76 to play like a Fallout game, and on those terms it fails to satisfy. After all, how could you not want that from it? [Jan 2019, p.110]

A return to Hogwarts to relive Harry Potter’s school years, this remaster features an enjoyable adventure for fans who haven’t taken this trip before. Though the games are still fun to play, the experience doesn’t offer anything new (other than updated graphics) from the original releases. While the Harry Potter movie world keeps expanding, game fans get a rehash, which is something of a downer. If you haven’t played the Lego Harry Potter games before, this is a great package in terms of value and sheer amount of gameplay. Otherwise, it would be better to play one of the newer releases in the franchise.

With an eye and an ear for the theatrical, the wonderfully evocative staging turns you into a horrified, fascinated voyeur; you might be late for the Obra Dinn's fateful voyage, but you have a front-row seat to its frequently thrilling demise. [Christmas 2018, p.122]

With a generous array of modes and some unexpected creative flourishes, this is certainly the best Mario Party since the GameCube era; perhaps even beyond. [Christmas 2018, p.120]

There are some VR games that still make our stomachs flip, but this captivating adventure is one to make the heart soar. [Christmas 2018, p.118]

This is a pizza-and-a-six-pack kind of game: sit back, crack open a cold one and get ready to grin your way through the most gleefully stupid 20-odd-hours you'll spend in front of a screen all year. [Christmas 2018, p.116]

Who knows how we got here, but Zombies is the most compelling reason to buy a COD game in 2018. [Christmas 2018, p.114]

It's a shame that, for all those nifty custom USB sockets, there's no real connection to be found here. [Christmas 2018, p.112]

It also commits a few of the same sins: in particular, the deluge of gar drops feels vaguely insulting, conditioning the player to lust after items exclusive to the in-game store. It's lifted, however, by the relative wit and intelligence of its quest design, and the delicate notes of uncertainty and curiosity introduced by Exploration mode. [Christmas 2018, p.108]

It's a game of restraint, but with some brutal sucker punches; the tale of a one-man cowboy army who is nothing without the people around him. It's a game about the fear of the future that reaches astounding new technical heights, and makes Rockstar's previous games look and feel like ancient history. It's a resounding triumph to which there is only one reasonable response - and an appropriate one, too. Hats off. [Christmas 2018, p.104]

The Gardens Between is at its best when it marries whimsical design with fresh twists on logic puzzles, each level delicately exploring a new idea before moving onto the next. [December 2018, p.122]

There's something vital about this first episode's endearingly messy setup: to err is human, after all, and Life is Strange is nothing if not that. [December 2018, p.121]

Despite the occasional stumble and sticking point, Transference will frequently leave you transfixed. [December 2018, p.120]

This is a game that understands that nostalgia is a core part of its appeal. [December 2018, p.118]

The scenarios are often ingenious finding fresh ways to breathe new life into familiar systems. [December 2018, p.116]

Generous checkpoints and quick restarts just about cover for awkward platforming sequences. [December 2018, p.114]

The friction between precision and imprecision is what makes the game unique. [December 2018, p.112]

There are whole essays that could be written about the depth of the tuning mechanics. [December 2018, p.110]

Disjointed and directionless, Croft's descent into darkness is, shockingly, one hell of a mess. [December 2018, p.106]

For the first time, Bungie has successfully remedied two of the most frequent criticisms of Destiny: that there isn't enough to do, and that its endgame is overly focused on raiding. [December 2018, p.102]

There's little here that truly improves the Overcooked recipe, an din that regard, only those with extra large appetites for this particular brand of couch co-op need apply. [Nov 2018, p.122]

A wonderfully honest game that points out how important it is to acknowledge the hole, but reminds us that, at the end of the day, it's what's - and who's - around it that counts. [Nov 2018, p.121]

The simple tasks - jump, drag, hide - create a sort of meditative state, where the bare bones of the game itself don't matter and your eyes are free to drink in its sumptuous world. Counterintuitive puzzles aside, that's a sensation worth chasing. [Nov 2018, p.120]

It's the curse of "better with friends" - if any member of your own personal brigade loses interest, it could quickly end up a dusty relic. [Nov 2018, p.118]

There are plenty of games with strong visual design and atmospheric settings that don't make you jump through nearly so many hoops to get to the good stuff. [Nov 2018, p.116]

It's tricky to pick dourly over the faults in a game that refuses to take itself seriously, even when the fate of Japan itself is at stake. [Nov 2018, p.114]

One supposedly shocking reveal is so transparent a five-year-old could guess it. [Nov 2018, p.112]

Bigger rarely means better, but Guacamelee 2 entertainingly proves the exception to the rule. [Nov 2018, p.108]

It is at its core a forgettably designed, cookie-cutter open-world game, that is elevated by its traversal, its combat and stealth, by the eventually irresistible pull of its story. It may not have legs, but while it lasts it is delightful. The Amazing Spider-Man? Not quite. But it is frequently spectacular, and given Parker's rather chequered videogame past, that feels like some achievement. [Issue#324, p.104]

Sure, Three Fields might not have the resources its founders once did, but it feels as if the studio was in rather too much of a hurry to get this one out the door. [Issue#323, p.122]

It's a little too simplistic, and repetitive, to stick with for long, but in short bursts the style of the thing comes to the fore. [Issue#323, p.120]

Combo timings can feel a little strict - and, like so many games in this genre, could be better explained to novice players - but that's easy to forgive in a game that strips away so many common fighting-game frustrations with such an easy elegance. [Issue#323, p.118]

Yes, it can be sticky work, but it says much for this bracingly exciting game that you'll be itching to put our headset back on just as soon as you've cooled off. [Issue#323, p.116]

What an achievement Hallownest is: its insect-themed design letting it dance either side of the line between adorable and unsettling, a place that tucks its tales away without guarding them too jealously, that prints its twisting tunnels and lamplit tableaus behind the eyelids and upon the memory. [Issue#323, p.114]

A frequently wonderful game...You might lose everything you've gathered when you die, but your love for Dead Cells will endure, and grow even stronger. [Issue#323, p.112]

Ferocious and heartbreaking, this is storytelling with serious clout: against the odds, Stoic has stuck the landing. [Issue#323, p.108]

For better and worse, Octopath Traveler manages to evoke the games its creators grew up with, without ever quite matching the profusion of new ideas that made them so beloved in the first place. There's still much to enjoy here, but if Acquire had shared the courage of its protagonists' convictions, this could have been a journey worth making eight times over. [Issue#323, p.104]

There are too many caveats, too many pieces that have to fall into place to experience Aces at its very best. And yet a game between two evenly-matched characters and similarly-skilled human players is an unfettered joy. [Issue#322, p.122]

It may drive you potty at times, but this really is Paris as you've never sen it before, and you won't forget it in a hurry. [Issue#322, p.120]

This is surely Nintendo's finest piece of DLC to date. [Issue#322, p.118]

For all its incongruousness, it prompts a set-piece so joyous and liberating that it's hard to mind. [Issue#322, p.116]

Vampyr is a set of ideas that cohere on paper but not in practice, coupled with a dreary setting that becomes less atmospheric the longer you spend with it. [Issue#322, p.114]

Evolution's successes entertain your mind's-eye view of what running a dinosaur theme park might be like, but its failures encourage you to imagine the game that could be made with this premise. [Issue#322, p.110]

You may technically be present in this world, but you'll rarely feel truly connected to it. [Issue#322, p.106]

Roll7's latest is its best game to date. [Aug 2018, p.116]

An absorbing reminder of the power of words and how we wield them. [Aug 2018, p.114]

Mostly, however, this bullet hell is excellently assembled and riotously inventive. [Aug 2018, p.112]

Given that Smoke and Sacrifice's end point truly feels like it means something, it's heartbreaking that many will get stuck riding its mundane merry-go-rounds. [Aug 2018, p.110]

It's almost tempting to say that this feels like the combination of pinball and platforming that Sonic The Hedgehog wishes it was. [Aug 2018, p.108]

True, these lively, boisterous scuffles are probably best enjoyed in short bursts. But it's hard to dislike a game that dares to break the sacrosanct rules of its genre - even if it sometimes reminds you why they existed in the first place. [Aug 2018, p.106]

Much remains to be done, certainly, but after a dire six months, Destiny is, at last, back on track. [Aug 2018, p.104]

Beyond the odd jolt of panic as your wrench breaks mid-fight, or when the piercing shriek of a spindly screamer attracts a ravening pack, there's little here to quicken the pulse. For a zombie game, that might be the most damning criticism of all. [Aug 2018, p.100]

For all the very human flaws in its script, it ends up somewhere in the uncanny valley of narrative games: it looks the part, but behind that glistening exterior, something vital is undeniably missing [Aug 2018, p.96]

Our bond with our mechanical companion might have been even stronger when faced with a bit more hardship - by the time things really kick off, the story is nearly over. Nevertheless, Far: Lone Sails' ambiguous, strangely tranquil post-apocalypse is beautifully atmospheric, with a touching message: as long as you have hope, you are never truly alone. [July 2018, p.122]

It's not going to change your life, but for a dozen or so hours, this genial adventure might just make it a few shades brighter. [July 2018, p.120]

At its best, Cultist Simulator is quietly riveting, conjuring a palpable atmosphere of intrigue and danger as you juggle the risk and reward of harnessing otherworldly powers. During a bad run, however, it can feel like a rather inefficient way of telling a fairly miserable story. [July 2018, p.118]

It is, however, successful as an adaptation that gets to the core appeal of the original tabletop game, and uses it to the betterment of the strategic campaign system that it has adopted from elsewhere. [July 2018, p.116]

In all likelihood, we'll remember its delightful world for some time. In future years, we may even enjoy the few fuzzy memories of Forgotton Anne that linger. For now, however, they're tinged with disappointment. [July 2018, p.114]

Far from simply feeling sufficiently old-school, Pillars of Eternity II is a game of systems and setting working in wonderful harmony and with a pioneering spirit, exposing what it is that players miss about those particular 'good old days' on the first place. [July 2018, p.110]

Frostpunk's atmosphere, tight structure and sense of purpose make it stand out in a genre often given over to abstraction. [July 2018, p.106]

Its lead's epiphanies - or 'bolts of brilliance' - are his most underwhelming moments. [June 2018, p.122]

A game of canny, and often quite annoying, design. [June 2018, p.120]

It's astonishing that Shiver couldn't conjure up a decent party game from such great source material. [June 2018, p.118]

Extinction is mindless, soulless stuff, and a huge disappointment from a reputable studio. [June 2018, p.116]

A game that never quite finds a level of consistency to fully engage you. [June 2018, p.114]

It is too stressful to be enjoyable, it's world too dangerous to safely explore, it's story too dumb to take seriously. [June 2018, p.112]

If the game is to flourish, Rare must develop the basic structures that compel modern players to return even on the days when nobody gets kidnapped by the Kraken. Sooner or later, we all have to grow up. [June 2018, p.108]

Sure, the prospect of spending 30 hours with gaming's grumpiest anti-hero and his bratty kid might not sound like fun, but by the time the pair have finally completed their exhilarating, exhausting journey, you'll be delighted you joined them. [June 2018, p.104]

The biggest narrative crime comes right at the close, where what feels like the approach to the conclusion turns out to be, in fact, the end - a sour taste that's hardly helped by the naked sequel set-up that follows. [May 2018, p.122]

Florence strikes a chord that resonates long after the cello fades. [May 2018, p.120]

It's a game whose very structure serves to undermine its often excellent writing; that, in the end, is what really stings. [May 2018, p.118]

It feels as though Konami channelled Franz Kafka to produce a retelling of the myth of Sisyphus. [May 2018, p.116]

Deliriously funny. [May 2018, p.114]

Its hero might be forever wearing someone else's hat, but there's something to be said for a series that's this comfortable in its own skin. [May 2018, p.112]

Into the Breach balances its action on a knife-edge while giving you extraordinary latitude to make choices, an astonishing feat of focused game design with the capacity to enthral as few tactics games have ever managed. [May 2018, p.108]

As for how it compares to its predecessor, there's really no better summary than Roland's response to Evan when asked to describe his home: "I guess it's ahead of this world in some ways, and behind in others." [May 2018, p.104]

Miyazaki, Sakamoto and Igarashi, you suspect, would be resolutely unimpressed. [Apr 2018, p.122]

It's yet another curiously half-hearted side project from Supermassive that, appropriately, won't linger long in the memory. [Apr 2018, p.120]

The Full Metal Furies experience is as patchy in the hands as its attempts at humour. [Apr 2018, p.118]

Infuriatingly, Dissidia NT's focus on 3V3, its limited modes and lack of beginner-friendly packaging means that, as the online well of competition runs dry, we're repeatedly matched with a single opponent with the remaining four slots filled by incompetent AI. [Apr 2018, p.116]

It's a game that celebrates the idea of two disparate beings finding a shared language and using it to overcome their problems; in these troubled times, such moments are powerful indeed. [Apr 2018, p.114]

A brilliant fighting game for newcomers, and a wonderful one for genre fans, that somehow still manages to feel like a disappointment for so comprehensively failing to bring its two demographics together. [Apr 2018, p.112]

It's still Monster Hunter. This latest - and surely greatest - entry simply makes it easier than ever before to understand why its fans fell in love with it in the first place. [Apr 2018, p.104]

Yakuza 6's narrative builds to one of the finest climaxes in the series - perhaps, in fact, the best of the lot...When the dust settles, the series fan is given something that no previous Yakuza game, bound as it has been to an inevitable sequel, has ever offered: closure. [Apr 2018, p.108]

There are flashes of what might have been, but otherwise Brawlout doesn't feel so much a plucky underdog as a no-hoper, entering a fight it knows it can't win in the hope of a big payday just for showing up. A first-round stoppage to the champion, then, with the challenger being booed out of the ring. [March 2018, p.122]

It's an interesting tale, it's mystery and fuzzy chronology giving it a constant, momentum. [March 2018, p.120]