Perhaps it's time to rebuild from scratch. [Issue#405, p.122]

The game is more about building theme parks than overseeing them, moment to moment. [Issue#405, p.120]

That there's nothing conventional about this beauty is firmly to its credit. [Issue#405, p.118]

The knowledge that there's always another unlock just around the corner - and the tanalising locked-off areas you pass en rouge - ensures Shadow retains the fourth, invisible thing that held the Arkham series' other pillars together: the sense of forward momentum. [Issue#405, p.116]

Slitterhead remains a curio worth examining - original and, yes, full-blooded in its approach. Lacking the subtleties of more psychological horror, Bokeh Game Studio justifies its flood of plasma and mountains body count both mechancially and thematically. In the end, though, it's the same anarchic roughness and lack of restraint that drags it down. [Issue#405, p.114]

All Activision's teams needed to deliver the best Call of Duty in half a decade was proper support. It's not V2 rocket science, after all. [Issue#405, p.112]

There's a great 20-hour romp to be had in Brothership, but you may have to give it a bit of a wiggle to find it. [Issue#405, p.110]

We emerge from Awakening's eight or so hours feeling as though we've spent much longer underground. [Issue#405, p.106]

Regardless of the developers' goals, Veilguard feels like a game designed and assembled in parts. However good any idea, scene or concept is - and there are some excellent ones - it isn't bolstered by those beside it. Instead, each feels like a dazzling distraction from where it falls short in depth, consistency and trust in players to engage with a complex world. [Issue#405, p.102]

Who's quibbling about the originality of any given bone when there are so many of them just waiting to be broken, and in so many stylish ways? [Issue#404, p.121]

As well-intentioned as its encouragement to slow down and sniff the flowers may be, we can't help but bristle when the process is so leaden that it rarely feels like a relaxing meadow stroll. [Issue#404, p.120]

Much like the humble jigsaw, it's never less than a pleasant distraction. [Issue#404, p.123]

As poetry, it might be evocative, but when you're trying to advance the game to the next scene, it feels rather like being the one sober person in the room. [Issue#404, p.122]

Ara is at once too shallow and too deep, a 4X game where one of its crosses bears far more eight than the others. [Issue#404, p.118]

Redacted makes no apology, yet somehow escapes from the shadow of its inspiration. [Issue#404, p.116]

In truth, when it does attempt to tug firmly on the heartstrings, Neva is never as effective as we might have feared. But the images it leaves behind are indelible. [Issue#404, p.114]

You could also call it derivative and crudely executed, and no transmedia offering can compensate for that. [Issue#404, p.112]

Double Exposure handles an adopted legacy with care, and crucially always feels like it's shifting the needle in a direction that's personal to you, which makes the smattering of lacklustre puzzles a frustrating but ultimately forgivable sin. [Issue#404, p.110]

Silent Hill 2 is the rare game that isn't over after we've finished playing. It's a state of mind, and it waits for us to return. [Issue#404, p.108]

If it's an imperfect game for an imperfect world, that in itself is something to aspire towards. [Issue #404, p.104]

As much as it's captivating to soak in the atmosphere Selfloss creates, you should prepare for some choppy waters. [Issue#403, p.123]

Despite the absence of punishing deadlines, though, maybe this escape is a little too much like work after all. [Issue#403, p.122]

Occasional misses aside, then, Starstruck is an outstanding debut performance. [Issue#403, p.120]

While it doesn't reach the upper echelon of 3D platformers, the fact that it bolsters a genre so starved these days, as many indies stay in their two-dimenstional lane, while 3D games take a more serious tone, is worth celebrating, especially when its overt cultural charms are so endearing. [Issue#403, p.118]

It's this beautiful mess of strategic genius and personality defects that elevates Wild Bastards to the pantheon of truly great hybrid roguelikes, managing to do for the FPS what Spelunky did for platforming, and Slay The Spire for deckbuilders. [Issue#403, p.116]

Without a greater degree of authorship - a few lightly scripted cases in predesigned cities to complement the sandbox mode - Shadows of Doubt is too prone to be bewildering or illogical red herrings, shrouding the experience in uncertainty. [Issue#403, p.113]

Solo players are likely to be left wondering what happened over all those years. [Issue#403, p.112]

But as brutal as its buzz-saw races can be, they pale compared to the marketplace for online multiplayer into which it's throwing itself. [Issue#403, p.110]

It's a testament to the strength of the core concept, then, that The Plucky Squire remains as entertaining as it does. [Issue#403, p.108]

The sights and sounds of the Star Wars universe, delivered with enthusiasm and authenticity throughout, at least make it easy enough to be swept along. [Issue#403, p.104]

Where Frostpunk was painfully intimate, the sequel takes a bird's-eye view, but this distance serves it just as well. [Issue#403, p.100]

Take away the branding and there remains a core of irrepressible imagination, the fuel of so many great games, that is anything but robotic. [Issue#403, p.92]

Where once upon a time this series might have built an entire dungeon around a single gadget, here it's possible to pick up new inventions every few minutes, for hours on end. [Issue#403, p.96]

It feels revelatory, like rediscovering a lost art. The keyboard! How wonderful. [Issue#402, p.123]

While the thrill remains and the audiovisual show lives up to the billing, then, you wonder if the designers of genre classics might have pushed the envelope even more. [Issue#402, p.122]

How curious to find Nintendo's most contemporary tale hidden in a format so beholden to the past. [Issue#402, p.120]

As a whole, it is undeniably well meaning and generous, and the individual pieces work well enough, but somehow we find ourselves wishing there was a little less game in this reserve. [Issue#402, p.118]

Whatever tactics game you've enjoyed most in recent years, you're likely to find some element of it refracted somewhere in here. [Issue#402, p.116]

It leaves nothing to blame when disaster occurs but your own failure to understand logic's laws. [Issue#402, p.114]

Combined with the weight of nostalgia, Visions is thus a strangely conservative game. While not lacking the conveniences of modern design (the fast-travel system balances speed with a sense of scale), it's merely evolutionary. [Issue#402, p.112]

Its particular set of ideas and adornments prove unable to elevate the basic structural charms of this mode of game design. [Issue#402, p.110]

It's well-meaning, but unserious. [Issue#402, p.108]

Just as in Assassin's Creed or Far Cry, each activity is enlivened by the knowledge that you have chosen to do it right now, out of many alternative options available in every other direction. So when one DOES hold your undivided attention for an extended span, it must be something special indeed. And of those, UFO 50 has more than its fair share. [Issue#402, p.100]

Visually, this can be a fascinating journey, with its massive-headed monks and no-headed minstrels, but in service of little more than endless duels, hardly an ideal vehicle to dig into the novel's themes. Black Myth, in short, seems unsure what kind of monkey it wants to be. [Issue#402, p.104]

While this economy is enjoyably self-perpetuating, the cash economy beside it feels aimless. [Issue#401, p.123]

In a game that revels in base pleasures, it's just enough to kick our brain into action, before happily switching it back off for another two-minute rush of pure adrenaline. [Issue#401, p.122]

But that's what Arco does, playing on your sense of riding into the unknown, taking risks that might kill for the sake of curiosity. [Issue#401, p.120]

As a game, Flock can be a little too fuzzy for our liking. As a mood-altering experience, though, it works like a charm. [Issue#401, p.118]

Repetition is the point. [Issue#401, p.116]

With 2022's sequel confirmed for global release early next year, then, we feel ready to go the distance and stick with this trail. [Issue#401, p.114]

Dungeons of Hinterberg is more like those all-inclusive package tours that blend together in a mind-collage of cocktails by the pool and the dine of the breakfast buffet: pleasant enough to pass the time but too safe to leave a lasting mark. [Issue#401, p.112]

More broadly, it's let down by how it treats its brutal subject matter, all the way through to a dramatic but glib conclusion. [Issue#401, p.110]

Look for the new stuff, then, and there's no doubt this is a refined and expanded sequel, even if certain issues remain. [Issue#401, p.108]

Even if it doesn't keep its elements in lockstep, then, the colour, soundscape and imagination of Kunitsu-Gami is nothing if not exquisite theatre. [Issue#401, p.104]

Varek and Enki's combined abilities - axe, pistol, magic - aren't entirely novel, but with this extra lift they're more than enough to carry us through an adventure that can be wrapped in 15 hours rather than 50. [Issue#401, p.100]

As it stands, for all the words you cycle through, Until Then does its best work when it focuses on the visual and the novel. [Issue#400, p.123]

In isolation, it's a little thin. [Issue#400, p.122]

Super Monkey Ball had the sad fate of being born perfect, which means that, ever since that GameCube launch title, the series has been competing with memory. Not even a spin dash will get you past that. [Issue#400, p.120]

This sense of unevenness doesn't stop with the characters, and spreads to the design of the combat spaces. [Issue#400, p.118]

Not much here could be called outstanding - if we're hyper-critical, even though the game's visualisation of Japanese myth is a treat, it's not one we haven't sampled before. While there's a decent brew here, then, it doesn't refresh like a really good cupa. [Issue#400, p.116]

Of course, horror as reflection of the social and psychological is what we've grown to expect from Red Candle. That it couples here with such a confident step into pastures new, though, means we're keener than ever to see what's next. [Issue#400, p.114]

Arranger's cheeriness and playfulness thus works its way into every facet of its design, from the craft of its puzzles to the personality of its world and its inclusive embrace. This year has already supplied a pair of best-in-class puzzle games in the shape of Animal Well and Lorelei And The Laser Eyes; now they need to shift over and make room for one more. [Issue#400, p.112]

There's no denying it's a classy product, and since when do we want less novelty? [Issue#400, p.110]

The Final Shape has validated all the efforts that led to this moment, from players and developers alike. It affirms that Bungie is prepared to guide this game to a brighter future still. [Issue#400, p.106]

This is a jewel of a response, one that catches the firelight in different ways depending on how you approach it, but always dazzles. [Issue#400, p.102]

Even when its style doesn't get in the way, like its diaphanous hero it's lacking in substance. [Issue#399, p.123]

Platforming feels more involved than in "Stray," though clipping issues and an inconsistent camera can lead to frustrating falls. [Issue#399, p.122]

The neatness of the solution is all the more satisfying for the mess this once was: as the last piece slots into place, the sense of closure for player and protagonist feels as earned as it is overwhelming. [Issue#399, p.121]

As enveloping a puzzle space as any (outside of wells and hotels) we've encountered this year. [Issue#399, p.120]

Balancing discipline and freedom, and showcasing creativity within constraints, it demonstrates that you can shape your own path through life, while suggesting ways you might build upon everything you learn along the way. [Issue#399, p.118]

It is a breath of fresh air to play a game that doesn't merely use its science-fiction setting as attractive window dressing, its outstanding writing and voice acting more than compensating for its visual shortcomings. [Issue#399, p.116]

This dark world - frequently illuminated by its eccentric characters and cheeky dialogue - is so captivating that the slight loss of late-game momentum is easily forgiven. [Issue#399, p.114]

As revolutions go, RKGK is perhaps a little too well-mannered for its own good. [Issue#399, p.112]

Homeworld 3 isn't quite the homecoming we had hoped for. At worst competent, at best exceptional, it has been crafted with evident care, though the originals still cast a shadow as dense as a black hole's event horizon. [Issue#399, p.108]

What is for sure is that over its six-hour span we're engrossed in Still Wakes The Deep far more often than not. [Issue#399, p.100]

By turns astonishing and insufferable, there is as much here to make your eyes roll as widen. Even the moments when Hellblade II delivers nigh-unparalleled visual spectacle (see 'Giant steps') are soured by the fact that our involvement in these set-pieces so often feels incidental. For long stretches, it's akin to watching someone else play, only occasionally - and always unwillingly - handing back the controller. We can't help but return to that old chestnut about the interactive experience being a conversation between designer and player; there is an irony that in this, of all games, we're scarcely able to get a word in edgeways. [Issue#399, p.104]

If Indika won't be everyone's tempo, it proves you can work small miracles when you dare to shed familiar habits. [Issue#398, p.122]

At once expanded yet stripped back (or focused, if you're feeling generous), Luminous might not quite be Endless Ocean as we knew it, but it retains enough of the series' distinctive signature that it's worth taking the plunge. [Issue#398, p.120]

There are points of interest here, but they're scattered too far and wide to make this a worthwhile excursion. [Issue#398, p.118]

What follows is positively giddying, in the manner of a well-tuned ghost train or haunted house, provoking chuckles and squirms at the same time. [Issue#398, p.116]

While it can be trying, Tales of Kenzera remains a piece of classy engineering, supported by evocative landscapes, meaty audio effects and a score that combines traditional Bantu sounds with modern electronica. [Issue#398, p.114]

These smart updates to the classic RPG formula mean the wilfully archaic design choices that remain in place stand out all the more. [Issue#398, p.110]

The fascination of those lingering unknowns is part of why Basso's remarkable indie debut takes up residence in your brain when you're not playing it. But on a more fundamental level, it is simply a beautifully constructed, wonderfully characterful adventure, one that marks the blossoming of a major talent. [Issue#398, p.98]

For all its cinematic aspirations and borrowings, though, it's clear the Swedish studio's heart firmly belongs to videogames. [Issue#398, p.104]

There are flashes of brilliance in Stellar Blade, still, most often sparked by the titular weapon. But it's too broad and with that a little underdone. If only Eve's initial clarity of purpose had been more contagious. [Issue#398, p.106]

As an empowering journey, Showtime proves THIS princess doesn't need a plumber to rescue her; you sense its intended audience will crush a grape as Peach follows suit. [Issue#397, p.122]

This disappointing reboot is best left, well, alone. [Issue#397, p.118]

Sure, occasionally it beats you up just because it can. [Issue#397, p.116]

It's like watching penguins in an Attenborough documentary turning from ungainly waddlers into torpedoes. [Issue#397, p.114]

Those seeking strategic depth may find Bulwark wanting, but if you're happy to kitbash without consequence then Sala's atmospheric world is worth a return visit. [Issue#397, p.112]

As narrative adventures go, this is like the wonky piece of pottery we find after packing up Tess's things: handsomely rendered but misshapen and disappointingly empty. [Issue#397, p.110]

Sharper humour would have helped make these folk more endearing to us, too. [Issue#397, p.108]

Children of the Sun wears that rawness like a badge of honour, its rough edges not sanded down but rather made so jagged as to draw blood. [Issue#397, p.106]

Direct comparisons don't do Ronin any favours. Its grappling is reminiscent of Sekiro, but the procedure never feels as urgent or dynamic as it does in From's game. Its combat follows rhythms previously explored in the Nioh series and also Wo Long, but it rarely feels any more refined, nor more satisfying... But it is consistently charming. [Issue#397, p.102]

The game's greatest triumph is in delivering a truly singular vision. This is not the work of a team in thrall to trend or fashion, its designers given the opportunity to build from their own imagining instead. At a time when many rival studios are guided by the whims of focus testing and audience pandering, it has resulted in a game with one elusive quality. Dragon's Dogma 2 is, more than anything else, unforgettable. [Issue#397, p.98]

It might seem unfair to complain of maddening repetition, given the subject matter, but it turns out not every trope of game benefits from being trapped in a loop. [Issue#396, p.123]

Inkulinati might be deeply silly, but it's equally smart - a game set in the margins that deserves to be properly illuminated. [Issue#396, p.121]

Diverting and wonderfully weird as it may be, but Side Order doesn't supplant Octo Expansion as the series' singleplayer peak. [Issue#396, p.119]