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]

From its questionable (albeit largely ignorable) microtransactions to its inconsistent lore, Foamstars feels about as sturdy and enduring as the substance that powers it. [Issue#396, p.118]

In depicting a bold move that goes dreadfully awry, that opening cinematic proves unfortunately prescient. [Issue#396, p.114]

Maybe, after all, Ubisoft has managed to simulate the existence of the average pirate. Perhaps that's what the fourth 'A' stands for. [Issue#396, p.112]

The mission finale is climactic; a frantic last stand awaiting your dropship, enemies pulled in droves towards the beacon, palpable relief if you and your buddies dive through the boarding hatch before your saviour jets from the landing pad. [Issue#396, p.110]

It might be a latecomer, then, but Vanillaware's most accomplished release to date warrants the air of bravado with which it sweeps in - and, for that matter, it's place in the pantheon of classic tactical RPGs. [Issue#396, p.106]

So full and comprehensive is this modernised SquareSoft RPG, in fact, that beyond finishing the story, the trilogy finale may struggle to justify itself. But that's the future's problem, of no concern as we feast on the spread in front of us. In a triple-A climate where development costs spiral and content often replaces craft, the generosity and ambition of Rebirth is a convincing argument that, once in a while, too much is exactly what you want. [Issue#396, p.102]

As a whole, it's remarkably cohesive, a compound puzzler that should be added to your collection with express speed. [Issue#395, p.123]

This may not suffer the indignity of being delisted, but it's highly unlikely anyone will remember it in a decade's time. [Issue#395, p.122]

As Sid Meier once said, games are a series of interesting decisions. Well, Balatro has those in spades - and hearts, clubs and diamonds besides. [Issue#395, p.120]

After eight years in development - initially under PlatinumGames - this long journey has had a happy ending. [Issue#395, p.118]

This is a game that requires serious commitment. [Issue#395, p.116]

It remains to be seen whether Bandai Namco's game can achieve what Street Fighter 6 hasn't quite managed, and bring in a new generation of players, but this is the first time in decades that these longtime rivals have felt so well matched. [Issue#395, p.114]

Ultros remains a fully formed Metroidvania. [Issue#395, p.112]

Yet there is heart in Banishers, and it beats strongest in the doomed romance at its centre. There's emotional heft in its ending, too. [Issue#395, p.110]

The game's crafting and customisation systems work together to form an incredible sense of ownership. [Issue#395, p.108]

But there's no denying that this feels like straightforward filler, granting rewards without ever feeling rewarding. Much like the brainwashed metahumans the game asks us to put down, we expect the highs of this reluctant forever game are already behind it. [Issue#395, p.104]

It feels rare to play a game that coheres so completely around its protagonist and his value system; rarer still given those values are puppyish enthusiasm, unquestioning compassion and the unashamed pursuit of interactive entertainment. [Issue#395, p.100]

There is genuine character in its presentation, too, from the four distinct jingles that follow successful sprints to the anticipation-heightening Cambridge chimes that precede a new run, the leaderboards celebrating the 'top five brave cats' and the game-over text - 'It's cooooooold!' - that somehow mollifies the frustration of a run prematurely ended. It's a reminder that good ideas are timeless. Another 40 years from now, we suspect it won't have aged a day. [Issue#394, p.107]

With a little more mechanical variety, this might've been a minor classic. [Issue#394, p.106]

Go Mecha Ball can be as frustrating as it is exhilarating. [Issue#394, p.104]

For better and worse, they conjure fond reminiscences of the originals and the developer that made them. [Issue#394, p.102]

Too often, what's on offer feels like a succession of incomplete experiments - the shoulders of giants on which other VR games might build. [Issue#394, p.100]

The Finals offers plenty of sound and fury, but what makes it worth coming back to is what all that signifies. [Issue#394, p.94

The most satisfying effort from Ubisoft Montpellier since Rayman Legends. In a rebirth of this calibre, death is a moot point. [Issue#394, p.98]

Narrative designers everywhere should be taking notes from a psychological horror that gets well and truly inside your head. [Issue#393, p.123]

Even in such a tired genre, Turnfollow's capacity for emotional storytelling is remarkable indeed. [Issue#393, p.122]

Despite its futurist Wikipedia aspirations, Neurocracy today feels more like falling down the Wayback Machine. [Issue#393, p.121]

We find ourselves absorbed by Boulder's story, enough to witness all the grisly premature ends that meet him before he finally gets his hard-won feelgood finale. [Issue#393, p.120]

Too erratic for its own good. [Issue#393, p.119]

But while it might be unreasonable to expect EVERY VR title to advance the medium, surely it's not too much to ask that a game develops an idea or two beyond its own first hour? [Issue#393, p.118]

It has all the hooks you'd associate with a streaming service binge-watch...But American Arcadia has something to say, too. [Issue#393, p.116]

But if it feels rather like a rough draft (moreso, even, than the original Assassin's Creed), then we'll be fascinated to see if this VR incarnation gets any fraction of the iterative treatment long enjoyed by its predecessors. [Issue#393, p.112]

The Anacrusis simply feels like "Left 4 Dead" - its formula almost unchanged in 15 years - in a sequinned disco jumpsuit. [Issue#393, p.110]

As gorgeous as it is, though, even a pair of 3D glasses wouldn't make the action any more entertaining to sit through. [Issue#393, p.106]

It's a pity, since there is the kernel of an engaging hack-and-slash here, but its best ideas are squandered, and eventually bludgeoned into submission by the relentless monotony of the action. With a campaign that barely stretches beyond six hours and minimal replay value here, there's only one person being robbed here, and it's not the Sheriff. [Issue#393, p.114]

There's enough here to compel us to move the app to a prominent position on our home screen for easy access - close to the bottom, of course. [Issue#392, p.123]

With a room of onlookers, it's certain to provoke some of the most raucous laughter you'll hear playing a videogame this year. [Issue#392, p.122]

Sure, at times it's a little messy, but isn't that just part of the business of being human? Would that we could all create havoc with such irresistible style. [Issue#392, p.121]

You can't just mine your inspirations; ideally, you should build on them. [Issue#392, p.120]

And in a genre preoccupied with conquest, it's hopeful concluding note of independence - the Legion's actions in Russia are tied to the formation of the First Czechoslovak Republic - makes for a welcome epilogue indeed. [Issue#392, p.118]

Indeed, Tactica is very much a Persona 5 game, with all that entails: conceptually sound, visually stylish, lovingly assembled - and needlessly drawn out. [Issue#392, p.116]

Yes, it's a little too familiar in places. [Issue#392, p.114]

That central combination of philosophical debate and logical reasoning remains as robust as it did nine years ago. [Issue#392, p.112]

Perhaps, though, the reason A Highland Song stays in the memory is because of those bumps and scraps rather than in spite of them. [Issue#392, p.110]

The effect is simple but potent: this feels like a real place, and you feel like a real person. [Issue#392, p.108]

Without immediate course correction, Activision is likely to discover that even the most loyal playerbase can smell when it's being cheated. [Issue#392, p.104]

For all the nonlinearity of its telling, the strangeness of its details, at its heart this is a relatively conventional save-the-world narrative. Which is no bad thing, necessarily, in a game that elsewhere tends towards obscurity and excess. But it's those latter qualities we're here for, ultimately - and Alan Wake 2 delivers over and over. [Issue#392, p.100]

There is, at least, a pleasing weight to impacts as you thump enemies into walls or slam them into the floor. Good job, too, since there's precious little else to enjoy here. [Issue#391, p.123]

Jonasson is evidently confident that his game has enough to keep you coming back regardless. He's right to be. [Issue#391, p.122]

This pulpy provocation has more than enough ideas to take root in your own monkey brain. [Issue#391, p.121]

If its unpredictability is a double-edged sword, though, we can imagine ourselves returning to this as we would a beloved horror novel or film, albeit one whose macabre myths are capable of wrongfooting us even on the umpteenth revisit. [Issue#391, p.120]

Style can be substance, but it's fuel that burns quickly. [Issue#391, p.119]

Given all the admirable character work and tactical substance on display, it's a shame that individualism isn't spread more evenly. [Issue#391, p.118]

Like the early Tomb Raiders, this is a game in which you truly get to know your environment, connecting with it physically and emotionally: a puzzle to be solved, yes, and a story to be unearthed, but also a space to respect and to feel humbled by. [Issue#391, p.116]

This isn't a game about saving the world, but rather achieving some peace within it. [Issue#391, p.114]

In an era of flagging service games, it is refreshing to se an old favourite so thoroughly rejuvenated. Blizzard, take note: this is how it's done. [Issue#391, p.112]

Thanks to the feel, the car collection and the online toolset, FM achieves a victory by a fine margin. [Issue#391, p.110]

For a story centered on revolutionaries, Mirage is oddly conservative, mired in the middle ground between honouring tradition and embracing innovation. Ubisoft has seldom felt closer to delivering on the power fantasy promised by Patrice Desilets in 2007; equally, it has never felt farther away from its contemporaries. [Issue#391, p.108]

There is, at least, plenty to build on with the inevitable sequel, retaining all of this instalment's finer points and knocking the obvious dents out of its armour - a Lords of the Fallen 2.5, perhaps. [Issue#391, p.102]

This is the most unforgettable side-scroller Nintendo has put out in three decades. [Issue#391, p.98]

Whether this is the best Spider-Man GAME will likely be debated at length, but in so vividly capturing the intensity of the superhero experience, it is unquestionably the best Spider-Man simulator. [Issue#391, p.106]

Masterful use of haptics and audio ensures that when your finger, so often an unstoppable force, meets an immovable object, you hear AND feel it. To play is to experience the pleasure of successfully picking a lock, or cracking a safe, or perhaps even repairing a watch: there is a constant sense of tension and release, as you find ways to free those gummed-up gears, to oil that rusted sliding-bolt mechanism, to feel the click of that tumbler dropping into place. [Issue#390, p.139]

As dating-centered RPGs go, we know a spot, and it's not here. [Issue#390, p.136]

In reckoning so candidly with the conflicting emotions we've experienced over the past few years, Mediterranea Inferno achieves a purgative potency few of its peers can match. [Issue#390, p.135]

A fine effort, then, but a new Chrono Trigger it is not - and directly inviting such a comparison only highlights the areas in which it falls short. [Issue#390, p.133]

By the final reckoning, we're invested in how it all shakes out; perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that the titular weapon is not, in fact, Gunbrella's most powerful asset. [Issue#390, p.132]

Its thesis - that a multiplicity of cultures leaves a society profoundly enriched - has never seemed more urgent and vital. [Issue#390, p.130]

Between the extra sparks of mechanical invention and visual humour, Mortal Kombat 1 offers perhaps NetherRealm's most persuasive argument yet to take the plunge. [Issue#390, p.128]

If the Crew's ultimate fate is to be a kind of racing game variety pack, the role seems to suit it. [Issue#390, p.126]

For all its wondrous mimicry, Lies of P can't quite match the master's ambition. A remarkable feat of craftsmanship and engineering it may be, but never quite a real boy. [Issue#390, p.124]

Few focused action-adventure games spin a yarn as well as CD Projekt does here, likely keeping you uncertain about your choices to the end. [Issue#390, p.120]

Crucially, though, it understands that such grandeur means little if what lies beyond doesn't reward both your curiosity and the lengths to which you've gone to unlock it. On that front, Cocoon is a triumph. [Issue#390, p.116]

In spite of these shortcomings, Starfield exerts a curious gravitational pull: there is a pleasant mindlessness to it that means it can easily become a black hole for your free time. But if it's not a BAD game, it's an achingly unambitious one, failing in what should be one of the foundational aspects of any space exploration game (see Post Script). True, we've come a long way in six decades. But zoom in on the recent history of games - and that of its maker - and you're forced to concede that we've not covered much distance after all. For Bethesda, this isn't so much a giant leap as barely a small step. [Issue#390, p.112]

A little too much is left to chance. [Issue #389, p.123]

Whether you're truly getting to co-author Fortuna's story isn't always clear, but then divination is an ambiguous practice - and here, a terrifically enjoyable one. [Issue#389, p.121]

As a cathartic climactic performance ensures Worm Drama get to say farewell to Volcano High on their own terms, the eruption of emotion is likely to be reflected on your side of the screen, too. [Issue#389, p.119]

And while its camera and controls are a huge improvement over its predecessors, the odd hiccup still persists. But most of the time, with the soundtrack - a mix of laidback house, hip-hop, and funk - doing its thing in the background, and the world gradually opening up to you, it's easy to fall into a pleasant trance for long stretches. [Issue#389, p.118]

If its creators can dig out the rot in its foundations, there is at least plenty to build upon here. [Issue#389, p.116]

If it doesn't always satisfy the more animal parts of our brain, En Garde! keeps the higher functions entertained, and provides some solid laughs. [Issue#389, p.114]

And herein lies Immortals' most fundamental problem: Aveum's skies might crackle with occult energy, but the game beneath them is distinctly lacking in REAL magic. [Issue#389, p.112]

As the credits roll, and we once again consider what Fort Solis is, the Steam blurb reminds us of another thing it isn't. A "riveting thriller", after all, requires thrills - and those, like the station's employees, are conspicuous by their absence. [Issue#389, p.110]

Our pilgrimage is one marked by the cuts and bruises we accumulate along the way, yet we find ourselves encouraged by a familiar mantra: how sweet the pain, indeed, when it is our own. [Issue#389, p.106]

Certainly, it provides exhilarating depths for those willing and sufficiently talented to reach them, but the game's narrow and unforgiving constraints will repel far more than it entices. [Issue#389, p.102]

Baldur's Gate 3 leaves you with as many ideas it it does memories. That, surely, is the soul of roleplaying. [Issue#389, p.98]

These fascinating windows into the lives of people unwittingly close to the end are your reward for being thorough. [Issue#388, p.123]

It may not be quite as picture-perfect as we'd hoped for, but Viewfinder's most memorable vignettes will surely earn it a permanent slot in your brain's own photo album. [Issue#388, p.121]

They may unplug the servers, but those connections will never be fully severed. [Issue#388, p.120]

Sadly, the mixed results even apply to our canine friend, whose limitations clash against the design of many bigger bosses. [Issue#388, p.118]

A potent tactical cocktail, but one that's best enjoyed with earplugs. [Issue#388, p.116]

The Vault is best left to its long and drifting exile. [Issue#388, p.114]

It demands your full attention at every moment, something that was equally true of Mimimi's previous two games. [Issue#388, p.108]

The real surprise is that Pikmin 4 is mostly content to coast on its strengths. As sequels go, it could have used more dandori. [Issue#388, p.104]

At its most intense, Exoprimal is aakin to playing an EDF game without the accompanying performance issues. [Issue#388, p.100]

It sounds as if the cast are having more fun than we are. [Issue#388, p.122]

If action games are at their best when experienced in a flow state, then Atlas Fallen's attempts to harness and bottle this magic are a creditable experiment. It's just a pity it sacrifices so much in pursuit of this ambition. [Issue#388, p.112]

While the specificities of lead developer Abhi's lived experience give Venba its distinctive flavour, they serve a story with which anyone can identify. [Issue#387, p.123]