Team Ninja's finest, most intelligent game since Ninja Gaiden Black, it leaves high hopes for the imminent 360 sequel. [June 2008, p.92]

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]

This may superficially resemble any of a dozen other DS SRPGs, but it has many twists and a clever, manipulative philosophy at heart that lifts it above the crowd. [May 2009, p.97]

As it currently stands, the charm of those inventive crafting mechanics can wear off, with progression in the later stages stretched particularly thin. With some further additions stirred into the mix, Potion Craft could yet get closer to reaching its full, heady potential. [Issue#381, p.102]

Rarely has something so uneven and intermittently frustrating stolen our hearts this brazenly. [Sept 2015, p.116]

After a clumsy opening, The Evil Within hits its stride towards the end and the fist act and the tension rarely lets up. [Christmas 2014, p.114]

In just a fraction of the time it would take another game, The Gunk manages to instil the full sense of exploring an unknown planet to its core. [Issue#367, p.110]

There's less room for creativity than you might think. [Issue#383, p.118]

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

No Shin'en game plays as good as it looks; this one, however, comes closer than most. [Issue#341, p.120]

It’s a game designed to intentionally test your stamina and patience, meaning that if you fail to prepare yourself for Hookball’s relentless pace and harsh difficulty, then prepare to fail.

A gaming of charming positive spirit that, three years late and a generation off the pace, sill stands out in a crowded, wantonly destructive field. [Christmas 2015, p.114]

While Snowblind never truly escapes the feeling of being a well-dressed, derivative run’n’gun shooter, it never fails to get the running and gunning right, and in that respect, at least, it’s a sound success. [March 2005, p.86]

Whether you're into funk fusion or not, there's no denying that the musical rewards all that fastidious work behind the mixing desk. [Issue#383, p.119]

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

Puzzle hunting is the only hassle in an otherwise laidback world. This niggle aside, Professor Layton remains a fine antidote to dull Sunday afternoons. [Dec 2010, p.99]

The resulting sense of forward momentum helps keep the frustrations from growing tiresome. [Issue#367, p.114]

Handsomely uncluttered, if more than a little austere, this is a modish, elegant puzzler.

A short, budget shot of old-school gaming. [Sept 2010, p.100]

When the climactic concert rolls around, you'll be unlikely to complain about the touching yet hopeful note on which it goes out. [Issue#381, p.106]

Yakuza 4 is ultimately too set in its ways to welcome anyone new to the family, and too laden with cutscenes to let its nuances. [Apr 2011, p.99]

It's a whole that still offers an intricate series of diversions - some old, some new - but one that has lost some sparkle, despite its sharper, more colourful looks. Most players will get sick of Disgaea 2 long before Disgaea 2 gets sick of them. [Sept 2006, p.80]

So while in some ways it's a pity this most malleable of heroes should be forced to return to old haunts instead of breaking new ground, this 2D homecoming is more invigorating than we could have anticipated. [Issue#383, p.121]

An easy recommendation for newcomers. [Dec 2012, p.108]

When it clicks, though, you'll find yourself in the middle of a thoughtful and intricate puzzle game, in which you feel more like an electrical engineer than the magic builder or celestial removal man most match-three titles cast you as.

A new high-water mark for the series. [April 2017, p.114]

Suda is an undisciplined designer. As with his comedy, he throws every idea at his game design, hoping something will stick. He's an artistic, if idiosyncratic, thinker, so invariably some ideas do succeed, but the assault of jokes, ideas and vignettes ends up as unwieldy as it is characterful. The result is a game in which there's as much to celebrate as to berate, as much to admire as there is to admonish.

It might not be as easy on the eye as its 2015 contemporaries, but it's an awful lot more honest. [Sept 2015, p.120]