V isn't the only one with two souls wrestling for one body. Cyberpunk 2077 ends up being a sometimes-unnecessary exercise in building a better merc, and a propulsive open-world tale about building a better life. If you can ignore the inconsistencies of the former and enjoy the latter, there's a lot to love in Night City. But if Johnny Silverhand teaches us anything, it's that two heads aren't always better than one. [Issue#354, p.98]

Undemanding kids will have a whale of a time, but from an innovator like Sackboy, we've come to expect a little more. [Issue#353, p.121]

The combat missions are where The Falconeer falters, the controls for quickturns and dives never as responsive as they need to be. [Issue#353, p.120]

A music game, like a DJ, is only as good as the contents of its record crate. Fuser hasn't done enough digging. [Issue#353, p.119]

Much has been sacrificed in service of making a brilliant central concept work, then - and yet it's the very thing robbing Legion of any star quality. [Issue#353, p.118]

And underlying it all, the one thing that didn't take us by surprise: the old catch-'em-all urge, as moreish as ever. Whether it's tickling your head or your heart, Bugsnax ensures they're never empty calories. [Issue#353, p.116]

The pace slows to exasperating levels as your nimble hunter trots around awkwardly solving a range of challenges. [Issue#353, p.114]

It all adds up to a mesmerisingly unpleasant atmosphere that somewhat offsets the gun-ho nihilism of the plot. [Issue#353, p.112]

For a freebie, this isn't just a generous welcome to PS5 (particularly with most launch titles costing 70 a pop) but a promising glimpse of things to come and a fine, if occasionally gimmicky, platformer in its own right. [Issue#353, p.110]

Scrape away all the new bits, though, and crucially the magic is still there, the imagination and ingenuity within level and boss design as potent as ever. If you're experiencing it now for the first time, we're rooting for you at every step. Umbasa, as they say. [Issue#353, p.108]

Yes, in places, it's a little too familiar, sometimes ungainly and unsure of itself. Yet it's also big-hearted and likeable, with a hero that, even at the peak of his powers, remains endearingly human. By the time the credits roll, you might be convinced that Parker should extend his vacation. [Issue#353, p.104]

Like a Dragon is a JRPG that's at least as interested in its hero's growth as a person as as the incremental increase of his statistics - and a Yakuza game that retains all the humour and heart that made us fall for the series in the first place. [Issue#353, p.100]

What could have been an elephants' graveyard of forgotten ideas instead feels like a series-wide victory lap. [Issue#353, p.96]

Solitaire is supposed to be an exercise in patience; we weren't expecting ours to be tested between levels, too. [Issue#352, p.121]

A bright colorful package that has managed to - happily - disrupt our time with the other big Roguelikes of the minute. Maybe all you really need is a few great ideas. [Issue#352, p.120]

We're filled with a sense of unease as our thumb slides upwards, but there's something else here, too: doomscrolling with a side of voyeurism. [Issue#352, p.119]

It's a game from which you'll find yourself needing to consciously unclench, its rhythm of tension and release proving borderline irresistible. [Issue#352, p.118]

In its modest, unassuming way, it's gently profound, too. [Issue#352, p.116]

Put simply, it regularly betrays the cyber-ninja fantasy it's peddling. The speedruns will doubtless be dazzling, and Ghostrunner certainly LOOKS every bit the blockbuster it isn't. How unfortunate, then, that a game about a deadly assassin should suffer from so many critical failures in execution. [Issue#352, p.114]

It captures the original's atmosphere of inescapable threat but struggles to engineer new possibilities within it, though its take on player death is worth a longer discussion. [Issue#352, p.110]

Yes, deaths you suffer might linger in the memory longer than the runs themselves, but pixel for pixel, this is as exciting in the moment as anything we've played all year. Light the fuse, stand back and prepare to gasp in wonder. [Issue#352, p.106]

That conviction gives it charm next to the bloat of certain other Star Wars games, but when you're skimming the hull of an exploding frigate, it's hard not to wish for more. [Issue#352, p.102]

If Massive Damage's kitchen-sink approach to combat systems threatens to become overwhelming, it is at least built upon solid foundations. [Issue#351, p.107]

The studio cannot seem to reconcile with itself, and in this sense, it's unwittingly proved the point its latest narrative fails to: with so many sides to consider, not all stories are so easily tied up. [Issue#351, p.106]

Assuming its most patience-testing proclivities don't put you off, there's a good chance it'll capture your heart. [Issue#351, p.104]

Despite the posthuman setting, these puzzling exhibitions are gently life-affirming, offering warmth and ingenuity in equal abundance. [Issue#351, p.104]

In the end, we're rather glad we stuck our beaks in. [Issue#351, p.102]

You'll want to see each and every one of Pendragon's journeys through, even knowing that its survivors are set to live miserably ever after. [Issue#351, p.100]