A remarkable, big-hearted game from a developer whose debut gave barely a hint of the storytelling confidence and poise on show here. What Remains of Edith Finch is anything but unfinished; it might even set a new benchmark for the narrative adventure. [July 2017, p.114]

FromSoftware's second stab at this stuff produced Dark Souls. Deck13 still has a way to go before it really delivers on the concept it holds so dear. [July 2017, p.112]

The result is a game that, while built from familiar components, feels unique as a whole. The Farm 51 should be commended for its bold design decisions, and for attempting to create something that dispenses with videogame conventions. That it doesn't always hang together quite as well as it could is disappointing, but that doesn't make experiencing the studio's singular vision any less worthwhile. [July 2017, p.110]

Prey is an accomplished game in an under-served genre. Its problems are those of a game that tries to do more, and give the player more, than most shooters aspire to - and to that extent, they're forgivable. [July 2017, p.106]

In pairing back its design and focusing on only a few key elements, the studio has created an uncommonly beautiful, open-hearted game. The team's self-deprecation and shaky confidence belies an assured, courageously executed vision. The resulting adventure will give you chills and should stay with you for a very long time indeed. [July 2017, p.102]

The difficulty curve quickly steepens - perhaps too quickly. [June 2017, p.107]

If nothing else, the wide-eyed manner in which Everything explores the interconnectedness of, well, everything feels faintly radical in these divided times - even when that means you somehow find yourself relating to a spiral of sentient poop. [June 2017, p.106]

Lego finally has creative expression in videogame form. [June 2017, p.104]

By the time we reached the end of Outlast 2 we felt drained for all the wrong reasons. In leaving the confines of its predecessor's psychiatric hospital setting for the wilds of southern Arizona, Red Barrels' horror series has somehow become more linear and less pliable. And now, in the long shadow cast by Capcom's excellent Resident Evil VII, Red Barrels' macabre tricks are made to appear somewhat less dazzling. [June 2017, p.102]

The Sexy Brutale's world is a delightful place in which to immerse yourself...This assured adventure will draw you into its world, and keep you there. [June 2017, p.100]

With a much better camera and less of a fondness for gratuitously fussy challenges - and a tendency not to combine the two - this could have been a minor classic. [June 2017, p.96]

It's the kind of game that'll have you advancing into the next room with slow, tentative steps, jamming hard on the right stick to shift the camera as far ahead as it'll let you see, and instinctively shushing whenever something - or someone - makes a noise. And yes, you may well end up fretting over screen smears and specks of dirt. For a game purpose-built to have you jumping at shadows, there aren't many stronger endorsements than that. [June 2017, p.94]

An earnest attempt has been made to create a new identity for a series here, but the question of how to best frame Mass Effect's narrative strengths is, once again, left open. [June 2017, p.90]

This characterful, sprawling throwback might well have been considered a classic two decades ago. But, as its creators have patently discovered, it isn't 1997 anymore. [June 2017, p.86]

This is a cheap game with an expensive price tag, and there's nothing remotely super about it. [May 2017, p.123]

Inventive, malleable and rambunctiously entertaining British puzzler. [May 2017, p.121]

Energetic if simplistic, shallow yet enormously replayable, it's the kind of game you'll forget about for months, rediscover during a party, and within ten minutes everyone will be shouting, laughing and clamouring to join in. [May 2017, p.119]

Perhaps that's Infinite Fall's ultimate triumph: with a group of 2D animals it's built a cast that's more rounded and identifiably human than any mo-capped blockbuster. [May 2017, p.116]

Sacrificing a degree of nuance at the altar of spectacle is a trade-off most Halo fans will be happy to make. Yet, at times it feels like you're just smashing toys together and watching the carnage unfold. But what wonderful toys they are. [May 2017, p.114]

It's feature-creep, in short, bloat orbiting an excellent core. In that regard, at least, For Honor is a Ubisoft game. [May 2017, p.112]

The focus on the rebellious, non-conformist side of youth has its drawbacks, but means Persona 5 is something to which its predecessors could never lay claim. It is, simply put, cool. Everything, from the intro movie's disco house to the battle-mode cutaways and even the basic UI, is achingly, confidently stylish. Criminally, the DualShock 4's Share button functionality is blocked for the duration, but this is one of few true blemishes on a game that, while at times a bit too familiar, never comes close to breeding contempt. [May 2017, p.110]

In the areas money can't buy, it stumbles; its driving model, AI, and repetitive mission structure all cry out for more elegant design, and combine to leave Wildlands in the strange position of looking expensive but feeling cheap. Its blithely misjudged tone and directionless structure suggests design on autopilot, and empty bigness is no longer enough to carry an open-world game on its own. The game's premise may come straight from Trump's paranoid playbook, but its hollow extravagance is arguably the more damaging point of comparison. [May 2017, p.106]

The biggest difference between Automata and its director's previous work is that those weird ideas finally have a robust mechanical shell to house them - one flecked with patches of rust, perhaps, but a fine piece of engineering all the same. [May 2017, p.102]

You'd have to be a bumbling turdbag not to at least give Yamada the chance to win your heart. [April 2017, p.123]

If the result sometimes feels more like a robust proof of concept than a complete game, it's a reasonable outlay for an afternoon's fun. [April 2017, p.121]

For all its mechanical innovations, however, Aaero can't consistently match the synasthetic joy of its biggest influence. [April 2017, p.119]

The sidequests are among its strongest features, challenging your expectations about how RPGs are structured. [April 2017, p.116]

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