Everyone enjoys a tropey anime from time to time but Dyschronia pushes its luck. Familiar beats gain a new lease of life in VR, but it can’t keep its head above water. [Issue#31, p.84]

Battles present a good amount of challenge from the off, too. You constantly have to weigh up which troops to recruit and swap in depending on the enemy you face. Sadly, while both the combat and character work are decent, the PS4 version of the game struggles with framerate at almost every camera turn – to the point that it never stops being a distraction. King’s Bounty II simply lacks much of the visual flair and polish we’ve come to expect from modern high-fantasy epics. [Issue#6, p.88]

There’s fun here, and you can maybe add a point if you got this for ‘free’ on PS Plus. May be worth checking on later, when hopefully it’s scrubbed up a bit. [Issue#38, p.98]

Gungrave anime fans might be able to crowbar some fun out of this, but we strongly recommend that they don’t even try. Destined to become dead and buried. [Issue#22, p.86]

Despite some good design decisions, the more you play, the more issues it smacks you in the face with. Wait until the price has been hack-and-slashed. [Issue#4, p.87]

Gearbox tries to recapture the magic of Tales From The Borderlands, but by abandoning its original motley crew and valuing jokes over story, it offers tame tales only. [Issue#21, p.78]

It’s a shame as there’s charm to this time travel adventure. Cartoony takes on all the usual suspects – a haunted graveyard, a wild west town, pirate ships, and so on – are pleasing to hop around. While many jokes fall flat, often thanks to stiff animation, some do elicit a chuckle (vampire boss Vlad The Impala, for instance, is a terrific pun). But sadly this platformer doesn’t quite stick the landing. [Issue#25, p.83]

If you’ve fond memories of the early noughties, this might find a place in your heart, but its disjointed style and slogging stretches won’t appeal to all. [Issue#25, p.93]

A compelling gameplay loop is held together by glue sticks and masking tape, with a mix-and-match art style that barely conceals its fragile foundations. [Issue#44, p.90]

Recompile ultimately isn’t as tightly designed as a metroidvania needs to be in order to be enjoyable, something best summed up in the fact that at least one fundamental upgrade is actually missable – something we discovered the (very) hard way. There’s a good time to be had in this visually striking virtual world, but you’ll have to work hard to defrag it. [Issue#6, p.90]

You might think such an eclectic mix of mechanics would render Epic Chef’s brand of simulation exhausting, but all blend together well for the most part. Annoying loading screens between areas do break up the pace, and some tasks can feel a bit too much like busywork. Overall, however, Epic Chef is more sweet than sour. A scrumptious addition to the life sim genre. [Issue#9, p.90]

Unless you’re desperate for a new stealth game, give this a miss. A lot of small annoyances add up to create one big reason to save your money. [Issue#15, p.88]

A series high for PvP, a series low for Zombies and the campaign. Worth it for multiplayer, but paying for the whole package leaves a sour taste. [Issue#35, p.70]

Ideas borrowed from other shooters are underplayed. Yet Necromunda: Hired Gun finds its strength in its atmospheric Underhive locations and sprawling levels. [Issue#3, p.135]

Not since Silent Hill: Book Of Memories has a horror series spun-off in such a strange direction. Sadly, Sker Ritual is about as successful as that game too. [Issue#41, p.99]

A fairly basic collection of ports that we’re glad exists, but these aren’t must-play classics so much as curios for the gaming palaentologists only. [Issue#37, p.92]

Warts-and-all remasters that accept the failings of the original games and make amends where possible, but ultimately too flawed to live up to the name. [Issue#9, p.82]

Ultimately this lacks variety and depth, despite the cute idea. [Issue#2, p.73]

So, what keeps us on board to the end? The story. It has a fun (but cheesy) sense of humour, is unafraid to touch upon deeper subjects, and Achtli undergoes substantial personal growth. There’s plenty to like in this six-hour campaign, and we commend Aztech for exploring Mesoamerican culture, something rarely seen in gaming. It’s packing great ideas, but rough execution hampers it. [Issue#12, p.85]

One of the most generic open-world racers ever made. Add in server issues, uneven AI difficulty, level grinding, and visual woes and there’s very little to love.[Issue#46, p.84]

Kamiwaza just isn’t interesting. What was fun in 2006 feels shallow and dated now. Stealth fans might get a kick out of it but with a high price and bare-bones remaster, we’d struggle to recommend this. [Issue#21, p.88]

Technically unstable, the writing and performances carry things. Disappointing, but perhaps a springboard to better things. Sam and Max deserve better. [Issue#13, p.78]

While not reaching its full potential, Balan Wonderworld is a grand and well designed adventure, which runs superbly on PS5. It’s perfect for family co-op play. [Issue#1, p.76]

Loop8 isn’t able to present a coherent whole – underwhelming writing, overly simple mechanics, and an annoying loop mechanic simply don’t mix. [Issue#29, p.94]

Lacklustre if played solo, but if you can reliably scrape together a squad of friends for online play the budget asking price isn’t a complete robbery. [Issue#30, p.88]

While Jay and Silent Bob diehards may get some enjoyment out of this, possibly with the aid of certain cigarettes, most people will struggle to do so. It’s often difficult and frustrating, more down to a rigid determination to mimic 30-year-old game design than by intention. Even when things are going smoothly, it’s all too simplistic to have much fun with. It’s memorable for the wrong reasons. [Issue#3, p.127]

Altair Breaker’s replay value leans heavily on weapons looted from chests and the joy of seeing numbers go up, but these things can’t take the weight, and so the game falls with great force onto its blankly staring face. It’s not bad, but it’s certainly not good. If you want to pretend to hit robots with a sword and get some light upper body exercise, then great, this will do the job, but don’t expect much more than that. [Issue#26, p.87]

An utter disaster. A studio responsible for developing some of the best action games in recent years can now claim to have made one of the worst. [Issue#13, p.90]