We won't spoil what happens, but Tunic slowly peels back layers right to the very end. It's a cohesive, satisfying game that scratches an old school action-adventure itch, going above and beyond with subversive, cerebral puzzles. It maybe goes on a touch longer than it needs to, but this little gem of a game punches above its weight.

Hand-holding in this game is virtually non-existent. Aside from a few quick tips here and there, it's up to you to figure out how to manage your zoo. It is nice to let the player choose their own playstyle right from the start, essentially making it a sandbox experience. However, at the same time, you are dumped with a plethora of information, which makes the lack of a proper tutorial noticeable. Talking about chaos, the poor UI aggravates this issue. Navigating through the menu and unlocking items for your zoo can be messy, with the latter having no clear categorical relation as you open up new items to decorate your park. Still, with enough humour and its fun game mechanics, Let’s Build A Zoo will have you sinking hours into your park, if you can get past its poor UI and lack of guidance.

Other than the puzzle conundrum, the second season offers more of what made the series a hit. Fans of the first season will greatly enjoy this second run. While it isn't necessary to play the first one to jump on this wagon, it is highly recommended, as there are plenty of returning characters and in-game jokes and references that you might miss if you have not played the first one yet.

Point-and-click narratives are fairly rare nowadays and this remaster gets more than the job done, offering a good time for old and new fans. Better yet, it brings back an old forgotten style, reminding us that, sometimes, perhaps the most simple way to tell a story might be the best way.

Valkyrie Elysium is a game of two halves. The level design and objectives feel at least two generations old and the characters and storyline are more like placeholders than the finished article. There's no capital F feelings here or much in the way of narrative justification, but if you're okay with that and you just want fifteen to twenty hours of fast, frantic, fluid combat then we can just about recommend this one.

The DioField Chronicle is a decent strategy RPG. Its characters certainly won't live long in the memory, and it can be a an unnecessary grind, but it's well crafted and fairly engaging on the battlefield.

So is this an improvement over the original version of the remake? Absolutely. Tower Five seems to have done its best to re-work the experience without completely starting over, but it could only take it so far. This is one remake we really don't need.

The mission structure of the game devolves into going to a place, doing a trick or route, strung along by forgettable story dialogue. The missions have a habit of being poorly explained, furthered by being unable to re-read text boxes explaining what you need to do. And rarely do the inputs needed for specific moves get shown during these prompts. For better or worse, Session is a game for the hardcore skater. While its dedication to realism is impressive, the frustration in the early hours is likely to turn most off.

Trails from Zero has been well worth the wait. This is a classic Falcom RPG — an engrossing, crime-fighting adventure through one of the property's greatest settings. The experience as a whole does get bogged down in tedious side content and some poorly aged design, but fantastic characters and fascinating story beats hold everything together. Based on our time with Zero, we can't wait for Trails to Azure in 2023.

A blue collar simulator-cum-puzzle game, where each ship feels like a mini-campaign, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a truly unique and rewarding experience, if you have the time and patience to clock in and put in the work.

Ultimately, you have a game with one masterfully designed core element — the rhythm gunplay — surrounded by a number of elements that, while not terrible, are mediocre at best.

Isonzo is a decent game. Solid in many areas, but never one to show off, the title delivers a good gameplay core, and offers it up at a reasonable price. Performance problems aside, good gunplay and interesting maps are enough to make the experience worth it, at least in the short term. A campaign or a large pool of maps could certainly enhance the value of the title, but even without it, you have a lean, satisfying experience that will be especially appealing to anyone with an interest in the First World War.

By and large, Temtem is a well-made, generous monster-taming RPG that differentiates itself enough from the obvious competition. The battle system is perhaps its main strength, offering quite challenging 2-on-2 fights even against wild encounters. It's jam-packed with stuff to do, and its online integration means connecting with other players is easy. The creature designs could be better, and the writing and human characters aren't particularly memorable, but if the game clicks for you, those weaknesses will fade into the background.

It may be easy to accuse sports games of offering the same experience year in and year out, but you simply can’t say that about NBA 2K23. The game still has issues with its overemphasis on microtransactions in MyCareer and to a lesser extent MyTeam, but the new MyNBA Eras mode is a revelation – and the Jordan Challenge campaign is damn fun, too. On the court, 2K Sports has made some nice balancing tweaks and also improved the overall AI to make matches more dynamic and competitive, and when you pair all of that with all the new animations, you end up with a basketball sim that’s the very definition of a slam dunk.

With a lovely cast and setting, Wayward Strand is sure to land into your heart even if it does lack gameplay essentials such as more frequent save points or, at the very least, a skip button.

Disney Dreamlight Valley is delightful. The title is a brilliant life sim sandbox that already has a staggering amount of content, and has already begun outlining what comes next. If Gameloft plays its cards right, this game could be a mainstay on many people's consoles for years. Thousands of Disney-themed items and a robust construction mode pair with all the traditional life sim trappings executed at a high level to create a surprisingly excellent experience. Whether you want to completely redesign your town or just go fishing with Mickey, the game has everything in place to ensure you get the most out of your experience. A slew of camera bugs and the odd crash stand out as early access hiccups, and the framework for an extensive microtransaction economy is a red flag, but this isn't enough to stand in the way of having a lovely time. [Early Access Score = 80]

Train Sim World 3 is the most immersive railway simulation from Dovetail to date. For the first time since the series debuted, the game really sells the illusion that you’re on a journey – and impressively enormous routes like Schnellfahrstrecke Kassel-Würzburg help. While the release still has obvious visual flaws, the new lighting, volumetric clouds, and dynamic weather system take the presentation to the next level – and the user interface improvements should not be underestimated either. The target audience for a title like this will never be especially large, but few other franchises find a balance between simulation, virtual tourism, and zen-like relaxation quite like this one.

F1 Manager 2022 is a strong first entry in Frontier’s new series, filling a niche that’s been sorely lacking on PlayStation for years. Capturing the spirit of Formula 1 with its strong attention to detail, there’s some thrilling races to be had and we’re impressed by how well it handles race days with its 3D engine. As a management sim, it’s a slow burner and we do wish you could create your own teams, but it still holds a distinct charm of its own. If you've got the patience for the long haul, F1 fans won’t want to miss this.

LEGO Brawls feels like an insult to LEGO fans after the fantastic LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga released earlier this year. From the terrible core gameplay to the incredibly grindy unlock system, there are very few redeeming qualities to this package. If you're really desperate to build your own minifigure, most LEGO games already have a character creator of their own. Your time and money are best spent elsewhere.

Steelrising is Spiders Studio's best game to date, but one too many bugs and tech issues hold it back from greatness. Its combat system remains engaging and enjoyable throughout, and the unique, mechanical take on the French Revolution means it'll live longer in the memory than previous FromSoftware tributes. It's one for the genre fanatics for now, but six months down the line, Steelrising may be in tip-top shape. It's more than worth playing at that point.

Unfortunately, the game's issues run a bit deeper. Like the 2016 version, the gameplay is stiff, slow, and rather dull, and sometimes it's unclear precisely how to proceed. Inventory space is a near constant headache. Building up your town is hard work, which is probably intentional but isn't very fun — especially when giant monsters unceremoniously wander over and destroy your buildings. Fighting back can feel futile and isn't particularly satisfying, either. It's tough, because there's great potential in its collaborative, common goal nature, and Phoenix Edition really does make many improvements to the overall experience, but its cold, repetitive core holds it back.

Madden NFL 23 is the best gridiron game on PS5 to date, but the series is taking toe-taps forward rather than big, confident strides. There’s no doubt that both Franchise and Face of the Franchise are better this year, and we like the improvements to the run game and the addition of precision passing. But is this enough for a series that’s been accused of stagnation over the past decade? It feels like EA Sports is settling for the easy five-yard gains, rather than the deep ball down the field.

It's such a shame that the game's online suite is so behind the times, because All Star Battle R is an otherwise brilliant ode to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. A technical fighter that's always deserved a second chance.

Inscryption is a great card battler, but to even call it that sells what is a truly unique experience short. If you're at all interested in what else it has to offer, close this webpage, boot up your PS5, and buy the game. Keep yourself in the dark. You're better off for it.

Without reference to the original, it’s not always easy to appreciate The Last of Us: Part I’s impressive improvements. This is a much better game than the original, though, with stronger art direction, smoother gameplay, and much more emotional cinematics. Naughty Dog has done justice to the original by improving on it in almost every regard, but it remains the game you remember from 2013. At a more competitive price point, it’d be essential – as it is, it’s a pricey upgrade on a bona fide classic.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is a great package. While not every game is a winner — and a lot of them are variants of other games in the collection — there's still lots here to love. It brings two of the most beloved beat-'em-ups in history to modern platforms, and is host to some hidden gems like Radical Rescue. This is all polished up with a host of great enhancements and the fantastic Turtle Lair gallery, which — for any TMNT fan — may be worth the price of admission alone.

It's apt that the character you play as in Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed is named Crypto. Like crypto, the game is an interesting idea on paper, but we don't really need it, we don't want to hear about it, it keeps crashing, and if you invest any money into it then you're probably going to end up with buyer's remorse.

I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is a fun visit through adolescence which begs the player to keep living life to the max, experiencing all the game can offer. It's a beautifully artistic game, with many opportunities for a unique experience every time you play.