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Average Game review score: 0
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1 game reviews
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    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Hoa
    Some may not agree, arguing that Hoa is more style than substance. But if that is to be Hoa's fate, then what style! The Ni No Kuni series may look more like Studio Ghibli films-turned-into-games, but Hoa's pre-occupation with nature, the environment, impossibly cute bugs and robots and heart-swelling piano music makes it a much truer successor to the interactive Ghibli crown in my eyes, possibly more so than anything else I've ever played. Much like the moment when troubled monster No Face slips into a steaming hot bath in Spirited Away, Hoa is a balm for both mind and soul in a year like this, at once a deep, soothing snuggle into Totoro's furry belly and a triumphant run across the raging waves with Ponyo. It may not have the bite of Princess Mononoke's wolf queen Moro or the nostalgic poignancy of an Only Yesterday, perhaps, but this is nevertheless a promising first outing from Skrollcat Studio, and marks them out as ones to watch going forward.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Naraka: Bladepoint
    I’m looking forward to more surprises, which isn’t as banal a statement as it sounds: it means I’m going to keep playing once I’m done with this review, which is pretty much the best praise a game can get. I want to be WeebPeepoClown, except also maybe not exactly like WeebPeepoClown. On a hunch I just checked the leaderboard, and it turns out he’s the 47th best player in the world. Lord knows what he was doing in one of my matches, but I’m glad he was there to show me the path to greatness. The combat’s frustrations can be overcome, though it’s a learning curve not everyone will want to scale - even if they can do that as an acrobatic warrior with a grappling hook.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    B.I.O.T.A.
    It's a forgiving Metroidvania that doesn't surprise all that often, but hits the spot for platforming fans and those who enjoy carefully considered backtracking. I'd also say it's not a bad starting point if you're looking to get into Metroidvanias but don't know where to start. It'll teach you the ropes without overwhelming you, with plenty of room to save and switch things up if you're struggling.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Sublevel Zero
    So there Sublevel Zero lies, this peculiar mix of instantly entertaining and disappointingly hollow. Tidying up the crafting, and making it meaningful, would add a lot. And gosh, it desperately needs a rethink about those unexplained, unpredictable dead-ends. But heck, I want to keep on playing anyway.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    The Climb (2016)
    This is good VR. Let there be more of it. [Tested with Oculus Rift]
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    The Sinking City
    Without the weird Lovecraftian bits, this is a slightly janky, slightly grindy detective game that does some interesting things in a very atmospheric depiction of a profoundly depressed town. Taking them into account, I don’t know! I was confused and uncharmed by the whole thing, but I still haven’t untangled my brainnoodles. At least I’ve told you how they got tangled. Goodness, I was very interested in The Sinking City. I really wanted to love it. But I’m afraid rain may have stopped play this time.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Morsels
    You could probably reduce Morsels to the status of a well-made genre piece, a reverse Spelunky with a streak of Noita, but there's a pervasive uncertainty - I'm still not sure what those Goyalike children are for, after seven hours of play - and the sturdiness of the rogueliking isn't what makes this compelling. What makes it compelling is the story it tells about the roguelike, about generators and their supporting databases, here reinvented as treacherously fermenting landfill. This is the roguelike gone rancid in a time where roguelikes are as common as pigeons, stewed in the juices of overmuch creation.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Beat Cop
    At first glance Beat Cop looks like something akin to the Sierra Police Quest games of the late 80s/early 90s, a combination of point-and-click adventure and fiddly paperwork procedural. Ooh, intriguing. But just a few minutes in it becomes apparent this is far closer to a Diner Dash-like frantic management games, with swearing. Just, not a particular good version of the format.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    White Shadows
    So, some of White Shadows' individual parts are flawed, but I did really enjoy my time with it. If you don't really mind the game's simple puzzles and you're willing to ignore the exposition dump at the end, I'd recommend it. White Shadows offers two hours of creative, chilling designs, joyous musical set pieces and enough screen-shottable sights to fill your hard drive.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander
    If XCOM and Heroes of Might and Magic meets Star Trek/Farscape appeals to you (it does, doesn’t it?), and you’re happy to force your way past some initially confusing issues with the interface, you’ll almost certainly enjoy Halcyon 6. I have, despite my gripes, but it’s less than the sum of all those parts that I couldn’t help but see the edges of as I played, and I was longing for more engaging combat long before the end. Even if the galaxy continues to grow, I don’t think I’ll return even.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Atlas Fallen
    It's very much a middling time, in other words. Atlas Fallen fulfils the joy of picking up a pre-owned six-out-of-ten at GameStation and going with whatever happens on screen. You'll teeter on a knife edge mentally, as you accept its tedious fetch quests and just fine platforming fare, perhaps occasionally letting out your frustration with a quit to menu as boss fights take the piss, or a quest once again asks you to fetch yet more crystals. Still, the combat is surprisingly robust and its momentum schtick is a proper thrill once you've got the flow down. If anything, it's the combat that'll make you stick around. That is, until you realise there's a lot of other good open world games you could be playing instead of Atlas Fallen.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Once Human
    It all ends up feeling like someone pushed a cult classic console gem through a shredder and filled in the space between the strips with silica gel and sausage rusk and self-assessment forms. But its saving grace lies in the fact that it doesn’t feel cynical as much as it feels adherent, almost like its trapped under a pile of norms and necessaries needed for it to exist in the first place. Maybe you'll fancy enduring long enough to find the places where it pokes its curious little head out from under that rubble. The little robot was for mining ore, by the way, so it might help.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Knuckle Sandwich
    It's a real shame that Knuckle Sandwich's combat is beyond frustrating, because it's a huge part of uncovering the mysteries lurking within Bright City. If it gets rebalanced later down the line, then it would undo a lot of why I'd hesitate to recommend the game right now. I simply don't think the kooky residents and wonderful visuals can make up for fights that'll raise your blood pressure to dangerous levels. Here's hoping things change.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Dice Legacy
    I'm sure I could do things more efficiently. The forge in particular seems vital. This is a building that smushes two villagers together to create a special hybrid rollcube, potentially removing a lot of reroll inefficiency and condensing two roles. With certain limitations, you can even keep them for use in later playthroughs. Dice Legacy encourages experimentation, it says in its opening screen, and I appreciate a game suggesting an ethos like this upfront. But though after many failures and one victory I'm armed with more knowledge and several theories on how to play it better, the prospect of going through all this again is the kind of legacy that makes me glad I don't have kids.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    ARK: Survival Evolved
    While ARK can be a lot of fun – grabbing another player off of a raptor with an Argentavis feels bloody brilliant – it’s rarely worth the hours of tedium. If you can spare the 100 or so hours it takes to get your teeth into it then I’d recommend you spend them elsewhere.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Layers of Fear 2
    It’s too fixated on traditional jump scares to embrace the twisted, palpitating gut of its story about a flawed protagonist and his struggles with inner demons.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Crossing Souls
    That it ultimately collapses into a string of unpleasant platforming sequences that the core design simply can’t sustain means I grew to loathe Crossing Souls, once it entirely abandoned its redeeming features for everything it couldn’t get right.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Last Stop (2021)
    Overall, Last Stop feels like a game of unfortunate inconsistency. That's not for lack of effort, I have to stress. On the contrary, I get the feeling that Variable State could have really let rip with this if only they'd had more time, money and resources, along with the robust production and editing processes that goes along with that (and that's not just because I'd have loved to play the fourth, although sadly cut, Junji Ito-inspired story either, I promise). In that sense, Last Stop is probably the opposite of Black Mirror and Doctor Who... but one I'm glad I saw through to the end regardless.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Starship Troopers: Terran Command
    What's here is definitely good, and I'd play more of it if there was a second campaign, or more than just two bonus missions. It just plain needs more, be it in volume or flavour, to push me beyond a moderate recommendation.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    I Am Setsuna
    Those golden-era JRPGs are beloved because they were packed with memorable locations, characters, and combat. I Am Setsuna unfortunately falls short on all three counts, and instead delivers an average and forgettable adventure, albeit one with wonderful music.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Brigador
    Make no mistake, Brigador is a toybox first and foremost – assemble your dream mech or deathtank, take it out for a spin in Bladerunnerville, trash everything, have a bloody great fight. A few UI frustrations can’t take away the innate pleasure of that, especially when it looks so delightfully, tangibly model-like too. It’s not Mechwarrior, no, but it scratches pretty much every other mech itch going, and with style.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Maquette
    But by the end, Maquette had thoroughly rinsed both its gimmick and its story. Much like Michael and Kenzie's relationship, it started off good, but wore me down as time went on. A far cry from Season 6 of Married At First Sight: Australia.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Deep Sky Derelicts
    I’m really enjoying this. It’s worth noting that I’ve not played as much of the final version as I’d like to, and it could still go wrong later on – I’ll certainly be updating regarding that. But as it is, this is all rather fun.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Maneater
    The quality of the writing itself was fine, and genuinely made me smile in places. I just think it’s a tricky subject to wade into without a coherent plan for what should be said. And I know “it’s just a game,” etc., but when sharks are as perilously threatened as they are, and one of the big reasons is that people think of them as a threat to be annihilated, it’s just a bit depressing to see the idea celebrated. And whatever might be claimed about the game’s writing undermining that, I’m sorry, but that’s what it does. Maybe I’d care less if Maneater was fun enough overall to earn a pass. But as you’ve hopefully gathered by now, it’s not.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Quantum League
    Quantum League is a delightfully inventive, smart, and surprising gem. I’d love to see a future where not just competitive FPS fans, but anyone with an interest in game design has at least given it a go. I also wouldn’t mind seeing a future where they nerf the grenade launcher. [Early Access Review]
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Boyfriend Dungeon
    That's kind of par for the course in dating sims, though, innit? You get to smooch who you like. That's the thrill! If it's a good dating sim, it'll trick you into feeling like there are consequences, and because Boyfriend Dungeon is very good at that. I also stand by my assessment that because of the additional literal layer to "using" characters, it is the most realistic video game romances have ever been) I was just sort of expecting to be called out at the end. I deserved it! And I'm a bit sad that I wasn't. It turns out that truly, the biggest weapon of all... was me. But if you like dating sims, this is a rollicking good time that offers more action and less passivity than your standard genre stuff. All I want from Boyfriend Dungeon is, basically, more of it. Better, faster, stronger. Sharper...
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Batman: Arkham Knight
    Arkham Knight is the sweet spot between the ‘all cowl and no codpiece’ rigmarole of Arkham City and the tight claustrophobic construction of Arkham Asylum. It’s not as solid as the latter but it manages to have more variety and more focus than the former. It’s a beautiful game as well, ditching some of the swollen stylised body types of its predecessors and finding a more cohesive neon-gothic, blimps and all.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
    Even without acknowledging the unusually huge difficulties Kiro’o faced in getting it released at all, Aurion suffers a major blow but stands up as an original, memorable, and rewarding game that deserves every success.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Tokyo 42
    Tokyo 42 is an inventive and strikingly attractive game, with a very natural blend of stealth, combat and figuring out a path, unfortunately hamstrung somewhat by absolute fealty to its isometric perspective. I alternated between the beautiful tension of sneaking through busy places (personally, I incline towards the silent kills of a katana rather than the Syndicate-esque mass destruction of miniguns and rocket launchers) and the jaw-clenched annoyance of death-by-camera. An impressive accomplishment, but sometimes a grating one too.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
    There's a moment in the second major region when you find yourself at the summit of what is effectively a massive slide, a giddy slope among cliffs thickly lined with rotting crossbowmen. I whooped and slithered all the way to the campsite at the bottom, then located a skull plinth and set about cleansing the heights and discovering more plinths, till at last I could traverse the whole mountainside without getting my feet dirty. It provoked an emotion I hadn't quite felt in Flintlock before: not just admiration of the sturdy craft on show, but delight.
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