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1 game reviews
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    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Palworld
    Everything's in service of building your base in Palworld, and if that's where you get your kicks from, then by all means have at it. There's room in this world for junk food as well as fine cuisine, and sometimes we all need a bit of simple satisfaction in our lives. But right now, there's very little else to recommend Palworld, least of all its 'take take take' mentality and the way it so brazenly frames everything as a tool to exploit for your own gain. Maybe Assassin's Creed is guilty of that, too, as well as Monster Hunter, Pokémon and all the other games Palworld's so clearly riffing on. The difference, I think, is one of attitude and ambition, because for all their respective monster mauling, those games still feel alive in ways that Palworld simply doesn't at the moment. They have the heart and presence to laugh at their own silliness, but Palworld just feels a bit dead behind the eyes. All that exists is the infernal checklist. [Early Access Review]
    • 89 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Persona 3 Reload
    For me enjoying anime comes down to whether I can weather the inevitable anime tropes, and here they overwhelmed my flood defences. I found little solace in combat that was either overly cruel and grind-demanding or mindlessly easy, yet always agonisingly repetitive even on the easiest and therefore speediest difficulty. I'm sure existing fans will be pleased with the modernisations, and newcomers who want cheesy anime, low stakes conversations, and dungeon crawling will find plenty to love here. But if you're Persona-curious, I’d be wary of leaving your giant street coffin.
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    Enshrouded
    If you can get on with Enshrouded despite its early access quirks and underwhelming premise, you'll find a rock solid foundation for what I really believe could one day be one of the most popular and well-thought-of survival crafting games out there. The building is absolutely exquisite, and the main reason I'll continue playing. The combat is sound, the world is evocative, beautiful, and thick with surprises. It is, as I say, the closest anything has got to recapturing the feeling of playing Valheim for the first time, and while my 40-odd hours with Enshrouded has left me more than anything wistfully wanting to go back to Valheim itself, I'm sure there will be times when I say to myself, "I wish it did this thing like Enshrouded does it." [Early Access Review]
    • 89 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
    Infinite Wealth is everything I wanted from a Yakuza: LAD sequel. It refines and expands on many of Yakuza: LAD's RPG loose ends or underexplored bits, whisking you away to the wonderful Hawaii in the process. Yes, it may be a bit too expansive for some, retains some of Yakuza's more annoying quirks, and isn't an RPG in the sense of making Ichiban's story totally your own. But the story it does tell, and the adventures you do go on, are heartfelt and funny and told with such rich detail. I'll say it again: thank goodness for Yakuza. [RPS Bestest Bests]
    • 91 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Tekken 8
    My point is: YOUR favourites are probably still here. And if they are, you'll be content to kick and/or punch. There isn't anything revolutionary happening aside from the Heat meter and all that it entails. But a lot of the quality of life improvements and subtle design tweaks stack up. Practice mode alone has become an excellently robust training zone that clearly displays a lot of handy info about frame advantage and move properties. For pros, streamers and rank-chasers, the transfer to this sequel is therefore a no-brainer. And since little else quite like Tekken exists in the fighting game niche (don't listen, little Soul Calibur 3) the rest of us pugilistic rubes will only get FOMO if we don't follow. So when I face Death, I guess Tekken 8 it is.
    • 75 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy
    It's good to see Apollo get his time in the sun again, even if this trio of games don't quite do him the justice he really deserves.
    • tbd Metascore
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    Kingsvein
    Those early frustrations gave way to satisfaction at scraping through a close call, and feeling like I'd won a fight through applying the right skills and plans, and making progress because I'd learned to judge my team's capabilities rather than just make a number go up enough. That's a great spot for any RPG to be in, and if you're less interested in complex or hefty narratives than some chunky tactical combat and tinkering with characters as toolboxes, Kingsvein could be a slightly rough gem.
    • 82 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
    So it definitely leans into the lite in roguelite, but it's a good version of that, and it does much more with its story and characters than you might expect. Turnip Boy Robs A Bank fully commits to the bit, doesn't feel the need to explain itself, and it's having fun - all things that are big ticks. I suspect it's not super welcoming to a player who isn't already a Turnip Boy fan, and, indeed, it's my second favourite Turnip Boy game, but I still hope there are more games in this world that are all a bit different, every single time.
    • 76 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Home Safety Hotline
    Home Safety Hotline is definitely in the Daniel Mullins vein of game ideas, where a game starts as something and becomes something else, and while Home Safety Hotline is very thoughtful and has a brilliant framing, it never fully transformed. Which is perhaps ironic, given the ending.
    • 85 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
    The Lost Crown is an outstanding reinvention of what a Prince Of Persia game can be, as well as a top notch platforming-led Metroid-like in its own right. It brings so many welcome nips and tucks to the genre to make it friendly and accessible, all while giving players a meaty and uncompromising challenge to really test their mettle. It really is a proper belter, this one, and absolutely should not be missed if you've ever enjoyed a single second of the Ori games, Hollow Knight or SteamWorld Dig 2. After years of indie games dominating the Metroid space, it's heartening to see Ubisoft's Montpellier team find their feet again, leaving possibly only Silksong to steal back this otherwise crowning achievement. [RPS Bestest Bests]
    • 80 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    THE FINALS
    For now, The Finals is the most exciting multiplayer shooter launch I've played in years. It's a clever blend of old-fashioned generosity and new-fangled technology, and it's exciting enough at its core to offer delight and drama no matter your unlocks or skill level. I'm going to play it right now.
    • tbd Metascore
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    The Day Before
    Time will hopefully grant us concrete evidence as to whether Fntastic genuinely tried to make The Day Before into anything like the survival MMO shown off in the reveal trailer (or subsequent devlog that's been preserved here), or whether it was always destined for the garbage bin. Either way, I'm glad you can't buy it now and I hope people get their refunds. What a tiring mess. [Early Access Review]
    • 78 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
    Had I tried to write up Rogue Trader for embargo, I suspect I would have disliked it a lot more. Much as I try to distance myself from pressures cultivated by review conditions, having a game this gigantic lobbed at your calendar inevitably leads to burnout and impatience. Rogue Trader is a lot more entertaining when you can dip in as you please, providing you keep copious notes, but even then, there will be moments when you feel overwhelmed. The game’s appetite for the pomp and pageantry of Warhammer 40,000 is at once its best and worst quality. Sometimes, it’s a gorgeously Gothic gateau noir that teems with strange and different flavours, such that you can spend hours guessing at the ingredients. But sometimes the flavours obliterate each other, and you just feel like you’re trying to swallow a cathedral.
    • 72 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
    Honestly, I'm glad I don't have to play any more Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora. It lures you in with a stunning map and some lovely parkour around the trees, maybe a touch of shooting, a touch of looting. But as things progress, the Ubisoft algorithm kicks in and the excitement plateaus. Everything you do is predictable and everything you find, another tally mark. Give me a jeep and let me call in an airstrike, then maybe I'd change my mind.
    • 83 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    A Highland Song
    A Highland Song is beautiful and does it very well. As a game trying to let us run into that wildness, it trips up sometimes. After playing it, I am left with a desire to visit it again, but also a lingering, vague sadness. I can only be grateful for A Highland Song making me feel that.
    • 91 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Against the Storm
    Against The Storm is designed to be returned to time and time again, except here a fresh start is always seen as progress. It makes for a construction game that wraps up at precisely the moment it begins to lose momentum. It is a wonderful, wonderful thing. [RPS Bestest Bests]
    • 85 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    In Stars And Time
    Ultimately, the stars haven't aligned with this RPG, and I don't have the time or patience any more to put up with its tedious nonsense. It's a shame, really, as its turn-based battles can be very enjoyable every now and again, and its cast of cute weirdos are often quite endearing when they're not bleating on too long. Younger folks in their mid-20s may well argue that its characters are enough to carry them through the rest of the boring bits, but a halfway decent story does not a good game make for me. I need more sustenance in my old age, and for its time-loop to be more than just gristly, unsatisfying filler.
    • 80 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Last Train Home
    Last Train Home's other great strength is that all its parts lead so naturally into each other that its considerable length goes by in hour long waltzes from assaulting a town, to upgrading your engine while the fishing expedition walks back, to driving to the next station, to buying some ammunition, to scavenging for fuel, to reaching the next chapter in a fictionalised history of remarkable events that seems now like the most obvious fit for a game ever. To make all this so fun and compelling without feeling tacky or overly sanitised is a remarkable achievement, and one I'm glad to recommend.
    • 74 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    SteamWorld Build
    For a series that's always excelled at feeding players' imaginations - from sniping off hats in SteamWorld Heist, mixing magic cards in SteamWorld Quest, or speedrunning its platform challenges in Dig 2 - Build just lacks that spark of creativity to launch it into SteamWorld stardom.
    • 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.
    • 35 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Flashback 2
    With Flashback 2 there’s really only one thing to say: don’t buy it.
    • tbd Metascore
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    Small Saga
    Hopefully, with a bit of rebalancing, Small Saga might yet reach the upper echelons of pint-sized RPGs, joining the likes of Jack Move as another lively reimagining of their Final Fantasy inspirations in miniature. As things currently stand, though, Small Saga gets a much more tepid recommendation - though I'd be half-tempted to say the Adam Curtis battle music (and its excellent score more generally) is almost worth the very reasonable price of entry alone. It's certainly a one-off, I'll give it that, so if you can stomach its lack of challenge, you'll probably still have quite a good time with it.
    • 77 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Loddlenaut
    Loddlenaut is a cute, cosy and charming adventure in all the ways you'd expect it to be. The process of powerwashing this idyllic ocean floor is chill and zen-like, and if you're the type to coo over adorable nuggets of animal, then its little loddles will be right up your street. But it will never be anything more than that. It will not challenge you in the slightest, and it probably won't make you feel anything particularly profound, either - and for some people that will be absolutely fine. For me, GUP-14 felt like a marginally happier place once I'd worked my magic there, but I wish it had a bit more grit in its own convictions.
    • tbd Metascore
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    Naheulbeuk's Dungeon Master
    Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon Master scratches at the Dungeon Keeper itch for a short while, but the problem is that it’s a goofy, comic fantasy story hoping to be carried by a management simulator way too barebones to support it. Parody only works if the underlying offer is interesting enough to be worth investing in, and you can’t ironically play something for any serious length of time before feeling like the joke is on you.
    • 77 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    American Arcadia
    Despite their respective annoyances, you can't help rooting for Angela and Trevor, and especially Trevor. He has, as he points out, not actually done anything wrong except to not be an awful fitspo influencer, like American Arcadia's most popular resident. By the end of the game you're catharting as hard as anyone at the prospect of victory at the entertainment company at the heat of the show. It's especially great to see how Trevor's concept of what victory in his own personal context means.
    • 77 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Persona 5 Tactica
    Of course, if you consider the talking cat and the computer girl close personal friends then any excuse to spend more time with them is a good excuse, and all of these shortfalls won’t matter in the slightest. We’re in a world of rapidly depleting and fleeting pleasures, so in the grand scheme of things, an aggressively mid turn-based strategy game is a fairly low price to pay.
    • 67 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin
    Strip those personal complaints away and Realms Of Ruin is a solid RTS with some fun units and missions. Even if I do still think you'll find the Stormcast Eternals boring.
    • 58 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
    There’s a common narrative that Call of Duty campaigns were at their peak in the late ‘00s. That may be true in pop cultural terms, multiplayer having long since overshadowed solo modes for the typical COD fan. But this Modern Warfare reboot began with Infinity Ward firing on all cylinders, embracing brave themes and experimental designs in single-player that excused its occasional stumbles. It’s a shame to see the engine it built sputter and fail, betrayed by a stopgap schedule-filler with nothing to say. [Campaign Review]
    • 78 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
    Ultimately, though, great Colosseum fights, sometimes funny Akame missions, and occasional story wins can't quite make up for Like A Dragon Gaiden feeling like a hurried excuse to resurrect Kiryu. Yes, it ties into his upcoming role in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and it's lovely to be in his shoes again, but the story pales in comparison to previous offerings. Motoring between endless fights in the game's story doesn't represent what Yakuza stands for, and throughout I couldn't help but wrestle with the idea that it might be erasing not just Kiryu's own name, but the series' wider legacy.
    • 94 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Cobalt Core
    In such a crowded and accomplished genre, getting within spitting distance of these all-time heavyweights is still mighty impressive in my books, and I will absolutely be playing more of it in the months to come.
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