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Last reviewed: Mina the Hollower · 5 days ago
A referential and joyful deep dive into the world of Batman, the latest LEGO effort from TT Games is elite brick gaming. Legacy of the Dark Knight just wants to be an enjoyable time, and it refuses to falter from that commitment. This new LEGO Batman will be some of the best fun you have all year.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is an excellent action RPG that offers an even more hardcore take on the increasingly popular Soulslike formula. It's fast, frenetic, and hits like a truck, with one of the most mesmeric combat systems we've ever had the pleasure to master. It might scare off more casual players, but those looking for a challenge, well - you can stop looking.
While the AI will soon find you too much to handle, even at higher difficulties, the online component is where the specials really shine. The strategy of choosing when to slot your attacks in becomes paramount. It’s easy to lose the rhythm of the song if you get too cocky. As long as the game can nurture and maintain a player base there should be ample reason to keep coming back to God of Rock time and time again.
Cannon Dancer is an obscure underground cult classic that's finally going to find the audience it's always deserved. That we live in an era where games like this can be made easily accessible is worth celebrating, but even taken on its own merits, this spiritual successor to Strider is a breathless, brilliant affair. A sharp difficulty spike, common in the arcade releases of the era, feels unfair – but it won't prevent you from falling in love with all of the high-stakes action that precedes it.
It all just needs a little more polish: the execution isn’t quite tight enough, the pace not quite brisk enough to achieve that addictive, rapid-fire feel of WarioWare. It’s close, and certainly another entertaining idea from Atari, but unless you’re from the era of the 2600 and its ilk, you’ll probably struggle to look beyond the sloppy feel of this otherwise likeable release.
With a punch of extra content, Creed Rise to Glory: Championship Edition builds upon its predecessor in all the right ways, improving on the controls, visuals, and spread of content. It’s just a shame that the short, repetitive campaigns, omission of any headset haptics, and occasional tracking issues still leave it short of a knockout blow.
EA Sports PGA Tour proves what the publisher is capable of at its pomp: this is a jaw-droppingly beautiful sports game, with a sublime selection of licensed courses and a surprising amount of depth. Its demanding swing mechanic is slightly let down by a sluggish frame rate, but its single player is boosted by a strong sense of progression – and in multiplayer there's tons to do. This is an impressively strong effort overall, and a sign of good things to come ahead of the company's other anticipated comeback, EA Sports College Football.
The script itself doesn't strike a good balance either, often transitioning from subjects such as a rumination on class inequality directly into a slapstick comedy sketch before interjecting a news bulletin about an impending natural disaster. It's, to put it mildly, a mess. And this happens over and over throughout the 4-5 hours required to complete the game. While pitch-black comedy can work, the writing in Mile 0 is awkward enough that it feels accidental rather than deliberately irreverent. What you're left with is a fun rhythm game surrounded by a plethora of questionable writing decisions.
Meet Your Maker's core premise is very strong, but the game's aesthetic and samey levels currently don't live up to that vision. While it can be fun in short bursts, raiding Outposts can quickly become tedious, although building your own stages for others to try is more fulfilling. There's potential here, no question, but we'll have to see how it fares on live servers before we deliver a full verdict.
The Last Worker’s principal problem is that it’s a game made for VR that’s better without it. Fulfilling online orders in a capitalism-induced apocalypse is an excellent idea marred by inconsistent execution and confounding restrictions placed on VR movement. It’s short enough not to overstay its simplicity, but it’s not smart enough to make any astute thematic statements.
Unfortunately the game falters somewhat at the end, with multiple conclusions that don't feel particularly fulfilling. However, overall the journey is a worthwhile one. Citizen Sleeper hooks you with its elegant presentation, thoughtful narrative, and memorable characters, and despite one or two small missteps, it's an engrossing, atmospheric experience worth a roll of the dice.
The excellently executed Negro Leagues are the MVP of MLB The Show 23, adding an educational and entertaining interactive documentary to an already top-tier sports game. Diamond Dynasty sees some of its biggest structural changes yet, and has strengthened its already respectable single player slate with some smart additions to Mini Seasons. Meanwhile, rebalanced fielding and batter/pitcher matchups add more tension to the gameplay, but the graphics are starting to look stale and Road to the Show feels like it's almost been abandoned at this point.
Still, the core of Deceive Inc. is good; deducing who might be an opponent while trying to blend in is a tense, fun experience. It's in need of some updates before it reaches its full potential — adjustable text size would be nice, and it's going to need a wider variety of maps and modes going forward. It's a solid starting point with a great premise; hopefully it can evolve into something really worthwhile.
We will say the gameplay can become repetitive when you need to grind for cash or certain items. Additionally, managing the game's grid-based menus can be pretty fiddly. The remedy for both things is those all-important upgrades, which smooth out frustrations with cramped inventories or limited fishing capabilities. Despite any rocky waters, though, Dredge's rewarding progression and enjoyable premise keep it afloat.
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key is the biggest Atelier game to date. Ryza and her friends are just as charming as ever and this is a fantastic way to end the trilogy. The vibrant open-world areas are a joy to explore, and the slick combat and engaging alchemy system will keep you entertained throughout.
Tchia feels really unlike any experience we've ever had with a video game. Full of heart, but occasionally lacking direction, it's a unique experience showcasing the love the dev team has for New Caledonia. Everything about Tchia evokes a wonderful tropical vibe, full of rich history and culture, from the folklore elements of the storyline to the authentic voice acting in New Caledonia's native language, Drehu. Unfortunate bugs let it down and stop players experiencing it to its fullest, but a solid, enjoyable, and ultimately beautiful game is at its core. It's evident that a lot of love has been poured into this really exciting debut from Awaceb, and as a day one PS Plus Extra release, it's bound to bring a lot of joy to a lot of players.
Namco's developers were adept at squeezing great technical performances out of the 32-bit PlayStation - especially with late fifth generation games like Tekken 3 - and in 1999 Ridge Racer Type 4 stayed steadily on track at achieving its 30fps target and slick circuit designs. The atmosphere from course details adds fine-tuning to the graphics, which is boosted by a magnificent dance soundtrack by musicians like Hiroshi Okubo, with extra pizzazz provided by Kimara Lovelace's vocals. The arcade-style gameplay delivered a fun and fast contrast to Gran Turismo's sim racing, and it confidently tail-slid alongside the best Nintendo 64 and SEGA Saturn drift and blue sky racers. As a Namco racing game it holds pole position amongst the four PS1 Ridge Racer titles, putting the pedal to the metal en route to Ridge Racer Type 4 becoming a genuine PlayStation classic.