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Last reviewed: Mina the Hollower · 8 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.
Through utterly superb set-pieces, gorgeous visual design, and an impactful soundtrack, Mixtape crafts one of the most meaningful story games in a long time. It's beautiful to look at, a joy to listen to, and so enjoyable to play - altogether, Mixtape is a sensational achievement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
SUPERHOT is excellent. It may lack the physicality of its virtual reality alter-ego, but it makes up for this with a mind-bending story and an on-point menu system. The slow-motion shooting is still super satisfying, and the added locomotion makes for a different kind of cadence to the PlayStation VR version. Buy both editions if you can, as they complement each other nicely and are unmissable in our humble opinion. Now, tell all of your friends…
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.
All in all, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.