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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.
If you're willing to invest your time learning the battle system and strategies to succeed in King’s Bounty II then there'll be some enjoyment to be found here. However, the game is very unforgiving with your time, forcing you to spend hours completing dull side missions and looting various places to level up your units, only for them to be slain in the next main mission battle you fight. Also constantly having to reload saves just to progress through the story feels very outdated.
While RiMS Racing has an enjoyable core racing mode, the addition of motorcycle maintenance and plenty of technical issues on PS5 prove a dealbreaker. If you’re looking for a realistic racing game that is still enjoyable, look elsewhere.
Puzzles which consist of navigating logic gates by pushing buttons are fine, but not particularly taxing. The hacking mechanic has its uses, though, and a surprisingly engaging story will pull you through the game despite its flaws. It's a shame that some of the gameplay doesn't measure up, because there are some good ideas here. Sadly, there's an inconsistent level of quality that makes Recompile hard to recommend.
Madden NFL 22 takes big strides forward from last year's game, with the focus on Franchise being overdue but appreciated all the same. We like the direction EA Sports has taken this year, with even the new Gameday Momentum system adding immersion to every individual match. Face of the Franchise still falls flat, and patches will need to be applied to the way deep coverages work. But some irritating bugs and glitches aside, it feels like this series is at least on the right trajectory at last.
Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut amplifies an already excellent open world game. The Iki Island expansion is worth the price of admission alone, providing another chunk of stunning Japanese landscape for Jin to explore, while also digging into the protagonist's past. A fantastic range of story missions and side quests make for a memorable offshore excursion, and put alongside the main campaign, Ghost of Tsushima now stands as a PS4 and PS5 must-buy.
It doesn’t hurt that the game is designed with a confidence and flair we don’t often see in VR. Absolutely everything down to the menus has a level of swagger that makes for a stunning experience. Cel-shading works well in certain settings, and VR is absolutely one of them: it allows Fracked’s environments to have exponentially more detail and complexity than a similar game without cel-shading, adding much more life to the title's alpine mining facility.
As well as the main quest of finding each ghost, each location contains numerous mini spirits called Grenkins, which have you moving certain objects into particular positions in order to find them. It's a neat way of adding collectibles that has you using the core mechanic in a different way. There's also Mr. Whitstable's riddles, which add a little challenge to each level. He'll give you a set of clues, and they each pertain to a specific thing in that stage, and could be anywhere. Sometimes the clues are too obtuse, but with thorough exploration and a little lateral thinking, the riddles add some substance to a rather breezy game. Wonderful art and relaxing music make the cherry on top of a unique and heartfelt cake.
A small range of unlockable augments do make things a touch more bearable, but Evan can barely activate a single skill before his implants start overheating and you're forced to stop what you're doing. We think Foreclosed is meant to be played like a run-and-gun, ability-popping shooter — but the execution misses the mark almost completely.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla: The Siege of Paris is another great expansion that fans of the base game won't want to miss. However, unlike Wrath of the Druids, the second DLC's strength is rooted in its adaptation of the old Assassin's Creed formula. Black box assassination missions are the stars of the show, where stealth and deception are brought back into fashion. What's more, the story's darker tone makes for some memorable moments.
Hades has been a long time coming for PlayStation players, but the wait was certainly worth it. Supergiant's rogue-lite action title is every bit as good as you've heard, with its fast-paced combat, wonderful Boon system, and amazing story that's interlaced with the gameplay. It's a complex game, but not a complicated one; it's a brilliantly constructed thing that delivers in practically every department. Easily one of the best rogue-lite titles available, Hades lives up to the legend.
Overall, it's a chilled out game with personality and charm, but there's not much more to it than that. While you may enjoy exploring the town and meeting its residents, there isn't enough substance here to keep things interesting.
It takes obvious cues from Pokémon and other genre classics, but Dodgeball Academia is a great little RPG in its own right. Packed with charm and boasting a unique dodgeball-based battle system, it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable journey to the top.
For fans of storytelling, The Forgotten City is a solid recommendation. Freed from the shackles of Skyrim, the full game tells a captivating story elevated by clever and humorous writing. With the interesting time loop mechanic creating further situations full of comedy and intrigue, settling down across a few evenings with The Forgotten City will delight. We just wish the combat was either improved or not there at all, and the technical setbacks weren't quite so rampant.
What The Falconeer offers is a remarkable open-world-ish experience, one that's all the more impressive given that it's (almost) entirely the work of one person. It's gorgeous to look at and polished as all-get-out, with a warmth and sense of familiarity to the proceedings that reminded us of the Bullfrog classic, Magic Carpet. It's a game that's very clearly cared about, a game whose systems intermingle cleverly, and one that doesn't give up its secrets easily in the slightest.
Omno clearly takes a lot of inspiration from the all-time great that is Journey, and often feels very similar in terms of gameplay pacing and overall tone. Omno never quite reaches the same emotional highs as Journey, but in some ways, it does actually build upon its predecessor's groundwork, offering more opportunities for exploration and player freedom. Even if you're just mulling around an area, interacting with strange creatures and soaking up the vibes, there's a lot to like about this lovingly crafted title.