Includes RPS, Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Last reviewed: 007 First Light · 6 days ago
I can't get Fish Sticks out of my head. Not the food, but the stray cat with a squished face and stubby legs that I wrangled into my shack in Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel’s new roguelite strategy game, Mewgenics. The shop, the pub, the dentist; no matter where I go, I…
I was, like so many of my 1990s-born peers, a huge Sims girlie. I spent hundreds of hours as a teen and young adult making people I knew, characters from shows I was obsessing over, or original characters I wanted to experiment with, and diligently following their life paths and…
It could have been longer, it could have been more substantial and dramatic. But it’s a good way to relax for a few hours.
Is the higher resolution worth ten denarii, citizen? I wish I could say so. Praetorians HD Remaster looks better than its predecessor, but honestly, still looks like a mobile game I’d find in a promoted tweet, alongside a vague imperative like “defend your empire!”.
For it was – it is – unforgettable.
Whether Might & Magic: Chess Royale can grow to the point where I’d recommend it to everyone rather than just genre newcomers is a different kettle of spuds, though. Perhaps more toppings will spice up the potato, but what’s here is tuna mayo. Predictable and nice, if you like that sort of thing, but quick to go stale.
As a finale, Hitman 3 is as capable as its trilogy-siblings. As a trilogy, it is one of the most fun-loving games of the decade. The best murder money can buy.
Vestaria Saga is a merciless game. It can be wonky. Unpolished. Occasionally frustrating. But I know a particular subset of players won’t care, because this is a new, old, Fire Emblem, and nobody but Shouzo Kaga makes games like this anymore.
There is indeed plenty of Takahashi weirdness to be found in Wattam, but it’s of limited value without the magic, the soul, or just the basic ingenuity required to connect the dots and make it all sing.
I do enjoy Minilaw. I find its mistakes frustrating precisely because it’s otherwise a tonne of fun to play. It looks gorgeous, the sound and music are first rate, and when it works, gunning attackers down feels great.
In my experience, AO Tennis 2 doesn’t do justice to tennis either, even though I wouldn’t exactly give tennis itself a glowing review.
I think Sayonara Wild Hearts reminded me of all the cool things I’ve liked over the years, because it’s not saying anything deeper than “Cool things are ****** great, and being cool is great too.” Which is fine. It’s all said in this incredibly alluring wash of pink and blue and purple, this brief flowerbloom of a game, this stylish, inescapably cool thing that references Tarot without, you know, trying too hard about it.
Iceborne is an essential expansion for a game that is paradoxically both enormous and niche. I’d recommend it to everyone – even if only because it’s likely to convert a few of you to veganism.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York is essentially a collection of subplots for their own sake, largely set in stone. But they’re written with talent and confidence and I would gladly read some more.
Detroit is a perfect game to livestream, or play with three mates and half a bottle of tequila – but if you tell me you genuinely think the story is well done, I will immediately be sus that you, yourself, are an android poorly trying to replicate human behaviour.
Frog Detective 2 is a game you can hold in your head all at once, and cherish. I think it’s great.
It’s got heart, that puppy, but it needs more brains.