ARGH! Argh, argh, argh, arghhhhhhhhhh! Dusk Diver 2 is so frustrating. So utterly, cruelly frustrating. Somehow this sequel is even more frustrating than its predecessor. I can see what the developer wanted to achieve with it, and I appreciate it on so many levels. It just doesn’t come together in…
Read MoreI had no idea that the original Pac-Man World was so well regarded. I had never played it, nor any of its sequels (despite being a general fan of the yellow pizza-man), but in researching the original for this review I did see that it was sold and reviewed very…
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If it wasn’t for a compromised localisation, Sword and Fairy 7 – Sword and Fairy: Together Forever in the west – would be right up there with Elden Ring and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 as the best RPG of the year. In a year that has been almost painfully dense with…
Read More“Whimsy” is the dominant word to describe the experience across the two titles in the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie collection. In so many ways these two games represent the platforming genre at its most perfect, with intricately entertaining levels wrapped up with a charming efficiency of character and design. It’s a…
Read MoreI’ve yet to lose a match in Matchpoint Tennis, and that’s the game’s one substantial flaw. Unfortunately, that one issue effectively ruins it. What’s the point of a sports game that is so lacking in difficulty that there’s no risk of a loss? The entire genre is meant to be…
Read MoreSpellforce III is one of those games that, even a generation ago, would have been inconceivable as a console release. The game’s blend of RTS and RPG mechanics would have been deemed too complex for a controller to bother with, and the developers and publishers alike would have assumed that…
Read MoreSony is on to such a good thing with MLB The Show that it would rather have its San Diego development studio work on a cross-platform release than risk losing the baseball license (I would bet significant dollars that the MLB told Sony that the previously PlayStation-exclusive series was going…
Read MoreIkai is so close to being something special. The premise of the game is strong, it has the occasional moment of inspired horror design, and you can tell that the developers entered into this with some genuine intent and vision. Unfortunately, at other times it comes across as amateur and…
Read MoreRelayer is God Wars, but located in space. That comparison isn’t going to help you if you were one of the many people that unfortunately overlooked God Wars (and therefore missed one of the finest tactics JRPGs ever), but if you imagine a heavily narrative-driven fantasy adventure, backed by traditional…
Read MoreBack in 2015 (seven years ago!), in my review of the original Submerged, I wrote: “Submerged is at its core a deeply frustrated warning against humanity ignoring the 97-odd per cent of climate scientists that insist we’re set for a bad time if we don’t hurry up and start dealing…
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