Stellar Blade very much wants to be a merger of NieR: Automata and the Soulslike formula. It’s a flashy science fiction romp through a decrepit, decaying world, and the ambience is certainly going to be familiar to NieR fans. It’s also undeniably well-made. However, for all the comparisons people have been making to the likes of NieR: Automata and Bayonetta…
Remember that time Sony’s head suit, Jim Ryan, got up and said “…the PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?” The Metal Gear Solid Collection shows just how genuinely shallow and unintelligent that statement was. You should want to play the Metal Gear…
Read MoreThere are times when it genuinely feels like the artists who work in game development teams only know Zdzisaw Beksiski and H.R Giger. These two artists are magnificent, don’t get me wrong, but they are so often the inspiration behind a game’s aesthetics that it’s become a visual cliché. And…
Read MoreAssassin’s Creed: Mirage is what all Assassin’s Creed games should be: Uncomplicated. As I’ve regularly repeated over the years, Assassin’s Creed is my one blockbuster vice, and I love the series despite it being increasingly representative of so much of what I dislike about AAA games. But this one brings…
Read MoreIt’s rare that a game is truly irredeemable. Most 1/5 games still had something going for them. Perhaps it was a noble concept that the developers just couldn’t make work. Or perhaps it was a game that was just too different, ambitious, or a personal project that was only ever…
Read MoreDisclaimer: I’m making this quick disclaimer so it’s clear and up-front. I did work with Big Ant in the past, and contributed to cricket games that they have previously released. During the term that I worked for Big Ant, and for two years afterwards, I did not review their games,…
Read MoreI’m not going to lie. My nose will grow. Lies Of P infuriates me to play. Of all the ways to approach the Soulslike “hard game”, this is the least suited to my preferences. I understand that there will be an audience for it, but that’s not me, it won’t…
Read MoreIt would be easy to dismiss Monochrome Mobius as being a “too-traditional” JRPG, turn-based warts and all. Indeed, that is what far too many other critics have done when covering this game, and that’s doing it a disservice. It seems that just about everyone has missed what makes this a…
Read MoreI wasn’t expecting Armored Core VI to be a Soulslike, but I was expecting some kind of transformative experience. Perhaps that’s a bit much to ask of FromSoftware, but for more than a decade now, since Dark Souls itself in 2011, FromSoftware has grown to become renowned for a certain…
Read MoreUbisoft’s mismanagement of the Heroes of Might & Magic property has been such a tragedy, because it has left a real void that no one else has quite managed to fill. Apparently, the combination of turn-based tactical combat with turn-based empire-building strategy is harder to achieve than it seems, or…
Read MoreEd-0: Zombie Uprising is simultaneously excellent B-grade action fun, and an utter waste of an enormously talented developer’s finest qualities. Lancarse, the developer behind El Shaddai, Lost Dimension, Monark and The DioField Chronicle, knows how to tell a story. Ed-0 has an excellent concept. Related reading: For another roguelike with…
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