January2023
Mini Review A Space for the Unbound (PS5) - A Powerfully Engaging Story-Driven Adventure
Follow your dreams
A Space for the Unbound is an endearing story-driven adventure game set in Indonesia in the late 90s. It explores mature themes like depression, anxiety, and suicide through a relationship between two high school sweethearts, a boy called Atma and a girl called Raya. These aren't just any normal students, however, since they're...
November2022
Mini Review Inertial Drift: Twilight Rivals Edition (PS5) - More Style, More Substance in PS5 Port
Eurobeat the clock
We enjoyed Inertial Drift when it originally released back in 2020 for the PS4, and we're happy to declare that it can still be a deliciously addictive arcade racer here in 2022. Inertial Drift: Twilight Rivals Edition is an enhanced PS5 port (or DLC pack, if you're still on PS4), which throws in fresh content like more tracks,...
October2022
Mini Review Potion Permit (PS5) - Time to Play Doctor in a Charming But Buggy Town
Che-missed the mark
Potion Permit throws you in the deep end. The town of Moonbury needs a chemist, and as a fresh graduate from the capital you’re shipped in to cure the mayor’s daughter who has succumbed to a mysterious illness. Moonbury residents don’t have a great track record with chemists, however, and that will become apparent as the...
February2022
Mini Review Maglam Lord (PS4) - Rough Action RPG Saved By Dumb Sense of Humour
From Hell with love
Maglam Lord is a fish-out-of-water story in which you assume the role of a demon lord named, ahem, Killizerk. Stripped of your once great powers and pushed into a world where everything seems a bit too peaceful, you embark on a quest to restore your former glory. The only problem is that in order to retain what's left of your...
September2021
Mini Review Nexomon (PS5) - A Cheap and Mostly Cheerful Pokémon Clone
Pocketed monsters
The original Nexomon has arrived on PlayStation consoles, and right off the bat, we can tell you that it's a better monster catching RPG than its strangely structured sequel, Nexomon: Extinction. The original Nexomon has you follow a linear path through its world — much like you would in a traditional Pokémon game — catching...
Mini Review Kitaria Fables (PS5) - Charming Animal Adventure Combines Action with Crafting
The cat that crafted the cream
Kitaria Fables is a charming action RPG with an emphasis on crafting of all kinds. It takes place in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic characters, and the whole thing would be incredibly cosy if it wasn't for the fact that monsters roam the countryside. There is a story here — one that involves an empire, the...
April2021
Mini Review Root Film (PS4) - An Enjoyable, If Standard, Visual Novel
Lights! Camera! Inaction!
While it might not be as compelling as its predecessor, Root Letter, Kadokawa Games’ follow-up visual novel Root Film is still worthy of your time. You’ll visit a bevy of locations and witness the culture of Shimane Prefecture while trying to solve an ever-increasing number of murders. As the title of the game suggests,...
September2020
Review Inertial Drift - Arcade Racing with a Twist
Neon dreams
It feels like ages since we’ve had a decent arcade racer on PlayStation. Quick thrills often take a back seat to realism and vehicle calibration. Thankfully, Belfast-based dev Level 91 has channelled the likes of Burnout and Ridge Racer for its neon-drenched title Inertial Drift. There are no comprehensive difficulty modifiers here;...
Mini Review Nexomon: Extinction - With an Update or Two, This Could Be a Solid Pokémon Clone
Nixomon
Nexomon: Extinction is the best Pokémon clone you'll find on PlayStation 4 -- but admittedly, that isn't saying much. The addictive quality of catching and training often cute, sometimes cool looking monsters is here, but the game as a whole is let down by some uneven design. Nexomon doesn't really care that it's a blatant Pokémon...
August2020
Mini Review New Super Lucky's Tale - Short and Sweet Platformer Charms Throughout
Foxing clever
We tend to think that platformers are at their best when they're forgiving in the beginning but tougher than our Nan's steaks by the finale. New Super Lucky's Tale never progresses to the point where it poses any significant challenge, but it makes up for it with bags of charm and a campaign that's short enough to never wear out its...
Return to town
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combate isn't a bad dungeon crawler, but it's so low budget and basic that it barely manages to stand out. Based on the light novel and anime series of the same name -- DanMachi for short -- fans of the original work are bound to get the most out of this adventure. The game...
May2020
Review Arcade Spirits - A Visual Novel with a Lot of Heart
Ready Player One
Arcade Spirits is a romantic visual novel set in an alternative future where the video game crash in the 80s never happened. Imagine: the now-infamous E.T. game was held back until a higher quality title could be produced, meaning that Atari didn’t have to dump hundreds of thousands of unsold copies in the desert. The gaming...
September2019
Review Root Letter: Last Answer - Manga Turned Live Action Is a Pleasant Surprise
Is that a ghost?
As far as re-releases go, Root Letter: Last Answer is one of the most dramatic of the generation. Originally released on PlayStation 4 three years ago as a manga-based visual novel, the title from Kadokawa Games is back with an all-new live action overhaul that turns what was already a decent experience into something that anyone...
December2018
Review Nippon Marathon - Janky Japanese Japes
Takeshi's hassle
It does feel like there's some strange appetite at the moment for multiplayer games that are actually a little bit shoddy. Gang Beasts is kind of the poster boy for this brand of title, with its flailing, imprecise brawls leading to some golden moments. Nippon Marathon slots very neatly into this small but growing convention,...
September2018
Surprisingly not pants
Before we started playing Punch Line we weren’t really sure what to expect. All we’d heard about the game was that if the main protagonist looks at a lady's undies twice then the world would end. Yup, the set-up sounds completely bonkers and we were fully expecting the game to be mostly fan service, with a bunch of cheap...
July2018
Review All-Star Fruit Racing (PS4)
Running out of juice
With arcade racing games almost extinct on PS4, the time is ripe for a good old fashioned kart racer, and as far as concepts go, fruit is a surprisingly good fit for the genre. We'll try and keep this pithy: All-Star Fruit Racing pits fruit-themed characters in races through fruit-themed tracks in fruit-themed cars. Is it a...
April2018
Sucking the fun out of it all
It hasn’t even been a full two years since Gal*Gun: Double Peace caused a bit of a stir upon its PlayStation 4 launch, but in a desperate attempt to satisfy your kink, developer Inti Creates is back with a sequel. You won’t be surprised to hear then that Gal*Gun 2 attempts to be just as titillating as its...
November2017
Purr-fection or cat-astrophe?
Cat Quest is an open world RPG set in the land of Felingard which has been conquered by dragons. You play as the last of the blood knight cats meaning you have the ability to slay these dragons with the help of your trusty sword. That’s not the only issue in these lands, though, as an evil pussy named Drakoth has...
October2017
Murder she wrote
Chaos;Child is the latest visual novel brought to us by developer 5pb, and the fourth main entry in the ‘Science Adventure’ series. Chaos;Child sits in that series with acclaimed titles like Steins;Gate and this game’s predecessor, Chaos;Head, but don’t worry too much about having experience with either. Ultimately,...
August2017
She's not a bad rabbit, she's just drawn that way
You know that dream you have where you’re a bunny rabbit who mysteriously gets turned into a cute human girl? Eh? Oh, just us then? But imagine the fun you could have as a literal bunny girl with kick ass battle powers. Yeah, that’s Rabi-Ribi. Packing one of the strangest plots to have hit the...
Review White Day: A Labyrinth Named School (PS4)
Whispering corridors
In 2001, a little-known game called White Day: A Labyrinth Named School released to a Korean-only audience, and amongst those who played it, many considered the title to be one of the scariest games of all time. 16 years later, this slice of Korean horror has finally made its way to western shores thanks to an English...
May2017
Review Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2 (PS4)
Can't stop the rock
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- is a masterful fighting game, and if you've been hankering for more of Arc System Works' gorgeous brawler, then you probably won't want to miss Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2. An expansion to REVELATOR - which can either be purchased as downloadable content or as its own standalone release - Rev 2 adds a...
March2017
Review FlatOut 4: Total Insanity (PS4)
Safety car
It's a miracle that FlatOut 4: Total Insanity exists at all really. The previous instalment in this smashtastic series – 2011's irreparably awful FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction – is widely regarded as one of the worst racing games of all time, sitting just a position ahead of the notoriously appalling Big Rigs: Over the Road...
November2016
Do you underSTEIN?
Imagine if we managed to create a working time machine? How long before the future, past, and present were altered irrevocably – and would it be fun and games or trauma and death? Steins;Gate was a massively acclaimed visual novel developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus back in 2009 telling of humanity's first time-travelling...
October2016
Keep on ridin'
When it comes to racing, there's a raw thrill… An adrenaline rush that can't be explained. In terms of gaming, it's a genre that's much beloved and for good reason, whether it be arcade-style or simulation-based. Italian developer Milestone is no stranger to the racing genre, and last year it put out a motorcycle-sim racer called...
