July2022
Mini Review Marvel's Avengers (PS5) - Heroic Makeover Still Needed
Thor-t it would be better
Republished on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Marvel’s Avengers’ biggest mistake is that it wants to be a game you can play forever, without offering the variety to sustain such...
Remake 1.5 Remix
Republished on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is the PlayStation 5 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake, boasting enhanced graphics and better technical...
Review Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) - A Successful Reimagining with Stellar Gameplay
Make or limit break
Republished on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Well, here we are. The time has finally come for us to review Final Fantasy VII Remake, and it's surreal. We vividly remember the official...
April2022
The worst timeline
For some, Chrono Cross is a classic PlayStation-era RPG, and it's nice to see it being revived all these years later. While we wouldn't say that it's remembered anywhere near as fondly as Final Fantasy VII through IX, or its predecessor, the legendary Chrono Trigger, it's still a title steeped in PS1 charm — from its carefully...
March2022
Review Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (PS5) - Utterly Ridiculous Final Fantasy Spin-Off
Elixer? I hardly knew her!
The first four minutes of the ludicrously titled Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin set the scene perfectly. There’s a cutscene of a dark knight annihilating a platoon of soldiers while he carries an unconscious princess on his shoulder. Then you’re in a boss battle against a multi-headed creature without...
Review Babylon's Fall (PS5) - This Limp, Confusing Service Game Has Nothing Going for It
Babylon's Fail
Let’s begin the review with a stark personal story. We promise this is 100 per cent true: we fell asleep playing Babylon’s Fall. Multiple times. Sat there in an office chair, DualSense in hand, fast asleep. That could almost be the end of the review, surely? A new game from Platinum of all people, patron saints of hardcore gaming...
Mini Review Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden (PS4) - Reshuffled RPG Is Largely the Same
Another round?
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is a bit like playing a tabletop game with a slightly altered deck; there are some noticeable differences, but you're ultimately still playing the same thing. This follow-up to The Isle Dragon Roars is extremely similar for the most part — including its faults — but small gameplay changes and a...
October2021
Mini Review Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars (PS4) - A Memorable JRPG That Loses Steam Later On
Between Bliss and Blight
Don't let the name fool you — Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is not a card game. You're not building a deck or duelling opponents for a chance at winning their prized possessions. Instead, you're going on a very traditional, surprisingly straightforward role-playing adventure. Voice of Cards is a turn based Japanese...
Review Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5) - Faithful Take on the Guardians Really Rocks
Groot work
You never quite know what you're going to get with superhero games nowadays. The likes of Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham series and the more recent Marvel's Spider-Man are proof famous comic-book faces can set the standard for the industry, but then we all remember how Marvel's Avengers went. Unsurprisingly then, there's some apprehension...
Mini Review Actraiser Renaissance (PS4) - SNES Remake Is a Game of Three Thirds
Generous, gabby god game
Praised for being "A Game of Two Halves" in issue two of Super Play, gaming magazines like CVG and Mean Machines were consistent in applauding SNES ActRaiser in the early 1990s for combining two contrasting gameplay styles. This effective structure is preserved in PS4 Actraiser Renaissance, as this remake retains the...
September2021
Review Life Is Strange: True Colors (PS5) - Lame Story Saved by Great Characters
Chently please
Life Is Strange: Before the Storm has always felt like a well-kept secret; forever playing second fiddle to the two mainline entries that released either side of it, but quietly better than them both. We have Deck Nine Games to thank for that, which now finds itself at the helm of the franchise's next big game as original creator...
July2021
Badge of honour
The World Ends With You launched in 2007 on Nintendo DS and quickly gained a cult following despite that year being packed with a seemingly endless supply of classics. Designed by Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura, it was a darker variant of the usual Square Enix RPG formula. Taking a modern setting, a prescient focus on memetic...
Rabite stew
Legend of Mana was a weird game when it originally launched in 1999, and it's even weirder 22 years later. This is an action RPG where you essentially build your own adventure. Right from the start, you're given next to no guidance on where you are or what you need to do. Most players will find that there's barely a main story until...
April2021
Soul survivor
NieR always deserved a second chance, and you could argue that the very well received NieR Automata was exactly that. The tale of 2B touched the hearts of many a player back in 2017, but for a while, it felt like the original NieR had been left behind and largely forgotten. After all, the NieR that we got here in the West — the one...
Review Balan Wonderworld (PS5) - One of the Worst 3D Platformers of the Past Decade
There is no wonder in this world
Gamers have been treated to a 3D platformer renaissance over the past few years. The likes of Yooka-Laylee and A Hat in Time have shown the world that 3D platformers aren’t just a genre of the past, but a formula that can still be iterated upon. Enter Square Enix and legendary game designer Yuji Naka, best known...
December2020
Review Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Sloppy Story, Fun Puzzle Platforming
Bigger? Check. Better?
Republished on Wednesday 30th December, 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2021's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. Lara Croft makes one last attempt to prove to us she has what it takes to become the Tomb Raider she is destined to be. Taking a backseat as a...
Past, present, future
Already a colossal adventure clocking in at over 100 hours, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age just got even bigger, and, crucially, even better. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition adds to and reshapes the game with new character-driven stories, substantial gameplay features, and more. It's...
November2020
Review Just Cause 4 - An Explosive Open World Romp
Just bores
Republished on Wednesday 25th November, 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of December 2020's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. There's moments playing Just Cause 4 when you'll almost certainly find yourself grinning from ear to ear in much the same way that you might watching a...
August2020
Darkened crystal
The original Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the Nintendo GameCube was nothing short of a nightmare to set up. If you wanted to play co-op, each player needed their own Game Boy Advance and link cable. The handheld would become your controller, and its screen would display important information, like inventories and maps. It was...
June2020
Review Rise of the Tomb Raider - Another Great Adventure with Lara Croft
There's no place like home
Republished on Monday 29th June 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. The most controversial exclusivity deal since the Xbox 360 release of Final Fantasy XIII is over: Rise of the Tomb Raider has finally launched on...
January2020
Review Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind - Grandiose DLC for Hardcore Fans, and That's About It
Kingdom Hearts III.1
If there was ever a piece of media so utterly devoted to confusing its dedicated fan base and actively pushing away those who didn’t choose to invest their time in playing nine previous instalments, it's Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind. The base game's one and only piece of major DLC is probably the least accessible expansion of...
September2019
Review Final Fantasy VIII Remastered - A Fascinating JRPG Classic, Gameplay Flaws and All
I've got a GF that's better than that
Do we think Final Fantasy VIII is a bad game? Not at all. Do we think it's one of the best Final Fantasy games? Not quite, but even now, a whopping 20 years after its initial release on the original PlayStation, there's a unique kind of magic to Final Fantasy VIII. The world, the characters, and the story create...
August2019
Review Oninaki - A Dark and Intriguing Action RPG That Loses Its Edge
Break the cycle
Oninaki is developer Tokyo RPG Factory's third game. Like I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear before it, Oninaki is fundamentally a role-playing title, but it differs greatly in that it takes more inspiration from Diablo than it does Final Fantasy. This is a dungeon crawling action RPG with randomised loot, expansive character progression,...
July2019
Review Dragon Quest Builders 2 - A Rock Solid Sequel That's Every Bit as Addictive
Build it higher
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a delightful sequel that -- pardon the pun -- builds on its predecessor in a lot of welcome ways. This isn't a huge leap forward by any stretch, but if you enjoyed the first Dragon Quest Builders, then you're probably going to love this. Right off the bat, Builders 2 does a great job of easing you into...
March2019
Review Left Alive - An Embarrassing Imitation of Bygone Classics
Barely breathing
If it’s not immediately obvious, Left Alive is trying its absolute best to be the next Metal Gear Solid. Set in the mech-based universe of Front Mission, Square Enix’s latest experiment attempts to mash together a whole host of buzzwords into one cohesive experience that places the emphasis on stealth, but it fails on every...