PS5 Game Reviews
Mini Review Ball X Pit (PS5) - A Fiendishly Compelling Mix of Vampire Survivors and Breakout
What a load of balls
Ball X Pit is one of those dangerous games you'll intend to play for 30 minutes, only to lose hours to it instead. A heady combination of Vampire Survivors and Breakout (with some bullet hell sprinkled in), this roguelite arcade action title is incredibly hard to put down. It's a game of two halves. You select a character and...
Review Battlefield 6 (PS5) - The Best Battlefield in Over a Decade
The Battlefield we've been waiting for
Battlefield 6 is the best the series has been in years. EA and its collective of Battlefield Studios are clearly keen to get this one right. And while this military outing isn't a slam dunk, it easily delivers on its promise of high-octane, cinematic, and explosive multiplayer action. Battlefield 6 marks the...
Review Train Sim World 6 (PS5) - This Scenic Ride Rarely Surprises
Steady as she rolls
Train Sim World 6 has evolved dramatically since the first game in the franchise, released in 2018. Back then, the franchise felt scrappy and simplistic, but it’s come on leaps and bounds in the years since. This newest instalment is perhaps the most polished yet: its presentation – while flawed under scrutiny – gives you...
Review Absolum (PS5) - Dragon's Crown and Hades Combine in Stunning Beat-'Em-Up
Arcana believe it
Roguelike games are everywhere these days, to the point where you're actually surprised when the latest indie release isn't peddling death as a progression mechanic. It's a dreadfully crowded genre, but if there's any roguelike that deserves your attention this year, it's Absolum. Fusing the core gameplay of a side-scrolling...
Review Little Nightmares III (PS5) - Faithful Sequel Keeps It Creepy, But Plays It Safe
Better off Alone
Playing through Little Nightmares III feels like slipping back into a familiar dream, one longtime fans will recognise the moment it begins. Supermassive Games hasn’t tried to reinvent the series in any wild way, opting instead to mirror the grotesque horror and endearing puzzles that have defined Little Nightmares from the...
Mini Review Yooka-Replaylee (PS5) - A Second Draft Worthy of the Banjo-Kazooie Comparisons
Turn the pagie
When Yooka-Laylee was released in 2017, it was a fine game. Many came in extremely excited for it but were largely let down overall; it turned out to be pretty middling at best. With that said, Yooka-Replaylee brings in a second draft that improves on almost everything. This isn’t a mere remaster — this is a revitalization that...
Mini Review Dreams of Another (PS5) - A Disjointed, Abstract Curio and Little More
No creation without destruction
In Dreams of Another, you use multiple weapons intended to inflict harm, but in this realm they instead bring order to the world around you. This unusual new title from the team behind the PixelJunk series feels desperate to present its ideas about life, death, and the human condition, and while it certainly has a...
Review Digimon Story Time Stranger (PS5) - Monster Taming RPG Squanders So Much Potential
De-digivolution
The core of Digimon Story Time Stranger is fantastic. As is the case with the Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth games, the underlying system of discovering, raising, and evolving your Digimon is where this long-awaited RPG excels. However, all too often, Time Stranger stands in its own way, sidelining its brilliantly addictive gameplay...
Review Dying Light: The Beast (PS5) - The Series at Its Best
Beasty Boys
Dying Light: The Beast is the DLC turned full-blown release from Polish developer Techland. Technically the third entry in a zombie-killing franchise that debuted a decade ago, The Beast brings back original protagonist Kyle Crane, tosses him into a new setting of Castor Woods, and dials up the horror for something much more aligned with...
Mini Review Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (PS5) - Fine Remake Won't Set the World on Fire
The Pac is back... again
While best known for his arcade roots, Pac-Man's PlayStation history is arguably best defined by the Pac-Man World trilogy. Following the 2022 remake of the original Pac-Man World, the question on many fans’ minds was whether Pac-Man World 2 would be getting the same treatment. Three years later, Now Production and Bandai...
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Review Ghost of Yotei (PS5) - The Greatest Sucker Punch Game Ever
You Me at Yotei Six
If ever there was one developer considered the master of making sequels, Sucker Punch would have a strong case for the accolade. With Sly 2: Band of Thieves and inFAMOUS 2 already in its back catalogue, the Bellevue studio has upped its game all over again for Ghost of Yotei. Five years of expanding and improving upon Ghost of...
Capitalism can be cute
The gameplay structure of Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian feels a bit like a recipe, with intertwining elements that each contribute to the sum of its parts. This is fitting, we suppose, because the game is all about brewing concoctions as an alchemist to both aid you in turn-based combat and...
Review NHL 26 (PS5) - A Small Step in the Right Direction for EA's Hockey Sim
Tee it up
Annual sports titles are generally fixated on iteration. Adhering to an annual release schedule for titles with massive scope and a general high bar for visual presentation is difficult, so the titles have to cherry-pick a few things to change for a given year and hope things improve. This approach did not end well with last year’s...
Square's masterwork stands the test of time
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is almost the definitive way to play what is easily the most influential tactics game ever made. Square's stone-cold PS1 classic, Final Fantasy Tactics, has been reborn in all its isometric glory, featuring fully voiced dialogue and a gorgeous graphical...
Review EA Sports FC 26 (PS5) - Flexible Football for Two Types of Players
A keeper
We suppose you could say EA Sports FC 26 is a game of two halves. For years now there’s been a push and pull between different types of virtual football players, some preferring a more true-to-life representation of the beautiful game, while others want a more fast-paced, arcade-leaning experience. EA Sports’ solution? Authentic and...
Review Baby Steps (PS5) - A Rewarding, Surrealist Odyssey for Those Willing to Fail
Deft standing
Baby Steps would be a very easy game to dislike. On first appearances, it looks like one of those asinine rage-bait games that has nothing valuable to say. It stars a character who's bumbling, nervous, and out of shape. The visuals are, to put it one way, on the ugly side. The truth is that this is one of those rage games, but it's...
Review Silent Hill F (PS5) - Brutal Survival Horror Walks a New Path
Fatal framing
13 years after the two failures that killed the franchise for a generation (the one-two punch of Downpour and Book of Memories), a new, traditional, and safe entry in the Silent Hill series must have been a tantalising prospect for Konami. It’s just got the fanbase back on board with an excellent remake of Silent Hill 2, and only a...
Review Earthion (PS5) - A Scorching Shmup That Soars Beyond Nostalgia
Shoot for the stars
Seasoned SEGA Genesis specialist Yuzo Koshiro was always going to work wonders when he announced he was creating an all-new shmup with the 16-bit system in mind. But Earthion is not just an outstanding homage to the intergalactic escapades of past – it may be up there with genre titans like R-Type and Gradius. The game walks...
Review Borderlands 4 (PS5) - A Chaotic Return That Shoots Straight, Even if Its Performance Stutters
Bold and brash
Any franchise that’s been around for over 15 years and spanned three console generations is going to have its ups, downs, and remasters. Borderlands is no exception, and you’d be hard pressed to convince anyone that things have been looking up after a ho-hum Tiny Tina spinoff, the dreadful New Tales from the Borderlands that...
Mini Review Rise of Industry 2 (PS5) - Bodacious Industry Sim May Be Worth Your Investment
Steel yourself
Rise of Industry 2 is a business management game and the successor to the original Rise of Industry from 2019. This new instalment is quite different to the original and has been developed by SomaSim instead of Dapper Penguin Studios. Set in the 1980s (much later than the original), you run your own industrial corporation which you...
Review Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (PS5) - PS5's Best Kart Racer Is Robust, Chaotic Fun
Can you feel the sunshine?
Sonic's aptitude for speed makes him a perfect candidate for a racing game, but it's fair to say his motorsport career has been through some highs and lows over the years. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds feels like a concerted effort to get the spin-off series back on course, and while it isn't perfect, it's probably the...
Naoe's not the time
Only accessible after you've completed the main story of Assassin's Creed Shadows, Claws of Awaji is a post-game expansion that'll take you somewhere between five and ten hours to complete, depending on how thoroughly you explore the island setting. In terms of narrative, the DLC wraps up several loose ends that were left...
Review Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PS5) - This Is How You Remake a Classic RPG
Bracer yourself
The Trails franchise presents one of the biggest time commitments in modern gaming. Spread across a total of 13 (thirteen!) interconnected games at the time of writing this review, the series' density is both its greatest strength and its most talked-about curse. And so it makes a lot of sense for developer Falcom to revisit the...
Mini Review Henry Halfhead (PS5) - A Whimsical and Playful Curio
Half life
Henry Halfhead spells it out in the name, really; you play a character named Henry, and he's the top half of a head. In this fun little biographical adventure, you take control of this guy, following his life all the way from a curious baby all the way through to adulthood. The other thing to know about Henry is that they have the...
Mini Review Neon Noodles (PS5) - Cyberpunk Factory Puzzler Doesn't Quite Satisfy
Food for thought
Neon Noodles is an assembly line puzzle game set in a dystopian future where it's your job to mass-produce various items of food. While that may sound a fairly tasty premise on the face of it, unfortunately the game itself doesn't quite have the sauce. The game is essentially about organising grid-based automations to fulfil...
Mini Review LEGO Voyagers (PS5) - A Short and Very Sweet Co-Op Experience
LEGO on an adventure
LEGO Voyagers might be one of the most adorable co-op games you can play, and it manages that with just a few plastic bricks. Only playable in co-op with a second participant (it has Friend's Pass functionality, by the way), this is a short puzzle platformer in which you play a pair of tiny, living LEGO pieces, on a mission to...
Review Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection (PS5) - A True Look at What Could Possibly Go Wrong
When do the nine lives run out?
Like a cockroach continuing to return from sales situations that have killed many better series, Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection packs all of the bobcat’s “classic” games into a bundle, including the various console versions for each release, and even a refurbished version for its worst game. Also included are...
Review Hollow Knight: Silksong (PS5) - A Silky Smooth Sequel Well Worth the Wait
But you'll needle little patience
Hollow Knight: Silksong, a sequel originally planned as free downloadable content for Hollow Knight, was first shown off in February 2019 and fans have been clamouring for its release ever since. This is evidenced by the fact the original has sold a whopping 15 million copies, and the sheer number of fans...
New mystery, same old Indy
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants is a fun little slice of Indy action. Set within the maze-like tunnels beneath the Vatican City, Indy, working with a priest and his pet parrot, is trying to uncover a millenia-spanning mystery regarding giant warriors. The DLC, which runs for about three hours or...
Outer the way
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion makes a rough first impression. After creating your custom protagonist, you're thrust straight into a chaotic action sequence with next to no explanation of controls or mechanics. You haplessly slash and blast your way through a series of samey sci-fi corridors as characters waffle over comms, and the...
