Latest Reviews
Mini Review Rennsport (PS5) - A Sim Racer That Just Can't Match the Competition
Shifting down
As long as Polyphony Digital continues to release and refine Gran Turismo titles, simulation racers will always have a hard time competing on a Sony console. With Rennsport, developer Competition Company is looking to separate itself from the leader of the pack by creating a cross-platform sim experience that’s geared heavily...
Review Dispatch (PS5) - Interactive Superhero Show Is a Damn Good Time
Cape diem
It only takes playing through one or two episodes of Dispatch to realise that this superhero comedy-drama has bags of potential. But spread between a total of eight instalments, does it stick the landing? The thing about Dispatch is it's not really much of a game in the traditional sense. This is more about watching than interacting, and...
Review Lumines Arise (PS5) - The Most Beautiful and Most Complete Lumines Game Ever
Block out the noise
In many ways, Lumines Arise represents the series reclaiming its own legacy. Tetris Effect is fantastic, of course, but its fancy lights and catchy music can be traced all the way back to 2004, when the original Lumines gave the PSP a puzzle game to rival the timeless classic. Lumines Arise, then, adopts a similar style and...
Mini Review Once Upon a Katamari (PS5) - An Eccentric, Joyful Time Capsule
All hail the Prince
Once Upon a Katamari brings back Bandai Namco's cult classic franchise with an all-new game that feels ripped straight from its PS2 prime. By and large, this is the same Katamari Damacy madness we all fell in love with 20 years ago — roll a ball around each stage, gathering up myriad objects to make it as big as you can. With...
Hey Jude
Having been shackled to the PS3 ever since its release all the way back in 2011, it's great to see Tales of Xillia make a deserved comeback through Tales of Xillia Remastered. Part of Bandai Namco's ongoing mission to re-release just about every Tales title on as many platforms as possible, Xillia Remastered is a predictably solid...
Mini Review 1000xRESIST (PS5) - Story-First Experience Is a Marvel
Fall of mankind
With one of the most fascinating narratives on PS5 backing it, 1000xRESIST is more of an experience than something you traditionally play. It’s more involved than a visual novel, as exploration and light platforming break up cutscenes and conversations. For all intents and purposes, however, everything the game does is in service...
Review Wreckreation (PS5) - Ambitious, Burnout-Inspired Racer Is a Near Miss
Crash out
Wreckreation is a game made by Three Fields Entertainment, a small studio led by Criterion Games alumni Alex Ward and Fiona Sperry. With their combined experience on the Burnout series, fans have been hopeful for a spiritual successor that can live up to one of the kings of arcade racing. Although this is the team's best and most...
Review ARC Raiders (PS5) - A Triumph in Multiplayer Immersion
See you topside, Raider
ARC Raiders is easily one of the best multiplayer games currently on PS5. This sophomore release from Swedish developer Embark Studios manages to balance all the hardcore elements of an extraction shooter while making it accessible, cinematic, immersive, and, most of all, just damn good fun. ARC Raiders is set in a...
Review Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection (PS5) - An Almost Flawless Victory for Fighting Game Fans
Get over here
Not every game in the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection is a klassic, but dev Digital Eclipse’s ability to kontextualise kontent makes this a kompilation well worth owning. If you’ve played the excellent Atari 50 or any of the Gold Master Series kollections, then you’ll know roughly what to expect here: a playable timeline of...
Mini Review Reach (PSVR2) - Great VR Parkour Let Down by Dull Story
Greatness out of reach
Reach is the latest VR adventure from nDreams, the developer of the excellent VR shooter, Synapse. With that in mind, we had high hopes going into its latest outing. But can Reach capture that VR magic found in Synapse, while delivering on its cinematic promise? Well, sort of. In Reach, you play as Rosa, a movie stunt...
Mini Review Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (PS5) - A Comforting Couple of Classic JRPGs
No two ways about it
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake bundles two classic JRPGs together that, somewhat confusingly, are linked to but set chronologically after Square Enix's 2024 revival, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. Together, they comprise the Erdrick trilogy and continue the series' consistently high quality, offering traditional turn-based...
Mini Review Halls of Torment (PS5) - Proof That Vampire Survivors Wasn't a Fluke
Walk the walk
To call Halls of Torment a Vampire Survivors clone would be overly reductive, but it's probably the easiest way to start describing what it is. It's very similar in terms of its structure and flow, but introduces some interesting wrinkles that give it a pretty unique feel. For starters, its aesthetic is a pitch-perfect recreation of...
Mini Review Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition (PS5) - An Overpriced Racer That Loses Its Grip
Family can't fix this
We’ve never wanted to recommend a racer more than Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition. This scrappy PS5 port of a 2022 arcade cabinet hails from Raw Thrills, the US-based dev founded by coin-op royalty Eugene Jarvis. If you’ve not stepped foot in a sticky arcade for several years, you may know the studio best for its...
Review Full Metal Schoolgirl (PS5) - This Offbeat Anime Roguelite Somehow Gets It Right
Learning the hard way
For a game about robotic students raging against a sinister regime, Full Metal Schoolgirl is weirdly relatable. The onset of AI has brought life to a horde of automaton employees known as the Working Dead, tasked by a tyrannical corporation to behave as corporate slaves. With a single organisation controlling Tokyo’s...
Review The Outer Worlds 2 (PS5) - Mechanically Fantastic RPG Struggles to Be Memorable
In one ear, Outer the other
The Outer Worlds 2 is Obsidian trying to rediscover the role-playing magic that once defined it as a juggernaut within the genre. And in a lot of ways, this bigger, and generally better sequel accomplishes its goals. Compared to The Outer Worlds — and indeed, compared to many other modern RPGs — the game provides...
Mini Review PowerWash Simulator 2 (PS5) - A Bigger, Better, Squeaky Clean Sequel
Lather, rinse, repeat
PowerWash Simulator 2 is a pretty straightforward sequel. It sticks to the core of what made the first game such a cult hit, but builds on it just enough with a few smart revisions and new features. Broadly, this is more of the same, but so strong is the satisfying clean-'em-up gameplay that we don't mind one bit. Each level...
Mini Review Tekken 3 (PS1) - PlayStation's Definitive Fighter Is Still King
Enter the Tekken
Tekken was already a big deal before Tekken 3 came along, but the third instalment rocketed Bandai Namco's series to truly awesome heights. It was both a revolutionary 3D fighting game and a commercial juggernaut, helping define an entire console generation. But perhaps the most impressive thing about Tekken 3 is that, over three...
Let's talk about Rex, baby
The Jurassic World Evolution series' greatest strength has always been how it sits comfortably in the sweet spot between serious park building mechanics and the giddy wonder of dinosaur related mayhem. Jurassic World Evolution 3 is the best yet — not revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, but a game that knows...
Review Ninja Gaiden 4 (PS5) - A Bloodthirsty Action Game Ripped Straight from the PS3 Era
Stark raven mad
Ninja Gaiden 4 feels like a game that came out 15 years ago, and we mean that as a compliment. This blood-soaked, hard-as-nails action game eschews many contemporary design decisions, instead giving players a traditional, linear experience that's refreshingly straightforward. A collaboration between action specialists PlatinumGames...
You're Phyred
Over its first couple of hours, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 does its best to convince you that it might actually be pretty good. Against all odds, this deeply troubled project could rise above expectations. But as the game's structure becomes more and more apparent, the real Bloodlines 2 shapes up to be a bit of a disaster...
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...
