Bandai Namco Game Reviews
Mini Review Tales of Symphonia Remastered (PS4) - Barebones Remaster Distracts from a Classic RPG
Lloyd Irving, wake up!
Still one of the most highly regarded instalments in Namco's long-running series, Tales of Symphonia could be considered a classic. Indeed, it's easy forget that the game's almost 20 years old — and Tales of Symphonia Remastered shows that the adventure actually holds up surprisingly well. The storytelling's a little...
Review Scarlet Nexus (PS5) - 'Brain Punk' RPG Gets a Lot Right, But Ends Up Feeling Stunted
Seeing red
Republished on Wednesday, 15th February, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of February 2023's PS Plus Extra and Premium lineup. The original text follows. Scarlet Nexus is quite a unique action RPG set in a world where the human brain has evolved. Most people are hooked up to a kind of...
Mini Review Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS5) - Accessible Action RPG Plays Best on PS5
Learn to fly
Whether you're an existing fan or completely new to the world of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot remains a relatively accessible retelling of Akira Toriyama's timeless series. Taking the form of an action RPG spread across large, fully explorable maps, this is a mostly accurate adaptation of the source material, hitting all of the...
Review One Piece Odyssey (PS5) - Anime Dragon Quest Is Oh So Good
Odyssey, ya see!
If you ignore the One Piece: Pirate Warriors sub-series for a second, the last title fans of Luffy and his eccentric crew had to look forward to was One Piece: World Seeker. A disaster of an open world game, it felt unfinished with horrible gameplay and visuals — enough to make any enthusiast sceptical of future projects. However,...
Review Dragon Ball FighterZ (PS4) - One of the Best Anime Fighters Ever
Super Saiyan Godly
Republished on Wednesday, 11th January, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2023's PS Plus line up. The original text follows. Ever since Dragon Ball FighterZ was revealed, it feels like the hype train has never stopped rolling – and for good reason. A Dragon Ball...
Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me (PS5) - One for the Fans Lacks Ambition
I want to play a game
With four instalments under its belt, The Dark Pictures Anthology from Supermassive Games feels like a roller coaster. Following an underwhelming start in Man of Medan, the horror series was getting better and better with Little Hope and House of Ashes. It appears, however, the latter may have been the peak o
Mini Review Dragon Ball: The Breakers (PS4) - Janky Casual Fun In Familiar Setting
Is it worth surviving?
Dragon Ball: The Breakers breaks into unfamiliar territory for the franchise — a realm that'll be more than recognisable to avid Dead by Daylight players. This 1v7 multiplayer game is more than just a reskin of its inspirations, however. While it falters in several game mechanics, it uses the beloved manga and anime property...
Error error error error error!
A remaster complete with additional features, characters, and combat adjustments, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R remains an excellent adaptation of the popular anime and manga property at its core. The attention to detail is often outstanding, with the game referencing all kinds of interactions and events...
Review SD Gundam Battle Alliance (PS5) - Addictive Action RPG Is an Absolute Treat for Fans
Breakout hit
Every now and then, a licensed anime title comes along that goes above and beyond your expectations. Not just an ode to the source material, but a finely crafted video game as well. That's SD Gundam Battle Alliance in a nutshell — an almost dangerously addictive action RPG that franchise fans will likely adore. Despite its cutesy,...
Review Pac-Man World Re-Pac (PS5) - Solid Update On a PS1 Platforming Classic
Aw shoot, here comes Pac-Man
Following on from last month's release of Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series, Bandai Namco has come back with an update of another one of its PS1 classics: 1999’s Pac-Man World. Sadly, unlike Klonoa, this is a remake of just the first game, rather than a remastered collection including the two PS2 sequels. Thankfully,...
Review Digimon Survive (PS4) - Darker Digimon Story Carries Some Flat RPG Elements
A little help from my friends
Digimon Survive is not the RPG that some fans wanted it to be. Recruiting, training, and battling Digimon takes a backseat in favour of a very text-heavy story that unfolds through largely static scenes. In short, this is a visual novel first and foremost, to the point where some of the title's RPG elements almost start...
Review Little Nightmares (PS4) - Unsettling Puzzle Platformer Hits the Spot
The need for greed
Republished on Wednesday 27th July 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of August's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Much like LittleBigPlanet, the macabre puzzle platformer Little Nightmares includes sugar, spice, and all things nice – it just chooses to stir...
Review Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series (PS5) - No-Frills Remasters of Old School Platformers
It's-a me, Klonoa
Back in the late '90s, the platforming genre was going through a bit of an identity crisis. The technological heft of consoles like the original PlayStation meant that, for pretty much the first time, our gaming worlds could be expanded into true three-dimensional spaces. However, this meant there was a whole new dimension of...
Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (PS4) - An Unexplosive Opening
Until yawn
Republished on Wednesday 29th June 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Maybe it's just because our Dad let us watch Jaws when we were six, but we've always been skeptical of the sea. It's wet, and there's weird things in there...
Mini Review Pac-Man Museum+ (PS4) - Meaty Compilation Provides Plenty to Chew On
Don't ghost it
Ignore all the Ms. Pac-Man legal issues – awkward! – and it’s hard to imagine Pac-Man Museum+ being much more comprehensive than it is. There are absentees, of course – long-time power pill poppers may lament the lack of, say, Pac-Man World from the PS1 – but across 14 titles, you’re effectively getting the career...
Review Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker (PS4)
Believe it
Republished on Wednesday 1st June 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of June's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. For the uninitiated, Naruto is a long running manga series published in the weekly Shounen Jump periodical straight out of the Land of the Rising Sun. Naruto...
Review Elden Ring (PS5) - By Far FromSoftware's Best Ever Game
A song of life and death
Elden Ring is a special, once in a generation type of game. You can feel it the moment you push open the set of double doors looking out onto the opening area of Limgrave and begin exploring the vast open world at your feet. It’s an astonishing feat, as Japanese developer FromSoftware adapts its wide but ultimately linear...
Mini Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (PS5) - The Best Game in the Series So Far
Trapped between Iraq and a hard place
After the crummy Man of Medan and the better-but-not-quite-there Little Hope, The Dark Pictures Anthology has finally started hitting its stride with House of Ashes. Set in Iraq in 2003, the invading United States army is looking for weapons of mass destruction wink wink. Satellite imagery has alerted them to a...
Review Tales of Arise (PS5) - A Fantastic JRPG, and the Strongest Tales Game in a Long Time
Blazing a Tale
Big budget, Japanese role-playing games are a rarity these days. Outside of obvious mainstays like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, it's a genre that often has to make do with more cost-efficient production. You either get your breakout hit — like Atlus did with Persona 5 — or you go underappreciated for what feels like an...
Review Little Nightmares II (PS4) - An Artistic Exercise in Trial and Error
Maw than meets the eye
You can’t ignore the LittleBigPlanet in Little Nightmares II. Tarsier Studios may have turned to horror with its eerie 2017 puzzle platformer Little Nightmares, but the Swedish studio’s body of work largely involves Sackboy, and he hangs over this gloomy PlayStation 4 sequel like an ominous shadow. Mono moves like Media...
Mini Review Twin Mirror (PS4) - Yeah, This Exists
Man in the mirror
The more games DONTNOD Entertainment puts out, the more it feels like Life Is Strange really was just a fluke. The developer’s latest effort, titled Twin Mirror, is the worst of the lot as a nonsensical story, flat and uninteresting characters, and poor performance riddle this narrative-based adventure with flaws. Protagonist...
Review Katamari Damacy Reroll (PS4) - Roll 'Em Up Remake Rocks
Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'
We're sorry for the Limp Bizkit lyric in the tagline. But if we had to think about them while trying to come up with puns on rolling then it's only fair that you think about them too. If, by chance, you don't know who Limp Bizkit is then all you need to know is that the early 2000s weren't kind to rock music, but...
Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope - So Much Better Than Man of Medan
There's hope yet for Supermassive
We don't need to tell you what game The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope will immediately be compared to, so let's get it over and done with straight away. The second instalment in Supermassive Games' compendium series is the closest it has come to replicating the success of Until Dawn. It finally feels like the...
Review Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions - Anime Hijinks Liven Up Uneven Arcade Footy
Missed a sitter
We can't imagine there's a huge overlap on the Venn diagram for football fans and anime and manga and enthusiasts, but here we are. Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is aiming squarely for the demographic of people that have both a Sky Sports and a Crunchyroll subscription, and good luck to it, we say. If you're not familiar...
Review Project CARS 3 - A Somewhat Fun Arcade Racer Going Through an Identity Crisis
Change is good. Or is it?
Project CARS 3 is not a simulator. Those familiar with the series may be surprised by this, but it’s true. It doesn’t look or feel like a simulator, either on the track or away from it. There are over 200 cars with most of the big hitters on the roster, but there’s no celebration of them in the menus like you get in...
Review Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme VS. Maxiboost ON - The Complete Gundam VS. Package
Maximum output
Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme VS. Maxiboost ON is pretty much the pinnacle of the long-running arcade series -- especially on console. It's an intricate, impressively comprehensive game that has so much to offer, whether you're playing solo, with a friend, or against strangers online. It's even a little overwhelming at first, but much...
Review Fast & Furious Crossroads - This Basic, Broken Mess Is Hardly Family Friendly
It's time for Teh-ken
Fast & Furious Crossroads is a movie tie-in game without a film to actually tie itself to. The coronavirus pandemic has delayed Fast & Furious 9 to April 2021, leaving Slightly Mad Studios in an understandably awkward position. The Project CARS developer has decided to pull the trigger and launch the game, but it would...
Mini Review Namco Museum Archives Volume 1 & 2 - A Basic Trip Down Memory Lane
Double trouble
Namco Museum Archives Volume 1 and 2 bring back classics in two separate collections, each offering 11 games. Titles originate from both arcade and home console, and span an acceptable range of genres, as well as including its most famous IPs, such as Pac-Man and Galaga. Perhaps unsurprisingly, both volumes lean into the shmup genre...
Review One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 - Carried By Fantastically Fun Characters
Sailing the 7/10 seas
We're big fans of the One Piece: Pirate Warriors games. We reckon One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is the best of the bunch, and we'd even go as far to say that it's one of the very best Warriors titles on PlayStation 4. Naturally then, we had high expectations for One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, and while it doesn't quite do enough...
Review My Hero One's Justice 2 - Disappointing Sequel Is Still Just an Average Arena Fighter
Less Plus Ultra, more Meh Ultra
My Hero One’s Justice 2 is the second fighting game based on My Hero Academia, arguably one of the most popular anime in the world. As its title suggests, My Hero One’s Justice 2 is the follow-up to 2018’s equally awkwardly titled My Hero One’s Justice -- and it's every bit as bland as its predecessor. My...
