DON'T NOD Game Reviews
Review Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 (PS5) - Slow Burn Opener Means Part 2 Must Deliver
Stand by me
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 is the first in this intriguing two-parter, and an ambitious undertaking from the original creators of Life Is Strange. Establishing two timelines, both in the mid-90s and present day, Bloom & Rage is a return to Don’t Nod’s roots with a killer setting, lovable characters, and plenty of...
Review Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (PS5) - Storytelling Great Has Gameplay to Match
Goodbye my lover
Ever since Life Is Strange properly put the developer on the map, story over gameplay seems to have been the mantra at DON'T NOD. That's no bad thing; it gave rise to Life Is Strange 2 and Xbox exclusive Tell Me Why. However, with the likes of Vampyr and Jusant also in its back catalogue, there's always been potential there for the...
Review Jusant (PS5) - Tactile Traversal in an Arid, Atmospheric World
Belay the spire
Though wildly different in some ways, Don't Nod's Jusant shares a surprising amount of common ground with Death Stranding. Both games are set within the aftermath of their respective, titular disasters; they're each rather lonely adventures, perhaps even more so in the former's case; and their traversal systems are unusually...
It's Life Is Strange, Jim, but not as we know it
On paper, Life Is Strange developer Don't Nod pivoting to the visual novel genre makes sense given its penchant for twisting, choice-based narratives. In practice, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is an underwhelming first foray into the space, lacking the world-building necessary to truly sell a story...
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 Vampyr - An Intriguing, Bloodthirsty RPG
Sucky combat
Republished on Wednesday 30th September 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. DONTNOD has so far released two games: 2013's often forgotten Remember Me and the breakout success Life Is Strange. Vampyr is the ambitious company's...
Review Life Is Strange 2: Episode 2 - Rules Is Spirited But Slow
Smells like teen spirit
Life Is Strange 2 sure is living up to its name, with the direct sequel to DONTNOD’s surprise episodic smash bumbling under-the-radar like it doesn’t even exist. Since the release of the follow-up’s debut, Roads, popular developer Telltale Games has shut down, and the third instalment in The Walking Dead: The Final...
Review Life Is Strange 2 - Episode 1: Roads Is Profoundly Political
A tale of two sons
Life Is Strange 2 is profoundly political, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. This is a tale about two Latino boys travelling across Trump’s America, and it plays out more or less exactly as you’d expect it to. The story’s much more grounded in reality than the original series ever was, and that means that it’s filled to...
Review The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (PS4)
The kids aren't alright
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is a free first glimpse into the extended universe of Life Is Strange 2, which is set to debut later this year. Starring a 10-year-old named Chris several years after the events in Arcadia Bay, the entire episode takes place during a lazy Saturday morning several miles away in a new...
Review Life Is Strange: Episode 5 - Polarized (PS4)
Say goodbye to the Strangerhood
Republished on Wednesday, 31st May 2017: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of June 2017's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Well, the moment is finally here. After nine months and five episodes, the first season of DONTNOD's Life is Strange has...
Review Life Is Strange: Episode 4 - Dark Room (PS4)
Dark side of the moons
French developer DONTNOD really kicked things into overdrive with the third episode of Life Is Strange. While the first two episodes were certainly divisive – even amongst the staff here - it would be hard to argue that the series wasn't in the process of carving out its own niche. Episode three was where proceedings truly...
Review Life Is Strange: Episode 3 - Chaos Theory (PlayStation 4)
Life is beautiful
Life Is Strange: Episode 3 – Chaos Theory marks the third of five planned story instalments in Remember Me developer DONTNOD's divisive high school story. We had our fair share of problems with the first two episodes, but left the door open for the developer to truly deliver on the glimpses of promise that it had shown thus far...
Review Life Is Strange: Episode 2 - Out of Time (PlayStation 4)
Boyhood: The Game
On the surface, DONTNOD's divisive Life Is Strange seems to have a lot in common with Richard Linklater's Boyhood in tone and feel. Sure, there's the heavy sci-fi underpinning and a city with plenty of dark secrets – in a Twin Peaks kind of way – but it retains the feel that the aforementioned flick captured by incorporating...
Review Life Is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis (PlayStation 4)
Go f*** yourselfie
Life Is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis marks the latest release from French developer DONTNOD, the studio behind Remember Me. Being an episodic game, it marks a change of pace for the firm, and allows it to join the ranks of Telltale Games, who has essentially defined the model in its current guise. Series like this are extremely...
Review Remember Me (PlayStation 3)
Who are you again?
A game that has ironically slipped under the radar for many, Remember Me is something of a risk for Capcom, a brand new IP that borrows gameplay elements from numerous popular titles, and weaves them together within a futuristic world that’s perhaps not too far from our own reality. It’s a linear title that does things mostly...
