Humble Games Game Reviews
Mini Review #BLUD (PS5) - Amazing Cartoon Aesthetics Elevate a Decent Action Adventure
Fangs for the memories
We'd normally refuse to review a game with a hashtag in its title, but #BLUD is ultimately worth writing about. This is a top-down action adventure with a superbly realised aesthetic, evoking strong Cartoon Network vibes. If you're a fan of the highly stylised shows that helped define the 90s and 2000s for many a millennial,...
Mini Review Signalis (PS4) - Last-Gen Release Has Its Feet in the Future
Stunning revival of classic survival (horror)
Keycard puzzles, limited inventory, scarce ammo. The survival horror formula may be nothing new, but the sheer tension of Signalis shows once again that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — just move it to an eerily abandoned mining colony on the edge of a Nazi-like galactic empire. Even more...
Mini Review Prodeus (PS5) - Old School Shooter Is Derivative But So Damn Good
From hell with love
The so-called 'boomer shooter' is a common sight these days — retro-styled blast-'em-ups that promise the pixelated thrills of early DOOM games and their ilk. Prodeus is one such project — a straightforward take on the genre that can set its stall with a single screenshot; this is the definition of a boomer shooter. But what...
Review Temtem (PS5) - A Refreshing, Modern Take on the Monster-Battling RPG
Gotta catch Tem all
Temtem has technically been available on PS5 for the best part of two years, but with the game now out of its early access phase, it's time we gave it a proper shake. The RPG is now fully featured, and while some might hand-wave it off as some unholy imitation of Pokémon, the game does enough to stand on its own two feet...
Mini Review Unpacking (PS5) - Making Chores Fun
What’s in the box? What’s in the box?!
Unpacking’s title marvellously — and succinctly — informs you of what to expect. You inhabit the life of a young woman across a number of years, living in her shoes solely through unboxing her worldly possessions. One year you might be decorating your college dorm room, the next moving back home to...
Review Dodgeball Academia (PS4) - Punchy Sports RPG Is Top Class
Dodge this
There's so much to like about the cheerful, colourful RPG that is Dodgeball Academia. You play as Otto, a determined young man who enrols in a prestigious dodgeball institution, with ambitions of becoming the best of the best. Everything at the academy revolves around the cartoonishly violent sport, and over the course of the game, you'll...
Mini Review Carto - Map-Manipulating Puzzler Is an Adorable Adventure
Mo maps mo problems
Carto has a unique gameplay hook — you can rearrange the world map in real time to solve puzzles — but it smartly doesn't rely solely on it. You play as a small girl who's separated from her airship-flying grandmother, and must use some map-altering abilities to reunite the pair. However, this simple task has you traversing...
Review Forager - A Refreshingly Simple and Fiendishly Addictive Adventure
Living off the land
Forager is a wonderfully apt name for this curious adventure game. Not only does it tell you immediately what you'll be doing - foraging for resources with which to build up the world - it also hints at the game's many borrowed elements. It's a potent mix of classic action games and the gathering/crafting/farming trend that's...
Review The Occupation - A Bold Political Thriller That's Strong But Not Always Stable
Fake news
You’ve got to give British developer White Paper Games credit. The studio made its debut with Ether One, a first-person puzzler depicting the difficult subject of dementia, but now it’s back with a 1980s-themed political thriller examining the thorny subject of immigration. Releasing against a modern day backdrop of Brexit, it’s the...
Review Wandersong - A One-Note Adventure That Sings from the Heart
The little bard that could
A bard isn't the likeliest of heroes where saving the world is concerned, least of all one with such childlike optimism as the main character of Wandersong. In this side-scrolling adventure, you'll guide the nameless protagonist on his journey to stop a god from destroying the planet. Instead of searching for a weapon or...
Wiz kid
Don your robes, muster up some energy, and head out on an adventure with Wizard of Legend, a procedurally generated, roguelike dungeon crawler from Contingent99, a new two man indie developer based in LA. You play the game as a wizard who is participating in the annual Chaos Trials, with the aim of conquering them and becoming the Wizard of...
Wibbly-wobbly
One aspect of collectathon 3D platformers that has remained consistent over time is their unfettered imagination. Whether we’re talking about Spyro the Dragon or Ratchet & Clank, these games have crazy, colourful worlds that fill you with childlike wonder. Serious plots and realism go out the window because fun and “gameyness”...
