Tag: Mini Reviews
Mini Review Old School Rally (PS5) - Don't Cut This Retro Rally Throwback
Smooth ride
Old School Rally does what it says on the tin, and it does it well. Mimicking the look and feel of a PS1 rally racing game, it combines retro presentation and design with some modern touches for a fun, nostalgic drive. The visuals intentionally ape the original PlayStation's jaggedy, polygonal look very well, and coupled with some music...
Mini Review POOLS (PSVR2) - Niche Horror Is a PSVR2 Showcase
There's something in the water
POOLS is more of an experience than a game. You can technically see it through to completion in about an hour. But amid the brevity of our time with it, there's a palpable sense of atmosphere that'll leave you on edge. POOLS is an off-kilter horror walking simulator where you must navigate complex mazes of tiled...
Mini Review Morsels (PS5) - This Gross Little Roguelike Is Tastier Than It Looks
Pet food
Morsels is one of those roguelike action games that feels impenetrable at first, but once you start learning its obscure language, it becomes more and more rewarding. You play as a mouse trying to fight back against the tyranny of feline overlords, and you do so with mysterious cards that transform you into various strange creatures...
Mini Review R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (PS5) - Glow-Up of PS1 Classic Shmup Still Has the Sauce
Don't let go of that trigger
R-Type Delta is a PS1 classic. One of the greatest shmups of its age, the title hasn’t received a port since 2009 on the PS3, so this has been a long time coming. As the first R-Type with 3D graphics, we were worried the title might not look great with proper HD graphics. This era of 3D gaming tends to look pretty...
Mini Review Neon Inferno (PS5) - Beautiful Layers, Chaotic Bullets
Bullet hell
Some games embrace their inspirations in an obvious display of affection, which is exactly what developer Zenovia Interactive has done with Neon Inferno. This 2D run-and-gun platformer has a ton of similarities to classics such as Contra, yet manages to achieve its own identity with an interesting narrative and engaging gameplay...
Nice town, I'll take it
Age of Empires 4: Anniversary Edition is another excellent real-time strategy game from the now venerable series that popularised the subgenre back in the late 90s and early 2000s (with 'popular' being a relative term). Developed by Relic Entertainment and initially published by Xbox Game Studios in 2021, it's now the turn...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Mini Review Hirogami (PS5) - Origami Adventure Looks Great But Lacks Depth
Folding at home
Papercraft-styled games remain a surprising rarity, despite the cult success of Tearaway and its PS4 remake. It’s been five years since the adventures of Iota/Atoi, so Kakehashi Games' Hirogami serves as a welcome reminder of the striking impact of playable paper art. It’s a slight and breezy experience, but one with an...
Mini Review Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek (PS5) - Scrappy Spooks with Just Enough Spirit
First-time frights
Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek is a genuinely admirable attempt at repurposing the formula from modern horror games like Outlast and Resident Evil into a kid-friendly adventure game. The results are scrappy and predictably low budget, but there’s fun to be had here. You play as Sloane Spencer, a bespectacled swot from the...
Mini Review Discounty (PS5) - Shop 'Til You Drop in This Addictive Life Sim
Store-dew Valley
When it comes to the 2D pixel art cozy genre that Stardew Valley has owned over nearly the last decade, there are a ton of imitators. In the case of Discounty, we've got that focus on becoming part of a community mixed with addictive supermarket management that really stands out in this crowd. All of it comes together to make an...
Mini Review Heretic + Hexen (PS5) - Dark Fantasy Shooters Righteously Resurrected
Watch your profanity
First released in 1994, Heretic took DOOM's DNA and put a dark fantasy twist on it. A year later, Hexen took the reimagining further, opting for less linear level design, and sprinkling in a bit of RPG flavour by offering the player three different classes to choose from — warrior, cleric, and mage — each with their own...
Mini Review Hello Kitty Island Adventure (PS5) - Purrfectly Cosy, Slightly Clawed
Sanrio magic meets island life
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is finally available to play on the PS5. The game (whose title was presumably inspired by South Park almost 20 years ago) originally released on Apple Arcade in 2023 and then on PC and Switch last January. A mixture between a cosy life simulator and an adventure game, the player helps...
Mini Review Gradius Origins (PS5) - Impressive Collection Bundles Classics with Brand New Title
How did you get this far?
Gradius Origins is a seriously impressive package. Not only does it include six classic shoot 'em up titles — the original Gradius trilogy, two Salamander games, Life Force, and regional variants — but it includes the first brand new Salamander title in nearly 30 years. Salamander is, of course, the spinoff series of...
Mini Review Time Flies (PS5) - You'll Get a Buzz from This Silly Insect Excursion
Living your pest life
Time Flies is a short but sweet adventure game about making the most of your life on planet Earth — even if it only lasts a matter of seconds. Playing as a common fly, the game detects your real-world location and uses that country's average life expectancy to determine the length of your fly's life in seconds. You can...
Mini Review Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game (PS5) - One Cosy Game to Bore Them All
A half-baked Hobbit's life
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is a cosy Hobbit life simulator by Weta Workshop, set in the idyllic world of The Shire from JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. After creating your own character, you arrive in Bywater, but despite living in an epic fantasy world, swords are of no use here and your biggest...
Mini Review Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (PS5) - Decent Souls-Like Suffers Technically
Wu chang clan
The demands for fewer Souls-likes in the gaming release calendar make quite a lot of sense when they're as formulaic and familiar as Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. From developer Leenzee, the debut effort is a mostly competent attempt at a Dark Souls experience, but it doesn't do nearly enough to stand out from its many, many peers...
Mini Review Hunter x Hunter Nen x Impact (PS5) - Shonen Showdown Falls Short
Right idea, wrong budget
Hallelujah, praise the anime gods! Hunter x Hunter Nen x Impact is a manga adaptation that’s not your average arena brawler, but instead an actual fighting game. Not only that but publisher Bushiroad has recruited Marvel vs Capcom 3 dev Eighting to transform the oft-on-hiatus shonen story into a three-on-three brawler...
Mini Review Golden Tee Arcade Classics (PS5) - Nostalgic Novelty Misses the Sweet Spot
All fore one
It’s perhaps a symbol of the current retro game boom that Golden Tee Arcade Classics exists at all. That’s not a slight, by the way – it’s just remarkable that these trackball titles, often nestled between claw machines in American sports bars and restaurants, now exist in fully playable form on a home console like the PS5. For...
Mini Review The Wandering Village (PS5) - A Colossally Good City Builder
Onbu we go
Set atop a colossal beast called an Onbu, The Wandering Village takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where poisonous spores have wiped out the world as we know it. Originally released on Steam in 2022, the popular city building simulation has now released on PS5. The Onbu itself is made up of different terrain where inhabitants can...
Mini Review Patapon 1+2 Replay (PS5) - The Best Versions of Two PSP Classics in One Package
Pon-Pon-Pata-Pon
The PS4 remasters of Patapon and Patapon 2 did a sufficient job of reintroducing people to the quirky PSP rhythm titles where you direct tribes of warriors to the beat, but they definitely had their share of problems. Input lag and muddy textures put a dampener on the initial attempt. Bandai Namco has taken a mulligan here,...
Ghost in the machine
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is Nightdive Studio's tribute to the hugely influential 1994 original. Offering a much-needed technical upgrade, along with a bevvy of extras, System Shock 2 is still an impressive game, even if some of its forward-thinking mechanics feel quite quaint three decades later. Originally...
Mini Review Missile Command Delta (PS5) - A Radically Different But Successful Series Reboot
Top bunker
Missile Command Delta is a big departure from the original game that Atari fans are familiar with, and while we're sure purists won't enjoy the drastic changes, this modern spin brings the concept forward in a refreshing and imaginative way. A group of adventurous teenagers plans to spend the night in a creepy, disused bunker, only to...
Mini Review Anger Foot (PS5) - Chaotic Kick-'Em-Up Satisfies from Head to Toe
Foot you
You may have seen Anger Foot described as a first-person Hotline Miami — and that's probably a good comparison to, er, kick things off. Playing as the titular Anger Foot himself, you'll kick and shoot your way through the superbly named Shit City in search of your beloved sneakers. It's an unapologetically punk setting where just about...
Mini Review Into the Restless Ruins (PS5) - An Inventive Spin on Roguelike Dungeon Crawling
Deck of halls
Roguelike dungeon crawlers and deck builders are prolific these days, but many of them manage to stand out in one way or another despite sharing some similar elements. Into the Restless Ruins does just that by splicing the worlds of dungeon-delving and card-collecting together, the result being a unique, clever game where you literally...
Mini Review Ruffy and the Riverside (PS5) - A Cute Platformer with Missed Potential
Roughy
Ruffy and the Riverside has always looked rather striking with its 2D characters in a colourful 3D world, and while its aesthetic is a strength, the game itself doesn't really match it. This is an open-ended 3D platformer with a unique swap mechanic, which lets you copy certain textures and apply them to other objects — turning water into...
Mini Review Rematch (PS5) - Fun, Fresh Football Game Holds Huge Potential
All hail FIFU
Rematch is very close to being a real blinder. An online multiplayer football game in which every player controls an individual person on the pitch, it's a totally fresh take on the sport that takes more than a little inspiration from Rocket League, and the result is fantastic. Playable in 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5 matches, Rematch plonks you...
Mini Review Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest (PS5) - Scottish Horror Loses the Magic
It dinny be the same
Still Wakes the Deep was one of our favourite releases of 2024, so the news of a slice of DLC dropping in the form of Siren’s Rest was music to our ears. This paid expansion, which picks up a decade after the events of the main game, sees diver Mhairi swim to the depths of the ocean to uncover the truth of the Beira D oil...
Mini Review TRON: Catalyst (PS5) - A Deftly Delivered Return to the Grid
How many cycles has it been?
Bithell Games returns to the world of TRON with TRON: Catalyst. Following in the footsteps of visual novel TRON: Identity, Catalyst is something of a different beast. Much more ambitious in scope across the board, this is an action-adventure brawler that incorporates light RPG elements. You play as Exo, a courier who...
Mini Review Date Everything (PS5) - Delightfully Silly Visual Novel Has a Lot of Heart
Including the kitchen sink
After finally gaining a degree in Customer Service, you begin your exciting new career as a customer service rep! Unfortunately, it only takes a single day before you find out that your job is being outsourced to AI. It’s not all doom and gloom though, as a mysterious hacker sends you some new technology – a pair of...
Mini Review The Alters (PS5) - Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi Caper Is 11 Bit Studios' Best Game Yet
Hope you're good company
The Alters plays like a mix of XCOM 2's base building, The Sims' personal needs management, and a third-person survival adventure. This sci-fi game begins with a ship crashlanding on a distant planet, leaving one survivor: Jan Dolski. During the day, you explore and gather resources outside the base to improve it. At night,...
