There’s something refreshing about seeing Game Freak step outside the shadow of Pokémon. For decades, the studio has been almost synonymous with Nintendo’s monster-catching series, but Beast of Reincarnation gives the developer an opportunity to show what it can do when it isn’t constrained by Poké Balls, gyms and turn-based battles. Developed by Game Freak as a major new action … Read More
There’s something particularly fitting about The Sinking City 2 arriving as a game shaped by adversity. Developer Frogwares has always had a strong relationship with Lovecraftian horror, but this sequel takes that foundation in a noticeably different direction. While the original The Sinking City leaned heavily into open-world investigation and detective work, The Sinking City 2 shifts the series towards … Read More
There’s something immediately familiar about Duskfade. From the moment I stepped into its colourful clockwork world, I felt like I’d been transported back to the mid-2000s, when 3D platformers were everywhere and every new adventure seemed to have a lovable mascot, a collection of strange worlds to explore and a combination of platforming, combat and light RPG mechanics. Developed by … Read More
When I first sat down to play Denshattack on PS5, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. It looked stylish enough from the trailers, but it wasn’t a game that had dominated headlines or generated the kind of hype that usually surrounds major releases. After spending a considerable amount of time with it, though, I came away convinced that this is going … Read More
From the time it released in 2013, Black Flag has always been my favourite Assassin’s Creed game, and that’s saying something considering how much I love the ancient Egypt setting of Origins and feudal Japan in Shadows. Those games have some of my favourite worlds in the entire franchise, but there has always been something special about Black Flag. It … Read More
I’ve been a fan of Sword Art Online for years, particularly the earlier seasons. There’s something about the original Aincrad arc that has always stood out to me. The idea of thousands of players becoming trapped inside a virtual world where death in the game meant death in real life remains one of the most compelling premises in anime, and … Read More
I’ve had my eye on Mouse P.I. For Hire for a long time. Ever since it was first revealed, it stood out in a way that most games just don’t. That black-and-white, Steamboat Willie animation style felt like something pulled straight out of a forgotten cartoon archive, but twisted into something darker, moodier, and a little bit dangerous. It looked … Read More
I’ve got a bit of a weakness for roguelikes. That “one more run” feeling has stolen more of my time than I’d like to admit, and I mean that in the best possible way. Games like The Binding of Isaac and Rogue Legacy had me hooked for weeks on end, but nothing quite hit the same highs as Hades. When … Read More
There was a time when the Fatal Frame series felt like a quiet pillar of survival horror. It never had the blockbuster presence of something like Resident Evil, but it carved out its own identity with a slower, more intimate kind of fear. In recent years though, it’s slipped into the background. New entries stopped coming, and unless you were … Read More
When most people think of the long-running Monster Hunter franchise, they picture intense action battles against towering beasts and the thrill of crafting powerful gear from the spoils of the hunt. But the spin-off series, Monster Hunter Stories, has always taken a very different approach. Rather than portraying monsters purely as prey, the Stories games explore a world where humans … Read More