I’m one of the few people in the world who wasn’t taken with Horizon Zero Dawn. It’s an incredible technical achievement and a game with a fascinating premise, but for me, none of the story, characters, or game systems really lived up to that potential. I’d hoped that a big …
Gaming
In a world where shooters almost always given the military of sci-fi treatment, it’s refreshing to play a game like Ace of Seafood. Instead of army fatigues or space marine armour, it gives you… a gang of fish and other sealife. That shoot lasers. And roam the ocean beating up …
The Sims is one of the most popular game series’ in the world, and for good reason. A careful balance of deep simulation systems, humour, approachability, and social commentary made it a franchise that anyone can enjoy. In any given game, there’s a huge range of things to do …
Even though I’m about as far from a gearhead as possible, I always enjoyed playing Gran Turismo games. It wasn’t so much for their realism or the depth of their motorsport simulation—to many, the most important parts of the series—but for the rags-to-riches nature of its career modes. Gran Turismo …
For me, one of the most remarkable things about Life is Strange was its ability to capture the beauty of small moments. For all its philosophical underpinnings and clever twists on the time travel premise, it was those little in between moments that really resonated with me. I’m not …
It’s been almost 30 years since the original Raiden helped give birth to the modern shoot ’em up. With Raiden V: Director’s Cut, the series finally makes its debut on PlayStation 4. The core ideas haven’t really changed even since the 1990 arcade game, but they don’t need to—the …
It didn’t take long for Assassin’s Creed Origins to blow me away. It wasn’t the game’s stunning re-creation of Ptolemaic-era Egypt that did it. It wasn’t the meticulous authenticity or the impressive production values. No, the thing that sold me within minutes of firing up the game was when main …
I wasn’t a big fan of Nights of Azure when it first came out. I liked some of the ideas behind it, and the art direction and character designs are fantastic, but I felt that clunky gameplay and poor storytelling held it back. In the years since, I’ve come to …
For whatever reason, I thought (or assumed?) that Tokyo Tattoo Girls was an RPG of some sort. I’ve spoken to a few other people who thought the same, so I know it’s not just me missing something glaringly obvious from the game’s trailers and marketing. “Choose your companion character to …
It’s always interesting when a Japanese developer takes on a Western-style RPG or vice versa; that combination of influences is how we get brilliant games like Dark Souls and Child of Light. A few years ago, Capcom released their take on a Western-style RPG in Dragon’s Dogma. The game offered …