I don’t think there’s any video game genre quite as timeless as the platformer. They’ve been around for more than 30 years, and the basic ideas have been iterated on heavily in that time, but a simple, well-made, classically-styled platformer is still a wonderful thing. Pankapu, from Too Kind Studio, …
Dex is a game I wanted to like, and for the first hour or two, I really did like it. It’s a cyberpunk action RPG reminiscent of Deus Ex and Shadowrun, but that plays out as a sidescroller with some gorgeous 2D artwork. The combination of action RPG staples, light …
For me, the premiere of Batman: A Telltale Series last month was a shaky start. It showed potential, especially in its nifty detective sequences and its exploration of Batman’s violence, but the plotline, obsessed with taking every turn to remind players that Bruce Wayne’s parents are dead and he is …
I went into Valley expecting a beautiful game of exploration and interactive fiction—a “walking simulator”, if you like. There are certainly elements of that, but at its heart, Valley is a first-person platformer, and a great one at that. It brings together jumping puzzles, free-running, Metroid-like upgrades, light combat, and …
I thought I knew what I was getting into with Gal Gun: Double Peace. I was expecting a silly, pervy rail shooter that didn’t take itself too seriously at all, and while that’s certainly what I got, I wasn’t expecting a game that was so clever and subversive in its …
Telltale Games have a long and impressive track record when it comes to using violence and gore to foster an emotional response. The Walking Dead did this repeatedly—putting down Lee’s brother, for example, or having to manually control Clementine as she stitches up a wound without anaesthetic. Choosing (or being …
When The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing first came out a few years ago, it was a bit of a surprise. A robust, if technically flawed, action RPG with an interesting plot and some thoroughly entertaining writing, it went a long way to clearing some of the stink from a …
I imported I Am Setsuna earlier this year when it first came out in Japan, though I never got around to playing more than the first couple of hours. Having now played the English version, I’m glad I didn’t play much of the import, because with my cursory understanding of …
Playing Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was playing a completely different game to other reviewers. Maybe the lukewarm reception tempered my own expectations somewhat, but what I played was a good game—a great game, even. There are a lot of minor annoyances that …
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the best LEGO game to date. Aside from using the best Star Wars film (yes, I went there) as its source material, it’s managed to breath new life into the LEGO game formula. The combination of action, adventure, LEGO-based puzzles, and oodles of …
