Latest Reviews
Review Persona 4 Golden (PS4) - An Utterly Engrossing RPG, and That's the Truth
A golden oldie
Persona 4 Golden was one of the PS Vita's defining games. An expanded version of the PS2's Persona 4, which first released in 2008, Golden is widely regarded as one of the best JRPGs out there — and it's still easy to see why. Many would argue that Atlus' series truly came into its own with Persona 4. It took the blueprint behind...
Review Persona 3 Portable (PS4) - Brooding JRPG Is Still Superb
Oh baby baby baby baby
In its potent mix of dungeon crawling and daily life management, Persona 3 established the formula that Atlus' series is now so well known for. Originally a PS2 title from 2006, the role-playing game was re-released not once, but twice. Its first reincarnation was Persona 3 FES in 2007 — an expanded version with gameplay...
Review Monster Hunter Rise (PS5) - A Fantastic Port of the Series' Best Outing
Tigrexcellent
Nine days after this review goes live, it’ll be five years since Capcom’s Monster Hunter series finally conquered the Western market in the form of Monster Hunter: World. Even for those of us who have been playing since the days of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, World felt like a breath of fresh air as the series finally hit the big...
Mini Review Ridge Racer 2 (PSP) - A Greatest Hits Album for Arcade Racing Royalty
Now that's what I call drifting
The original release of PSP's Ridge Racer 2 could be criticised for being almost exactly the same game as its predecessor, only with a few more tracks and modes. However, that doesn't really matter today, especially now it's one of the rare Ridge Racer titles playable on modern consoles. With its one blemish now moot,...
Mini Review Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS5) - Accessible Action RPG Plays Best on PS5
Learn to fly
Whether you're an existing fan or completely new to the world of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot remains a relatively accessible retelling of Akira Toriyama's timeless series. Taking the form of an action RPG spread across large, fully explorable maps, this is a mostly accurate adaptation of the source material, hitting all of the...
Shadow dancer
There are no shortage of 16-bit throwbacks on the PS Store, but some stand head and shoulders above the rest. The forgettably named Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is one such release: a white-knuckle mix of Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master on SEGA Genesis and Mega Man X on the Super Nintendo, complete with a Mode 7-inspired...
Review One Piece Odyssey (PS5) - Anime Dragon Quest Is Oh So Good
Odyssey, ya see!
If you ignore the One Piece: Pirate Warriors sub-series for a second, the last title fans of Luffy and his eccentric crew had to look forward to was One Piece: World Seeker. A disaster of an open world game, it felt unfinished with horrible gameplay and visuals — enough to make any enthusiast sceptical of future projects. However,...
Review Dragon Ball FighterZ (PS4) - One of the Best Anime Fighters Ever
Super Saiyan Godly
Republished on Wednesday, 11th January, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2023's PS Plus line up. The original text follows. Ever since Dragon Ball FighterZ was revealed, it feels like the hype train has never stopped rolling – and for good reason. A Dragon Ball...
The storm is here
Republished on Wednesday, 11th January, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2023's PS Plus line up. The original text follows. If you're the kind of player who spent hours upon hours coming up with absurdly cool combos in Devil May Cry 5, then this expanded re-release is...
Review Back 4 Blood (PS5) - Raising a Co-Op Classic from the Dead
Right 4 Dead
Republished on Wednesday, 11th January, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2023's PS Plus line up. The original text follows. This isn’t Left 4 Dead 3. But it is Left 4 Dead 3. But it’s Back 4 Blood. Four survivors blast through a co-op campaign split into various acts,...
Mini Review Breakers Collection (PS5) - Cult 90s Fighter Finally Finds a Bigger Audience
Breaker the ice
If you owned a PS1, there’s a good chance you were playing Street Fighter Alpha, Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, or Tekken 2 in 1996. You probably weren’t playing Breakers, a cult fighting game from Visco Corporation which first launched in Japanese arcades at the very end of that year, and was later ported to the NeoGeo AES...
Review Firefighting Simulator: The Squad (PS5) - Scorching Sim Shines in Online Co-Op
Hot stuff
You fight a lot of things in video games: zombies, terrorists, and those oddly enthusiastic blue slime things from the Dragon Quest franchise. Fires, however, are not a particularly common foe. Sure, there was Konami’s Firefighter F.D.18 on the PS2 and even Burning Rangers on the SEGA Saturn, but it’s not as common theme as you’d...
Mini Review Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS5) - A Marginal Upgrade on Backwards Compatibility
At least it’s a free upgrade
Republished on Wednesday, 28th December, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2023's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. The latest in a long line of free next-gen upgrades, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order plays things pretty straight. The native PS5...
Review Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4) - One of the Best Star Wars Games Ever
I find your lack of faith disturbing
Republished on Wednesday, 28th December, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2023's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. It's been almost impossible to avoid Star Wars for the past five years. Ever since its welcome return to the big screen with...
Review Fallout 76 - A Shockingly Bad Attempt at Multiplayer Survival
Nuclear hazard
Republished on Wednesday, 28th December, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2023's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. Fallout 76 will be remembered as a defining moment for Bethesda Game Studios, and not in a good way. This entirely multiplayer take on the Fallout...
Mini Review Togges (PS5) - Cute, Colourful Platformer with a Curious Twist
Serious blockage
Togges (rhymes with bogies) is an imaginative puzzle platformer with a novel approach to movement. The titular creatures are cutesy cubes you can spawn in from certain points in each of the game's sizeable hub worlds. Essentially playing as a Roomba, you can move fairly freely, but you'll need to lead a connected trail of Togges to...
Mini Review Pinball Heroes (PSP) - First-Party PlayStation Time Capsule in Pinball Form
Ball saver
Pinball Heroes feels like a strange snapshot of time, and we mean that in the best possible way. Originally released for the PSP in 2009 as eight digitally downloadable tables, it launched just prior to PlayStation rediscovering its mojo. The context is key here: the PS3 was getting its butt stomped by the Xbox 360, and PS Studios was...
Mini Review Neon White (PS5) - First-Person Platformer Is Super Slick
Stairway to heaven
Neon White is an unusual hybrid that works so well in practice, but looks bananas written down. It's a first-person platformer in which guns are also traversal abilities, and it becomes an engaging visual novel in the downtime. The resulting game is slick, stylish, and modern, with its real strength being the compulsion to beat...
Blood and shine
It's been over seven years since the original release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and as far as we're concerned, it's still unmatched in the modern role-playing space. If anything, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition is a poignant reminder that many of the bars CD Projekt Red set in 2015 have yet to be topped. Geralt's...
Mini Review The Rumble Fish 2 (PS5) - Cult Arcade Fighter in Barebones Port
Beatrice flogger
One of the industry’s more positive movements right now is the preservation of cult classics on the PS Store. While there’s still a long way to go, we’re gradually beginning to see publishers dig deep into their catalogues, and resurrect releases from yesteryear for a whole new audience to enjoy. The Rumble Fish 2 is a...
Review Marvel's Midnight Suns (PS5) - Heroic Social Strategy Experiment Is Almost Super
A kind of Magik
In an era of samey mainstream games, Marvel’s Midnight Suns sticks out like a Spider-Man cosplay in a white collar working place. While this heroic effort from iconic XCOM developer Firaxis pulls liberally from a spectrum of different sources – the likes of Slay the Spire, Metal Gear Acid, and even Fire Emblem: Three Houses all...
Mini Review Samurai Maiden (PS5) - Rough Combat Cuts Fun Anime Adventure Short
Girls just want to have fun
It’s the 15th century and one of Japan’s leading figures, Oda Nobunaga, tasks a 21st century school girl and a trio of ninjas to slay the Demon Lord. With the power of friendship and kisses, off you go to save the world. Emphasis on kisses, by the way, because if the title didn't give it away, Samurai Maiden is that...
Mini Review Paper Cut Mansion (PS5) - A Slow-Paced and Repetitive Rogue-Lite
Fit for the Shredder
Paper Cut Mansion is a procedurally generated rogue-lite horror, set within a mansion made entirely of cardboard. You take on the role of police detective Toby, in search of clues to explain the strange goings on and how he came to be in this paper-craft property. You will explore the mansion floor by floor, with the aim being...
Review Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (PS5) - A Fantastic Remaster of a Fun But Flawed RPG
That's Fair enough
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is a PSP exclusive spinoff from 2007 that's often remembered fondly through the tinted goggles of nostalgia. In truth, the original Crisis Core was a messy game when it first released, and it's only gotten worse with age. Much like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the animated film that flanked...
Mini Review Sable (PS5) - Beautiful Coming of Age Adventure
Sable is not so stable
After a year of exclusivity over on Xbox and PC, Sable — a coming of age exploration game — has finally made its way over to PS5. The important question, as always, is has the wait been worth it? And the answer is yes, but only if you’re willing to overlook its technical issues. On a desert planet called Midden, when a...
Review Need for Speed Unbound (PS5) - This Stylish Arcade Racer Has Substance to Match
Street artist
It feels great to have a properly good arcade racing game on PlayStation again. They don't come around too often these days, with petrol heads generally favouring more realistic driving experiences. Despite this trend, Need for Speed drops by every couple of years to provide some high-speed thrills and glorious power slides. The series...
Review The Callisto Protocol (PS5) - Just Like Dead Space, for Better and Worse
Moon's infected
For years now, The Callisto Protocol has invited comparisons to the 2008 survival horror classic Dead Space. From the camera perspective and a lot of the combat through to the atmosphere and setting, it all screams silent protagonist Isaac Clarke and his great stomping boot. Wanting to emulate that tense undertaking 14 years later is...
Review Soccer Story (PS5) - Ballsy Footie Adventure Misses the Target
Bale out
Football-themed role-playing games aren’t anywhere near as rare as you may think. Captain Tsubasa, inspired of course by the manga, has been a mainstay of the Japanese video game landscape dating all the way back to the NES – and more recently Level 5’s strategy-style Inazuma Eleven has found worldwide appeal. Soccer Story takes a...
Review Biomutant (PS4) - The Classic Case of What Could Have Been
Karate kid
Republished on Wednesday 30th November 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of December's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Biomutant could have released a decade ago and it wouldn't have looked out of place. By stimulating the open world formula of old with new takes on the...
NHeaven
Republished on Wednesday 30th November 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of December's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. One of gaming's most beloved trilogies is back, and quite frankly, it's better than ever. If you loved the intergalactic adventures of Commander Shepard...
