PS4 Game Reviews
Review Yakuza 0 (PS4) - Hysterical Side Quests Complement a Gripping Story
Eurobeatdown
Republished on Wednesday, 10th August, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of August's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. The Yakuza series is one of PlayStation's most overlooked gems, especially here in the West. Unashamedly Japanese in its tone, humour, and...
Review Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands (PS4) - Open World Shooter Lacks a Little Identity
Ghost of its former self
Republished on Wednesday, 10th August, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of August's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Ubisoft's open world games are pretty much all cut from the same cloth, with each implementing some common systems and design...
Review Trials of Mana - The Delightful Return of a Classic Action RPG
Back to your roots
Republished on Wednesday, 10th August, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of August's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Trials of Mana is a full 3D remake of Seiken Densetsu 3 — a Square-developed action role-playing game that was never officially released...
Review Digimon Survive (PS4) - Darker Digimon Story Carries Some Flat RPG Elements
A little help from my friends
Digimon Survive is not the RPG that some fans wanted it to be. Recruiting, training, and battling Digimon takes a backseat in favour of a very text-heavy story that unfolds through largely static scenes. In short, this is a visual novel first and foremost, to the point where some of the title's RPG elements almost start...
Review Little Nightmares (PS4) - Unsettling Puzzle Platformer Hits the Spot
The need for greed
Republished on Wednesday 27th July 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of August's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Much like LittleBigPlanet, the macabre puzzle platformer Little Nightmares includes sugar, spice, and all things nice – it just chooses to stir...
Review Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PS4) - A Downright Crazy But Captivating Take on a Beloved Franchise
Job's a good'un
Republished on Wednesday 27th July 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of August's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Where do we even start with Yakuza: Like a Dragon? SEGA's series has always been eccentric, but this latest instalment takes things to a whole new...
Review Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PS4) - The Birdman Is Back with Fantastic Remake
Back to the old grind
Republished on Wednesday 27th July 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of August's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is a series that defined early PlayStation just as much as Crash Bandicoot or Tomb Raider. The games are fondly remembered...
Review Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium (PS4) - Coin-Op Compilation Is Filled with Classics
Capgod
The bottom line is that if you’re a retro video game enthusiast you’re going to want Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium. That doesn’t make the timing of this retro compilation’s release any less curious, however – or without caveats. Indeed, launching less than a month after the Capcom Fighting Collection but sharing several titles from its...
Review Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (PS4) - More Silly Sandbox Action
Damned if you do
Republished on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. You'd be forgiven for thinking that Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell isn't actually a PlayStation 4 game. Right from the word go, the now-zany...
Review Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (PS4) - Ridiculous Open World Is Dumb Fun
You got the power
Republished on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Saints Row IV is the definitive sandbox game for anyone who's a bit tired of the more serious attempts like Watch Dogs,
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube152k Watch on YouTube Party animals
Republished on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. ReadySet Heroes, the dungeon crawling party game from Robot Entertainment, arrived two weeks ago, but doesn't seem to be as prepared as its title...
Review Marvel's Avengers (PS4) - Crystal Dynamics' Heroic Risk Is a Game of Two Halves
Guardians of the GaaS
Republished on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. If anything, Marvel's Avengers has become the victim of its own marketing cycle. Pitched under the Games as a Service banner, loot to grind...
Review Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) - A Successful Reimagining with Stellar Gameplay
Make or limit break
Republished on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Well, here we are. The time has finally come for us to review Final Fantasy VII Remake, and it's surreal. We vividly remember the official...
Review Assassin's Creed Unity (PS4) - Buggy French Open World Is Disappointing
Heads will roll
Republished on Wednesday 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. French publisher Ubisoft is on its home turf with Assassin's Creed Unity. With a sprawling recreation of 18th Century Paris to explore, the game...
Review Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection (PS4) - Return to Italy in Compelling Compilation
Three is a magic number
Republished on Wednesday 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. It's become somewhat of a regular occurrence for older games that had any degree of success to suffer some kind of re-release treatment,...
Review Assassin's Creed Rogue Remastered (PS4) - Sailing Spin-Off Brings More Stealth
Shiver me timbers
Republished on Wednesday 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. In retrospect, 2014 has to be considered as one of the most important years for the Assassin’s Creed franchise. As Assassin’s Creed Unity...
Review Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4) - Ship-Shape Open World Pirate Escapade
Livin' the sweet trade
Republished on Wednesday 13th July, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup. The original text follows. Ubisoft has outdone itself with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, as there’s more to see and do than ever in this exciting world of...
Review Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course (PS4) - Another Delicious Serving of Hard-As-Nails Action
A great slam and then some
It’s been almost five whole years since Cuphead finally burst onto the scene after years of development hell and delays. Cuphead took the gaming world by storm, followed by waves of merchandise, cameos in games like Super Smash Bros, a Netflix series, and even a kids meal at Arby’s. Now here we are at the launch of its...
Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (PS4) - An Unexplosive Opening
Until yawn
Republished on Wednesday 29th June 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Maybe it's just because our Dad let us watch Jaws when we were six, but we've always been skeptical of the sea. It's wet, and there's weird things in there...
Review Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (PS4) - Madcap Marsupial's Return Is N. Sanely Good
Positive spin
Republished on Wednesday 29th June 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. After Naughty Dog parted ways with Crash Bandicoot, it's fair to say the quality of subsequent games has been inconsistent. However, Activision finally did...
Mini Review Best Month Ever! (PS4) - The World's Heaviest Road Trip
Okayest month ever
Created by the Warsaw Film School’s Video Game Directing department, Best Month Ever! is the story of Louise and her biracial son, Mitch, living in 1960s rural America. Having been diagnosed with a terminal illness and told she doesn’t have long to live, Louise takes Mitch on a road trip for summer, promising him the best...
Gaps in the Wonder years
In Retro Gamer Issue 124's 'A Westone Retrospective' feature, Westone co-founder Ryuichi Nishizawa stressed that he wanted to create a feeling of pressure for the player when developing 1986's arcade game Wonder Boy — the first of four retro games in Bliss Brain Corporation's Wonder Boy Collection, which compiles two...
Review Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (PS4) - Retro Revival Is More Reimagining Than Remake
Shinto fine
What if 1992’s cult Super Nintendo shooter Pocky & Rocky had been re-released for Sony’s more powerful PS1 console? That’s a little how Pocky & Rocky Reshrined feels at first blush: cute, colourful, and unmistakably retro, yes – but tapping new, previously unavailable power reserves to add Metal Slug-esque chunkiness to...
Review Capcom Fighting Collection (PS4) - A Superb Compilation of Classics and Oddities
A monster bundle full of little gems
Is it a little unreasonable to say that Capcom loves to dangle a carrot in front of Darkstalkers fans? A trailer promising 'Darkstalkers Are Not Dead' showed up in 2012 featuring a full 3D Lord Raptor, though the subsequent PS3 Darkstalkers Resurrection compilation didn’t live up to that promise at all. Outside...
An AI for an Eye
AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative [Good grief - Ed] is the sequel to the 2019 detective-themed adventure game and things are just as crazy and weird as ever. This time around you play as a detective called Ryuki as he tries to solve a series of gruesome murders known as the Half Body Serial Killings. Ryuki is a rookie but...
Turtles in prime
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a love letter to the era of licensed belt brawlers, with Konami’s legendary Turtles in Time being a clear inspiration. With co-op being a huge selling point for this beautiful beat-'em-up, we decided to play through as a trio – and present our review as a roundtable to reflect...
Mini Review Pac-Man Museum+ (PS4) - Meaty Compilation Provides Plenty to Chew On
Don't ghost it
Ignore all the Ms. Pac-Man legal issues – awkward! – and it’s hard to imagine Pac-Man Museum+ being much more comprehensive than it is. There are absentees, of course – long-time power pill poppers may lament the lack of, say, Pac-Man World from the PS1 – but across 14 titles, you’re effectively getting the career...
Review God of War (PS4) - Kratos Returns with a Game Worthy of Asgard
God tier
Republished on Wednesday 1st June 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of June's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. God of War: Ascension may have been entertaining, but it showed that Kratos had lost the Midas touch. Sony Santa Monica’s reluctance to experiment with a...
Review Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker (PS4)
Believe it
Republished on Wednesday 1st June 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of June's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. For the uninitiated, Naruto is a long running manga series published in the weekly Shounen Jump periodical straight out of the Land of the Rising Sun. Naruto...
Mini Review Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
A tea-rrific time, or too much Silk cut?
You wait ages for a Cotton game, and then six arrive on PS4 at once, celebrating the series' 30th anniversary in 2021. Welcome to the Fairyland, where developer Studio Saizensen has in the cauldron boiled and baked Cotton Fantasy: Superlative Night Dreams (Cotton Rock 'n' Roll in Japan) as an all-star...
