PS5 Game Reviews
The end is nigh
Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok is the biggest expansion in series history. Ubisoft's been feeding us that marketing bullet point for months, and having played it for ourselves, it's safe to say that the French publisher wasn't lying. It took us roughly 33 hours to complete everything that Dawn of Ragnarok has to offer,...
Mini Review A Musical Story (PS5) - A Charming Debut Rhythm Title with a Whole Lot of Heart
Movin' right along
A Musical Story is exactly what the title suggests. This debut release from French indie dev Glee-Cheese Studio depicts the journey of an upstart band on its way to perform at Pinewood. While it’s a rhythm game, things are presented with more of a visual novel flair, with individual chapters and vignettes inching you closer to...
Review King of Fighters XV (PS5) - Rock Solid Brawler Is Better than XIV, But Still Struggles to Wow
Expectations met
There's a lot to like about King of Fighters XV if you're a fan of the genre. Deep, technical gameplay. A large and fairly interesting character roster. All-important rollback netcode, which allows for mostly smooth online matches. All of the ingredients are here, but the finished product still lacks a certain edge — the kind of...
Review Gran Turismo 7 (PS5) - The Real Driving Simulator Makes Its Grand Return
Back to basics
There are labours of love, and then there's Gran Turismo 7. From famed developer Polyphony Digital and series creator Kazunori Yamauchi, it's abundantly clear every single member of the studio has a passion for cars. In fact, we might even be selling them short. Gran Turismo 7 is a game born out of love. It's just as much about the...
Review Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (PS5) - Bungie's Loot Shooter Vaults Back into First Place
Goodnight Forsaken, Witch Queen awaken
How do you review a game that never ends? The latest expansion in the Destiny 2 cycle – The Witch Queen – arrives amidst typical controversy as the excellent Forsaken campaign is removed – excuse me, vaulted – to supposedly make room for it. We’ve got mixed feelings about the whole situation. On the...
Review Elden Ring (PS5) - By Far FromSoftware's Best Ever Game
A song of life and death
Elden Ring is a special, once in a generation type of game. You can feel it the moment you push open the set of double doors looking out onto the opening area of Limgrave and begin exploring the vast open world at your feet. It’s an astonishing feat, as Japanese developer FromSoftware adapts its wide but ultimately linear...
Review FAR: Changing Tides (PS5) - More of the Same Isn't Always Bad
For the tides, they are a-changin’
The first FAR title, FAR: Lone Sails, was a clever, gorgeous puzzle game about guiding a vehicle across an apocalyptic landscape. So, there was cause to rejoice when developer Okomotive announced it’d be helming a sequel, returning to the exciting world it had crafted. And the reward for that is a fresh new...
Review GRID Legends (PS5) - A Solid Racer with a Lacklustre Narrative
Not quite legendary
GRID Legends finds itself in a bit of a tough spot. Launching a racing game in close proximity to any competition can be a bit dicey, but Codemaster’s latest entry in the GRID series is releasing just a mere week ahead of Polyphony’s much-anticipated Gran Turismo 7. Considering the near nine-year gap since the last properly...
Review Martha Is Dead (PS5) - Censorship Is the Biggest Story in This Uneven Horror
The crazy world of Martha drown
Would people know about Martha Is Dead without its censorship debacle? You’ve probably heard by now that this game has been modified for its PlayStation release, common to a trend where PlayStation versions of various anime games tend to be cut and modified for sexual content. Martha Is Dead, though, has been edited...
Review Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5) - Dark Future RPG Is Finally Ready to Rock
Play it again, Johnny
We called Cyberpunk 2077 "the single biggest disappointment of the generation" in our PlayStation 4 review. Harsh words, you might think, but it's easy to forget just how broken the long, long, long awaited role-playing game was at launch back in December 2020. Absolutely plagued with experience-breaking bugs and crippled by a...
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube150k Watch on YouTube Review Monark (PS5) - Tedious JRPG Grinds to a Halt
Shin Megami Tensigh
On the surface, Monark looks like any number of other Japanese role-playing games that star high schoolers like Persona, Trails of Cold Steel, or some Shin Megami Tensei titles. But Monark differentiates itself from that crowd by leaning into horror, with a slick gothy vibe throughout — it's a bit like Persona 3 going through a...
Fallen empires
After the disappointment of Dynasty Warriors 9 and its cardboard open world, we desperately wanted Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires to be good — to finally get Koei Tecmo's flaship franchise back on track. And while Empires is easily a better game than its predecessor, it still suffers from many of the issues that Dynasty Warriors 9...
Mini Review Edge of Eternity (PS5) – An Ambitious But Disjointed RPG
Down with the sickness
A war is raging on Heryon between an alien race and the native population, and from the opening moments of the game it’s obvious that things have not been going so well for the locals. Edge of Eternity’s protagonist, Daryon, is a young soldier who ends up deserting after his whole squadron is wiped out. He decides to...
Review Sifu (PS5) - Kung Fu Brawler Is Brutal But Brilliant
Be like water
We expected Sifu to be challenging — but we didn't think it would be this unforgiving. It's a classic tale of martial arts revenge told across several urban stages, each one boasting unique combat encounters and brutal bosses. If you thought that Sifu was going to be a pure kung fu power fantasy, you're in for a world of hurt. Sifu...
Review Dying Light 2 (PS5) - Good Sequel Hurt by Expectation
Mirror's undead
Sequels are a tricky thing to handle. Do you iterate slightly and deliver more of what fans loved the first time around, or reach for the stars with new ways to play and mechanics? Both approaches work, but Dying Light 2 finds itself in the strange situation where it was pitched as the latter but actually resembles the former...
Fortune favours the old
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is a damn good time. It bundles both Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy into one PlayStation 5 package, boasting new graphics modes, a complete lack of load times, and DualSense functionality. Both games are more than a few years old now, but as far as we're...
Review Planet Coaster: Console Edition (PS5) - A Thrilling Business Sim with Lots of Ways to Play
Ride it out
Republished on Wednesday 26th January, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of February 2022's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. The business simulation genre is one that had us hooked to our PS1 during our formative years. Despite playing best on the PC, we lost hundreds of hours...
Mini Review The Artful Escape (PS5) – A Visual Treat That's Light on Gameplay
This is button tap
When you first pick up Francis Vendetti’s acoustic guitar, you can tell you’re in store for something crazy. Approached by aliens to perform crazy cosmic rock concerts across the galaxy, The Artful Escape offers a visual feast of wild, cosmic insanity. Nervous about following in the footsteps of your uncle, a folk music icon,...
Review Rainbow Six: Extraction (PS5) – Limited Time Event Turned Middling Co-Op Shooter
Live die repeat
The Outbreak event in Rainbow Six: Siege all the way back in 2018 was a ton of fun. It presented the tactical shooter in a new light, offering something different to players that might have wanted a more fulfilling PvE experience than the tepid “terrorist hunt” offering in the base game. Ubisoft clearly felt there was enough...
Mini Review RPGolf Legends (PS5) - Zelda Inspired Putter Is Bloated But No Bogey
Links
Proof that golf is fast establishing itself as a genre unto itself: RPGolf Legends’ portmanteau paints a pretty clear picture of what to expect. The latest entry in ArticNet’s genre blending brand, this is a 16-bit The Legend of Zelda-esque pixel art escapade that just so happens to sprinkle putts into its traditional adventure gameplay...
Review Deep Rock Galactic (PS5) - There's Gold in Them There Hostile Alien Caves
We dig it
Deep Rock Galactic is a clever concoction of moreish gaming staples that makes you wonder why it hasn't been done before. Each co-op excursion is some combination of shooting down waves of enemies and mining or searching for resources, and it's a thoroughly enjoyable, highly replayable experience. Playing as a group of up to four dwarves,...
Review DIRT 5 (PS5) - Raucous Arcade Racer Looks and Plays Best on Next-Gen
Mucking around
Republished on Wednesday 29th December, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2022's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows. We've already delivered our main verdict on DIRT 5 with the PlayStation 4 release, which you can read about through the link. However, Codemasters has...
Mini Review Among Us (PS5) - Social Deduction Sensation Is Best with Buddies
Sus'
Among Us is fashionably late to the PlayStation party. The game – which became a social sensation a couple of years back – has largely waned in popularity since exploding on streaming sites like Twitch, but with a price point less than a skinny latte and full crossplay compatibility, is there anything sus’ about this overdue port? Well,...
Mini Review Cricket 22: The Official Game of the Ashes - Not Bad But Won't Bowl You Over
A not-so sticky wicket
Ah, cricket. It’s a sport so steeped in tradition that when Australia and England come to blows, they compete not over silverware but a small urn. Cricket 22 has released just in time for the Ashes, and if Big Ant Studios was banking on an exciting series to drive sales for six, well, it’ll be scratching its head watching...
Mini Review Praey for the Gods (PS5) - A Commendable But Heavily Flawed Take on a Classic
A shadow of its inspiration
Praey for the Gods will no doubt look instantly familiar to PlayStation veterans. Developed by No Matter Studios, the team has always been open about the game's stark similarities to Shadow of the Colossus, one of Sony's most iconic games. It largely follows the same structure, tasking you with traversing a frozen...
You could be fine
When Terminator: Resistance first launched back in 2019, it was hard to ignore how much this glorified bit of fan-service was hampered by a lack of time and money. Sure, Teyon and Reef Entertainment had nailed the tone and atmosphere of the future war setting briefly glimpsed in Cameron’s movies, but it left a lot to be desired...
Mini Review Aeterna Noctis (PS5) - A Solid Yet Familiar Metroidvania
Nothing hollow about this
Right away, Aeterna Noctis feels familiar. With its grim, dirty visuals, melancholy music, and deadly enemies, the overall vibe of the game is remarkably similar to Hollow Knight. There’s a temptation to label Aeterna Noctis as an overly safe homage to its inspiration and call it a day, but thankfully there’s enough...
Mini Review Gynoug (PS5) - Another Ratalaika 16-Bit Shmup with Two Easy Platinums
He's not the Masaya, he's a very Wor-ty boy
A distinctive art style can elevate a retro game into becoming engraved in our memories, for example many shoot-'em-up fans vividly remember the visual design of the Bydo Empire, with its biomechanical theme, and bosses like Dobkeratops as a defining part of R-Type. In 1991 magazines, like Issue 113 of...
Mini Review Serious Sam 4 (PS5) - Mental Breakdown
Seriously disappointing
Serious Sam 4 almost immediately disappoints. That’s not to say it’s bad — it's another generally playable slice of carnage in the long-running series — but it’s also yet another prequel, a fifth game in which the villain, the tastefully named “Mental”, does not make an appearance. It's another shooter much like...
Mini Review Twelve Minutes (PS5) - Weird Twist Spoils an Otherwise Intriguing Story
Groundhog minutes
Twelve Minutes begins with you getting home to your shoebox-sized apartment after a long day’s work. Your wife has planned a lovely evening for the two of you, complete with romantic candles and your favourite dessert. After a small amount of pleasant chit-chat there’s a knock on the door; a police officer barges in and arrests...
