Tag: Mini Reviews - Page 3
Mini Review Turbo Golf Racing (PS5) - Fun, if Slight, Golfing Game Is Worth a Little Drive
Driving range
Hugecalf Studios' golfing/racing hybrid title, Turbo Golf Racing, is a fun time. It's a wacky arcade game that sees you using cars to launch oversized golf balls through maze-like environments, taking many cues from Rocket League. Mechanically, Turbo Golf Racing is comfortable doing its own thing, with the golfing angle pairing...
Mini Review Moonglow Bay (PS5) - Fishing RPG Not Quite Catch of the Day
Hook, line, and stinker
Previously released on Steam and now ported to consoles, Moonglow Bay is a slice-of-life fishing game set in 1980s Canada. After a devastating loss, the protagonist must move on with their life and help revive the town they live in: a struggling fishing port. Obviously, as a fishing-based game, there's a large amount of...
Mini Review Freedom Planet 2 (PS5) - A Brilliant 2D Platformer Sequel
Move aside, Sonic, again
Sonic's influence on the gaming world has been well documented over the years, resulting in many attempts to recreate the 1991 classic's momentum-focused gameplay. In 2014, developer GalaxyTrail released Freedom Planet, an excellent 2D platformer that managed to invoke a similar exhilarating feeling with its emphasis on...
Mini Review Slave Zero X (PS5) - A Brutally Hard Brawler That Oozes Style
Putting on a Shou
Slave Zero X serves as prequel to the cult hit Dreamcast game Slave Zero, but while their stories and universe are connected, they couldn't be more different. Set five years before the third-person shooter original, this new title is a 2.5D beat-'em-up, in which you don a biomechanical super suit as the vengeful warrior Shou is out...
Mini Review Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator (PS5) - Taxi Sim Stalls on Arrival
No es bueno
On paper, Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator seems like a great time. Leisurely picking up fares in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, Barcelona. Exploring and finding points of cultural interest, forming and customising your own taxi company — it all sounds like a relaxing experience, right? Wrong. While there’s no denying...
Mini Review Outcast: A New Beginning (PS5) - A Rough Around the Edges Action Relic
We're sorry Ms. Jackson
Remakes, reboots, revivals. Whether it's a lack of fresh ideas, exploiting nostalgia, or an earnest desire to introduce a new generation to past glories, the entertainment industry loves bringing old things back. And we love old things coming back, too, as long as it isn't Nanna after she's escaped from the home again...
Mini Review Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (PS5) - A Trippy Odyssey Through a Yak's Brain
Drama Llama
Part of its lovingly curated Gold Master Series, Digital Eclipse’s exploration of Llamasoft is a comprehensive and fascinating package. Essentially an interactive museum, Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story presents documentary snippets, archival materials, and, most importantly, the games. A truly singular voice, Minter has been...
Mini Review Contra: Operation Galuga (PS5) - Run-'n'-Gun Series Back to Its Best
Bill Rizes to the occasion
It's weird that Konami has taken this long to ship Contra: Operation Galuga, which is the classic Contra game fans have been asking for. After the damp turd that was 2019's Contra: Rogue Corps, the publisher handed the reins back to WayForward, the team behind 2008's Contra 4. Turns out that's all that was needed to get a...
Mini Review As Dusk Falls (PS5) - Creative Character-Driven Drama
From dusk until dawn
Interior Night has taken pages from the books of Don't Nod, Supermassive, Telltale, and Quantic Dream to craft a choice-driven character drama with As Dusk Falls. The game's stylistic flourishes take time to acclimatise to, but it provides a unique tone and perspective that still stand out in a genre that’s becoming...
Mini Review New Star GP (PS4) - Refreshingly Modern Retro F1 Racing
Championship contender
New Star GP goes beyond a fitting tribute to SEGA's arcade classic, Virtua Racing. When tracks bear striking similarities to Interlagos, Silverstone, and more — never mind that you're fighting off-brand rivals like Michael Schildhauer and Niki Laube — New Star GP takes clear inspiration from Formula 1 to deliver a...
Mini Review Dragon Ball FighterZ (PS5) - Anime Fighter Is Still Godlike, Despite Dodgy Online
Your wish is granted
When Dragon Ball FighterZ first released in 2018 for PS4, it was hailed as one of the greatest anime fighting games ever made — and rightfully so. Crafted by the genre experts at Arc System Works, FighterZ was and still is a masterclass in how to adapt an existing franchise. The team-based brawler is both highly accessible on...
Mini Review Ufouria: The Saga 2 (PS5) - NES Sequel Is Jennifer's First Metroidvania
Fabric Sunsoftener
There's something special to a retro gamer about the resurrection of a cult classic, as it either gives a hidden gem a new lease of life, or it introduces gamers to a series they've never heard of before. Sunsoft has capitalised on this idea, as Tasto Alpha has developed the single player platform game, Ufouria: The Saga 2, which...
Mini Review Penny's Big Breakaway (PS5) - Unique Yo-Yo Platformer Has Its Ups and Downs
Yo with the flow
Penny's Big Breakaway comes from some of Sonic Mania's key contributors, and you can certainly see and feel the influences. This 3D platformer encourages speed, using momentum to your advantage, and exploring colourful, open levels, much like SEGA's mascot series. Despite the through-line, however, this game's core mechanics set it...
Mini Review Pentiment (PS5) - A Slow-Burning 16th-Century Murder Mystery
When everybody plays, we all win
Set in 16th-century Bavaria, Pentiment tells the tale of the small Alpine town of Tassing and the simple people that dwell there. We play as a Nurembergian artist named Andreas Maler who is living in Tassing while he completes work on a piece for the local monastery, and through him we meet the residents of the town...
Slay the Sunshine
We could gobble up our allotted Mini Review word allocation merely recapping the background behind deckbuilding roguelike Yohane the Parhelion: Numazu in the Mirage, but all you really need to know is that this is based on the Love Live! Sunshine!! anime spin-off, which casts the eponymous idol as a fortune teller. It’s not to be...
Mini Review Balatro (PS5) - Roguelike Poker Ain't No Joker
You wanna know how I got these cards?
Balatro is a fantastic roguelike deckbuilder that hides delicious depth behind its simple, recognisable exterior. With a deck of 52 standard playing cards, you need to earn enough chips to defeat each Blind, and to do so you must play valid poker hands — to start with, anyway. The game quickly shuffles away...
Mini Review PlateUp! (PS5) - Co-Op Restaurant Roguelite Serves Up a Treat
Cooking like a chef
Inevitably, a game like PlateUp! will be compared to Overcooked, purely because both are restaurant-based games. Where PlateUp! differs from any of its foodie stablemates is that it has roguelite progression, and encourages players to stray away from chaos rather than embrace it. You and up to three others (locally or online)...
Mini Review A Little To The Left (PS5) - Sorting Out Those Cosy Vibes
Watch out for that cat
There's nothing quite like a cosy game, and A Little to the Left is a perfect example of how a simplistic premise can deliver a comforting experience. In this relaxing puzzle game, you sort and organise basic household items, such as documents, books, toys, and anything you'd consider requiring a bit of a sort out, really...
Mini Review Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore (PS5) - A Charmingly Shoddy CD-i Sendup
Jewel love it or hate it
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore more or less nails what it sets out to do. Inspired directly by a pair of infamously bad Zelda games for the Philips CD-i, this fresh interpretation carries much of the same pseudo-bootleg energy that fans have come to love over time. The poorly animated cutscenes, awful voice acting, static...
Uncanny Ani
Talking to StarWars.com on the 20th anniversary of the first Star Wars prequel film, George Lucas was clear that, "The films were designed for 12-year-olds." Big Ape Productions mustn't have got the memo when developing PS1 Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace though, because a steep difficulty curve, and bewildering design ensures...
Mini Review Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord (PSVR2) - Teamwork Makes the Scream Work
Bustin' makes me feel good
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord has you take up the role of San Fransisco's newest addition to the Ghostbusters crew. Its fluid, intuitive, and satisfying controls create an enjoyable and immersive experience that will hook fans of the supernatural series, even when the action becomes ever-so-slightly repetitive...
Mini Review War Hospital (PS5) - Triage the Wounded in Grim Wartime Sim
Casualties of war
We seem to be experiencing a new era of bleak realism in management sims. The likes of This War of Mine and Frostpunk eschew optimistic growth in favour of grim survival at all costs. The latest in this cycle is War Hospital, a WWI-era triage-'em-up that has you overseeing a medical compound under relentless assault from enemy...
Mini Review Immortality (PS5) - An Exceptional FMV Mystery
Two thumbs up
What happened to Marissa Marcel? That's the central crux of the splendid video-game-slash-interactive-movie(s), Immortality. It's a rare treat, anchored by an exceptional lead performance from the actor Manon Gage, in which you attempt to solve the mystery of what happened to a promising actress who starred in three movies, none of...
Mini Review The Cub (PS5) - Short Platformer Oozes Style
Radio apocalyptica
One of the toughest things about making a 2D platformer must simply be making it stand out amongst the thousands of others. The Cub, from Golf Club Wasteland team Demagog Studio, at least gives itself a leg up in that regard, then, with stylised visuals, a moody soundtrack, and a persistent radio show that plays over the whole...
Mini Review Toy Trains (PSVR2) - Ex-Superhot Devs Deliver Tranquil Train Fun
Tracks in the attic
Something Random is made up of former SUPERHOT developers, but the studio's debut game couldn't be more different. Toy Trains is a cute, relaxing game that lets you relive the simple fun found in building model train tracks, and it does so quite successfully. A train set in a dusty attic just so happens to be home to a tiny...
Mini Review Vertigo 2 (PSVR2) - Phenomenal VR Shooter Shares a Lot of DNA with Half-Life
The life of Brian
What a pleasant surprise Vertigo 2 has turned out to be. Waking up in a cell, held captive by the omnipotent — and possibly sinister — Brian, you are eventually let loose to explore a massive scientific facility housing a quantum reactor. The similarities to Half-Life are striking and immediate, but dev Zulubo hasn’t shied...
Mini Review Breachers (PSVR2) - One of the Best Shooters for Sony's VR Platform
Once more unto the breach, dear friends
Released on Meta Quest VR in April 2023 to widespread acclaim, Breachers is a Rainbow Six Siege-style 5v5 tactical shooter that's now available on PSVR2. You and four teammates assume the role of either 'Enforcers' or 'Revolters'; the former team is tasked with infiltrating the location and disarming bombs,...
Mini Review Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (PS5) - Re-Released, Rollback Fighter Is Top Tier
Rise again
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is essentially an enhanced re-release of the ill-fated Granblue Fantasy Versus — a really good fighting game that had its competitive scene smothered by the coronavirus pandemic, while shoddy netcode meant its online community was all but dead on arrival. Rising, then, feels like a deserved second chance...
Mini Review The Lord of the Rings: Return To Moria (PS5) - Survival Adventure Not Worth Treasuring
And they call it a mine, a mine!
Free Range Game's hairy spelunking simulator comes hot on the heels of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a low point of the year and a horrible adaptation of Tolkien's IP. While it isn't as abjectly awful as Daedalic's folly, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is, sadly, also a disappointment. This is a survival...
Work death balance
There are so many roguelikes and roguelites now that it's getting harder and harder to stand out, and that's something Have a Nice Death doesn't quite overcome. By and large, this is a perfectly decent side-scrolling action game, but it doesn't reach the upper echelons of this competitive niche. You play as Death, fatigued by his...
Mini Review Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen (PS5) - A Short But Explosive Dungeon Run
Tower power
We're weren't totally convinced that Final Fantasy 16 needed story-based DLC, but now that we've played through Echoes of the Fallen — the first of two promised expansions — we're actually glad it's happening. If nothing else, this additional slice of adventure is a welcome reminder of how flashy and downright fun 16's combat can be...
The grass could do with a cut
Arashi: Castles of Sin Final Cut is a stealth, action-adventure, virtual reality title from developer Endeavor One and publisher Skydance Interactive. You take on the role of deadly assassin Kenshiro, setting out across feudal Japan in the hopes of defeating six terrorous bandit leaders who have devastated the lands for...
Mini Review The Last Faith (PS5) - Competent Metroidvania Scratches That Bloodborne Itch
Provided you have the appetite
The Last Faith is a solid gothic fusion of Metroidvania and Souls-Like, mashing mechanics from two relatively crowded subgenres into something that stands out thanks to gorgeous pixel art. Fans of tough, 2D platformers will likely find a lot to like here, doubly so if you are one of those tortured souls afflicted by a...
Mini Review Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
From Con-rad to Con-traversal
Flashback fans curb your enthusiasm, because Microid's 2023 Flashback 2's not even a 2D cinematic platform game. This PS5 pseudo 3D adventure doesn't have any of the subgenre's gameplay traits that Push Square noted when reviewing a title like Another World. It also doesn't continue in the tradition of great sci-fi...
Mini Review KarmaZoo (PS5) - Co-Op Is Key in This Novel Multiplayer Platformer
Going loopy
KarmaZoo from Pastagames says that online co-op with strangers needn't be the painful exercise it usually is. A co-op platformer you play online with random players (or friends if you like), groups of up to 10 must work together to get through a short series of levels, and it works a treat. The design is pretty ingenious. After grouping...
Connect more
With its gigantic character roster, original story mode, and fairly expansive 'History' mode, Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections just about manages to justify its existence — even though, at its core, this is pretty much a repackaging of previous Storm titles. Featuring every playable character from past games alongside...
Mini Review Astral Ascent (PS5) - Fight Your Star Sign in Robust, Pretty Roguelite Actioner
Zodiac killer
Astral Ascent is a roguelite, side-scrolling action game that places you in an attractive, fresh fantasy world. Held inside an astral prison, you need to defeat your jailers — the 12 Zodiacs — in order to break free. It's a clever setup; we're surprised it's taken this long for the star signs to be turned into a series of boss...
Mini Review Teardown (PS5) - Delightful Voxel-Based Destruction
Train go boom
Teardown lets you loose in ridiculously destructible environments with impressive physics and a sizeable arsenal, all while performing remarkably well on PS5. It takes mere seconds in the directionless sandbox mode to get the appeal; watching these detailed destruction systems do their thing is immediately captivating. For those...
A Grend old time
The year is 2023, and formulative 1970s anime UFO Robot Grendizer has just been revived as a modern action game. Developed by French studio Endroad, UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves has a clear reverence for the source material, and although it's an undeniably rough product in terms of technical performance, fans of...
Mini Review Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (PS5) - A Tighter, More Focused Platform Fighter
Super Smash Bros Brawl 2?
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is a follow-up to 2021’s one-to-four-player Nicktoon platform fighter of the same name. This time with a fully-fledged roguelike campaign and a weighty overhaul to the combat, the Nicktoons must rescue their fellow fighters from Vlad Plasmius’ mind control and restore the Nickelodeon...
Mini Review Little Goody Two Shoes (PS5) - A Flawed But Unique Spin on the Life Sim
Little red dying hood
The first thing you'll probably notice when booting up Little Goody Two Shoes for the first time is its distinct art style. If you grew up watching 90s anime such as Sailor Moon or the original Pokémon series, the game does an excellent job at lovingly recreating that specific vibe in its presentation, narrative, and overall...
Mini Review Ebenezer and the Invisible World (PS4) - Gorgeous Metroidvania Burdened by (Bah Hum)bugs
Nightmare before Christmas
Ebenezer and the Invisible World is a 2D Metroidvania-style platformer based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. You explore London as Ebenezer Scrooge, on a quest to return the industrial capitalist, Casper Malthus, to his good-natured self after a visit from the Ghosts of Christmas appear to have corrupted him. In...
Mini Review Tennis On-Court (PSVR2) - Solid Gameplay Surrounded by Technical Issues
Double fault
The first thing that happened to us upon launching Tennis On-Court was a hard crash. Even before we saw the main menu, we were on the error report screen. The game would only crash a couple more times, but it was a worrying start. Worse than the crashes is an annoying bug where, if you hit the tennis ball at just the right angle, it'll...
Mini Review Headbangers Rhythm Royale (PS5) - Musical Party Game Is Frustrating and Fun
Let's get this bread
Glee Cheese Studio's Headbangers Rhythm Royale is the latest in a growing roster of battle royale party games. Heavily reminiscent of Fall Guys, the game sees floppy-headed pigeons duke it out in rhythm-based puzzles. Thirty competitors fight to earn the coveted title of master headbanger. You'll be familiar with the format by...
Mini Review Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (PS5) - A Hilarious, Hopping Mad Trilogy
The Adventure of the Solitary Scooterist
Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery comprises three of the silliest, most charming detective adventures you could hope to play. As the titular amphibian investigator, you'll receive calls from the Supervisor about a haunted island, an invisible wizard, and a bunch of missing cowboy hats. After you grab your...
Mini Review Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue (PS5) - Slow-Burn Visual Novel Gets Going... Eventually
All filler, very little killer
The beginning of Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue feels very much like a Danganronpa-style death game. 11 strangers get abducted and sent to an abandoned tropical island resort where they’re forced to stay for six months. It’s all part of some twisted reality TV show where the abductees will be given €500,000 at...
Mini Review Wizard with a Gun (PS5) - This Co-Op Survival Adventure Is Worth a Shot
Machine gun Merlin
Wizard with a Gun is a one-or-two-player, twin-stick shooter, survival game from Galvanic Games and Devolver Digital. You play as a time-travelling wizard who's been tasked with preventing the Collapse, a cataclysmic event that split the world into pieces scattered throughout time. By exploring various procedurally generated...
Mini Review CRYMACHINA (PS5) - Interesting Worldbuilding Can’t Save This Dull Action RPG
It’s the end of the world as we know it
The end of humanity has finally happened; partly due to disease but mostly due to war over a scarcity of resources. In one of the last acts of a dying species they created a vast structure in space, known as Eden. Outfitted with eight self-evolving artificial lifeforms known as Deux Ex Machinas, the hope was...
Mini Review Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (PS5) - Murder Mystery Kills It
Fresh like a Daisy
A timeless classic, Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express is one of the best-loved and most famous murder mysteries of all time. Originally released in 1934, the story has been refreshed and updated for this 2023 release — think Poirot with Internet access. The acclaimed detective finds himself aboard the Orient Express...
Mini Review The 7th Guest VR (PSVR2) - Bugs Besmirch This Entertaining VR Remake
Stauf's toying with you
The 7th Guest VR is a virtual reality reimagining of 1993's puzzle title of the same name. Mysterious recluse and toy maker, Henry Stauf, has invited six guests to his gothic, puzzle-filled mansion for a party, offering a large sum of prize money. Taking on the role of an unidentified guest, you'll be exploring Stauf's...
