Tag: Mini Reviews - Page 5
Mini Review Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster (PS4) - The Gripping RPG That Rocked Square's Series
Go ahead and jump
Final Fantasy IV is the game that put Square's series on a new path, one that prioritised dramatic, character-driven stories — something that would define the franchise going forward. It tells the twisting tale of Cecil, a skilled knight who starts to question his country's militaristic ambitions. Even 32 years after its initial...
Mini Review Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster (PS4) - The Best Version of a Flawed Final Fantasy
The Empire strikes back
Final Fantasy II has long been considered one of the weaker mainline entries in Square Enix's series. While it did attempt to push the property forward in terms of storytelling, its intriguing but deeply flawed levelling system has left many a player unimpressed over the years. In Final Fantasy II, you play as a group of...
Mini Review Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster (PS4) - Series Originator Is Still Hard to Fault
It wasn't final after all
Ah, the game where it all began. The original Final Fantasy is an incredibly basic (and relatively short) RPG by today's standards, but there's still an inherent charm to its no-nonsense adventuring. It's light versus dark, good versus evil, four heroes standing against the end of the world — and that's just about all...
Mini Review Atari Mania (PS5) - WarioWare Inspired Microgame Compilation Isn't Quite Tight Enough
18-Volt would like it
After decades of mismanagement, Atari finally seems to get it. The company is greenlighting a lot of cool retro-themed projects lately, and microgame compilation Atari Mania is the latest in a growing line of great ideas. Inspired enormously by the likes of WarioWare and NES Remix, this minigame mash-up sees you overcoming...
Mini Review Creed Rise to Glory: Championship Edition (PSVR2) - Boxing Upgrade Bests Predecessor
It's still a little Rocky, though
Creed Rise to Glory is a boxing movie tie-in title that originally launched back on PSVR in September 2018, and you can check out our original review through here. Now with the release of a new movie, Creed III, Rise to Glory has been upgraded to the Championship Edition which comes with a whole bunch of bells and...
Mini Review Across the Valley (PSVR2) - Repetitive Farming Simulator Crawling with Bugs
Diddly squat to do
Across the Valley is a hand-drawn style, farming simulator from the small indie developer, FusionPlay. Each in-game day lasts 15 minutes and as your role of farmhand you’ll have to fit in as many missions from the task board as possible before dark. The daily tasks around the farm include planting, watering, weeding, and...
Mini Review Road 96: Mile 0 (PS5) - A Tonal Nightmare with Some Interesting Moments
Talk about whiplash
Road 96, the procedural hitchhiking game, was a title with an interesting presentation and a slew of good ideas. Developer DigixArt took that great foundation and spun things off into Road 96: Mile 0, a narrative-focused prequel that strips away the procedural elements, replacing them with rhythm gameplay. The world presented in...
Mini Review The Last Worker (PSVR2) - VR Doesn't Save the First-Person Order Picker
Welcome to the Jüngle
Games exploring the contemporary world of online order fulfilment work were inevitable, but we pictured they’d hit harder and have more to say than The Last Worker does. Playing as the last human employee picking packages to be delivered for a retail monopoly named Jüngle, the real-world parallels are obvious and the setup...
Mini Review Last Labyrinth (PSVR2) - Tediously Torturous Escape Room Experience
Sadistic
Last Labyrinth is a unique escape room experience, and not in a good way. You're strapped into a wheelchair with very limited manoeuvrability. With only head movements available to you and a laser pointer attached to the middle of your forehead, you must guide a young girl through a labyrinth of puzzles and ultimately escape this torturous...
Mini Review Citizen Sleeper (PS5) - Solemn Yet Satisfying Sci-Fi Storytelling
Don't sleep on it
Citizen Sleeper merges the RPG with the visual novel, wrapping it up in a brooding sci-fi blanket. Playing as the titular Sleeper — an android with the emulated mind of a human being — you explore Erlin's Eye, a vast space station run by corrupt corporations and inhabited by people making the best of it. As you progress, you'll...
Mini Review The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Tourist Edition (PSVR2) Must-Buy VR Survival
Saintly survival
The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners - Tourist Edition is a 15-to-20-hour post-apocalyptic survival experience developed by Skydance Interactive. Playing as The Tourist, you find yourselves in a flooded New Orleans, among several conflicting factions all fighting over access to The Reserve, a haven full resources for surviving an...
Mini Review Deceive Inc (PS5) - Multiplayer Stealth Is Mission Mostly Accomplished
Tactical espionage action
Deceive Inc. is an online multiplayer game that puts the emphasis on staying incognito while you work towards your objective. It combines hero shooter-style characters with the stealth and deduction of Among Us, or even the multiplayer of Assassin's Creed, and presents it in a cartoonish, James Bond wrapper. The merging of...
Mini Review Dredge (PS5) - Eerie Fishing Adventure Will Reel You In
There's always a weirder fish
Dredge is a fishing game with eldritch nastiness lurking beneath the surface. It's a perfect combo, and although the spooky side never descends into true horror, there's an ever-present sense of unease as you explore the small open ocean and its island outposts. Playing as a freshly hired fisherman, you begin the game...
Mini Review Puzzling Places (PSVR2) - A Lovely Game with a Few Problems
Puzzle me this, Batman
Puzzling Places is absolutely lovely — that’s the best way to describe it. A puzzle game best described as a 3D jigsaw, this is far and away the most relaxing time you can have with your PSVR2. The game leans into its unique appeal, allowing you to put together 3D dioramas of things that under normal circumstances would be...
Mini Review The Last Clockwinder (PSVR2) - A Satisfying, Chilled Out Puzzler
Going it a-clone
In a nutshell, The Last Clockwinder is a blend of solving puzzles and building factories. It's not the most original idea, but it's executed really well, taking advantage of virtual reality's unique perspective to create some truly engrossing gameplay. Set within the Clocktower, an enormous tree acting as a safe haven for various...
Mini Review Pistol Whip (PSVR2) - Still One of the Best VR Games You Can Play
Whip it
Upon its PSVR launch, we found Pistol Whip to be a sublime experience, brilliantly blending rail shooter and rhythm mechanics. How does the upgraded version fare? Well, even better. Unlike some of the PSVR2 upgrades, Pistol Whip doesn’t make a huge impression graphically. It was a stylized title with a solid aesthetic on first attempt, so...
Mini Review No Man's Sky (PSVR2) - Explore an Infinite Universe on a Whole New Scale
Space is big
We've revisited No Man's Sky a number of times over the years. It only seems fair to check in every once in a while considering how much changes with each major update. The latest of these, Fractal, adds full PSVR2 support, allowing you to explore planets, space stations, and everything in between within Sony's new headset. The initial...
Mini Review Rez Infinite (PSVR2) - PSVR Classic Remains a Must-Play on PSVR2
To Infinite and beyond
Rez Infinite was a transcendent experience on PSVR. A game originally from the PS2 days, the title seems at home in virtual reality to such a degree that it might as well have been made with that in mind. And the PSVR2 glow-up actually makes things even better. First and foremost, the graphical upgrade is immediately...
Mini Review What the Bat? (PSVR2) - Bonkers, Bite-Sized Fun Ideal for Beginners
Going batty
What the Bat replaces your arms and hands with a pair of baseball bats, and has you swinging through a series of short but sweet levels in an attempt to live a normal life. It's madness, but works wonderfully. This PSVR2 curio makes solid use of the hardware to deliver one of its silliest yet most appealing launch games. Playing is so...
Mini Review Garden of the Sea (PSVR2) - Cutesy Farming Adventure That Exudes Tranquillity
Animal Crossing VR
Garden of the Sea is a relaxing farming adventure from Neat Corporation, the developer behind Budget Cuts VR. Set on a series of islands in the middle of the ocean, you're tasked with returning a dilapidated farm back to its former glory. You are eased into the game by the village creatures offering simple fetch quests in the form...
Mini Review Moss (PSVR2) - Charming Adventure Gets Some Major Upgrades
Quill power
Returning with mouse companion Quill to Polyarc’s lovely fantasy world is a delight. Moss is a game we were quite fond of back when it launched in 2018, and it’s only gotten better here. Though the sequel, Book II, remains the superior title, Moss’ Redwall-esque world and environments are as lovely as ever with PSVR2. One of our...
Mini Review After the Fall (PSVR2) - Standout Co-Op Apocalypse Shooter
Left4Dead VR
After the Fall is a co-op multiplayer, post-apocalyptic, first-person shooter from the developers of Arizona Sunshine, Vertigo Games. Decades after the 1980s apocalypse turned Los Angeles into a frozen wasteland, you join a group of underground survivors becoming what’s known as a Harvest Runner. Tasked with expanding your group’s...
Mini Review Synth Riders: Remastered Edition (PSVR2) - Back and Better Than Ever
Ride the wave
Synth Riders was a highlight of PSVR: we loved it back when it launched in mid-2021. For a more explicit explanation, you can check out our original review, but know that this is a rhythm title played on a “note highway” and it’s excellent. One of the strengths of the game the first time through was its exceptional soundtrack,...
Mini Review PowerWash Simulator: Midgar Special Pack (PS5) - Another Chill Crisis Chore
Clean up Shinra's dirty deeds
Now that PowerWash Simulator is out on basically everything, we're starting to get some really interesting DLC. With Square Enix Collective publishing the game, we've seen a pair of exciting crossovers so far. The first was with Tomb Raider, in which you wash the exterior of Lara's massive mansion. Next up is this, the...
Mini Review Tetris Effect (PSVR2) - Stunning Puzzler Now Looks Better Than Ever
Memory blocks
Back when Tetris Effect launched on PS4, it was with full support for the original PSVR. At the time, we thought it was glorious, but realistically, the hardware's limitations meant the picture was never super clear. The spectacle of this flashy take on the familiar falling block puzzle game wasn't lost on us, though, and it remains a...
Mini Review Altair Breaker (PSVR2) - Unfinished Online-Only Sword Fighter Doesn't Cut It
Altair Broken, more like
Altair Breaker is a multiplayer sword-fighting game from Swords of Gargantua developer, Thirdverse. It's set on the floating island of Vastus Isle, once a magical workshop but now turned to ruins by LAWS (Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems). As a sword-fighter, you're tasked with helping Stella, a humanoid AI, in clearing the...
Mini Review Drums Rock (PSVR2) – A Pretty Fun, but Uneven Experience
A snare drum in the plan
Ever wanted to play the drums, but never had the musical inclination? Developer Garage51 has you covered, providing a virtual space to prove that you’ve got the beat. The presentation of the game, while not bad, is familiar territory. Lots of demonic and cartoonish imagery abound, giving the title a Guitar Hero aesthetic...
Mini Review Zenith: The Last City (PSVR2) - VR MMO Is Heavy on Content, Light on Entertainment
Massively middling
Zenith: The Last City is the closest thing we’ve got to a fully-fledged MMO in virtual reality to this point. It checks a lot of the RPG boxes with dungeons to run, raids to complete, gear to grind, and sizable expanses to explore. While it’s undeniably impressive as a proof-of-concept, Zenith is an otherwise painfully average...
Mini Review Startenders (PSVR2) - A Delightful Extra-Terrestrial Bartending Experience
Just the usual, please
In Startenders you take on the role of a mundane office worker who has accidentally been abducted and forced into working shifts at the Startenders Bartending Academy. This involves you serving weird yet wonderful concoctions to even stranger beings from galaxies far, far away. It all sounds simple enough, however with a wide...
Mini Review Kayak VR: Mirage (PSVR2) - An Immersive Yet Thin Experience
Paddle away the stresses of the day
A throwback to the early PSVR tech demos, Kayak VR: Mirage is one of those games you just need to try out on PSVR2. The premise is pretty simple: you're dumped on a kayak and will use the PSVR2 Sense controllers to explore varied exotic locations. That's really all there is to it, but its kind of the point...
Mini Review Cave Digger 2: Dig Harder (PSVR2) - A Rock Solid Cave Digging Roguelike
We can dig it
Cave Digger 2: Dig Harder doesn’t beat around the bush much, so we won’t either. It’s a surprisingly solid cave spelunking roguelike. It’s not here to dazzle with unprecedented visual splendour or novel new gameplay ideas. It just provides some good old-fashioned gunslinging and money hoarding fun. Being a roguelike, Cave...
Mini Review Thumper (PSVR2) - A Return to the Music Visualiser from Hell
Things that go Thump in the night
Thumper was a highlight of PSVR's launch lineup back in 2016 — check out our review through the link to learn why. It's a relentless, frantic rhythm title that has you racing through space, matching actions to the beat of the heavy soundtrack. The game is just as excellent this time around, if not better. While...
Mini Review RUNNER (PSVR2) - Akira Inspired Arcade Shooter Will Put You Through the Wringer
Too wild for you to handle
Iconic 80s anime Akira serves as the inspiration for RUNNER, a breakneck sci-fi arcade shooter which arguably tries to do too much. As a smuggler in an aggressively hostile world, you must outrun robo-cops through seven dynamically generated stages, dual-wielding pistols while you issue a little justice all of your own...
Mini Review Tentacular (PSVR2) - Physics Puzzler May (Ten)tickle Your Fancy
Release the Kraken
Tentacular is a physics-based puzzler where you take control of a tentacled monster who's raised by the townsfolk of La Kalma, a small village in the middle of the ocean. You're on a journey of self-discovery, trying to find out how you came to be and where you belong. Using your long sucker-laden limbs to manipulate objects, you...
Mini Review Demeo (PSVR2) - Dungeons and Dragons Experience Is One Roll Away from Perfection
Critical hit
Demeo is a one-to-four player tabletop turn-based dungeon crawler that can be played on both the PS5 and in PSVR2, the latter being significantly better. You choose your role from a possible seven classes (Guardian, Warlock, Sorcerer, Assassin, Hunter, Barbarian and Bard) and must traverse three floors, using card abilities and rolling...
Mini Review Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator (PS5) - Fun But Not Quite Masterchef
You'll always find me in the kitchen at parties
You'd think given the countless hours we've spent watching Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares that we'd have picked up a thing or two about running a successful restaurant. Alas, it seems the only thing we've picked up is his proclivity for foul-mouthed tirades, which we discovered a mere couple of...
Mini Review Akka Arrh (PS4) – A Psychedelic Curiosity from the Past
What a name
Akka Arrh is a contemporary re-imagining of a scrapped project dating back to the ‘80s. If that’s not an odd enough set-up to hook you, then maybe the rock-solid gameplay can do it instead. Developed by Llamasoft — the team behind the enigmatic Polybius — Akka Arrh is a unique wave shooter that tasks you with killing enemies...
Mini Review WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros (PS4) - Balling Arcade Baseball Costs Less Than a Buck
Swing when you're winning
Konami’s long-running Power Pros franchise – perhaps better known by its Japanese names PawaParu or Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu – has received Western releases in the past, but has generally remained exclusive to Asian territories over the years. The release of WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros is noteworthy because it’s...
Mini Review Tales of Symphonia Remastered (PS4) - Barebones Remaster Distracts from a Classic RPG
Lloyd Irving, wake up!
Still one of the most highly regarded instalments in Namco's long-running series, Tales of Symphonia could be considered a classic. Indeed, it's easy forget that the game's almost 20 years old — and Tales of Symphonia Remastered shows that the adventure actually holds up surprisingly well. The storytelling's a little...
Mini Review Ten Dates (PS4) - A Much Improved Rom-Com Sequel
Seven out of ten dates
Has humanity ever had a worse idea than speed dating? Once you forget all the obviously terrible stuff like biological weapons and motion controls, speed dating must be right up there. Five minutes of pish banter with a person who isn't laughing at any of your killer jokes before you half-heartedly ask for contact information...
Mini Review PowerWash Simulator (PS5) - Surprisingly Appealing, Deeply Satisfying
Good, clean fun
By now, you'll have made your mind up about PowerWash Simulator. It's been doing the rounds for a couple of years, winning hearts with its simple, inexplicably compelling gameplay. Yes, it's about blasting water at filthy buildings and objects. Yes, broadly it's quite repetitive and slow. Yes, you could get a power washer and hose...
Mini Review World War Z: Aftermath (PS5) - Performance Issues Can't Stop XL Zombie Fun
More zombies, less frame rate
World War Z: Aftermath, the manic zombie shooter, has finally made its way to PS5 alongside its long-awaited XL version of Horde Mode. This movie tie-in has become a real sleeper-hit after it launched to middling reviews back in 2019. But several updates later, and we have a solid third-person co-op experience that has...
Mini Review Fashion Police Squad (PS5) - Fun Boomer Shooter with Style to Boot
Drip and tear
We often wonder if the minds behind the original DOOM knew what the game they were creating would lead to. It's one of the most iconic games ever, but 30 years later we're swapping out demons for a scarier threat... bad fashion sense. Fashion Police Squad takes the classic "boomer shooter" formula and splices it with a ton of...
Mini Review Season: A Letter to the Future (PS5) - Fascinating Exploration Amid a Cataclysm
Dear John
Season: A Letter to the Future is really interesting. You play as someone leaving their cosy mountain village, tasked with recording the history of a nearby valley before the changing of the season. A new season doesn't mean what it does in the real world, though. It's a major, seemingly cataclysmic event, capable of wiping the memories of...
Mini Review A Space for the Unbound (PS5) - A Powerfully Engaging Story-Driven Adventure
Follow your dreams
A Space for the Unbound is an endearing story-driven adventure game set in Indonesia in the late 90s. It explores mature themes like depression, anxiety, and suicide through a relationship between two high school sweethearts, a boy called Atma and a girl called Raya. These aren't just any normal students, however, since they're...
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...
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...
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...
