Tag: Mini Reviews - Page 6
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
Mini Review Norco (PS5) - A Peculiar Prosaic Paradigm
Norc by Norcwest
While on the surface, Norco might seem a fairly traditional point-and-click adventure title, this would do a gross disservice to what the game actually has to offer. A grungy, dystopian, post-capitalist mining town, Norco, Louisiana is a bleakly beautiful setting for a brilliant story. Offering a unique cross-pollination of...
Mini Review Gungrave G.O.R.E. (PS5) - It's Definitely a New Gungrave
2022? More like 2002
If you asked us to guess which PS2 game would get a sequel in the year 2022, there's no chance we'd have said Gungrave. The original launched back in 2002 and was the brainchild of mangaka Yasuhiro Nightow, best known for writing the critically acclaimed Trigun. The original Gungrave was a stylish, albeit incredibly basic,...
Mini Review Arkanoid: Eternal Battle (PS5) - Retro Revival Can't Overcome Sticker Shock
Breakout
Taito’s Arkanoid may not have been the original brick breaker – that accolade, of course, rests with Atari’s Breakout – but it’s probably the best. With the addition of weapons and power-ups, as well as 3D enemies recompiled as sprites, it took a primitive concept and completely reinvented it. Now, over 35 years removed from its...
Mini Review Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PS5) - Falcom's Fantastic Action RPG Is Still a Joy
Adventure, at a price
Considered by many to be one of, if not the best game in Falcom's long-running action RPG franchise, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is still a joy to play six whole years after its PS Vita debut. Series protagonist and lifelong adventurer Adol Christin gets shipwrecked on an uncharted island, and has little choice but to gather his...
Mini Review Save Room (PS5) - RE4 Delight Turned Full Game
What're ya sorting?
Considering just how beloved the inventory management of Resident Evil 4 was, it's insane to think it's taken this long for someone to spin it out into a full game. 17 years later, Save Room is a completely faithful recreation of the enjoyable Tetris-like mechanic that works as a neat distraction for an hour or two. This is the...
Mini Review Return to Monkey Island (PS5) - Original Creators Return to Beloved Point and Click
Rubber chicken with pulley optional
We find the mighty pirate Guybrush Threepwood sitting on a park bench, a bit older but not necessarily wiser. He is relaying the tale of a quest from The Secret of Monkey Island to a familiar youngster. The story that plays out is essentially the greatest hits of his first two adventures, with a sprinkling of...
Mini Review The Entropy Centre (PS5) - Portal-Esque Adventure Rewinds Time
If I could turn back time
Waking up in a strange facility, protagonist Aria Adams finds herself a Handheld Entropy Device (HED): a gun-like entity which can bend time, and houses a sassy virtual companion named Astra. If that sounds vaguely familiar, then you should already know what to expect. It’s hard to ignore the influence of Portal in The...
Mini Review The Chant (PS5) - Nothing Special Whatsoever
Kum Ba Nah
With the horror genre going through a sudden but welcome revival, a bang-average title isn't really going to cut it anymore as The Callisto Protocol and Dead Space loom on the horizon. Unfortunately, The Chant is exactly that. It's an okay game, but it's going to be forgotten about just as quickly as it comes. A third-person title about...
Mini Review Brewmaster (PS5) - All Hail the Best Beer Brewing Sim on PlayStation
"Just a half for me, Susan. I'm driving"
Back in the good old days you could go to your local pub for a pint of Housewives Knee and the only other people in there drinking proper beer would be old men and people who go to Games Workshop. People wearing fedora hats. Those sorts of people. But then they came. The normal people. Suddenly craft beer...
Mini Review Shatter Remastered Deluxe (PS5) – Brick Breaking Great Returns
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?
Brick breakers have been a staple of gaming since the early days, and the formula hasn't really changed since. You're presented with a wall of colourful bricks and it's up to you to guide a ball into each one, destroying them until the level is clear. But what happens when a developer decides...
Mini Review Saturnalia (PS5) - An Engrossing Terror
It’s always a village, isn't it?
As heavy darkness permeates the discomforting town of Gravoi, Saturnalia dares you to survive it long enough to unveil the village’s hidden skeletons. Harkening back to the good ol’ survival horror games of the 90s, this artsy but quite disturbing indie horror manages to rattle your bones after the credits hit...
Mini Review Signalis (PS4) - Last-Gen Release Has Its Feet in the Future
Stunning revival of classic survival (horror)
Keycard puzzles, limited inventory, scarce ammo. The survival horror formula may be nothing new, but the sheer tension of Signalis shows once again that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — just move it to an eerily abandoned mining colony on the edge of a Nazi-like galactic empire. Even more...
Mini Review Dragon Ball: The Breakers (PS4) - Janky Casual Fun In Familiar Setting
Is it worth surviving?
Dragon Ball: The Breakers breaks into unfamiliar territory for the franchise — a realm that'll be more than recognisable to avid Dead by Daylight players. This 1v7 multiplayer game is more than just a reskin of its inspirations, however. While it falters in several game mechanics, it uses the beloved manga and anime property...
Mini Review Persona 5 Royal (PS5) - Still One of the Best JRPGs Ever Made, Despite PS4 Disrespect
Persona 5 Royalties
Let's get right into it: Persona 5 would not be the success story that it is without the PS4. And with that in mind, the complete lack of an upgrade path for existing PS4 players is a slap in the face. It doesn't matter if you've already paid full price for Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal on Sony's last-gen system — SEGA and...
Mini Review LEGO Bricktales (PS5) - Solid Puzzler Taps into the Creativity of LEGO
If you build it, they will come
LEGO Bricktales is the latest attempt by LEGO to diversify its gaming portfolio beyond the formula popularised by TT Games. While some of these attempts have been worse than others, LEGO Bricktales is the latest in a line of successes. This is a puzzle game about a young minifig on their way to visit their...
Mini Review Tunic (PS5) - Cute But Tough Action Game Is Cunning As a Fox
Page turner
Tunic is more than it appears. It treads familiar ground to classic Legend of Zelda-style adventures, with simple combat, a large overworld, and a selection of bosses and dungeons. However, it's what's added on top that really shines. To start with, the foxy hero doesn't even have a sword, but throughout the game you'll slowly accrue...
Mini Review Let's Build A Zoo (PS5) - An Absorbing and Quirky Tycoon
A crocoduck?
Don’t let the cutesy pixel art style fool you; managing a zoo is more than just a walk in the park. Let's Build A Zoo wastes no time to allow the player to establish a living hell or a haven for both your visitors and animals. The game excels at two main mechanics which make it stand out from its tycoon competitors — the morality...
Mini Review Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Remastered (PS4) - A Snappier, Funnier Sequel
Weird is an understatement
Santa, Hell, vampires? In any other game, this would be such an odd combination. However, this is Sam & Max we're talking about, and Santa's exorcism is just another typical case for the dynamic duo. Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Remastered is just as enjoyable as Ozzy Osbourne's crazy train to experience...
Mini Review Sam & Max Save the World Remastered (PS4) - A Classic with a Modern Touch
Chuckle like the good ol' days
The cheese was innocent! Or was it? The cheese is only the start of an absurdist adventure led by a cool wolfhound detective accompanied by a hyperactive bunny who might have a loose screw or two. A remaster of Telltale's episodic adventure which ran from 2006 to 2007, Sam & Max Save the World Remastered follows a...
Mini Review The DioField Chronicle (PS5) - Dull Characters in an Intriguing Strategy RPG
Fleeting foxes
Its disjointed reveal trailer didn't exactly heighten our expectations, but we're happy to report that The DioField Chronicle has turned out reasonably well. It's a real-time strategy RPG topped off with some very pretty artwork and some effective gameplay design — but it's not without its (often obvious) flaws. Set against a...
Mini Review XIII (PS5) - Improvements Can't Save This Remaster Redo
Isn't 13 supposed to be a lucky number?
Considering the XIII remake's original launch was a disaster, it's admirable that publisher Microids tried to fix things. Following the launch from developer PlayMagic, a new team, Tower Five, has been brought in to try and rework the release into something more appealing. The results are mixed, but it's...
Mini Review Session: Skate Sim (PS5) - A Realism Focused Love Letter to Skating, For Better or Worse
Need's more CKY
This time five years ago, skateboarding games were in a rough place. The last major skateboarding game was the truly awful Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 and EA’s Skate series had been dormant since 2010 despite fervent fan demand for a new entry. Around that time Montreal-based developer Creā-ture Studios first showed off Project...
Mini Review Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PS5) - Slow But Satisfying Ship Scrapping
Job's a goodun
In these uncertain times of economic instability, what better way to unwind than to play a game in which you're an indentured labourer, working off an impossible debt? Hardspace: Shipbreaker has you scrapping gigantic vessels to chip away at a huge financial obligation to the Lynx Corporation. This clearly shady conglomerate has you...
Mini Review Wayward Strand (PS5) - A Short But Sweet Airborne Adventure
All aboard the airship
A floating hospital with a mystic grandma as a patient? Narrative adventure Wayward Strand offers this and many other mysterious tales to uncover as 15-year-old journalist Casey Beaumaris. Given three days to wander around and write your paper on the flying hospital's history, the game soothes you into the calm and mellow...
Mini Review LEGO Brawls (PS5) - An Embarrassing Multiplayer Outing for LEGO
Back in the LEGO bin it goes
For years, LEGO games have carried around a reputation for being quality, kid-friendly titles that can be enjoyed by players of all ages. From classics like LEGO Star Wars to the recent LEGO Builder's Journey, there's hardly a modern LEGO game you can call downright bad. That is, until LEGO Brawls released on consoles,...
Mini Review The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition (PS4) - New Improvements Can't Fix Everything
Back to work
The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition is aptly named, rising from the ashes of the original, short-lived version. While largely the same game you remember from 2016, this iteration ditches the free-to-play structure, introduces new features, and refreshes the experience in various other ways. Whether those changes are enough to make...
Error error error error error!
A remaster complete with additional features, characters, and combat adjustments, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R remains an excellent adaptation of the popular anime and manga property at its core. The attention to detail is often outstanding, with the game referencing all kinds of interactions and events...
Mini Review Inscryption (PS5) - The Most Unique Game You Will Play All Year
Heart of the cards
Inscryption is one of those games where the less you know the better. A card battling roguelike on first impression, it's what happens outside those duels where the true magic lies. Daniel Mullins has crafted a deceiving title full of layers and surprises; pulling them back and learning how they tick is what makes Inscryption...
Mini Review Toem (PS5) - Photography Puzzler Is a Picture Perfect Adventure
Say "cheese"
Republished on Wednesday 31st August 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Toem is an extremely refreshing experience. The scope of the game is rather small, but that's allowed developer Something We Made to double down on...
Mini Review I Was A Teenage Exocolonist (PS5) - Choose Your Own Adolescence
Teenage kicks
Your teenage years are undoubtedly some of the hardest years of your life. Raging hormones, school, navigating romance for the first time, aliens threatening to destroy your home and family… Now, imagine all of that in a timeloop that you're destined to repeat over and over, and you have I Was A Teenage Exocolonist. Growing up on...
Mini Review Tinykin (PS5) - A Cute Adventure Bubbling with Charm
You'll float too
If you've an itch to play some Pikmin without borrowing your buddy’s Nintendo Switch, Tinykin is more than the right remedy to scratch it. Developer Splashteam combines eye-catching 2D art in a 3D environment, delivering a captivating fusion of Paper Mario and the aforementioned strategy series. Despite the game’s tiny nature,...
Mini Review Cursed to Golf (PS5) - A Fun, Hilarious Spin on the Roguelike
It’s all in the hips
In Cursed to Golf, you are a champion golfer mortally struck by lightning who tries to golf their way out of hell. It’s a great spin on the roguelike, as you have to clear 18 holes on a demonic series of courses or be doomed to a Sisyphean nightmare of putting greens. The game is laid out like a side-scrolling roguelike,...
Mini Review Thymesia (PS5) – A Poor Take on the Souls-Like Formula
Are you ready to recall?
Thymesia is a Souls-like that sees you play as Corvus, a reincarnated warrior with amnesia. Though unsure of your standing in the world, you are guided by a spectral visage that tasks you with uncovering the secrets of "Vile Blood" and "Pure Blood". Trappings of Souls titles are aplenty, with things like lanterns serving as...
Mini Review Voyage (PS5) - A Nice Palate Cleanser
Sweet starter
Considering the number of big games that release one after another nowadays — particularly during the holiday season — palette cleansers have become almost essential in order to keep things fresh. Voyage, a beautiful 2D title about the journey rather than demanding gameplay mechanics, plays that role perfectly. In a two-hour quest...
Mini Review Metro Exodus (PS5) – A Greatly Improved Version of a Pretty Awesome Game
Time to leave the metro
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. 4A Games is one of the most talented teams in the industry, but the PS4 version of Metro: Exodus – as noted in our original review...
Mini Review GigaBash (PS5) - A Mighty Brawler That Excels in Multiplayer
Saving the earth one more time
Kaiju fighting games are witnessing a resurgence and it’s a beautiful thing. PS2 efforts like War of the Monsters set the scene and through recent efforts like Override: Mech City Brawl that legacy lives on. Making little secret of its inspirations, here comes GigaBash from Passion Republic Games, a colourful new...
Mini Review Frogun (PS5) - PS1 Era Platformer Doesn't Have Much Bounce
Shooting your mouth
For better and worse, Frogun really does feel like a game ripped from the late 90s. This is a puzzle platformer with a PS1-era vibe, and while it nails the presentation, it also inadvertently captures the frustrating and finicky nature of those early 3D games. Playing as a young girl in search of her parents, you use the titular...
Mini Review What Remains of Edith Finch (PS5) – Still Immaculate All These Years Later
If these walls could talk
Back when What Remains of Edith Finch launched in 2017, we awarded it an elusive perfect score, lauding it as one of the greatest walking simulators ever conceived. But that was five years ago. How does it feel to step foot within Giant Sparrow’s lovingly crafted world now? With delight, we can say that the return to the...
Mini Review Bright Memory: Infinite (PS5) - A Memory in a Flash
Definitely not infinite
Swords, guns, parkour! Could this be the next Devil May Cry successor? Unfortunately, Bright Memory: Infinite will only be in your memory for T-minus two hours because not even Speedy Gonzales can outrun Sylvester faster than the credits roll in this game. It is hard to understand how Bright Memory’s Early Access on PC was...
Mini Review Seduction: A Monk's Fate (PS5) – A Bite-Sized Curio
Taking a vow of brevity
Not every game has to have a AAA budget or photorealistic graphics to offer something intriguing. A good example? Seduction: A Monk’s Fate, a side-scrolling puzzler by KOEX Studio, a single dev out of Singapore. In this title, you assume the role of a Buddhist monk attempting to cleanse your monastery from the temptations...
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...
Mini Review Marvel's Avengers (PS5) - Heroic Makeover Still Needed
Thor-t it would be better
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. Marvel’s Avengers’ biggest mistake is that it wants to be a game you can play forever, without offering the variety to sustain such...
