Gamekult

After the beef-and-cheese skewer, Skybound Games and Quarter Up have invented the sashimi burger. Invincible VS ticks all the boxes of a true *kusoge*—a glorious trash game—featuring 3v3 matches, bizarre physics, broken mechanics, and a roster of characters that make absolutely no sense. Almost against your better judgment, you find yourself enjoying the experience—mashing your controller in every direction to take flight and obliterate your opponent's health bar through sheer chaotic button-mashing—all while sensing that even if you *did* master the mechanics in depth, the end result wouldn't be much more coherent. While I certainly wouldn't recommend pursuing an esports career in this title, it remains a solid choice if you’re a fan of *Invincible*, or if you simply enjoy chaotic, generous fighting games that deliver plenty of bang for just a few button presses.

More than a reductive slot machine, Vampire Crawlers is a true roguelike deckbuilder and requires wits, reflexes, game knowledge and a taste for taking calculated risks. Building the perfect deck to wipe out skeletons by the dozen in a single turn is an absolute delight. The endless onslaught of colors, garish visual effects, loud noises and unlockables has all the pros and cons of an all-you-can-eat buffet, leaving the player satisfied and ready to burst at the seams for a very sharp price, yet also slightly nauseous after long sessions. Won't keep you from coming back for seconds, though.

According to Aphelion, it all comes down to hope. If that were truly the case, Don’t Nod’s latest title would undoubtedly reach soaring heights. But much like its characters, the game must confront the harsh reality. It is not always an easy feat to reconcile narrative intensity with video game mechanics. On the narrative front, it delivers—despite a certain lack of originality. Yet, in many other respects, Aphelion lacks the precision that would have allowed the title to leave a lasting imprint on players' memories—and not just those of narrative game enthusiasts. It is thanks to its realism and its handling of emotions that it nonetheless succeeds in offering a rewarding journey through its own vision of space. It is an enjoyable space vacation, featuring a few particularly memorable moments—though the memory of it will surely eventually fade with time, much like the silhouette of a planet on the horizon.

Will Saros appeal to everyone? Probably not—and if you didn’t enjoy the gameplay of Returnal, this one won’t hook you any more, as it relies on the same core foundation. That said, Housemarque has done such a thorough job with difficulty tuning that one can only commend such a precise response to the criticisms previously aimed at the studio. In terms of gameplay, Saros holds up admirably despite its tiny flaws, and the whole experience feels perfectly cohesive—whether in its enemies, its biomes and their variations, or the many mechanics and weapons that keep enriching the experience throughout the adventure. Add to that a gripping story, with an allegory that is far less cryptic—and therefore far more engaging—and you’re looking at the very top tier of the PlayStation 5. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the console’s best exclusive, and it’s never leaving my system.

More than an expansion, Lord of Hatred establishes itself as the true cornerstone of a Diablo IV that finally finds its balance between visual excess, gameplay depth, and visceral combat. By embracing the legacy of its golden age while daring to introduce bold and welcome aesthetic choices, Blizzard delivers an almost flawless redemption arc, only slightly marred by a few pacing issues in the overall progression…Between the mastery of a Demonist worthy of a nightmare imagined by Clive Barker and the venomous charisma of a Mephisto more Rasputin-like than ever, the game manages to transcend its status as a mere product to once again become a complete dark fantasy experience. You come away with the certainty that Evil has finally returned home, and that it’s never been this satisfying to beat the hell out of it.

Does Sol Cesto frustrate me? A little bit—since despite all the tweaks one might make to the probabilities, the luck factor remains absolutely paramount, and—unluckily for me—I have none whatsoever. Does that make Sol Cesto a bad game, though? Absolutely not. The gameplay loop is still very cleverly designed to be addictive, and the art direction has a charm of its own, featuring a well-executed blend of the zany and the macabre. Moreover, the very fact that the game puts us through the wringer is precisely what makes it so captivating, compelling us to experiment and uncover its secrets.

Even reviewed under punishing conditions and burdened with a technical performance that H. P. Lovecraft would probably have described as “indescribable” at least a dozen times in the same chapter, something still compels us to focus on the strengths that emerge from Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss. A diligent and conscientious student of an enduring literary mythos, the game by Big Bad Wolf skillfully lines up its references, but is unlikely to sweep connoisseurs off their feet with a narrative that—even when set in the future—lacks a bit of madness and surprise. It nonetheless remains an investigative game with a gripping atmosphere and rewarding mechanics, and deserves credit for the bold choice of placing its full trust in the player’s powers of deduction.

More "cinematic" than "platformer", Replaced is visually scrumptious but simply feels bad to control. Ultimately, it does feel like the gameplay was conceived backwards from the visuals. As mean as it sounds (and I don't like beating on indies), the experience might genuinely be best enjoyed on YouTube for less jank-tolerant folks.

Pragmata truly shines through its gameplay, and that is undoubtedly what matters most. Not only does its blend of TPS and puzzles work very well, but the game also features a finely tuned progression curve and constantly renews itself, keeping us engaged from start to finish without difficulty. Faced with such mastery, its few flaws—such as level design that can sometimes feel a bit conventional, or a very predictable story despite the touching relationship between Hugh and Diana—are entirely forgivable. Pragmata is, above all, a game from the school of gameplay, and it stands among the top of the class.

Life is Strange: Reunion manages to sidestep the fan service that Max and Chloe’s return could have leaned into, delivering a story that holds up well—and, above all, a rather satisfying conclusion for both heroines. Deck Nine still struggles to fix some pacing issues in its storytelling, and Max’s time-rewinding powers feel somewhat underused, but the overall experience remains a positive note on which to say goodbye to this universe. Let’s just hope no one gets the bad idea of giving it a sequel.