One of the best puzzle games of recent years is also one of the most empowering and cleverly designed, as its stretches seemingly simple mechanics to impressive lengths.
A mostly successful remake that reimagines Fatal Frame 2 for the modern day, and while it can veer a little too much into action territory it’s still an impressively horrifying video game.
An impressively full-bodied Japanese role-player that’s good enough to attract non-Monster Hunter fans, with the Pokémon style collection process making up for the flaws in the storytelling and combat.
A competent Left 4 Dead clone that seems to have gained little from the association with John Carpenter, but it is a sensibly priced diversion for those that want a new co-op shooter to play with friends.
An atmospheric and evocative action role-player whose rough edges and lacklustre combat are balanced by compelling world-building, beautiful environments, and a far reaching sense of consequence.
This release includes all seven DLC packs, comprising challenge tombs, new weapons, and outfits, making it a real value for money proposition. It’s great rediscovering Lara’s swift journey from ingénue to casual mass murderer, via a whole lot of looted historical relics.
Rhythm action combat proves a fun way to get sweaty, assuming you like the style of music, but the extreme brevity is only slightly extended by online leaderboards.
Like its predecessors, it’s incredibly lightweight, your choices set out so briefly you’re regularly left guessing about potential outcomes; a sense the game attempts to paper over by throwing so many of them at you. It’s occasionally amusing, but too insubstantial to be satisfying.
Slay The Spire is not a game that sounds very exciting to describe and that’s certainly true of its sequel as well. But once you get a feel for how it works it’s enjoyably addictive in the way only the very best video games are. The early access version isn’t cheap, but the original game can currently be downloaded for just £4.99 on Steam, so if you’re not convinced you can get a good idea for whether you’ll like the sequel from that. [Early Access Review]
