PizzaPartyFor1

Forewarning: the game on PS5 has some particular levels in the campaign that make it crash so you’ll have to restart. THAT BEING SAID, this game is amazing. What I wanted from this game was a goofy, arcade pick up and play homage to FlatOut/Burnout/Blur and that is exactly what I got. I’ve honestly had some laugh out loud moments with how chaotic and intense the game felt, along with the incredibly awful (in all the right ways) voice acting. The car customisation is a little lacking, but the amount of cars on offer is insane. You can ride an electric scooter, a tank, street race cars and a school bus. There is a real good variety to the campaign too, with about 80 levels in total. Most being races but others being survival and time attacks - and the tracks themselves each have a little secret or two that can actually change the map from lap to lap which is SO refreshing. Made me think of the good old days of Split/Second Velocity. The graphics can be hit and miss (all the car components flying off individually is great but there are some character model issues) but the point of deduction really just comes from the optimisation on the PS5. If you play “RUSH” in any city map just know that an air strike will cause your race to turn into a slideshow before powering down. Overall if you want the classic PS2 racing game with some killer songs to race with and a campaign that actually has a fun, interesting story with fast cars and tonnes of explosions, get this game. Oh and just know the end credits reveal of two characters made me and my partner actually gasp.

A cosy cooking deckbuilding game was not on my bingo card for this year - but what a treat it was!! Adorable characters with INCREDIBLE animation, everything felt full of life. The battle system being a puppet show on sticks was amazing too, such a pleasure for the eyes. Story-wise, I was surprised to see how much lore there was going into the game but also how it still felt manageable to **** for the gameplay, I did find some elements rather repetitive outside of combat. There were a few neat ideas introduced to make life easier for you towards the end of the game, but they can literally come (in game) days before you see the credits which was just a bit too late. I also found the cooking games fun but limited as you’ll mainly jump between 3 (with two more getting introduced towards the end). Outside of the restaurant there isn’t too much to do either, which is fine as this is a bite sized game which I love, so don’t need too much extra time being filled with faff. But there is a fishing mini game and a clam slam game which were both fun but grew old quick. Overall I found this game great and really like what they did with the cooking, combat and story for this game — just know that the stuff in between may grow a bit tiresome for some people.