Yearly Archives: 2021

One of the things I dread in this job is having very little to talk about. Shorter games do find their way to me but, for the most part, they’re manage to inspire discussion. Even visual novels, a genre loaded with brief experiences usually manages to provide enough ammo for […]

Takorita Meets Fries – PS5 Review

October 5, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged adventure / branching narrative / chips for dinner / food / mermaid / mermen / merpeople / roseverte / takorita meets fries / visual novel by Mike

The MechWarrior series is one that has eluded me for some time. Watching from afar, it is exactly the kind of thing that a younger me would have wanted in a game. I mean, who doesn’t want to take control of a walking war machine that towers over infantry and […]

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries – PS5 Review

October 3, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged Battletech / MechWarrior / PS5 / review by Grizz

As regular as Chelsea (spit!) getting an easy draw in the cups, here is FIFA 22, this year’s iteration of EA’s incredibly successful football simulator. It comes as their nearest competitor, Konami’s PES series, has somewhat imploded by turning into the awfully named, free-to-play eFootball. So, you’d forgive EA for taking it easy […]

FIFA 22 – PS5 Review

October 2, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged come on you Rs / EA / fifa / fifa 22 / football / sports by Richie

From Italian indie dev Studio Kiku and publisher Innovina SRL by way of PQube, we have dystopian nightmarish isometric adventure The Plane Effect. The setting will be familiar to anyone who worked in an office in the before times. A slightly downtrodden male individual finds himself the last person in […]

The Plane Effect – PS5 Review

September 30, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged forza italia / plane effect / pqube by Ian

G-Darius HD is an upscaled port of the original G-Darius, a horizontally-scrolling shoot ’em up that was released in 1997 initially as an arcade game before getting some degree of popularity on the original PlayStation. It remains a favourite among fans of the Darius series and recently that series has been […]

G-Darius HD – PS4 Review

September 30, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / darius / g-darius hd / shoot em up / taito by Richie

I’ve never been to a circus but do have a fascination with travelling showmen like P.T. Barnum. There’s something compelling about the mix of grift, charisma and talent and The Amazing American Circus is here to recreate the experience in card form. Juggler Games have done well with the 19th […]

The Amazing American Circus – PS4 Review

September 28, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged big top / card battler / fire-eater / juggler games / management / mime / pt barnum / ringmaster / strongmen / the amazing american circus by Mike

This week’s Ratalaika comes in the form of a first person puzzler. Don’t Touch This Button! is a light hearted take on the genre, with each room giving you clues how to complete it. You just have to take each clue with a pinch of salt. There are 65 rooms […]

Don’t Touch This Button! – PS5/PS4 Review

September 28, 2021 in PS4 / PS5 / Reviews tagged cheap / clues / don't touch this button / easy platinum / first person / opposite / puzzle / ratalaika / short by Gareth

Crisis Wing is an old-school, arcade-style vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up from one man coding crew Pieslice Productions and is published by Eastasiasoft who have been prolific in recent years when it comes to providing us with this type of shooter. Inspired by the likes of Toaplan, a now defunct Japanese coin-op […]

Crisis Wing – PS5 Review

September 27, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / coin-op / crisis wing / retro / vertically-scrolling shoot em up by Richie

Dojoran is a “1bit platformer” from Brazilian one-man dev team Nautlander and is this week’s offering from Finnish publishers, Ratalaika Games. Presented in stark black and white, is an unassuming looking platformer but one that will soon get your cursing thanks to its surprisingly aggressive difficulty curve. You play as some […]

Dojoran – PS5 Review

September 27, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 1-bit / 2d / dojoran / easy platinum / platformer / ratalaika by Richie

Post-apocalyptic stories have been a favourite of all media lovers recently. It’s hard not to see why. If you look outside your window these days, chances are you will see something out there that reminds you of a harrowing element from one of those dystopian stories you have read or […]

Clid the Snail – PS4 Review

September 25, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged Clid / ps4 / review / Snail / the / Weird Beluga by Grizz

Deathloop has the weird distinction of being published by Bethesda, recently bought by Microsoft, but is a timed console exclusive on the PS5. Made by Arkane Lyon it has a lot in common, gameplay-wise, with the Dishonored series but is very much its own thing. You play as Colt, who […]

Deathloop – PS5 Review

September 25, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged deathloop / fps / groundhog day / invasion / powers / stealth by Gareth

Falling squarely into the ‘indie games about feelings’ bracket, Inked: A Tale of Love is a remake of the 2018 PC game and is best described as an isometric puzzle game. It comes to us by way of Croatian coders Somnium Games and tells the story of a nameless samurai who, […]

Inked: A Tale of Love – PS4 Review

September 23, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged feelings / indie / inked / isometric / puzzle / samurai by Richie