Mike

About Mike

Mike gets all the racing games because he understands that stuff even though he doesn't drive.
Cats and nosey sods, let’s be honest. I’ve had plenty through my life and their need for attention gets them in situations they really shouldn’t be in. Cats and the Other Lives is a narrative-driven puzzle game from Cultic Games which looks to replicate the feline experience. I’ll be honest, […]

Cats and the Other Lives – PS4 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged cats and the other lives / chase sequences / cultic games / dysfunctional family / eavesdropping / mouse catching / nattatively-driven / nosey feline / Pixel art / puzzles / stealth by
Funny how things come full circle. When the original Lords of the Fallen arrived in 2014, the soulslike sub-genre was not really a consideration. As one of the first to try their hand at From Software’s formula, the game stumbled into mediocrity. Almost a decade and a troublesome development later, […]

Lords of the Fallen – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged ci games / difficult / hexworks / lords of the fallen / magic / melee combat / poison swamp / sorcery / soulslike / spells / world swapping by
Zombies never seem to vanish from media, do they? Seems like any game that needs a quick and easy reason for survival goes with the undead threat. Sure enough, Days of Doom settles on a zombie apocalypse setting for a roguelite tactical RPG. From Sneakybox, the premise delivers some charming […]

Days of Doom – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged ambushes / days of doom / decisions / raiders / roguelite / run-based / sneakybox / tactical turn-based rpg / zombie apocalypse by
I’ve been away from Ubisoft’s stealthy stab ’em up for over a decade now. Perhaps it’s fitting I come back when the marketing claims the series is returning to it’s roots. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is certainly a return of sorts. A middle-Eastern setting certainly harkens back to the 2007 original […]

Assassin’s Creed Mirage – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged assassin's creed mirage / assassination / combat / detective vision / historical setting / murder / stealth / thief of baghdad / third-person / ubisoft by
Visual novel hybrids do interest me. Aside from the usual tales of choosing your own adventure, the addition of light gameplay elements can elevate them above the genre’s more wordy literature. Shuyan Saga is another attempt at that Lofty Sky Entertainment have undertaken. Set in a feudal China, this addition […]

Shuyan Saga – PS4 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged brawler / canada / chinese mysticism / lofty sky entertainment / narrative choice / shuyan saga / visual novel by
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What originally started out as a student project, Ad Infinitum is a first-person horror experience set in World War I. In almost a decade of development, the final product has, at long last, come to fruition. Whilst Hekate’s efforts are admirable, the lasting impressions I took from this are mixed. […]

Ad Infinitum – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged ad infinitum / german / hekate / monsters / paranormal / psychological horror / puzzles / trenches / world war i by
I’ll be honest, the Trine series has largely passed me by. I knew of it but never really had the curiosity to give the games a look. That’s changed with Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy arriving on the Playstation 5. Frozenbyte have spent well over a decade polishing the cooperative […]

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged 2.5d / Fantasy / frozenbyte / knight / physics-based / platformer / puzzles / thief / trine 5 a clockwork conspiracy / wizard by
Digital Eclipse have always had interesting approaches to collections. Certainly keen on preserving the past, they’ve been good at providing documentary footage to give players a peek behind the curtain. Last year’s Atari 50 : The Anniversary Collection seems to have provided a good blueprint and now, The Making of […]

The Making of Karateka – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged apple ii / asteroids / atari / broderbund / c64 / deathbounce / digital eclipse / documentary / fighting / francis mechner / game development / jordan mechner / mike mika / prince of persia / prototype / the making of karateka / tom hall by
It’s not a genre I get into often but tactical, turn-based RPGs can certainly engage me. With some obvious homages to Heroes of Might and Magic, Crazy Goat Games has decided to take a stab at the genre with The Dragoness: Command of the Flame. Whilst the influences heavily dictate […]

The Dragoness: Command of the Flame – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged city-building / crazy goat games / dragons / heroes of might and magic / resource collecting / roguelite / the dragoness command of the flame / turn-based tactical rpg by
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The beat ’em up renaissance has been interesting to see. Whilst it does play on people’s nostalgia, the higher profile efforts have been of a pretty good quality. Next to return to the fray is Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of The Dragons. The series itself hasn’t always hit the right […]

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons – PS5 Review

 in PS5 / Reviews  tagged 2D brawler / Beat em up / crime / double dragon gaiden rise of the new dragons / jimmy and bimmy lee / kingpin / local co-op / melee combat / secret base / trash pyramid by