Reviews

Parasol Stars is a port of a 1991 platforming game that many younger readers will not have heard of. But, older readers may not have either. It was a sequel to a game in a beloved arcade series but it wasn’t an arcade game. Instead it was initially developed for […]

Parasol Stars – PS5 Review

July 5, 2024 in PS5 tagged Classic / parasol stars / platformer / port / retro / taito by Richie

Hot Blood is a 3rd person brawler from a developer called DEKLAZON and it comes to us from the ever-prolific eastasiasoft. And, as a bit of surprise, this isn’t a 2D effort either. Instead it taps into a low-poly PS1 sort of aesthetic but with a smooth, not jagged look. […]

Hot Blood – PS5 Review

July 3, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged dead rising / eastasiasoft / hot blood / lollipop chainsaw / zombies by Richie

The Land Beneath Us from Bangkok-based developer Fairplay Studios and French publisher Dear Villagers (aka Plug In Digital), is a bit different from their prior release Fallen Knight as reviewed by Richie almost three years ago. It’s another roguelike/lite/whatever. We’ve stopped caring what the actual definition is, more whether a […]

The Land Beneath Us – PS5 Review

July 3, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged dear villagers / fairplay / rogue-like / the land beneath us by Ian

Backpack Hero is a rogue-like mix of turn-based tactical RPG and inventory management sim genres and it comes to us by way of developer Jaspel. It’s been around on Steam for half a year now but has finally landed on PSN. In Backpack Hero, you play as Purse, a rat from the town […]

Backpack Hero – PS5 Review

July 1, 2024 in PS5 tagged backpack hero / inventory management / rogue-like by Richie

It’s not very often you see downloadable content coming so long after a game’s release. Elden Ring was critically acclaimed in 2022 and From Software has a fairly solid history of worthy expansions. With a relatively hefty price tag, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has, at the very least, […]

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree – PS5 Review

June 30, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged challenging / dark fantasy / deliberate combat / elden ring shadow of the erdtree / exploration / from software / george r r martin / open world / Souls by Mike

NeoSprint is a top-down/isometric racing game from Costa Rican coders Headless Chicken Games and is one that can trace its lineage back to 1976 with Atari’s grandaddy of the racing genre, Sprint 2 (the confusingly-named prequel to Sprint 1, 4 and 8 – each of which indicates the number of players supported rather than their […]

NeoSprint – PS5 Review

June 27, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged atari / driving / neosprint / racing / retro / super sprint by Richie

I’ve never had a game described as an interactive photoplay before. That’s how Times & Galaxy rolls, a game based entirely around journalism and reporting the news. Copychaser Games are behind it and, despite the penchant for the mundane, the extra-terrestrial setting allows for a charming time. The Times & […]

Times & Galaxy – PS5 Review

June 24, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged copychaser games / internship / interview / journalism / narrative based / news / photoplay / reporting / space / times and galaxy by Mike

Magical Drop VI is the latest in a series of arcade puzzlers which date back to 1995 when the legendary arcade publisher Data East first released it in arcades. This latest instalment comes by way of French coders Highball Games and while it’s their first crack at the series, it sticks […]

Magical Drop VI – PS5 Review

June 23, 2024 in PS5 tagged anime / arcade / Casual / magical drop / puzzler by Richie

Twin-stick shooters with a bit of a Vampire Survivors theme has become a bit of a niche genre for Brazilian-based studio Afil Games. Unfortunately, the two efforts we’ve reviewed so far – Stickman’s Arena and Mighty Mage – were both absolutely terrible. But here is Afil Games, specifically Antonio Filipe, with […]

Primal Survivors – PS5 Review

June 22, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged afil games / primal survivors / survivors-like / top down / twin-stick shooter by Richie

Still Wakes The Deep is the latest from The Chinese Room, something of a departure from their previous release Little Orpheus, reverting a little more to type and the likes of Dear Esther or Everyone’s Gone To The Rapture. Set in December 1975 on the North Sea oil platform Beira-D, […]

Still Wakes The Deep – PS5 Review

June 19, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged beira-d / chinese room / loach / oil platform / still wakes the deep / terror from the deep / walken simulator by Ian

Roxy Raccoon’s Pinball Panic, a game developed by the Canadian indie studio Sinomod Studios, is a unique blend of storytelling and traditional pinball gameplay. Building on the main character from Sinomod’s platformer series, this game puts Roxy in an unexpected role as a pinball in a series of tables. While […]

Roxy Raccoon’s Pinball Panic – PS5 Review

June 13, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged eastasiasoft / pinball / roxy raccoon by Richie

The schtick with Dig or Die from developer Gaddy Games is that you’re a representative of Craft & Co, selling “automated fabrication tools across the galaxy.” At least until you’re marooned on a dangerous wild planet. What this means practically is you’re playing what amounts to a clone of Terraria […]

Dig or Die – PS5 Review

June 10, 2024 in PS4 / PS5 / Reviews tagged a bit blav / dig or die / mining / terraria-a-like by Ian