challenging

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

Tactical RPGs can feel both appealing and impenetrable to me. I love the idea of playing a tabletop general but I’ve never quite had the acumen to fully embrace the genre. Crown Wars: The Black Prince is the latest one to come my way. Artefacts Studio has been prolific over […]

Crown Wars: The Black Prince – PS5 Review

June 4, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 100 years war / Artefacts studio / base management / challenging / crown wars the black prince / england / france / Medieval / tactical rpg / turn-based by Mike

If you look at the screenshots, you may already have an idea of how you feel about this one. The unfortunate side effect of reviewing games over an amount of time, is that you will inevitably encounter trends or tropes that just keep coming back and it becomes very difficult […]

Glam’s Incredible Run: Escape from Dukha – PS4 Review

April 21, 2022 in PS4 / Reviews tagged challenging / Escape from Dukha / Formulaic / Glam's Incredible Run / platformer / retro by Grizz

Indie platformers are plentiful and it does seem a fair few chase a responsiveness and challenge that I’m not always up to. Two Parsecs from Earth is a rather more bitesize effort, coming from ABX Game Studios. Whilst it does have some interesting ideas about progression and a fairly focused […]

Two Parsecs from Earth – PS4 Review

October 27, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2D Platformer / abx game studio / challenging / collectibles / Robot / two parsecs from earth by Mike

As I get older in life, I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever crack a really tough platformer. That doesn’t stop me trying but I often question my reflexes and patience. Along comes Almost There: The Platformer, a game by Bony Yousuf with an aesthetic reminiscent of the earlier years […]

Almost There: The Platformer – PS4 Review

February 25, 2019 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2d / almost there the platformer / blades / blocks / bony yousuf / challenging / spikes / time trial by Mike

Pipe Push Paradise, to quote its own blurb, is a difficult open world puzzle game about plumbing. Right, review done. See y’all. Only kidding. It’s a puzzle game where you have a variety of puzzles of varying difficulty interspersed around a central hub area. It’s clearly a labour of love […]

Pipe Push Paradise – PS4 Review

February 5, 2019 in PS4 / Reviews tagged challenging / paradise / plumbing / puzzle / sokoban by Ian

Milanoir from Italian developer Italo Games based in, yup, Milan is a gritty homage to classic 1970s crime films. The press release namechecks the cult crime films Caliber 9 and Almost Human as references. We guess they were bigger in their homeland than outside Italy though as we hadn’t heard […]

Milanoir – PS4 Review

June 8, 2018 in PS4 / Reviews tagged #milanoir / #ultraviolence / challenging / mafia by Ian

From Chinese developer Coconut Island Studio comes Shio, one of those hardcore platformers that requires skill, patience and tenacity to overcome. If you’re a fan of Super Meat Boy, 10 Second Ninja X or similar titles then you may want to check this out. For a game primarily concerned with […]

Shio – PS4 Review

May 30, 2018 in PS4 tagged 10 second ninja x / 2d / challenging / hardcore / platformer / shio / super meat boy by Gareth