Kind of like BIT.TRIP RUNNER meets Sayonara Wild Hearts but sadly not up to par with either of those two games. Not really much more than an endless runner with some audiovisual flair tacked on and a plot that probably only makes sense to Aerial_Knight himself. I don't want to be so down on the game, it's clear that it has some heart to it, but the funky vibe only gets you so far when the core gameplay is so trite - and to make matters worse: not as responsive and tight as something this simple should be. Not the worst way to spend a lazy workday evening but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it either.

An excellent sequel to Sin and Punishment that improves on the core mechanics of the original by expanding the levels and adding more variety to the mix. It definitely shows that Treasure released Ikaruga between the two games, Star Successor doesn't mess around with the difficulty. Boss fights in particular are a highlight of the game; they're very tough but just as exhilarating and fun, it feels truly rewarding once you overcome them. The Wii Remote worked well with the game, clearing projectile barrages and aiming charge shots at enemies felt precise and responsive.

The story I was not as keen on, the first game felt more focused in a way and even a little emotional by the end, but with this type of the game it is secondary to me. What's more important is that the hefty eight-stage campaign takes the player to interesting locations and keeps the gameplay varied throughout. The levels are not as vibrant and colourful as something from e.g. Child of Eden but they are fun and big in scope. Music was nice but often drowned out by the on-screen action.

All in all I really enjoyed my time with this, a tremendous rail shooter that I'm sure would be even better with another player. Not many games like this one out there - especially these days.

After a solid six weeks of traversing and scouring the Lands Between I can finally say that I've seen most of what Elden Ring has to offer and I absolutely loved it. The only open world game that has succeeded in keeping me engaged and excited for the entire duration; no lulls or hackneyed side tasks in sight. I also hadn't felt such pure joy and awe in exploring a video game map since entering the members-only regions of RuneScape for the first time a long, long time ago!

Much of the core gameplay feels very familiar by now if you've played FromSoftware's other games but they do shake things up quite a bit with the relentlessly aggressive boss fights and the spirit summoning system. To me, this definitely feels like FromSoftware's magnum opus and I immensely enjoyed every second of my first playthrough. One of the all-time greats, an astounding video game through and through.

A short and sweet 2.5D platformer that mostly draws inspiration from Rayman Origins and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Fantastic use of colour in the level environments and very smooth character animations, was pleasantly surprised by how polished the game's presentation was. Fun summery music tracks too.

Gameplay felt snappy enough - as it should in a side-scrolling platformer - and the levels provide an okay challenge if you choose to go for the time trial medals as well. Could have used at least one more type of collectible to sprinkle around the levels instead of the coin-equivalent fruits but it is what it is. A brief but fun platformer, with a bigger budget this developer could make something great!

An exceptional puzzle-adventure game about a little fox out and about in mysterious lands. Tunic truly encourages and rewards player exploration, the world is wonderfully designed and filled to the brim with charm. The way the game guides the player through the in-game manual pages is ingenious, genuinely one of the better features in games in recent years. It's best to go into this as blind as possible but know this: a) despite the cute style the difficulty ramps up fast and b) the "Zelda-like with Souls-esque elements" description is apt but most definitely not all there is to the game. There definitely were a few shortcomings too; the combat is fairly cumbersome and traversal between areas can be a chore but these were minor flaws in the grand scheme of things for me.

This wasn't exactly the easy-breezy palate cleanser after Elden Ring I was half-expecting but it turned out to be a fantastic experience nevertheless! Huge recommendation, no excuses to not try Tunic if you already have a Game Pass subscription.

Went into this one not really knowing what to expect as both a JRPG and SMT novice, but I ended up having a great time with the game. This is actually the first non-Pokémon JRPG I have ever completed so hey, there's that too!

I'm not particularly fond of turn-based battles in games but I found the Press Turn system interesting, it added a light tactical touch to the fights which I liked. The open areas were a decent take on the usual "dungeons" too - and the few actual in-game dungeons were clearly the worst parts of the game. Exploring the map could be clumsy at times, sure, but the lack of random encounters and the almost 3D-platformer-like treasure hunt was exactly what I wanted, it kept the game interesting.

I loved the whole demon recruiting system; some of the dialogue really got a laugh out of me and it was fun trying to match their attitude. Sadly I felt like that part of the game kind of dwindled away near the halfway mark. The game started off hard as nails in my opinion but later on it evened out to just the occasional difficulty spike. I wasn't confident enough to pick Hard from the get-go though but in hindsight, it could have been the better choice. Some really thrilling and challenging fights in there nonetheless!

I can't not mention the music of Shin Megami Tensei V - the soundtrack is impeccable. A big part of why the on-screen action never felt like it came to a halt during a battle was the music. Slaying archangels to the tune of a guitar shredding like no tomorrow just feels satisfying as hell. I wish I could praise both the audio and the visuals but graphically this was quite dire. Setting aside the technical hiccups due to the Switch, the areas are still very dull and samey which was quite jarring. The character designs are probably the saving grace, they look really nice for the most part even if they aren't that sharp either.

Not much to say about the story really, interesting themes and threads that lead to wild battles with mostly one-dimensional characters. Fine, but not the reason I stuck with the game till the end. It's hard to pinpoint what it actually was that got me to complete SMT V but not the countless other JRPGs I've tried throughout the years. I guess the open-world-lite structure, engaging battle system and a fantastic soundtrack just made for an enticing enough combination? In any case, I really, really liked this and I'll definitely keep an open mind towards the series going forward.

A really fun and soulful take on an old-school survival horror game. Essentially a Resident Evil fangame but one where the developer clearly understands how everything should work and feel. Solid gameplay, good visuals, a couple of fun scares and overall a great time. Could have done without the Banjo-Kazooie voices and some of the gags but you're not playing this for a compelling story, Nightmare of Decay is all about the gameplay. Two thumbs up, every horror game enthusiast should check it out - especially since it costs less than a pint (and there's post-game content too).

A banal 2.5D action-RPG with a heavy "disappointing Kickstarter game circa 2014" aura to it which isn't even that far from the truth considering its origins. Tries to evoke some Muramasa: The Demon Blade (and Suikoden, I'd imagine) vibes but feels way more like something akin to Indivisible which is most definitely not a compliment. Tiresome fetch quests and backtracking galore, the game opens up at such a glacial pace that even if you were into the throwback style and narrative you'd still be mashing through most of the pop-ups to get to the "good stuff." I did catch a glimmer of nostalgic charm in the characters' dialogue at first, sure, but like everything else in the game it wore out its welcome sooner than later and there's way too much of it. So much so that two-thirds of the way through I just started skipping every bit of text on-screen.

The visuals aren't as repugnant as Square Enix's HD-2D output but the art style still looks quite cheap and inconsistent. Combat is okay and there is some depth and variety to it in the form of character-specific attacks, linked combos and elemental damage but the enemies are such dull sponges that your battle tactics barely come into play. The moment you do get hit, however, the combat instantly feels off and floaty; it's like they forgot to implement a short period of invulnerability - or lessen the knockback - for the characters. The primary protagonist's movement controls felt decent, couldn't say the same for the other two.

Overall just an unfocused mess designwise, the game really can't decide whether it wants to be a colorful take on an Igavania or a nostalgia bait RPG with town-building elements tacked on. The light, fun premise tricked me into playing this and by the time I realized I'd been duped I just put on some podcast (no, no noteworthy music either in the game) and powered through. Very lackluster but not truly terrible. I wouldn't recommend this even though it's on Game Pass but I don't know, your mileage may vary.

Super charming PS1 oddity with an insanely energetic and fun original soundtrack, the whole thing plays out like a cacophony of pure joy and sunshine - it's wonderful! Vibri is also one of the cutest video game characters ever, such a lovely little vector rabbit. The game is very short but that's where your own CD collection comes into play, just pop an album in and try to hop, skip and jump through your favorite tracks in the game. Not as easy as you might think! It's nice that it's still possible to play custom CD tracks on the PS3 with this PS1 Classics release.

I wish there were more quirky little titles like this one on the PlayStation - or on any platform for that matter - these days. I could honestly see a new Vib-Ribbon with a "Tetris Effect treatment" and Spotify support working very well. You listening, Sony?! Two thumbs up for Vib-Ribbon.

An unwanted sequel to an already mediocre shooter, one of the more baffling AAA releases of recent years. The original Rage was as bland in its gameplay as its desert brown color palette but at least it was somewhat focused and fairly inoffensive compared to this. Rage 2 seemed like such a desperate concept since the initial reveal, from the "how do you do, fellow kids" level Twitter antics to the Andrew W.K. promo at E3 I just kept rolling my eyes at it all. That same lame, in-your-face attitude comes through in the game's writing as well - it's like a rotten mix of Borderlands and Mad Max. Pretty asinine stuff.

So, the narrative blows and the tone is off but surely the gameplay is where Rage 2 shines then? Well, yes and no. The gunplay can feel really good if everything goes just right in an explosive shootout but more often than not you'll just end up bumbling around, waiting for your ability cooldowns to recharge while an armored enemy in front of you refuses to die from the third shotgun blast. There's a bizarre feel of half-baked design lingering around a lot of the game, not so much just a lack of polish in one department. The open world does not add much, if you've played a Far Cry game after 2012, or Avalanche's bona fide Mad Max game... Mad Max, you've seen what Rage 2 has to offer as well. At least there's some variety in the different regions of the wasteland. Driving feels solid but it's not much more than a means to get from point A to point B. Vehicular combat on the other hand feels really cumbersome and it sucks that you can't repair most of the vehicles on the road.

This is at its best a serviceable podcast game, I couldn't even entertain the thought of actually paying attention to the plot or worse yet: reading the data pads. Imagine reading the data pads in Rage 2. Now that's insane!! Will never ever return to this one, thank you Xbox Game Pass.

A peculiar roguelike game about a young boy sent out to purify a crazed god in a distorted, post-apocalyptic world. This is a remake of a Japanese Sega Saturn title of the same name released in 1998 ...and that's probably explanation enough for the odd nature of the game.

It's interesting visiting a late 2000's roguelike after playing more recent, critically acclaimed takes on the genre like Hades and Slay the Spire. Baroque leans more into the harsh roots of the genre with its core structure but story progression and some item-related features fortunately do carry over between runs. There's also a huge database that tracks every enemy you encounter, item that you log etc. that can be useful.

Baroque's gameplay mostly consists of exploring randomly generated floors, sluggishly swinging your sword and picking up strange items that may explode once used. There's a fun aura of mystery and sense of discovery to the first half-dozen runs or so but sadly the archaic game mechanics and bafflingly repetitive first floors start to test any sane player's patience after a while. There are clear game logic rules set in place for sure but a lot of times you'll feel cheated by those very rules when later enemies are e.g. considerably faster than you or are able to do continuous, paralyzing attacks.

The plot of Baroque is quite unique and somber and the religious themes do actually serve a purpose beyond aesthetics which is nice. The story can be very obscure, however, and that's why every mid-run cutscene, unique NPC encounter or the tiniest bit of plot exposition feels like a small victory every time. It's a shame that the game eventually starts to feel like a chore to play instead of mixing things up to maintain a healthy sense of intrigue towards the overaching narrative mystery. Quite a bit of the story stuff, as well as the character design, felt very FromSoftware-esque, a lot of strange troubled people and eerie creatures to be found throughout the floors.

Not entirely sure what to make of this game... my thoughts on it are just as clouded as its plot. It is undeniably a fascinating game with an identity of its own which is more than you can say for a lot of other games but there's an abundance of frustrating flaws as well. If you're looking for a weird RPG-adjacent title on the PS2/Wii then check this out I guess, just be aware of those aforementioned caveats. Let's at least end the review on a positive note: the music is dope and the intro video is sublime.

An okay shooter with colorful maps and quirky enemies, heavily mimics the new DOOM games but doesn't quite reach the same heights. Most of the levels followed the same formula of bouncing back and forth between small platforming sections and enemy arenas rather than letting you explore more open areas. The constant mayhem in the arena gunfights was fun at first but goddamn did they get tedious after a while. There was quite a bit of emphasis on environmental hazards and "Chi-Blast" powers but that stuff rarely came in to play with the core combat loop which was odd to say the least. The gameplay just kind of felt slightly off during the fights which is a pretty big detriment to a fast-paced game like this. Weapon arsenal was not the greatest either save for the katana (which should have been utilized more in general).

I hadn't played the previous Shadow Warrior titles so neither the story nor the supporting characters really interested me. I was fairly lukewarm on Lo Wang as the protagonist. I expected a bit more "Duke Nukem meets Big Trouble in Little China" out of the narrative - and there definitely was some of that in this - but the game stepped a little too far into the Borderlands and Guardians of the Galaxy territory for my taste. Overall not bad though, unlike many others I was perfectly fine with the game's shorter length and it was a decent enough FPS experience despite my gripes with it.

A flawed but engrossing reimagining of the 1989 2D action-adventure game. Interesting mix of old-school score-focused combat and more modern cinematic platformer gameplay. Prince of Persia's DNA is definitely present here - both the original's and the 2008 reboot's as a matter of fact - along with others, like Oddworld and even Panzer Dragoon to some extent. The fighting system is very streamlined and fast, most enemies die from a single hit. The game encourages swift button presses to keep up the gory combo attacks during enemy encounters. When you get into the flow of the combat it feels really seamless and fun but if you mess up even once the whole fight usually comes to a halt and that can feel really clunky at times. Fortunately you get to buff up the protagonist, Aarbron, through combat upgrades and talismans found throughout the game which makes the occasional difficulty spikes a bit easier to handle.

The story was surprisingly captivating because of its mysterious nature, it is sort of drip-fed to the player throughout the game. There are traditional cutscenes, yes, but to get the full picture (and the proper ending) you have to find the hidden collectibles in the levels that give more context to the beast's journey. Even though I wasn't familiar with the original games I thought it was cool reading up on the different species' descriptions and going through the plot timeline.

Graphically the game is sadly not as striking as its concept art, the lighting is also very uneven in a couple of levels. Some assets look quite rough for a PS4 title but I do like the arcadey UI and most of the character animations are really smooth. The original game's soundtrack is very unique and catchy and I was pleasantly surprised with the new versions of those tracks, they succeed in recapturing that similar sound - and it's nice that you can unlock the classic tunes in-game as well!

I've got to say, I didn't think I would be this into the game but, lo and behold, I ended up actually getting my first ever platinum trophy since I wanted to keep replaying the levels! The developers made a solid effort to bring back this early era Psygnosis IP with some fresh ideas of their own and I think that is really commendable. Shadow of the Beast is not without its issues and, sure, it could have done with a bit more refinement but it is a really cool game with a lot of heart and soul poured into making it. Hopefully there are others like me out there who'll end up checking it out now that it's a part of the new PlayStation Plus Extra game selection. Recommended!

Unironically a totally fine 3D action-adventure collectathon. Simple but fun platforming mixed with a surprisingly compelling "purifying" mechanic and the occasional clumsy combat encounter. This felt more engaging to me than last year's The Gunk which had very similar game design and mechanics, maybe due to the more vibrant color palette. The narrative is whatever, I enabled the French voices so that the smurfs' chatter wouldn't be so annoying. But more likely than not, most people aren't playing this for a gripping story but rather the throwback 3D-platformer gameplay it offers.

The Smurfs: Mission Vileaf - which I kept reading as "Vile-as-fuck" in my head - really is a solid, smaller budget title that wears its influences quite proudly on its sleeve. If you've already depleted the limited supply of major modern 3D action-adventure platformers and you've been mildly intrigued by this one just do as I did and give it a chance, it's a fun enough one of those. It's nice to see that these more recent licensed games aimed at younger audiences aren't all complete duds. The Marsupilami platformer from the same publisher is also worth checking out, here's my review on it.

What a delightful little 3D puzzle-platformer! Evidently very Pikmin-esque in design - with strong hints of Psychonauts, Toy Story 2 and Supraland to boot - Tinykin aims for a more lenient collectathon vibe and really nails it as well. The puzzles are hardly complex and the game is completely combat-free, but hopping around the levels and gathering the game's titular creatures, the Tinykin, is just so much fun in its own right that the lack of challenge never bothered me.

The story follows Milodane, a little dude from the future, who crash-lands into a human household inhabited by cartoonish bug factions and he has to re-build his little spaceship. The plot isn't anything special but the bugs' miniscule towns and the levels' themes being based on different rooms of a house make for a really fun setting for a 3D platformer. The overall presentation is quite superb as well from the funky soundtrack to the creative environments, really charming stuff.

This game is just a good time all-around; a very polished and comfy experience. The Tinykin could have been utilized in more innovative ways and revisiting levels should have been easier but besides that I had no major gripes with this one. Wholeheartedly recommended!