Theres something kind of.... Unusually off-putting about this one. Its hard to describe why but the combination of the new art style (which is very much more miss than hit) along with the new full voice acting just kinda removes a lot of the more eccentric charm the other titles have and makes the whole package feel rather cheap.

I guess its fine if you ABSOLUTELY need more WarioWare in your life but I would probably try and find one of the others to play instead. You'll have a much more memorable time.

Lake is basically the videogame equivalent of catching one of those fluffy, breezy rom-commy films on Lifetime or Hallmark where basic looking but smart successful business woman visits a small town and discovers her path in life and MAAYYYYBE a love interest.

Sorry if that's sort of spoiling what happens here but its something that's obvious within the first five minutes of the game and while its not a completely bad thing, its very much the sort of game to destress and chill out with and fits that 'Cozy' definition to a tee thanks to a heap of chill vibes, amusing enough characters and the odd silly moment.

The problem is it... it is just that sort of thing, so the novelty winds down a little too fast and by the time you're midway in the second week of ingame time, you sort of wish it was finished with already about halfway through delivering a letter, as by then you've already likely explored every single spot over and over and heard 'Last days of September' to the point where you'd rather just listen to silence.

Don't get me wrong. Its cute and for those wanting something light and airy in between bigger titles, its a good pick... but honestly it needed either a few more plot points and characters or a shortening of the gametime to just a week or a week and a half.

Bethesda had a lot to live up with this thanks to it being a while since a completely brand new game in the vein of Elder Scrolls/Fallout and longer since a big new IP. Did they succeed?

Yes and no. Basically if you dont like Bethesda games already, this isnt going to win you over. NPCs are still awkward, the AI isnt the best, the game has quite a fair amount of random bugs and issues everywhere and the main story falls flat and doesnt add a ton.

Where this absolutely succeeds however and is part of the reason I have been losing hour after hour without realising it is the scope of the game. One issue ive usually had with Bethesda's games is it often goes 'Ah! Heres the big city!' and its just ten people and a dog.

Not the case here. Cities feel ALIVE, they feel big, open, bustling and full of details, hidden spots, curios and clutter. Not just that but the entire element of space exploration, basically Bethesda 'borrowing' elements of No Mans Sky wholesale work very well. It all leads to an absolute timesink of a game as you chase quests, fetch things, kill pirates and talk people down... all while also being an absolute kleptomaniac and stealing anything that isnt nailed down.

Its honestly a joy to play and feels right at home with Elder Scrolls and Fallout... I do wish the storylines and characters were tighter but otherwise? A lot of fun.

By all intents and purposes I should have really liked AI: The Somnium Files. By all intents and purposes I should be rating this 3.5 or 4. But I honestly cant.

The first half of playing this was great as I plowed through the various goings ons, following the murder mysteries and trying to make sense of who the culprit could be. Its fun piecing together the various strands and backstories to create this tapestry of whodunnit.

Then something happened, the game basically did a one two punch that made me just want to skip through to get to the ending.

What happened was hitting two endings. One ending that had some feel good moments but ultimately answered absolutely nothing before going 'WELP THATS ALL FOLKS' in my ear, leaving me feeling more confused than anything. Then one ending that pulled off the Nonary-Games style bullshit of halting a path because... well... actually that was the problem. There was no reason.

While Nonary games had a reason behind those path halts, this had no such good reason other than to drag out storylines. What then happened was a second set of plots that just felt nonsensical. While the first set of plots at least felt rooted in... SOMETHING. The second set of plots just went off on tangents, repeated information and generally mucked about. Whats worse is when you do unlock those paths, the 'why' of the paths unlocking is theorised about and dropped like a hot potato and never picked up properly.

This felt like a game that should have focused more on the core story rather than just putting in branching paths and dead-ends for no reason. Another problem came with the characters themselves. While at first a lot were interesting and had their moments, did we really need every character behaving like a horn dog? Did we really need to be 'Powered by porno mags?'.

I dunno. Overall its just a game that starts off very strong but by the end of it, I was just speeding through reams of nonsense dialogue to try and actually have the answer to what happened and when I did have the answer, it didnt even feel that good. What a crying shame.

What I expected: Indie Pikmin. I mean Games Pass has already given me that before (Hi Wild at Heart). What I got? An incredibly colourful, charming and engaging collect-a-thon platformer that made me feel like I was back on my PlayStation hoovering up every item to find in sight.

This honestly was an absolute joy to play from start to finish and before I knew it, I had been playing for about 7 hours and was watching the credits scrolling. Everything about this is so fun, from the scaling of household items and rooms turned into levels to cramming them full of collectables, tricky jumping parts and bouncy music.

Sure the ending was a bit on the sudden side and part of me wishes there was a little more but I dont care. I had a blast and im left feeling very happy and content. I still have a few more bits and pieces to find so... I better get to it!

I think I want to like Ghosthunter a lot more than I actually do. On a visual level the game rocks thanks to a great 2000's-era gothic look. Gameplay-wise its also really fun, blasting through various spooky locations as 2000's-era Brad Pitt. Its a real joy thanks to some snappy controls and memorable characters.

Its clear the game had a big attack of the budget though about half-way in as the game suddenly yanks all of the exploration away, yanks a lot of the intresting story beats and completely removes the hub-area and practically SPRINTS to the finish line and its such a jarring and unwelcome change of pace that it does spoil a lot of the experience. Its a crying shame given how good the first part of the game was.

I feel I should talk about some of the games ive rated 5/5 and why. For me Gregory Horror Show is a peak of Ps2 creativity and really represents the gaming era where companies like Capcom were firing on all creative cylinders, putting out all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff and throwing caution to the wind, something you cant get as much anymore in the main AA/AAA sphere.

Also you know, its a pretty damn fun game. Hunting down and solving the various puzzles in the hotel in order to steal the soul bottles feels really on point and having the difficulty crank up through having more and more guests in the way generates a really addictive sneak, spy and solve cycle where you're rummaging through everyone's rooms, trading trash for treasure in the shop and meeting the incredibly memorable cast. The hyper-stylised graphics and spooky, haunting and jet jaunty music set everything up perfectly. I adore this game so much and its one I would love to see get a re-release at some point, if only so I could gift it out to friends to go 'LOOK. This is why I am the way I am'.

Mooom. I want Castlevania

We have Castlevania at home

Castlevania at home: 8 Eyes

Yeah. Its a ripoff and not a very good one at that thanks to the main character having the attack reach of a paperclip, controls that feel like you're battling through a glue mountain and enemies that feel far too agressive and spongey at all times leading to just nothing but fustration.

Oh gosh I really did want to like this. I loved the idea behind the game but its all honestly just far too shallow to really provide anything substantial. The biggest flaw in the gameplay is how precise you have to be in each loop to allow for the story to continue. Miss a moment or misclick or do something slightly out of turn and its BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE LOOP FOR YOU.

Granted its not a long loop (actually 10 minutes. So game is lying) but it feels long enough despite there being a few ways to quick reset. Also we have to talk about the story. Without spoiling, was that end-twist really needed? It comes out of left field and feels just like a way to both explain the loops but also as a way for a cheap twist that doesnt really land. Im not quite as pearl clutchingly offended by it as some but it still comes off in such a clunky fashion, I cant help but still be annoyed by it.

So yeah. Poor gameplay backed up by an okayish story, wrecked by a clunker of an ending. If only the game had been a little more freeform with its puzzles and had endings that left more for open interpretation, than there could have been a pretty near little game. Instead its just a wreck.

I want to be nice to the game especially given a few of its more emotional moments that hit well with me and ESPECIALLY given how close it is to Rhianna Pratchett and how it weaves elements of how she felt in regards to her father in many ways and on a storytelling level, I think this game does do a lot of the themes and elements justice. I cried more than once. Ok I cry quite easily but thats not the point!

But when it comes to the actual core gameplay it fumbles and misses the mark. The platforming is all a little too simplistic, it never quite feels like its picking up any speed or drama and says at a pretty flat level throughout. The 'choices' that the game gives you as you play are all fairly superficial too and they never really impact whats going on outside of looks and the occasional unimportant story tweak.

The gameplay in general isnt helped by the controls being a little on the floaty and light side so nothing gameplay wise ever felt fluid or natural. It all led to a feeling where I just didnt really want to play the gameplay portions, I would much rather listen to the story on its own.

Maybe im just spoiled because I feel 2022's 'Letters - A Written Adventure' manages the gameplay in a much more appropriate fashion. It really is a game where I want the plot, I dont want the gameplay.

This honestly is such a weird collection. It makes the mistake of first fronting itself as a 'Sega Classics' pack when its actually a bunch of remakes of older titles that were previously released for the Ps2 in Japan as a budget range.

The other mistake is just how hit and miss the entire collection is in terms of quality and its mostly down to the good games being barely changed (Fantasy Zone, Ichini no Tant-R to Bonanza Bros. and Virtua Racing FlatOut) and the bad ones being really noticeable because of how massacred they are (Golden Axe being a real lowlight).

Even worse, because I have the European version, we actually miss out on the best one (Alien Syndrome) because of issues with the ratings boards. I honestly have no idea who would want this collection as there's nothing here that you cant get anywhere else and better. Literally the only decent thing is having a translated version of Tant-R and thats not a good enough reason to hunt this down. For collectors only.

I'll be honest, I am consistently baffled how weird Silent Hill fans are and how insanely hateful they are to anything outside of Silent Hill 1 to 4 (and even 4 took a LONG time to actually get people to agree that its not bad). Im not saying Silent Hill Homecoming ever reaches the heady highs of those four games and I wont ever say its a successful Silent Hill game as its all too flashy, action-like and too on the nose thematically.

What I will say is that even despite that, its still a rather fun, if flawed third person horror shooter. The action is quick, the locations varied and the plot, while its about as subtle as a brick covered in spiders, does provide a few neat little plot turns here and there. Overall its the sort of thing you'd be happy to blast through in an afternoon which is fine and I think people shit on this more than necessary.