The Layton series continues to be a great puzzle game to play either by yourself or with your partner whether you're traveling or settling down for bed - the puzzles and characters will keep you engaged

However we found that the story in Pandora's Box was heavily disjointed compared to Curious Village, and the payoff just didn't hit as hard as it could have.

Despite this, we look forward to starting the next one!

There were a lot of improvements made from the original, however the anniversary edition version seemed to detract from this as it was fairly buggy and made parts of the game feel 'off'. For example, epic cut scenes with a lot of sound design which then put you directly into gameplay with no correlating music/sound, sort of ruins the immersion.

The story of Halo 2 doesn't feel like it flows as well, which reflects in how clear it is with what you're meant to be doing. Where Halo: CE felt very clear and like you were always moving forward, Halo 2 sometimes has you confused about what the objective of the mission even is.

The main improvement on Halo: CE is the substance of the missions, especially the vehicle missions which are tons of fun, especially with co-op

This review is a rare instance of where I'd rate the game lower based on my experience, rather than how good I believe the game actually is.

When I finished the original VJ I wrote that it was a crime that this series hasn't seen a sequel in 18 years.
While I still think that's true, I can see why. This game is almost a copy paste of the original, with the additional playable character of Sylvia. Unfortunately Sylvia feels extremely weak compared to Joe and I can't say I really used her for anything other than when necessary.
Obviously the game is solid, and there are many good things to be said but I've said them all in my original review - which for me is the main issue, nothing new.

For a game that only takes about 10-15 hours to complete, this is pretty fun! I'm impressed by the randomly generated dungeons and you definitely get that "numbers go up" feeling which is always nice. However I'd say that this gets pretty repetitive by the 10 hour mark, and the gameplay doesn't really change no matter what you're doing. The only replayability I could see is playing as the different classes, and even then I could imagine that could get dull

Art style is awesome and I can see how it's inspired many modern games since. The sound design is pure 90s vibes and I'm all here for it. Glad I got to experience some PC gaming history with this one!

As much as I'm not a fan of stealth games, the story and world kept me playing this all the way through. While I feel like sometimes it could be a bit harsh with the lack of resources it gives you (especially at the end), that is definitely intentionally part of the challenge, no matter how frustrating.

In my opinion, spoiler free, the ending did not quite stick the landing. It's hard to end a game so intrinsically story-driven in a way that's going to satisfy the player finishing their 10+ hour journey, while also setting up a sequel.

Would 100% recommend to have a playthrough if you get the chance. I played it alongside a friend or two over a few sessions and it was great fun - the game is just as entertaining to watch as it is to play, which is a difficult sweetspot to hit.

Finally finished the main quest of this game, over 10 years after first buying+playing it

With modded UI + graphics overhaul, Skyrim is a beautiful game - if not slightly repetitive in level design + general gameplay (after a while). The levelling system is great, but imperfect. There are bugs galore.

But in the end, Skyrim is Skyrim and there's nowt you can do about it. You can play this game 20+ different ways and probably still feel that excitement when you start in that cart and hear, "ah, you're finally awake"

I've been playing a lot of the first/early installations of the many Nintendo franchises recently, and what strikes me about Animal Crossing in particular is that they clearly hit the nail on the head first try.

The fact that this game has almost all the classic Animal Crossing mechanics and quirks that make it so loveable and recognisable is very impressive. I think even the most casual New Horizons player could pick up Animal Crossing and not feel like 'wow this is old and clunky' etc.

There obviously are some big differences that differ this from the rest of the series, like the grid map system that's tied in with the camera, as opposed to a 'globe' sort of view - but to be honest I don't mind it so much, it even feels like a nice twist from playing the modern versions.

My main issue with the game is that the gameplay becomes quickly repetitive and there isn't a whole lot to do apart from make money. There are almost daily random events, but they're usually over in a minute or so. If I played this in 2001 I'm sure I would have been hooked and could have played this almost daily for a whole year, but I'm 30 hours in and without changing the season manually, I've ran out of stuff to keep me interested (there's really not much to do in winter).

The villagers, art style, music, museum, furniture/interior design aspect - it's all genius and stuck the landing so well that it's mostly unchanged 20+ years later. While I would still just recommend people to play the latest game, of if they're looking for something more retro I'd still just recommend Wild World - however I'm glad I got some solid hours in.

The third game in the Yoshi series is a return to form after whatever they were trying to do with Yoshi's Story

I played coop with my partner, who is not used to platformers. While the coop mode isn't perfect (the camera system really sucks and some mechanics behave very strange due to there being an extra player), it was a ton of fun.

The decision to stick with, and truly embrace, the theme of 'craft' was exactly the right call. I think this especially deserves highlighting in the middle of an era where the mario games were quite similar in art-style. The levels, mechanics, NPCs etc were all fresh "crafted" versions of the mario classics.

Collecting all the wool in the levels gives you an instant reward in another playable Yoshi skin, which was fun to mix up once in a while and gives a realistic goal that encourages you to fully explore each level.

My main issues apart from the camera/coop mechanics are the bosses being uninspired/easy/repetitive (apart from final boss, kind of), the menu music is awful (which is a shame because there are some absolute bangers elsewhere in the game), and often buggy menus.

Played the 2024 remastered version

I think I enjoyed this game more as a spectacle. These remastered versions did not get the attention they deserved as they did something that not many remasters do: kept as true to the source material as possible. They did this to the point that there is literally a button on the controller that instantly switches between the old and new graphics, something very fun to do every so often.

In terms of the game itself, it has it's strengths and weaknesses. What Tomb Raider set out to do in 1996 was phenomenal, an Indiana jones style 3D video game, and they achieved that. However the combat is terrible, and unfortunately common, some of the puzzles just require to look around for ages, and the camera can be really, really bad at times.

However what's left is a cinematic puzzle platformer that takes you through some cool environments with some satisfying moments. The lack of music in tomb raider could be looked at as a negative, but actually I think using the music in the moments it does gives you a sense of achievement, which is powerful in itself.

I definitely think retro game enthusiasts should give this a try if they haven't touched the original Lara Croft games due to age, especially since the saving system has been buffed to the max, allowing to to save + load wherever, whenever

It's such a shame that a decent game like Starfield has the worst beginning to a game possible. Multiple times during the first 20 hours I wanted to give up, but I'd just spent like 40 quid on this so I was going to finish it. At about hour 15 I started seeing signs of improvement, and then at hour 20 I felt like the whole world had opened up and everything finally made sense.

Past the 1 day trawl, Starfield offers a unique game with some incredible moments. The story is pretty good and the characters are well thought out. Combat is satisfying, but very easy. The different dialogue systems are amusing (always a highlight for me personally) and actually have an effect on the world around you. The different cities in the game are a huge highlight for me as they stand out as some of the most memorable and atmospheric from the last few Bethesda titles. Even the spaceship combat is fun once you get your head around the controls

Starfield got a lot of hate, and it probably deserved it. But if you're a true Bethesda fan, you'll stick it out and realise that this game is at least a bit better than it was first made out to be - but AS IF I'm going to new game+ this one, nooope

Edit: Remembered the fast travelling and lowered my rating by half a star. Absolutely shocking choice on the devs part, feels like they didn't play their own game

Played as part of the Return to Arkham collection

I'm a stealth game hater, I find stealth incredibly boring and frustrating. Luckily for me, Batman Arkham Asylum didn't have too much stealth, just enough that it definitely left me mad a couple times. However the rest of the combat is very fun and visually satisying, if not quite easy.

Without spoilers, the context of the game itself is fun, especially as it puts you in the perfect position to see a ton of your favourite Batman villains, and fight half of them at that.

I think one of my main qualms of the game is that you need to use detective mode pretty much all the time, which hurts the game visually. I found myself switching out of detective mode at times just to remember how the game is meant to look.

I had a good time overall, but can't help but hope that the sequels are a bit better. A must play for Batman fans

Played on OpenGOAL

Wasn't sure what to expect but I had a blast with this. OpenGOAL is truly a testament to modern day modders since they were able to reverse engineer the game engine and make it playable in up to 4k and 144hz! Playing these older games with no loading screen is a MASSIVE step up.

All in all the J&D world is lively, full of character, with good (perhaps not so memorable) music, fun repeatable mechanics, and very solid level design.

Definitely looking forward to playing the sequels

Celeste’s story was touching, and tied into the mechanics of the game pretty well. The characters, although few, were a perfect balance that I felt reflected different stages and interpretations of mental health. Celeste’s own battle is inspiring and hit some soft spots personally, especially with the theme of having your 2 sides battling, and coming to accept each other, acknowledging that your relationship with that part of it doesn’t have to be perfect, but you should love it (yourself) anyway.
There were so many small details throughout the game that you could easily miss, but those times when I was stuck on a level for however long, it never got too frustrating as it all felt purposeful. There was never a time where I reacted to a death like “that was bs” because it was always my fault; if anything I felt the game was lenient at some points.
I liked that they didn’t make reaching the end a slog. The summit felt like such a great home stretch as you pass by the world that you endured for the past however-many hours, and finally reaching the top meant everything.
And then, there was the postgame…
Don’t get me wrong, it was fun, but Heart of the Mountain really didn’t feel like… anything?
I don’t know, it didn’t feel like it fit a purpose story-wise and it focused a lot on the game mechanic of switching between ice and fire which wasn’t that good, in my opinion.
But Farewell… Farewell was my punishment for questioning the developers.
I probably spent just as much time on the game Chapter 1 -> HotM as I did just on this final dream chapter. This was an incredible addition to the game that turned the difficulty way up and was the developer’s way of saying “try this, fuckers”. In my opinion it was the TRUE final level of the game, and beating it felt like an honour.