An intricate, intersecting web of intrigue, suspicion, and grim determination, each of ParanormaSight's protagonists is vying for the opportunity to resurrect someone dear to them, but to do so, they must utilise a curse granted to them to snatch the lives of others. Based on the "real" folklore of the Seven Mysteries of Honjou, I'm really hesitant to say too much about ParanormaSight–it's best experienced knowing as little as possible going in, but I will say it's comparable to a morally grey take on classic adventure games along the lines of Famicom Detectives Club.

This low-key Lovecraftian fishing sim is, unlikely enough, a great way to unwind. Chill horror is a genre I'd be keen to see more of.

About as fully featured and enjoyable as a beta made in some kid's bedroom. Whoever said Bullet Witch was a misunderstood classic due a re-evaluation, I will cut you.

The first time The Sexy Brutale was pitched to me, I couldn't have been more intimidated. Likened to an immersive theatre production, it's up to you, mild mannered priest Lafcadio, to navigate an intricate time loop to prevent a series of murders in the titular mansion/casino. Observe the eccentric guests' routines and habits over the course of the evening, and then wind back the clock so you can be in the right place, at the right time, with the right knowledge and tools to swoop in and save the day. But with half a dozen murders set to occur, can you beat the clock and save everybody?

In reality, the game couldn't be less complicated. The Sexy Brutale is a series of roughly seven discrete adventure game puzzles with solutions obvious to the observant. This sees you chase after the guests and spy on their actions through keyholes and secret passages. You can't get too close, though–Lafcadio exists outside of time, and entering a room occupied by another character causes…their head to levitate off their body and chase you around, inflicting damage in an effort to make you restart the current loop. You can easily escape by exiting the room, but you can't interact with any puzzles or items until a room is unoccupied.

Each murder is essentially an independent chapter in which you save a single targeted character, or occasionally a duo. All murders are observable across the game's duration, but attempting to save anyone but that chapter's target sees the game wrap you on the knuckles and restart the current time loop, reminding you to stay focused.

Still, I expected everything to come together in a final hurrah at the end, where you use what you've learned to stop every single murder one after the other. Incredibly, this happens in a non-interactive cutscene.

For years I was unsure I was up to The Sexy Brutale's challenge, but when I finally took the plunge I found no challenge at all. I'm not a challenge snob but there's really nothing to it–I actually ended up solving a few murders completely by accident, just by interacting with different room objects to see what they did. The game's audiovisual style is probably more appealing than its gameplay, and while it is unique, it just wasn't for me. I didn't dig the indie comic-meets-SD character models, and I really hate electro swing/big band, so I didn't have a great time with the soundtrack either.

Good on Cavalier Games for debuting with a game they really wanted to make, and more power to them, but this one just wasn't for me. Perhaps their next effort will have a little more depth.

Aesthetics on point and some spooky moments, but not Chilla's most interesting game

More from Chilla's Art, and probably the best thing they've done for a little while. Food service horror is gr8

Babby's first Kings Field is probably one of the more uneven and, frankly, boring one of these, but the absurd ending is a bit of a redeemer.

hahahaha holy cow this is a special game

Mom: we have Max Payne at home

Max Payne at home:

This was pretty ridiculous, self-serious yet occasionally more cartoony than the original duo. A fat guy with a bad attitude; I can relate

One I was always curious about, but worried I was too dumb for it. Obra Dinn guides you just enough to make you feel smart. Lucas Pope has done it again, crafting the world's most exciting insurance investigator sim.

This review contains spoilers

Adol and Dogi are back in an adventure that's, thankfully, not quite as long as the last couple of Ys games. Video Games' Favourite Power Couple visit the Prison City of Balduq where Adol runs afoul of the Romun Empire once again. Our hapless adventurer is thrown into jail, quickly escapes from jail, and finds himself inducted into the Monstrum: a group of furry superheroes battling the Nox: a demonic invasion that strikes every full moon.

Monstrum Nox is, for better or worse, built upon the framework of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Tower Defense is back; landmark discovery is back too. While these made sense when exploring a desert island, they feel shoehorned-into Balduq's bustling metropolis. The Tower Defense segments in particular are just as annoying as they were in Lacrimosa; interrupting story progression to call Adol and the Gang back to fight waves of generic monsters.

What begins as a localized mystery eventually becomes, yet again, a battle against an existential threat with close ties to Adol's past. Seeing some classic boss monsters again is fun but naturally this isn't remotely compelling because, as iconic as Adol is, he's not a character so much as a cypher for grand adventure. Big revelations for a character who's never had a personality can only fall flat.

Each of the Monstrum have their own chapter where they learn the true meaning of friendship or whatever. One of these chapters is a really weird parable in which the gang's Robin Hood figure learns that feeding the poor enables their laziness, so she opens a flower shop in the ghetto instead(?).

Ill-advised mechanics and bad politics aside, Monstrum Nox is still an Ys game, which makes for a very enjoyable action RPG. Each of the Monstrum bring their own unique traversal mechanic to the party which allows the player to explore Balduq from top to bottom in a number of exciting ways. Wall-running up a church steeple to then glide off the top like a bird is Ys at its most playful, with a freedom of movement not often seen in the genre.

Set to celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2022, Ys is perhaps getting a little long in the tooth. Perhaps this is the curse of being a groundbreaking series: where it once solidified a new genre, current entries don't quite stand out from other entries in the genre it spawned. That said, I'd happily play another Ys featuring the traversal of Monstrum Nox. Maybe they could make Dogi playable again, too, since he's been unfairly sidelined for the past decade.

Has many of the same game design sins as its prequel, but this is where BoF began to come into its own. An intriguing tragic fantasy that would set the stage for its outstanding sequels.

Picked it up a few years ago and didn't really give it that much of a chance; finally put the time in during the January doldrums and I had a really great time. Great story, too! AC's soft reboot spread across 1st century Egypt is the freshest the series has felt in years, though it's also started a trend of each of these games being way bigger than the last.