Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Reviews
A few bugs and grumbles are utterly brushed aside by a charming and accessible modernisation of 80s RPG detail.
A compact but effective expansion for an already brilliant game, The Splintered Sea's additions are sure to make considerable waves for your toolbox of destruction.
A puzzler and twinstick shooter that's just as pretty to discover as it is to look at. There's a hint of Super Mario Odyssey in there, too, if you're into that.
A more uncompromising version of the first game, Hellblade 2 offers a well told story and immaculate presentation. But it's also even simpler, to the point where it treats interaction like an inconvenience.
A colourful army building and smushing strategy game with clear rules and a heap of RPG levelling-powered possibilities.
Galacticare is a smashing space management sim in the Bullfrog tradition, with a great implicit and explicit sense of humour. It's not super challenging, but its levels are imaginative and fun.
A neo-noir adventure with an overly kooky cast and an obsession with video game references.
Mullet Mad Jack is a no-nonsense FPS that's super stylish and a lot of fun in short bursts.
A beautiful paper-folding puzzler that screwed up the last remaining scraps of my self esteem and yeeted them into the bin.
A lavishly presented, detailed, often gripping RTS with most of the atmosphere and tone you'd expect from the series, held back from greatness by playing it too safe, some control issues, and favouring reaction speed over tactical depth.
A gorgeous and immensely absorbing metroidvania platformer that is both easy to get into and dense with secrets.
Crow Country puts more emphasis on puzzles than the survival part of survival horror, but it's a well-observed love letter to the genre with great attention to detail all over the place. It's somehow equal parts charming and creepy.
Even more streamlined than before, and still easily one of the best survival games out there.
A fun-loving follow-up shakes up the underworld without fouling the Hades formula.
A lovely looking game with a sweet, restrained story, Harold Halibut is funny and charming. It's also probably a bit too long for its own good.
A first-person-shooter that sometimes falters but makes up for it with strong devotion to detail.
A great premise with fun characters becomes a boring, empty wasteland in itself, as Sand Land makes adventures in customised tanks uninteresting and desperately repetitive.
A playful Soulslike for everyone, that lets you give a crab a gun.
While obtuse in places, Manor Lords is an idiosyncratic, lively and sturdy sim that will keep you curious and delighted with its many intricacies.
Tales Of Kenzera has a sensitive story and is beautifully designed, with an intriguing world to explore - but some imprecision lets it down in the platforming and combat. It's still more than worth a go for players looking for something fresh.