Luke Pace (Ichi Swagger)

Atlas Fallen is a fascinating AA action/adventure game. From the developer of the original Lords of the Fallen, as well as The Surge franchise, one would expect another Souls-like, however, Deck13 has decided to spread its wings and make something more (dare I say…..) accessible. It has the soul of a PS2 game, and feels wonderful to control. While not without a little jank here and there, it’s a very polished experience with lots of fun movement tech, exploration, platforming and combat. I’m absolutely enamored with the game, but I worry its middling response will hurt the dev or push them back into Souls-likes. While another Surge or similar game would be fantastic, I’m very grateful that they took this risk. Let’s just hope this isn’t Hob all over again*. While not for everyone, I think those focused more on exploration will enjoy Atlas Fallen. Those of you who maybe don’t play Souls-likes but enjoy things like Assassin’s Creed. And if you’re one of those rare people who thought the game ReCore was onto something (guilty party, right here), this game is a must. *HOB was a brilliant gem of a game, and a big departure from developer Runic’s previous action RPGs, the Torchlight series. Unfortunately HOB was their swan song.

Lords of the Fallen (2023) is a superb Souls-like and a fascinating game on its own. No knowledge of the original is needed. There have been reports of buggy performance, but this has mostly been resolved with the day one patch (which as of now is available on all platforms). While I agree games should ship in a better state, missing out on Hexworks’ fantastic gamr would be a huge loss to any fan of dark fantasy action RPGs. I would only advise mild caution to those purchasing physical copies who may not have the best internet. It’s not unplayable in its unpatched state, but it is much more polished with it. Moment to moment gameplay feels tight and responsive, the art direction is superb, and the dual-world mechanic is brilliantly executed. The only reasons not to play this game would be if you’re the type to lose their cool at a couple dropped frames, or some occasional pop-in. But if the trailer looks exciting to you, I highly suggest you give it a go. Lords of the Fallen happily sits next to (perhaps even slightly above) Lies of P and Remnant 2 as the new breed of Souls-likes, who also happen to have their very own soul. Happy hunting.

I am constantly blown away at how much negativity is thrown at Forspoken. It’s a fun, fast paced, easy to pick up game, with massive beautiful open worlds, engaging and wild combat, the performances are fantastic, it’s gorgeous on a technical level, and it’s got so much on offer. It’s even a game that can be taken on as a quick, shorter “just the main quest” experience, or easily expanded massively with side quests and exploration. I also love that a big company spent this much time and money on a new IP, and went with a slightly riskier title. If it looks and sounds good to you, I would highly recommend it. If you already bought into the narrative that it’s a bad game, I would still recommend it. Because it’s awesome.

Bayonetta 2 is an absolutely phenomenal game from the creator of Devil May Cry and the developer who went on to make Nier: Automata. The graphics are gorgeous, the action fast paced and incredibly satisfying, and the story is utterly ridiculous in the best possible way. The only reason people might take pause is if they’re sensitive about religious iconography or women being bluntly sexual. Whether the main character is a strong female character or a tired trope is up for debate, but I’d lean toward the former. She absolutely owns her character and never seems to be mere eye candy, but again, it’s debatable. … I’d also like to add that this game (which is published by Nintendo, developed by Platinum and has nothing to do with SEGA) will unfortunately never come to PlayStation or Xbox because Nintendo holds the rights. Hideki Kamiya has stated that Bayonetta 2 (and the upcoming 3) wouldn’t exist without Nintendo because they were the only ones willing to back it in exchange for exclusivity. And I guess I might as well add that giving a game you haven’t played a one star review for reasons that you haven’t bothered to actually look into is pretty “ignorant”.

I’m very confused why there are so many poor reviews for this game. I think people want to trash it because its an easy target as a spin off of an old movie that people like to poke fun at. I definitely wasn’t expecting much, but it is absolutely worth a ride for horror fans. It’s not perfect, but it perfectly captures the terror of getting lost in the woods, it has interesting game mechanics, if not wholly original (camcorder, flashlight etc [I won’t spoil how they work, because there is more than you’d assume to them]) and the puppy, for crying out loud, you have a dog! The whole time! That you can pet and give treats to! In all seriousness, I thought this was another fantastic Bloober game (they also did Layers of Fear 1 & 2, Observer and most recently The Medium). Great to play by yourself at night, or with friends for some fun scares. I played it on Game Pass for “free”, and then when I had to sell the Xbox I outright bought it on PS4. If that ain’t a recommendation I don’t know what is.

Visage is one of many games that began out of inspiration from the infamous P.T. and its subsequent removal by Konami. While there have been other games of varying degrees of success in this corner of the horror genre, Visage is arguably the truest heir to P.T. Make no mistake, this is not at all a replacement for Silent Hills, it is more taking the concept of P.T. and imagining what a full game of that would be. The answer is equal parts terrifying and genius. While the idea of no-combat-haunted-house games have been done before, Sad Square has put a lot of thought into actual gameplay mechanics. This isn’t just keeping lights on and running from ghouls, there are many varied surprises throughout the experience. There is a small learning curve to the inventory, but it becomes natural fairly quickly, and while human character models are rather awful, “enemy” characters, effects and most notably the design of the world are top notch. Any lover of horror should absolutely play Visage. And anyone who wants a piece of software to occasionally break out to scare their friends, this will make for a fun, frightening evening.

The Order 1886 went through undue negative press before launch, largely due to claims of the game being only 5 hours. This is not really the case for a standard playthrough and more representative of an early “speed run”. It’s a shame this happened as it was partly to blame for low initial sales, most likely eliminating the chance for a sequel. The Order 1886 is not a bad game, especially in it’s current heavily discounted state. It is a highly cinematic 3rd person adventure set in a unique alternative history mixing Arthurian legend and Steampunk, sporting graphics that are still (on the verge of the arrival of the PS5) stunning. The gameplay is rather streamlined, and the game itself is very linear, with no multiplayer. While this may turn some off, as it doesn’t hold much replay value, it is evident that all resources were put into laying the groundwork for a fleshed out universe and a superb level of fidelity so early in the PS4’s lifecycle. The core gameplay loop is made up of 3rd person combat, light exploration and quick time mechanics (as well as mini game mechanics such as lockpicking and the like). If you’re looking for intensely deep gameplay, a super long campaign, or a highly interactive world, you may come away a bit disappointed. However, those looking for a cinematic action experience with top of the line graphics, excellent world building, characters and story will find much to like. It is truly a shame how much negative press this game received as not only did it hurt the games sales, but has deprived us all of what would almost certainly have been an expanded and much improved sequel. With much of the groundwork done, another The Order would have been able to focus on every element criticized in the first game easily. Those of us who enjoyed The Order can only imagine what would have been, had there not been an overblown pre-launch controversy, spreading like wildfire. I highly recommend anyone to at least give this game a fair shake, and explore a universe we may likely never visit again.

A modern classic, absolutely stunning! Truly feels like a modern take on Adventure games, the action and stealth elements are simple but engaging, and there’s even some (of course) light rpg mechanics (ie upgrading stuff) thrown in. The graphics are breathtaking. While not using any crazy fancy tech, the art direction, attention to detail, world building, character building and lighting all come together to make a visually gorgeous game that also runs incredibly smooth (tho I play on a PS4 pro). It is great for those who love narrative games, as it is deeply affecting and pulls you into the world, making you really care for your characters Amicia and Hugo. This game is a breath of fresh air, and absolutely finds its vision and nails it perfectly. Asobo Studios has mainly done licensed games and ports for years, and you can tell that this is a hugely important project for them, and it absolutely shows. We need more games like this.