Charm is perhaps the biggest thing Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game - Complete Edition on Xbox has going for it. Unfortunately, the fighting isn’t quite as tight as it could be and occasionally lets down the wonderful music and great visuals.
The tutorial-focused hands of Summer in Mara on Xbox are where things stumble, offering a game that is unwilling to let you go outside of the strict parameters set before you.
The alpha of a game is always an interesting thing to see. It’s sort of like looking at a painting from far away. You can vaguely make out what it’s supposed to be but those small details haven’t come into frame yet. You assume they mean very little for the overall perception of the painting but - sometimes - they entirely skew it into something unrecognisable. A good alpha gives you something to look forward to, something to watch change over the coming year. A great alpha shows you exactly what you’re in for. Back 4 Blood does both.
In a way, the soundtrack for Katamari Damacy REROLL on Xbox is a pretty good interpretation of the game itself. It’s eclectic, fun, weird and charming but perhaps a little antiquated when looking at it now. With better technology, this could lead us to a great sequel, but for now it’s just a short, pleasant experience
Ion Storm was a developer with a very strange list of games in their repertoire. To think that one studio could put out both Daikatana and Deus Ex in the same year, mere months apart is strange, to say the least. Daikatana was plain terrible. Deus Ex meanwhile was a revolutionary game that’s not only culturally significant but downright excellent. And best of all? It’s still a blast to play to this day.
Outbuddies DX draws from some very special places in its design. From its Metroid style to its Lovecraftian world, there is a lot it compares to. And while not perfect in its execution, it does a solid job at grabbing these ideas and adapting them in new ways.
Desperados III on Xbox One does something very brave. It takes the pre-existing structure set almost 20 years before it and throws it out the window. Whilst it does feel like its predecessors, it is not afraid to strike out on its own and it does so wonderfully. Its music and atmosphere is phenomenal, its narrative is great, and its gameplay is just so rewarding and addictive. It really does stand out in its own right. Whether or not you’ve played the original is irrelevant: Desperados III is absolutely worth your time.
Although there are certainly some issues with Awesome Pea 2 on Xbox One and it doesn’t really do anything that isn’t offered elsewhere, it’s a reasonably fun way to kill an hour or so. And it has to be said, there are certainly worse ways to earn 1000 Gamerscore.
Bug Fables is a wonderful, child-friendly RPG with a solid story, great music, and lovely visuals. If you’re looking for something to bring you back to your childhood, this is a must-play.
Indiecalypse on Xbox One tries many things, but for the most part it fails. Throughout my time with it it has regularly required restarts to fix its minigames, its humour is grating and fails to show any depth, and it only really takes a couple of hours or so to finish.
Atomicrops delivers a brutal bullet-hell rogue-like with every design choice intentionally included as part of the overall package. While there are some issues, Atomicrops’ utter uniqueness has won me over.
Despite the inconsistent gameplay quality and rarity of the game, Alpha Protocol is absolutely a gem in the rough. Its multiple ending and RPG systems work well in its favour and it is worth jumping through those hoops to experience again and again.
Rogue Legacy just oozes charm, from the characters to the design to the art style. Every run is filled with small differences and makes you latch onto this weird family tree of characters. The fact that it came out, originally, almost a decade ago - before launching on Xbox One in 2015 - and still manages to capture the hearts of players is a testament to what this small team of nostalgic devs could accomplish. It's fair to say they made a legacy.
Deep Rock Galactic on Xbox One is a game with obvious appeal. It is punchy, funny and a blast with friends. The environments and mission structures do become a bit repetitive but the moment to moment gameplay is fantastic. If you are looking for a “blow off steam” game to play with friends, Deep Rock Galactic has you covered.
Duke Nukem Forever, Superman 64, and Daikatana. All of these titles are talked about in a similar sphere. Some of the greatest flops of all time. Daikatana had a world-renowned lead designer, plenty of shocking advertisements and a huge budget. What could go wrong? Is it as terrible as we thought on release back in 2000 or is it a gem hidden in the rough?
Despite the problems prevalent in its control schemes and design choices, The Persistence on Xbox One feels so utterly unique in its genre. Its roots in the VR design have felt like both a blessing and a curse for the overall package, but the good most certainly outweighs the bad in this rogue-lite adventure.
Over the past five years since its release, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has solidified itself as gaming royalty. With sharp writing, a gritty tone and an enthralling cast, it’s easy to see why it is so highly thought of. But how does it hold up today?
Potata: fairy flower on Xbox One has some major issues, and most of these just come down to its design. It has interesting ideas but practically none of them are very original. Its art style is a let-down in contrast to the promotional material and very little thought has been put into the overall consistency of the world. Yes it functions reasonably well as a platformer, but doesn’t offer anything you can’t find better elsewhere.
From my time with Freakout: Calamity TV Show on Xbox One, there has been a multitude of issues that required restarting levels, but the general gameplay structure is interesting enough to account for it. The gameplay itself is solid, and this could be a fantastic title if it had just a little bit more care put into it.
The final week of the Horizon Race Off dawns in Forza Horizon 5, yet as we prepare to bid farewell, there is a last hoorah in the shape of the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges for Series 32 Spring.
For those of you who have been living under a rock or deep in the jungle for the last ten years, the Devil May Cry games feature a protagonist called Dante. And this is Dante when he was just effortlessly cool...
