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
The original Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive set a precedent for western-style strategy games way back in 2001. It combined a wonderful story-driven atmosphere with a tough, intelligent tactical system. Desperados III, now from Mimimi games and THQ Nordic, is heavily inspired by Wanted Dead or Alive and from my time with it, it delivers. You can root, toot and shoot your way through it later this year on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Deep Sky Derelicts on Xbox One offers a tough but rewarding RPG with interesting mechanics, but this is sometimes let down by a small level cap and occasionally tedious dungeon crawling.
Moons of Madness on Xbox One offers some fascinating slow-burn horror and nostalgic Alien-esque visuals, but it lets that down by bogging down playtime with arbitrary objectives and attempts to go much bigger than the story should be. If you are a fan of cosmic or slow-burn horror, Moons of Madness is certainly worth checking out, but it won't be forging any new fans for the genre.
With the brilliant Manual Samuel behind them, the moment we heard Perfectly Paranormal would be continuing their 'Tuesday Trilogy' of games, we got excited. And as the weeks and months have progressed, movement on their brand new adventure - Helheim Hassle - has increased. With a Spring 2020 launch on Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch planned, and then a PS4 launch happening a little further down the line, now seemed like a perfect time for us to grab Ozan Drøsdal - the writer and project lead at Perfectly Paranormal - for a little chat in order to discover more about the game.
Dandara: Trials Of Fear Edition on Xbox One is a well crafted, thematically consistent title with some truly great design, but this is displaced with occasionally mediocre platforming and a terribly disappointing final boss. The Trials Of Fear expansion certainly adds enough content to justify another playthrough
Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet on Xbox One is mostly delightful, occasionally shocking and a little underwhelming. It follows the stereotypes of visual novels a little too closely but I have enjoyed my time with it. Its characters are charming and develop nicely over the admittedly fairly short playtime.
60 Seconds! is an interesting beast. What’s important isn’t really the story or gameplay, but how those things show themselves. Little interactions of gameplay and narrative are what make this game fascinating.
Spartan Fist on Xbox One has some good traits and I’m very interested to hear what the team does after this, but this title ends up as being disappointing and can’t live up to its synopsis. In fact, a large portion of playtime will be spent with you being annoyed at the frustrating gameplay. Luckily, it doesn’t last that long.
Knightin’+ on Xbox One delivers a nostalgic 16-bit romp through 80’s era The Legend Of Zelda and manages to deliver many of its core tenets in a satisfying and self-aware way. Whilst the game may only take up to a couple of hours to complete, the low price point, engaging gameplay and overall atmosphere make this a title worth looking into.
Super Mega Space Blaster Special Turbo on Xbox One does a lot of things well, especially given the price point, but ultimately those great things are sullied by strange design choices and weak design.
We've been spoiled with promotional material including multiple E3 coverages, trailers and hours of gameplay footage. We just need the actual game now. So if you're as impatient as we are, we've got you covered with these 7 games; games that will tide you over till Cyberpunk 2077 actually turns up.
Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue isn’t a bad game, it’s just that others of a similar ilk, like Danganronpa, do the social thriller visual novel concept much better.
