Well, it’s a mixed bag to say the least.

Within the first couple of hours, I shared a Tweet on X calling it one of the most boring games I ever played. If it wasn’t for the fact I was writing a review, I probably would have dropped the game there and then. I’m happy I didn’t, for the most part.

The game begins as protagonist Beelzebub, the Prince of the Underworld, and his merry band of loveable misfits fight to procure water for the Demon Village. Series favorites, such as Thief and Sheriff Rao, join Beelzebub on an adventure to seek out the Legendary Spring.

With an understanding and passion for the source material, there’s a meaningful and worthwhile narrative adventure here, one full of charm and heart. However, for those like myself, it’s like struggling through a barren desert, hoping to find an oasis.

And it took me about 15 hours before the exhausting, awkward translations and dialogue made way for a cast of truly memorable characters.

Without that initial struggle to find the connection with Beelzebub and friends, I’m sure fans will enjoy every moment. For those perhaps exposed to the series for the first time, it’s going to be a very hit-and-miss experience.

Much can be said about many of the gameplay elements of Sand Land. There’s a lot of fun to be had, but there’s a lot of work to get there.

Combat is separated into two main components: Beelzebub’s on-foot melee combat, a system you only really use when it’s forced by the story or environment, and a far more thrilling and rewarding vehicular combat system.

Beelzebub’s combat is well done. Basic combination attacks, special moves, and careful dodging combine to deliver a responsive and fast-paced battle system, but one that just pales in comparison to the alternative.

Would you rather stand toe-to-toe with enemy soldiers throwing well animated kicks and spins, or do you bring a tank to a gun fight?

The vehicular combat, as explosive and entertaining as it is, takes all too long to get started. A near seamless ability to switch vehicles during combat creates for endless combination attacks and variations of combat style, but it can take over half the game to unlock all the bots.

I share similar issues with the party and progression systems. While Beelzebub and his allies core upgrades are fast enough to obtain, the ability to truly unlock the maximum potential of the bots is locked behind a party member that joins in the final hours of the experience.

This makes the final hours of the game the very best Sand Land has to offer. An impressive customization suite boasts a huge selection of options for each of the vehicles, both mechanically and visually. However, Sand Land’s difficulty and additional content fail to motivate any real necessity to take the time to grind.

This is largely due to the unsurprisingly barren and uneventful nature of the game world. It’s a desert. It’s full of sand and, sadly, not much else.

You occasionally bump into side quests, treasure chests and characters, some of whom will be happy to return to the game’s central hub. Adding new buildings and facilities along the way, but for the most part, it’s as barren as you would expect a desert to be.

Even in later areas when, after what seems like a lifetime, you find some grass and trees, the world feels very much empty and lacking purpose.

Sand Land is at its very best during the humorously over-the-top boss battles. Mowing down tanks and enemy soldiers using an impressive array of vehicles and abilities. It’s just a shame that, outside the colorful cast of characters, the rest of the game can’t match the pace.

Sand Land’s vehicular combat is entertaining from start to finish, but bizarre progression pacing and the repetitive nature of the side content makes this a hard sell for those approaching the series for the first time.

The post Sand Land Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

That being said, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is not going to have the widespread appeal of a typical RPG game. Modern day RPG’s often forgo the hardships of the arduous journey, instead constantly enticing players to focus on the destination, rush through to the objective, get the job done and move on to the next.

It took me a couple of days to break away from those expectations. Traveling from coast to coast in seconds, objective markers highlighting every single area of interest, side quests rarely delivering more than the promise of a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The all too comfortable and instantly gratifying nature of the gaming product today. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is none of those things, and it’s all the better for it.

When I reviewed Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, an incredible game as that is, I was left with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was yet another in a long line of great RPG games that left me wanting, craving for the RPG experiences of yesteryear. If my favorite game of all time, remade to near perfect execution, was unable to satiate my RPG desires what hope did Dragon’s Dogma 2 have?

Watching the credits roll, I realized, it was not my love for RPG’s that has waned in recent years, it’s just that these new titles don’t embody everything I love about the genre. I don’t want to climb towers to reveal locations. I don’t want to simply follow a string of objectives to complete a side quest. I don’t want to know that I am always only a few seconds away from quickly teleporting to a safe haven where I can regroup and resupply. I want challenge, I want to experience failure, I want things to go wrong.

Everything in the game feels earned, fought for, prized. Yes, you can fast travel between specific locations, but it requires an expensive consumable to do so, or you can ride an Oxcart and either enjoy the sights or skip the journey – only for a rampaging minotaur to impale the driver and leave you walking anyway.

Strips of convenience have been torn away to finetune an experience that tells a story of the how, what, and why, and not so much the where . The Oxcart only runs at certain times and you can only fast travel to certain locations. Many of the side quests require actual thought and problem solving. Sometimes, you’re just going to get stuck.

It’s not a constant flood of positive reinforcement. You will fail, you will struggle, things don’t always go your way and that is why I love this game so much. It makes the world feel alive, with purpose, more so than simply existing to facilitate the needs and desires of the player character.

It’s on these long journey’s where the real storytelling takes place and not simply through cut-scenes and scripted events, but through the interaction with the world and those that walk its dangerous roads.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is best played with friends which is probably the strangest thing I’ve ever said about a single-player RPG.

I’d just finished wiping out a camp of bandits when, at the end, the leader of the bandits betrayed one of his crew who was then promptly arrested by the palace guard. Quest complete. Got my reward, time to move on – or so I thought. I then begun following clues from conversations. No quest, no promise of reward, just the excitement of a hidden story.

This one single event, in a game of hundreds, captivated me for hours. I broke someone out of prison, I travelled huge distances across two regions, I spoke to witnesses and acquaintances, and eventually I stood atop a misty mountain contemplating what in the hell just happened. What had I done?

These stories are present throughout. The main story arc is a slow burn but the ending is arguably the most satisfying I’ve ever experienced and much like my journey with the bandits, the best stories are those you discover for yourself.

a socially connected experience unlike any you will find in the genre.

The Pawn system is one that is as thematically fantastic as it is mechanically sound. Having stalwart allies to aid you on your quest has its clear benefits, utilizing similar classes and abilities to the Arisen in combat, but its their function outside of combat that takes the spotlight.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is best enjoyed with friends, which is probably the strangest thing I’ve ever said about a single-player RPG. The Pawns you encounter on the roads or recruit from the Rift have often spent countless hours travelling the roads with other players, experiencing events, completing quests, tracking down treasures.

They bring that experience into your party and when you know of the Arisen to which these Pawn’s serve, it’s even more gratifying. I completed a side quest, one of many in the game with various endings and choices, and one of my Pawn’s spoke to me.

She told me of an Arisen that did not aid a man in the way I did and the outcome, well, it was bad. Catastrophically bad. That particular Pawn belonged to another of our editor’s, Johnny. I lost count of the back and forth messages we sent discussing various events and activities our Pawn’s had experienced. Sharing our successes, our failures, and our surprise to hear of alternative outcomes. It’s an innovative system that is both a pillar of the games world narrative and a socially connected experience unlike any you will find in the genre.

Even as I write this review, listing all of the things I loved, many will make that same list about the things they hate. Frustration is a real problem in the game and for some the challenge of overcoming that frustration may very well be a burden too heavy to bear.

Every great story has a struggling hero whether that medium be books, movies, or video-games. In games, we often experience that struggle from a detached perspective, watching emotional cut-scenes or dialog as our chosen hero fights to reach their destination.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 tells that same story but you will suffer alongside your hero. You will feel every step on that long road to the next town, you will feel every bit of frustration when something doesn’t go your way. Thankfully though, even frustration is no match for mounting the face of an angry cyclops as you repeatably stab it in the eye.

The combat is such a vital component of the game and one that excels in every aspect. The vast majority of world challenges and events you encounter will be combat focused. Whether you’re getting ambushed by a group of goblins on the way to town or saving a single Pawn beset by wolves, most problems will be solved with an axe, or a sword, or daggers, maybe a magical staff? There’s a lot of choice

The Vocation system, basically character classes, is as versatile as it is creative. For as long as I can remember my go-to in games of this nature is the biggest guy with the biggest two-handed weapon possible. So I took on the mantle of the Warrior Vocation.

Every Vocation feels unique and rewarding enough to be a singular main class in any mainstream RPG game

Slicing through groups of enemies with a slow but broad swing of my massive sword. Cutting down goblins in but a single swing. If it wasn’t for writing this review, I probably would have settled for that the entire game, but boy that would have been a mistake.

Darting around the battlefield as a thief, countering blows and mounting beasts. Striking from afar with explosives arrows or magical bolts as the Magick Archer or Sorcerer. Every Vocation feels unique and rewarding enough to be a singular main class in any mainstream RPG game but to have each available and so free to explore? It’s incredible.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 feels like the first proper RPG I’ve played in years. Its world is captivating, filled with stories both told and waiting to be found. This is a must-play for RPG fans who’ve grown tired of the hand-holding nature of modern games and just want to get lost somewhere magical and quite frankly, brutal as hell.

The post Dragon’s Dogma 2 Review – The First Proper RPG In Years appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Well, apart from that one time when I was on camera as a VIP at the launch event for the PlayStation 4, I panicked and said Digimon. Idiot.

Anyway, my love for Final Fantasy VII is no secret. Cloud has been my avatar on Twitter for years. My window sill is adorned with Cloud sitting atop the Fenrir and Barret striking a fearsome pose.

I have custom art of Cloud, Nanaki, Tifa, and Barret on my wall. I have an unopened deck of Cloud’s Final Fantasy TCG sitting on my desk because my friends all play Magic and think I’m sad.

I’m a fan, a fan stuck in his ways, but if any game can sway me to the modern direction Final Fantasy is taking, it’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Well, somewhat at least.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review

The story events that unfold in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth stands as a once in a lifetime event, a convergence of elements made possible only through the meticulous planning of a trilogy of games interwoven with a beloved source material.

It’s unlikely we’ll ever see an event like this again. The narrative events that take place, both new and old, bring together events from Final Fantasy VII Remake and the original Final Fantasy VII in ways that are simply not possible for any other modern video-game release.

Seldom does a developer get to release a game all but guaranteed to have a trilogy of titles in which to weave a complex and immersive story. Square Enix took full advantage of this opportunity and left it nearly impossible to wait several more years for its conclusion.

Despite much of the story being a path well-travelled, Rebirth provides so much more depth to the characters and the world.

Like Remake before it, the modernizing of Final Fantasy VII’s story continues in epic fashion. The characters feel authentic, the voice acting fantastic and, ignoring some of the anime-style cringe moments, it’s simply the best telling of the story so far and one that is sure to resonate with fans of the original game.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s Story Is A Once In A Lifetime Event

I wanted to scream from the rooftops. At every unexpected turn I urged for someone to share it with. Theories of what’s next swirling in my head at the breakfast table.

I’m not a fan of change and I really struggle when things come to a conclusion – it took me over a decade to finally finish Final Fantasy VII, despite reaching the end a dozen times.

I didn’t think it possible for me to walk away from a reimagining of the story with a positive outlook on what’s to come, but I cannot wait.

If you’re at all familiar with my Twitter feed, you’ve probably noticed my frequent appreciation for the golden era of turn-based RPGs. From the early Final Fantasy titles to gems like Shadow Hearts and Legends of Legaia, I’m always advocating for the inclusion of classic combat systems in modern video games.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns is one of the greatest turn-based games of all time, and I’ll die on that hill. This sentiment holds particularly true for remakes of games that played a foundational role in shaping today’s turn-based systems.

That said, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth achieves a remarkable balance between turn-based and real-time combat, arguably approaching complete perfection in their synergy.

Never once did I avoid an enemy hoping to skip combat, never once was did I grow weary of repetitive hack-and-slash mechanics so often associated with real-time combat experiences.

From start to finish, I enjoyed every battle and the scaling difficulty options strike a perfect balance for all players.

Regardless of your skill level, your affinity for turn-based or real-time combat systems, fans of both approaches have all the tools they need to strike a balance between challenge and accessibility that is as welcoming to new players as it is challenging to experts of real-time combat systems – and I’m definitely not the latter.

As someone who would have told you, just weeks ago, that Final Fantasy turn-based will never be trumped by a real-time combat system, today I am happy to admit, I was wrong.

Experimenting with the different difficulty settings throughout much of the game is something I typically do in most games I review, but rarely do I spike up the difficulty at certain points on purpose.

Battling against the iconic summons from the franchise, taking one of the games many bosses down, pushing these fights to the peak of your personal ability level is as rewarding as it is challenging and I definitely recommend players experiment with these settings to truly appreciate the depth of the combat system.

On the battlefield, every single playable character is a main character in their own right. Each with an arsenal of different skills and abilities, each suited to different tasks, and each as vital as the next.

Getting to grips in the early hours of the game, I relied on singular characters, experimenting with different combinations of attacks to maximize damage. As the game unfolds and more characters joined the fray, I’d switch and learn more about my new allies.

Towards the latter stages, I was switching between abilities to capitalize on the synergy between multiple characters, stringing together attacks in seconds.

As someone who would have told you, just weeks ago, that Final Fantasy turn-based will never be trumped by a real-time combat system, today I am happy to admit that I was wrong.

If Final Fantasy VII Rebirth were to be judged solely on its combat and story, I’d argue that you’d be hard-pressed to find a more compelling narrative-driven RPG.

However, the game’s excellence in these aspects unfortunately isn’t mirrored across other areas of the game. While each of the regions within the game offer expansive, pseudo open-world environments teeming with quests, mini-games, and treasures, this is precisely where Rebirth falls short.

It recycles outdated and unimaginative open-world mechanics that were stale back in 2013, when the sixth Assassin’s Creed game had us climbing yet more towers.

Each region welcomes you with open arms, offering a warm embrace for fans of yesteryear. The visuals are stunning, and the accompanying soundtrack delivers a wave of nostalgia like no other.

The excitement of what you know is to come, the anticipation of what could be, every region filled with untapped potential – and that’s just 15 seconds after you’ve arrived.

However, before long, that warming embrace turns cold as the cursed repetition of the “open-world” experience sets in.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth marks the very best in class across practically every element of game design for the Final Fantasy franchise, but I still couldn’t help but feel I was bidding farewell to an old friend.

Although each area is unique, and a visual splendor to enjoy, the path of discovery and exploration is well worn, walked just moments before in the previous region you visited.

You explore the area looking for towers to climb, which in turn reveals nearby points of interest, you interact with near identical points of interest to the last region, and you repeat.

Lifesprings, locations where Mako energy has condensed into beautiful crystalized form, offer meaningful insight into the history and events of each region, providing a charming way to connect the player to the world they are trying to save, the first few times.

Receiving a call from Chadley, annoyingly stopping you in your tracks, as he informs you of a mutated species nearby that needs “taking care of,” is interesting the first few times. Digging around for treasure with a Chocobo is fun, maybe the first time.

You repeat these same objectives for each of the games regions but the thrill of adventure and exploration dwindles with each repeated objective.

Final Fantasy VII is the game that taught me the golden rule of RPG exploration: You always go the wrong way first.

That game is nearly 30 years old, and it still remains unrivalled in how much reward there was to the exploration.

In today’s industry you would be utterly insane to expect a AAA developer to hide something as important as a character voiced by Matt Mercer in a place players could actually miss, but it was that love of exploration, that philosophy of reward that I feel lacks most in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Everything feels easy, almost spoon fed through fear of players missing out.

I never once had to buy a weapon, I found every single upgrade for every character with minimal effort. Whilst exploring the Grasslands I discovered this huge factory, sitting atop a cliff overlooking the rocky beach below.

In Cosmo Canyon, I studied strange Cactuar rocks and structures. In the Nibel Region I was stumped by these bizarre doors embedded into a rockface. What happened at all of these locations? Nothing, well, until I had collected the appropriate quest from a conveniently placed job board.

The environments of these open-world style areas feels fabricated, each location designed to serve a single purpose, a purpose chosen to be executed at a specific time and in a specific manner.

The game all too often controls when and where you can explore, when and where you can sprint or walk. Rebirth was never sold or described as a true open-world game but even in its more linear design, and as beautiful as the game world is, it’s left to feel like nothing more than a backdrop to the story.

It’s important for me to quickly follow up on that last bit as Rebirth’s other side content is actually incredible, ignoring the repetitive and unrewarding nature of exploration.

The side quest design in Rebirth sets a standard for modern RPGs. Each side quest presents players with a chance to delve deeper into the game’s world and the characters it brings to life.

These quests aren’t just mundane fetch tasks meant to boost character levels; rather, they offer invaluable insights into the rich universe of Final Fantasy VII and provide the chance to forge stronger connections with Cloud’s closest companions.

It very quickly offsets the disappointing nature of the open-area design with opportunities to explore the motives and emotions of the characters that the original Final Fantasy VII game just didn’t have the chance to do. And that’s without talking about the mini-games; oh boy.

I don’t even know where to begin. I honestly intended to count the individual mini-games as I progressed through the story but I lost count at 10.

Some, mere feeling moments offering fun and excitement, but others stand at the forefront of the experience, deeply engrained into the main story and it side content.

Queen’s Blood, a turn-based card game that sees both players attempting to win battles across three lanes, would easily be the single best mini-game a Final Fantasy game has ever produced – if it wasn’t for Blitzball.

Queen’s Blood is one of the greatest mini-games in modern gaming history

I’m an avid fan of Tetra Master, I’ve dedicated countless hours to the mastering of Triple Triad. However, both pale in comparison to the depth of Queen’s Blood.

It resembles more closely the complexity of games like Magic: The Gathering or Yugioh. It offers near endless opportunities for deck construction, experimenting with different tactics, strategies, and cards.

Undoubtedly, it stands out as one of the highlights of the entire Rebirth experience for me, and the accompanying narrative offers a captivating story into the life of its creator.

Chocobo Racing is another mini-game that plays a pivotal role in the main story, and some of the side content to boot.

The Mario Kart style drift and race mechanics are immediately familiar and while a bit more challenge and depth would have been welcomed (we miss Chocobo breeding), it’s just another one of many things that is the best in class for the Final Fantasy franchise.

It would be negligent of me to discuss the mini-games of Rebirth and not mention the Gold Saucer. I won’t get into specific details, you need to experience this for yourself, but it took a fan-favorite location from the original game and turned that dial up to 11, reimagined and revitalized to offer one of the most exciting areas of the entire game.

I could talk about this game forever. No other game has taken me on an emotional journey of this magnitude, the good and the bad.

The soundtrack is one of the best this industry has ever produced. Each character and their relationships given infinitely more time to shine and develop than the original game. Everything about this game is fantastic, but I still can’t shake a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Final Fantasy VII is the game that taught me the golden rule of RPG exploration, you always go the wrong way first.

My time through Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was profound. In one moment I was relishing in the opportunity to learn more about a world and characters I have loved for nearly 30 years. In the next, I was mourning the passing of principles and ideas that represent the very foundation of my love for the RPG genre and the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth marks the very best in class across practically every element of game design for the Final Fantasy franchise, but I still couldn’t help but feel I was bidding farewell to an old friend.

The post Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review – Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend appeared first on GamersHeroes.

A decade has passed since the launch of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag and the beginning of Skull & Bones’ development journey, yet it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Enduring numerous delays, shifts in genre, and geographical transitions from fantastical realms to real-world settings, development has struggled through troubled waters.

Regrettably, the aftermath of that journey leaves Skull & Bones grappling to define its identity. It’s a clash of compelling ideas and concepts, each brimming with potential, yet few have been afforded the necessary time to flourish. While there are undoubtedly elements of Skull & Bones I’ve grown to love, its inherent challenges are evident for all to witness.

Skull & Bones Review

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Usually, this is the part where I delve into my experience with the game’s storyline. Taking a moment to explore significant characters, dissect important plot events, and offer my overall perspective on the narrative direction before transitioning to other meaty parts of the experience. In the case of Skull & Bones, well, the story doesn’t offer all that much. Relationships feel forced and rushed, never given the time to develop through trial and tribulation, and the overall plot just feels flat.

After completing just a handful of seafaring missions, I found myself unexpectedly hailed as a hero by the pirates standing on the docks of Sainte-Anne. John Scurlock, the esteemed Kingpin of Sainte-Anne, now celebrating my achievements, when just moments before he was mocking my lack of experience. I struggled to remain interested in the lives and motives of the characters I encountered, and feeling rushed to develop that interest didn’t help the situation.

It’s a disappointing execution of the story, but as is often the case with live-service games, the story is rarely a focal point. It’s a few hours in a grand adventure, often spanning hundreds or thousands of hours. So, leaving the underwhelming story off the stern, many other areas of the game are truly remarkable.

Despite the hurdles of delays and change of genre, one key component was clear in the development of Skull & Bones: naval combat was destined to be its cornerstone. This is evident by the level of quality and polish in the ship-to-ship combat, a captivating and thrilling experience from start to finish. It offers a deep layer of strategy and tactical thinking as you analyze the movements of enemy ships, looking to capitalize on the smallest mistake. This is all the while providing pure satisfaction derived from just blowing the ship out of something.

Every encounter, even the trivial battles against enemies offering little to no rewards, is an enjoyable one. Lining up the perfect mortar shot onto the weak point of a moving enemy ship, sniping enemy flares before they call for reinforcements, watching three torpedoes hit at maximum range for insane damage; the combat in Skull & Bones is quite simply at the top of its class.

This is enhanced by a robust ship class and customization suite that offers a surprising variety of build options and loadouts. Each boat can be tailored to suit a number of different play styles, with a variety of different armaments and furniture pieces designed to support a holy trinity style approach with tank, DPS, and support. It may be difficult to swallow that your support ship is firing balls of goo to help heal your hull, but it works nonetheless.

While clearly designed to support co-operative and multiplayer play, each of these roles functions perfectly well for solo players. Choosing the bulky tank class of vessels, I was able to sustain incredible levels of damage whilst ensuring enemy vessels prioritized me over my allies. Switching up to one of the ramming style DPS ships, complete with a bow-mounted flamethrower, plowing directly into enemies and leaving a pile of flotsam in my wake was equally fun. It’s a system that is perfectly suited to the live-service model, one that has a multitude of avenues for advancements and improvements but one that, alone, may struggle to keep players engaged through the rough seas of the early game.

Skull & Bones doesn’t really leave the dock for the first 30 to 40 hours. The early hours, including the immediately forgettable intro, are a combination of tutorial missions and fetch quests. Fetch quests that, even with the most beautiful of oceans and a fantastic combat system, quickly become stale. I was approaching the 35-hour mark when I hit Kingpin rank, the final rank before the prestige-style grind enters the arena.

It wasn’t until nearly 40 hours into the Skull & Bones adventure that the true essence of the game unfolded. The vast expanse of the Empire stretches across three distinct regions: the Coast of Africa, Red Isle, and East Indies. Each features different locations such as foundries, encampments, and settlements. I had to grapple with frustrating time limitations and the inherent drawbacks of the GaaS model, but eventually I could seize control of these strategic points, tapping into their resources to amass Pieces of Eight, the top-tier currency. These Pieces of Eight serve as the key to unlocking much of the end-game content, from named weapons to ship cosmetics and pirate outfits, bringing the live-service elements of the game to life.

It’s a completely fresh gameplay loop from the rest of the game. Sure, it’s still very much a glorified fetch quest with epic combat, but the Empire system is where you find the best rewards, the biggest battles, and the most epic PvP encounters the game has to offer. Prior to unlocking this feature, the largest battle I had was with three enemy ships. After my first attempt at a hostile takeover of a territory, that number was closer to 20. After capturing a location, funding its resource development, and then attempting to grab your haul, you have to travel back and deposit it at one of your central hubs – or you can risk it all and take a double-or-nothing gamble on reaching another location but with other players at your heels.

There is definitely a potential for problems in the very latter stages of the live-service grind. It will be relatively easy to max out multiple locations, stack up near infinite supplies of silver, and end up managing more of an economic simulator than a pirate game, but hopefully Ubisoft can address that before the average player gets there.

Finally, touching on an area of the game that struggles to find its place as much as the story, there is controlling of the actual character. You cannot walk around on your ship, and there is no on-foot combat. Rather, it’s purely an avatar for navigating towns, cities, and camps – most of which are very tiny locations that serve little more purpose than a menu with an environment. It feels a bit sour, considering the what-if scenario. Overall, it’s a minor, annoying time sink at worst.

I played through most of the game on the Xbox Series X but also played a fair amount on PlayStation 5, both co-op and solo play. Skull & Bones is perfectly suited for solo players, although the more challenging and exciting missions are definitely geared towards co-op and multiplayer play. It’s a lot of fun solo but whack that dial way up if you can sail with some friends.

If you can stomach the rough seas of the early game, Skull & Bones has a bounty of live-service content on offer. The end-game mechanics and loot loop rely completely and entirely on the combat system that, thankfully, is one that delivers with every firing of a cannon. Taking over towns and cities, conquering trade routes, climbing the leaderboards – Skull & Bones is a thrilling ride. It’s just a shame that it can take 30-40 hours to get there.

[infobox style=’success’ static=’1′]This review of Skull & Bones was primarily done on the Xbox Series X, although the reviewer also played the PlayStation 5 version. Digital codes were provided by the publisher[/infobox]

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For The King 2 is an old-school sequel. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel or mash things up with an entire genre change. It simply takes everything that made the original game as fantastic as it was, and just adds more. We’ve got new random events, new locations, new classes, new weapons, all fantastic stuff but best of all? We can now bring in a 4th player.

For The King 2 Review

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For The King’s original cap on three playable characters was, arguably, about the only thing I didn’t like in the original game. We always had a 4th in the wings waiting to play, doing dice rolls or a quick round of rock, paper, scissors to see who had to sit it out this time. If you’re more of a solo player or don’t have a 4th friend to bring, each of the 4 characters you choose can be controlled by any number of players.

Each player can control a single character or it can be divided with fewer players. For the entirety of our time in the game, both Johnny and I controlled two characters each. This is something I usually find off-putting in games. I like to have my main character and not bother controlling an “AI” but with the way the gear and classes function, it feels more like double the fun and not double the work.

Each class comes with its own stats and individual abilities, typically a small random chance to do something useful and thematic for that class. The Blacksmith, for example, has an ability that will sometimes entirely negate the damage of an attack. The Alchemist has a small chance to brew potions at the end of each turn, basically grenades, and the Farmer sometimes creates a Scarecrow in battle that acts as a frontline tank. There is definitely some disparity between the classes, with some being so effective it’s stupid not to take them, and others being nigh on useless, but there’s enough variety of good classes for a ton of different party lineups.

Most of the classes excel in a couple of areas, making ideal builds and playstyles very apparent, but it’s not without flexibility either. You can play through different chapters with exactly the same class and party lineup and have different builds for most of the characters. Sometimes, this is by choice, other times you’re forced to adapt to the challenges you face.

The advancement and progress of each class is tied directly to the equipment you find in the game world. Tons of different weapon types, multiple defensive options between physical defense, magical defense, and evasion, it’s a system of mixed emotions. Sometimes you will find the perfect items, creating that ultra-powerful build you’d planned right at the start of the campaign. Other times one of your character struggle, falling behind the party because you’re not finding the perfect gear. This may sound somewhat disappointing but it’s the lows that really make the highs such a remarkable achievement.

Exploration remains a pillar of the For The King experience and remains largely unchanged in For The King 2, with good reason. When exploring the Overworld every hex hides possibility, it hides excitement. A brand new class, a powerful new weapon, a challenging battle, just a few potential discoveries with each shiny question marked hex that you explore. It’s a system that worked so well in the original and one that continues to be one of the game’s most appealing elements.

The challenge and difficulty of exploration lie within the efficiency and management of your party’s movement and locations. Allies can only join battles if they are within range, certain classes excel at avoiding enemy encounters while others struggle. It’s the careful planning and execution of an exploration plan that keeps turn after turn, an explorer’s dream. It sounds simple enough, right? Don’t start a battle unless all your allies are within range. Don’t go exploring with a class that is unable to sneak past an ambush. Those ideas are sound in principle, but then, something shiny.

And that’s all it takes. A new event appears, an enemy you’ve not fought before, a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow (literally and figuratively), and that’s it. One of your idiot friends has run off 7 hexes in the wrong direction to try and pull a sword out of a stone and your plans have gone to shit. Exploration is a constant test of risk vs. reward, made riskier by the friends you keep, and that’s without considering the constant threat and peril of a looming world event – one that may strengthen every enemy you encounter or steal items from your loot pools.

These world events can either be directly related to the story of a specific Chapter or Scourges, unique enemies that promise some of the most difficult battles in the entire game. This creates further tension as you need to balance exploration with controlling the worlds Chaos level, a timer-like system that’s difficult to manage, but very rewarding when you’re able to find the perfect mix of objectives and freedom. Considering the difficulty of these battles the rewards are often underwhelming, an issue the original game struggled to solve, but the satisfaction of taking down these difficult bosses nearly offsets the disappointment, nearly.

For The King 2’s combat system, on the other hand, has seen quite a number of improvements and changes, primarily, the combat grid. It’s a formation system that rewards tactical placement of specific characters in specific locations. Tanks and melee users excel on the frontlines, while magical and ranged users benefit from defensive bonuses on the back, there is a caveat however, it’s random. This was quite jarring initially, having to constantly move characters around to the correct locations but without the random element, the system becomes quite passive and relatively dull. It’s not a complete mess, the game won’t place your squishy guys on the frontline, but the lack of fixed formations may be off-putting for some.

After understanding its importance in creating a more dynamic combat environment, it’s a feature that grew on me as time went on. Toward the end, we understood that we’re not going to begin each fight in a perfect formation but neither is the enemy. Managing character locations to avoid area of effect attacks, careful placement of your buffing characters to maximize effectiveness, it’s another rock on this mountain of risk vs. reward that the game builds and relies on so heavily.

The core components of the combat system, attacks and abilities being tied to dice rolls based on specific stats, remains much of the same. It’s an experience of massive highs and incredible lows. Nailing that awesome 60% chance for an enormous strike is as satisfying as it gets, matched only by the utter dismay of missing a 95% chance to hit and having a character killed as a result. It’s a love hate relationship that creates memories and experiences that will last a long time.

The most exciting additions to For The King 2, that truly set it apart from its predecessor, is the inclusion of a loadout system and its roguelite elements. As you complete story objectives and dungeons you are rewarded with Lore Books, these Lore Books can then be spent in the Lore Store to unlock new items, classes, events, and cosmetics. Previously, this simply added stuff unlocked to the random pool of things to find in the next campaign but the new Loadout system makes unlocks far more effective.

At the beginning of any Chapter, you can assign a Loadout to each character in your party, using Loadout Points. These can be used to start with additional healing items, extra gold, stronger weapons and armor, it adds a level of strategy and tactical thinking that the previous game lacked. Being able to fine tune and plan your strategies for the earlier stages of the game is really engaging for the entire party and makes the previously predictable and often boring first few turns, more impactful and exciting.

Bringing in the best of the old with the creative direction of the new makes For The King 2 feel instantly familiar and charming, like coming back to a warm home after a cold days work. The addition of new combat and reward mechanics deliver the thrill of exploration and combat that only died down in the original after completing the entire game and running out of things to unlock.

For The King 2 is the perfect sequel. It takes the very best components of its predecessor and uses those time-tested elements to raise the series to new heights. To put it simply, For The King 2 is one of the best strategy-based co-op experiences on the market today.

[infobox style=’success’ static=’1′]This For The King 2 review was done on the PC. A digital code was provided.[/infobox]

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RoboCop Rogue City Review

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If I’m being completely honest, whenever a new game hits my radar based on an IP we haven’t really seen in nearly 10 years, I’m immediately skeptical. All too often studios deliver sub-par games in the hopes that the IP carries it to financial success, I’m looking at you Rise of Kong, but developers Teyon had a pretty solid shooter with Terminator: Resistance, so I had some hope. That hope was not misplaced. I’ve spent the entire weekend humming the RoboCop theme tune, I’ve rewatched the original movie and I even paid an extortionate price to watch RoboCop II on Prime. Nearly £8 for a movie released in 1990, can you believe that? Anyway.

RoboCop Rogue City takes place between the events of RoboCop 2 (1990) and RoboCop 3 (1993). A hyper-violent Detroit, still gripped by a deadly Nuke drug epidemic, struggles to stay alive as an evil mega-corporation, OCP, fights to privatize the police force in order to deploy its latest batch of crime-fighting cyborgs. All the while they were trying to swindle citizens out of their homes to build a new mega-city, Delta City. The story is so closely tied to the original movies to be predictable throughout but it never felt cheap or uninspired, more an honorable nod to a beloved franchise that has survived over three decades. A worthwhile story for seasoned RoboCop fans, and a fantastic glimpse into a dystopian Detroit controlled by corporate superpowers for those jumping into the RoboCop world for the first time.

Even if the rest of the game was complete garbage, which it’s very much not, RoboCop Rogue City is worth playing for the fan service alone. The level of passion and attention to detail in delivering a believable installment in the RoboCop universe is incredible and had me grinning from ear to ear throughout most of the game. Chasing down a stolen 6000 SUX, RoboCop mentions Acapulco being a warzone, the computer screen being an exact match of the one in the archives room in the original movie, a Sunblock 5000 side quest, even the way RoboCop drives the police car out of the garage is near identical to the movies. Most of these are tiny, almost insignificant elements of the movies but when tied together, it gives it a level of authenticity I was not expecting.

It’s a heartwarming combination of iconic characters, lines of dialogue, and world-building that makes RoboCop Rogue City one of the most authentic video game adaptations I’ve played in years. As a huge fan of RoboCop growing up, I felt as though I was exploring a new movie, a new saga in Alex Murphy’s journey. Simply put, this is a must-play game for RoboCop fans of the 80s and 90s.

Although it’s easy to remember the original movies as nothing but over-the-top, mindless violence, RoboCop has stood the test of time because it was always so much more than that. Alex Murphy’s inner battle of man or machine, struggling to come to terms with the loss of his family. The moral dilemma of protecting the people of Detroit or obeying his very creator, OCP. Teyon managed to create an immersive balance of both sides of the man, the one in the metal suit and the man underneath.

Much of the game centers around RoboCop and his relationships with his friends, allies, and the people of Detroit. This manifests in the game using a choices and consequences system that plays out throughout much of the experience, offering alternative endings and encounters depending on RoboCop’s interactions. You can choose whether to aid these people or turn them in to OCP, although not all choices are black and white. It’s a meaningful system, not one that merely presents an illusion of choice, but the lack of proper save functionality meant I didn’t get to explore as many alternative routes as I would have liked.

Rogue City’s combat system is arguably the games most impressive element. It perfectly captures RoboCop’s superior fire power and machine heightened reactions and senses, whilst still maintaining a level of vulnerability and threat. Walking into a room, scanning around with RoboVision, analyzing threats and taking out targets, it never gets old. Every encounter throws you into the middle of a ridiculously over-the-top 80s action movie and it doesn’t apologize for it. Ever.

It features a robust selection of enemy types as RoboCop takes on everything from ED-209 to rampaging bikers and well-armed mercenaries, all with an arsenal equally as impressive – even if most of them feel a bit weak compared to an upgraded Auto 9. It’s near perfect pacing of investigatory and passive exploration scenes meant I was foaming at the mouth in preparation for the next glorious opportunity to explore how many body parts I could remove before my enemies fell to the floor.

Whether you’re blasting through halls, busting down a door in slow motion, or cleaning up the streets of Downtown, RoboCop’s iconic stomping and his rapid-fire Auto-9 provide equal measures of nostalgic highs and good old fashion fun.

RoboCop’s iconic “that fucking gun” side-arm, the Auto 9, features a unique, engaging, and rewarding upgrade mechanic that allows RoboCop to effortlessly shred an ED-209 to pieces. Throughout the game you discover Circuit Boards, upgrade paths that can be installed in the Auto 9 with various paths and upgrades. You also discover chips that can be placed into the slots of each path to unlock powerful upgrades and bonuses.

It’s a mix-and-match style approach, with certain nodes accessing new features, while others may lead to weakening the weapon overall. As you discover and craft better quality chips, you can further enhance various attributes of each weapon. This is a vital part of progression as it has the power to turn difficult enemies into, well, a bloody pulp. One of the upgrade paths turns up the gore setting to 11 while another gives RoboCop’s weapon infinite ammo without the need to reload. Yes, it’s as glorious as it sounds.

I walked into a pristine courthouse with marbled pillars, expensive art adorning the walls, a glorious statue taking pride at the center of the building. After I’d finished RoboCoping everyone inside, it was a mess of rubble and body parts. The explosive nature of Rogue City’s fantastic combat system combined with meaningful and impactful weapon upgrade mechanics is a thrill to explore and execute.

On the other hand, the games skill system doesn’t feel as rewarding or well planned. There are several skill trees you can invest it, increasing everything from your damage to how well you can speak with suspects and allies, but the either or approach means some of the games best features are tucked away behind late-game upgrades and progress. That’s not to say you don’t have a choice, you can level any skill whenever you want, but the game holds a gun to your head and unless you want to miss vital bonuses, you’re going to stick to a certain path.

Maybe it’s all my years of being denied loot and opportunities in Bethesda games but given the choice in Rogue City, I spent much of the first half of the game leveling my Deduction and Psychology skills. Deduction allows RoboCop to read hidden notes to discover the combination to a nearby safe, containing items to give more XP, and the Psychology skill highlights favorable dialogue options – something I couldn’t avoid if I wanted to end the game on a positive note.

Once I’d invested enough in those to be confident I wouldn’t accidentally give OCP the run of Detroit by the time I was done, I started exploring the other skills. Focus, providing an insanely satisfying slow-motion system, Scanning allowing me to ricochet bullets in case a baby needed saving, and Vitality, a skill that let me drain energy from fuse boxes to restore health. All of the skills are rewarding, I just wish some of the more exciting ones were available on out of the box RoboCop, without needing an upgraded model.

When you’re not shooting down scum, RoboCop: Rogue City uses familiar yet effective methods to engage players in more authentic police work. Using RoboCops advanced scanning and detection systems, you’ll be searching crime scenes for clues, taking statements, and chasing down suspects. It’s a system of simple design, merely scanning around a picture to locate things out of place, but it never gets frustrating or overwhelming.

Rogue City’s demo was not without its problems and while many of those were improved or fixed, the full release is not without it’s buggy woes. I lost about 2 hours of progress due to a bug that wouldn’t let me open a door. Secondary Objectives, the games side quest style system, would often play out multiple times after completion. Characters would vanish when shot, certain areas struggled in the FPS department. All in all, nothing major, most mere minor inconvenience, but a bit more work under the hood is needed post-release.

RoboCop Rogue City pays homage to its source material like no other. A faithful recreation of a beloved character and world over 30 years in the making. At its core, it’s a fantastic over-the-top 80s action shooter but dig a little deeper and you’ll find a dark, dystopian tale of man and machine more relevant today than ever.

[infobox style=’success’ static=’1′]This review of RoboCop Rogue City was done on the PlayStation 5. A digital code was provided.[/infobox]

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The Lord of the Rings Return to Moria follows the journey of a company of dwarves summoned to the Misty Mountains by Gimli as they hope to reclaim their home and restore honor to the dwarven people. Players will get to explore iconic locations from the movies, books, and beyond, all the while exploring a dark and gritty environment filled with peril and promise.

The Lord Of The Rings Return To Moria Review

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Return to Moria doesn’t really look to bring anything new to the survival genre. Many of the features and mechanics are things we’ve seen time and time again, but it’s the Tolkien twist that really makes the game something special. Brewing beers and chanting with friends, swinging a pickaxe singing mining songs in unison, following the footsteps of the Fellowship as you dive deeper into the dark depths of the Misty Mountains. If nothing else, this is a game Tolkien fans will love.

Stumbling across iconic locations from the movies and books is exactly the same, every time. You hear a deep inhale as everyone in your party gasps in excitement as you discover Gandalf’s hat that was lost after the fight with the Balrog, food left behind by the hungry hobbits of the group, each and every one of these moments is inspiring, prompting chatter and sharing from everyone in the group. There are some truly epic moments that I don’t want to spoil but if you can push through some of the questionable survival design choices, there is awe and wonder to be found.

The Lord of the Rings Return to Moria is advertised as “the only survival crafting video game set in the Fourth Age of Middle-earth”, which although true, it occupies a niche within the survival genre that few games dare to tread. Heading into the darkened halls of Khazad-dûm and expecting an experience akin to ARK, Conan Exiles, any of the big names in the survival genre, is going to leave you frustrated and disappointed.

While the game shares a lot in common with the giants of the survival genre, it’s a more nomadic experience than most. Sure, you can build up a huge base and use it as a center of operations, but more than likely you’re going to construct a handful of bases at locations that have pre-existing facilities. You then use those as forward operating bases as you venture deeper and deeper into the depths. It’s not a bad design, far from it, but the traditional approach of survival games doesn’t really blend together with the progression-based exploration of the world itself.

Return to Moria is not about hunkering down building massive structures and hoarding endless resources. Almost the entire game is driven to focus on a single aspect, the journey. The challenges and adventures that await the dwarves as they look to reclaim their homeland. When you do stop to construct new base features or upgrade your weapons, it’s with the sole purpose of reaching the next tier of equipment so you can venture into the next area. It’s a finite experience, even with the procedural generation, which is a far cry from the near-endless gameplay loops typically offered in the survival genre.

Ultimately, I think it offers a more casual and accessible approach to the genre, giving players clear goals and objectives to follow every step of the way. Exploring and enjoying the core staples of the genre, crafting, survival, and gathering materials, all without needing to invest hundreds of hours over the course of a few months. However, this is unlikely to be what the average survival fan is looking for, so I’m expecting a mixed reception.

It feels closer to a narrative-driven experience borrowing from the survival genre, than a game with survival at the forefront of its design. However, what it does take from the survival genre, it takes with honesty and delivers with care. The crafting system, the backbone of both surviving and progression, is fantastic. You are constantly discovering new materials and recipes, expanding your bases functionality, discovering new ways to use valuable resources. It never feels overwhelming, you’re never expected to spend countless hours farming the same resources over and over, it’s a constantly moving and evolving system that is as rewarding as it is detailed. Construction, the art of building bases and large structures, not so much.

The game explains, through various tutorial and prompts, that structures require support and careful design. Pillars and bracers should be used to support and prop up larger structures, staying true to the legendary building prowess of the dwarven people. However, in practice, it doesn’t really work. I spent around 2-3 hours trying to build a larger base but I was unable to get even a single building to work. Endless pillars and supports, so many it would have made the building completely useless in a functional sense, and I still couldn’t get ceiling and walls to place with any structural integrity. Thankfully, the game is littered with the remnants of the dwarven civilization that once thrived here, so it’s much easier and faster to simply breath life back into these ruins and adopt those as a base.

Gathering, the art of spending ridiculous amounts of time doing menial labor tasks, is one of the core components of the survival genre but one thats importance is often overlooked. Return to Moria’s approach is infinitely better than the average competitor in the genre, delivering both ease of access and immersion in almost effortless fashion. Mining is incredibly satisfying, chipping away at rocks and ores as chunks disappear and reveal new materials. Think Age of Conan but with a little less realism. The real icing on the cake? Singing mining songs with your friends as you seek rarer and more valuable materials, singing in unison with each swing of the pickaxe. It’s such a basic concept but one that’s true to the source material and really makes something as boring as mining, surprisingly fun.

The combat system in Return to Moria is simplistic, and the lack of any real depth or meaningful progression does feel somewhat disappointing, but it still manages to deliver an incredibly rewarding and satisfying experience. There are very limited weapon types and each functions in the same manner. You have a quick, light attack, and a heavy attack that needs to be charged. You can block enemy blows with either a shield or your weapon, and with a shield equipped, you can push enemies to the floor. The combat you experience in the first few minutes of the game is nearly identical to the combat in the final moments but despite the lack of depth, I still really enjoyed it.

You can block indefinitely, there are no stamina or other restrictions. Enemy attacks are easy to scout and predict. This allows you to survive almost any encounter if you have the skill and patience to block, dodge, and counter at the opportune moment. The lack of enemy variety, a handful of different orcs, some spiders, trolls, few unique creatures, leans further on the one-dimensional combat system, and it’s either going to make you love it more or hate it entirely.

Weapons and equipment come in different tiers and each enemy you encounter will be resistant to lower-tiered weapons. The progression loop is identical throughout as you reach new locations and find new resources, you craft higher-tier weapons that do more damage to higher-level enemies. Early on this feels rewarding but as you unlock the higher-tier weapons the lack of meaningful change does start to feel underwhelming, making the latter stages of progression in the game the most disappointing.

And this is where the game struggles the most. The progression is often set at a different pace to your exploring efforts. There are 4 main regions in the game, The Western Halls, The Lower Deeps, Dwarrowdelf, and Barazinbar – all of which we explored fully with the exception of the final area. Each a combination of procedurally generated rooms and jaw-dropping set pieces created by developers with a clear love and passion for the universe. Each area is inhabited by stronger creatures and orcs than the last, and with the materials to upgrade your equipment to suit.

The trouble is, you are often reaching these locations and exploring them long before you have the required equipment to engage the enemies. In the Lower Deeps we explored every cavern, every orc camp and town, and were left short of a vital resource required to progress. Then in Dwarrowdelf, an area almost entirely consisting of stone structures and buildings, we struggled for hours to find Ironwood, chopping down and destroying every wooden structure we could find. Ultimately, this is what prevented us exploring further. In a game that is so heavily focused on progression, exploration, always moving forward, these hard-stop resource blockers just left a sour taste.

We did reach out to the developers to learn if this was a bug or an error but never heard back and sadly, it’s not the only bug skulking away in the dark corners of the mines. Fast travel points with infinite loading, others that didn’t work at all, graves of players (and all their loot) disappearing from the UI, a UI so cluttered with icons and objectives that it was nearly impossible to explore in certain directions (you’re meant to be able to turn these off), enemies spawning within the walls of your base or inches from your face. The entire map being ridden of all enemies, including important boss fights, breaking a number of quests. It’s a game that feels as though it enjoyed a few months polish under Early Access but still isn’t quite ready for release.

I really enjoyed my time in The Lord Of The Rings Return To Moria, despite its numerous issues. It’s a heartwarming gesture of passion and dedication to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Gathering around the Meal Table and sharing breakfast with friends before venturing out to explore. Encountering the remnants of the iconic journey of the Fellowship. Everything Lord of the Rings about this game has been done perfectly, it’s just a shame other areas of the game did not get the same level of love and attention.

I’m going to hold out on giving the game a final score until we’ve seen a few patches. In its current state, the earlier levels are perfectly playable but as you get further in to Khazad-dûm, the experience is poor.

The survival genre is already a niche of its own and the Return to Moria experience carves out an even smaller corner for its own existence, chipping away at the genre norms and forging its own path. Fans of Tolkien’s creation are sure to fall in love with the level of passion and detail given to the lore and environments but traditional survival fans may find the combat and linear nature of the game to be somewhat disappointing.

[infobox style=’success’ static=’1′]This review of The Lord of the Rings Return to Moria was done on the PC. A digital code was provided.[/infobox]

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Ubisoft’s latest installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise sees a return to its roots, its stealth foundations that led the way for one of the most recognizable franchises of today. Returning to the Middle East to revive the near-forgotten origins of the franchise is almost poetic but such a drastic change in direction seldom goes well. If you’re looking for another 100-hour epic with Assassin’s Creed Mirage, you’re going to be left disappointed. However, as a newcomer to the franchise or perhaps a long-time fan left behind in the wake of those time-consuming RPG’s, this is quite simply the best stealth Assassin’s Creed game to date.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage Review

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The story of Assassin’s Creed Mirage follows a young thief called Basim, a character introduced briefly in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. During an attempted heist, a Caliph is murdered, prompting Basim to seek out and join the Hidden Ones as he flees Anbar in the hopes of ridding Baghdad of the evil puppeteering of the Order, all the while haunted by a dark presence that he does not understand. It’s an intriguing tale, one that feels familiar even in an unfamiliar setting. Threads of the story woven across generations, reassuringly bridging the old and the new, offer some exciting developments for long-term fans but Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s story is one that can be enjoyed with no past exposure to the franchise.

As a standalone tale, it’s a riveting story, one filled with unexpected twists and turns as Basim and his allies attempt to lift the veil that shrouds and protects the infamous Order. The writing and dialogue are well delivered and although the voice-acting is top quality throughout, Roshan (voiced by the distinguishable Shohreh Aghdashloo) completely steals the show. As Basim’s mentor and trainer, she plays a vital role throughout the adventure, and I hung on every word she said each time she appeared.

For those with a greater understanding of the expansive narrative found throughout the Assassin’s Creed games, there are some iconic moments to be found. I won’t spoil them here but learning about Balsim’s motivations and goals, meeting important characters he’s yet to fully understand, it’s delivered in such a way that does not make newcomers feel like they are missing out, while giving franchise veterans exciting new developments in the story.

Much of my time playing through Assassin’s Creed Mirage was a challenge. Not in the sense of difficulty, but in the shedding of expectations and habits picked up playing the more recent games. Everything about Assassin’s Creed Mirage is smaller, more compact, and whether or not that appeals is very much on a case-by-case basis. You can say goodbye to the repetitive camps and map objectives, slaying the order isn’t some daunting 70 hour affair, and exploration is more a welcomed reprieve than core focus of the experience. It’s also a game more rooted in realism, you won’t be hunting down mythical creatures or slaying gods but that, again, is something some fans will welcome. You can complete the entire story in 15-20 hours and probably all of the side content around the 20-30 hour mark.

This creates the most accessible Assassin’s Creed game in years. While I’m sure some fans will miss the scope and awe of the more recent games, it’s a perfect homage to the games initial design, it’s original goal of creating an immersive and exciting stealth action experience. While the size of AC Mirage is dwarfed by its larger predecessors, the level of detail and quality in the world building still takes the spot as some of the best in the industry.

I don’t claim to be an expert on Egyptian lore or Nordic mythology but I am infinitely better versed in both of those eras than 9th Century Baghdad, an era even historians are fuzzy on. My ignorance of the era did leave me struggling to connect with the world in places, but the game has all the right tools to immerse you in every tiny detail. The in-game codex, a compendium of information gained from interacting with characters and important structures and locations found throughout the world, is arguably one of the games greatest features. It’s rare I spend so much time reading through in-game documents but learning more about the culture and history of Baghdad is probably my biggest takeaway from the entire journey.

Learning about the evolution of the Shurta, the power of the qadi in the judicial system, learning why a structure was called the Dome of the Ass, it’s yet another fascinating and rewarding dive into culture and history in a way that only Ubisoft does. I have no idea how big the team is that works specifically on these elements of the Assassin’s Creed games, but the time, energy, and passion they pour into these aspects of development is evident throughout.

At its core, Assassin’s Creed Mirage has far more in common with the earlier Assassin’s Creed games. Combat is simplistic, offering two types of attacks and the ability to either dodge or parry. It’s responsive, fluid, allowing for some impressive battles against multiple opponents, but you’re not going to be slaughtering camps of 30 raiders with a massive battle axe. It encourages a slower, more methodical approach, one that shines with the smaller scale – allowing developers tighter control over specific scenes and encounters.

Taking down each member of the Order is an exciting challenge. Almost all of the missions can be approached in a multitude of ways. Finding a disguise and sneaking your way in a side door. A hidden underground entrance that leads to the heart of the compound. Nearby rebels you can pay to cause a distraction. I approached each mission in a different way, creating fun and interesting challenges that never felt repetitive or stale – words quite often associated with some of the lesser creative elements of the bigger games.

The only real frustration with this more compact approach to mission design are the bloody doors. My objective, mere feet away the other side of a door, but it’s one I can’t use. No rhyme or reason, I just can’t use that door. The other side, a door barred from the inside. Used infrequently these wouldn’t be much of a problem, but it’s a persistent issue throughout the game and one that really got irritating towards the final hours.

Outside of the main story, there are plenty of activities for explorers to sink their teeth into. Tales of Baghdad, the games side quest system, are all relatively quick and simple quests, more designed to offer deeper insight into the characters and culture of the game than to present any great challenge or reward. Many different collectibles dot the horizon offering new gear and equipment, Lost Books to return to the House of Wisdom. It’s all very familiar, delivered in Ubisoft’s traditionally map-filled way, but it’s scope makes these achievements, well, achievable. Without having to invest half your free time each week to make any progress.

There are some casualties with this cross of old-school foundations and more modern game design. I didn’t particularly enjoy the leveling system. Instead of the experience-based approach from the recent titles, Mirage offers milestone-based progression. This made a lot of the combat and exploration feel less rewarding, as I immediately knew whether or not this particular activity was going to result in any kind of character advancement. This is very much a subjective take though, as I imagine just as many people will be glad to know there is no required grind. The game ensures you are ready for each challenge it throws at you.

Similarly, I didn’t much enjoy the gear and equipment system, it felt redundant. I played through nearly the entire story without upgrading my gear or seeking out new equipment, purely a personal choice as I was really enjoying the story, but I never really had any drive or requirement to try and make Basim stronger. The game encourages stealth gameplay, tactical decisions, and killing an enemy in one shot was as effective at the beginning as it was at the end.

There are some new tools in Balsim’s arsenal that I really enjoyed. The focus takedown, an ability that allows Balsim to target up to five nearby enemies and assassinate them almost instantly, is absolutely fantastic. It created some cinematic moments of pure awe, working equally well as a tool of death to that of a method of reaching difficult areas or high structures. Between that ability and the incredible stealth options available, it’s rare to get into a proper melee battle.

Mirage is the Assassin’s Creed many have been waiting for. It pays homage to its roots, bringing with it the challenge and satisfaction of a well-planned and executed stealth assault. It effortlessly blends together the old-school approach with updated design philosophies, a deeper and more immersive game world, and a story that enthralls from start to finish.

[infobox style=’success’ static=’1′]This review of Assassin’s Creed Mirage was done on the PlayStation 5. A digital code was provided.[/infobox]

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Here we are. Three years and many patches later. This is CD Projekt Red’s last chance to really sell the dream of Cyberpunk 2077 with the release of all-new DLC and the highly anticipated 2.0 update, but did they pull it off?

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Review

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No Man’s Sky, Final Fantasy XIV, Cyberpunk 2077, three games seldom mentioned in the same breath. One, a space exploration RPG. Another, an MMO of a beloved RPG franchise, and the third, a gritty open-world RPG set in the Cyberpunk universe. There is now a single word that will forever unite these games, redemption.

In an industry all too well known for poor releases and hectic schedules, we’ve all suffered agonizingly disappointing releases for our most anticipated games. Some vanish into obscurity, others serve as a cautionary tale, but a select few, and I mean a few, can rise from the ashes. CD Projekt Red’s Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk 2077 is one of those few.

It was back in December 2020 when I wrote my original Cyberpunk 2077 review, a great game that fell victim to its own ambition. It was a buggy mess, to put it politely. Fast forward three years, more patches than I can count, a highly anticipated 2.0 Update, and a brand new DLC in the shape of Phantom Liberty, if this didn’t help realize the true potential of Cyberpunk 2077, nothing would.

I have hardly touched Cyberpunk 2077 since its initial launch window and due to my previous PlayStation 5 going the way of the dinosaur, I was unable to continue the journey of my original V. Phantom Liberty allows players to instantly jump into the DLC with a premade character complete with weapons, equipment, skills, and vehicles but ideally, this is not the way to play the game. Update 2.0 isn’t a simple content update, it drastically changes the way the game is played, and the way V evolves and grows. If you have the time, I highly recommend starting afresh. Let the game introduce you to the new features organically.

Phantom Liberty once again proves that CD Projekt Red’s narrative team are at the very top of their game as V, working alongside a group of intelligence agents, tracks down a netrunner known as Songbird – who was captured after Space Force One, carrying the President of the New United States of America, was shot down over Dogtown – the pissing pot of Night City. It’s a high-stakes spy-thriller with global catastrophic implications that in of itself, is a brilliantly woven tale, but then there’s the trump card.

How do you make a game, one that already features Keanu Reeves in spectacular form, even cooler? Is it even possible? Two words, one man, Idris Elba. His performance as Reed, alongside the charismatic as hell Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves) is iconic. Despite only having a fraction of screen-time compared to other well crafted characters across the entire game, Reed stands right up alongside Johnny as my favorite characters in the game. Always brooding, analyzing, planning the next move ahead. The voice-over work is fantastic and although I don’t think Idris Elba did any motion capture for the role, it’s clear the team spent a lot of time carefully crafting Reeds every move, every pose. Songbird, another character introduced in the DLC, is also fantastic. Damaged, deep, her performance shines. There was once a time when I didn’t really care much for big Hollywood actors staring in the latest videos games, but the star power it brings to the role really authenticates the narrative experience of the entire story. It feels authentic, and in a game like Cyberpunk 2077, that’s exactly what you want.

Perhaps it was my recent time in Starfield that truly let me appreciate the length’s CD Projekt Red have gone to in immersing players in the story. I don’t know of any other game that makes simple conversations so engrossing. Typically, it’s two or more people standing around as lines of dialogue come across the bottom of your screen but in Cyberpunk 2077, it’s on a whole other level. Your control of V during most of these conversations, glancing around, interacting with the environment, reacting to other characters, in a world where it’s becoming harder and harder for media to truly command our attention, Cyberpunk 2077 nails it. Although if I hear “sitch” one more time, I’m going to lose it.

The main story of Phantom Liberty is nearly entirely contained within Dogtown, an all-new area of corruption and scum. Walled off from the rest of Night City, Hansen and his Barghest militia rule with an iron fist. Streets in disarray, attractions and monuments unfinished, buildings destroyed and in pieces. It’s one of the most impressive sights in all of Night City, and the perfect home for the gritty tale of V’s latest adventure.

In all honesty, the main story would have been enough. The work that has been done on Cyberpunk 2077 over the years has paid off. Getting rid of all the bugs, crashes and issues, allows the true qualities of the game to shrine through, but there’s so much more here than just a new story. The side quests, or Gigs as they are called, are up there with the very best in quest design, even following on from the incredible faction quests in Starfield, I was engrossed in each and every tale I discovered.

If you don’t want to spend your time learning about the stories of those trapped in Dogtown, you can just blow some shit up. After stealing a random vehicle an old friend calls and gives me regular work, taking vehicles from Dogtown and driving them to various garages and spots in Night City. This was my first introduction to the vehicular combat introduced in 2.0 and it was, for lack of a better phrase, bloody awesome. It’s fast-paced, it’s explosive, it works flawlessly with every weapon I found, and creates for some truly epic chases, even having the NCPD on my tail a few times. Just try not to run over the poor homeless folk as you leave Dogtown – it’s harder than it sounds.

It further builds on an already robust combat system that rewards creativity, adapting to challenges on the fly, experimenting with various build and loadouts. Some of the enemies do feel a bit like a bullet sponge but when the masterfully created soundtrack kicks in, nothing else matters.

Then, we have the Cyberware updates with 2.0, which is almost detailed enough to warrant a review of its own. The original system in Cyberpunk 2077 was quite limited and didn’t really give players enough opportunity take V to the next level, to rival the most enhanced and upgraded characters from the Cyberpunk universe. The 2.0 update introduces an all-new system that allows for far greater levels of customization and really gives players the License to Chrome.

The new Cyberware Capacity system restricts V’s Cyberware based on a points system. Each piece of Cyberware costs a specific number of points and V’s total capacity is governed by various skills and abilities all of which can be improved, and the new perk tree system allows for further enhancements through the Technical Ability tree. It’s overwhelming at first, especially if you are diving straight in to Phantom Liberty but for people picking up the game for the first time or starting afresh, it changes everything.

All of this. A new story, a new area, tons of new side content, new characters, I never found a single bug, and I looked. I didn’t crash and I didn’t notice any frame drops playing on Performance mode. From a pure technical standpoint, flawless. Ray Tracing mode, not so much. The 30 FPS felt sluggish and jumpy and really wasn’t worth the visual upgrades. As a static frame, beautiful, but not overly functional with all the moving parts.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is a tale of redemption in its purest form. No rubbish, no corpo spin, dedication, passion, and determination to deliver on promises made long ago. The team at CD Projekt Red may have taken a rough road to get here, but now they can rest easy. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is finally, the game we all hoped it would be.

[infobox style=’success’ static=’1′]This review of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty was done on the PlayStation 5. A digital code was provided.[/infobox]

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To say expectations were high would be a huge understatement. One of the biggest and most beloved AAA developers of the modern era tackling one of the most expansive and limitless genres imaginable, the exploration of space. The wait is over, the game is here, and boy was it worth the wait.

Starfield Review

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Starfield is an odd game. Elder Scrolls, Fallout; I could recommend those to any RPG fan and feel confident the vast majority will have a fantastic time. I’m not sure the same can be said for Starfield. Some may get lost on the way, distracted by subsystem.

If you’ve been keeping up with the discourse surrounding Starfield, you’ve likely heard that the game suffers from a poor start, a prologue that disappoints when compared to the epic scenes of Oblivion and Skyrim, and while that may be the case for some, it’s not necessarily through a fault of the game itself. During my early hours of play, I was disappointed. Everything felt lackluster and outdated, lacking that Bethesda spark that has made their games magical for me since my early years in Daggerfall.

I finished the introductory scene, which was brief, and involved mining some rocks and shooting some space scum, and then I did what I always do when a sandbox world is placed at my feet: I went and got lost. In Elder Scrolls, I’d run for hours, gathering materials, speaking to NPCs, and discovering villages and caves. Fallout, same deal, just in a slightly more depressing environment. In Starfield, I took my ship to space and started landing on random planets with the coolest-sounding names.

Starfield’s galaxy is filled with barren planets, floating rocks in deep space that, simply put, are glorified resource nodes, but they beckon with the promise of maybe finding something special. Their primary function, at least mechanically, is to offer resources and materials for players to use in crafting and base-building, one giant ore node. In most games, that would be enough, that singular function would make sense. In a Bethesda game, you expect more.

And in reality, that’s what you get. Each of these barren planets hides several points of interest to investigate and explore. Sometimes it’s some exotic flora or fauna, other times it’s a frozen-over research lab or a heavily guarded encampment. You don’t need to explore many of these planets to find identical locations, objectives, and rewards, but this was never designed to be the main draw in Starfield and to a lot of the people complaining about the lack of incentive to explore these planets, I feel like you’re playing the game wrong. Sometimes, to give players something they want, you need to throw in something they don’t. The game is set 300 years into the future, you can’t colonize that much in such a short amount of time. It’s a necessary element, within the timeframe and setting the developers wanted to achieve, to have that level of nothingness.

That’s a strange thing to say about a sandbox environment, especially a Bethesda sandbox environment. This is a studio that puts out games where players have endless hours of fun cramming 20,000 potatoes into an airlock or watching endless cheese wheels roll down a mountain, but in reality, you don’t have to do any of it. It’s the equivalent of spending an entire day completing Radiant Quests in Skyrim and then complaining about the lack of content and variety in randomly generated quests…

For some players, exploring these barren landscapes, watching in awe at the realistic celestial mechanics of the universe, gathering resources, and occasionally investigating abandoned mines and structures, this is everything they dreamed of in a Bethesda game set in space, and for everyone else, it serves as a grounding and realistic reminder that space is vast, space is empty, space is deadly. It’s not some intergalactic theme park with attractions at every turn. To truly appreciate the colossal scope Starfield puts on the table, you have to understand, that everything has its purpose, everything serves to create one of Bethesda’s most impressive and immersive environments to date.

It took me a few days, and if you follow my Twitter, you’ll see a lot of negative reactions in my early time exploring Starfield, but eventually everything just clicked. This is where I think a lot of the criticism stems from, it takes a while to find your feet, but not in a sense that the game is at fault.

Starfield’s character creation system grounds the player in a universe unlike any other. Choosing various character traits and backgrounds provides your character with roots, a tangible history of events, and experiences to bring into the universe. These are much more than simple bonuses and passive effects. You can be a Xenobiologist, having spent years studying alien species. You can pick a religious background, cementing your place among the stars with those searching for a higher purpose. Or you can go ultra-realistic, start the game with a dream home, and spend much of your better years of life paying off a ridiculous mortgage and dreading the reception every time you go home.

Each of these choices spans throughout the entire game. Conversations I had in the first minutes of the game allowed me to use my Xenobiologist expertise to share my experiences with a passerby, and in the very final quest I completed, I was able to use my expertise to find the best way of eradicating a very dangerous alien species. All too often games throw a character into the fold and while you enjoy the adventure of that universe, the path you follow, seldom does it feel like you truly belong. Starfield’s character creation system, while simple, is incredibly effective at immersing players right from the very start.

Once I began to understand the real purpose of the barren planets of Starfield’s massive universe, I started to delve into the more curated content, side quests, factions; the usual Bethesda suspects. I have been a fan of Bethesda’s work for nearly 30 years, since my first dive into Daggerfall in the mid-90s, and Starfield’s writing has surpassed anything the studio has released to this point. I cannot count the amount of unique quest lines that I got lost in. Immersed from the very beginning to the very end, mostly, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

Following a distress signal I was sent to an outpost on a distant planet. It was dark, fog filled the air, and the corpses of the scientists and guards stationed there littered the floor. Rain was thumping down, visibility wasn’t great. Then I encountered a Terrormorph. These xenomorph-like creatures have been attacking human colonies in the settled systems for years and there it was, ready to eat my face off. This single quest line took me across the star systems, searching for answers. What are they? Where do they come from? It’s a genius combination of the very best of the Alien franchise with a healthy dose of Starship Troopers, culminating in one of the most exciting and rewarding journeys I’ve ever had in an RPG.

And that’s one side quest, just one. When I wasn’t dealing with the Terrormorph threat, I was chasing down war criminals from the Colony Wars, I was climbing the corporate ladder, using stealth and espionage to frame rivals of the infamous Ryujin Industries, and didn’t draw a weapon for over 10 hours. I was infiltrating the space pirates of the Crimson Fleet, working for the authorities in an attempt to bring them down, only for the Crimson Fleet’s promises of a lost treasure to turn me traitor. I was a pirate, an assassin, a thief, a biologist, a soldier, a celebrity, a traitor, a hero, every single quest line is worthy of a feature story of its own and each presents choices and consequences that evolve in unimaginable and exciting ways. And these are just the loosely designed roles the game allows you to take, but in reality, they are limited only by your imagination.

I spent two days exploring the galaxy, looking to find the perfect planet to call home. It’s funny. An entire universe of planets to explore, untold secrets to discover, and I just wanted to find a planet with some water, some nice trees, and some cute animals, so Earth, basically. A universe of potential, and I just want to live here…dull. I found a good spot, not overly pretty, but it had some good resources I needed for expansion. Built some habitats, constructed some extractors, synced up my power grid, assigned my crew, and created enough storage to leave it on autopilot while I venture deeper into the abyss. This was days of exploration and discovery, trial and error, and all of it was good fun. I was an explorer, a colonist, a botanist, a researcher, an invader – seriously, I think I nearly wiped out an entire species of these annoyingly aggressive birds.

Eventually, I was even brave enough to dive into the shipbuilding, which is one of the most impressive features of the game. Sadly, it’s hidden behind quite an intimidating interface and a real lack of explanation or tutorial, but if you can brave the first few hours of stumbling through your own creations, the potential is jaw-dropping. You don’t have to go far to see Millennium Falcons, the Enterprise, hell, even the Planet Express has been created by talented folk in the community.

All those wonderful adventures, memories made, experiences shared, and then the main story stumbles along like a ship without a gravity drive.

It’s a familiar trope. You’re exploring every inch of the galaxy in search of ancient alien artifacts that hold the promise of revealing the secrets of the universe, the very fabric of existence. While it starts strong and ends spectacularly, the core component of the main narrative falls short. Between learning more about the alien artifacts, and an incredible cast of companions, you’re sent on expeditions to various planets to seek out these artifacts, and they are all nearly identical. You land on a barren planet, spend a minute running to the location, hover around in a room for two minutes, and leave, that’s it.

This dull and unimaginative routine is repeated over and over, and even the magical-like abilities you unlock can’t undo the feeling of monotony and boredom. Thankfully, this lasts a couple of hours at the most, but it’s an area of the game that is in stark contrast to the otherwise creative quest design. One day, I will take the time to write down my experiences of the end of the story, the mind-blowing finale that leads to the best implementation of a New Game+ mechanic I’ve ever seen, but not today. It’s too soon, and doing so will reveal and ruin a lot of things for a lot of people. Just know this. I have rarely invested more than a few hours into a NG+ and here I am in Starfield, day after day into NG+. If you love Starfield, follow your journey. Complete as much of the game as you can, and then finish the story. The adventure that awaits is nothing short of epic.

Building up to release my primary concern for Starfield was the combat. I’m a huge Elder Scrolls fan and while I enjoy Fallout, I never liked the combat system much. The guns didn’t feel great, the movement floaty, it just never felt right to me. A stark contrast to The Elder Scrolls, where I felt every swing of a blade, every casting of a spell.

Starfield’s combat is in the upper echelon of FPS design and a standout in an RPG game. The guns look and feel incredible. Every shot is felt, every boost of the jetpack is exciting, and every combat encounter is thrilling and rewarding. The combat system is so good that if you are unfortunate enough to run into some duplicate content it doesn’t matter. Once the bullets start flying, it’s just endless fun. Over 150 hours in the game, I have not avoided a single fight through fatigue or loss of interest, something Elder Scrolls couldn’t even manage after that many hours. Quite the contrary. When a random ship approached me and asked if I was looking to extend my spaceship warranty, I was all too eager to enjoy the combat system once more.

Bethesda’s greatest writing to date. An absolutely fantastic cast of characters and companions, some of the most memorable in the genre, I got you, Barrett. Awesome combat. Everything feels so right. So where does Starfield go wrong? Well, it’s in the little things.

Many years have passed since Skyrim broke records and won hearts. Technology has progressed, and other developers have amazed, but certain aspects of Starfield feel old, dated, and out of place in an otherwise stellar adventure. Following an NPC through a busy city as they give you the low down on your next target, only for the important dialogue to be drowned out by random idiots walking past blurting out irrelevant crap. A heartfelt moment between you and a companion as you share your deepest feelings, whilst talking to the back of their head. Exploring the gorgeous cyberpunk streets of Neon as you walk through 4 loading screens in 15 seconds. Spending yet another 60 seconds waiting on a bench for vendors to restock their cash so you can sell your latest haul. Watching NPCs move in a robotic like state to their resting position, turning 90 degrees before continuing.

Singularly, none of these are huge problems and they have become almost beloved quirks of Bethesda, a bit like my favorite coffee cup that’s chipped on the top. It’s not the best cup anymore, but I loves it. But in a universe where I can sit on the moon and watch a gas giant orbit over the horizon, why am I still talking to the back of a character’s head? With that said, technically, Starfield is the single best release Bethesda has ever had. I never experienced a single serious bug or crash until well over 100 hours, usually issues with loading and saving, another problem that has impacted Bethesda’s titles of yesteryear.

Even now, as I consider my time with Starfield finished, it’s not over. I found some books that gave me the location of London and the Apollo landing site, I’m looking for the Jupiter probe Juno to see how it’s dealing with its new-found purpose, I’m seeking out the GLB-222 Supremacy, a lost ship rumored to hold millions of credits, it’s this endless scope, this fantasy of a living, breathing universe, this is what makes Starfield such a spectacular adventure.

Simply put, Starfield is Bethesda’s greatest-ever RPG. The living, breathing universe they have created is one of the most impressive in the gaming space and the sound effects and musical score push the immersion to near perfection. If only I didn’t have to speak to the back of NPCs head.

[infobox style=’success’ static=’1′]This review of Starfield was done on the Xbox Series X. The game was purchased digitally, with the Premium Edition upgrade and Game Pass.[/infobox]

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