USD ($)
EUR (€)
In the spirit of good tidings, and that this will be your last dose of this series before Christmas – I am gifting you dear reader with a gift! What is this gift you may ask? Well, it is a limerick of course. I don’t know why, and I have never written a limerick before but here we go:
In a pixel ran realm of joy and delight
There’s an adventure cursed with doom and plight
One gamer doth stand
To conquer this land
Try not to get addicted and game away the whole night!
That took me far longer to write than I care to admit. But I think it came out well. But enough of that nonsense, here are some games that we recommend:
Street Fighter 6 - Paul Blyth
I’m not very good at fighting games. Not terrible by any means, I can certainly hold my own and have a decent win ratio within my circle of friends. But I tend to get battered in ranked online matches. And here in lies my dilemma, a fighting game lives or dies by its online component and much of a fighting games’ development is dedicated to online play to increases its lifespan beyond the launch window.
Sadly, my inability to go toe-to-toe effectively online means fighting games have limited time in my rotation. Especially now as new fighters are purchased rather than unlocked. Mortal Kombat introduced great story modes from Mortal Kombat IX which has helped, but only a little. Street Fighter V had an awful arcade mode so I didn’t even bother with it. But then Street Fighter VI came along.
Street Fighter VI’s World Tour is a fully single-player experience that I’ve spent over 20 hours with. I’ve completed the main story and am now hitting the grind to take out endgame content opponents. You’re given several hub worlds to explore (these range from cities to short beach walks, roughly the size of a fighting arena) to navigate with your custom avatar, you can equip gear to boost stats, train with all 18 characters from the Street Fighter roster to build out custom move sets for your character. It’s grindy, but I grew up playing RPGs so barely noticed.
There are also different controller types to enjoy, which is a great way to introduce new players to the fold. The dedicated special move button, where you simply press it and a direction on the analogue stick will execute one of your chosen fighters’ moves was an instant hit with my eldest.
All of this allowed me to spend more time with a fighting game than I have done in years and get to know the fighters (Cammy for the win!) I even jumped into online play... I got torn apart, but enjoyed my five minutes of confidence.
Resident Evil 4 Remake - Sophie Jones
I never played Resident Evil 4 and was eager to get my hands on the remake to see what all the fuss was about. I’ve been a huge fan of the series since I watched my older sister play the originals. Picking this up was a must so I could finally say I had played all the main games.
On starting Resident Evil 4 I soon realised this was the game that bridged the gap. It turned the haunting atmosphere of the original games into an action shooter. And the action in this game is brilliant! Each punch, kick and shot of the handgun is powerful and I enjoyed the sound effects as I popped off another zombie’s head. Leon is a machine, and the game puts you through your paces as it launches every enemy its ever made and more at you.
However, the story is a weird one and reminded me of Resident Evil 5. It was slightly confusing, riddled with plot holes but hammy enough to keep you entertained. During the game Leon has to rescue the president's daughter, who is utterly useless. I got great satisfaction every time I saw a locker, I could order her into. If you can’t squirrel her away, combat can be a nightmare as she gets in your way, or enemies carry her off into the abyss.
Additionally, a slew of mini objectives mixes up gameplay as you can partake in a shooting gallery, find and adorn antiques and collect spinal currencies by completing small quests. These were all fun additions to the game, but they did ruin the tension.
Overall, this remake didn’t seem as impressive as Resident Evil 2 and 3. That could be down to the fact that the source material was more modern, and I had nothing to compare the remake to. I still enjoyed the game; it was challenging, entertaining and the story was nonsensical bonkers. These are all the things I love in a zombie game. Yet, the tension in Resident Evil 4 comes from enemy count and lack of ammo rather than its fear factor.
Starfield – Lauren Skinner
My first array into RPGs as a teen was The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim—one of my favourite games of all time. Bethesda’s most recent game, Starfield, takes the open world to the next level and launches its player into the stars.
You’re a space miner, commissioned by galactic explorers Constellation to locate an Artifact buried underground. But when you touch it, a vision propels you through the vivid kaleidoscope of time and space. You become a member of Constellation, seeking out Artifacts and learning about the ultimate mystery of the universe.
I appreciate the many exciting twists and turns Starfield’s main plot has to offer, making me truly invested in what the Artifacts are and what your role in it all is. This journey is only made better by your choice of companions. Will you travel with soft-hearted cowboy Sam who just wants someone to love him and his pre-teen daughter? Or hot House Va’ruun member Andreja, the only one so enamoured by you that she won’t suffer your clearly polyamorous tendencies? These companions make every quest more interesting with their little quips and insights into their lives.
Just be careful not to accidentally throw a grenade into a crowd of civilians. Your companion will not care if it was an accident. You’re dead to them now.
In true Bethesda fashion, you can ignore the main plot and dart around the universe instead. Solving (or committing) petty crimes, aggravating gangs in Neon, climbing your way on the corporate ladder, or banding with space pirates is a lot of fun, and gives you plenty of opportunities to explore. I wish you could commandeer vehicles to traverse their hundreds of planets, but running around and taking in the splendour of all kinds of fantastical beasts and worlds is pretty neat.
Starfield isn’t quite Skyrim, but it’s a fun game full of beautiful vistas and compelling mysteries, all topped off with Bethesda’s trademark flair.
Spiderman 2 – Jack Oven
Spiderman 2 is one of the biggest PlayStation exclusives of the year, and it’s one I have struggled to put down over the past couple of weeks. When people talk about the best Sony has to offer on their console, this title deserves to be right at the top of the conversation. It’s not just the impressive look and feel of Spiderman’s New York City, or the tight combat and fun traversal mechanics, it’s also technically astonishing to be able to almost instantly teleport to any point in the city with basically no loading times. Spiderman 2 may not be a complete departure from previous entries in the series, but it is truly a next-gen title.
At the heart of what makes this game so good is the feeling of being a superhero, whether that’s Peter Parker or Miles Morales (who you can seamlessly switch between at any time while exploring the city). Swinging from your webs, running effortlessly up the side of a skyscraper, or using the new wingsuit to ride a wind tunnel through downtown, it all feels so fluid and so…well…super! You could focus just on the main story and complete the game relatively quickly, but I would argue that you’re missing out on the experience of just being a friendly neighbourhood Spiderman. New York is alive with hustling and bustling NPCs and your phone’s crime-fighting app will tell you when one of them needs help nearby. That moment of swinging down to take out some thugs, or chasing after a getaway car full of robbers really does give you a sense of being a hero, and I loved every minute.
When you do pursue the main storyline you’ll be in for a treat as well. Miles and Peter are both well written and well voice acted, and Kraven is immediately shown to be a force to be reckoned with. The introduction of Venom later in the game is also handled well, with players really feeling the power of that character as he interacts with our heroes and other side characters.
Is it a perfect game? Not quite, there are complaints that the story is a little short and that the game often feels too similar to Spiderman and the follow-up Spiderman: Miles Morales. But considering the quality of those titles I don’t see this as a particularly bad thing. New mechanics and gadgets are fun and the city of New York never looked better. Bring on Insomniac’s next game, their take on Marvel’s Wolverine!
Hades – Dan Hilton
Hades is fantastic. I have been playing it a lot again over the last month in the attempt to make it to the true ending. This is because we all know that Hades 2 is on the horizon, and there is not a chance that it doesn’t flow from the true ending. I am perfectly happy exploring the game for dozens more hours to max out all relationships in this rogue-like masterpiece.
In each run you are presented with boons from a variety of Olympus’ finest gods. From Aphrodite to Dionysus. From Poseidon to Demeter. There are so many gods to interact with, both Chthonic and Olympian. In order to reach the true ending you need to max out your relationships with all of them (I think), and I am very much so enjoying doing so. I hit the standard ending of the game maybe 25 hours game play ago and I am still having new conversations with characters after every run.
I have almost 90 hours gameplay so far and I am still thoroughly invested in the game. I manage to complete most of the runs I attempt these days, but I am still discovering fun boon combinations which keeps the runs fun. I am also really enjoying pushing the pact of punishment in absurdly weird ways to keep the challenge of the game engaging too.
If you are a fan of roguelike games and you haven’t tried Hades yet, now is the perfect time to do so. It’s a wonderfully addictive game that encourages you to do ‘just one more run’.
Credit Roll
And there you go fellow game addicts. We are back on top form this week – back to 5 entries for you to mull over! Lets hope we can keep to this standard in the coming months. Fingers crossed you get some good games for Christmas. Happy gaming!