A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME
Video Games, Victorian Style
Category: Reviews
-
It’s like Stardew Valley, but with more highly suspicious meat products of dubious provenance.
-
TowerFall makes it to the Switch with all of the content from the previous two games, as well as some cracking multiplayer options.
-
The conclusion of Stoic’s Banner Saga is breathtaking – and also difficult to write about without dropping spoilers.
-
The cult PC game Sunless Sea finally makes its way onto the PS4 with its Zubmariner DLC intact. Time to dive into the chilling waters of the Unterzee…
-
Ahead of the release of Life is Strange 2 this week, James Keen Esq. revisits the original.
-
The Gardens Between is bloomin’ marvellous. Buy it now!
-
A minimalist puzzle game that’s perfect for playing on the subway. Or bus. Or plane. Or train. Or…
-
Chasm is a beautiful pixel-art Metroidvania with a dizzying array of enemies to fight.
-
Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Chasm, Guacamelee 2… there’s a flood of modern Metroidvanias at the moment, but which are worth your time?
-
Set in the Cold War, this XCOM-a-like strategy game spins a complicated, sometimes bewildering web of espionage, intrigue and layers of game systems.
-
Daedalic’s promising futuristic thriller falls disappointingly flat.
-
This classic-style JRPG has an excellent battle system – and invites favourable comparisons with Chrono Trigger.
-
You know how people are saying Iconoclasts is one of the best games this year? Yeah, about that…
-
Yep, it’s a duck-based, film noir Punch-Out. Holy quack!
-
Funny, clever and utterly gorgeous, Unforeseen Incidents has quickly risen to become my favourite ever point and click adventure.
-
It’s Space Invaders! Again! But even though Super Destronaut DX throws in a few innovations, there’s not much to hold your attention for long.
-
This Rogue-like Metroidvania is rock hard but thoroughly enjoyable. Reanimated corpses have never been so much fun.
-
Don’t let its cutesy looks fool you – Bomber Crew is a hard-as-nails wartime experience.
-
Six years after its release, I’ve finally played Gravity Rush. And it’s an absolute belter.
-
It’s hockey crossed with Zelda and a dash of Street Fighter II – and it’s a lot of fun with a friend.
-
Moonlighter is a dungeon crawler mashed up with a retail game – and it’s utterly fantastic.
-
The Banner Saga 2 improves on the battles of the previous game, but like the first one, it’s really all about the story.
-
Pode is a co-op Nintendo Switch game with a cutesy looks but fiendishly difficult puzzles. And you can hold hands. Awww.
-
Comedy stick-figure RPG West of Loathing has made its way over to Switch, with all the funny walks and googly-eyed horses intact. And it’s a absolute beaut.
-
Stoic’s beautifully written Nordic saga has finally found its way over to Switch, and the storytelling is as electric as ever.
-
An intriguing, narrative-driven puzzler, Lake Ridden harks back to the heyday of Myst as protagonist Marie searches for her lost sister.
-
The ghost of your dad is badgering you to lug his coffin to a suitable burial spot. Welcome to one of the Switch’s most unusual and brilliant platformers.
-
The Fall has been out for a while, but this eerie tale of an AI spacesuit on a desperate quest to save its ailing occupant has now found its way to Nintendo Switch. And it’s still really good.
-
The Adventures of Elena Temple painstakingly recreates the feel of playing a game from the 1980s on a Game Boy or Apple II – complete with blurry bedroom backgrounds. Welcome to the new nostalgia.
-
It’s repetitive, admin-heavy and ridiculously sexualised, but for a small niche of players, The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 could be a lot of fun.
-
As temperatures plummet in the middle of the Victorian age, you’ll need a heart of ice to decide who lives and who dies.
-
The latest in the Total War line is a wonderful retelling of the story of Alfred the Great. Although if you’re feeling unpatriotic, you can smite Britons by playing the Vikings as well.
A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME 