Forza Horizon 5

(Available for Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One and PC)
(Xbox Series X and S version on an Xbox Series X used for review)

Forza Horizon 5 has arrived to be a major fixture of the Xbox holiday line up, alongside the upcoming Halo Infinite. The Forza games have done a great job using real world locations to create amazing and seamless open world arcade racing games. The country chosen this time is Mexico. The game however did not have too many new features compared to that of Forza Horizon 4, though given how good that game is, a lot of people were really going with the “if it aint broke don’t fix it” attitude. Once again you compete with various cars in several different events like: Road Races, Dirt Races, Cross Country Races and Street Racing with each of them, requiring a new discipline for the approach.

Pros

• Open world design: I loved the open world in Forza Horizon 4 and this one is even better. I’ve only been to Mexico a couple times and on each occasion I never stayed overnight because I was moving on later that day, but from what I’ve seen the team did a great job capturing the essence and look of Mexico. Just like number 4, Forza Horizon 5 takes a few pre-established locations and mishmashes them together. In the case of FH 4, (which was based in the UK) it was kind of a mash of the coastline, the lake district, Derwent, the Yorkshire and Derbyshire countryside and Edinburgh. Forza Horizon 5 does a similar thing but with much more interesting locations, there are beaches, deserts, jungles, the ruins of locations like Chichen Itza and even a volcano. Once again, the map gives you choice of following the roads or just saying “screw it” to all driving laws and going off road to reach your destination more directly. The map is huge but not daunting, I drove from one end of the map to the other and it took me just over 7 minutes so it’s not a slog to get through. Not only is the map great to explore and I really love doing it, but the way the various tracks are incorporated into the game is fantastic as well. The developers clearly looking into how to best integrate the tracks into the world they designed and succeeded very well. I didn’t get a chance to really get a feel for all the seasonal changes on the map given that the season changes each week (on Friday in my case), and the game came out in early November so obviously didn’t really have the game long enough to really see much of it.
• Controls and gameplay:  The controls are very typical of racing games so if you play a lot of arcade racers or driving simulators you know what you’re in for. The controls though were particularly good and worked well with the various cars making some easier to use than others. If you’re struggling to control your car, it might not suit your play style so you might want to rethink which car you’re using and make sure you really read over all the stats before you buy or modify one of your cars. The gameplay is also well varied. If you’re getting sick of street racing swap to cross country or dirt racing or try out one of the various seasonal challenges or get a better star rating going past a speed camera the options are really plentiful and none of them feel half baked.
• Graphics: Forza Horizon 5 may be one of the best-looking Xbox console exclusives available. I played it on Series X and with the visual enhancements that version gives you this game is stunning. The world is both bountiful and detailed, and amazingly has pretty much zero frame rate drops. It was a very consistent 60 FPS in performance mode (which is how I recommend playing the game) and did an amazing job of it. This series has never looked better.
• Adventure missions: These were earned with experience points and were some of the big highlights of the game as they really allowed for some creative challenges and set pieces. Each one is so energetic be it exploring ruins in a storm or running away from an active volcano they really will make you feel like you’ve been transported into an episode of Top Gear or The Grand Tour.

Mixed

• Online play: It wasn’t either good or bad in my opinion. At the time I was reviewing the game I did not have my Xbox Series X connected by an ethernet port like I do with my PS5 or PC so any issues I had may be a result of that and the time of day I was playing. Although, I did run into some connection issues and was plagued with many alerts of being taken offline. When I did get the thing to work it did run very well and online play is a lot of fun however the issue, I had is the same that I’ve had with Forza Horizon 4 (feel free to correct me on this). I don’t think the user interface with the online multiplayer is vary user friendly to the average player. It did feel confusing when I tried it out and took a bit of getting used to but once I got it going it was great, I particularly loved joining some online convoys and the races were great, I just think the game could do a better job getting you up to speed on how to use it.
• Difficulty of A.I. opponents: Okay this is weird for me, but while I think the challenge in Forza is for the most part fair, I did notice that the difficulty of A.I. opponents in single player races really fluctuated often from race to race. I would go from getting beaten by most of my opponents and lucky to be placed 4^th, to winning a race with virtually no competition in my next event. I think the game needs to do a better job balancing the difficulty though this was never to an absurd degree and for the most part I didn’t run into too many issues because of it.

Cons

• Most of the licensed soundtrack: I did like the main score used for adventures and I liked the Latin songs on the radio, which given the setting was an absolute necessity, but other than that I hated the licensed soundtrack. There’s not too many good songs and they’re really bland. I really think they should’ve played a bit more to fans of Clarkson, Hammond and May TV, and had more driving songs and classic rock or some really great Metal songs. That’s what I want to hear playing a racing game like this one. Obviously, this is a ‘me’ thing so it won’t impact the score too much and accept that this criticism would vary from person to person, but I also didn’t want to leave it off and be disingenuous.
• Slight advantage for those that buy the more expensive editions: I realised this because I did pre-release an expansion along with pre-ordering the game with my game pass subscription, so I had a few extra cars to test. What I found was my extra monetary spend actually got me really distinct advantage in the early game. I did several races not doing well only to use some of the cars I paid real world money for and win handily. Now you might say if you’ve paid for it you should get something for this, but I object to the idea that you should pay to gain an advantage. For one thing it really cuts off a big portion of the people that don’t want to pay and leaves them at a disadvantage and it incentivises companies to create pay to win products.
• Stop asking me if I want to change the difficulty: Whenever you get into a winning or losing streak, the game would ask me if I wanted to raise or lower the difficulty and it was so annoying. I’m glad I can change the difficulty at any time, but I really didn’t need to be told that after a winning or losing streak, especially given that 2^nd or 3^rd place counts as a loss. While I don’t think it was the intent it does come off as patronising.

Overall thoughts

Forza Horizon 5 is one of the best Xbox Console exclusives to date and is really good reason to be excited about owning an Xbox. It has a few issues, but they are trivial at times and even some I’ve mentioned in this review is localised to me such as the soundtrack. However, the game looks and runs amazing, the open world is breath-taking and has tons of amazing locations and tracks and has tons of set pieces that make for amazing sequences. On top of that, there’s no other way of putting this, it’s just really good fun. There’s an addictive nature of “just one more race” or “I wonder what happens if I travel to that part of the map” or “if I just keep looking in this area, I can find the hidden barn with the rare car”. I really enjoyed my time playing this and I intend to keep going. I would really urge giving this a go, this is one of the best racing games out right now.

Score: 9.3/10

The game is on Xbox Game Pass so if you’re subscribed you can download it, though the editions that give you more- will cost you extra, so I would only recommend if you have trouble with racing games and want an advantage at the start. Other than that, if you’re just signing up for Xbox live now, this should be high on your list. Racing fans should put this to the top of their list of what game they should be playing next.

Mario Party Superstars

(Available for Nintendo Switch only)

Mario Party Superstars is the latest entry in the series and is meant to act as a celebration of the spin off series up to this point. For those who don’t know, Mario Party games are virtual board games where following each set of turns, the players compete in mini games with the goal being to have the most stars at the end. Each board has different rules on how to acquire the stars, but usually this revolves around going past the Todette space and using the coins you won from the mini games, to pay for a star (costs 20 coins). The game is advertised to be a massive throwback to the series roots with updated versions of 5 boards from the Nintendo 64 trilogy of games (Peach’s Birthday cake, Space land, Woody Woods and Horror Land), as well as Minigames from throughout the series. The game also took note of something that previous game Super Mario Party was lacking by having Online multiplayer available from the start. With all that goodwill put in place, has this been the game to break the recent curse, and brought us a Mario Party that feels like the games of old?

Pros

• Graphics and updates: While much of the groundwork for Mario Party Superstars has been taken from Super Mario Party, it’s undeniable how good the game looks. The models for each of the characters and the boards look great and the team at ND Cube did a good job looking at those boards and bringing them into the modern era. Speaking of the updates, while most of them are pretty accurate, the N64 incarnations that the boards have, receive some updates to account for more mechanics that can be done with the more powerful console, and they feel like they work well. The boards don’t feel too different, and the new stuff works well to fit in with the established designs
• Improved gameplay: This is mainly making up for the weaker elements of Super Mario Party. For one thing it is a great improvement that the boards are no longer grid-based so there is way more creative designs that can be done and way more interesting ideas. There are also a good few changes like raising the price of coins from 10 to 20 coins which makes the mini games and the space you land on, have way more consequence. The options for how games are set up have been improved as well with the option for not only how many turns a game will go, but also what kind of bonus stars and what kind of mini games will be played, letting you tailor the game to whatever kind of way you and your friends want to play. There are also some excellent extra modes like Mt Minigame which involves you and 3 other players competing in various minigames repeatedly if you want a quicker mode. I really enjoyed experimenting with all the modes and with everything having a feel of the older games madness which had been sorely missed it gave a sense of nostalgic bliss. ND Cube has been trying way too hard to innovate Mario Party which is why they’ve been smart and gone very back to basics for this instalment which is to its benefit. Mario Party hasn’t been this good since it’s first Wii and DS game.
• Minigame selection: There’s already been a lot of comparisons with the 3DS game Mario Party the top 100 which was a compilation 100 of the best games in the series to that point. While it was a pretty good compilation there were some duds, and this time not only are there way more but they are also a better variety. The structure allows for 1-on-1 minigames to come in as well as 4 player games. There are a few I don’t like but overall there are rare times that I’ll groan at a minigame being selected. I also (for once) look forward to 2 vs 2 games because there’s a chance that dungeon duos will be selected, and I love that mini game. The weirder choice though, is that a couple of the games that revolve around spinning the joystick in the 1^st Mario Party that got Nintendo into legal trouble are here though they do come with a health and safety warning.

Mixed

• Gameboard selection and number of gameboards at launch: Now I do like the 5 boards that the game has at launch, and I really enjoy playing them (especially Woody Woods and Horror Land). The only one I think has a bit of an issue is Space Land because it has a few too many event spaces which slow the pace of the game. I do however think 5 is a bit small for a Mario Party game, and if there were 2 or 3 more it’d be perfect. Fortunately, Data Miners have been looking at the games code and apparently have seen code to suggest more boards might be on the way through either a free update or paid DLC.
• Online multiplayer: Mario Party offers Online Multiplayer among both friends and random people online (playing with the latter of which allows you to feel less guilty when you steal a star). Now I did play several online matches and my experience was mixed. While some games ran flawlessly, I had a couple of games with slowdown in minigames and some where one or multiple players lost connection to the server. So, as you can tell, your experience may vary depending on what kind of connection everyone has. That being said, when it did work it was a joy. Let’s be honest it’s rare most of us would get 3 mates over for a game of Mario Party with 4 controllers (even pre-pandemic) so to have the option for everyone to have their own switch is highly welcome. If you do have connection issues, an A.I. takes over the character picked and it is possible to re-join the game. There’s obviously no voice chat on switch still, so be prepared to use discord or messenger if you want to have midgame chat though the game does let you flash stickers on the screen to express emotion which came in handy when I was playing against randos.

Cons

• A.I. can be very dumb: This is a gripe I have always had with Mario Party which still hasn’t been fixed. The A.I. opponents are so fixated on getting the star they will do idiotic things which no smart player ever would. It’s the reason I pretty much only played online matches when I was reviewing the game it allowed for way better games. Even turning the difficulty up on the computer opponents didn’t help things completely they still made stupid calls. I say this is a big issue because on the road you likely won’t have Wi-Fi potentially limiting the number of opponents you can have, and in online matches you can be stuck with computer opponents if someone loses a connection and doesn’t get it back.

Overall thoughts

Mario Party Superstars is the Mario Party I’ve wanted to play for years and is one of my favourite multiplayer experiences this year. The gameboards and minigames are great, the online multiplayer when it works is fantastic and it feels like a lot of effort has gone into addressing issues of past games. The only complaints I have are with the quality of the A.I. and I wish the net coding on the online was better, but given the way Nintendo’s online multiplayer structure works I might be screaming at a wall with that complaint. I have heard a complaint that there’s too many lucky spaces but while I think that’s kind of true, I wouldn’t say it grossly impacted any games. If you have a group of friends and you want a break from Mario Kart and Smash Bros, this is your next great multiplayer experience.

Score: 9.4/10

This is a great multiplayer experience though unless you have friends that have the game, or you have a lot of controllers and your mates are likely to come over, you might not get the most out of it unless your very happy playing with random people online. On that basis, I would say maybe agree to buy the game at same time as a couple of your friends because this game is best enjoyed with good company.

Metroid Dread

(Available for Nintendo Switch only)

Metroid finally has its first 2D game in 19 years with the release of the previously cancelled game Metroid Dread. I have professed that I’m a huge fan of the Metroidvania genre which has been propped up by indie developers, but it has always felt like despite the fact we’ve had amazing games like Ori, Hollow Knight, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Knight and Ender Lillies, something has been missing; as the two games that started the genre were largely absent for a long time. While we could be waiting a while for Konami to give us a new Castlevania (not counting the Castlevania Advanced collection that recently released, and is brilliant by the way), but Nintendo were smart enough to ask Mercury Steam who did a brilliant job on the 3DS remake of Metroid Samus Returns to make this game, and with a bigger budget and more powerful hardware to create their vision. It also helps that the game launched the same day as the Switch OLED model which is what all 3 of us played the game on.

Pros

• Graphics: Now I might have noticed it even more since I was playing this on the larger and more vibrant screen of the Switch OLED but it really amazes me how good Metroid Dread looks. The environment oozes atmosphere in a big way, a standard for the franchise, but in this case, there are quite a few distinct environments and it feels like they use the hardware they’re working on to deliver a larger variety of environments than usual which look amazing, and Samus also looks amazing in these areas. The OLED screen really benefits in highlighting both the bright colours as well as the darker hallways, giving the areas that extra feel of isolation.
• Frame Rate: The game runs at a consistent 60fps in both docked and handheld mode and was largely consistent with it. There were a few noticeable frame rate drops but they really didn’t interfere too much and were pretty rare.
• Story: The story takes place at the end of the timeline of games, and shortly after the events of Metroid Fusion. The galactic federation received footage that the X parasite is still alive and, on the planet ZDR, and send out a group of robots known as the Emmi’s to investigate. When they become silent and communication is lost, the federation send Samus Aran in to investigate since she is immune to the virus. However, shortly after arrival she gets beaten down by a Chozo Soldier and dumped in the bowels of the planet with a new suit, with the only goal being get to the surface and escape. While that is the main focus the story, there is a large expansion to the lore of the Metroid universe particularly surrounding the Chozo, who have always played a big role. The emphasis on closing out the story that has been going through the 2D games is very apparent and it does a very good job. The way Samus is characterised as well is excellent especially given that unlike Other M, it is achieved mostly through body language, leading to one of the most badass versions of the character. The game really also nails the balance between gameplay and story. This is yet another thing Other M got wrong.
• World design and map: As I mentioned, the world is very varied and even more so than usual with each area giving distinct themes. These include environments of molten lava and ice, an underwater lab and even some jungles. I won’t give away too much since most of the best stuff comes from exploration, but all the environments feel better than ever for 2D Metroid’s. The game also gives you a really great map to aid in exploration as well. Not only will it tell you how much of each environment you’ve explored, but how much of the items for things like Missile and health upgrades, really aids when backtracking to boost Samus’s stats. I do have one issue with the map which we’ll go into in the cons section but overall, this is one of the best 2D Metroid worlds to explore.
• Controls and combat: The best controls make them feel like an extension of yourself and dread really achieves this. Samus’ controls really smoothly and it meant I was never worried about timing challenges, and any time I was screwing up I was never really blaming the controls. The combat as well is excellent not only do they bring back most of the combat from games like Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion but also brings back new features from Mercury Steam’s previous game Metroid Samus Returns. Most notably the melee counter and more precise aiming using the L trigger. Now these were good ideas, but not well implemented last time since they felt rather situational. This time they are much better incorporated and suit the combat well. The counter was something I was using a lot in combat even when it wasn’t required, and L trigger aiming won several boss fights for me. These features also benefit from having a better controller and button layout for this kind of combat compared to the 3DS which Samus Returns was on. The upgrades you get will be very familiar to you if you played previous Metroid games, though some you get later than expected (particularly the Morph Ball). However, the game once again eases you into these upgrades and the controls never feel too complicated with each upgrade so don’t feel too worried about remembering everything late game.
• The Emmi’s: The Emmi’s are robots which are localised to certain areas of a map in each of the areas. they are invincible and cannot be killed when initially around. Put short, they put the Dread of the title into the game, they are relentless and very smart so don’t expect to use a bunch of tricks to fool A.I. that you may have used in the past. You have no choice but to run and hide and if caught, it’s instant death unless you can counter. Plus, if they catch sight of you before you can get away to lower their alert level, all the exits from their area are cut off. The Emmi’s really are a highlight for just how heart pounding each encounter with them is and their presence is not to be taken lightly. Truly a highlight for the franchise in just how scared they can make you feel
• Boss fights: They’re outstanding and in a couple of cases a bit too easy if you can get an upgrade ahead of time. While there are some returning boss fights from previous games, the designs and tactics really are a highlight of the game and the brilliant use of checkpoints means you won’t have a ridiculous trek to get to them every time you die. The set pieces when dealing critical damage also really bring out Samus’ badass qualities
• Amiibo support: Whilst unfortunately due to supply issues with Europe, my Samus Metroid dread design, and Emmi amiibo hadn’t been delivered during my first playthrough. I did have plenty of Metroid Amiibo to test the functionality since any Amiibo with characters relating to the franchise work. I have collected all the Smash bros Amiibo to date so had Samus, Dark Samus, Ridley and Zero Suit Samus on standby but I also picked up the Samus and Metorid Amiibo that were launched for Samus Returns, in prep for the game coming out. Basically, all Samus Amiibo let you recover a certain amount of health and the enemy characters replenish missiles. Doesn’t sound too amazing but can get you out of tough situations without being a win button. I had situations where I used an Amiibo to recover health in a boss fight only to subsequently lose the fight and not be able to use the Amiibo until the next day, so be prepared to gamble with using them. While it’s nothing amazing and is certainly not going to reward collector as much as Smash Brothers or the new Animal Crossing update, it does have its benefit more than many other Amiibo functionality in games and is certainly better than a difficulty level being locked behind an Amiibo which was the case with Samus Returns.

Mixed

• Difficulty spikes: I admit that all games should raise the difficulty as they go but I found a few of the spikes were a little too steep especially given that for many, with it now being on the Switch, this will be their first experience with a 2D Metroid game. There were a couple of times where I thought the game maybe should have toned down the difficulty a little bit because sometimes there were fights that felt extremely more difficult than they should be, given how the last area was. now take this bit with a pinch of salt since I might’ve not picked up too many health and missile upgrades that would’ve helped since I didn’t want to use a guide too much on my first playthrough, given how much exploration is a key part of Metroid’s appeal, but I have seen other review comments of the difficulty spikes and how it’s a bit unforgiving for new players. That being said the challenge of the game did make it feel even more better when I finally conquered something. Thank you, Reece, for the tip that won me the battle against the final boss.

Cons

• Quite easy to get lost: The map system is good, but I wish that like in Metroid Fusion, Adam (Samus’s A.I. in her suit) would give you a map marker on where your aiming for your next task. I got lost quite a bit in frustrating ways and while I was avoiding guides, they did eventually become necessary as I had no idea where to go at many points. Adam does give you advice, but it can often be too cryptic for its own good. As I mentioned this was something fixed in Fusion, and I don’t understand why it wasn’t in this. It’s not as if having a map marker would prevent exploration or going off the beaten track if you wanted to, Fusion was hardly a linear game. But for whatever reason it’s not here. A minor complaint I accept but a complaint none the less.

Overall thoughts

Metroid Dread is fantastic and one of the best games in the series. It looks great, the combat and controls are fantastic, the soundtrack is ominous, the world is a joy to explore and the Emmi’s make for great terrifying set pieces. The switch is a home for many great Metoridvania’s, and this one need in your collection if you love that genre. If you’re a newcomer, you shouldn’t be worried since the game isn’t too tied to the previous storyline or games, and it does a good job catching people up. It is perfectly fine as a first Metroid but if that’s still a bug for you, then check out Super Metroid which is part of the SNES collection included with the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, though still get this one to play immediately afterwards. If you’re a fan of the franchise and you somehow haven’t played the game, pick this one up you owe it to yourself to play it.

Score: 9.5/10

Please buy this game it’s fantastic and is a great Metroid Vania that can stand up with the best of them and this game needs to sell well to convince people that we’re still interested in Metroid as a franchise. It obviously is a Nintendo first party game so don’t bother waiting for a sale that’ll never come, unless you buy this game second hand it’s £50, so only wait on it if there’s another expensive game you want sooner or want to save your money for a year of the Nintendo Switch Online expansion pass, though I think this is a Game of the Year contender so expect to get a lot for your money.

And now for Reece’s review

My experience with Metroid Dread is that I have beaten the game on the “Normal” difficulty playthrough with a time of 6 hours 57 minutes and unlocked the “Hard” difficulty for a subsequent playthrough.

I played Metroid Dread almost exclusively in Handheld Mode on the new Nintendo Switch OLED model. This in my opinion was the best way to play Metroid Dread in comparison with the old models of the Switch, as my previous model was the original from 2017 which would run out of battery in under 2 hours.

Metroid Dread is the latest entry in the Metroid series that first premiered in 1986 on Nintendo’s original console, the Famicon Disc System marking Metroid’s 35th anniversary this year.

Metroid Dread follows the story of intergalactic Bounty Hunter Samus Aran in an undisclosed period of time after Metroid Fusion, and sees players investigate the source of a transmission that showed off wild X-Parasites (The antagonists of Metroid Fusion, that players thought they made extinct) so players have to travel to a new mysterious planet called ZDR and investigate since the X have the ability to wipe out all life in the galaxy if left unchecked.

Metroid Dread is also technically Metroid 5 in the classic 2D Metroid series as the series goes.
• Metroid (1986)
• Metroid 2: Return of Samus (1991)
• Super Metroid (1994)
• Metroid Fusion (2002)
These are the four previous entries in the series although modern remakes of some of the games have been made with Metroid (1986) getting a Remake with Metroid: Zero Mission in 2004, and Metroid 2: Return of Samus getting a Remake on the Nintendo 3DS in 2017 as Metroid: Samus Returns. 

Metroid: Samus Returns is the most important previous entry for this game, as it was made in 2017 by MercurySteam (a Spanish videogame developer based out of Madrid) who then went on to make MetroidDread and brought over a lot of their features and gameplay innovations from said Remake with Samus Returns on 3DS into this new entry with Metroid Dread 4 years later.

Pro:

Graphical fidelity. This is easily the best-looking Metroid game to date. Not only is it on Nintendo’s most powerful current hardware and although not as powerful as the PlayStation 4, the Switch is able to create beautiful vista’s and environments in Dread.

Samus Aran herself receives a major graphical upgrade with her new Power Suit being a combination of her classic Power Suit and the Fusion Suit (From Metroid Fusion, the previous canonical entry before Dread), as her Power Suit has begun to regenerate after Metroid Fusion and has had an impact on initial gameplay.

I personally enjoy the new design of the starting Power Suit as it feels different from previous games, but the graphical fidelity really shows as you can see organic strands covering the Suit which carries over from the Fusion Suit as it helps with the continuity from Fusion to Dread and the Suit just looks very unique in comparison to other starting Suits in the series.

One aspect that I didn’t realise was that as Samus gets more Suit upgrades (From the basic Power Suit to the Varia Suit to finally the Gravity Suit) they all look more aggressive in appearance with the jagged lighting effect going down Samus’ abdomen appearing more like animal scratch marks.

Every corner of the world of Dread is filled with detail and life, from small endemic flora and fauna life to the vast architecture from the lost civilization of the planet ZDR that has long fallen into ruins. All of which is a joy to explore as power ups are hidden everywhere encouraging the player to explore this vast new world and to backtrack later in game and use new power ups to access new areas they couldn’t before.

It is seriously impressive just the large scope and scale of the maps and for every inch of it to be covered in something interesting to look at (Or flee from if it isn’t friendly), and all throughout this the frame rate never drops even when rendering in all the details and moving entities.

Framerate. In my time playing Metroid Dread the game never once dropped a single frame during gameplay.

This is incredibly impressive when the game is rendering massive 3D vista’s with full details, but also when you are in frantic boss battles with entire arena’s covered in body horror while you are filling the screen with missiles and explosions.

Abilities. Samus is now much more agile in her base Suit than previous games, as she has access to the new Slide technique returning Power Grip. Allowing the start of the game to be much more dynamic as the player can explore a more varied environment at the beginning with just the base abilities this time around compared to previous entries.

This allows the game to be much faster paced as the player has more options to explore the environments and fight/evade enemies, as Samus feels less vulnerable when the Counter move returns from Metroid: Samus Returns. This makes it so the player pretty much can’t die to the basic enemies in the overworld as long as they can press the counter button before the enemy attack hits, as they can perform a follow up shot that instantly kills the enemy and refills a lot of missiles and health. Due to this, if the player is low on health and resources they can now grind much faster than in previous games to get a refill by reloading a room, as the enemies will respawn and thus infinite refills of health and missiles.

Samus also gets the return of many fan favourite power ups from previous games including all Beam upgrades (Minus Ice Beam) and fun abilities like the Speed Booster/Shinespark (Which allows the use of sequence breaking for advanced players).

So Samus plays and controls are better than ever and her range of power ups allows players a great degree of freedom to explore the world of ZDR, and on subsequent playthroughs can find new ways to sequence break the game and finish the game as fast as possible by getting power ups out of normal order (Players are even rewarded depending on how fast they beat the game, just like previous games).

Dread. Metroid Dread really lives up to its title compared to any previous game.

This is due in large part to the inclusion of the new E.M.M.I (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier) enemy type that the player fights throughout the game.

The E.M.M.I are an evolution of the SA-X from Metroid Fusion, where Samus is hunted by a nigh unkillable enemy through large sections of the map where Samus can pretty much only flee until the player get a power up to stall or kill the enemy.

The E.M.M.I are always fun to run from as they have some of the best A.I from the enemies in the game and the area where you fight them cranks up the tension due to the old style film filter draining the colour and the audio being harsh and cranked up adds to the dread factor and puts you on edge.

The other bosses in the game are also really great as these are some of the largest and most imposing bosses of a 2D Metroid game. I found Boss 2 to be one of the most difficult and imposing because at that point you have little health or missiles so every mistake feels like it really costs you in your run.

The only absence of the feeling of Dread is in Samus herself, as in cutscenes she is now more confident and bad-ass than ever with her feeling more like the Doomslayer from Doom in her attitude due to being stylish in every situation. I would recommend players watch her in cutscenes especially in Boss 2 where she is almost effortless in dispatching of the boss and she now really feels like the Bounty Hunter we have always read about in the expanded lore and text logs in prior games.

Difficulty. Dread feels a lot more difficult that previous entries as enemies deal more damage than in previous games due to late game common enemies dealing over one full e-tank of damage per hit, so it promotes the idea to the player to play either more cautiously or full aggro.

The difficulty curve does lower as you get further in the game when you have more e-tanks to brute force your way through enemies and tanking the damage. This is exemplified when you reach the midpoint of the game where the X is released from containment because at that point every X you kill gives you a lot of health a missiles back especially if you kill them with the counter.

This means that if the player is struggling with the initial difficulty of Dread, then I would recommend doing some exploration to find more e-tanks or power ups as then the rest of the game becomes much easier with a larger arsenal.

Even the bosses get easier the farther into the game you get with the only difficulty spike being the final boss.

Con:

Controls. Metroid Dread offers a lot of new weapons to add to the arsenal of Samus and with that brings new controls that the player has to master in order to use them and most involve simultaneous pressing/holding of buttons in quick succession.

Most of these are normally fine and easy to use but as a person who has Dyspraxia I found it difficult to use all of the full arsenal as it requires you to press and hold multiple buttons at once. The biggest problem I had was using the Shinespark in confined cramped areas, as I constantly missed the timing to store the Shinespark after using the Speed Booster move and either ran into a wall or I was too far away from the area that needed the use of the Shinespark.

This wasn’t an issue in the older games but Dread is a much faster paced game (Thanks in part to the new 60fps) especially in its boss battles where you have very little breathing room and I found it very easy to be overwhelmed as I attempt to dodge the boss while fighting back.

Lack of direction. In comparison to Metroid Fusion where Adam used to show on the map where your next destination was for you to move towards Metroid Dread, this game instead just says work it out for yourself with no clear direction and the only clue being the occasional swarm of blue butterfly creatures at one door. Unfortunately, when you go through them I never saw another swarm until after I beat the next boss. 

I think a better system would be a general map marker like in Metroid Fusion so you have an indication of the general section of the map to travel to and not an exact location, as I spent several hours just running around and attempting to find my next destination through which I found the occasional missile pack but mostly it felt out of place.

While this problem will not exist on follow up playthroughs it was definitely annoying on the first, and I feel like it was an avoidable problem since they already had the solution in Metroid Fusion.

Conclusion:

If you are a fan of the Metroid series and own a Nintendo Switch then Metroid Dread is a definite pick up in my opinion and is worth the price of admission as I think Dread is easily the best non-3D game in the series since Metroid Fusion back in 2002.

Although this is not a good jumping on point for new players to the Metroid franchise due to its high level of difficulty for players who do not have experience with the series and while it is the 5th entry in the classic 2D storyline, it only gives the player a basic premise of Metroid Fusion.

Metroid Dread is also a great showcase of the vibrant and vivid screen of the new Nintendo Switch OLED Model and I would recommend players who don’t have a Switch or only an original Switch like I did to upgrade as it is worth it.

Metroid Dread is definitely a Game of the Year contender for me.

Score: 9.8

And finally Elliots review

While it’s definitely not Nintendo’s biggest franchise, I don’t think the Metroid series needs any introduction. It’s one of the oldest series that Nintendo has (the first game coming out in 1986), and has one of the most loyal and passionate fan bases I’ve ever seen. Which is why it’s a shame that, for a very long time, we haven’t seen much of it. While the Metroid Prime series was still getting a decent amount of attention and new games in its style, we hadn’t seen anything new with the 2D Metroid games in nearly 20 years, outside of Metroid: Samus Returns, which, while still being an awesome game, was still a remake of Metroid 2: Samus Returns, not entirely a new game. That was until e3 2021, when Nintendo announced a brand new 2D Metroid game with Metroid Dread, a game that many had believed to have been cancelled years ago, with a release date of 8th October 2021, coinciding with the release of the Nintendo Switch Oled.

In Metroid Dread you once again take on the role of Samus Aran, the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter. Not long after the events of Metroid: Fusion, the Galactic Federation sends Samus footage of an organism called Parasite X, which had been believed to have been extinct after the destruction of the planet SR388, alive on the planet ZDR. The federation had sent a unit of seven E.M.M.I. robots to the planet to investigate and collect DNA of the Parasite X, but not long after landing on the planet all communication was lost, leading them to have no other choice but to send Samus to investigate, seeing as she’s the only living being in the galaxy who’s immune to the effects of the organism. Not long after landing on ZDR Samus is attacked by a Chozo (a humanoid being with birdlike features) called Ravenbeak, causing her to have a powersurge of some kind and passing out. She later regains consciousness, having lost all her powers and very far away from the planet’s surface. She must now explore the labyrinth that is ZDR and return to her ship. The story, in all honesty, doesn’t really have that much of a presence in Metroid Dread, from what I can tell it’s mostly just a simple explanation on why the events of the game are happening. Not to say that that’s a bad thing, just don’t go in expecting a heavily detailed narrative.

As to be expected, Metroid Dread looks great. I played it on the Switch Oled, and it feels like the game was made to be played on that model. The areas that you explore all look distinct from one another and really help to promote this as a vibrant world. The game runs very well as well, during gameplay, when docked and in handheld, it runs at a consistent 60fps (on the Switch Oled at least), only really dropping on occasion when saving, but it always returned to normal when gameplay resumed. The soundtrack is also very good, having a very sci-fi ambience while exploring and really building up the intensity during boss fights and when running away from E.M.M.I.’s, it really adds to the mild horror elements of the game while also adding emphasis to the isolation you’ll likely feel while traversing the planet. 

Metroid Dread is a 2D platformer with a focus on exploration and ranged combat. While traversing these areas you’ll be battling a variety of enemies with an arsenal of weapons and abilities that you accumulate throughout the game. Each enemy will require different strategies to combat them, meaning that, unfortunately, you won’t just be able to shoot your way through the game (I mean you can, but just be ready for a very large number of deaths and a severe case of carpal tunnel). Some, for example, won’t be damaged by your regular blaster beams, meaning that you’ll have to use things like your charge shot or missiles. Some enemies, when they attack, will give you a small opportunity to parry them, if done successfully you’ll be able to counterattack which is a guaranteed one-shot, unless it’s a boss in which case you’ll deal a fair amount of damage and gain some extra resources. 

Easily the biggest and most frightening threat you’ll encounter in the game – that, let’s be honest you’ll likely know all about as it’s been a big part of the games promotions – is the E.M.M.I.. You’ll encounter one of these enemies in each of the seven areas you’ll explore in their own designated zones, and you’ll have to defeat them in order to obtain a power-up required for you to proceed. The one problem is that these things can’t be killed by traditional means, instead you have to find and fight a mini boss called a Central Unit in order to temporarily obtain the Omega Blaster, using that is the only way to kill it. Until then, all you can do is avoid the E.M.M.I.. This, however, is much easier said than done, as when you’re spotted by one it’ll pursue you relentlessly and you won’t be able to leave its zone until you get far away enough from it for it to stop chasing. To make matters worse, each E.M.M.I. works in different ways, utilizing different power-ups (the ones that you’ll receive from killing it) to catch you, not to mention the fact that the environment won’t hinder the E.M.M.I. the same way it will you. If it catches you, fear not, for you will have the chance to escape, the bad news is that the opportunity only lasts for a split second and is completely random, meaning that there are no patterns for you to learn, the only way to survive your encounter is to have a keen eye or sheer luck. Needless to say, be prepared to accumulate a large number of deaths from these things.

As mentioned previously, a massive part of this game is exploring the eight sections of ZDR. This place is anything but linear, as you’ll be having to backtrack through already explored areas as you find the power-ups needed for accessing areas, containing upgrades and progressing further into the game. When I called this place a labyrinth it was not an over exaggeration, as you will be getting lost a lot just from traversing. Hence why I suggest you don’t make the same mistake I did and use the Map Makers. When you find an area you’re not able to access because you lack the necessary power-up, you can leave a one of five different coloured makers on your map as a note on where you can go when you have what’s needed to continue. I didn’t use this nearly as much as I should have, which led to many hours of bumbling around like an idiot with no idea on what to do next. That being said though, as tempting as it may be, I very much suggest not looking up where to go next. I only looked things up on occasion – and even then it was just for the location of a couple of power-ups – because it felt so rewarding getting lost only to have those “What if…” and those “Ah-ha” moments of figuring out where to go next, it was honestly one of the things that made the game so great for me (even if it did lead to even more deaths from the E.M.M.I.’s). That being said though, it can be quite frustrating to have to spend a good amount of time having to run through the multiple zones just to get to one particular place that you need to get to in order to move forward. Whilst I do see why it happens – you can’t just have a fast travel system in a game like this – but it is still very annoying, even when the E.M.M.I.’s are dead.

As for the upgrades, I cannot stress enough how important seeking these out is. You’ll find them hidden throughout each zone, most often behind blocks that require a certain power-up to be destroyed – if the blocks are hidden you can determine what power-up is needed by shooting them with the missile. These upgrades will normally consist of missile upgrades, letting you carry more than before, or energy tanks that essentially give you another health bar. The later enemies and bosses will take away a staggering amount of health with each attack, some even taking away an entire health bar, so these things are incredibly important. I found a decent amount of each and even then, the number of deaths I gathered rival that of your average Dark Souls playthrough.

Speaking of bosses, you’ll be facing a lot of them throughout the game, both mini-bosses and main ones. The main bosses are all unique and consist of series regulars and newcomers, each one requires you to use all the skill you can in order to defeat them and are all designed very well and are incredibly fun to fight, to the point where no matter how many times I died I never felt frustrated as it always felt like I was doing better each time (which for me, is a goddamn miracle). They almost felt like 2D Soulsborne bosses, which is a massive plus for me. As for the mini bosses, while they’re also very fun to fight, they repeat very often with extra gimmicks to make them a little bit harder each time. While this isn’t a complete turn off, it does lead to some of these fights feeling a little hollow at times. 

Now it’s time for the complaints… is what I would normally say, but in all honesty, for once, I don’t really have any that I haven’t already discussed, and those that I haven’t are so miniscule that they’re not even worth mentioning.

This is my first time playing a 2D Metroid game to the end, and I can happily say that this game has more than guaranteed my pursuit in playing more of these games. Despite all the times I got lost and the hours I spent trying to kill a simple mini-boss, I absolutely loved every second I played this game. This is a must buy for any Nintendo Switch owner out there, and has solidified itself as one of my favourite games on the console. Even if you’re not a Metroid fan, I urge you to give this game a go. 

9.2/10

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

(Available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC)
(PlayStation 5 version used for review)

Kena Bridge of Spirits is the first game from Studio Ember Lab and is the last major PlayStation exclusive for 2021 with Horizon Forbidden West being pushed back to February. The game was first shown last year at the PlayStation 5 reveal presentation, and since then the art style alone got many people like myself intrigued and it looked like it would be a big part of PlayStation’s 2021. This is an action/adventure game about a Sprit guide named Kena, attempting to restore a land she has travelled to from the infection that has spread across it. She is joined by many cute creatures called The Rot, which give her access to several abilities to purify the land and lead the various Spirits she comes across, to rest. The game has a world to explore with a central village hub and 3 areas you unlock over time with a few collectables, such as new hats for The Rot, as well as extra rot to upgrade abilities.

Pros

• Graphics, Art style and Performance: Right off the bat the game looks brilliant. Rather like the story Studio Ghibli, it has clearly been an influence on the world and character designs, and the creators have done an excellent job. I think it’s one of the better looking games on PlayStation 5 currently, with it really feeling like you can get lost in the nature. I wouldn’t say that it quite achieves that to the same extent Breath of the Wild does but still looks great. As for performance, well I can only speak of the PS5 version, but in that case the game offers 2 options; Graphics mode, which has the game run at locked 30 frames per Seconds at 4K resolution, or Performance mode which has the game target 60 FPS at 4K. Despite saying it’s only targeting 60, I found when in performance mode, it hit that pretty well and there were no visible frame rate drops. With games like this you really want 60, so with no obvious frame rate drops I would say, play this game in Performance mode at all times.
• Soundtrack: The music has clearly had a lot of effort put in and it pays off. Like the world and character designs, the soundtracks take a lot of influence from various Asian cultures and uses it to great effect with atmospheric music for the environment, and bombastic for combat. My pre order was well worth it since I got a digital copy of the soundtrack with my purchase, and it has been great to listen back to some of these tracks.
• Puzzles: The puzzles in this game are just the way I like them, challenging without being too cryptic and I was able to figure out most of them through observation. They usually are platforming based as well, so merge well into the gameplay. Only a couple of duds in the bunch really.

Mixed

• Combat: Now while the combat looks similar to that of Zelda in the trailers, it ends up playing a lot more like Bloodborne weirdly. This is emphasised by the use of the R1 trigger for light attacks and the R2 Trigger for heavy attacks, and L1 and L2 being used for range weapons, shield and some abilities and circle for the dodge. It’s pretty simple for the most part and function fine, though it doesn’t always feel like it flows well. The best combat in games takes you away from the idea that you’re pushing buttons and makes the combat feel like an extension of yourself, and Kena doesn’t pull that off. The shield for example doesn’t work too well in my opinion, even if you upgrade it so I resorted to dodging more times than not- though weirdly for me I found using the bow and arrow (once you unlocked it), to be the most satisfying and accurate weapon. For example, I unlocked the Rot hammer ability which lets you spend Rot points you build up in combat through successful attacks but I was in so many boss fights where the camera would point at the boss but not act as a pointer for Kena’s attack, so I wasted my point with a big miss. The Rot arrow for example was way better since it gave time for a more accurate aim. The Rot points also don’t work too well if they build up with successive hits, but I personally would’ve preferred that they slowly build up as it would’ve allowed me to play the game bit more safely when I was on low health. Now that is available in easy difficulty, but that comes with its own can of worms for later. Plus, I feel like this is a game where you don’t unlock abilities frequently enough. I was a good couple of hours into the game before I got the bow and arrow and even when I was in the last section of the game, I was unlocking new abilities which seemed pointless at the time. All these abilities were really good and improved combat over time, but I would’ve liked them sooner to experiment with. Combat is fine in the game, but it could’ve been better, I will say the further I got in, the better it got, with one exception I’ll go back to later. There are upgrades you get by earning Karma points, through successful combat and small tasks to improve the land, but it’s not the most in depth skill tree to build on with only 12 upgrades, and trust me you won’t be grinding for all of them. Weirdly the bombs were the upgrade I liked the most since they could turn the tide of combat in several instances
• Difficulty transitions: I’m glad this game has multiple difficulties for most part. There’s an easy mode labelled Story mode, followed by standard and hard difficulties with master difficulty unlocking after you beat the story once. Now, I’m glad the easy difficulty is there because the game has several difficulty spikes especially around bosses and mini bosses which annoyed me, and occasionally I was swapping too easily for some fights that I was having trouble with. The problem is that unlike easy modes in games like Xenoblade Chronicles (which still offer some challenge whilst also giving players more of an ability to cope with tougher moments), Kena has an easy mode with really dumb AI. There were several moments they would just stop and wait for me to attack them or miss me by miles and it made this mode not fun since unlike other easy modes it really was a win button. To quote from Backlog banter’s YouTube channel, I think there needed to be more of a middle ground with the difficulty settings and spikes.
• World design: Kena’s world looks great with a central village hub to connect the 3 areas you travel to and serval fast travel points to travel between them. I really enjoyed exploring the world but in my opinion while I don’t mind linear games, Kena gives the impression of a big open world, only for it to be way more confined than I was expecting. There’s a lot more invisible walls than I would like and most of the environments just feel like hallways than big open areas though obviously there’s some collectables to find and were certainly not talking Final Fantasy 13 bad in terms of hallway like design. This feels a bit more like a throwback to the PS2/GameCube era and while there’s nothing wrong with that and I am a great fan of that era, the game occasionally gives off a vibe it’s trying to be a bit more and didn’t advertise it well. I like the world as a whole I just don’t think collectables were enough of an incentive to revisit areas since I didn’t get much for it other than hats for the rot which admittedly were cute.
• Story: Kena story opens up with the idea of it being a character driven story and to a certain extent it is. The story is very episodic with little connection between the individual stories. Each area centres around a different corrupted villager and journey they went through to get where they are. Each story is fine, but they also alluded to some character development with Kena, that only gets slightly touched upon. She feels like an interesting character on paper but less so in execution. The story is fine and there were some good moments where I felt gutted for characters but it’s not a story that’ll stick with me as much as many other games like it.

Cons

• Cutscenes to gameplay transition: This isn’t a big problem but the cutscenes run at 30 fps so it was jarring when you move to 60 fps for gameplay. It means many scenes don’t flow as well together when they really need to.
• Healing system: This was my biggest problem with the game; I can’t stand how healing works. Many games limit the amount of times you can heal in battle but Kena does it in a terrible way. In order to heal, you have to spend a Rot point and activate a plant in the area to get the heal. Not only is this a limit to how much you can heal, it’s also not to quick and means dying mid-heal is very possible, but it also limits where you can heal as well which is really stupid. There was occasions I had to go from one side of an area to another just to heal, and it severely limited what I could do in combat. I don’t understand why I didn’t just have limited heals that I could activate at any time similar to Ender Lillies that would’ve been a much better solution
• A little shorter than I expected: Kena is a bit too short for my liking it really feels like just as the game is really getting going, we’re in the final act. I think the game maybe could’ve used one more area to boost the running time coming in at around 10 hours. I feel like a more interesting story could’ve been told with just one more segment but as it stands it’s a game that feels over too soon.

Overall thoughts

Kena Bridge of Spirts is a good game that I enjoyed playing but there’s far too many niggles for me to say it’s great. It has great graphics that bring to life a beautiful world and soundtrack that’s great and all of it is especially good for first time creators but is bogged down by a combat system that works fine but needed a bit more time to work out the kinks. There are other issues like the camera being a bit of a bother, and the terrible healing system but as it stands, it’s a fine short experience that you will probably get something out of but won’t be something you’ll come back to even with an easy mode that is essentially a ‘win’ button.

Score: 7.5/10

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania

(Available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC)
(Nintendo Switch version used for review)

As part of Super Monkey Ball’s 20^th anniversary there is special entry in the franchise. Bananamania attempt to remake Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 with modern hardware and really recapture the magic that has felt absent from recent entries. Those entries were fine, but due to changes in things like the physics and adding in what was widely considered unnecessary mechanics, it just didn’t feel like the series was really firing on all cylinders. Sega has promised this game is a return to form and I can confirm at this point before I go into detail, they have kept that promise, despite the claims online of the opposite.

Pros

• Level design: Bananamania has done an excellent job really bringing the excellent level design of the GameCube games. They combine the correct amount of challenge with good ease of access in a sort of easy-to-learn, hard-to-master type of way. There are a few levels which were so difficult that made me look up a YouTube guide for help, but I gave up on that early on because half the time, you get someone showing off that they broke through half a level in a way the average player (i.e me) is never going to pull off). There is an assist mode which increases the time limit to get to the finish line and gives you directions. Though I found the majority of time, it wasn’t that helpful to the current predicament. Even when levels were tough though, I went back into it several times trying to figure it out, and it really reminded me what made Monkey Ball on GameCube so addictive, and fortunately there is an option to move on to the next level in both story and challenge mode. The game is also very replay-able for getting faster times on the course especially with online leader boards now in the game
• Physics and mechanics: As I said before, there have been a few fans that have not liked the physics, but I personally think this is the best they have been in a while. They are slightly different than the original game but not to the extent it was throwing me off (both literally and figuratively). They generally work quite well, and I think they strike a good balance for both seasoned and new players. The mechanics are the same as usual manipulating the stage to make the ball move through a lot of physics-based challenges and puzzles, but what newer fans may be surprised by is the jump that was introduced in the Wii game Banana Blitz (also released in HD on Switch) has now gone. Now this has been a real contention to long time fans that felt it messed too much with the formula, so some like the fact it has gone, but for fans that are more used to it, they will not have to worry as it is unlockable in the game so their needs are met.
• Character selection: The character selection is great. Not only do most of the Monkey Ball cast return but they also have unlockable Sega icons Sonic and Tails as part of the Sonic 30^th anniversary as well as Beat from Jet Set Radio and Kazuma Kiryu from Yakuza and more characters are available for purchase. The Sega Legends collection gives you Sega Dreamcast, Sega Saturn and Sega Game Gear to play as (yes, it is just as ridiculous as you think it is) and future content will include Hello Kitty and Morganna from Persona 5

Mixed

• Mini games: The game includes a large portion of mini games like Monkey Race, Monkey Bowling, Monkey Billiards and many others. Now, the games are alright as multiplayer but I can imagine if you have been buying the majority of Nintendo first party title, they really don’t hold up since it doesn’t have depth of something like Mario Kart and Mario Tennis. This is especially the case given that Mario Party Superstars is out in a few weeks and if I have mates over, I am going to play that over this.

Cons

• Story mode cutscenes: The cutscenes for the first two games are still good so what the hell happened here. For some reason the game is now littered with lots of still images in a sort of half comic/ children’s show style which really doesn’t match the aesthetic of Monkey Ball’s past. I don’t understand why the cutscenes from the first game couldn’t be remastered.
• Soundtrack: The game has an updated soundtrack which is fine, but I personally preferred the original soundtrack. The original is available but annoyingly is locked behind a pay wall. It is included in the digital deluxe edition but by the time this review comes out, it will not be available and be an extra expense.

Overall thoughts

Super Monkey Ball: Bananamaina is in my opinion the best Monkey Ball game’s in years and delivers the experience most people were asking for. It does have issues such as some of the best features being behind a pay wall and a difficulty level that newer fans who didn’t have a chance to play the Gamecube will struggle with. But as a whole it is a very enjoyable and has replay value. If there was bit more care put into story mode I’d probably put it into the 9’s but as is, it just misses out. I also don’t think this is the kind of game I will be rushing to put on my Switch OLED when I upgrade. I had a good time with it, but it’s not a game I’m going to play continuously. Though I will certainly be returning if DLC levels are added and I will be getting the Persona 5 DLC.

Score: 8.6/10

Neo: The World Ends with You

(Available for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch)
(Nintendo Switch version used for both review’s)
(Works on PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility)
(PC version is in development and will be released later this year)

Sqaure Enix has finally, after 14 years, released a sequel to The World Ends with You. The original game was a smash hit for the then, recently released Nintendo DS and was probably the game that took the most advantage of the handheld’s dual screens and its contemporary modern setting of then present day Shibuya district of Tokyo. This was seen as ground-breaking at the time, given Square Enix’s usual high concept or futuristic fantasy settings for games. The original was both critically and financially successful, and the Square has talked a lot about wanting to turn it into a franchise in interviews, but the company has really been dragging their heels with it, having put the characters in 1 Kingdom Hearts game and rereleasing the game for mobile phones. However, things looked better when the original was released on Switch as The World Ends With You: Final Remix, which ported the mobile phone version over with a terrible control scheme for playing the game when it’s docked to a tv, as well as adding an epilogue chapter hinting at future content. That would arrive when Neo The World Ends with You was finally announced with a Summer 2021 release date to coincide with a 12 episode Anime adaptation of the game, which was released a few months earlier, but wasn’t well received. If you haven’t played the original you don’t have to worry about jumping into this one, despite it being a cannon sequel to the original, the story takes place quite a bit after and starts with a new cast and conflict, with minimal ties to the original or the conclusion of that game, though The World Ends With You: Final Remix, is there if you want to brush up. Basically, the premise of The World Ends with You, is about groups of young people forced into competing in survival games in a Shibuya where they can’t be seen or heard, but can manipulate people’s thoughts by scanning their psyche. These games have been set up by a group called the Reapers and the competitors must win daily missions set out by the Reapers in order to escape. The missions range from getting a product that an entrepreneur wants to sell to trend in this part of Shibuya via word of mouth alone, to make it to a certain location using a particular route and the obstacles along the way are monsters (known as the Noise). The winner by the end of the week is granted 1 wish. There’s a bit more to dive into but it’s not too complicated and it is a kind of narrative that unfolds slowly. This time instead of Neku and his various partners like the last game, we have Rindo, his friend Tosai (AKA Fret) and a shy gamer they meet named Nagi Usui, who make up a team competing with several other teams to climb up the ranks of a new reapers game with the knowledge that the team in last place will be erased.

Pros

• Story: The narrative is very strong in this game. Unlike the first game where there was the various partners that would team up with Neku, this time the team mechanic and as a result we have a more consistent cast with a lot more time to engage with one another, and develop their characters. You also don’t really need to be a fan of the original to enjoy this one there’s no call backs to the original game until just before the halfway point, and even then it doesn’t dwell on the original too much in spite of some call backs. For fans of the original though those call backs will be great for them. Even taking the story on its own it was incredibly engaging, and I really was motivated to see how it went. Once again it tells a very character driven story and I really liked all of them. Rindo initially didn’t come off as a great replacement for Neku in the protagonist role, but I really grew to like him as it went on, and the side cast are great in this one. Shoka might be my favourite character in the series after this game (though I will have to refrain saying why to avoid spoilers), and I thought the villains were a real improvement over the first game.
• Combat: This game has one of the best action RPG combat systems I’ve used in a long time. It works by assigning a different attack to different buttons and triggers using pins to represent the attacks, just like the last time and each one has a length of time you can use them. The genius comes in learning which combinations of pins of pins work together so you can chain them together for more powerful all-out attacks. This is also done on a timer so you’ll want to hit it in time to cause the meter to rise, and if you don’t pull it off consistently it will start lowering itself. This means you won’t necessarily want to just erupt all the most powerful pins and there were several occasions I went back and equipped weaker pins to make better combos with the other pins I had already equipped. It works to match the mood of the game which is to feel like a music remix or a mix tape with a lot of switching back and forth. Combat is also very strategic in terms of finding which attacks work well with each enemy and it feels fun to do. I did quite a bit of grinding for levels in missions because it was some of the best part of playing and the fact you can like the last control enemy encounters outside of story missions, is excellent for tailoring the amount of grinding you want to do.
• Soundtrack: The music in this game is once again outstanding. The game brings over a lot of the great songs from the first game but adds much of its own original entries and the soundtrack over all really works. The genres of music have also increased. The first game had a lot of Techno, Hip-hop, and Pop, but this game adds quite a bit of Rock and Metal songs which are very welcome and add further into the themes of mixing things up that the game has.
• Stat increase systems: The game once again offers you clothes from the different in-game fashion brands, but thankfully drops overall, improving which district of Shibuya the brand is big in to gain bonus mechanic. Instead, you use another stat besides HP, Attack and Defence which is Style. If your Style stat is high enough, then you gain certain bonuses from the clothes that you equip to each character adding extra thought into each character’s equipment and I personally think it’s a good addition. The game now also adds version restaurants and takeaways in Shibuya which provide permanent stat boosts with bonuses for giving a character something they like. Though you are limited on how often you can do it, given that each food has a certain calorie count, and you can’t go above the limit, so you have to burn them off in combat. It is a really great way of handling grinding for levels since not only do you gain stat boosts for levelling up characters, but you can also tailor each character’s stats for certain roles in the group during the story. The game also offers boosts through the side quests by giving an ability tree that works like a social network of the characters you meet, adding an extra incentive to the side quests, which when all put together with some excellent character and game customisation, which lead me to do way more side content and grinding than I normally do.
• Art style: The manga art style is back and is an excellent choice. The World Ends with You has an excellent aesthetic quality that really allows it to stand out, and the character design once again is superb.

Mixed

• Graphics and world design: This new entry is in 3D so new graphics and world had to be created and I’m amazed how well they recaptured the look and feel of the first game in this entry. It does feel like a modern transfer, and they’ve used the new look to add to the environments. The graphics however will not really wow anyone, this isn’t really the pinnacle of anything, but the game doesn’t have to be. The most amount of money was put into the CG cutscenes which up until the end are few and far between, though they have better frame rates than the actual Anime. The world design is good offering a wide variety of locations to explore though it still kind of annoys me that you can go for long sections of the game with parts of it cut off to you. There usually is story relevancy but if I wanted to improve something on the social network by ordering from a certain restraint and gain a bonus menu item, I either have to wait another day or time travel to a day with no restrictions to that area (made worse by repeated un-skippable cut scenes). Think the next game should have a more open map.
• Side content and repetitive gameplay: This is more for other people because I thought that the side content was handled well and enjoyed the gameplay loop. I’m the sort of person that doesn’t hate repetitive gameplay if the loop is good, and I really enjoyed the gameplay loop in this case. The side content is particularly repetitive though and while they are optional, you should still do a few, since part of the social network is cut off if you don’t, and it’s the quickest way to earn friendship points to move through the social network. Though your experience may vary, just be prepared to do a lot of the same thing repeatedly. I personally didn’t have any issues with it and it didn’t get bored of it.

Cons

• Frame rate issues in combat: Combat normally flows fine at around 30 fps on Switch, even when it was docked there were quite noticeable frame rate drops when there was lots of attacks on screen. I haven’t tried out the PS4 version which targets 60 fps on PS4 pro’s and PS5, but I suspect it won’t be as much of an issue there. I will say though this was only an occasional thing and wasn’t too distracting and never lead to any deaths.
• Some cheap deaths: Now, I was alright at dodging, but this game still gave me some cheap deaths. The problem was getting all the characters to dodge and sometimes it really wasn’t possible, and as result I just died because a character that I wasn’t in control of, got hit. Again, this only happened on a few occasions but was really annoying especially in one of the boss fights that was particularly tricky.
• Fret’s puzzles: Fret’s power is that he can implant things into people’s minds to remind them of things and he does this via puzzles where you have to reform a picture by moving the left and right analog stick in the correct locations. This was pure guesswork whenever I got it right and the puzzles were just tedious, I dreaded when one was coming up because it would take at least 2-4 minutes of mindlessly moving them back and forth with little clue until I got it right. They’re not hard since you usually get one half right quickly, but it is tedious getting the second half, and whenever I was successful it felt like a fluke.

Overall thoughts

Neo The World Ends with You is a late follow up, but it was well worth the wait. This is one of the best action RPG’s I’ve played all year. The combat is great and well thought out, the story is gripping, the art style is fantastic, and the gameplay overall made you want to explore Shibuya more and more. It has frame rate issues, and I really didn’t care for Fret’s puzzles but those are minor squabbles. I really enjoyed mixing and matching pins to create combos and following the story to see where it went. The soundtrack is also one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in a long time. If Square-Enix are seriously looking to turn this into a franchise I am completely on board because this game really shows, there’s passionate developers that really want to take the series in interesting directions

Score: 9.4/10

Really, get this one if you were a fan of the original. I think if you’re a newcomer now is time to get into the franchise. If you own a Switch, both games are available and affordable, and although PlayStation 4 owners can only get the new game, the first is available on mobile phones. The game is available physically and digitally and is a full price release at £50, though if you’re curious the Switch has a free demo which covers the first couple hours of the game and transfers your save data to the full game after purchase, so feel free to try it out.

And now Elliot’s review

If you look up a list of the best Nintendo DS games, you are guaranteed to see The World Ends With You in its higher echelons. While still not the most well-known game, over the years it has gained a massive cult following and is hailed by many as one of the best JRPGs of all time. So, no doubt fans were excited when on 23th November 2020 Square Enix announced Neo: The World Ends With You, a sequel no one knew they wanted, and was released on 27th July 2021 for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, with a Windows release scheduled for later this year. 

We return to the city of Shibuya, where another round of the Reapers Game is underway, a game where the recently deceased must complete tasks throughout a week and defeat monsters called the Noise to reach the top or face erasure, overseen by game master Shiba Miyazaki and his fellow reapers. Forcefully dragged into this deadly game are Rindo Kanade and Tosai “Fret” Furesawa, two high school students, despite the two of them having no memory of dying. They learn of the absurd nature of this game, and that a team called the Ruinbringers have been winning week after week, only to go another round, ensuring that no other group can win. After recruiting Sho Minamimoto and Nagi Usai, they form the team known as the Wicked Twisters, who must now face off in this game against other rival teams in the hopes of reaching the top, finally dethroning the Ruinbringers, and getting back to the real world. I cannot stress enough just how good this story is. The twists and turns that take place and how likeable the characters are, with some familiar faces, this is easily one of, if not, the best story to come out of this year. 

Presentation wise, the game looks, for the most part, okay, the city of Shibuya itself looks fine enough, though the character models are a little pixelated; not to the point where you can’t tell what they’re meant to be, but just enough to be noticeable, luckily all character interactions are told via pictures of said characters, which are all drawn very well in the style that’s iconic to this series. The frame rate on the other hand can do with some improvement. The performance is quite choppy, and it can lag when there’s a lot happening on screen, which considering the game is quite often – mind you, I did play this game on the Nintendo Switch and I have heard that the PS4 version is a lot better. Another thing that I absolutely love about this game is the soundtrack, it covers a variety of genres, brings in a number of songs from the first game that have been remixed, and even has a songs that remind me of actual bands, like how Kill the Itch reminds me of Alter Bridge or Hustle and Bustle giving me major Daft Punk vibes, while not all songs are hits for me, this is without a doubt a solid soundtrack and easily one of this year’s best, only really being beaten by Persona 5 Strikers. That being said though, most of the time the songs that are playing are completely random and there are very few more sombre songs that match the mood the game’s going for, so at times the song currently playing really doesn’t fit the vibe that the game’s going for.

 Neo: The World Ends with You plays a lot like the first game, except this one plays on a 3D plane, while the first one plays in 2D. You begin encounters by scanning your environment and running into Noise icons. You can run into many of them before you have to fight them, creating a chain of encounters that you can fight, one immediately after finishing another. While it is much more risky, you’re more likely to get more rewards from doing it. At first you can only create a chain of five, but in the later game you’ll be able to chain fifteen encounters together. 

Combat takes place in real time and relies on items you equip called Pins. The attack that your character is able to perform will entirely depend of what Pins you equip, there are ones where you have to rapidly attack the button, ones where you have to charge up the attack and ones where you just have to hold down the button, and most will have a certain element type that will either add a certain status element to your enemies or the attack itself will have extra properties, like light healing your party when used, or sound bouncing from one enemy to another when hit. There are over three-hundred Pins in the game, that are either dropped by enemies, can be bought, or given as a reward for completing a main or side quest. I found myself experimenting constantly with these Pins, as each Noise had different weaknesses and a ton of the early game Pins are seriously weak in comparison to the later ones, you no doubt you’ll find yourself experimenting a lot as well. 

When you attack with a character, you’ll notice that a meter just below that character’s Pin decreases, when that meter is completely depleted, you’ll have to wait for it to fully recharge before you can use that attack again. Of course, you can stop using the attack before the meter empties, if you do it will slowly recharge on its own, meaning that you won’t have to wait till it’s been fully replenished before using it again. Though, if you are using multiple Pins at a time (which let’s be honest, you will be), be very careful on which character you are using and that their Pin hasn’t been emptied. You see when you are holding down the button to use an attack, you are then technically controlling the character who’s using that attack, though you’ll only be able to move the character who’s Pin you used last, at which point they will be vulnerable to attacks from the Noise, so it’s definitely recommended that you only press the button for the characters who are actually able to use their abilities.

As you fight, you’ll notice that something called a Groove Meter is filling up. Sometimes when you’re attacking a Noise, a timer telling you to “Drop the Beat” will appear, at that moment, if able, attack the enemy with a different character than you’re currently using, and the groove meter will raise in percentage slightly. When the meter reaches 100%, you’ll be able to perform a special attack, the attack you do will depend entirely on the element of the attack you did on the last “Drop the Beat”. As you go throughout the game, the max percentage your Groove Meter can reach will increase as well, till eventually you’ll be able to reach 300%, which will let you do one giant special attack which will deal a ton of damage and will fully heal your party. 

Admittedly, combat can get monotonous and tiring somewhat easily, luckily encounters are incredibly easy to avoid and grinding is barely a hassle. There were numerous sessions where I barely grinded and just focused on the story and never found myself under-levelled at any point. Though that’s probably also because levelling up only really increases health, all other stats remain the same. To increase those, you have to do one of two things, one is to wear particular articles of clothing, which the game labels as threads, which can be bought from shops spread throughout Shibuya, the other is by eating food at certain restaurants, each character will have their favourites and least favourites, and will gain a bonus to their stats if they eat food that they particularly like. 

When not in combat, you’ll be exploring the streets of Shibuya, completing tasks to move on to the next story section and reach the next day. While in Shibuya, you’ll find yourself in multiple situations where you’ll have to use the powers of one of your characters, called Psyches, during certain story sections or side quests. The most notable one is Rindo’s, which is the ability to travel back through time when called for in the story, at which point you’ll have to go through the previous events during the day to ensure that whatever bad event occurred doesn’t happen and “Change your Fate”. The second is Fret’s, who has the power remind people of certain things, be that people or events, during which you’ll have to play a minigame where you have to line up your analog sticks to form a picture, it’s actually more difficult than you think, as you have to be very precise with where your analog sticks point, making it much more satisfying when you succeed at doing it. The final one (well not really, but the last one I’ll mention because spoilers) is Nagi, who is able to dive into the minds of people who have been infected by Noise, which will lead to you having to face a small number of encounters, where the Noise will have certain buffs attached to them, defeat them and the person will go back to normal. 

As mentioned, numerous times in this review, you’ll also be able to complete several side quests. Each side quest is linked to a certain day and can be found in a certain part of Shibuya, you can easily find out where just by checking your task menu. While most of the time, you do have to go out of the way to find this person, the quests are very short and are very much worth it as it adds to your social network page. As you play through the game, complete side quests for people, or even just buy threads and food, you’ll have more slots added to your social network page, which essentially acts as your upgrade tree. You obtain new upgrades by spending friends points which you also gain by doing any of the above. While these upgrades don’t do anything too substantial, they can very much help as you play the game and make things at least a little easier for you, especially since they’re so easy to unlock, they’re worth getting. 

If there is anything I can complain about, it’s that navigating your environment isn’t exactly the easiest. The layout of the areas of Shibuya is quite often at a completely different angle than what the mini map depicts, which led to me getting a little confused from just trying to get from one area to another. Granted I did get used to it after a short while, but it was still an annoyance that I could have done without at the beginning. 

I will admit that I still haven’t played the first The World Ends With You, despite it being on my list of games to play for a good few years now, but this game has fully convinced me to get it as soon as possible. I had an absolute blast with this game and have been praising it to high heaven. While you probably would have a better time with this game if you played the first, as characters and plot points from it come up in this game, I still highly recommend this game to anyone interested. This is easily a contender for best game of the year for me, I absolutely love it. 

9.3/10

Sonic Colours: Ultimate

(Available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC)
(PlayStation 4 version used on a PlayStation 5 used for review)
(works on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S via backwards compatibility)

This year Sonic celebrates its 30^th anniversary and as a result, we’ve had some animation, a concert livestreamed on YouTube, the announcement of a new Sonic game for next year (untitled at this point though Sonic Rangers has been uncovered as potential title by data miners), and the release of a remaster of Sonic Colours with the game running at 4K 60fps on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and running at 1080p 30fps on Switch. Out of the 3D Sonic games that were released around that time, Sonic Generations was my favourite and the best reviewed, however Colours was a fan favourite and considering it was a Nintendo Wii exclusive upon its release with no other re-releases, it made sense to get another chance.  The game sees Sonic working his way through an Intergalactic amusement park created by Dr Eggman as a front for capturing Aliens known as Wisps. The big gimmick this time being that Sonic collects powers as he collects wisps, and they provide new ways to reach the goal. Rather like many of my other reviews for remasters I’ll more be concentrating on the updates to the game, though my opinion of the Wii game is that I like Sonic Colours and think it’s a good platformer and has a good soundtrack. My only complaints are that the levels are too short, the graphics haven’t aged well, it has issues with its camera and I don’t think it handles the boost formula of 3D Sonic games as well as Unleased or Generations since you can’t use it as much as the rings don’t refill your boost gauge. It’s a few small things like that which stop me loving Sonic Colours, but the remaster was released, and I was keen to give it a go.

Pros

• Graphics and performance: Sonic Colours has some of the best stages in the series in terms of how they look and the concept of the design. We now can not only finally see all the levels not named Planet Wisp (which was remade for Sonic Generations) not only in HD but 4K and the game looks great. I really appreciated how well it popped out, especially in regards to the use of colour and the game ran pretty smooth at 60fps in my experience. Asteroid Coaster is a particular highlight for me on both counts which is why it’s probably not a surprise it’s still my favourite level
• Interesting level design: Sonic Colours always had level design that used the at the time new control scheme a little more to its fullest and encourage you to use all sorts of different kinds of platforming to get from one end to the other, rather than just pure speed. Personally, I’m not always a fan, but I have to commend them for trying something and working within the limitations of the hardware they were using at the time. The levels stay mostly the same though some things like red rings have changed locations to take account for the new features like the new Jade Wisp
• Post-game: Sonic Colours Ultimate really comes into its own upon beating the game when you can take part in more of the games features and new content. For a start you can once again play all the levels with all the Wisp Powers unlocked. Therefore, tackling these levels becomes a lot more fun as there are multiple ways to reach the goal. It’s also how you receive the new Jade Wisp, which I enjoyed using (though I found it to be very similar to other powers like the Cube Wisp or the Hover wisp, which slow down the game a bit too much). Similarly, this is when you can unlock Rival Rush which is a genuinely challenging race against Metal Sonic across multiple levels. While these are fun, there sadly is only 6 of these which gives the feeling the game was rushed to meet a deadline of coming out in the 30^th anniversary year. There’s also collecting the Red rings which unlocks more levels for Sonic Simulator which is once again required to get the chaos emeralds to unlock Super Sonic. As a result of all this I once again enjoy the post-game more than the main game though there is many Sonic games I could say that about.

Mixed

• Controls: It controls fine for the most part, though maybe it’s just me, but I swear the developers messed with the physics a little bit. Sonic’s jumps in particular, feel a lot more floaty and I found it was way more difficult to do precise platforming this time around.  I also felt like the controls were designed to slightly replicate the Wii Mote rather than to adjust the game slightly to have a control scheme like Unleashed or Generations, which is what I was hoping for.
• Cosmetics: This game adds the ability to change up Sonic’s shoes, gloves and boost effects. They are entirely cosmetic and don’t affect the gameplay which is fine of itself but given that Sonic has a great character design I barely felt a reason to mess with it, as it didn’t affect the gameplay.
• Updated soundtrack: The game has a few new mixes for this game and it’s a mixed bag. I like the new version of Reach for the Stars, though I also say the original is just as good. The rest are fine, but they weren’t so good that I thought it was worth the new mixing and kind of made me wish you could turn on the original soundtrack. The worst offender is Speak with your Heart, the closing credit song, which actually sounded really good when it was played with the symphony orchestra at the 30^th anniversary concert and assumed it was the version in the final game, but the version they settled on for the credits sounds terrible and was the worst version of it. Seriously listen to the version for the anniversary concert and ask why it wasn’t used.

Cons

• Cutscenes not updated: They look appalling. These were fine for the Wii but they were not in 4K. Sega simply recycled the cutscenes from the Wii and upscaled them rather than giving them new renders and they just look ugly. You put all this effort into making your levels and gameplay look good and you screw this up. Go watch mine and Ren’s stream of the game and you get a genuine first time reaction to how bad they look
• Levels seem even shorter: Due to the higher frame rate, the levels now seem even shorter than they were before and that was a big complaint I had with the original. It’s not as bad as Sonic Force’s in that regard but it did have a similar effect of ending a level just as I was getting into it.
• No lives: I have no idea why Sonic team is obsessed with the idea of giving you unlimited lives in a Sonic game these days. This was first introduced in Forces, and it sucked there too so why put it into Sonic Colours. As a result, there’s less punishments compared to dying and less reward to getting 100 rings which takes much of the jeopardy out of the game. The game introduces Tails Saves which allow Tails to rescue you from a bottomless pit and keep you going, but it doesn’t really feel much different to what happens if you die not holding any. Please end this stupid experiment for the new game because it’s getting annoying.
• Terrible glitches, particularly on the Switch version: The worst thing about this game is that it has got tons of technical issues. It’s less of an issue on Xbox One and PS4 and I didn’t really run into any other than a couple of audio screw ups, but with the amount that have been recorded and shown, it’s impossible to ignore. The Switch version is so broken I am amazed it was released. The visual glitches are absolutely game breaking and unacceptable, and a word of warning; they could cause seizures. The switch version absolutely needs a patch since it’s downright unplayable in its current state. I would say look online to see just how bad they are, but I would really not recommend it given the risk.

Overall thoughts

Sonic Colours Ultimate on PlayStation and Xbox consoles is fine for the most part but the Switch version is downright awful, which is a really bad use of your priorities given that this was going to appeal largely to a Nintendo audience. The game doesn’t feel like a major update which would make it the Ultimate version. I wish the physics had been fixed a bit more and I think getting rid of unlimited lives. When it runs well, the game looks great and is enjoyable to play but it’s not the 3D Sonic game I’ll return to often, and I don’t think the new features are entirely worth it (though it does add more time to the game length). It’s fine enough and I’d even recommend it over Sonic Force’s in many regards but for Sonic’s anniversary I was kind of hoping for more.

Score: 6.8/10

If you really like Sonic Colours and you own a pc, Xbox console or PlayStation console by all means pick it up but you can easily wait for a sale which is what I’d recommend. The Switch version is so bad you had to wait for a patch before picking it up.

Psychonauts 2

(Available for Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC)
(Xbox Series X and S version on an Xbox Series X used for review) 

After 16 years of waiting, a successful Kickstarter campaign, and Xbox Game Studios buying the development studio Double Fine, Tim Schaffer’s long-awaited sequel to his platformer hit Psychonaughts, is finally available. Psychonaughts was a game which had you play as Razsputin (or Raz for short), where you had to sneak into a summer camp for psychically gifted kids, ran by a group of government psychic agents. This was all after Raz ran away from his psychic hating family in the circus, and became a Psychonaught. The levels are about diving into the minds of people to solve their problems and heal their emotional troubles. The levels are very creative and dreamlike with interesting ways to interpret people’s psyches, and the aesthetics inspired by Tim Burton films gives it a look that doesn’t sit well with a lot of platformers. That didn’t sell too well but gained a cult following over the years leading to a few releases on PS4 (don’t get this version unless you have a choice. It is an emulation of the not so good PS2 version), Xbox One (which is available on Xbox Game Pass) and PC release on Steam.  Psychonaughts 2 has been much longer in development than many expected, as the developers constantly added new ideas, trying to perfect the ideas they put in. It finally has released and is very much a similar game to the first, though it is beginning to feel like everything has been taken up a notch. Most of the psychic powers from the first game are back, and the majority of the cast return to reprise their roles, though there are some cool new cast members added to the mix.

Pros

• Story: The game takes place immediately after the events of the first game but there is a catch up of the first story in the introduction, so I wouldn’t worry about getting lost (though feel free to play the original before doing this one if you insist on it). As a result, I won’t go too far into story details since I don’t want to spoil elements of either game. I will say, that the game involves Raz dealing with the aftermath of the first game and heading to Psychonaughts HQ to work his way through the intern Psychonaught program, and identify the mastermind behind the events of the first game, as well as uncovering a mole in the organisation. Raz once again is also uncovering trauma by diving into people’s mind, and how we get from each level makes the story feel organic and the levels once again really aid in story progression and character development. I wasn’t surprised that the storytelling was good, but I was really surprised how it somehow feels like an improvement over the original and similarly to that game; when you complete each one you feel really happy that the character you’ve gotten to know has taken the first step to helping their lives, which is important given that Psychonaughts deals with some quite heavy subjects. It’s a genuinely touching story at times and really feels like the sequel story we wanted. Plus, it’s incredibly funny with some excellent jokes throughout it, and they know when to use them and when not to use them so they don’t feel out of place.
• Controls for platforming: I have some minor issues with combat so that’s why I decided to make a slight distinction, though the controls feel great. This game is great for exploration and doing platforming challenges and it works so well considering the controls feel fine tuned to the gameplay. It’s very hard to describe but trust me it feels like a game where it was tested over and over again to make sure every little bit of these controls felt right
• Level design: This is where the genius of the game really lies. The levels are not only once again incredibly creative but they also tie in well to the character that Raz has dived into. There’s actions such as diving into the life and regrets of someone who has alienated themselves by traveling across a sea to find seeds to grow plants, or to reawaken the senses of a character by reuniting a band where each instrument is played by a different sense like hearing or touch. That level was made like a 60’s psychedelic music festival as a tribute to Yellow Submarine, and features a guest appearance from Jack Black. I don’t want to spoil all of them but you’ll be doing things like traveling through a librarian’s books, which display the different sides of her history or, taking part in a casino-turned-hospital to show the regrets and anxiety of failure, of a certain character. I can’t stress how clever it is and my descriptions really don’t do it justice, you really should just play it. Whilst all the levels have some degree of repetition, there’s also a lot of unique ways to play each of these levels and they had a good mix of challenges. I think one of my favourites would be the level that was a parody of cooking shows, featuring Raz and his friend. The pair had to impress the judges with their cooking via timed platforming challenges, using audience members (which were foods such as eggs, watermelons, etc) as ingredients. I enjoyed this since it had a lot of challenge and forced me to think on my feet about how I would approach it. The hub world this time is Psychonaghuts HQ and it is amazing how much fun I had exploring the environment especially when I got access to the woods surrounding it, since it provided tons of variety of locations to move around and explore. There are tons of hidden secrets and collectables to get in levels and the hub World, so it really is worth looking and exploring.
• Art style: Tim Burton films have always been brought as inspirations for Psychonaughts, and that comparison is justified, but if there’s anything the games remind me of it is old nickelodeon cartoons like Ah Real Monster and Invader Zim (the latter of which is especially evident considering Richard Steven Horvitz is the voice of Raz). I really love the art style of the first game which really had it stand out from games around the time. This has been repeated with Psychonaughts 2 which updates the style for modern hardware very well. Graphically the game looks great, not Ratchet and Clank levels of good but that’s understandable given this must hit PS4 and Xbox One. The developers should be proud of themselves because with the way this game looks, they really proved how timeless the concept and art style is. Plus, the textures of the graphics really hit what they’re aiming to with the feel of certain environments, and works well with the ‘cartoony’ look.
• Frame rate on Xbox Series X and S: Out of all the consoles, it’s the enhancements made for Xbox Series X and S, that make it the definitive version for consoles (though the PC version is even better if you have the hardware and monitor to run it). On PS4 and Xbox One, it hits a maximum frame rate of 30 FPS giving the impression that the PS4 was an obligation from the Kickstarter fundraised that became an afterthought following the Microsoft purchase, given that the framerate doesn’t increase on PS4 Pro or even when played on PS5 (which currently has a native version). On Xbox Series X it can not only play in 4K and hits 60 FPS, but also if you have a tv that supports at least 120HZ playback, it will play at 120FPS provided you select it in the settings. Really recommend as this was a great way to play the game since the performance is great, and it had absolutely no frame rate drops that I spotted. I really would not want to play the game at less than 60fps but if you have no other option, I imagine it’ll play fine enough.

Mixed

• Combat: This feature is fine and gets the job done but it doesn’t feel entirely thought out. For example, there was one enemy type that seemed weak to my Pyrokensis attack, but later it just seemed like almost any attack was as effective and whilst the combat increases as the game goes on, and you get more powers (which you map to the trigger of your choosing at any time) but early on it feels rough. For example, the Telekinesis made for grabbing stuff and throwing at enemies was a bit unreliable and I only really used it against Judges, to throw their gavels back at them. I liked the Psi Blast to attack enemies and the Time Bubble to slow enemies down, so I would use them most of time. The enemy variety is also good and creative such as the Censors, the Bad Moods and the really annoying Enablers that heal enemies (take them out first). The controls are alright for it, but it just doesn’t feel as well-crafted as it was for the platforming, though as I said it gets better as the game goes on it gets better.
• Post-game: The post-game is fine and serves as a nice epilogue but it’s really only there for serving 100% completion. I can revisit levels but I wouldn’t have minded an optional boss. There is some stuff locked behind the post-game, so I won’t complain about it for the most part.

Cons

• Pop in issues: This was a real issue for me. Even on Xbox Series X which is the most powerful home console on the market the game had pop in issues and I could visibly see the graphics loading in a very visible way. Not helped by the fact it was very visible during cutscenes when I’m zoomed into to the characters and environments. It’s not the worst, I’ve seen way worse than this, but it would be disingenuous not to point it out

Overall thoughts

Psychonaughts 2 is a fantastic platformer with some of the best level design, great art style and a great story. It really feels like it can stand with some of the great 3D platformers including this years Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. If the combat was a bit better I would be a bit happier, but it’s by no means bad. The only major issue I had was that the game suffers from bad pop-in that effects the graphics, though again I’ve seen way worse and it doesn’t happen too often. I do wish there was better frame rates on Xbox One and PS4 for owners of those consoles, since they do have models capable of 60 fps but that didn’t affect my score since I didn’t play those versions. The word Experience is thrown around a bit too much (including by myself, I accept that) but in this case it really is an experience that not many other games are achieving and is a big boost for first party games on Xbox. Well done to Double Fine Studios, it took a really long time and I was worried about it, but you’ve done yourselves proud and it was well worth the wait.

Score: 9.4/10

The game is on Xbox Game Pass so if you’re subscribed you can download all but the PS4 version as part of your subscription with no extra cost at this point in time. It’s digital only right now unless you were a Kickstarter backer, but it doesn’t take up too much space on your hard drive. It’s full price so I would really suggest signing up to Xbox Game Pass right now if you have an Xbox or PC since not only will you get this game, but almost every Xbox first party release on release day, and will cost £15 a month for over a hundred games, as opposed to paying £50 each time. Get used to seeing me say that a lot in the future, I really am happy with my Game Pass subscription right now.