Hype
Superfuse
The Last Worker
Inkulinati
Hyper Gunsport
We Were Here Forever
Eternal Threads
Videogaming with a twist: The EDGE verdict on Playdate's belated launch - with reviews of all 24 games in Season One)
Unfinished Symphony (Games Music Foundation discusses the challenges it faces as it brings its festival to London)
Postwire (Ikumi Nakamura discusses her new 'borderless' studio)
Seas the moment (A look forward to Develop Brighton as it returns home)
Temporal expression (Navigate two distinct worlds against the clock in Spanish thriller
The Time I Have Left)
Alternate Reality (our new columnist Adrian Hon consideres why videogames shouldn't count on our patience)
Features
Grave New World (Stanislaw Lem meets
Alien Isolation and
Firewatch in a haunting sci-fi adventure)
Rebuilding Half-Life (How Valve turned its seminal shooter into a VR masterpiece)
An Audience with... Artist Yoji Shinkawa discusses
Metal Gear, Death Stranding, and his one driving ambition)
The Making Of... How a little-lauded Disney SNES game inspired Studio Pixel Punk's outstanding
Unsighted)
Studio Profile: Dotemu
Time Extend: El Shaddai by Niall O'Donoghue
The Long Game (Getting back on track with Nintendo's classic courses in
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe)
Reviews
Weird West (+ Post Script: "Weird West's life hopping tackles some big RPG questions")
"We never experience many of the larger procedural elements. The rainstorm in Boulder Creek is one of the few times its weather system has a role to play; we're not sure we see a tornado, aside from the short-lived ones summoned by magical abilities. Nor the zombie plagues threatened by loading screens, where deceased friends and enemies rise from the grave. The idea of widowed characters remarrying, meanwhile, gets lost among the many dozens of NPCs you meet, or the considerably om larger number you murder. Nevertheless, knowing those But things are (allegedly) present is enough to prime the imagination, leaving us ready to take a sequence of unintended consequences and shape them into a story.
When we revisit Boulder Creek, hours later and in the guise of a new character, the town is thriving once more. The blacksmith is back up and running, now it's managed by a group of pigmen. A new sheriff has taken over. Every sign of the infestation has been wiped away. Almost. The busiest spot in town is the cemetery, where a dozen mourners kneel in prayer amid the dirt. Among the names, we recognise the cleric and sheriff's wife. The character responsible for that explosive attempt at liberation has since retired to NPC duties and been recruited into our party. No line of dialogue is triggered but, between the lack of detail in the character model and the zoomed-out view, there's room for our imagination to do the work; to fill in the flash of guilt on his unmoving face. All the frustrations and abandoned saves wash away, at least for a moment." [7]
Ghostwire: Tokyo (+ Post Script: "Why Ghostwire: Tokyo's cultural authenticity makes it open world more appealing")
"…you're reminded of combat director Shinichiro Hara's work on Id's 2016 Doom reboot. Rip and tear, indeed.
Ghostwire: Tokyo's unconventional combat isn't quite that good, but it has a wonderful rhythm of anticipation and release…It's simple but extraordinarily satisfying - not least when you manage to grab several at once and it's communicated brilliantly though both the animation of Akito's hands and the way it feels in your own. The pyrotechnics are one thing, from the dazzling lights to the cascade of kanji characters and myriad particle effects to the gorgeous ray tracing (this is the rare game for which we keep Quality Mode on). But it's also a joy to behold the gestural flourishes that, as you acclimatise to its unique blend of distance management and crowd control, feel like showboating. The way a watery orb held in an upturned palm becomes a swirling whirlpool between two, released like buckshot spread to knock back a row of enemies. The insouciant, two-fingered flick accompanying a perfectly timed parry of an incoming projectile. Even the transitions between spells are mesmeric.
Despite all this, and a few late-game upgrades that speed up your rescue act, the ultimate act of altruism comes to feel slightly arduous. As thrilling as it is to explore an urban sandbox that seems almost as tall as it is wide, Ghostwire: Tokyo feels like a brilliant linear action-adventure that's spread a little too thinly, even if this beautiful vision of Japan's capital remains captivating throughout. For the duration of its story, it grips like a grasping, otherworldly arm. And though it eventually succumbs to repetition, it says much for Tango Gameworks that its blend of western open-world ideas and eastern culture, and its juxtaposition of melancholic narrative and effervescent combat, feels so utterly cohesive - weaving a ripping yarn from which it's surprisingly hard to tear yourself. [7]
Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
"Yet though its combat has heft, Stranger Of Paradise's loot game carries no weight whatsoever. You'll exit each stage with an avalanche of gear, the various effects and job affinities of each piece making such a negligible difference that you may as well simply press the button that optimises your loadout and move on. The volume is such that you'll probably hit the 500-item limit without realising, until you stumble across an item you can't pick up - forcing you to spend a tedious minute or two in the menu, discarding all but the highest-level kit.
Regrets? Team Ninja may have a few. Its chartered course doesn't seem particularly well planned, nor its steps along the byway especially careful - and it certainly bites off more than it can chew. Yet while this curious, distinctive spin-off may not be close to the finest hour for its developer nor this storied series, its makers can stand tall knowing that, to paraphrase Ol' Blue Eyes, they did it their way." [7]
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
"Taking your time brings other rewards, too. Granted, the 'open galaxy' is something of a misnomer, since the 24 planets here all comprise large but self-contained areas this isn't No Man's Sky. Yet it offers a lingering look at locations we're more accustomed to being shuttled through, which in the context of this universe is more valuable than most. It is oddly stirring to see the scale of the Rebel or Resistance effort, and to gain a stronger sense of the world beyond the limits of the films. Even especially those whose affections have waned in recent years will find something to make their heart flutter, even if it's just a borrowed Ben Burtt sound effect or a burst of one of John Williams' themes. For all its minor shortcomings, if one of the main design goals of The Skywalker Saga was to make you fall in love with Star Wars again, on that particular front it is an unequivocal triumph." [7]
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
"The gunplay still isn't a patch on the likes of Destiny, but it just about survives comparison, building to a loot hypnotic flow as you switch between weapons and spells, mastering the art of emptying your clip just as a cooldown completes. The experience is less fluid in menus. Borderlands isn't exactly celebrated for its UI, which is much the worse for some fantasy stylings. You have to squint to distinguish weapon portraits, and it's easy to forget what you have equipped when selling the rest, though you can mark items as favourites or junk.
Wonderlands isn't junk, but we wouldn't regret accidentally selling it. For all Tina's spirited efforts as dungeon master, every aspect of the Borderlands experience is showing its age. The next instalment needs more than dismal puns and wonky guns if it's to avoid being the butt of the joke." [5]
Abermore
"Generally in stealth games, quiet is a good thing. But too often Abermore is eerily silent: no music, no ambient noise, just the occasional sound of your footsteps. It's hard to escape the feeling that someone forgot to connect up the soundtrack. That would certainly be consistent with everything else. The achievements that unlock randomly when we launch the game; the guards who walk into, and occasionally partially through, walls; the cursor that lodges itself in the middle of our screen, blocking the reticule.
This game, it seems, has had a difficult gestation, with most of the team being forced to move on to new jobs before it was even announced. This isn't something we'd usually allow to colour our review, but it makes it harder to excuse problems as the result of a premature release, since thorough patching - which is needed seems unlikely. Besides, it's hard to separate these circumstances from our experience of playing Abermore. of sm This game not only feels unfinished, it feels abandoned". [3]
Rune Factory 5
"Still, being the jack of all trades and in this case from evidently the master of none - is part of the series' identity. Every one of its features you will find in better games elsewhere with a strong emphasis on the plural. since Rune Factory 5 tries to cram in so many different hort genres. In some respects, it's hard to fault that kind of commitment, yet we imagine most players would happily sacrifice some features for a more refined whole. Perhaps next time decade away - and hopefully that's not another the series will bring in a stronger yield, one that's been more carefully tended." [5]
Chinatown Detective Agency
"The biggest red herring in the game, meanwhile, isn't in a puzzle but in management mechanics that promise depth which never materialises. Time and money are supposed to be valuable resources, with rent to be paid each month, making mistakes such as flying to the wrong city - costly. Other than one time when we forget to select a destination and erroneously fly to Athens, however, that's never an issue, and it would take several accidents of this nature for the financial impact to matter. Indeed, as the plot advances, there's a real sense that something is missing - the Kickstarter campaign mentions a fatigue meter, requiring Amira to eat and rest regularly, which isn't present - as you're left with empty time between appointments when the only option is to fast-forward. The absence is felt because such pressures feel crucial to the concept of small business ownership within this hyper-capitalist setting. As the credits roll, then, we're left with a hint of nostalgia after all, for the game's sure-footed beginning. It is at least worth a partial replay, thanks to a narrative structure that branches out, asking you to work for one of three different clients in its second act, before funnelling you back into a single questline. That's not enough to resolve the sense of incompleteness, but it's a good enough excuse to spend more time in the company of Amira and friends. Here's hoping we have bigger and deeper globe-trotting adventures with them in the future (provided we live to see it)." [6]
Devastator
"While it's the kind of game where you'll thrive by playing on instinct, there's more to think about, from larger energy collectables that offer brief respite by stalling enemies to a rare 'interrupt' pickup that slows the action to a crawl. Elsewhere, the three different weapon types (Reflex fires the farthest and its shots bounce; Spread fans out your shots; Vulcan fires fastest) are perhaps not quite different enough from each other, while a third mode, Cycles, combines Quadrants and Sectors to mildly underwhelming effect. But these are minor blemishes. While Schneider may have moved onto 3D physics-based destruction in more recent years, there's something to be said for the enduring appeal of a 2D twin-stick shooter and Devastator is a good one." [7]
Patrick's Parabox
"Yet while it might sound like the kind of game to make your head hurt, its critical path is surprisingly manageable: the most fiendish conundrums will not stall your route to the end, and many of those come to feel oddly straightforward when revisited after subsequent discoveries. With the ability to use undo, redo and reset functions at any time, it's forgiving, too, while a tip that suggests it pays to work backwards from the imagined solution is so useful as to almost feel like a cheat code. Though Priscilla Snow's music and sound design is perfectly pitched, this is a decidedly no-frills affair, the rudimentary presentation placing the focus solely on the level design. Those who like their puzzlers to have a supplementary hook will find it wanting on that front, then, but you will struggle to find more ingenious challenges than these in any other game this year". [8]
A Memoir Blue
"The underwater setting seems to deprive it of oxygen, too: what should be vivid memories are tangled up in kelp and acned with barnacles, the environments dampening the vibrancy of those animated sequences. And it ultimately comes across a little too polite, a determinedly tasteful game that feels like it's had some of its rough, human edges eroded. It's more sopping than soppy, then - despite an abundance of salt water. a game we had pegged as a surefire tearjerker never really comes close to making us well up." [6]
