Innholdsfortegnelse for Xmas 2023 i PLAY

Almost ten years have passed since the last Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in London (the European leg of the global event shuffles between host cities). But the fans truly showed up; we ourselves were sitting excitedly in the packed crowd awaiting the show’s kick-off. The electric, infectious atmosphere permeated the whole weekend. After all, where else will you hear a wave of squealing as a character bites down into a flatbread in a big-screen trailer? That moment was matched shortly after when the Viper, one of two new jobs coming with the launch of next summer’s Dawntrail expansion, was revealed. It was shown off immediately by director and producer Naoki Yoshida, who stepped onto stage in full cosplay, complete with the Viper’s combinable twin blades, in an outfit created…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2023 / PUB LEVEL-5 / DEV LEVEL-5 / PLAYERS 1 Picture a virtual world created to store real-life memories of past crimes in order that they might be solved in the future. That’s Decasim, a perfect digital recreation of our world, where cold cases find a second life in, well, second life. In this this story-driven sleuthing adventure sprinkled with RPG battles and conspiratorial intrigue you flick back and forth between virtual reality and plain ol’ reality to solve crimes. “TALK TO WITNESSES AND SCAN THE SCENE FOR CLUES.” In the world of Decapolice, Harvard Marks is an aspiring detective training to join the police, with an obsession for arresting criminals thanks to his (naturally) tragic past. He’s hoping that the answers he gains in…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2023 / PUB VERSUS EVIL / DEV HILLTOP STUDIOS / PLAYERS 1 Developer Lucas Pope released Papers, Please back back in 2013, forever sealing the dystopian document thriller as part of gaming history. It’s surprising, then, that twists on the format have been few and far between. Enter Lil’ Guardsman, a comedic puzzle adventure with a colourful fantasy aesthetic directly inspired by the mechanics of Pope’s iconic thriller. Playing as Lil, a 12-year-old girl covering her dad’s guard shift at a castle gate, it’s our duty to decide which individuals in a parade of weird and wonderful creatures should be admitted to enter the city-state of The Sprawl throughout our hands-on. It’s a big responsibility to take on! As each character approaches the gate, you’ve…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 29 FEB / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV SQUARE ENIX / PLAYERS 1 Remake was just the beginning. The ambitious 2020 ground-up reimagining of the 1997 classic tours through familiar story beats: eco-terrorist cell Avalanche’s bombing of the Mako reactor; the Shinra corporation’s retaliatory flattening of the main cast’s home; and why that ever-hungry energy company is obsessed with a certain flower girl. However, it was never intended to be a straightforward rehash of Final Fantasy VII, with Remake ending on a battle between Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and what may as well be fate itself. Now all bets are off for part two of what developer Square Enix is calling ‘The Unknown Journey’ – and we’ve played it. Rebirth is the middle chapter in what…

You could call Saltsea Chronicles a post-apocalyptic story. To many of us that means something with zombies, military regimes, and ruins. But in this world people have rebuilt after disaster, and found a way out of the ‘Great Expansion’ (a time of unprecedented greed) and learned to live on small patches of land. One such group of people is the crew of the De Kelpie. These misfits, who includes the likes of Iris, a nervous teenager with a knack for radio technology, and cook Stew, are forced to go on their first voyage when their captain Maja disappears, taken by a mysterious silent ship with indigo sails. Together they sail from island to island to find hints at Maja’s whereabouts, and it’s up to you to decide who makes the…

Detectives need a good eye for a crime scene, and we’re combing over this one to figure out what went wrong. A modernised take on the iconic mystery, it’s a dull escapade with asinine gameplay and new bits of story bolted on, undermining Christie’s classic. You may as well read the book. Don’t confuse this with The London Case, which we reviewed in PLAY #32. The two games share a publisher, but this in-house effort ditches Blazing Griffin’s isometric exploration (and original story) in favour of a more pinched-in Telltale-style camera. It doesn’t add much to the experience – if anything, it makes traipsing up and down the same few train carriages feel even slower. As the famous detective, you help the train’s chefs organise their fridge, deduce that a…

Getting your children into stealth games isn’t easy. You could threaten to cancel Christmas unless they memorise the entire Metal Gear wiki, but then you’ll most likely have to practise some stealth of your own when Child Protective Services come knocking. Luckily, Pizza Possum is even better than that idea. You play the titular possum on a noble quest to steal a giant pizza (“Stolen pizza is my favourite pizza!”) and plenty of other food along the way. You have to avoid guard dogs while scampering around the level gobbling up tasty treats. Pace yourself, mind, as you get a lot heavier for a second or two when you really overindulge, making it much harder to flee. Scoff enough snacks and you get a key you can use to unlock…

Collecting together the first three Metal Gear Solid games, the two MSX games and their NES counterparts, motion comic versions of the graphic novels, and more, the title ‘Master Collection’ is fitting. All the games here are nicely presented versions of the classics as they stand, without too many frills. Potential sticking points have been addressed, with the option to, for example, create fake save data to see Psycho Mantis’ memory-card-reading trick in MGS1. MGS2 and 3 are based on past HD remasters1 so retain additions made there, though there’s no Ape Escape crossover content in MGS3 (most likely due to licensing the characters from Sony). While some players may wish for more gameplay bonuses, like quick save or rewind features, it’s a testament to the originals that they hold…

You could be forgiven for having completely forgotten 2014’s Lords Of The Fallen, a Dark Souls rip-off so brazen it might as well have been called Sark Douls. Almost a decade later, here comes a confusingly named sequel and it’s got a bright idea of its own this time. First, though, let’s look at the slightly undercooked game underneath. You’re the Lampbearer, fighting through a dark fantasy world. Combat is brutal but satisfying, boss fights are epic, death is everywhere, and so on. All executed well, almost all stuff you’ve seen before if you’ve ever played a Souls game. A nagging sense of overfamiliarity isn’t helped by the fact that a game developed by Greenpeace would probably recycle enemies less than this. You’ll fight a bloke wielding dual axes in…

E do, Japan, 1651. Seven masters, each with a servant who’s a heroic spirit summoned forth from history and legend, duke it out in the Waxing Moon ritual (read: feudal-Japan-flavoured Holy Grail war) in the hope of having their wish granted. There are also some rogue servants sprinkled around, able to lend a hand to the right master, and a slew of demonic monsters attracted by the ritual’s magic. In short, there are foes aplenty here for testing your sword on. Considering Marvelous’ Fate/Extella took more than a little inspiration from the Warriors games, you might expect this entry in the Fate series from Warriors developer Omega Force to be the same again, done better. It isn’t. Instead, you get a polished JRPG that brings Warriors flair to smaller-scale fights…

FORMAT PS3, PS4, PS VITA / PUB MOSSMOUTH / DEV MOSSMOUTH / RELEASED 2013 Deep inside caves full of traps and hostile wildlife, you spy a magnificent treasure: a gleaming golden head as big as yourself, no doubt worth a pretty penny, sitting atop a stone pedestal. With nobody else about, why shouldn’t you take it? Well, as Indiana Jones once discovered in similar circumstances, theft’s never as simple as it seems. Temptingly glittery golden idols often show up in the roguelike, random world of Spelunky and its sequel, but the first game’s opening caves level replicates the South American caves in Raiders Of The Lost Ark’s intro most closely. Nothing seems especially ominous at you approach, although you imagine something bad will happen, because that’s how Spelunky rolls. Literally…

You’ve spent dozens, maybe even hundreds of hours, climbing the competitive ladder in Rocket League. You’ve sacrificed so much in your pursuit of videogaming perfection. Then, as your eyes begin to sag, you hear a rumbling noise in the distance. When was the last time you slept? Never mind that, when was the last time you ate? If all that sounds familiar, well, we reckon you need healthier gaming habits – but if you’re determined to soldier on, Nissin in Japan might have the product for you. Its newly-launched Gaming Cup Noodles are more than a novelty, they’re designed to provide everything you need to get burst of energy, so you can game harder. The noodles even come in two flavours: a splash-free garlic-and-pepper soba and a keema curry. Both…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 26 JAN / PUB SEGA DEV RYU GA GOTOKU STUDIO / PLAYERS 1 PREVIEW“KASUGA’S LONG-LOST MOTHER LIVES HERE, AND COULD GIVE HIM THE CLOSURE HE CRAVES.“ With the series’ title changing from Yakuza to Like A Dragon, action brawls switching to turn-based RPG scraps, and lead Kazuma Kiryu bowing out to allow newcomer Ichiban Kasuga the spotlight, Sega’s long-running crime series has undergone a lot of changes in recent years. This eighth title continues the trend. The bulk of Infinite Wealth isn’t even set in Japan! In the last game Kasuga found himself dumped in Yokohama; this time around he wakes up bleary-eyed and delirous, butt-naked on a beach – somehow he’s ended up in Honolulu, Hawaii. Though not everything’s new, as Infinite Wealth is…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2024 / PUB FUTURE FRIENDS GAMES DEV HELDER PINTO / PLAYERS 1 “THE GORGEOUS VISUALS ARE COMPLEMENTED WITH FREE-FLOWING MOVEMENT.“ The influence of Studio Ghibli’s animated movies is unparalleled. Its feature films – particularly those directed by Hayao Miyazaki – have inspired generations of artists across a wealth of media, including solo developer Helder Pinto. Although Pinto’s beautiful debut game looks like it’s jumped straight out of the pages of Miyazaki’s sketchbook, the studio’s influence goes deeper than surface aesthetics. In Europa, you play as a little android lad named Zee whose human guardian, Adam, has sent him letters telling him to come to a lush terraformed moon called Europa. Story details are light, but what we do know is that you’ll be making your…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA 2024 PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV SUPERMASSIVE GAMES PLAYERS 1-2 (ONLINE ONLY) Shadows at the end of our bed, a beloved toy subtly turning in the darkness to meet our gaze, or a noise our young minds can’t quite place beyond the fact it’s uncomfortably close – we’ve all got childhood stories like these. Whether they remain unexplained or become less mysterious as we mature, we all remember the terror. “[THE SERIES] EXTRACTS TERROR FROM MUNDANE PLACES THAT ARE OVERWHELMING AND ALIEN TO TINY MINDS, SUCH AS SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS.” Little Nightmares is a series that makes this arena of horror its playground, extracting terror from mundane places that are overwhelming and alien to tiny minds, such as schools and hospitals. Coralie Feniello, producer on the upcoming…

Addicted to a cycle of reinvention, the hyperactive ’hog is constantly switching lanes, and Superstars’ retro throwback direction would be more exciting if it was the first time Sonic had taken it. In terms of quality, it’s sandwiched between 2010’s (dreadful) Sonic 4 and 2017’s (superb) Sonic Mania, its new gimmicks failing to make much of an impact. Dropping the luxurious Mega Drive-inspired spritework of Sonic Mania, Superstars is yet another attempt to adapt classic-feeling gameplay to the third dimension. For the most part it works well; the host of characters – including Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and one brand-new character – all control as you’d expect if you were just coming off the retro Sonic Origins rerelease. Perhaps now more than ever, the heroes’ unique abilities reflect a subtle…

Superhero comics’ greatest curse can be their obsession with the status quo. It’s an issue that can plague long-running game series as well. Bucking this trend is part of what makes this PS5 sequel so good. As fresh as it is familiar, it weaves a strong web that just about holds everything together. Largely that’s because Insomniac’s take on the wallcrawler is allowed to feel like its own thing. Here, Peter Parker and Miles Morales’ lives are allowed to progress and evolve – as are those of the villains. Kraven The Hunter forms the backbone of the threat the two Spider-Men face. It’s not just a Kraven story; this is the Kraven story of this universe, exploring just about every angle of what that means to feel deliciously complete. On…

With a ‘seed of destruction’ implanted inside them, the Trailblazer, the amnesiac male or female star of this live service science-fiction RPG is just like us, for real. It mirrors the danger of a gacha game like this being really, genuinely great. We worry what we might do. That’s the case with any game that tempts you to make purchases, be it Overwatch 2 with its battle passes or EA Sports FC and its Ultimate Team packs. Here it works like the latter, your core (free) party members being joined by new ones as you try your luck on ‘warps’ that can also drop equipment. It’s not mechanically far removed from lootboxes. The structure of how you level up, earn heroes, and acquire loot is similar to Genshin Impact (they’re…

Rather than attempting to one-up the huge open world of the last Assassin’s Creed, with this latest game Ubisoft’s taking aim at the series’ roots. A more condensed setting, the removal of many obtrusive RPG elements, and a linear narrative might make this sound like an appealing throwback but, like a clumsy assassin, everything is somewhat undermined by the sloppy execution. This is a standalone prequel that explores the origins of the enigmatic assassin Basim, who played a significant role as a supporting character in Valhalla. Younger and quippier here, Mirage charts his rise through the ranks of The Hidden Ones (an early precursor to the Assassin Brotherhood) as he investigates a conspiracy. The setup is intriguing enough but any real sense of mystery is hampered by its narrative connections…

Played a few FPSs back in the 2000s? If so, you’ll quickly feel at home in Trepang2. True, it’s not a home built for comfort, with its sharp geometry, shiny grey surfaces, hard lighting, and air vents so wide even a claustrophobe could squat-walk through without much stress. But nevertheless there’s something soothing about the retro décor, and the memories of pure, stylish violence it evokes. Trepang2 follows in the footsteps of one FPS in particular, 2005’s Prey, which combined tactical shooting with dollops of supernatural weirdness and psychological horror. The same concoction is on offer here, more or less – that is, with a little extra oomph in the shooting and slightly less in the horror. For the most part, loud, punchy combat is on the menu, and it’s…

After a disastrous launch week full of matchmaking issues (and in fairness, regular communication from the developers), the latest entry in the heist-’em-up series is now properly up and running. Changes have been made from previous games, but… they shouldn’t have been. It’s still Payday, but less so. Rule one of a successful heist: stick to the plan. A poorly-considered demand for a constant internet connection (which may have been reversed by the time you read this, after the launch woes) is accompanied by the removal of Payday 2’s post-heist rewards. Now the only way to gain new skins, weapon attachments, and the like is by buying them. Fair enough. But. With just eight locations, each hosting one heist, overfamiliarity does settle in eventually. You unlock weapons and cosmetics (or,…

Street Fighter 6 is already riding high as the best fighter of this generation, and the game’s post-launch fighters for season 1 are already in strong form. But following the return of SF5 favourite Rashid, it’s time for some new blood, as long as you don’t mind getting poison in your veins. A real heartstopper, AKI is the dedicated apprentice of SF5’s FANG, so besides having an acronym for a name just like him (although it’s unclear what the letters stand for), she also specialises in using poison in combat, both on her projectiles and when she’s up close. In fact, she has a completely different poison move depending on the type of punch you use after inputting backwards quarter-circle. But given she’s able to fire off a slow poison…

Playdead’s dark adventure is all your childhood nightmares strung together. Like the one where you’re alone and lost, for instance, or the one where you’re being chased by a giant spider, or where older kids suddenly want to kill you for some reason. It’s a relief there isn’t a scene where you’re standing naked in front of your whole class. If Limbo is a nightmare, though, it’s one that’s inspired a generation of indie developers since its original release. The Danish studio’s debut was a pioneer for the kind of short, quiet, atmospheric journey sprinkled with light platforming and puzzling we’ve since grown used to, from Little Nightmares to Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons, Far: Lone Sails, Somerville, and Playdead’s own followup, Inside. And honestly, it’s no surprise that…

Getting you closer to PlayStation’s most exciting stories, people, and culture I’ve always wanted to make an action game. Finally this dream has come true. Chewing on a carrot as though it’s a cigar, old soul and “shitty father” Stamp the bunny has already stolen our heart. He stars in Rusty Rabbit, an intriguing exploration platformer that’s being written by Gen Urobuchi, the award-winning mind behind the likes of Psycho-Pass and Fate/Zero. A metroidvania starring mech-piloting rabbits is certainly different, but it’s a project that’s bunny-hopped up our most wanted list. We had to know more about this badass little creature, so at Tokyo Game Show we tracked down the writer himself, as well as producer Yuichiro Saito from publisher NetEase Games. Rusty Rabbit is set far in the future,…

Three years to the day since PS5’s debut, Sony’s trying something fresh with our beloved current-gen console. Besides sporting a lighter, narrower shape, there’s new hardware under the bonnet of this new PS5. Both the physical and digital editions of the console share the new look, with the digital edition going for £389.99 and the version with a disc drive setting you back £479.99. The Ultra-HD Blu-ray Disc Drive can be attached to the side of your sleek new-model digital edition console. That said, digi-fiends are no longer tied into a discless future for evermore. Also announced, and to be sold separately, the Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive can be attached to the side of your sleek new-model digital edition console for the princely sum of £99.99 – though it’s…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2024 / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV TOYLOGIC / PLAYERS 8 There’s no human being on Earth with access to bubble bath who hasn’t, at least one or ten times, given themselves a bubble beard and smirked at themselves in the mirror. While you can’t do that here (future DLC?), the game does try to channel the joy and innocence of playing around in the foamy landscape of a childhood bath. In part this can be seen in the art design and the language used around gameplay. The characters are styled in a mainstream anime fashion, all bright colours and smiles; the environments (at least, those we can see in the beta) are simple and well-lit. And while there are two teams shooting at one…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2023 / PUB LEVEL-5 / DEV LEVEL-5 / PLAYERS MULTI After seven years in development, the latest Inazuma Eleven game is finally ready to kick off on PlayStation. The series is defined not by realistic simulation but RPG-like grandeur and larger-than-life special moves, and the question is, after so many years since the last entry, what can an all-new one bring to a footballing landscape dominated by EA? “ANIME STORY AND FANTASTICAL FOOTIE ABILITIES REIGN SUPREME.” Drama, for one thing. Victory Road is a game in which anime story and fantastical abilities reign supreme. In our hands-on we go beyond merely shooting at the goal; we set the ball on fire and launch an inferno at the net, where the defence constructs a literal wall…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT DEV GAME STUDIO INC / PLAYERS MULTI Bandai Namco loves its anime games, and if it isn’t publishing or developing a game that’s already got a show and fanbase, chances are it’ll just make those things itself. It did this with titles like Scarlet Nexus and Tales Of Arise, producing anime, games, and loads of tie-in merchandise to coincide with their releases – with decent levels of success. “THESE ‘CRADLE COFFIN’ MECHS CAN BE FULLY CUSTOMISED TO SUIT YOUR PREFERRED PLAYSTYLE.” This approach allows the company to invest in riskier original ideas, Synduality being its latest experiment. It takes place 100 years in the future, some time after the falling of Tears Of The New Moon, a poisonous rain that…

So there we are, wandering around a level as an unusually cute beetle, when we see a white circle on the floor. We stand on it, tap q and whoosh! We’re flung out of the level into a hub area, left standing next to a little sphere containing the level we were just in, like a snowglobe, which we can now pick up. Neat! Soon we find another level-containing sphere, which we can jump inside while still carrying the previous level. Shortly after, we encounter obstacles that can only be surpassed by jumping in and out of each, and our gamer brains begin to make worried little noises. And that’s just the beginning of this insectoid nesting. Another layer is introduced, where each of our level-spheres gains unique navigation powers,…

You don’t have to be a cute, long-snouted critter for Lil Gator Game to make you feel nostalgic. This charming open world is packed with personality and enough childhood antics to occupy a whole school full of kids hyped up on blue smarties. It’s a laid-back adventure you can explore at your own pace, and the blend of fun exploration and off-beat humour will put a smile on your face from start to finish. After his big sister says she’s too busy to play, our green friend sets off on a quest to convince her to join in the fun. Floppy hat and stick-sword at the ready, you explore an island filled with quest-giving NPCs (usually bored animal kids). You might have to race down a hill, slay a few…

With their big eyes and wide field of vision, frogs seem like ideal detective material. Just one problem: they’re long-sighted. Which might explain why Frog Detective can’t leave his office without picking up his magnifying glass. Yet it’s basically decorative – pressing i does nothing more than let you view objects in smear-edged close-up. These three mysteries focus instead on another familiar aspect of detective work: fetch quests. It’s easy to make Frog Detective sound underwhelming. The Entire Mystery can be finished in an afternoon, and for much of that time all you do is talk to anthropomorphic animals, or find items they need in exchange for info or other items – which you’ll invariably pass on to another witness or suspect. The story is fixed, too: in your notebook…

Talk about getting right into the action! The opening moments of this dynamic visual novel are relentless: playing as plucky 16-year-old student-turned-hacker Pollon Takaoka, you’re on the run from the army in the company of Momo, a strange girl dressed as a pink cat. Why? Well it’ll take a whole lot of reading to find out. Pollon’s ended up in this situation by accident, after an attempt to impress his friends in hacker group Nakano Symphonies by lying about eloping with a nonexistent girlfriend ends up thrusting him into a dangerous meet cute. It’s a farce that begins to make more sense once you realise the conspiracy you’ve wandered into is a multidimensional one, where the ability to predict the future has led the Vatican to hunt down Momo no…

At first glance it looks like little’s changed from the first Hot Wheels Unleashed. The visuals are as fast and smooth as ever, and driving on the plastic track remains enjoyable thanks to an ace drifting mechanic coupled with a high framerate. But beneath the overly familiar exterior lie some very welcome upgrades. For starters, there are all-new monster trucks, ATVs, and bikes to unlock, all exhibiting noticeably different handling. For example, Snoopy on his kennel handles like a kennel on wheels would: badly. You can upgrade any car via the new skill tree, affording perks like better handling or invulnerability to certain hazards. HOT ON YOUR TALE A graphic-novel-style story mode packages up the career events, seeing characters miniaturising themselves to fit into Hot Wheels cars and take down…

From updates to favourites – the games we just can’t quit You may have read my 7/10 review of Cyberpunk: Phantom Liberty in PLAY #33, where I briefly mention something called ‘Update 2.0’, explaining how it relates to that shiny new expansion. But how far does this full numeric increase go towards improving the base game, which was, to put it lightly, a bit underbaked at launch? The short answer is: it goes a long way. The base game had received many updates before it even got to 2.0, and those had already left it in much better shape. For starters it doesn’t repeatedly crash any more, and most of the bizarre bugs have been ironed out (there are no more constantly exploding respawning cars plaguing Night City, which we…

When the Sands Of Time trilogy wrapped on PS2, Ubisoft took a fresh approach when it brought its swashbuckling hero to the next generation. Featuring cel-shading, the simply titled Prince Of Persia still looks gorgeous to this day, though it never got a sequel. Despite getting good reviews and selling well, the response from players was divided. “Absolutely outstanding game, I never understood the hate it received at the time,” says reader Adam Lee Redpath. “It looked great and played amazingly with a great story and incredible level design, it’s madness that there has never been a sequel.” JUMP MAN The visuals aren’t the only way this game differs from the earlier trilogy. Combat has a one-on-one rock-paper-scissors-like quality, and parkour jumping feels rigid and gamey, though in a way…

Being a Nier fan used to be an act of perseverance, and if you scratched one back in 2010, you’d find a Drakengard devotee underneath. Wait, come back! We’re not going to get into the messy ties connecting the two series, but Nier’s 2021 rerelease proves those fans were right about it being an unpolished gem. This time following the youthful, previously Japan-exclusive protagonist,1Nier is a lad in search of the cure for an illness called the Black Scrawl, which his little sister, Yonah, suffers from. What follows isn’t a straightforward RPG quest for a forbidden power that may cure her (though it is that for long stretches), but a hack-and-slash with digressions into bullet hell and even text-based adventure. It’s still not as slick as Automata, but it does…