Well Played
- 496 TESTS
- AUSTRALIE
- Voir le site officiel
MMORPG developer Pearl Abyss claims that Crimson Desert is an open-world action adventure. While it certainly looks the part, I can’t concur. From its side-quest heavy gameplay loop to a reliance on exhaustive grinding, this is very much this developer’s vision of a Red Dead Redemption 2 or Dragon’s Dogma 2 competitor, but with the design philosophies of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. While that doesn’t inherently doom this title, it does emphasise how solitary and laborious an MMORPG experience can be when completely alone in its world.In an ambition to feature novelties, systems, and gimmicks from all the best in the genre, it never goes the distance to integrate these disparate elements in a way that provides a satisfying reward loop for the player. Instead, while you’re forced to scrimp and save to restock your crucial consumables in a world that will enthusiastically kill you, you can at least look forward to some of the best presentation values this year with admirable PC performance to boot.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection represents a significant evolution for the series, surpassing its predecessors in both scope and execution. The narrative is grander and more immersive, complemented by high-fidelity visuals and a diverse cast of characters that each come with compelling backstories. From its meticulously detailed environments to the introduction of formidable new monsters, the game offers a heightened sense of adventure and higher stakes when you get down to some ol’ fashioned monster biffo. As the definitive entry in the trilogy, Twisted Reflection delivers a polished and memorable experience that will absolutely stand as a high point for the franchise. I think I absolutely am a Monster Hunter Stories guy now.
It’s all too easy for me to say that WWE 2K26 offers the best gameplay this series has ever seen. The moment-to-moment gameplay was already excellent, but the improved collision and physics manage to push the presentation even further. While not revolutionary, the new match types offer new ways to have fun and widen the suite for folks who are on the lookout for authenticity. While it’s wearing a little thin for me as a concept, this year’s Showcase is solid, and the MyRise and MyGM offerings continue to impress. Isn’t it a shame, then, that all I can think about when I look at WWE 2K26 is how much this game wants to nickel and dime me, just for being a wrestling fan.
Hands down, 1st Chapter is the Japanese RPG that I will recommend to anyone this year. It has all the anime eccentricities of the genre that would make you embarrassed to play it in front of your mum, but I’d still recommend it to mine. Come to this Trails in the Sky remake with an open mind, and it will respect your time. Any nerves you might have regarding its dense turn-based systems are remedied by letting you literally hack and slash through much of it. Falcom have brought their learnings from the years of Ys and Trails, and condensed the strengths of both RPG series into a revitalised entry point into its grand tech-fantasy saga.
A lot of folks will try to tell you that the appeal of 2004’s Katamari Damacy was its stark originality, and that continuing to iterate on the same formula dilutes that creative juice more every time. And they’re probably right. But like Sisyphus pushing the proverbial sticky ball up the mountain, it’s about the joy in the process. That joy is still in abundance for players, and if the delightful absurdity that permeates every corner of this game is any indication I’d say it’s there for the creators as well.
he original PowerWash Simulator was my go-to chill out game for the longest time, and I’ve no doubt PowerWash Simulator 2 will fill that some role for quite a while. But this go around I’m also much more drawn to playing it like, well, a video game. There’s just enough new depth here to tease out a bit of strategy and self-imposed challenge, and I’ve enjoyed rising to it – especially when there’s a scissor lift handy.
Proving there's almost nothing that can't be painted with the roguelite brush, Ball x Pit manages a dangerously intoxicating blend of arcade brick-breaking, ball-based alchemy and town planning that I haven't been able to put down.
Progress is hard fought in Final Fantasy Tactics, arguably the hardest of this isometric strategy sub-franchise. At the same time, it wastes none of the player’s attention, rewarding us with an incredibly un-Final Fantasy setting and characters. Its story is the biggest winner from this pseudo-remaster, with the professional voice cast offering their dramatic best. The themes hit so much harder this time around. Its main players are far more sincere and tragic for the emotion well voiced through the often overwhelming, but nevertheless compelling, writing.
There are a lot of words here, particularly for a game that I have played twice already. I do very much love Gears of War, even if I consider it one of the weaker parts of the series – it is elevated by its station as the origin of the narrative. But with two generations of visual improvements under its belt, it is left feeling a little like a home that has been over-renovated – some of these walls really need to come down, load-bearing or not. The experience on offer is unreplicatable, but modern sensibilities and sanity checks on things that don’t really pass the sniff check in 2025 would have done a lot to change this from ‘yet another remaster’ and instead cemented it as the truly definitive way to start your Gears story.
Lizardcube have done something exceptional here, celebrating and reviving a series that was dormant for no good reason. The level of polish given to the dazzling visuals are easily enough to draw one’s attention, but once you get your hands on the games combat and platforming prowess, you’ll be deeply hooked into the vengeful tale of Joe Musashi and his quest to defeat Lord Ruse. The takeaway is simple: Ninjas are awesome.
For as much as Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater pays lip service to its original creator Hideo Kojima, it feels more imprisoned by his legacy than inspired by it. With every cutscene recreated beat-for-beat and nary a piece of set dressing out of place, it’s a work without the teeth of its namesake invertebrate, but equally as spineless. I wouldn’t even suggest it’s the case that Kojima himself is solely equipped to reinterpret the original art, but for as long as we tether the creative impulses and intentions of these things to purely commercial ends it will always leave them with nothing to say. For now, the only new perspective this game offers is tied to the right analogue stickI am afraid that the Ape Escape minigame still rules, though.
The breadth and length of the game is impressive; the sheer quantity is there. For a decently priced game there’s a lot of bike to ride, customise, and maps to cover in its 4–6 hour play time. There is a level of polish that is absolutely due to how developers Messhof small-scoped it, I just wish Wheel World had a bit more focus on integrating the wheel and the world.
TRON: Catalyst is a solid game for TRON fans to experience. Despite the back-and-forth, the game features a detailed story that is satisfying to uncover as you explore the Grid and factions. The looping glitch is a great addition to the story, and the abilities you unlock throughout the game make the fast combat and gameplay more interesting. And of course, the Light Cycle is fun to use. Ultimately, TRON: Catalyst gives you more insight into the Grid life and what it’s like to be a program.
The Alters is an ambitious survive-‘em-up that takes what 11 bit Studios knows and reaches for the stars. It’s largely a successful expansion of the studio’s previously conceived ideas and mechanics, with an enjoyable narrative shaped by your choices and an overall sense of desperation punctuated with quirky humour and oddball characters. Getting to know your Alters and the other characters and corporations at the heart of this disastrous space mission is a profound and engaging experience that is easily recommended to anyone who enjoys a little bit of stressful resource management. Some frustrations in the pace and navigation and lack of polish in the dialogue only slightly mar what is otherwise a stellar journey into the unknown, and while it probably won’t sit with me as long as TWOM, my time with Jan Dolski’s multitudes did make me ponder the nature of choice and consequence. Also, if you’re listening, I’m sorry Jan Technician. You were my first Alter and I did you wrong, hopefully I did enough to earn your forgiveness.
Taken as intended, Elden Ring Nightreign is a thrilling slice of contemporary multiplayer action. It’s not entirely bereft of fresh juice, and gives me immense hope for The Duskbloods as a more fully realised push into genre experiment. But it’s also the first time I’ve witnessed FromSoftware craft something so blatantly uninterested in its own artistic merits or potential. A studio that has reached such heights through its unyielding commitment to weaving together narrative and systems, theme and formalism, now bent to breaking point for the sake of another of these games on the market. Gameplay is king here, artists made toymakers in its court.Well Played est un site internet de jeux vidéo édité en Australie
56 370
jeux référencés
267 374
notes de presse
10
membres
9
avis des membres
23 104
jeux classables
2
contributions
117M
avis des stores
10
succès débloqués