John-Paul Jones
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Writing For
Playstation Universe
GameWatcherLatest Reviews
From blisteringly fast and satisfying FPS action through to a thoughtfully layered series Roguelite mechanics that always manage to entice you to have another go, everything works in harmony to create one of the best FPS Roguelites money can buy. Roboquest gets so much absolutely right that this is really just about everything you could want from a Roguelite FPS and one of the easiest recommendations of the year.
A welcome surprise, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon really clicked with me. The Euro indie Skyrim that could, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon might not be as technically sound as other genre efforts, but across its 60-80 hour playtime there's a lot to enjoy here, while its inventive take on Arthurian legends and surprisingly effective writing all add up to make it a compelling prospect for RPG fans everywhere that don't want to wait 89 years for the next mainline Elder Scrolls title to drop.
For those who have already sampled the grim delights of Days Gone on PS4, paying £10 for the definitive version of one of 2019’s most underrated open world adventures that brings with it a hugely entertaining and worthwhile horde mode, seems like a bargain to me. As for the rest of the package, it really did surprise me just how well Bend Studio’s most marquee effort has endured, offering up a smart take on both open world game design and the zombie apocalypse more broadly that other developers have struggled to match. Put simply, if you haven’t played Days Gone before, this is the point where you leap in with both feet.
Wanderstop won't win any awards for its deliberately thin gameplay mechanics, but over its 10-15 hours you'll be reminded how a simple act of kindness can change lives and that just slowing things down and taking time for yourself away from the stresses and white noise of daily life is perhaps just what the doctor ordered.
Ravenswatch has the hard stuff nailed down - the combat is sophisticated, the roguelike mechanics are spot-on and there is no shortage of progression avenues and opportunities; it just needs more content than it currently has to really shine. As it is, Ravenswatch is a roguelike overflowing with innovation and potential, it just needs a bit more content to turn a very good experience into a great one.
Sure enough, while it doesn’t seek to reinvent the roguelike wheel or provide an especially captivating story or cast of characters as Hades does, [REDACTED] nonetheless provides enough clever adjustments to the formula while embracing some incredible combat fundamentals to come out of seemingly nowhere and secure its spot as one of my favourite roguelikes of the year.
Though Lego Horizon Adventures is the best looking Lego game ever made by a wide margin, it does still suffer somewhat from the repetition which has afflicted previous Lego tie-in titles. Nonetheless, with its snappy 15-20 minute missions, breezy co-op play and relentlessly lighter, grin-inducing tone, Lego Horizon Adventures also represents both a new direction for the Horizon franchise at large, as well as a great way to get newbies and younger folk involved with the adventures of PlayStation’s marquee flame-haired heroine.
If by dumb luck or some other unique set of circumstances you have yet to play Horizon Zero Dawn, then this is arguably by far the best way to experience one of the best open world efforts out there that still holds up extremely well even today. Perhaps most encouragingly, Horizon Zero Dawn Remaster also heralds the fact that Nixxes is a force to be reckoned in the console porting space too, representing an added feather in the cap for Sony and its burgeoning PlayStation Studios portfolio as we barrel towards the fourth anniversary of PlayStation 5.
Even though nearly a decade has passed since Until Dawn first spooked and tore its way onto PlayStation consoles, its keenly judged take on the teen slasher trope together with convincing voice actor performances and non-linear narrative still remain appealing - and arguably sit at the apex of anything developer Supermassive Games has created. Of course, if you were indifferent to Until Dawn when it originally released, this shiny new 2024 edition will do precious little to change your mind. For everyone else however, Until Dawn's PS5 outing represents the definitive version of one of the most effective horror titles released in the last console generation.
An obscenely polished and soul-affirming triumph from every angle, Astro Bot isn't just an unabashed celebration of all things PlayStation, it's a deeply passionate celebration of everything you could and should love about a video game. There are no microtransactions, no season passes and no busywork padding - just precisely engineered 3D platforming with an overabundance of joy on offer. Astro Bot is a big, warm hug of a videogame that also happens to be not just one of the best platform games ever made, but one of the best PS5 games ever made, too. Team Asobi, please never stop making these games.