Jenny Jones
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Playstation Lifestyle
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In this modern era of games getting rereleased, it’s crazy to think it’s been over 12 years since Tales of Graces f was released on western shores. Thankfully you no longer need to dust off your ancient PS3 to play, as Bandai Namco has spruced up this classic RPG for modern consoles with Tales of Graces f Remastered.
Unknown 9: Awakening is the debut game from studio Reflector Entertainment but not the first entry into the Unknown universe; so far there are novels, comics, and even a dramatised podcast. Thankfully, Awakening is a standalone experience and so you don’t need to delve into any of the other cross-media releases to understand anything.
The SteamWorld games have successfully bounced around a number of different genres including Metroidvania-style mining games and turn-based tactical stealth. With SteamWorld Build, developer The Station has brought those adorable robots into the city-building genre, with a bit of dungeon exploration thrown into the mix, in what becomes a ridiculously addictive experience.
Deliver Us Mars takes place ten years after the events of Deliver Us the Moon and this time, as the game's title suggests, you'll be journeying to our neighbouring planet. You play as a young astronaut, Kathy Johanson, who is part of a team tasked with travelling to Mars to retrieve some vital technology in the hopes of saving the dying Earth.
The Atelier games are a somewhat niche Japanese RPG series so it might surprise some to know that it's actually been around for 25 years, with 23 games in the main series and a heck of a lot of enhanced ports and side games. To celebrate this impressive achievement, developer Gust has decided to go back and continue the story of one of its previous alchemists, the ever cheerful and charming Sophie.
The purpose of the EA Originals publishing label is to bring forth unique and memorable experiences from independent studios. Swedish developer Zoink Games has definitely fulfilled the brief with Lost in Random: a card-battling adventure game that feels like it’s stepped straight out of a Tim Burton claymation movie.
Kingdom of Amalur has had a bit of a tumultuous life which saw developers 38 Studios and Big Huge Games suffer from financial troubles, staff lay-offs, and years of court cases. The IP was eventually sold off to THQ Nordic and after a couple years of silence we are finally getting a remaster of this often-overlooked action-RPG. While KoA has its faults, it does so many things right, including a flexible leveling system, fluid combat, and a gripping story.
Arcade Spirits is a romantic visual novel set in an alternative future where the video game crash in the 80s never happened. Imagine: the now-infamous E.T. game was held back until a higher quality title could be produced, meaning that Atari didn’t have to dump hundreds of thousands of unsold copies in the desert. The gaming industry prospered instead of suffering an almost cataclysmic decline in profits. It seems a strange event to pick as the fulcrum of human history but it does mean that, in this timeline, arcades are thriving and are as abundant on the high street as coffee shops.
Deliver Us the Moon is set in the very near future, and things are not looking particularly rosy for the Earth. Natural resources have been depleted and environmental damage is so severe that large land masses are slowly being turned into desert. Humanity is a pretty versatile species, and with a strong hunger to survive we can sometimes put aside our differences and work together -- which is how the World Space Agency was formed.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey has some fascinating ideas in it. You’ll need to try to take your small clan of apes through 10 million years of evolution. Every action you take can influence the survival of your species and it’s up to you to try to ensure that future generations can thrive. Even with the exciting setup, it’s a shame that the final result just ends up feeling a bit too repetitive.