Dominic L
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TheSixthAxis Latest Reviews
Playground Games are masters of the arcade racer. Forza Horizon 6 is the latest in their globe trotting series, this time bringing its neon-soaked motorsport festival to the stunning climes of Japan. That in turn brings a new flavour to the racing action, with anime inflexions, cute food mascots and more of a focus on the iconic stable of Japanese car manufacturers, meaning that the Forza Horizon formula might be familiar, but still manages to feel relatively fresh.
Go watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off right now. Go on. I’ll wait. OK, now I need you to binge The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink. All done? Now you’re ready for Mixtape.
Go watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off right now. Go on. I’ll wait. OK, now I need you to binge The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink. All done? Now you’re ready for Mixtape.
Cadence has a dream, and it’s a dream shared by many across both the real world and the world of Note. Cadence wants to be a pop star. The only problem here is the stranglehold that the establishment have on the music of this entirely music-based society. While there’s a yearly talent contest to crown the biggest star, it’s been won by the same group nine years in a row, and one of the members of the adjudicating council is their manager. It’s like X-Factor or Pop Idol, but Simon Cowell has already picked the winner and signed them to his label. The injustice, the blandness, and the tired old tracks that sound like everything else have pushed Cadence to the limit, and now she’s turning everything up to 11 on her quest to win the key to the city and the recording contract that comes with it.
Crimson Desert does not make a good first impression. Imagine an episode of Game of Thrones, but you’ve taken a blow to the head and can’t remember much of anything. You’re hanging around with Jon, but you’ve got no idea about the Starks, no idea about the land they preside over, and, frankly, no idea about anything that’s going on. Imagine then, that the game version of this has the most convoluted, overly-complicated controls you’ve ever come across, and any tutorials use the vaguest words possible. It does get better, but this is the opening of Crimson Desert.
Monster Hunter is a series obsessed with its starring creatures. Every moment is spent in service to immense dragons, fire-breathing dinosaurs, and giant spiders, toads and squirrels that could bring down your house. However, the mainline series brings its own sense of melancholy with it, as you repeatedly kill and carve up these incredible creatures, using the parts to craft new and stronger weapons and armour. Continuing the spin-off RPG series, Monster Hunter Stories 3 feels like a direct reaction to that melancholy.
The Nintendo Switch was not home to many great racing games, especially ones that didn’t feature karts and moustachioed drivers. So far, that’s continued to play out for the Switch 2, but there are some key signs of change with the arrival of GRID Legends last month. Drafting directly behind it is Gear Club Unlimited 3, an arcade/sim-cade racer that also boasts its own storyline, licensed vehicles and updated visuals, hoping to snatch its own place on the podium. While it puts up a valiant effort, it feels like it’ll remain firmly in the middle of the pack.
Sometimes, you do have to wonder what’s wrong with people on the internet. Wildlight Entertainment’s Highguard sure has come in for a cavalcade of online hate, because… erm… it was the final trailer shown at The Game Awards? Or was it because it wasn’t Half Life 3? Maybe because it was just a bit different? It’s hard to tell sometimes.
No matter whether it’s a book, movie or video game, there’s a special, deep-seated satisfaction to returning to a world that you know and love. Pandora is such a world. Home to the Na’vi, and bursting with neon flora and fauna, incredible creatures and the iconic floating islands, James Cameron’s fictional planet remains amongst the most vibrantly-realised sci-fi settings of the modern era. From the Ashes takes us back to this place, a new expansion for Ubisoft’s excellent Frontiers of Pandora, while tying in with Avatar: Fire and Ash, the brand-new cinematic outing for the franchise. It’s a return that’s well worth making.
Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is a football game that feels, almost wholeheartedly, like it’s not really about football. This is a sports drama through and through, focusing on the interpersonal relationships, the individual journeys, and the yearning for acceptance that epitomises our teenage years, rather than sporting glory. You play as Destin Bellows, a young man with a heart condition, who appears to hate football and attends South Cirrus Academy, a school where football is banned. None of this really screams the word ‘football’ – or ‘soccer’ if you’re so inclined – and yet, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road also revels in the joy, the purity, and the companionship that football can bring. This juxtaposition also makes it one of the best sports RPGs you’ll find.