Nic Bunce
This author account hasn't been claimed yet. To claim this account, please contact the outlet owner to request access.
Writing For
TheSixthAxis Latest Reviews
Cult of the Lamb was easily one of my favourite games of 2022, being a truly unique take on the cult simulator and roguelike battler. It’s a game that has stayed with me over the years, but while it has had a few DLCs over the years, there hasn’t been anything big enough to pull me back into the game. Time moved on and I had other things to play. That is, until we got Woolhaven.
The year was 2013, Lumoise was the city, and roller skates were all the rage. When you weren’t taking time out to ride a Skiddo across town, battle in a café or try out this newfangled Mega Evolution, you were doing tricks on your roller skates. Those halcyon days are long behind us. Pokémon X&Y are ancient, nobody roller skates anymore and Lumoise is not the city it once was. In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, it is much, much larger.
1997 was a good year for video games, and especially for those titled Final Fantasy. Between Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics, it spawned two of the most beloved FF titles of all time, despite them being polar opposites. Both were on the PlayStation and both had a character named Cloud, but where one was an archetypical JRPG (by our standards, thanks in large part to this game), the other was an isometric tactical RPG, a genre which rubs shoulders with your XCOMs and Fire Emblems.
Our world is eternally on a knife’s edge, separated from demon incursion by the thinnest of membranes. If you’ve played anything remotely Persona-adjacent, you will know this well — it’s the core premise of all Megami Tensei games, and Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is no different.
Bravely Default was a game that revelled in genre tropes. The result of Square Enix doing what it does best, this 2012 turn-based RPG for 3DS was the kind of thing you’d expect if you grew up on a diet of early Final Fantasy. Such is the overlap that I had to go and look up whether this was ever planned as a Final Fantasy title — it turns out it was, as a sequel to DS game The Four Warriors of Light.
As a kid, when you come across an ancient, tattered map in the attic, what’s the first thing you do? If you answered ‘Go to sea, wreck yourself and then wash up on a desert island on the back of a giant turtle’, then we have a winner!
Just as with Playroom, Astro Bot is a game that absolutely celebrates all things PlayStation, aimed at anyone and everyone who loves this console and the games that have made it what it is. Whether you're an old timer or a young kid with their first console - or better yet, a combination of the two - the are dozens of hours of fun to be mined here. It's a fun, easy-going romp through PlayStation history, and absolutely impossible to play without a smile plastered to your face.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is an excellent addition to the franchise that's a must-play for franchise fans, and well worth picking up for those curious about dipping their toes in the water. The difficulty level is still there, but it has become a lot more manageable thanks to quality of life updates. Just don’t be disappointed if you show up expecting Persona, as the narrative and story qualities of the latter is a world apart.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a beautifully crafted experience that fans old and new will absolutely love. It almost goes too far in correcting the first game's linearity with broad open areas stuffed with things to do, but there's also key additions to the combat, and the story running through this middle chapter is masterfully retold. Really the biggest problem you'll have once the credits roll is knowing that it will be far too many years before we can finish the trilogy.
Persona 3 Reload is a dream come true for Persona fans. With far more than just a visual uplift, this is very much the best possible edition of the game, even if it can’t quite be called ‘definitive’.