Charlie Kelly
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Checkpoint GamingLatest Reviews
It’s incredibly good to have the Suikoden franchise back in orbit with the recently released Suikoden I&II HD Remaster. This is not only because it’s the first thing Konami has done with the series in over a decade. Playing this compilation of two classic RPGs for review, I initially wondered why the themes and vibes of the games felt timeless and needed today. Before long, it struck me why it’s such a timely release.
Look Outside is a brand new horror RPG venture all about channelling dread. Controlling a player locked away in an apartment complex during a supernatural horror epidemic and unable to go outside (in fact even discouraged from merely glancing out your window or else some unspeakable illness will befall you), its setting is incredibly effective in putting the player on edge. You anticipate what’s around every corner, scared of what’s to come. You’re assured by Government orders that this...
You’re no good to the fight if you can’t even currently take the time to look after yourself.
Like it or not, 2025 looks to be the year of the Warriors franchise. Already getting fed well with Dynasty Warriors: Origins last month, Warriors: Abyss, a roguelike spin on the long-running Musou genre, shadow dropped earlier this month. Featuring fast-paced combat battles against hundreds upon thousands of enemy soldiers, its new genre stint is thoroughly enjoyable, even if it’s a bit boilerplate.
The Like a Dragon series (originally known as Yakuza in the West) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. In that time they’ve had countless mainline games but also spin-offs that depict detective mysteries, Edo period samurai and a zombie apocalypse. There’s little the franchise has done at this point, short of going to space. So where’s there to go next in the latest venture A sea-faring jaunt that sees pirates and yakuza collide in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, of co...
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II does what every good JRPG sequel should do: make it a friend fest, filling your adventure party with all the characters you know and love for one big journey. Set mere months after the first Daybreak game hit the west, lovable ruffian Van Arkride and co. are introduced to new threats and must work together to unravel the mystery.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the anticipated sequel to the 2018 medieval RPG, is here, letting players control Henry of Skalitz again. With a lot of moving systems, ambitious immersion and striking graphics, it buckles a little under all those promises. Have you ever had a game that you so desperately want to love but is fighting you at every turn? After nearly 70 hours with the adventure, that’s exactly what we’ve got here.
Every so often you finally get to a game on your backlog that truly surprises you. “Where have you been my whole life?” I caught myself saying as I played Ninja Gaiden II via the recently shadow-dropped Ninja Gaiden II Black. The short answer is that it was there all along, waiting for me to experience its tense, tough and fast-paced action glory. With every delightfully bloody dismemberment or over-the-top set piece, Ninja Gaiden II has shaped me, quickly becoming one of my favourite a...
I’m finding it hard to focus on and enjoy games at the moment. I’m terrified every day I wake up that the Government will take away more rights from myself, my friends, my family and my loved ones. I see headlines from overseas that workplaces are partaking in a snitch hotline to dob in those “hired due to diversity.” I sit, terrified that this is just the beginning and the world is losing its compassion and care. This isn’t several decades ago. This is 2025. I launch Sniper Elite: ...
The Legacy of Kain games are some of the most quintessential late 90s and early 2000s gaming. In the Soul Reaver pair of games, now remastered in HD glory thanks to Aspyr’s Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered, you control a vampire-turned-wraith known as Raziel who must kill his brothers, conquer his father and escape the underworld. It is broody, dark and dingy and that edge charm is timeless. What isn’t timeless, despite its remastering, is its level design and pacing. Like its...