Tom Quirk
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Checkpoint GamingLatest Reviews
Monster Hunter Wilds is the latest entry in Capcom’s long-running multiplayer beast-slaying series, and a return to home consoles after the Switch-focused release of its predecessor, Monster Hunter Rise. Taking more inspiration from 2018’s Monster Hunter World, with its greater focus on narrative and spectacle and the return of many gameplay mechanics left out of Rise, Monster Hunter Wilds feels like a fantastic refinement of the direction that the series has evolved over the past few yea...
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is Odd Bug Studio’s sequel to its 2021 dark fantasy action game, Tails of Iron. This follow-up fleshes out its spellbinding world filled with anthropomorphic animals with new locations, characters and foes while polishing up the gameplay and adding elemental magical abilities for new protagonist Arlo to utilise. While not all of the game’s challenges are quite as engaging as the majority of the experience, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is an excel...
The Spirit of the Samurai is a samurai action game developed by Digital Mind Games which nails its particularly eye-catching animation style while not being all that fun as a game. Designed to emulate jerky practical stop-motion animation used in many classic films such as Jason and the Argonauts, Robocop and The Nightmare Before Christmas, it achieves it quite spectacularly, while also demonstrating how such a style becomes something of a hindrance when you are trying to actually control a c...
Antonblast is a kinetic, visually stunning and frequently bizarre platformer developed and published by Summitsphere. Taking some gameplay inspiration from the Wario Land games, along with elements of Sonic the Hedgehog and Crash Bandicoot, and then filtered through a surreal visual style reminiscent 90s cartoons, the whole thing comes together in a surprisingly cohesive and deeply enjoyable package, providing varied and over-the-top platforming fun that is hard to put down.
Spirit Mancer is a co-op hack-and-slash action game with a monster-summoning twist. The game gets a decent amount of mileage from its unique mechanics, buoyed by some varied enemy designs and an interesting fusion of action game and Pokémon-style monster-collection gameplay. Unfortunately, the fairly solid combat system is marred by some very hit-or-miss boss fights which impact the overall experience.
Formally announced last month during the PlayStation State of Play presentation, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered has finally arrived on PS5 and PC. Developed by series developer Guerrilla Games alongside Nixxes Software, this upgrade of the acclaimed 2017 original is more than a simple coat of paint, and at least on the visual and accessibility side of things, feels like a meaningful upgrade. That said, it isn’t a whole lot MORE than that, so players looking for a package with more unique game...
Unknown 9: Awakening is the debut title by Canadian developer Reflector Games, as well as the first entry in a rather ambitious multimedia shared universe that is set to expand across comic books, web series and podcasts. Despite being saddled with an unintuitive title that makes it sound like the 9th entry in a franchise you’ve never heard of, coupled with an unwieldy and generic subtitle, I am pleased to announce that Unknown 9: Awakening is actually quite a lot of fun as an action/advent...
Shattered Space has now been released as the first, and so far only, expansion for Bethesda Game Studio’s spacefaring RPG Starfield, which released about a year ago. Letting the player explore the homeworld of the secretive House Va’ruun faction and introducing a few new enemy types to face, the expansion overall feels a bit lightweight in comparison to Bethesda expansions which have come before, and is unlikely to change your opinion on the base game or be especially enticing to anyone o...
Reynatis is a new JRPG developed by FURYU, the developer behind Trinity Trigger and The Caligula Effect: Overdose. Despite a compelling premise and worldbuilding courtesy of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts writer Kazushige Nojima and an excellent soundtrack composed by Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura, Reynatis’ repetitive gameplay and backtracking, as well as multiple frustrating gameplay elements, render the game a bit of a slog for anyone but the most diehard of JRPG fans.
Enotria: The Last Song is a beautiful, if imperfect, soulslike developed by Jyamma Games. Set in a fantasy world inspired by Italian folklore, it brings a beautiful art direction and some interesting unique gameplay features to an otherwise rather familiar formula. While not all of these features work as well as intended, the game definitely has enough working in its favour to be worth the attention of soulslike aficionados.