🌾🍚🍛 Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin | Review | PS4 | "Rice has never been this much fun" 🌾🍚🍛 @XSEEDGames #IndieGames #GameDev

I dived headlong into Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin with no preconceptions of what I was about to be in for and it didn’t take long for its charms to win me over and its depth to pull me in.

A title that pulls off quite an astonishing balancing act that all holds together and feels not only rewarding but vital to the narrative.

👥 Shady Part of Me | Review | PS4 | "great puzzles, music and visuals let down by narrative and voicework" 👥 @ShadyPartOfMe #GameDev #IndieGames

A wonderfully designed puzzle game that hits real highs in terms of aesthetic, sound and mood but the whining voicework and obfuscated narrative leak through the game and wore me down to the point that I genuinely wished the game was purely music and puzzle driven with silent protagonists.

👻🧛‍♂️ Othercide | PS4 | First 30 Minutes Gameplay | No Commentary | "A Turn-Based Game Oozing With Atmosphere" 👻🧛‍♂️ @OthercideGame #IndieGames #GameDev

As Humanity’s last hope, lead your army of Daughters to combat in an intricate dance of spectacular actions and counters and face fearsome bosses in epic battles.

Othercide is dark and brooding and oozes atmosphere. I can't tell you what's going on as I haven't got a clue but its sure as hell a cool video game!

Sit back and relax for the next 30 minutes as we take you through the first 30 minutes of gameplay from this sleeper hit of 2020!

Game Link: https://www.focus-home.com/en-us/games/othercide

🧶 KATAMARI DAMACY REROLL | PS4 | Ten Minute Taster | "Roll Roll Roll The Boat" 🧶 #GameDev #IndieGame

Check out the remaster of the timeless roll-em-up action game and help restore all of the stars that the King of All Cosmos destroyed from the sky!

Roll the balls called Katamari, which grow by collecting a variety of items in their path, from pencils to cars, to people and much more!

Growing the Katamari will turn them back into stars and bring the night lights back. 

Affiliate Game Link: https://amzn.to/2J8lcnS

🐲 Bubble Bobble 4 Friends | The Baron Is Back | Ten-minute Taster | "Pop Some Bubbles With Bub N Bob" 🐲 @TAITO

The popular Dragons Bub and Bob are back! Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is the latest game in the legendary Bubble Bobble series from Taito.

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends on the PS4 for around £36

BACK OF THE BOX QUOTE

"Pop Some Bubbles With Bub n Bob"

🌉 Bridge Constructor The Walking Dead | PS4 | Ten Minute Taster | Zombie Lemmings 🌉 @HeadupGames #BCTWD #IndieGames #GameDev

 

Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead combines the legendary and challenging puzzle gameplay of Bridge Constructor™ with the post-apocalyptic zombie universe of AMC’s The Walking Dead.

🐶⚡️ Double Pug Switch | PS4 | Ten Minute Taster | "Pugs To The Power Of Two" 🐶⚡️ #GameDev #IndieGames

In Double Pug Switch, you take control of the Pug Otis, the loyal companion of the Professor! After an accident in the Professor’s lab involving the mischievous cat Whiskers and some Portal Fluids, Otis and Whiskers are sucked into an alternate dimension.

Challenge yourself with side-scrolling alternative dimension switching mania requiring lightning-quick reflexes to jump, hop, and dimension swap your way to victory. Hop, dimension swap and navigate your way through unique dimensions to chase down Whiskers and save him from his evil wrongdoings!

📯⚔️ Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla | Review | PS4 | "A Game That Definitely Gives Me The (Viking) Horn" ⚔️📯 @UbisoftMTL @Ubisoft_UK #AssassinsCreedValhalla

Game Title: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Platform Reviewed: PS4 (base)

Rating 9/10

My personal history with the Assassin’s Creed series is pretty chequered, I played the original but didn’t really click with it and, following this, the constant releases, spin-offs and other media just alienated me slightly as the lore seemed to get ever-more dense.

I did dip back in with Black Flag on the PS3 at a friend’s suggestion but it seemed to run pretty sluggishly and once again, I didn’t connect with it.

It was actually earlier this year during lockdown that the stars aligned and teased me once again with the franchise.

My brother mentioned how much fun he was having with Odyssey and heartily recommended it just as I was after an open-world RPG to lose myself in (after completing The Witcher 3 for the second time as well as Kingdom Come: Deliverance) plus my fiancée was somewhat obsessed with the various soundtracks on Spotify, I was being attacked from all directions and so I decided once again to give it a try, and I’m glad I did.

🧟‍♂️ Britts Brief Bulletin PART I | Outbreak Epidemic | Review | PS4 | 🧟‍♂️ @deaddropstudios #GameDev #IndieGames

In this edition of BBB, I’ll be revisiting an old favourite from 2013 / 2016 in Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures 1 &2 as they teleport back into my life on console as a deluxe edition, getting hips deep on a new Dreamcast (panic not, it’s also available on Steam and NES. Good) title called Flea! as well as diving into the new Dead Drop Studios LLC console release, Outbreak: Epidemic. 

🚀 PACER | Review | PS4 | "The year is 2075. I am 97 and high octane, anti-gravity, full combat motorsport is all the rage" 🚀 @R8Games #IndieGames #GameDev @showmemagic

The year is 2075. I am 97 and high octane, anti-gravity, full combat motorsport is all the rage and The Pacer World Championship is where it’s at!  

Pacer is clearly inspired by its successful predecessor WipEout. But does this play homage or does it do what Weekend at Bernie’s 2 did to Weekend at Bernie’s? Let us find out… 

♌️♈️♋️♓️♊️ This is the Zodiac Speaking | Review | PS4 | "In short, I was in the zone" ♌️♈️♋️♓️♊️ #zodiacthegame @zodiac_the_game #IndieGames #GameDev

Game Title: This is the Zodiac Speaking

Platform Reviewed: PS4

Rating: 5/10

A cool idea based on real-life crimes marred by esoteric implementation and some relatively serious technical issues.

In a happy coincidence, I had watched David Fincher’s 2007 slow-burn thriller Zodiac only weeks before receiving This is the Zodiac Speaking for review and, having a close friend harbouring dark obsessions with serial murderers, I was already acquainted with the heinous, unsolved crimes that plagued California in the ‘70s. 

In short, I was in the zone.

💥 Necromunda: Underhive Wars | Review | PS4 | "The World is A Dark Place" 💥 @NecromundaUW #IndieGames #GameDev

The world is a dark place.  As winter creeps in (the clocks have just gone back meaning it’s pitch black by 2pm), I am drawn to darker games. No Animal Crossing escapism for me. No, it’s dungeon crawling and shadowy places all the way. And you get plenty of that in Rogue Factor’s Necromunda: Underhive Wars. 

☁️ Cloudpunk | Review | PS4 | "Never before have I been so sad whilst holding a controller" ☁️ @ionlands #IndieGames #GameDev

Developer: ION Lands

Platform Reviewed: PS4 

Rating:  5/10 (MELTING)

This is not the review I wanted to write. 

Upon booting up Cloudpunk, ION Lands’ voxel-tastic cyberpunk delivery simulator, despite some clear technical issues, I was HOOKED. 

Sadly, eight hours into the game, the issues won out and I was forced to give up entirely. I can genuinely say that this would have featured in my end of year selection but in its current state, it’s a hard one to recommend and instead currently stands as one of the most infuriating gaming moments of the year for me.

🏝️💥 Game Title: Crysis Remastered | Review | PS4 | "A seminal title that still holds up" 💥🏝️ @Crysis #CrysisRemastered

Game Title: Crysis Remastered

Platform Reviewed: PS4

Rating: 7/10 (Melting)

Although I didn’t play much Crysis when it came out (due to a mix of always having under-powered PCs and a personal gaming void during 2007-2009) I’m acutely aware of the impact that it had and so I leapt at the chance to cover it, in remastered form.

🕊️🦉🦜 Feather | Review | PS4 | "Do you want to fly away (yeah, yeah yeah)?" 🕊️🦉🦜 #IndieGames #GameDev

Feather is a casual game with no enemies, puzzles or challenge beyond enjoying flying around an island as a bird, Feather entertains for a short while but the complete lack of any goal and the relatively small size of the island you explore from above quickly catches up with you. 

🕴️ Peaky Blinders Mastermind | PS4 | Review | "By Order Of The Peaky Blinders!" 🕴️ @FuturLab #GameDev #IndieGames

 

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a puzzle-adventure game.

It’s obviously based on the multi-award-winning TV show Peaky Blinders and it tasks you with becoming the Mastermind as you control key characters in puzzle box levels and attempt to pull off perfectly synchronized plans by moving each character into positions to utilise their special skills.

🚴‍♂️🚴🚴‍♀️ Descenders | Review | PS4 | "Fast, Frantic, Fun and Filthy" 🚴‍♂️🚴🚴‍♀️ @RageSquid #GameDev #IndieGames

As stated in my previous review for Hotshot racing, this period has seen a lot of vehicular-based games come my way and Descenders was another solid example that does something different with the genre, In particular, using procedural generation as a key part of the gameplay.

At its heart, Descenders is a simple idea – get your bike to the bottom of the hill – but done with some really neat touches. This intrinsically accessible gameplay means that whilst the game can be challenging - and boy, does it get challenging – players of all skill levels can dive in and get involved.

🏨 The Suicide of Rachel Foster | Review | PS4 | "A walking simulator you perhaps shouldn’t ‘Overlook’" 🏨 @One_O_One_Games #GameDev #IndieGames

Game Title: The Suicide of Rachel Foster
Platform Reviewed: PS4
Rating: Melting

I was in the perfect zone for The Suicide of Rachel Foster. My partner had some stuff to sort out in the apartment and I had just been given a load of wine as a gift so I settled down on the couch in my usual, unusual but unusually comfortable position and turned up to the Timberline hotel.

🏎️💨🏁Hotshot Racing | PS4 | Review | "A Game That Should Definitely Be Drifting Into Your Game Library" 🏎️💨🏁 @CurveDigital #IndieGames #GameDev #HotshotRacing

Game Title: 
Publisher: Curve Digital
Platform Reviewed: PS4
Rating: Ice Cool

I’ve been on a bit of a racing binge the last week or so with a few games skidding into the GF virtual office that needs the flaming gavel of justice to cast judgment upon them. 

Hotshot Racing really stood out with its accessibility, stylish visuals, smooth gameplay and a great sense of balance.

🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ Outbreak: The New Nightmare | Review | PS4 | "A Lo-Fi Survival Horror" 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ @deaddropstudios #GameDev #IndieGames

Game Title: Outbreak: The New Nightmare
Developer: Dead Drop Studios LLC
Platform Reviewed: PlayStation 4
Rating: Melting

I am always surprised by what one-man development studios can achieve and whilst there are some noticeable flaws here and the game really won’t appeal to everyone, Outbreak: The New Nightmare is a labour of love that has its moments.