🪓 Battle Axe | PS4 | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | Golden Axe On Steroids!" 🪓 @NumskullGames #IndieGames #GameDev #IndieGame #PixelArt

 

Battle Axe is an arcade top-down hack & slash featuring high-quality visuals created by veteran pixel artist Henk Nieborg, true to form game mechanics, and music from the legendary VGM composer Manami Matsumae – retro gamers rejoice!

🦉 When the Past was Around | PS4 | Review | 8/10 | "...a fetish for four-digit combination locks" 🦉 @PixelHunted @WPWAgame #IndieGames #GameDev

When the Past was Around is about universal experiences everyone can relate to, like being in a relationship with a terminally ill, violin-playing, half owl/half-man abomination.

⚔️Ghostrunner | PS5 | Review | 9/10 | "Your enemies are hapless mooks destined to be carved into chunks"👻🏃 #IndieGames #GameDev @GhostrunnerGame @PixelHunted

In Ghostrunner you’re a super-powered, hyper-agile katana-wielding cyber-ninja. Your enemies are hapless mooks destined to be carved into chunks during your time-bending, telekinetic acrobatic rampage. Pounding electronic beats drive you through levels with the destructive potential of a tornado that’s sucked up the contents of a knife shop. In the right hands you can not - will not - be stopped.

🔥 Dustwind | PS4 | Ten minute Taster | Gameplay | "Eat My Dust!" 🔥 @dustwind_game #GameDev #IndieGames

 

ARE YOU READY FOR CLASSIC REAL-TIME TACTICS? Be the nameless heroine in the wastelands of DUSTWIND's story campaign, fight against and with human players in the elaborate Multiplayer mode or design your very own story campaigns and maps in the mighty map editor!

👨‍⚖️ The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles | PS4 | Review | 8/10 | "Elementary, my dear Ace Attorney" 👨‍⚖️

This is the first entry I have played in the Ace Attorney franchise; I've always been aware of them and always thought I would like them, but for some reason never played them.

This seemed like a good starting point as it’s set many years before the other games, which meant I was sure I could avoid spoilers and be able to grasp the story - as no prior knowledge would be needed. 

💚 Where the Heart Leads | PS4 | Review | 9/10 | "A warm-hearted tale of life and all its possibilities" 💚 @ArmatureStudio #IndieGames #GameDev

When I was asked about reviewing Where The Heart Leads the only knowledge I had was that it was a dreamlike, narrative adventure with a lifetime of choices, which are words that fill my heart with glee.

Making decisions is probably my favourite thing to do in terms of mechanics, I love it. Having to contemplate things like morality, ethics and predicting outcomes are things I enjoy in other media as well as life in general, so I was very excited for Where the Heart Leads.

🛩️ Red Wings | PS4 | Gameplay | Ten Minute Taster | "Barrel Rolls Ahoy!" 🛩️ @RedWingsTheGame #GameDev #IndieGames

Red Wings: Aces of the Sky is an arcade action game that puts you in the middle of WWI aerial battles. Accompany the legendary Red Baron and cheat death on your way to victory!

🌴🗡️ Green Hell | PS4 | Review | 8/10 | "Desperate Enough To Eat a Rotting Snail" 🗡️🌴 @GreenHellGame #IndieGames #GameDev

Green Hell is a survival game set in a jungle at the edge of the Amazon river. You play as Jake Higgins, an anthropologist who is researching the area with his wife, Mia. Mia goes to a nearby tribal village to learn and understand the ways of the indigenous people living there and ends up going missing. You hurtle to the rescue only to be outmatched and easily overpowered, ending up retreating and lost in the forest with very little to help you survive. 

😱 🎼 Song of Horror | PS4 | Review | 6/10 | "Slightly Off-Key" 🎼😱 @RaiserGames #IndieGames #GameDev

Song of Horror is my third review on the trot that is set in the horror genre. I recently reviewed Outbreak: Endless Nightmare and Resident Evil: Village, one is front-running for my game of the year, the other is in my ‘Top 3 Worst Games That I've Ever Played’ list, so Song of Horror has a lot or little to live up to.

Would it join the good or the bad… or would it be like the famous spaghetti western, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly?

🦜🏴‍☠️ King Of Seas | PS4 | Gameplay | ten Minute Taster | "Pirate Booty Ahoy!" 🦜🏴‍☠️ @3DClouds #IndieGames #GameDev

King of Seas is an Action Role-playing game set in a procedural pirate world. 

An epic adventure awaits you in a fantastic world, dotted with fights, lost islands and treasures. 

A universe that will keep you anchored as you struggle to become the king of all pirates.

⚔️🛡️🧞‍♂️ Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World | PS4 | Review | 7/10 | "A Fun Frolic Through The Missing Link Of My Wonder Boy Journey" ⚔️🛡️🧞‍♂️ @WonderBoyWild @ININ_Games

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is essentially a remaster of the original 1994 Wonder Boy IV for modern consoles.

A few years back we had the return of Wonder Boy when The Dragons Trap came out to critical acclaim and now we are looking at Asha’s turn in the limelight!

Wonder Boy has featured heavily in my gaming education over the years as one of my first gaming memories was playing Wonder Boy on my cousin’s commodore 64 back in the 80s and then my first game on my SEGA Master System was Wonder Boy in Monster Land which I purchased from the classified ads in the local paper. More recently I played the remake of Dragons Trap which was a delight and really well made.

I love to see these remasters and remakes when they are done right and I’m happy to report that Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World has been done to near perfection with a dash of peppercorn sauce, peas and creamy mash potato.

🤖 Star Renegades Limited Edition Available for Pre-Order (PS4/Switch) 🤖

Join the Rebellion! Prepare for an Outstanding, Interplanetary Strategy RPG!

ININ Games together with Raw Fury proudly present a really unique game that calls for players who are not afraid of any challenge! 

👹⚔️ Hellpoint | Review | PS4 | 7/10 | "Did I Mention This Game Was Challenging?" 👹⚔️ @CradleGames #IndieGames #GameDev

I will try to write this review without mentioning and drawing the obvious comparisons, to Dark Souls. 

I am better than that, aren’t I?

Let’s go!

🤜💥🤺 Guilty Gear Strive | PS4 | BETA | Gameplay | "Every Character Tried" 🤜💥🤺 @ArcSystemWorksU #GuiltyGearStrive

Guilty Gear Strive is a fighting video game developed by Arc System Works and the 6th main instalment of the Guilty Gear series.

Come watch me try all the characters in the starting roster.

Rich

🎮 Pre-order Boxed Physical Starts on 21st Feb - Speed Limit (PS4 & Switch) 🎮 @RealStrictlyLTD @HoundPicked #IndieGames #GameDev

Strictly Limited Games will be releasing an exclusive limited physical, boxed, version for pre-ordering commencing on 21st February for the out and out action title Speed Limit for PS4 and Switch.

The exclusive pre-order for this unforgettable arcade experience will start from Strictly Limited Games on February 21st.

🤜💥🤛 The King Of Fighters XIV | Review | PS4 | "Right I’m off to build my own fight stick out of a cardboard box and a banana" 🤜💥🤛 @SNKPofficial #KingOfFightersXIV

Released back in 2017 King Of Fighter XIV was the newest entry in the acclaimed THE KING OF FIGHTERS series of fighting games. 

The project was led by the legendary veteran creator of FATAL FURY Yasuyuki Oda.

KOFXIV took the classic fighting game gameplay that the series was known for and implemented lush new 3D visuals which were a first for a mainline entry in the series! 

The game comes with a massive roster of 50 characters in the base game along with 4 DLC characters, including both returning fan favourites and new characters.

It was billed as a perfect entry point for veterans and newcomers alike...

👹🐲 Earth Defence Force 5 | Review | PS4 | "These….these….MONSTERS!!" 👹🐲 @EDF_OFFICIAL #EDF5

I was a real latecomer to the Earth Defence Force series. With almost 10 titles under the EDF belt since the days of the PS2, 2015’s Earth Defence Force 4.1 (The Shadow of New Despair – natch) was my introduction. 

Back in those dark, dark times when local co-op games were rarer than a decent film directed by Albert Pyun, I picked this up for a bargain price in my favourite gaming store (Insane Games, Bridgwater) and settled down with some bourbon to give it a crack with GF cohort Co-Op Chris and we were HOOKED on the B-movie styling, dialogue and arcade action.

⚔️ Immortals Fenyx Rising | Review | PS4 | "I Heart Elias Toufexis’ Voicebox" ⚔️ @FenyxRising #ImmortalsFenyxRising

As I‘ve personally come across multiple statements along the lines of ‘Immortals Fenyx Rising is Ubisoft does Zelda: Breath of the Wild’, I’m going to lay the groundwork for this review by opening with how I wasn’t particularly enamoured with Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which I played a few years ago on the Wii U. 

🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ Unturned | Review | PS4 | "a tough sell" 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ @SDGNelson #IndieGames #GameDev

A free-to-play title on the PC gets a port to PS4 at a price tag of £19.99. I don’t usually tend to focus on price and when I do, it’s usually to point out that a mobile game has had a lazy Switch port and the paywall removed which massively unbalances the game (yaaaaaay) so in the case of Unturned, things are slightly different but that knowledge of it being free on a different platform does sting, especially when the game behind it feels so empty and in-progress.

⌚️🐶 Watch Dogs: Legion | Review | PS4 | "Nothing to get too hacked off about" ⌚️🐶

My history with Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs series is one of highs and lows, whilst the first game didn’t set my trousers alight and cause me to ingest it so that it remained a physical part of me forever, I enjoyed the hacking mechanics and remember the driving feeling weighty and substantial, this, combined with the functional narrative ended up being a pretty fun jaunt, overall.

The second game was a different beast, however. I really struggled to get any enjoyment out of it as it was not only riddled with busywork but I found every character unbelievably irritating. I played the game for a few hours but my patience wore thin and I moved onto other games, games in which dialogue wasn’t as infuriating as a Hermes parcel delivery.

This, the third game in the series was really, really hyped. It seemed to be everywhere in the months leading up to release and, coming off the back of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – which made my end of the year list – it was not only on my radar but also a title I was looking forward to, brushing off my experiences with the second game and instead fondly remembering the good times I spent with Aiden Pearce all those years ago. 

Alas, I just couldn’t click with this one.