Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon Xbox Series X Review 9/10 "Take a swig from a true holy grail" ⚔️ @TaintedGrail_AR @awaken_realms @Aga_Szostak #IndieGame #GameDev

I’ve played some very good games over the last year, but very few gripped me quite as much as Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. Polish developers Questline have created what I’ve secretly yearned for, for many a year - a spiritual successor to the likes of Oblivion and Skyrim with a nod to the darker side of life. 

A huge world begging to be explored, tied to an Arthurian storyline courtesy of Polish writer Krzysztof Piskorski, who originally created the world of the Tainted Grail for a board game that was an enormously successful Kickstarter project back in 2018. Questline previously released a game based in the Tainted Grail universe that was in the deckbuilder genre back in 2021, called Tainted Grail: Conquest – which I haven’t played – but the fact that four years later they’ve released a fully-fledged open world RPG in a ‘Western’ style is incredibly impressive, not to mention the full voice acting, audio, narrative and all the other glorious aspects of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon that I’ll delve into here. 

Basically, this game is absolutely fantastic and has kept me apart from my trousers for over two weeks now, it’s one of those games that creeps into my mind throughout the day and pulls me back towards it with an almost sexual magnetism. If there was ever a game designed to seduce me into neglecting my family so I could play it all day long in 2025? Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is that game.

NACON RIG 400 GEN2 HS in Arctic Camo Review By Britt

The first thing you notice when unboxing the headset is how striking the camo design is, the colours match the PS5 and result in a nice visual parallel. The Arctic Camo is a PlayStation edition, but there is also another edition - Urban Camo - which is designed for Xbox consoles.  The headset works with most consoles (PS5,PS4,Xbox and Switch) and PC so you can pick up either design, it doesn't just have to match the console, maybe if you are in the middle of the Antarctic you would pick the Arctic Edition and if you’re in the middle of a concrete jungle you can pick up the Urban Camo edition...or maybe just pick whichever design you like most.

Stunt Flyer Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "A fun title for casual pilots, tally-ho!" ✈️ @TorusGames @ULTGames #IndieGame #GameDev

Originally released on the Wii back in the ‘00s, Stunt Flyer is now unleashed on Xbox with a host of visual upgrades to bring it up to speed. Also playable in local multiplayer, Stunt Flyer is a game more suited to more casual, or younger gamers.

You’ll find yourself diving into action with very little tutorial, and working out the majority of the buttons for yourself, as you barrel roll and loop-de-loop through various rings and missions, shooting your water guns at hidden gift boxes along the way in a bid to unlock all three islands and a host of aircraft. 

Agent Fall Nintendo Switch Review 6.5/10 "A brief ‘n breezy 2D shooter for the casual player" 🔫🕵🏻‍♀️ @PufferfishDig @eastasiasoft #IndieGame #GameDev

Whilst the blurb for the game may look to convince you that this 2D run ‘n gun title will provide a serious challenge, it is actually a very short, simple and quite charming little title that provides an hour or so of blasting action, with a paper thin story that acts as an excuse to move from place to place, all the while taking down enemies in droves in single player, or co-op.

From the Website:
'Agent Fall is an action game inspired by classic titles, where you face an intergalactic government conspiracy. With aliens siding with the government, you, as an agent, must take down this dark alliance. Prepare for frantic combat, with powerful weapons, relentless enemies, and epic bosses.'

Kemono Heroes Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "hectic swipey-swipey action!" 🦊 @MadGearGames @JanduSoft #GameDev #IndieGame

From the developers that brought us A Hole New World – an 8-bit styled title - comes Kemono Heroes, now making the leap to a 16-bit style, complete with chunky pixels, parallax scrolling, and a lot of weapon-based swipey-swipey action. Good!

Playable with up to four players in co-op, Kemono Heroes has a mystical Eastern vibe in which the main characters are anthropomorphic animals, each with their own special skills, although the main attack of each is a ‘Strider’-esque swipe of their blade - a little nod to one of its influences. 

Survivalist: Invisible Strain Xbox Series X Review 7.5 / 10 "More zombies than you can shake a selfie-stick at!" 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️🧟 @bob_the_PR_bot #IndieGame #GameDev

Zombies are very much here to stay! Luckily, I am nowhere near tired of the shambling monstrosities in gaming, and so the chance to delve into Survivalist: Invisible Strain was very much up my strasse.

Casting the player in the role of a wandering survivor, Survivalist: Invisible Strain is playable in both campaign and sandbox modes, with the sandbox mode especially offering an incredible amount of customisation options to suit your preferred approach, with the ability to pretty much knock the zombie element on the head and focus purely on city-building and the more social aspects, should you so wish. 

The game features graphic novel-style visuals, with quite a unique screen layout, including portraits of the characters and enemies taking up a fair chunk of the screen real estate. It’s quite an idiosyncratic premise, but really does give Survivalist: Invisible Strain a sense of identity, and the focus on individuality in the game also ties in with this design aspect.

Inspector Waffles: Early Days Game Boy Color Review 9/10 "A Purrfect GBC game, this cat definitely gets the cream!" 🐈 @golosogames @Broke_Studio @HomebrewFactory #GameDev #IndieGame

A feline-centric police procedural with a lightness of touch and a sharpness in its design, Inspector Waffles: Early Days has very quickly become one of my favourite Game Boy games.

A prequel to Goloso Games’ 2021 release Inspector Waffles, Inspector Waffles: Early Days follows the cat detective in his rookie days, as he finds his place in Cat Town. 

Under the guiding eye of your partner, Pancakes (yes, this game will make you hungry), you’ll crack six cases in total, cases handed into your capable paws by your chief – Patches. 

The first of these cases deals with the theft of a rare video game cartridge (good!), and you’ll soon find yourself falling into the satisfying pattern of discovering clues, interrogating suspects and solving crimes– as well as hopefully discovering some secrets along the way!

Monster Train 2 XBOX Review 9/10 " One hell of a freight" 🚂👹 @TheMonsterTrain #IndieGame #GameDev

In most visions of apocalyptic battles between heaven and hell, between angels and demons, between God and the Devil itself, the battleground is a scarred wasteland and the warriors are on horseback, wielding swords and axes. Something distinctly more Tolkienesque than Shiny Shoe’s interpretation in the Monster Train games. If their idea is to be believed, then the final tussle on earth takes place in a train carriage more reminiscent of something halfway between Snowpiercer and the climatic fight in Broken Arrow.

But what of the game itself? I’ll get this out straight away. Fans of the original certainly need not worry. This is everything the first game was and more. Expanded and enhanced in terms of options, cards, clans and mechanics.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 PS5 Review 10/10 "I’m Terrible at Clair Obscur and I Love It" ⚔️ @SandfallGames #IndieGame #GameDev

I am comically bad at RPGs. Something about having to look at percentages and statistics during my leisure time just shuts my brain down. The lizard brain takes over, and I pour everything into strength—because obviously, swinging a sword the hardest is the best way to fell a mountain-sized Elder God.

I’m even worse at turn-based combat. I’ll inevitably end up with a team of glass cannons who get wiped out if someone sneezes on them—and they can’t even do that much damage because I didn’t bless their weapons with the Scrotum of K’Narl fifteen hours earlier.

I tried Baldur’s Gate 3, based solely on the enthusiastic response to its narrative and rich characters, but the combat was a brick wall I couldn’t surmount. It’s always humbling when the loading screen stops saying “You can change the difficulty at any time” and starts saying “Why don’t you have a nice lie down instead?”

Enter Clair Obscur: Expedition 33—the first (I repeat: first!) game from French developer Sandfall Interactive, and the latest critical darling trying to woo me back to a genre that routinely makes a fool of me.

Gulikit Elves 2 Pro Controller Review By Britt 🎮 @GuliKitDesign

There are a lot of controllers out there in the world, and sometimes something comes along that scratches a specific itch that you may not even know that you had. I believe that this is the first Gulikit product that we have covered here at GF, and it’s a heck of a product to kick off with!

Available in two versions – black or retro - the Elves 2 Pro Controller gives very strong Sega Saturn controller vibes in the feel and style, with the ‘black’ being reminiscent of the EU/US Saturn pad and the ‘Retro’ nailing that much-loved Japanese Saturn controller vibe.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream Xbox Series X Review 9.5/10 “I think therefore I AM” 👄 @NightdiveStudio #RetroGaming #IndieGame #GameDev

I don’t think any other title of a game has ever conjured up things in me that I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream has. When I was a 14-15 year old kid and watched my brother play this game the title alone deeply affected me, it conjures up an awful image, it’s a title that's creepy before you even play the game or read the short story. It is a powerful title, but when you learn what it relates to in the story - its power is magnified tenfold.

I’ve experienced the game three times, once as previously stated, then again in my 20s, and now in my 30s, and each time my love for it grows, it is such an interesting and engaging story, based on Harlan Ellison's short story of the same name, it takes everything that's great about that story and adds to it. 

Trident’s Tale Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Pirate fun for all the family!" 🏴‍☠️⛵@3DClouds #IndieGame #GameDev

The chandler never mentioned the glow in the dark sails at the showroom

My four-year old son has a penchant for open world games in which you are free to do as you please, with LEGO City Undercover, little Kitty Big City, and Goat Simulator 3 being firm favourites that will seemingly never be uninstalled from my consoles. When I caught wind of Trident’s Tale, I snapped up the chance to cover it, as the cartoonish darkness and spookiness appealed to me, and pirate games are always worth a blast of the cannons!

Playing the part of Ocean, a young pirate who yearns to explore the seas, she soon finds herself mourning the loss of her guardian as skeletal pirates hunt her down, seemingly due to her discovering a small trinket that has a lot of otherworldly folks very interested in it!

The Precinct Xbox Series X Review 8/10 "Pick up that candy wrapper, punk – go ahead, make my day" 👮🏻‍♀️🚔👮🏻 @fallentreegames @Microids_off @kwalee #IndieGame #GameDev

Basketball Hoop looked on longingly from the side of the court

A top-down, action-packed police procedural with simulation elements, The Precinct is the latest title from Fallen Tree Games, the developers who previously gave us a game that I have always had a soft spot for - American Fugitive. Whilst this is a worthy follow-up to American Fugitive – and definitely improves on the frame rate issues that plagued that title (on Switch, at least) – I couldn’t shake the feeling that there are a couple of little, missed opportunities along the way.

Hurt Me Plenty: The Ultimate Guide to First Person Shooters 2003-2010 [Rich's REVIEW + Unboxing Video] 📖💥 @bitmap_books #Retrogaming

Hurt Me Plenty: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 2003–2010 is the mahoosive 464-page hardcover book follow up to I'm Too Young To Die that explores the evolution of first-person shooters from the years 2003 to 2010. 

I’m Too Young To Die covered FPS games from 1992 to 2002 so it's cool how the new book just picks up the baton from where ITYTD left off. The book features almost 220 FPS games including Call of Duty, DOOM 3, Half-Life 2, BioShock, Crysis, Borderlands, Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, and Halo 2, alongside some lesser-known titles and experimental shooters.

The book also includes some cool interview chapters with FPS industry legends like Ken Levine (BioShock), Minh Le (Counter-Strike), Tim Willits (DOOM 3), and Jeep Barnett (Portal, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2). The book also explores and discusses FPS trends, such as the rise of multiplayer-only shooters, the impact of digital game distribution, and the shift from WWII settings to modern warfare.

Once again as with all Bitmap Books the book is designed with highest quality printing at the forefront along with the use of special Pantone ink, and an illustrated cover by Ian Pestridge that is Spot varnished and accompanied by a dust jacket highlighting key FPS genre elements against a stunning matte background. As always the book is a must-have for retro gamers and FPS fans.

Hot Rod Mayhem Xbox Series X Review 6.5/10 "Smooth Racing and Vibrant Visuals" 🚘🚔@CasualBrothers #IndieGame #GameDev

Kart racing is a genre that has certainly had its ups and down over the years, it feels like there have been an incredible amount – of varying quality – that have been released in the last few years alone on the Switch and Xbox, where there will always be a niche due to the focus on local multiplayer, after all – bashing around with friends is always fun!

To this end, Hot Rod Mayhem makes a great first impression, with energetic music, and a colourful customisable cast of characters as well as several vehicles to choose from, each with their own stats. 

WWE2K25 PS5 Review 8/10 “Strong and Steady” 🤼‍♂️ #WWE

The WWE2K games have been on a nice run, just like the product it’s based on, we haven't had any massive backward steps, and whilst there are some things that don’t land or could be improved upon, it’s nothing that makes you want to throw your WWE merch into a pit of fire. 

After loving the last few entries I wondered if we would finally have the rug pull, modes and match types taken out, corners cut etc. but to my very pleasant surprise we are still on a great roll, remaining modes have been improved, and most of the new additions are good - but I do think one game mode should have been left out... or maybe sent to an island, never to return.
The first thing I always talk about when reviewing WWE games is GM mode, probably the best thing in the entirety of human existence...OK, maybe that is a stretch - but it is one of my favourite things, so how does this mode hold up this year? 

Peglin Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Can Peglin best Peggle as the king of the ball game?" 🏐 @rednexusgames @BlitWorks #GameDev #IndieGame

The Peggle series of games has been a hit in our household for almost a decade, heck – it even sucked in my non-gamer mum for a few months at one point! Much like word-based RPGs, the pachinko genre is one that always gets my britches twitchin’, and I can’t seem to turn down the chance to play and talk about them.

Peglin begins with your initial character – a little goblin (possible the titular ‘Peglin’, thinking about it) – taking a rogue-like path through various stages. It’s all about how the balls fall, you’ll find treasure, upgrades, stores, random encounters, and of course – enemies to thwart. 

Beyond the Ice Palace 2 Xbox Series X Review 6.5/10 "Worth a go if you go mental for this stuff" ⚔️ @PQubeGames #GameDev #IndieGame

Beyond the Ice Palace 2 has a heritage longer than many people reading this have been alive. The original BTIP was released in the Stone Age (1988) for the first mass-market home computers, including the Commodore siblings C64 and Amiga, the Atari ST and the ZX Spectrum. You take the role of the Cursed King, champion of the gods, raised from the dead in order to whip and grapple your way through your decaying kingdom.

9th Dawn Remake Xbox Series X Review 9/10 "A Glorious CRPG that kept me coming back for more"⚔️🛡️🧙‍♂️ @Valorware #Retrogaming #IndieGame #GameDev

Five years ago I covered 9th Dawn III: Shadow of Erthil, and whilst I had a good time with it, there were some issues that chipped away at the fun somewhat. Although this is a remake of the first game in the series (which I haven’t previously played), there’s a freshness and tightness to the experience that really makes this stand out from the crowd, and especially when compared to the 3rd title in the series, with a lot of issues ironed out, and more accessibility and snugness in the design whilst also feeling incredibly expansive and very rewarding in terms of exploration.

Is This Game Trying To Kill Me? X Box Series X Review 8.5/10 "a glorious blend of horror, intrigue, and puzzles." ☠️🗡️ @StatelySnail #IndieGame #GameDev

I’m a big fan of escape room games when they are done well. It’s all too easy to dig into one with a friend or two, before finding in short order out that the puzzles are either tedious or far too abstract – not so here! Is This Game Trying To Kill Me? Is one of the best escape room style ventures I’ve embarked on for quite a while, with a neat central premise and a well-balanced tone that gives it character without being all doom and gloom, there’s humour in the game, alongside a few well-timed jump scares!