The 'Smooth Moves' sequel we deserve. Insanely wacky, ridiculously fast and hilariously fun - as WarioWare should be! Some of the forms are a little cumbersome to pull off in such short spaces of time (particularly "Pounce" and "Hand Model"), and occasionally the motion controls become unresponsive during the more frantic moments. But damn, I love this series! The characters are vibrant, the colours are popping and the microgames never fail to make me smile. Now time to get some more high-scores...

Puzzling meets philosophy, but now with a personal journey attached...

Probably the best first-person puzzling adventure since 'Portal 2', which is damn high comparison considering Valve's sequel is pretty much gaming perfection. The philosophical intrigue is captivating through every recording, note and now a charismatic team of explorers wanting to uncover the secrets of their civilisation. The array of trials and puzzles - generally testing perception, spatial awareness and logical thinking - remain similar to its predecessor but with a bigger expansion of mechanics. From RGB converters to accumulators and actuators, each new vast yet unique area of the twelve that are explorable test these newly added mechanics to their maximum. The puzzling difficulty ramps up exquisitely without feeling illogically impossible. But the real beauty is how the puzzles, towers and trials all thematically and narratively link to the central megastructure that the team are attempting to enter. Myths, Gods and existentialism. Grand ideas matching the enormity of these towering structures - seriously the scale is huge! Also one of the best looking games I've played!

The core premise remains the same, yet the are so many polished enhancements that make the storytelling, puzzling and general adventuring one of the most alluring gaming experiences of the past decade or so.

"If a fool persists in his folly, he becomes wise".

Rock-climbing has never been so majestic! You really get a sense of scale, starting all the way at the bottom of the immeasurable formation and gradually, stone by stone, you escalate its enormity. The minimalistic narrative is just beautiful and absolutely cements itself as one of the most stunning indie games of the year. The controls are tight too, controlling each arm independently to grab each ledge - really makes it feel as if you are the one climbing this impossible task. Each chapter introduces a new environment and new mechanics that keep the climbing fresh and engaging, with lore collectibles spread out effectively.

It's just too short, unfairly so! Climbed to the top in under 3 hours, and I really didn't want it to end. Very reminiscent of 'Rime' and 'Journey' in the minimalistic adventuring, but one that really has weight to its shoulders. Each grip is a hand closer to saving a dried up world, and I'd happily take on the challenge again.

Oh, and the score is spellbindingly gorgeous. Really elevates the fantastical world of Jusant.

A first-person 'Forager' - with a much nicer lead developer who doesn't blame their team (just sayin'...).

Addictive crafting/automation gameplay with great progression milestones, fifty unique skills and a plethora of items to gather. You'll start off with just your bare hands, but give it ten hours and you'll be gliding around the skies firing projectiles from a magical wand. Decimating islands of their resources as you work on crafting the next powerful tool. Great base building too with a unique passive island system that disables/enables resources from generating.

Relaxing, simple and above all else...fun!

A world within a world within a world within a world. A metamorphosis of ingenious puzzle design that encompasses the environments of several different locales simultaneously. Much like Atlas with the globe on his back, this little insect carries one world at a time to find the meaning of his existence. Through dusty canyons, dank swamps and fleshy vessels, the gradual progression of the "world within world" mechanic grows so much to a point where you're solving puzzles through five different worlds - all working symbiotically. Each gifting unique abilities that can only be harnessed by carrying that particular world. The sheer ingenuity and imagination to even conceive these puzzling realms - let alone constantly pushing the boundaries of what you can do with them (recursive world loopholes becomes a thing...) - it's quite honestly perfect game design.

The story is vibey, where the environmental visuals and boss fights do more of the storytelling than actual words. The sound design is masterful. Seriously, the otherworldly audio is a strong contender for the best of the year. Moon Ancestors are neatly hidden in crevices for an extra challenge of unlocking additional lore.

The selfish gamer within would've requested a longer game, but at the risk of making the mechanics redundant or boring? It's not worth it. At just over 3 hours long, this is categorically the best indie game of the year and one of the most refreshing puzzlers available. Hot damn, I want to jump into more worlds!

"This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween! HALLOWEEN!". Basically if 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' was a PS2-era 3D platformer and Jack Skellington was a pumpkin scarecrow...thing. There's a tangible nostalgia to the way the linear levels are designed. No massive open-world designs, no hub worlds. Just level after level after level. It's simply a short, sweet and amusing platforming adventure - nothing more. But then again, it doesn't try to be anything else but that, and that's why it succeeds for the most part. Collectible crow skulls throughout each level to unlock cosmetics, and gramophones for music. Again, straight to the point. No upgrades or skill trees. Just jump, hit and run. Kinda refreshing when you think about it!

The combat however is downright tedious. Smack smack smack, occasionally dodge, smack smack smack. That's it. There's no variety despite six weapons being available. Literally a shotgun behaves the exact same way as a scythe, and when most of segments separating the platforming areas are combat heavy...ehhh, it's not twisting my pumpkins (if you catch my Halloweeny drift). The puzzle minigames, which are played through Jack's detached pumpkin head, are far too basic to be enjoyable as well.

Aside from that though, it's got that Halloweeny atmosphere that makes it super suitable for a quick and easy October adventure. The six levels (each taking roughly 30 minutes to complete) have plenty of variance, from their environment to the speedy sequences (minecarts, ghost horses, gargoyles etc.), and it genuinely has charm. Just, y'know, the pumpkin needed more carving. It's more of a treat than trick. It puts the "boo" in "boogeyman"...okay, I'm done.

Who is hungry for a fruit vomit, rotten egg, used tampon, antibiotic, cholesterol-filled pie? Anyone? Well you should be, because Hell Pie swings its way to the pantheon of "great, but not perfect" 3D platformers. Using your shackled cherub as a swinging mechanic sums up the level of humour presented. Occasionally juvenile, but downright hellish and disgusting...loved it! Think 'Conker's Bad Fur Day' meets 'A Hat in Time'.

Linear levels are separated by sizeable hub worlds which are separated by Sin Inc. - Satan's building of operations. All are filled with plenty of collectibles, refreshing gimmicks and typically humorous environments - from poopy sewers to the bowels of a beached whale-turned-restaurant. The linear levels really begin to plateau around the halfway mark and the level designs themselves start to diminish, particularly the Jungle levels which looked plain and forgettable. Aside from the final boss and Gluttony (literally the only two boss fights), there was a real lack of skilled challenge from a combat perspective which, given many of the punchy punchy upgrades, kinda feels pointless.

Fortunately the platforming, exploration and collecting are fun enough to make your visit to hell pretty damn memorable. Oh and the outfits are cute. C'mon BDSM!

'Ratatouille', but instead of wanting to be a chef, a rodent wants to help humans with kindness through the power of electricity, baby! Cute narrative-driven 3D "platformer" that rather frustratingly takes away the ability to jump. Instead it's climbing ledges, fences and falling to one's death (though this mouse just cannot and will not die). Fortunately the traversal is quick and fluid so the lack of jumping isn't missed too much.

It lacks polish here and there - particularly the animation and textures of the mouse you control - and is relatively short to fully complete. Yet there's a sweetness to the story and charm to the "Kibblins" you assist that makes for a cutesy adventure. Plenty of collectibles, good environments, refreshing puzzles and helpful in-game upgrades that make collecting all those lightbulbs nice and relaxing.

Build, drive...and smash! Open-world sandbox driving games are my drifting jams (so to speak...). I can spend literal hours just driving around doing absolutely nothing, and much like the 'Forza Horizon 4' LEGO DLC, that is exactly the strength I was looking for in LEGO 2K Drive. The four open-world(s) are filled with collectibles, challenges, races and even annoying weed whacking activities that then grant you boost bonuses in actual races. The building mechanic was great with the unlockable bricks and styles you gain as you level up. The driving was tight, particularly drifting and quick-turns. And even the races themselves were designed well enough to warrant replays.

However, the main enemy that most kart racing games face is the infamous rubber-banding of AI racers. Oh damn, it is obnoxious here. They seemingly have endless turbo to the point where even if you are super skilled and somehow amounted a ten second gap between first and second place, believe me they will quickly catch up to you. Rather inexplicably I must say. It makes for frustrating victories and losses when the rubber-banding essentially telegraphs the outcome of each race (they slow down during the final lap...).

The disgusting micro-transactions for what is essentially a kids game is inexcusable. However, and this is a polite however, it's not that aggressive and earning currency in-game is fairly easy to obtain. Overall though, impressively solid despite what the mixed reception claims.

A surprisingly sad journey into ethnic dilution and cultural identity. Playing out like a visual novel, the personable story is the attraction here as we uncover the highs and lows of an Indian family who have immigrated to Canada. How a child growing up in a foreign country feels apprehensive about displaying their ethnic background, only to soon realise that they should've embraced the culture their parents bestowed upon them all those years ago. It's actually really moving.

Player interaction comes from cooking and learning about South-Indian cuisine in between the narrative time jumps. While these little puzzles are presented with such authenticity, they are perhaps too basic and limited in the mechanical department. It's basically clicking ingredients in the right order. Now I'm not expecting 'Cooking Mama' level of chopping ingredients, stirring broths etc. but to really sell this as an interactive experience it just needed more involvement. Due to how short the story is - exacerbated by the fleeting time jumps which can diminish the core emotion - it just about gets away with it.

Delectably tender in the middle, but undercooked round the edges.

'Rhythm Heaven' for the mellow-minded. Soft swings to the ticking tempo of a metronome, Melatonin is a collection of highly polished rhythm minigames that seek to get your feet tapping to the beat. Each of the twelve minigames are vastly different with a unique mechanic, whether that be holding a button and releasing it to the right beat or quickly tapping in succession, and imbue the surrealism of our dreams. Dreaming about our past is represented by burning photographs, where each sized polaroid film indicates a different beat. Imagining about social media followers (because there are some bleak people out there who do...) gets you jumping between apps while you maintain the tempo.

They all fit this lo-fi aesthetic beautifully and really come together in the climactic chapter remix levels, constantly switching between the minigames you just played in one track. Hard mode really adds to that intensity! It's constantly fun despite how aggressively short it is (gimme more!) but the target of achieving perfect scores may entice you to become a rhythm master. You can also create your own levels with your own songs!

Taking photographs have never been so dimensionally interesting before! Click click, snap, place a photograph and BAM all of its content and layers are now in the tangible third dimension. It makes for some very intuitive puzzles and solutions, from negative space to MC Escher illusions. The mechanics progress and evolve with such great pacing that each level rarely feels recycled, and for a short narrative puzzle game that's quite the achievement.

Unfortunately, yes, it's far too short (and somewhat overpriced for its length). All that unique creativity easily could've been stretched out to a decently sized 6-8 hour adventure. And then there's the stupid final level that decided to include a 5-minute timer to solve 9 puzzles in a row. Timer in a casual puzzle game? Na-uh! It's not a well-reasoned "difficulty spike" that tests your understanding of the mechanics, it's just a gimmick to make you stress in a exploratory casual game. Not needed.

It found a view, but needed to really paint more of its interesting puzzle designs into the picture.

"Activating Combat Mode".
"Conflict Resolved".
"Activating Combat Mode".
"Conflict Resolved".
"Activating Combat Mode".
"Conflict Resolved".

Banging remaster of quite possibly the best PSP game of all-time. DMW is now active, graphics got a serious lick of paint (aside from some pre-rendered cutscenes) and just really is a testament to how well Crisis Core has aged. Sure some of the linearity and constant random battles slowly become annoying - though fortunately they're all fast-paced - and the third act dips narratively. But it all just slaps harder than Zack's thighs as he's squatting in Costa Del Sol. A ridiculous amount of side-missions, great story that builds upon FFVII and the Shakespearean nature of this tragedy imitates the poetry of LOVELESS.

So glad we got Reunion!