Changing Tides expands on Lone Sails in almost every way - it's longer, there are more elements of your vehicle to control and it utilises the Y axis a lot more thanks to the addition of both your wanderer and vehicle being able to dive.

In ways it makes the journey feel more epic than before - you traverse more ground, fight larger storms while also dealing with being thrown around by rough waters. The puzzles you deal with feel more involved than in Lone Sails, and as such feel more satisfying to pass through.

In others it accentuates the negatives. Some of the longer traversal sections between locations go on for too long, and the eerie serenity of the first game is diluted a little as you need to multitask more often which has the knock on effect of physical hazards almost appearing out of nowhere with little chance to avoid collision. Thankfully the punishment for this isn't too extreme, perhaps more lenient this time round but it can disrupt your flow a touch.

But at the end of the day, it's more FAR. If you liked the firs one, I'm almost certain you'll enjoy this. It's the truest of video game sequels really - take the first game and do it again, but bigger. Is Changing Tides better than its predecessor? Not quite but it's definitely more and that's not a terrible thing.

I don't think I've mentally flitted around so much in my opinion of a game over 100 hours of playtime but after everything from hatred and exasperation to respect and admiration I've ended up feeling pretty positive indeed on my experience.

It's a hard game, and one I didn't think I'd particularly enjoy especially having bounced off Demon's Souls and Bloodborne quite heavily, but maybe it was the fact that I actually spent money on this (rather than getting it as a 'freebie' through PS Plus) but I persevered and had myself a good time. The feeling of satisfaction when you finally beat a boss is honestly hard to match, and the critical path 'dungeons' are easily the best part of the game - it makes me think that I need to give these previous games (and the Dark Souls series in general) another shake.

Did the open world help here? Maybe - I'm not sure it necessarily added that much to what was on offer other than having somewhere else to go if you got stuck, and I also don't think it's a particularly well designed one, but there were enough interesting places to discover that I went off the beaten track more times that I expected to. As for the story and lore of the world though, I was left underwhelmed - it was fine, but I knew I wasn't getting invested in the hows and whys of the main 'story' or the sidequests.

At the end of the day though, I was surprised. Surprised that I'd had such a good time after dying a lot and having to deal with a lot of minor frustrations caused by seemingly purposefully obtuse design decisions. Despite going through phases of loving and hating the game in equal measure at various points, when it works, Elden Ring is a great experience.

GT7 is frustrating and fun in equal measure. For every exhilarating race, there's a questionable design decision sitting somewhere waiting to pounce on you.

Cars feel great to drive, but some classic tracks have been changed a bit too much, losing their unique identities in the process. You're given interesting and challenging missions to complete, but also have to deal with a neutered campaign that sees you play a cafe customer being talked to by cardboard cutouts more than a driver.

As a return to the classic GT single player CaRPG then, it's quite disappointing. But then you get into Sport mode and everything changes - nothing quite beats the thrill of driving against real people and the races really do feel exciting even if you're only fighting over 13th place. Annoyances still exist - even here you're stuck with too many rolling starts, and the handing out of penalties is inconsistent at best - but it's easily the game's biggest strength.

The economy, microstransactions and economy are a whole other story which I won't get into properly as it doesn't really affect me too much as getting every car isn't what I care about that much in these games - but suffice to say that I still think they've become way too stingy with payouts and cynically so, it's all to railroad you to Spend More Money.

But I keep coming back. 70 hours and counting, dipping into new Sport races as they pop up and honing my skills. Will I keep at it? Possibly not, but it's a very easy game to dip into once you've got through the main single player side of things and honestly, these cars feel great to drive.

Combat is probably the weakest part of Tunic - it's fine but there's a bit too much of it and it doesn't really do anything to stand out barring a few unwelcome difficulty spikes.

Everything aside from the combat is absolutely terrific. An interlinking world full of secrets, puzzles and secret puzzles that you're guided through with an in-game manual (missing a lot of pages) using its own translatable language that provides some guidance on what to do next and cryptic hints to find hidden areas and items.

It requires some brain power, and I'd also highly recommend a notepad at points but if you put the time in to investigate those clues and search for hidden trinkets, Tunic really shines. It's interesting to wonder whether this game would have been better with less combat (or even none at all) and instead focused on something else, maybe more environmental puzzles and traps along the critical path, but I can only really judge what I played and even having to endure the combat, I was captivated

Despite having fun swatting away at shuttlecocks and trying to get just the right amount of spin on the ball as I try to send those ten smug pins into oblivion, I can't help but feel disappointed by what's actually on offer here. Calling it barebones feels harsh to skeletons.

As mentioned I've had a great time with Badminton and Bowling, and the basics of Chambara are pretty solid as well but the other three sports haven't really grabbed me - the route they've gone down with Soccer is fine but it all feels too slow, Volleyball ends up feeling a bit boring and Tennis just feels off, not mention the fact that it's locked to doubles-only.

I might have been okay with only really getting on with half the sports here if there was some depth to them but sadly the options available are severely lacking, and it's especially sad that there's not even a hint of local single player progression. I would have thought even following the basics of Wii Sports Resort would be the baseline but Nintendo have focused almost 100% on the online side. I can't blame them I suppose, it's just incredibly disappointing for anyone wanting just a tiny but more than playing a single game and moving on. Even something as small as adding stats (W/L records, time played in each sport or whatnot) would have been nice.

But then when it works, it really is fun. I mentioned it earlier, but Badminton really works and feels a lot different to the other net sports included, which I know was a worry for some. It's fast and frantic with a nice little tactical element when it comes to when and where you place your drop shots during the rally and on the court itself. I just wish I could do more with it than just play a 5 point game against people online of one of three set AIs ad infinitum.

A mixed bag really. The setting and cultural subject matter aren't your usual fare, focusing on and telling stories from Hindu mythology which are narrated (along with the main story) really quite compellingly by
Durga and Vishnu. I also really appreciate the design of the world and while the platforming can be standard fare, the game always manages to look good while you're traversing temples, jungles and deserts.

On the flip side though there's the combat, which is fine but there's not a lot of weight to your actions and hitboxes can be a little all over the shop. There are attempts to vary up encounters with different weapons and choosing which elements are assigned to them, but it doesn't really change much as you end up getting into repetitive spam fights quite regularly.

As mentioned earlier, I really quite enjoyed being told the various stories in the game, the main one is slightly basic, and there are far too many times where climactic-looking events just happen and you're thrown into a completely different section of the game. And while I don't mind where the game's main story ends up going, it ends far too abruptly.

There's a more to Supraland than meets the eye - on first glance you might get hints of a Steam asset swap special but persevere just a few minutes and you realise you're in for a bit of a treat as you leave your little town and fully enter a literal sandbox filled with puzzles and platforming. You're handed upgrades at a steady pace and the challenge ramps up at a decent rate while you explore a surprisingly intricate and aesthetically pleasing world.

Unfortunately, the last couple of hours were a bit of a slog to get through thanks to an increased level of already pretty tedious combat towards the end of the game. This was amplified a little by something outside of the game's control - illness - and my patience definitely started to wear thin when I reached a massive difficulty spike just before the final boss. I also had a glitch where a very important environmental asset just would not load at all, so had to Macgyver my way around that which was way too mentally taxing for the state I was in.

But it seems harsh to criticise a game for me being unwell - I still had a good time with Supraland overall and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a 3D Metroidvania puzzle fix. You just need to be aware that it's a much longer game than it might look on the surface