Mick Fraser's Reviews
Dave the Diver on Nintendo Switch is a game that thoroughly deserves your attention, even in an already packed year of classics.
You'll suffer hundreds of deaths in Ghostrunner 2, but every single one is worth it to move you forward step-by-bloody-step.
While it does struggle under the weight of its own ambition a little, Cities: Skylines II is still a super addictive city sim.
Endless Dungeon is a fantastic roguelike with beautiful visuals, a charming cast of heroes, genuine humour, and a comprehensive, well-designed meta-game.
Lords of the Fallen is an enjoyable, challenging game, and the aesthetics are out of this world, but it suffers at times from a lack of focus.
Assassin's Creed Mirage is perfectly serviceable and will certainly scratch an itch for major fans - though it's arguably not a bad entry point for newcomers either.
Station to Station is an enjoyable, likable railway builder with a beautiful art style and a charming soundtrack.
Knight vs Giant: The Broken Excalibur is bright and fun, but drips-feeds new skills and weapons far too slowly.
If its level of challenge is your bag, you'll have a great time with The Lamplighters League. If not, then the easy charm and likable characters might justwin you over anyway.
Regardless of its outward simplicity and colourful art style, Silent Hope is a really fun, rewarding and likable game.
Payday 3 is designed around those emergent moments that only come with friends, when you're trying desperately to stay in control.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is a masterclass in how to develop DLC. It slots in and out of the main story seamlessly but still manages to feel utterly essential and compelling.
Summum Aeterna is a decent roguelike adventure with a great aesthetic and superb music, but its gameplay loop and protagonist left me a little cold.
By all accounts Gloomhaven does a solid job of translating what's apparently a very deep and complex TTRPG to video game format.
Synced combines simple storytelling with effective shooting, interesting powers and a fantastic, almost roguelite, upgrade system.
Lies of P is a staggering achievement for Neowiz, and one of the very best "non-FromSoft" Soulslikes I've ever played.
Mythforce sounds pretty good on paper, featuring a team of mythic heroes questing to take down a dark lord and his minions.
Super Bomberman R 2 is as fun to play against people locally or globally as it ever was, but the story mode is a little dull.
Warstride Challenges is immensely compelling and endlessly fun - and an absolute must-play for FPS fans.
Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy is just as beautiful as the series ever was, and the same charm is present and correct, but it's definitely beginning to wear a little thin.