Games

The highs are high but the lows are low. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is persistent mix of satisfaction and disappointment, of potential and eventual failure. A great premise is thrown to the wayside, replaced with a confused and unsatisfying narrative focus where plot ploughs through all else. Combat and music

It's a classic setup: You can inherit a stately home but under a strict condition. In Blue Prince, that condition is make it to room 46, that's room 46 in a mansion where – as you can see from the blueprints – there is only space for 45

In positive and negative ways, South of Midnight feels like a very pretty PS2 game. Admittedly, the art design is stunning, and is underpinned by technical chops; it’s the act of playing it that will take you back. A linear, action adventure game that’s heavy on simple platforming

This latest RPG from Obsidian feels very familiar. In reductive terms, it's an amalgamation of a lot of popular, modern Western RPGS. The first person perspective, with a focus on combat and exploration, brings Elder Scrolls to mind (a breezy, colourful fantasy world that's more Oblivion

You can just dig. Forget the sandbox, this is a mudbox: a limited environment but one that offers impressive freedom in specific restraints. It is an exercise in pure game mechanics where you have one key verb and you execute it.

2018's Monster Hunter: World felt like a realisation moment for the franchise. Though it streamlined certain elements, and while I'd personally still take the Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate over it, the execution cemented it as a real step forwards. The base structure of Monster Hunter, still