I just rolled credits on The Plucky Squire.
Despite agreeing with the common criticisms of the game (uneven pacing, overly simple combat, hand-holding) I did enjoy my time with it. It’s gorgeous and charming, and often delightful, and that goes a long way with me.
If you’ve been playing it you may have felt that the game introduces a few gameplay itches that it ultimately doesn’t quite scratch. With in mind, here’s a list of four games you should absolutely look at playing next…
Announced today at THQ Nordic’s digital showcase, this game looks stunning – like a twisted mishmash of Rayman, OlliOlli World and Cuphead.
We wanted to make an uncompromising 2D game of amazing beauty, so we went back to the genre’s roots and took the most difficult path possible – meticulously drawn, colored and animated by hand using classic frame-by-frame techniques. We didn’t cut any corners, and the results are worth it.
In The Eternal Life of Goldman, no two rooms or landscapes are alike. Every place, every object, every character, every visual effect — everything is carefully planned and executed to the finest detail.
The studio describes the game as challenging but not gruelling, with no backtracking – so expect a more traditional platformer rather than a metroidvania.
Bonus from THQ Nordic: Tarsier Studios (Little Nightmares 1 & 2) tease a new game to be announced at Gamescom.
Flintlock seems to be doing well on Xbox, sneaking up the Game Pass and Most Popular charts.
I’m about 90 mins in, and my experience so far echos the impressions I’ve read from moots on Bluesky/Threads.
Overall it feels slightly janky, a little overambitious, a game that perhaps doesn’t quite add up to more than the sum of its parts, with occassional clunky combat or inaccurate traversal.
And yet… the further I progress, the more the core gameplay starts to slowly expand, with more combat variety appearing through skill-unlocks and upgrades. Exploration also becomes moreish over time, with loot discoveries and upgrade/currency collectibles hidden in various nooks and crannies.
I’ve been playing Dungeons of Hinterberg and Neon White recently, but Flintlock is getting its claws into me more than I expected – I’ll almost certainly complete a full playthrough. More soon…
Several former EA developers, including former Visceral Games GM Scott Probst, have formed a new studio to make a spiritual successor to NBA Street — the beloved 3v3 street basketball series released back in the early 2000s.
Titled The Run: Got Next, the new project developed by Play by Play Studios is a “character-driven, full court 3v3 hoops game that celebrates the attitude, style, and skills of streetball culture” developed in Unreal Engine 5, with players stringing together an extended winning streak against opponents either solo or with friends online (discussions are “ongoing” about whether it will include a complete offline mode). Similar to roguelites like Balatro, players will be able to visit a shop between games to acquire “items, sponsors, abilities, kicks, and more.”
– IGN
The world is ready for an NBA Street successor, imo – but, to be frank, the online-only rogue-ish concept feels like a wobbly approach to me.
Will keep an eye on this one, but the announcement is unconvincing.
(Awful name too, jebus).
Well, I definitely waited way too long to play this game.
While you can fairly level a few criticisms at the game (an uninteresting skill tree, not enough definition in the weapon variety, the ending?) it’s an excellent game.
More and more, I tend to vibe with a game based on how well-realised the world is, or how close the developers hit the mark with what they “were going for”. Control oozes style – a sense of place, mood and tone. And the game gives the spaces a reason-to-be with kinetic satisfying combat.
Highly recommended.
Watch after playing:
“Brutalist buildings have a tendency to loom. They’ve got too many windows, or none windows…”
Simone de Rochefort – Polygon
I started, then bounced off Control back when the Ultimate Edition first went on sale.
At the time, I recall, there was a dire lack of save points in the game – which meant early on when I found a difficult room, I had to run down 8 hallways to get back to the death-room just to die all over again.
Maybe I was getting frustrated, or maybe I was just worse at gaming (probably both), but that experience was enough to send me looking for something else to play.
So after I finished Jedi Survivor I decided to forgo the enticing call of Diablo IV and head to The Oldest House instead.
Well, I love it.
It’s conceptually deep, with fun combat and a unique way of presenting the world. It’s probably my favourite game I’ve played this year so far.
Let’s see how it holds up.
Combat, movement, romance, drama – everything about Survivor was dialed up from Fallen Order.
The levels are excellent, both in design and dressing, with gorgeous textures, foliage and lighting. Combat is tight and responsive, with much better boss balancing as compared to Fallen Order. Story and production are top-tier, which incredible music and sound, and wonderful performances.
The only real shame was performance. I played 30fps for the vast majority of the game, which took a little getting used to, but to me fell more immersive. Even then certain areas on Koboh absolutely chug, and I switched to 60fps for the final bosses (no spoilers).
Jedi: Survivor is up there for me in the best game I’ve played this year – it’ll definitely be on my top ten. Highly recommended!
Planet of Lana wears it influences on its sleeve, and while I don’t think it reaches the highest highs of Playground’s INSIDE, the fact that you can fairly compare the two is a huge compliment to Wishfully Studios – made even more impressive by the fact it’s their first game.
Planet of Lana is a genuinely polished experience – it’s well paced, beautifully art directed and staged, wonderfully scored. The story and acting are simple but very effective, with the gameplay journey propelling you towards an emotionally resonant conclusion via puzzles, traversal and cinematic moments.
Recommended: Luke Lohr’s interview with Creative Director, Adam Stjärnljus has some fantastic insight into the game’s development, including composer Takeshi Furukawa emailing him out of the blue to discuss scoring the game (Adam initially thought it was a hoax).
Planet of Lana wears it’s inspirations on its sleeve, but isn’t bound by them.
As a huge (huge) fan of INSIDE and the Ori games, I wondered if PoL wouldn’t quite do enough to break free of the outrageous standard of quality and polish those games have set the genre. And while it doesn’t quite hit those lofty heights, in my experience so far it is at least in the conversation, which is a huge compliment.
Dense but clear environments, a wonderful soundscape, and thoughtful level design are the standouts so far. I wondered if the puzzling would end up overly simplistic or stale, but the first full cave section has alleviated my worries.
I’ll likely complete Planet of Lana in the next day or two. More soon…
Like what I assume is half the world, I’m playing Jedi Survivor at the moment.
It’s incredible, taking everything from Fallen Order and dialling it up to 11 – the action, presentation, cutscenes, systems, stories, animation, environments. It’s very, very impressive.
I’m playing at 30fps, quality mode. It does take some time to get used to, but the presentation is fantastic, the frame rate is solid, and UE4’s motion blur helps a lot.
I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this one.