Tabla de contenidos para #338 (November) en PSX Extreme

To get a broader view of who actually bought Electronic Arts, we must mention that behind the $55 billion acquisition is not the aforementioned prince of darkness, but a consortium consisting of three investors: Silver Lake Management, Affinity Partners and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. The biggest moral doubts arise with the last-mentioned entity. The fund was established in 1971 to invest funds on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government, and its chairman is the heir to the throne, the aforementioned Mohammed bin Salman, for many years the de facto ruler of the country with its capital in Riyadh. On the one hand, this is a man who helped in talks related to the surrender of children kidnapped in the Ukrainian-Russian war, and under whose rule women…

When Ryu Ga Gotoku takes on a challenge, they do it with aplomb. The studio knows that Yakuza 3 is the least popular installment in the history of the gangster franchise (Roger: I do!). Therefore, alongside the upcoming remake, the team is throwing in a standalone game developed from scratch, which will allow you to follow the adventures of one of the most interesting characters in the IP’s history. The Yakuza 3 remake is a massive undertaking. In addition to significantly updated graphics, the studio has made numerous adjustments to the side missions. Previously tedious missions have either been scrapped altogether or thoroughly redesigned to prevent anyone from complaining about them being boring (and the uneven Yakuza 3 unfortunately had a lot on its conscience in this regard). In doing…

Forty-five years ago, a small yellow ball ate ghosts, coins and our childhood. Today, that same ball is back to eat something else – our wallets. To celebrate Pac-Man's 45th birthday, Atari decided to release the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition. Cute! At first glance, the console looks proud, as the intense yellow makes quite an impression in person. The case tries to pretend to be wood in places, but unlike the console from the 1980s, the entire case is made of plastic. However, one has to admit that Atari has made an effort. The construction looks solid, and the souls and Pac-Man itself have been perfectly accentuated on the front of the console. Of course, the Atari 2600+ is not for "modern gamers." It's a console for those who remember…

The Call of Duty brand has been doing just fine for several years now, basking in luxuries like a doughnut in butter. The sales results speak for themselves, despite the widespread reprimand, and an iron-fisted electorate consistently votes with their wallets. This gives a boost to the manufacturers to maintain a secure position when designing the next installments of the series, especially since the competition regularly self-ploughs. I am thinking of both Battlefield 2042 and inventions like XDefiant, Concord and Halo. Fortnite, PUBG or Apex Legends, on the other hand, are a different tale, and many revered brands have gone to sleep as well (Killzone and Resistance, for example). For this reason, you fire up Black Ops 7 and feel at home: familiar interface, familiar mechanics, movement and gunplay. Over…

Sometimes a modest independent studio will appear, whose members, like cooks, will cook a game that is like soup – warm and tasty. I wouldn't use this comparison if it weren't for the context of the reviewed SOPA: A Tale the Stolen Potato, a production that takes us to a world of a long-gone childhood, when humble outings and simple activities seemed like a great adventure. StudioBan-do used a colorful, friendly style to offer an interesting, albeit brief, experience. The main character, a boy named Miho, is not fond of eating soups. He is asked to bring potatoes from the pantry so that Nana can cook a delicious soup. When he gets there, the whole bag is stolen by a mean frog, and Miho decides to retrieve the coveted vegetables. The…

If I had to sum up Bye Sweet Carole in one sentence, it would read as follows: it's a beautifully drawn and animated "game" that's a pleasure to play through on YouTube. Unfortunately, like several other indie titles based mainly on looks and artistry, Bye Sweet Carole is saved in the long run only by the audiovisual setting. The gameplay, on the other hand, is a kind of time capsule that reminds us what the success of Dragon's Lair was all about. Everything here, from the first screen to the last frame of animation, is a feast for the eyes, as if Don Bluth was responsible for the animation. It looks beautiful, basically like an interactive animated film from the days of traditional hand-drawn animation. We have a color scheme,…

When Embracer Group acquired Tarsier Studios, only without the rights to the Little Nightmares series (those remained with Bandai Namco), there were two possibilities – a macabre game about honored children would either die the death of brands for which the publisher without the original creators has no idea, or another studio would be found that understood the philosophy of the previous parts, which were surrounded by a cult following. Fortunately, the second scenario has come true – in part, but more on that shortly. The Tarsier magicians sat down to their own project called Reanimal, and the Little Nightmares series came under the wings of Supermassive Games – a team that is up to date with horror. The first and basically the only major change from the one and…

There was once such a game, what was called Black & White, whose author was the controversial Peter Molyneux. Well, it was a visionary production, innovative and in its time (that is, a quarter of a century ago) unprecedented. For here was a player who could impersonate God and decide the fate of the little ones, demand sacrifices and be a harsh master or, on the contrary, help people develop so that they lived in happiness and bliss. Reus, which was released in 2013, was a kind of heir to this idea. This time, directing not a deity, but powerful giants, we shaped the ecosystem of a fictional planet. The idea remained similar, although the accents were distributed slightly differently – in Reus, nature and balance play a more important…

My beard has already turned gray, but I can't recall a game that, like Baby Steps, caused a mixture of frustration, fulfillment and satisfaction from reachingnew heights. On top of that, it's based solely on an activity we subconsciously perform in games and everyday life – walking. Especially since it's also a satirical commentary on life. And what about the fact that in discovering it we are accompanied by, among other things, an anthropomorphic donkey with his appendage on top? We take the title steps by lifting each leg separately. We use the left and right triggers to do this, with the left knob indicating where the character will place his foot when we let go of it. This, combined with the relentless "rag doll" physics and environmental obstacles, makes…

Humanity has screwed something up again, and the sinister AI that led to the extinction of the Sun is now about to take on other systems in space. As you may have guessed – only we can stop it. This is briefly the plot of Godbreakers, which is secondary here anyway. The main question for the production from To The Sky is different. Namely, did ,,Godbreakers," following the example of Kratos, do an overhaul in the pantheon of the rougelike genre, or did it stand on reinventing the wheel? Focusing on what is the salt of the genre, i.e. combat, one must admit that Godbreakers performs very solidly. Skirmishes are characterized by a balanced pace and good dynamics. There are three types of attacks to choose from – a fast…

Steven Spielberg in 1993 showed us how thin the line between science and madness is, and Frontier Developments studio decided to once again convince players that "life will find a way," even if it blows up half a park and eats a few tourists along the way. I spent nearly 200 hours with the second part of the World Evolution series. And I already know that it will be the same with the third. The new installment of the series is no revolution, but a clear step forward. The campaign, while still bearing traces of "tutorial DNA," grows like a herd of triceratops in a freshly opened pasture. The player is thrown into a global vortex of events – from Montana, Las Vegas and Hawaii to Japan and Papua New…

Are you also fed up with the Disney-esque gentrified atmosphere of the new Dragon Age? If so, get into the world of The Outer Worlds 2. Here, in addition to the savior of the world, you can also become an arrogant asshole. And have fun doing it. Space anomalies, three warring factions, blah, blah, blah. You've heard it hundreds of times. The recently colonized Utopia is in crisis, and the player arrives on the scene to embrace the situation. There's no need to dwell on this plot introduction at length. What's really interesting about the new Obsidian story is that you can pass more quests, offend everyone around you, and even become a sociopath and merciless murderer. New Megatona Not to be lip service: the authors of The Outer Worlds…

Some people think (you got it, Roger!) that typical American racing is essentially driving around in circles. But that's not entirely true. In IndyCar, for example, we have a mix of oval, street and classic tracks, while in NASCAR, although the former predominate, part of the calendar is made up of more traditional venues, where corner entry technique matters quite a bit – and yes, you turn both ways on them. Take, for example, such a Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Of course, this is not racing on the level of Formula 1 or the aforementioned Indy, it's more of a contact sport (mizzling others with a bumper is even advisable) and entertainment to make eating hot dogs while camping in the stands more pleasant. However, it is a competition…

According to the official description, KAKU: Ancient Seal should have a combat system that we tailor to our own liking, an epic storyline, an open world and intriguing puzzles. Unfortunately, this is more wishful thinking than reality. Combat is dull and practically undemanding, not counting a few bosses that are done in soulslike fashion. Stamina and similar elements are here only because it's popular. The epic story may be of interest to someone who has never played anything, read anything or seen anything. A typical generic story that, in addition, suffers from a translation done by some automaton, because often you don't quite know what it's about and sentences break off. Seemingly, you shouldn't demand much from a small studio, but at this stage it doesn't matter to me, a…

The first installment of Lost Eidolons was a tactical RPG that combined two styles of game development: western and Japanese. Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch follows a similar path, but adds something from itself – roguelite elements. The game mentioned in the introduction can be considered both a sequel to the one and its spin-off, as it tells a completely different story. We play a character named Ashe (gender we choose ourselves) suffering from amnesia, who, trapped on an island, must regain her memories. We are assisted in this work by the witch Sable, who constantly resurrects the protagonist after death. Well, the plot as a whole is stiff, but it manages to attract with a dark story and interesting, loose dialogues and close relationships between characters. However, it…

The combination of Dungeons and Dragons in the style of the Nickelodeon TV station sounds great on paper. Taking on characters (Nicktoons) from numerous cartoons, we play a variety of roles straight out of a paper fantasy RPG, bringing an abandoned series of crossover titles back to life. Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny offers us just that. There's something nostalgic about this return to childhood days, when we can once again interact with characters from such cartoons as "SpongeBob Kanciastoporty," "Fairy Godmothers," "Avatar: Legend of Aang" and many others. Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny combines elements of a simple roguelike and an equally simple RPG into a form digestible for younger players. Getting to the point – Timmy from "Fairy Godmothers" wants to move to the world of…

Shinji Mikami, after the success of the first Resident Evil (1996), quickly set about developing internal structures at Capcom. Already stuck in the waiting room was the sequel, for which he appointed Hideki Kamiya, and in the team there was initially a belief that the latter would not be up to the task, moreover, he himself did not fully believe in his potential. Mikami saw himself in him from his days working with Tokuro Fujiwara, the man responsible for the foundations of Resident Evil, present in the ancient gradaptation Sweet Home (1989, NES). Work on the story of Leon Kennedy and Elza Walker was in full swing until Noboru Sugimura, who specializes in scripts for Japanese TV series, came to Capcom. After seeing the RE2 storyline script, he almost broke…

The second reason for deciding on quotation marks was to see the paradoxes inherent in the horror genre itself. For how to "like" something that involves unpleasant emotions, which are undoubtedly fear and disgust. To derive joy from the repulsive? Strange, isn't it? After all, fans of scary stories, and there aren't many of them, don't walk through morgues on Friday to watch bodies in various degrees of decomposition (or at least I hope so!). So why, in the evening, are they so eager to sit in front of the TV and, with popcorn in a bowl and a smile on their face, follow all these horrors? After all, we're talking about too large a percentage of society to be dismissed with a simple wave of the hand or a…

A true new generation? Sony andAMD have officially confirmed that they will continue to work closely together on next-generation technology, which immediately sparked a wave of speculation about the PlayStation 6. According to well-known insider KeplerL2, the console is set to debut in late 2027, maintaining the seven-year life cycle typical of previous generations. Moore's Law Is Dead has obtained documents indicating that production of the hardware could begin as early as the beginning of 2027. For comparison, development of the PS5 in factories began in August, andlaunched in November 2020. System architect Mark Cerny is planning a completely new design based on AMD RDNA5 architecture, which is set to revolutionizegraphics processing and performance. The new chip will use Neural Arrays, Radiance Cores, and the Universal Compression system, combining machine…

I should be jumping for joy after the reveal of Forza Horizon 6, but somehow I'm not laughing. Not when Microsoft is rolling up its iconic simcade brand. Forza Motorsport is unfortunately being extinguished. 70% of the employees have been fired from the Turn 10 studio, and the game has been hooked up to a respirator. Not even a single new car or playlist will appear in FM by the end of this year (the content offered is a mere repetition). The pity. The people from Turn 10 who remained at their posts were reassigned to help the Playground team with the new installment of Forza Horizon. The TGS 2025 trade show finally brought some specifics about it. First of all, we already know that the setting of the new…

Microsoft is constantly changing its vision for the console Xbox. There are increasing indications that the next generation will be a console-computer hybrid. The ROG Xbox Ally X handheld, created in cooperation with ASUS, is expected to be a foretaste of this. How did the first-ever handheld with the Xbox logo perform? This is not a portable Xbox Let's start with a clarification. No, the Xbox Ally X is not a console. It's a PC-basedhandheld running Windows 11. The difference with the Legion Go 2 tested in the issue is that it was created in an official partnership with the Xbox brand and uses the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE). Let's start with the former. The Xbox Ally X itself is the successor to the successful and relatively popular ROG…

I'll frankly admit that the new Anno couldn't have come to me at a better time. In September I haunted Rome and strolled through the Roman Forum, imagining what life must have once been like for the ancients, and here bam, a month later I myself am erecting buildings worthy of Vitruvius. There is no doubt that the imperial era is one of the most interesting and prolific periods in architecture, technological breakthroughs (the famous aqueducts), culture, and, of course, militancy. It should be remembered that the games in the Anno series very loosely refer to actual historical events and should undoubtedly not be regarded as a source of meaningful knowledge. Nevertheless, they densely and often dripped with atmosphere and were a real treat for fans of strategy, in which…

Void Crew, Wildgate and other stellar Sea of Thieves-inspired projects can already pack up. There's a new sheriff in this city of networked sci-fi games, and his name is Jump Space. This spinoff simply delivers. The developers took off with a kick, serving up beautiful and well-optimized graphics, satisfying gunplay and enjoyable piloting of space ships right away. There is admittedly a bit too little content in Jump Space at the moment, but the developers have already announced regular updates. Space Oddity The game offers a similar style of roguelite gameplay as Void Crew, reviewed a month ago. So we gather a crew of up to four people, hop aboard an armed ship, and then glide through successive sectors of space, fighting enemy fighters and various robots. As in Sea…

The launch of a new Nintendo console without Mario adventures is altogether a scandal. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza are good tear wipers, but the compilation of both parts of Super Mario Galaxy is already a real celebration. Mainly for the reason that we are talking about the best platformers ever. Not on Wii or Switch, but in general. Yes, R&C: Rift Apart, Crash Bandicoot or the adventures of thief Sly are capital, but SMG, SM 3D Land and Odyssey are higher flying. So I suggest a verdict already at the beginning of the review, against the accepted rules, but I hold it deeply in high regard. Quite like Nintendo – for the company is losing touch with its base, and the best example of this is the…

It's amazing how much has happened in the 3D indie platformer scene since 2017 and the release of Yooka-Laylee. Especially when we view this dynamic expansion through the prism of resurgent mainstream arcade games, when we count the millions of Odyssey, Bananz, Forgotten Land or Astro Bots sold. Everyone, big and small, now understands the needs of nostalgia-stricken old-timers (that's us!) much better. Besides, even Playtonic Games has learned a lot of lessons from the disappointing debut of the not-at-all-nice-to-Banjoand-Kazooi characters, turning the sequel into a platformer limited to two dimensions, perhaps making it infinitely better than the original. So why not forge that hotter iron? Or not make another game combining the best of both worlds? Why did they go back to the original and create it again? Just…

I've always associated the Southwest with all things forgotten by civilization, especially in broad pop culture. The rocky wilderness, canyons and ruins are delectable conditions for outlaws and, of course, bounty hunters. Creative director of the small Dinogod studio, Ben Ruiz loves those regions and big mechs, out of which grew the reviewed Bounty Star: The Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem, a morality tale featuring interesting mechanics and inspiration from various games in an enjoyable visual setting. Clem, or rather Captain Clementine McKinney, does her best to leave her difficult military past behind, but it pursues her at every turn and reminds her of the mistakes she made. In the introduction there is a moral about the consequences of grace suffered by the heroine's loved ones, and in the process…

Various turkeys have more than once surprised players with the originality and creativity of their creators. Among other things, we value them for the fact that they are often not afraid to experiment with mechanics, narrative and visual style. Dreams of Another is just such a title. We start the gameplay with the Wandering Soldier, who is incapable of pulling the trigger and eliminating the enemy, even when his life depends on it. Soon after, control of the , "story" is taken over by the Man in Pajamas, who uses the same weapon without any hesitation. However, instead of carrying death and destruction, the bullets have the power of creation. Thus, destruction here is assigned creative power – the energy of giving forms to unfinished landscapes. Trees, buildings, entire landscapes…

I've been intrigued recently by a you-tube channel run by a location designer from RDR2 and GTAV. In his videos, the former Rockstar employee tours environments from various games, emphasizing that he always plays in easy mode so that nothing interferes with his admiration of digital worlds. Keeper will probably soon become a favorite wandering spot for this designer and other virtual tourists like him. I mention this as a reminder that not all games need to offer a high for hardcore gamers. There is a large group of fans of relaxation, and the muted Keeper is designed for just such people. In an exploration adventure with puzzle game elements, you won't lose health points or die. Studio Double Fine offers for six-seven hours of gameplay total relaxation with a…

Streets of Rage 4 set the bar so high that I doubt if any walking brawler will ever be able to leap over it. The attempt was made by Arc System Works, which, having bought the rights to the Double Dragon brand in 2015, is trying to remind us of the series on a regular basis. If you've looked at the final rating, you already know that the attempt was not very successful. Revive was intended to evoke nostalgic memories, and it does so to the point of exaggeration. For we see the return of familiar characters like the eponymous Lee brothers and Marian, who is kidnapped again (though this time only for a moment, to return as a playable character). Among the obligatory bosses on our way are the…

Three Fields Entertainment is a British developer created by former members of Criterion Games. So the team has a stake in the wonderful Burnout series, and from under their wings they released Danger Zone and Dangerous Driving, among others. They insisted on exploiting Burnout and so far it has worked out moderately well for them. The new title from this stable – Wreckreation – does not deviate from the chosen course. Wreckreation is a sandbox, open world where you decide what you want to do. Exploring the vast terrain, you find fuel stations for full regeneration, billboards and gates for smashing. Furies coming from the opposite direction eloquently bang their lights and honk. On the map, you can teleport to pre-discovered parking lots, as well as change the vehicles you've…

Katamari is back – strange, colorful, completely offbeat and still wonderfully Japanese. It's one of those series that's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't experienced it: a little absurdity, a little motion poetry, a little pop culture zen. From the first seconds, Once Upon a Katamari reminds us that there's still room for pure, unadulterated joy in the gaming world. After years of remasters and nostalgic returns, Bandai Namco has finally breathed new life into the series. It's not a revolution, but a polished continuation, showing that the same flame of creative madness is still smoldering in Katamari. For those who, by some miracle, have never had to deal with the series: all the fun is in rolling a magic ball to which everything you come across is glued…

As every year, the new edition of Just Dance tries to surprise us with a new set of tracks, invariably at the magic number of 40 items. There's Lady Gaga with her "Abracadabra," Smash Mouth's iconic "All Star," Dua Lipa's "Houdini" or ROSE & Bruno Mars with the addictive "APT." A novelty is the introduction of the theme of Bluey the dog (winner of the Emmy Kids Award), who will probably steal the affection of the youngest. The developers are clearly targeting a very wide audience, from the youngest to the old-timers. Artists such as Post Malone, Madonna, Ed Sheeran, OneRepublic and Coldplay – the library of songs is a perfect example of this. The same goes for the different levels of difficulty, and thus the different choreographic variations. The…

The adventure genre died for a reason, and there have been attempts to resurrect it for years. Another of them is Simon the Sorcerer Origins, which balances between what it was and what could encourage new players. In practice, there's no fooling around – just as some people won't be persuaded to play sports games, some people won't be encouraged to play adventure games, but will only drive away those who enjoy the genre. Smallthing Studios has opted for reasonably nice visuals, which are reminiscent of old animated films. The visual style is very "old" despite its modernity, but this has kept the pixel hunting to almost a minimum. You can highlight all the interactive elements on the screen and collect what you need, even if you use something after…

Seven years after its debut on Switch, Castle of Heart is back with the subtitle Retold. Refreshed by Polish studio 7Levels, the mix of action and platformer is back on the market, including on PS5. Slavic culture rarely becomes the canon of games, but Castle of Heart: Retold takes advantage of this potential. We take on the role of Svaran, a cursed slowly turning into stone, forced to fight waves of Slavic mythical creatures in order to save the priestess Mira and stop a sorcerer serving the Blackgod. The plot is dark enough, but unfortunately strikes with cliched patterns. The Retold edition, meanwhile, introduces additional dialogues and modifies the old ones to make the story a bit more interesting. The gameplay itself is, of course, constant battles with opponents and…

A caveat: the analysis of the narrative technique described in the text necessarily required the use of some spoilers. I tried to be as sparing as possible in this regard, drawing mainly on well-known examples. As an additional warning, I include a full list of the cases described: MGS2, MGSV, Assassin's Creed III, CoD 4: MW, Gears 5, "Critical Decision" (movie), "A Quiet Place" (movie), "Psycho" (movie), "Game of Thrones" (series, book), "Inglourious Basterds" (comic book). If you thought of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) in response to the crowning question in the introduction, the clue is most appropriate. The game's opening tanker infiltration sequence ends for the Solid Snake we control, a character we know and love, in a particularly dramatic way. The sought-after mech is…

It's been a long time sinceI laughed as much as I did at the short demo of Lifted. Uninhibited crassness emanates from this 2.5D platformer, reminiscent of the humor of games from the heyday of the PS1 and PS2. This fusion of Rayman-like styling and plot themes from "Back to the Future" and "Indiana Jones" works just fine. The Adventure Works team has made an unpretentious 2.5D platformer, focused on funny dialogues and situations. And that's without gameplay muddles, because the action is brisk and concrete (the whole adventure is tackled in about five hours). The narrative also moves like crazy. Immediately we learn that a certain professor, fired from the university for dangerous experiments, is now making a living by tutoring at an American high school. As we all…

What would come out of the combination of a PC handheld with the Switch 2? The answer is the Lenovo Legion Go 2. A successor to the hardware launched two years ago and a windows handheld with detachable controllers and the option to play one of them like a mouse. How does it perform in practice? Unbeatable screen We have already written about PC handhelds several times, but as a reminder – this is nothing more than a Windows 11 (W11) computer "spelled" in a Switch-like form. The most popular representative of this segment is the Steam Deck with Linux-based SteamOS installed. The Legion Go 2 (hereafter Go 2) uses a standard version of W11, which means you have to go through a typical Windows setup after firing up the…

Few series fear sweeping changes as much as Pokémon. I mean, if the tried-and-true 1996 idea of fun still lays golden eggs, why risk experimentation? Subsequent installments of the canonical part of the series, therefore, stick quite tightly to the classic solutions, while any variations remain the domain of spin-offs, within which we've probably seen everything – from puzzle games to brawlers to interactive graphic novels. It's no surprise, then, that it was the side-series Legends, launched in 2022, though still very closely related to the main one, that brought a surprisingly large dose of freshness to the traditional model of play. So Pokémon Legends: Z-A, on the one hand, successfully continues this trend, but on the other, it fails in terms of delivering a quality worthy of bidding the…

Of all the bad emotions one can experience, there is supposedly nothing worse than loneliness. Well, forming closer relationships is crucial if you want to succeed in life. It is precisely about fighting loneliness that The Lonesome Guild game is about. The title is an action RPG with adventure elements set in the world of Etere, where anthropomorphic animals play the main role. The land is threatened by a red mist that is the epitome of loneliness, and anyone it embraces becomes possessed by negative emotions. We play the role of a Spirit arriving from outer space who has lost his memory. However, he is soon left alone, as he quickly meets a group of several companions, among whom we find such personalities as Davinci, a rabbit-bat who speaks in…

"G ame Pass has just received one of the major games competing for the GotY title," with these words David Jaffe, creator of God of War, announced Ball x Pit. And honestly? One sentence was enough for me to know I had to check it out. What's all the noise about? Ball x Pit is a combination of classic pinball, Space Invaders and roguelite. Sound absurd? A little yes, but I have to say straight out that it really works. After a few minutes it's hard to tear yourself away, and each round ended with me with the same sentence: "Just one more round and I'm going to bed." Here we take on the role of a hero who shoots projectile-balls to clear the board of monsters and bosses. In…

Digimon Story: Time Stranger does not take us to postcard-perfect Japan. Instead of Shibuya and quaint cafes, we have Shinjuku – the center of Tokyo, dense with people, lights and office buildings, which suddenly becomes the arena of a digital apocalypse. Urban chaos mixes here with the pulsating energy of the Illiad dimension. The backdrop is like that of a technothriller about destiny, time and ties that elude the boundaries of reality. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a big surprise in the genre of Japanese RPGs in recent years. It's an ambitious game that combines classic elements about collecting monsters with a mature narrative and modern combat mechanics, resulting in one of the strongest installments in the series. The player takes on the role of a mute agent of the…

The trailer didn't reveal how bad the game would be. Yes, I saw a budget siphon with a hype license, but the disaster came with time, or more precisely after finishing the first race, when I bulged my eyeballs and whispered in my mind: What the f**k is this? Whatever to say, Asphalt Legends Unite is a reference in the field of straightforward console arcade games, and Fast & Furios: Arcade Edition tries to emulate the legend (albeit the original was released on automatics in 2022). However, it does it so clumsily that the wheels come off. Collision physics lifted alive from Crazy Taxi annoy during push-backs, your car can powerfully slam into something, it gets stuck, the camera sinks to the ground again. Opponents penetrate obstacles, and you don't…

With add-ons it's like enlarging the set in a restaurant – sometimes we'll eat everything, and sometimes we'll leave something behind. Aftershock is exactly what you'd expect, which is more maps, more enemies, more guns and more mayhem. If you liked the women's version of Duke Nukem 3D, then you probably played Ion Fury. If not, what's wrong with you? Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison is a grandmother with balls and a huge arsenal of tools of destruction, a master of lead application who does not skimp on biting, sometimes sarcastic remarks in the direction of enemies. The gameplay is almost the same as in the basic game. The maps are a bit less sprawling, making exploration a bit more fun, there's no shortage of hidden passages and secret chambers, but we…

Don't believe the naysayers that "it used to be a chicken." The game market resembled a veritable horror frenzy in the 1990s. To get your hands on many of Square's great jRPGs, you had to modify a PS1 with a soldering iron in your paws. And that's because Europe wasn't getting PAL editions of masterpieces like Final Fantasy Tactics at all back then. This dismissive attitude of Square towards FFT surprised me 27 years ago, and it still surprises me now. Yes, the reviewed version of Tactics is successful, but due to the low budget of this endeavor, the ideal is a bit lacking. Shakespeare fantasy In terms of plot, Final Fantasy Tactics is something like a fusion of "Game of Thrones" and Shakespeare's dramas. This tactical roleplay weaves a…

I met Caroline Walker four years ago, at the time completely unaware that here was someone brave enough to continue the tradition ousted decades earlier by Capcom in favor of intensifying the Resident Evil series with the acclaimed Four. Tormented Souls breathed second life into mechanics that had been frozen for years, and tortured the gray cells with challenging, twisted puzzles that I had not seen in either the referenced Resident or Silent Hill. This was a whole other level. Caroline is back, now in a new role, but she finds herself, again, in an arch-difficult situation, and she will be helped out of her predicament by... a modifiable nail gun and more. This girl has something of the heroines of well-known horror series and of Isaac Clarke, as she…

Despite its cult status, The Legend of Zelda series has never been among the top best-selling brands in Nintendo's portfolio, notoriously overtaken by Mario, Pokémon, Super Smash Bros. or Animal Crossing. Or at least that was the case until the debut of Breath of the Wild, which has so far found nearly 35 million buyers and, despite 8 years on its neck, is still selling well. So it's no wonder that the Japanese don't want to part with this universe for any reason, this by offering a quasi-canonical prequel in the form of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (2020), then again a direct sequel – Tears of the Kingdom (2023). The enumeration is hereby fueled by yet another episode of this plotline, this time set at the origins of the…

There is an inside joke circulating among the editors: when Roger writes that a game "looks pretty cool," you should immediately wriggle out of reviewing it and say that you left your grandfather on the gas or that tomorrow is your grandmother's seventh funeral. Blood of Mehran was supposed to look "pretty cool." I won't keep you in suspense, and yes the color of the rating has already caught your eye. Blood of Mehran is a slasher in the style of the old God of War trilogy, but with a budget orders of magnitude smaller and ambitions disproportionate to the developers' abilities. For while one can praise the aspirations, a few artistic decisions and the developers' general enthusiasm, basic design flaws are glaring. GAME CRUNCHES LIKE PEREZ'S KNEES AFTER A…

Walking brawlers are a genre that has had a modest reactivation, with several more games of this type coming out soon, and for now we have Absolum, which sucked me and a friend in. Although I hate croissant mechanics, I had no problem with it in the case of this title. Certain skirmishes and sessions were very satisfying, while some were lost time due to randomness. After a few approaches, we gain permanent upgrades for the characters, initially only two – a warrior woman with a sword and a dwarf with a giraffe. Over time, we unlock two additional ones, Cider – a weaker but agile girl who can stay in the air for quite a long time, slapping enemies, and a magical frog. Each character has a different fighting…

I never played the original Painkiller. When it was released for PC in 2004, I didn't see the world beyond consoles, and the PS2 was at the height of popularity. When the Xbox port was released in 2006, there were many more interesting titles to play (with all due respect to Chmielarz and People Can Fly productions), with Gears of War at the forefront. And here we are, two decades later, getting a remake, again from Poles (this time Katowice-based Anshar Studios). I played myself, below are my impressions and conclusions, and whoever wants to, will compare with the classic. Deal? The first zonk (or even two): supposedly Painkiller was an atmospheric game focused on single-player, meanwhile the 2025 version is moderately atmospheric, and on top of that you won't…

"Where's the k***a sound here," were my first words after firing up the new Football Manager. Yes, I know, its absence is a hallmark of the series, but it's not even present at the logos, making a person wonder if he or she has not kicked anything in the PC. I won't be charming, I had a three-year break from Sports Interactive's productions, so I again felt some discomfort because of it. And I was hoping for a lot of changes, because up to now the developers basically only updated the lineups every year. This time, however, the release break was as long as two years, motivated by the desire to make some downright revolutionary improvements. How did it work out in the end, and was it worth waiting so…

Did you know that in the pandemic the percentage of us Poles washing our hands immediately after coming home reached almost 90%? And do you know how much it is today? Less than 50%? And what does that mean? That it's better not to shake hands with anyone? That too... but also that we don't learn from our mistakes. That we act when fear acts on us. And when the threat passes, we return to bad habits. And about such bad habits will be today's videos. Not necessarily about dirty hands. Rather, about dirty thoughts and deeds. So there you go! Come see the cats What if Darren Aronofsky ("Requiem for a Dream," "Pi") lost his identity and started identifying himself as Guy Ritchie? He would have filmed "The Thief…

KONSOLITE: The original premise of the Very Ambitious Anime Corner was to present here game-related items. Reality has verified these plans, as there are not as many anime of this type as we would like. Unless every month I would describe another Isekai with RPG mechanics, however, recently something charming and in the climate of our beloved entertainment has appeared. Lily Baker is a 13-year-old girl who moves to Japan with her family. She's a bit shy and doesn't have a grasp of the Japanese language, which doesn't help her make friends. That's why after class she indulges in playing slot machine games, although she's not the best at it, it gives her satisfaction and an escape from reality. One day, specifically on Valentine's Day, she runs into a saloon…