Stacey Henley's Reviews
Tell Me Why offers a much-needed reshaping of the choose your own adventure games, moving away from cliffhangers and dramatic, distinct choices towards a more gentle and meaningful experience. The game features bouts of magic realism, but is most magic in its human moments. All the major choices shape your character's experience more than their actions, and while the first, introductory chapter occasionally feels shallow, later chapters are overflowing with depth.
Annapurna Interactive has a staggering back catalogue, but 2021 has frankly not been great for the publisher. Last Stop failed to leave any kind of impact, Maquette is a game with Bryce Dallas Howard in it and not much else, and Twelve Minutes, despite being loaded with star-power, wastes its time loop mechanic in service of a ridiculous twist ending that derails the entire game. With The Artful Escape, plus Neon White, Stray, and Solar Ash to come in the near future, it feels like Annapurna is back.
Spider-Man 2 feels like it’s right in the centre of Sony’s blockbuster sequel design philosophy. Where Horizon Forbidden West did the same thing but bigger, The Last of Us Part 2 elevated itself technologically, narratively, and most importantly, ambitiously. Spider-Man 2 falls between these approaches - it has some of Horizon’s safety, but with a slice of the elevation The Last of Us brought. Spider-Man 2 is the future of polished, competent, elevated sequels, and brings with it so many technical flourishes and a perfect execution of the formula that it stands in a class of its own. Like Miles’ own motto, Spider-Man 2 can be itself, and be greater.
The only gripe anyone could possibly have about this game is that they personally prefer the narrative driven THUG and THAW games. I probably do too, but in terms of the raw THPS experience, this game has everything you need and more. Warehouse is the best opening level of all time, and you can spend hours in each park figuring out new lines. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remake is a magnificent game, and while the Nintendo Switch doesn’t offer the definitive version of the game, but it almost does, and that’s good enough for Jamie Thomas.
I’m not necessarily a fan of all of the design choices - it’s often both too open ended and too restrictive - but I understand them all, and I wish it was less of an exception to the rule. I can’t fault its narrative, or even its design, despite my disagreements. If someone told me they consider it a perfect game, I wouldn’t have anything besides personal preference to come back at them. But with the fiddly game design likely to block off even more players than the already niche themes, I can’t help but wish a game so focused on socialism could have been more welcoming to the masses.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a very good game that feels like it’s already been left behind by modern genre conventions. There’s nothing all that frustrating in that - we shouldn’t expect games, especially those made by studios the size of Ember Labs, to be constantly groundbreaking, but so much of Kena feels borrowed from elsewhere that it’s difficult to call it great. It’s a solid, enjoyable experience, and charming enough that you won’t care that you’ve played versions of it before. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s a pretty nice wheel nonetheless.
FIFA 22 is just like any other FIFA game. It’s a very, very good football game, and with NBA 2K taking its eyes off the prize in favour of the State Farm drip, it’s left with a tap-in to be 2021’s best sports sim. HyperMotion makes a difference, create-a-club adds some personality, and everything else is the same. What more were you expecting?
Severed Steel feels like playing the Deathloop trailer. Not the actual game, specifically the trailer. Specifically the run shoot kick montage that comes in right at the end. Slick, stylised, and never slowing down for a second, Severed Steel looks set to launch without much fanfare, but if you want a game that gives you a great time and then leaves you alone, give it a try. KILL. THEM. ALL.
Eidos-Montreal’s Guardians of the Galaxy is brilliant, but the one thing holding me back from giving it a higher score is how dated many of its conventions seem. The power cooldown has no plan B, QTEs are everywhere, and again… Eagle Vision. It’s a few years behind the times, even without George Michael's dulcet tones. It’s fun, but it certainly isn’t fresh, and for a lot of people, that will be enough. In some ways, it's an experience not to be missed. In others, it's an experience you've had before.
Overall, Brain vs Brain is exactly what you’d expect of Big Brain Academy on the Nintendo Switch. It doesn’t feel like it has changed all that much in 14 years, but maybe it didn’t need to. It’s the most gamified title in this genre, and to mess with it too much might have diminished the appeal, but it’s a little disappointing that a decade and a half of studying leads to the same B+ grade.
People are going to play this game and have a lot of fun. That’s all a lot of people want from a game, and Forbidding West delivers. Through a certain lens, it deserves the perfect scores I’m expecting to see. But much like Ghost of Tsushima, a lot of you are going to come away disappointed by the lack of substance and new ideas. In many ways, Horizon Forbidden West is like it’s own machines. It’s grand, it’s gorgeous, but it has no soul.
Too much game is never a bad thing for some 'pennies to enjoyment ratio' players, but Bayonetta 3 overstays its welcome and dips from being an all-time classic to just being a very, very good video game. It's not the all-time top five Switch game that I think it might have been with a few different decisions here and there, but it's still a must-play title.
This is the best Fire Emblem game to play ever. No exaggeration. I have not experienced all of the very early games, but I have seen enough to plant my flag for this one. But to fully experience? Way down the list. It's frustrating in the extreme - I just do not care about these characters and their plight, and even the ones where I might have, the game offers me no reason to invest whatsoever. I highly recommend Fire Emblem Engage because the gameplay and battles are stellar. Just be prepared to find yourself skipping a lot of stuff by the end.
Slay the Princess is a fantastic, fascinating journey, and anyone looking for a game that keeps them on their toes, explores the dark side of heroism, and throws up some more cerebral scares (so, anyone who liked Alan Wake 2) needs to check this one out.
This warm, strange, endearing puzzle game brings new meaning to an old axiom
Investigative reporter Sam Higgs goes back to his home town and becomes entangled in a dark mystery he must solve
Carefully crafted puzzles and clues in the story give this game, set on a Polynesian island, the satisfying feel of a journey
Little Nightmares 2 understands exactly what it wants to be, and mostly pulls it off.
Cyber Shadow isn't the peak of the genre, but it's a shuriken's throw away.
A simple setlist, but the performance shines thanks to technical ability and showmanship.