TrustedReviews
HomepageTrustedReviews's Reviews
GTA 5 can be depraved, amoral, sickeningly violent and childishly desperate to shock, yet it's also one of the richest and deepest games ever made, with an ambitious three-stranded storyline that holds so many disparate parts together.
A near-perfect arcade racer, with gorgeous graphics, beautiful scenery and some of the best on-road and off-road driving around. With Forza 5's guts still inside it, you can make Horizon 2 as arcade-easy or demanding as you choose, and throughout the game shows a level of flair and invention that leaves its would-be rivals choking dust. It might not be the best racing game we'll see this year, but it sets a fearsomely high benchmark for others to beat.
If there's a better game out there than Breath of the Wild, I haven't played it. Nintendo has created, for me, the greatest game of all time. It's everything I want from a game and one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had.
You know what? I adore it. I adore every second. Forza Horizon 4 is potentially the best racing game I've ever played in terms of the sheer amount of stuff and how much fun I've had. I'm not a devout racing game fan, so I'm not going to say it's the best racing game ever, but I can say absolutely that it's the racing game I'm going to be comparing the genre to in my head, moving forwards.
Factor in the layers of car fan service, the immense detail at every level, and Forza Horizon 3 is the complete package.
Dishonored 2 is a fabulously immersive role-playing game that rewards exploration, experimentation and repeat playthroughs. It’s a shade less well written than its forebear, but it’s far better designed. The Clockwork Mansion will likely go down as one of the all-time best missions in gaming, and Dishonored 2 may well be the game of 2016.
After Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the next Nintendo Switch must-buy. It's the best the series has ever been, offering one definitive package.
It might be shorter – as reflected in the price – but The Lost Legacy is a great Uncharted and a dazzling example of a studio at the top of its game. To be honest, I wouldn't have believed that Chloe and Nadine could make such fantastic, sympathetic protagonists or that Naughty Dog could stretch the formula out for another 10 hours, yet it has and I loved every minute.
It carried ginormous expectations, but somehow Nintendo has managed to leapfrog over the bar by a huge distance. Offering the most satisfying gameplay experience of any Mario game to date, Super Mario Odyssey is near-perfect.
The Frozen Wilds is more of Horizon Zero Dawn, and that is in no way a bad thing. The expansion offers some closure on certain story threads whilst telling a self-contained tale that's perfect for this ruined world you find yourself in. There's little in terms of mechanical upgrades to the game, but Horizon never needed that in the first place.
Monster Hunter: World is one of the best RPGs you'll ever play, and the most inviting the series has ever been. It's clear to see why the franchise has such a dedicated following, and now that fanbase is set to grow ever larger thanks to the incredible steps the developer has taken to make this game more welcoming to many more players.
Minor tweaks and a resolution upgrade wouldn't be enough for a re-release to be recommended, especially if – as in this case – it was the third such re-release. But Okami manages to sidestep that sort of criticism for two very good reasons. One, it's a superb game full of wit and imagination; and two, not that many folk have played it.
Still one of the finest games ever coded, and now fit to be seen on the very best TVs. This is how remasters should be done, bringing the original content up to modern standards, without diluting what made it great in the first place. Bluepoint has effectively improved on perfection.
Subset games has achieved a mastery of the microdrama, and as such, Into The Breach is about as essential as indie games get.
Mega Man 11 is a real cracker of an action platformer, full of creativity and challenge that has been built up from a reliable base that has been the foundation for so many classic titles. Fans of the series are going to be spoilt by the new challenges on offer, and newcomers will find a game that not only rewards their skill, but offers them the tools to learn the stages, get better and eventually crack this extremely tough game.
NieR: Automata remains a fantastic action RPG, bringing an alluring world, compelling characters and a real sense of agency together to craft something I really can't recommend enough. If you've yet to play this gem, the Xbox One is currently one of the best places to do so.
Dead Cells could be the most surprising success of the year. Coming into the crowded Metroidvania genre was a bold move, but one that seems to have paid off as Dead Cells has delivered the best example of the genre in years. The game is deep and rewards exploration, with exceptional combat and so much content it's honestly a little intimidating.
‘Roads' is a heart-breaking leg of an emotional journey that never feels limited by its medium. I've played seasons of other choice-driven narrative games that had less emotion and heart than this five-hour odyssey. With Life is Strange 2, DONTNOD has upgraded and refined every element that made its forebear successful, whilst sprinkling some magical new additions into the mix to create an essential genre-pushing experience that isn't just for fans.
Beautiful, hypnotic and frequently surprising, Tetris Effect is a bravura reinvention of a classic game that deserves to be recognised as a series peak. The odd difficulty spike aside, there's little to fault in what is undoubtedly one of 2018's very best games.
You’ll not only be entertained by Monster Hunter World: Iceborne for hours, but you will be in awe of its complex systems, and how they align so well to create an unforgettable expansion to an already fantastic game.