Games Completed 2025

[Scrustle]

05/01 - Okami HD

With the sequel that I never expected to happen getting announced recently, I thought it seemed appropriate to give this one another run. For a while I had been mulling over the idea of playing the Switch version, since it seems well suited to handheld play, so this was also a good opportunity to make good on that desire. Although I ended up playing mostly in docked mode anyway. I keep meaning to do a NG+ run of this game, as for all the times I’ve been through it, I’m not sure if I’ve ever done that more than once. Playing on Switch meant starting a fresh file yet again. But at the same time, playing on a new platform did give me a bit more motivation too, as the last time through I finished off the platinum trophy on the PS4 version, which gave me a sense of being forever “done” with the game, not having a reason to go back. So wiping the slate clean helped make it seem a bit more fresh again too.

This is another of those games where it’s hard to come up with something that hasn’t been said a thousand times before though. This has always been one of my favourite games ever since it launched way back on the PS2, and it’s still a blast to go through now. I love this world and the aesthetic it conveys itself with. It’s such a fun adventure through an enchanting land full of wonderfully stylised locations and characters. The ukiyo-e style visuals and inspirations from Japanese folklore creates such a rich feeling of being immersed in a timeless legend. The soundtrack is amazing too, adding a huge amount to that authentic cultural vibe, while also having a bunch of simply great compositions that inject a lot of emotion in to the experience.

The gameplay is still a lot of fun too. The combat is mechanically pretty simple, and not very challenging, at least as someone who is very familiar with this game. But it has a great flow to it and controls very well. The depth is more an issue of comparison I suppose. Compared against something like DMC or Kamiya’s other work, sure it’s not on the level of those games, but put up against the Zelda games that this is taking the structure from, it’s probably better than the majority of them. It has a good amount of wrinkles to it in terms of different weapon types that all have their own behaviour, and enemies that have a good amount of stuff going on as well. Puzzle design and dungeons are pretty fun too, with the brush techniques being a big highlight. I always like mechanics that give you a more tactile sense of interaction with the world, and this is a good example of that. Painting directly on the screen to make stuff happen never gets old. It’s great that it has a wide range of applications both in and out of combat too.

It’s hard to come up with any substantial criticisms, but I suppose there are a few niggling issues I have. Despite loving the art direction overall, I do sort of wish the draw distance on foliage etc. was better. I like the use of 2D sprites for that sort of thing, as it suits the aesthetic perfectly, but they do have some noticeable pop-in at times. I think the character models could do with a few more polygons as well. Not to get rid of the simple designs of characters and make them overly detailed, but just enough to make their jagged edges not stand out as much. It would be nice if the text speed was a bit faster in cutscenes that don’t let you double-tap through it too, especially when you get a lot of them at the start of the game. But all these things are minor and not really enough to actually hurt the experience in any meaningful way. Although hopefully with the sequel on the way I’ll finally get to see a version of this art style that fixes those things.

[Mr Ixolite]

My only issues with Okami are

1) There's a bit too many boss do-overs, especially near the end where the game sags a bit
2) Between the divine shield, astral pouch, health and gear upgrades and consumeable items, combat is too easy
3) Issun is just the WORST

And of those, 3 is the by far the biggest ding on the game; its otherwise an incredible and engrossing experience, but everytime Issun says something it is severe whiplash, 100 times worse than Daxter ever was

[Rhaegyr]

Love the game but my biggest gripe was the opening - it felt like it lasted an age.

[Truk_Kurt]

Astro Bot
An absolutely delightful game, I loved the levels which linked to other Sony games and to me the platforming was really good too. Definitely my favourite PS5 exclusive. I’d give it a 9/10

[Endario]

It's a nice one, but I wouldn't say it's PS5's best. The visuals and music are great, but the gameplay didn't hook me as much as I hoped. And I don't think I'd start over on another platform.
Geoguessr

[Scrustle]

11/01 - Legacy of Kain: Defiance

I did attempt to give Blood Omen 2 another shot before this, but I just couldn’t force myself through it. I got further than I did the first time, but I still ended up dropping it to move on to Defiance instead. This was so refreshing to play in comparison. Although I was somewhat curious to see how it held up in a context where that was no longer a surprise to me. It still managed to feel like a fresh and fun entry in this series though.

The first thing that stands out about this game is how much better it plays on a base level than any of its predecessors. It’s immediately obvious how much more snappy and responsive the controls are. The movement is more fluid and polished, and the animations are much more stylish and impressive too. The combat actually has a decent amount of depth to it as well, and it feels really good in the hands. It’s actually not bad as a character action game, which is very impressive for the time this came out. It was doing enemy juggling and mid-air combos before the release of either Devil May Cry 3 or the original God of War. There is admittedly not a huge variety to your moveset though, and both playable characters play very similarly, but what is there is good. Although there is some jank here and there, this combat system has great bones to it. It just needs a bit more fleshing out. It’s a bit sad this game tends to get neglected when it comes to the canon of PS2 era action games. I can see why though, being deep in to a story-heavy series where no other entry plays the same, but it’s still a shame.

Another big difference this game has to the other entries in the series is its overall structure. It’s also an aspect that feels quite ahead of its time. It shifts to a more linear progression with a more cinematic presentation. The fixed camera angles give it a more stylised look than the other games, and the pacing of the experience is swifter too. There’s fewer puzzles, with only the Raziel half of the game featuring them, and they tend to be simpler than what came before too. I can see this as being something of a disappointment to some, but I’ve never had a problem with it since it serves the experience this game is going for perfectly well, and the improvements in other areas are more than enough to make up for it. It’s not like the puzzles in either Soul Reaver game were particularly amazing either, to be honest. But this overall design structure comes across like a prototype of the kind of thing many other big action games would focus on in the years afterwards, especially those from Sony, which makes sense with the Amy Hennig connection. Although I have also heard that Crystal Dynamics and Naughty Dog have a long history of trading talent in general, thanks to their close proximity.

The story of this game is still pretty good as well, although admittedly it feels like it was given less priority this time around, with the dialogue in particular not coming across as quite as sharp as what came before. It definitely has its moments however, and it builds on what previous games established well, with the voice performances once again being great. But one significant issue is that for most of the game there isn’t much interaction between the characters, as Kain and Raziel spend most of the runtime separated from each other. A lot of the story takes the form of exposition dumps that are given to you through characters narrating over the sight of murals they stumble upon. Later on it starts picking up steam though, as things all start coming together and characters actually start talking face-to-face more, with the two protagonists eventually meeting up as well. Once again having played Blood Omen 1 helped give me more context to appreciate this story a bit more than I did last time. I found it rather amusing to realise just how many events in this series happen basically at the same time. The ending is a little bit underwhelming though, unfortunately. Despite this game answering some questions and wrapping up a couple of plot threads, it’s still left in a very inconclusive spot. There’s a lot of loose ends and the main threat has not been dealt with. It feels like it was trying to set up for a big finale that just never happened.

I still like this game a lot though. I’ve long been an advocate for this entry in the franchise in particular, in light of it often getting overshadowed by the Soul Reaver games, and playing it through this time reinforced that feeling. I don’t know how exactly I would rank each game in the series though, they each have their own pros and cons. I hope this game gets a remaster like the SR games did though, it definitely deserves it.

[Jobobonobo]

Jan 2: Shantae: Risky’s Revenge

This was my first Shantae game, and I quite enjoyed it. Short and sweet metroidvania with quite a fair bit of variety in its runtime including shmup sections, battling through a tower while the clock runs, labyrinthine dungeons and solving puzzles using various transformations like a monkey and elephant. Buying various magic spells throughout the game really can give you an edge in certain combat situations and can make certain bosses and enemy filled sections a doddle if you prepare properly. I like metroidvanias but I admit I usually need to be in a particular mood to play them as they can be quite intimidating to approach. This particular game is a nice introduction to this increasingly relevant subgenre and is one I would wholeheartedly recommend to newcomers with its fair difficulty and short length. Will definitely try out more entries of this series in the future.

[seansthomas]

Jan 12th - Resident Evil 2 (PS5)

A very good remake of a game I adored back in the day. It keeps the essence of what made the original so special and throws in a few of its own ideas for good measure.

The core gameplay of never quite being able to carry around everything you want, so having to manage your inventory whilst choosing what enemies to pick off or avoid is alive and well. This is a far scarier game than RE4, and the lighting and sound effects make this a very tense and jumpy experience at times. I loved seeing the Police Station brought to life in 3D, even if some of the melodrama of those gorgeous static backgrounds is slightly lost. The quirky puzzle elements remain too, a trait of the series I adore, even if the designer of this towns buildings needs sectioning.

The way it changes certain things about the original and plays with your memory is one of this remakes strengths. Mr X is elevated to an ever present threat that is terrifying and very smartly implemented. The organic enemies are a great late game twist. Sherry's section of game changes the pace of the game well, too.

It's not all quite perfect.

Raccoon City feels a bit dead outside of the Police Station. The narrative tone of the Chief of Police and Gun shop keepers characters jar with the B movie nature of the rest of the game. The shooting feels a lot less satisfying than the newer RE4 remake. And the first half of the game, like a lot of Resident Evil games, is far more memorable.

Most disappointing of all, is probably that the B Claire campaign doesn't add much or interweave with Leon's story, bar a clever alternative task in and around the locked car park. In my memory, the original did this far better, but I might be misremembering it given it has been 25 years since I played it...

It doesn't stop this being a great reimagining of a classic game however. Far scarier and more intimidating than RE4, RE2 has left me curious if the original game would ever get a similar, labour of love treatment.

[Indiana747]

(Jan) Atlas Fallen - PS5.

[Michiel K]

5 January: Panzer Dragoon (Saturn)

I played this through to completion for the first Cane and Rinse podcast released this year and I'm very happy I finally did so. If you're a Patreon supporter of CaR you can already listen to the musings of Leon, Chris O, Chris W and myself on the origin point of this legendary game series.

[markfm007]

Most disappointing of all, is probably that the B Claire campaign doesn't add much or interweave with Leon's story, bar a clever alternative task in and around the locked car park. In my memory, the original did this far better, but I might be misremembering it given it has been 25 years since I played it...

I felt the same. I suppose you could say that it's asking a lot nowadays, but considering how short the campaign is and how often they show that the stories are happening at the same time, it's a bit disappointing.

[Michiel K]

The 1998 original was def way more ambitious than that. It had 2 very different scenarios per playable character even, depending on the order you played the character stories in, for a total of 4 different campaigns!

[seansthomas]

That's what I thought.

It was largely just a shame that the two stories weren't connected AT ALL for me.

Characters died in different ways in both campaigns. Events happened in one scenario which meant they could never have transpired in the others.

Listened to the C&R show about it this week and agree with all the criticisms of this part of the game

[Scrustle]

16/01 - The Pathless

This was a really great game with gorgeous art design and very satisfying movement mechanics. It’s interesting to see one of these games that follows in the footsteps of Journey which makes an effort to be distinctly more mechanically focused, and it pulls that off very well for the most part, but some areas do falter somewhat.

The overall structure is something of a semi-open world platformer, where you explore around a handful of large open areas navigating the terrain, while also stopping at points of interest to solve puzzles that gradually cleanse the area of the evil influence threatening the world. Eventually each zone also ends with a boss encounter before moving on to the next. Getting around is a lot of fun, thanks to mechanics which have you maintaining speed and momentum by shooting floating talismans dotted around the levels which give you a magical burst of speed, combined with jumps and glides that come together to create an engaging sense of flow that isn’t hard to get to grips with, but provides just enough of a challenge to feel constantly rewarding. The shooting doesn’t require aiming though, being based more on timing, which works really well for this kind of experience. This game takes the best parts of the joy of moving around in Journey, but adds layers of nuance to it, fleshing it out in to something swifter and sharper.

The bosses at the end of each zone are something of a mixed bag however. Each encounter starts off with you chasing down the boss in the open world, eventually taking it down by shooting weak points when you get in range. These parts are pretty fun and fit in well with what this game does best. But then after that they transition in to a more traditional boss fight in closed-off arenas, and these don’t work as well. They slow down the pace of the game and stop you from being able to move around much. They often take the form of scripted sequences, that can be interesting in concept, but often feel a bit awkward. These sections also require you to shoot at time sensitive weak points to beat, but that can be harder than it should be given that the prompts to do so are always red, while the screen is filled with red and orange fire effects during these fights, making them difficult to spot. It doesn’t appear like you are actually able to die during these parts, so it’s not like you can fail and have to go back to a checkpoint, but it does feel clumsy at times in a way that is strangely at odds with what this game does so well.

I’ve also heard this game compared to Solar Ash, so I was keen to see how it stacked up against it myself. On paper there are a lot of similarities, but in practice they come at it from quite different directions. This game is more open than SA. Where in that game getting around quickly usually meant interacting and overcoming obstacles, here you can be a lot more airborne, with that often being the fastest way around. Both games do slow down frequently for more localised puzzles, but they each differ in how said puzzles are designed. In SA they tended to still be built around platforming and movement, while in this game they are usually a more Zelda-style thing where you have to shot a target a specific way, or something like that. I wouldn’t say either is better or worse, just different flavours. I enjoy both.

This game is also impressive on an aesthetic level too. Again it shares a lot with the likes of Journey and ABZU, using minimalist visuals that have a wonderful use of bright colours with flat shading, but also a great eye for evocative spaces and framing. Something that is probably very hard to do in this much more open game. Austin Wintory again provides great music in his lush and emotive orchestral style, except this time with the addition of unusual and interesting instruments and vocal styles, including throat singing. It definitely gives this game a distinct identity to its soundtrack. Interestingly after you defeat a boss of an area and are left to clean up anything you missed before, the music drops out and you are left with just the ambient audio of the surrounding nature, which leads to a shift in the vibes. It ends up leaning more towards an atmosphere reminiscent of ICO or Shadow of the Colossus, taking in the world that makes you feel small as you explore the ruins of an ancient civilisation, piecing together what came before in your mind.

So a fantastic game for the most part. I was pretty confident I would enjoy this before going in, and I wasn’t disappointed. There were some parts that were a bit bumpy, but those moments were in the minority. The traversal that makes up the majority of the experience is brilliant, and the art direction was top notch. It made me even more excited to eventually play the next game from this dev team, Sword of the Sea.

[Alex79]

JAN - 12 Minutes (Android)

I tried this on Gamepass when it first came out and thought it was an interesting idea but just too frustrating and repetitive. I've had it installed on my phone since it came to the Netflix game service some time ago and I'm not sure why but today I've just sat and played through the whole thing.

And... It's still frustrating and repetitive, but I liked it. It's an interesting but flawed idea of a game. It was really fun putting the story together and I won't spoil anything but the ending kind of surprised me and reading theories online has been really interesting. It all came together nicely in the end and really wasn't what I was expecting at all. In fact I'd wager nobody saw the story resolving in the way it does! At the risk of overusing the word, very interesting game and one I'd love to hear discussed on the show.