Siobhán Casey

DEUS A FAVOUR System Shock Remake proves that immersive sims are brilliant, and everyone that dislikes them is wrong

On-screen weapon stats and skill trees only serve as a barrier between player and playground.

SHODAN WHAT YOU GOT System Shock Remake review: A foundation for the new generation of immersive sims

Nightdive Studios may have taken seven years, but it's finally managed to do the impossible and thread the unlikely line between reboot and remake.

CORE MEMORY UNLOCKED With Armored Core 6, FromSoftware has a chance to be cool again

After decades of games about locking onto and rolling around the big man, it's time for a change – and FromSoft knows it.

TRAIN ON YOUR PARADE Honkai: Star Rail rekindles memories of absolutely banging PS2 RPGs

Star Rail doesn’t do anything new or revolutionary, but what it does, it does well – and that's very nostalgic for a specific flavour of nerd.

VICE, VICE, BABY Crime Boss: Rockay City is tantamount to elder abuse

This tepid, try-hard crime simulator serves as a final indignity to the handful of faded stars who bothered to call back.

CLIVE AND LET DIE Final Fantasy 16 could be as great as the golden era FF games – if it fixes the mistakes of the modern era

The golden era of Final Fantasy games has gone, but the latest entry in the long-running series has what it takes to tickle the nostalgia glands.

NIGHT (CITY) AND DAY Cyberpunk 2077, in its current state, is a much better open-world RPG than The Witcher 3

Ever role-played as a taxi driver in Night City? You should try it; it's better than watching Geralt auto-gallop to his next contract.

A CARD DAY'S NIGHT Marvel Snap made me think I was great at games – then I made a horrible discovery

Marvel Snap does a good job of making you think you're smart and clever. Until you realise the horrible truth.

chasing scars Dreamlight Valley is a waking nightmare and Disney must be stopped

Disney's attempt to bottle Animal Crossing's lightning has created a product of pure, unfiltered evil – but did you expect any less?

Orbital decay Hardspace: Shipbreaker – now on Xbox Game Pass and PS5 – is an essential, searing rejection of sci-fi tropes

Mundanity, repetition, hopelessness... these aren't things you'd usually consider essential. So how does Hardspace: Shipbreaker make them feel so poignant?

canine and able Let's be honest, Stray would have worked much better with a dog

BlueTwelve Studio certainly caught a lot of attention with its cat game, but perhaps it would have better with a dog instead.

one-hack mind Ubisoft's best open world isn't in Assassin's Creed or Far Cry, but in Watch Dogs 2

After a bland, uninspired first game, Ubisoft rallied to make one of its most interesting settings in Watch Dogs 2's hacktivist fantasy.

Fair, and Fair-alike PSP game or not, Crisis Core deserves its remaster; it’s become an integral part of Final Fantasy 7

On paper, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 sounds absolutely abhorrent –?so how did it become an essential part of the beloved series?

Cain and unable As good as Elden Ring is, it can’t save how awful FromSoft’s first, experimental Ring game was

Between the cult King's Field trilogy, the sci-fi weirdness of Armored Core, and the iconic Demon's Souls, there was Eternal Ring. Unfortunately.

Pain in the Arx Arx Fatalis, the 2003 RPG banger, is so good it should have absolutely destroyed Elder Scrolls

Waiting for The Elder Scrolls 6? Put down Daggerfall – or Morrowind, or Skyrim – and let Arx Fatalis show you a bad time, instead.