Siobhán Casey

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.