Posts By Mat Growcott

There are some games that hit the zeitgeist so hard that it’s hard not to see them mentioned everywhere. 1000xResist is one of those games. I knew the name long before I knew anything else about it, and the message was clear: you have to play this game. Mostly a visual novel, it tells the story of scandal and betrayal within what is basically a religious cult, and the aftermath of exposing it. It asks difficult questions and often handles…

There was a time when games you could play in your browser were huge. Miniclip, Habbo Hotel, Neopets – they were the lifeblood one all tweens in the early 2000s. With the rise of mobile, those days disappeared. Now it seems they’re coming back. And for those of us old enough to remember IT classes spent playing crappy Flash games, we got the short straw. Gone of the days of slow loading and terrible graphics. Us fogies are now secure…

Outrage! Calls of unfairness and exploitation! Broken features without a day one patch! This is Indiana Jones weekend for the privileged few and conversation has once more tipped towards early access. On the face of it, it’s a pretty obvious ploy. If you want to enjoy the latest game over the weekend, you have to pay a premium for it. If you want to be part of the initial conversation instead of nursing your FOMO from a distance, you have…

You saw it when the Game Awards announced its top nominees for 2024. There, hidden amongst AAA games from big name publishers. You saw the comments. “Balatro? Haven’t heard of it. Why the hell are they including a card game?” And frankly, it’s lucky for all involved that the Elden Ring DLC became a lighting rod for the really negative conversation this year. People got to take out their frustration on something not directly related to ...

Remember the PlayStation Vita? That was an awesome little device. Nobody bought it. Sony didn’t support it. Now Sony and Microsoft are working on new handhelds. We’re supposed to be excited.  This time it’ll be different, we’re told. There won’t be any dedicated software. It’ll all be stuff you can play just fine from the comfort of your home. Hell, most of it will be on the Switch 2, if that isn’t just a myth at this ...

In a year that’s offering up Grand Theft Auto 6, Death Stranding 2, Avowed, Assassin’s Creed and a new Monster Hunter, Koei’s hack and slash series may not be an obvious GOTY contender. But the Dynasty Warriors: Origins demo paints a picture of a game hitting way above its budget roots. Listen, I know how it sounds. I’ve been playing the Dynasty Warriors games since I got the second one with my PS2. I love it, but it’s never ...

The nominations for this years Game Awards Game of the Year are out and they’re not entirely what we were expecting. For starters, Elden Ring is back. Yes, that’s right, Game of the Year winner for 2023 Elden Ring is nominated again. This time, in a move that has raised eyebrows across the web, it’s the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC that has been nominated. More on that later. Other nominations include Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, Black Myth: ...

When I was told that Sonic Generations was the weakest part of this package, I let out an audible sigh. SEGA remasters are always met with these kinds of comments. I still feel the reactions to the Shenmue set. And yet the truth is Sonic X Shadow Generations really does prove that the best of the Blue Blue is ahead of him… and it took a game starring Shadow to prove it. Sonic Frontiers was brilliant, especially after all the…

The PS5 Pro went on sale this week. If you didn’t know, you won’t be alone. I’ve seen no advertising, no sprawl of articles convincing me to overcome my skepticism and lay down the best part of £1,000 on a console, a stand and a disc drive. It’s the most muted console release I’ve ever seen. And as naturally happens on the internet, I’ve been told it’s either a sign that it’s overperforming or underperforming. On ...

Death Stranding has shadow dropped on Xbox today at the immensely affordable price of £17.50.  Buy it. It’s awesome. It’s also an interesting look at things to come. The biggest PlayStation fans are going to quickly point out that this isn’t a big deal. It’s five years old, they’ll say. Besides, Kojima has bought the rights back, so Death Stranding isn’t even owned by PlayStation. This new release is published by 505 Games ...