Author: A.K.H.

At the end of my gameplay impressions video, I had this to say about Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Like most modern AC titles, it is probably not going to become an industry darling, but for fans of the franchise, it delivers exactly what we were waiting for – the standard AC formula, set in Japan, with a huge map waiting to be explored. 

After spending nearly 40 hours playing the full game, I stand by what I said. At the time of writing this review, the game has been out for a little over a month, and has seen more than 3 million players already, which is a huge number by games in general, but at the same time, is also not such a huge number for AAA games, which are generally expected to sell much more. Player reception has been either mixed or positive depending on the platform, but it’s safe to say that the game hasn’t been a complete disaster like some outlets were expecting it to be before launch. 

For those who won’t watch the entire video, here’s a summary. If you’re a longtime fan of the franchise who’s still hoping that the newer games will live up to the standards set by Assassin’s Creed II, you will once again walk away disappointed after playing Shadows. However, if you’re someone who has accepted the fact that the franchise is now a collection of well-produced historical fiction simulations, then there’s a lot to love in this game, which takes you on a memorable tour of 16th century Japan. 

The dual protagonist experiment, which was last tried ten years ago in AC Syndicate, doesn’t really work here, as the game is unfairly balanced towards the stealth-focused Naoe, but the aggressive style of Yasuke does have its moments.

The combat is quite simple, and the RPG experience has been drastically toned down compared to previous entries. The entire game is basically a crash course for ancient Japanese culture, and if you treat it that way, it’s an enjoyable ride all the way till the end. 

Detective Dotson is a cozy adventure game about a reluctant Detective, who must put aside his dream of being a movie star and take on the role of a detective to solve the mystery behind his dad’s death. 

I received a review code to play this game early, and after more than a year of following this game’s development journey, I’m pleased to say that the team at Masala Games have delivered an impressive experience that I’m happy to recommend to anyone who likes playing narrative adventure games. However, there is a catch – you need to watch a 60-minute movie before playing the game in order to truly enjoy it. We’ll explore more of this unusual condition in the review.

But first, a summary for those who won’t watch the entire video. Detective Dotson is a fun game that is full of interesting ideas, charming characters, and succeeds at delivering a cozy adventure that you can play at your own pace, while exploring a richly detailed world along the way. 

The game splits its levels into cases, each of which offer a different puzzle to solve in the streets of the city. At launch,  the number of cases might feel less, but these cases get more complex as you keep making progress. Depending on how much time you decide to spend on the mini-games, your initial playthrough can take up to five hours. The developer has promised to introduce more content later this year as a free update.

There is a tie-in movie, which comes included with your purchase of the game. The story of the movie essentially sets up the game, and is a highly recommended watch, as it offers a far more thorough introduction to the game’s world, and it is a fun experience on its own with lots of humour and action. 

You can of course skip it entirely and dive straight into the game, but the movie is such a crucial part of the experience that you may end up being confused if you play the game directly. 

Tape 2 for Lost Records: Bloom and Rage continues the story of Swann Holloway and her three friends who have a memorable summer in the year 1995, but then something mysterious happens that causes them to grow apart and not speak to each other for decades. Part of the mystery was revealed at the end of part one, when we find out that one of those friends, Kat, is suffering from cancer, and that chapter ended on a cliffhanger.

Before going into the full review, here’s a quick summary. If you thought Tape 1 was slow, you may not be happy to know that Tape 2 is also quite slow. On top of that, it is also quite short, at least compared to Tape 1. The good news however, is that the story does wrap up quite well, although to no one’s surprise, there are multiple endings based on your own choices. This does give some replayability, to see if you can get a better ending after your first playthrough. 

The rest of the game is pretty similar to Tape 1, so I will keep this review short by skipping two sections – Visuals & Performance, Sound & Music – these are the same as Tape 1, although I will highlight that there are a few bugs in the launch window, one of which caused me to restart a scene and lose some progress. The texture pop-in issue also continues here, similar to the first part. Hopefully these will be patched soon, but these issues are quite minor. 

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle originally came out in December 2024 for the Xbox and PC platforms, and is currently gearing up for a release on PlayStation 5. This felt like a good time for me to review this game, as I missed playing it during its initial launch window. Since this is one of my longer reviews, I will keep the introduction short and skip straight to the summary, for those of you who won’t watch the full video.

And the summary is that this game is really, really good…as long as you keep your expectations in check regarding the “action” part of this action-adventure game. For the most part, it is more of an adventure game than an action one, but even during the most intense action sequences, there is less of combat and more of the cinematic action sequences that we have come to expect from franchises like Tomb Raider and Uncharted, which ironically, were directly or otherwise inspired from the Indiana Jones film franchise.

The game is visually stunning, features excellent voice acting, all of which back up a well-written story that keeps you interested throughout its modest runtime of 12-15 hours. However, that’s only if you stick to the main story. For those who like exploring everything a game has to offer, I’ve seen people report playtimes of 40 hours or more. 

For PS5 players wondering if they should get this game on day one, it definitely matches the high standards set by some of PlayStation’s best single-player franchises like God of War, Spider-Man or The Last of Us. The start can be a bit slow in terms of gameplay, as there’s more puzzles than action, but the pace picks up gradually in the second half and it’s an amazing ride all the way till the end.

South of Midnight is the third game from Compulsion Games, and the first game to be published by Xbox Game Studios after they acquired Compulsion Games way back in 2018. 

For those who won’t watch the entire video, here’s a summary. The game looks and feels great, with a strong emphasis on the narrative, which is set in the American Deep South. After playing several games set in Japan or Europe recently, this setting immediately felt fresh and memorable. As someone who is completely unaware of that region’s stories and culture, this game felt like a well-narrated story introducing me to various folk tales and cultural elements. 

That experience itself is worth the price of admission, but on top of that, there is also a decent video game built-in. Now, the gameplay part of this video game does fall a bit short, which is probably why it didn’t get outstanding reviews from the critics, but the other elements are so well made that the gameplay fades into the background. And the relatively short runtime makes it easier to digest the sections of the gameplay that aren’t necessarily fun, and lets you focus on the parts of the game that are quite fun and interesting to explore.