Games · Purchased February 25, 2023 · $26.79 via PSN
Photo: Triband / Steam
The Setup
From the makers of What the Golf?, a slapstick, absurdist minigame collection themed around baseball bats — your hand becomes a bat (or something sillier) across 100+ short, chaotic levels of physical comedy.
The Review
It’s consistently silly in a way that escalates well, and it’s a genuinely good "hand the headset to a friend" party game. About 4 hours of content across the 100+ bite-sized levels, with a wholesome original soundtrack underneath the chaos. Some of the jokes are recycled from What the Golf?, and it’s on the shorter side once you’ve seen the gags.
What I Liked
Consistently silly, escalating sense of humor
Over 100 varied bite-sized levels
Great pick-up-and-play party game
What I Didn’t
Some jokes recycled from What the Golf?
Short with low replay value once you’ve seen it all
Games · Purchased February 25, 2023 · $8.79 via PSN
Photo: PlayStation Store
The Setup
A budget-priced arcade shoot-’em-up that reimagines classic Asteroids in full 3D VR — blast waves of asteroids and enemy ships with lasers, rockets, and a gatling gun while defending your bases, grabbing shield power-ups along the way.
The Review
This one’s exactly what the $8.79 price tag suggests — simple, pick-up-and-play arcade fun with a decent sense of scale for a budget title, and a nice nostalgic hook if you grew up on the original Asteroids. It’s shallow and repetitive if you sit with it too long, and the presentation is noticeably dated next to the bigger PSVR2 launch titles, but for the price it’s a fine way to kill twenty minutes.
What I Liked
Simple, pick-up-and-play arcade fun
Decent sense of scale/immersion for the price
Nostalgic hook for Asteroids fans
What I Didn’t
Shallow, repetitive gameplay loop
Dated presentation next to other PSVR2 launch titles
Games · Purchased February 23, 2023 · $13.49 via PSN
Photo: Enhance Games / Steam
The Setup
Second purchase after the headset itself, and it wasn’t close. Tetris Effect: Connected wraps classic Tetris mechanics in synesthetic audiovisual presentation — music, lighting, and particle effects all sync to your play — and the PSVR2 version adds native VR, layered haptics, and eye tracking on top.
The Review
This is the game I hand the headset to skeptical friends for. It’s meditative, stunning, and the "Zone" mechanic (freezing time to clear lines) adds real strategic depth to something as simple as Tetris. There’s a huge amount of content here across 30+ stages plus robust cross-play multiplayer.
What I Liked
Stunning, meditative audiovisual design
The Zone mechanic adds real strategic depth
Huge amount of content and modes
PSVR2’s haptics and eye tracking genuinely add something
What I Didn’t
Pricey re-buy if you already own the PS4 version
Pacing can feel slow until you learn the Zone/Journey modes
Games · Purchased February 25, 2023 · $18.89 via PSN
Photo: PlayStation Studios
The Setup
A remake of the PS2 launch title FantaVision, PS5-exclusive. It’s a puzzle/strategy game where you select and detonate chains of same-colored firework "flares" for chain-reaction combo scores — think Missile Command with fireworks.
The Review
Visually this is a showcase piece — dense, gorgeous particle effects that make good use of the PS5. The chain-combo puzzle loop is satisfying in short bursts and it’s a strong nostalgia hit for PS2-era fans. There just isn’t much depth underneath the spectacle; a few reviewers called it more tech demo than game, and I get why.
What I Liked
Gorgeous, dense particle/fireworks effects
Satisfying, meditative chain-combo loop
Strong PS2-era nostalgia factor
What I Didn’t
Shallow depth of mechanics for a full-price release
Game Review · Purchased December 27, 2022 · $80.00 CAD via Gamestop
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me. Photo: Steam
The Setup
The fourth and final entry in Supermassive Games’ first Dark Pictures season, sending a documentary film crew to a museum built as a working replica of real-life serial killer H.H. Holmes’s “Murder Castle,” where the curator traps them in a deadly game.
The Review
This is the best-written entry in the anthology so far by a clear margin — the film-crew characters feel like more than just vehicles for quick-time events, helped considerably by each one carrying a unique gadget that turns into a genuinely clever character-specific puzzle tool rather than a generic interaction prompt. The slasher-movie premise, playing off a real historical serial killer’s methods, gives the environmental storytelling and collectibles a stronger hook than some of the more purely supernatural earlier entries.
The visuals and animation are noticeably behind Supermassive’s own The Quarry from earlier this year, with stiffer, more segmented character movement during routine interactions that occasionally breaks the immersion the writing works hard to build. Still, as a closing chapter for the anthology’s first season, it goes out on its strongest character work, and that’s the part of these games that actually matters most.
What I Liked
Best character writing in the Dark Pictures series so far
Character-specific puzzle tools are a genuinely clever addition
Strong environmental storytelling tied to real historical horror
Engaging slasher-movie narrative throughout
What I Didn’t
Visuals look noticeably dated next to Supermassive’s own The Quarry
Stiff, segmented character animation breaks immersion during routine interactions
The Verdict
Rating: 4/5
The anthology’s strongest character writing yet closes out the first season on a genuine high note, dated visuals aside.
Where to Buy
Steam listing (also on PlayStation Store, Xbox/Microsoft Store)
Game Review · Purchased November 22, 2022 · $30.00 CAD via Amazon.ca
Sonic Colors: Ultimate. Photo: Steam
The Setup
A 4K/60fps remaster of the 2010 Wii original, with Sonic infiltrating Dr. Eggman’s “Interstellar Amusement Park” to free enslaved Wisps — alien creatures granting temporary powers like laser-drilling or rocket boosts — from being used to power a mind-control weapon.
The Review
This is exactly what it says on the box — a visual and performance upgrade over a well-liked 2010 platformer, with a handful of genuinely nice additions like new Rival Rush races against Metal Sonic and some character customization. The Wisp power-up loop is still the most inventive part of the design, giving each stage a reason to feel a little different from the last, and at $30 it’s an easy, low-stakes pickup for anyone wanting a lighter platformer between bigger releases.
Judged against 2022’s platforming competition rather than 2010’s, the level design feels samey and the challenge stays firmly on the easy side even for an experienced player, and the 4K/60fps coat of paint can’t fully disguise that this is, structurally, a 12-year-old game. It’s a fine, comfortable choice for a younger or less experienced player, or for pure nostalgia — just don’t expect it to compete with anything genuinely new.
What I Liked
Wisp power-up system still gives levels real variety
New Rival Rush races and customization add worthwhile extra content
Visual/performance upgrade to 4K/60fps is a genuine improvement
Low price point makes it an easy, low-stakes pickup
What I Didn’t
Overly simplistic, floaty platforming for experienced players
Level design feels samey across the whole game
Still visibly a 12-year-old game structurally, despite the coat of paint
The Verdict
Rating: 3/5
A perfectly fine budget nostalgia trip, but not much more than that — fine for younger players or pure Sonic nostalgia, skippable otherwise.
Where to Buy
Steam listing (also on Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store)
Game Review · Purchased November 9, 2022 · $100.00 CAD via Walmart.ca
God of War Ragnarok. Photo: PlayStation Store
The Setup
Picked up right on launch day, Ragnarok continues Kratos and Atreus’s Norse saga three years after 2018’s God of War, as the pair prepare for the prophesied Ragnarok while confronting Thor and Odin across all nine realms.
The Review
The combat retains everything that made the 2018 game feel so good — the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos are just as satisfying to swing here, and the environmental puzzle design across all nine realms gives exploration real texture rather than just padding between fights. The story is the real headline, though: this is genuinely ambitious mythology-building, with Thor and Odin as compelling antagonists, and letting you directly control Atreus in dedicated sections adds welcome variety to a formula that could have easily just repeated itself.
A few specific encounters have unfairly spiky difficulty that stands out against how well-tuned most of the rest of the combat is, and the second half leans on more backtracking than I’d like. The health-item button doubling as the grapple button also caused more than a few accidental deaths in the heat of combat. None of that meaningfully dents what’s otherwise a hugely ambitious, well-told conclusion to this era of the series.
What I Liked
Combat retains the brutal, satisfying feel of the 2018 game
Ambitious Norse mythology storytelling with compelling new antagonists
Playable Atreus sections add genuine variety
Excellent PS5 visuals and performance/graphics mode options
What I Didn’t
Some specific encounters have unfairly spiky difficulty
Noticeable backtracking in the second half
Health item and grapple sharing a button causes accidental deaths in combat
The Verdict
Rating: 5/5
A hugely ambitious, well-earned conclusion to this saga — an easy launch-day purchase that was worth every bit of the hype.
Game Review · Purchased July 12, 2022 · $90.65 CAD
The Quarry. Photo: Steam
The Setup
Supermassive Games’ follow-up to Until Dawn drops nine teenage camp counselors into one supernatural night at the isolated Hackett’s Quarry summer camp, mixing monster-movie horror with slasher tropes and a genuinely star-studded cast including David Arquette, Lance Henriksen, and Ted Raimi.
The Review
This is cinematic, choice-driven storytelling done at real scale — branching decisions and quick-time events across an 8-10 hour story that reportedly has close to 200 possible endings depending on who lives, who dies, and what you decide along the way. The performance capture and voice acting carry a lot of the weight and mostly earn it; the story holds attention for its full runtime, which isn’t something every game in this genre manages.
The accessibility options are a standout — Death Rewind lets you undo a fatal mistake, which is a genuinely welcome addition for a game this branching, though it does soften the tension if you lean on it too much. The character animation dips into uncanny-valley territory in some scenes, and the creature design doesn’t hit the same memorable highs as some of Supermassive’s other work, but as a big, well-produced interactive horror movie, it delivers exactly what it promises.
What I Liked
Engaging, well-paced story that holds interest for the full runtime
Strong performance-capture acting from a genuinely notable cast
Near-200 possible endings give it real replay value
Death Rewind and other accessibility options are a welcome touch
What I Didn’t
Character animation dips into uncanny-valley territory in places
Creature/monster design is less memorable than in prior Supermassive games
Death Rewind can undercut the tension if overused
The Verdict
Rating: 4/5
A well-produced, genuinely replayable interactive horror movie — the near-200 endings alone make a second playthrough tempting.
Game Review · Purchased February 20, 2022 · $335.99 CAD via Amazon.ca
Horizon Forbidden West. Photo: PlayStation Store
The Setup
Six months after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy pushes further west into a post-apocalyptic America to track down a mysterious blight threatening what’s left of the ecosystem, navigating a whole new set of tribal politics along the way. The sequel arrived as one of the bigger PS5 showcase titles of early 2022, and it’s a significant step up in scope from the original.
The Review
The core loop of stealth takedowns and precision ranged combat against the game’s robotic creatures is still the star of the show, and it’s meaningfully expanded here — the Pullcaster grappling tool and Shield-Wing glider both open up traversal in ways the original never had, and the sheer variety of weapons and elemental weaknesses to exploit keeps big machine fights feeling fresh well into the back half of the story. The writing is a real step up too; Aloy and the surrounding cast get far more room to breathe than in Zero Dawn, and the story has some genuine, well-earned turns.
The frustrating holdover is climbing: despite all the new traversal tools, you’re still restricted to pre-marked handholds rather than anything resembling freeform movement, which stands out more now that the rest of the traversal kit feels so much more open. Melee combat is also still the weak link — functional, but clearly the least-polished part of the moment-to-moment gameplay. Visually and technically, though, this is one of the best-looking, most content-dense PS5 games of its era, and the machine fights alone make the $60+ price tag an easy justify.
What I Liked
Machine combat is as good as ever and meaningfully expanded with new tools
Pullcaster and Shield-Wing genuinely improve traversal variety
Much stronger characterization and story writing than Zero Dawn
Massive amount of content — side quests, collectibles, exploration
What I Didn’t
Climbing is still limited to pre-set handholds, not freeform
Melee combat remains the weakest part of the combat kit
Some new systems (base building, arena) feel unnecessary
The Verdict
Rating: 4.5/5
A genuinely huge step up from Zero Dawn in almost every category that matters, and easily one of the best PS5 exclusives of the year.
Game Review · Purchased January 25, 2022 · $50.85 CAD via Amazon.ca
Paper Mario: The Origami King. Photo: Nintendo
The Setup
Peach’s Castle has been wrapped in giant paper streamers by the origami villain King Olly, who’s folded most of the Mushroom Kingdom’s inhabitants into paper along with it. Mario and new companion Olivia set out to remove the streamers one region at a time, in the latest entry to swing the Paper Mario series away from traditional RPG mechanics and toward pure adventure-game structure.
The Review
The headline mechanic is the ring-based battle system: enemies are arranged on a rotating circular battlefield, and before you can attack you have to rotate and slide segments of the ring to line everyone up in a row or a 2×2 block. It’s a clever spatial puzzle wrapped around combat, and for the first several hours it’s genuinely fun to solve. The writing carries just as much weight — Olivia is a fantastic companion, the jokes land consistently, and the papercraft art direction gives every region its own distinct, charming look, especially in the boss fights, which are the clear highlight of the whole game.
Where it stumbles is the thing longtime Paper Mario fans actually wanted: there’s no experience points, no leveling, and nothing meaningful gained from fighting regular enemies at all, which makes the ring puzzles start to feel like a toll booth rather than a reward the longer the game goes on. A weapon-durability system on top of that adds friction without adding much fun. It’s a genuinely funny, gorgeous adventure game that happens to have Mario’s face on it — just don’t go in expecting an RPG.
What I Liked
Olivia is one of the best companion characters in a Mario game, full stop
Consistently funny, well-written dialogue throughout
Boss battles are creative, varied, and genuinely challenging puzzles
Papercraft art direction gives every region real personality
What I Didn’t
No experience points or character growth from regular combat
Ring puzzles feel tedious by the back half of the game
Weapon durability adds friction without adding fun
Puzzle difficulty swings unevenly between trivial and frustrating
The Verdict
Rating: 4/5
Judge it as the charming adventure game it actually is, not the RPG its name promises, and this is one of the funniest, best-written Mario games around.
