COLD VR demonstrates that having an interesting concept isn't enough - execution is crucial. The core mechanic of movement-based time manipulation needed more refinement to find the sweet spot between power fantasy and engaging challenge. The disconnected nature of the levels and settings makes it difficult to become invested in the world or story, while technical limitations and visual compromises on the Quest platform further diminish the experience.
At its current state, Starship Troopers: Extermination feels like a game that needed way more time in development, at least for the PS5 version. While the core concept is sound and the community is welcoming, the technical issues on PS5 make it difficult to recommend.
I was pretty excited when I learned the news that Lawn Mowing Simulator would get the VR treatment and that I would be able to play it on my Quest 3. However, after playing or better say trying to play it, in its current state, I cannot recommend Lawn Mowing Simulator VR to anyone and I will go as far as to say that you should completely avoid this game.
It's sad to say, but creativity and passion appear absent from Dead Man's Diary
Dreams of a quality Christmas Metroidvania go unfulfilled. Ebenezer and the Invisible World offers little but disappointment and frustration. Avoid this Scrooge of a game, unless a major updates arrives before Christmas.
Unfinished, unpolished and with seemingly random puzzles just thrown in makes FINIS extremely hard for me to recommend to anyone.
I honestly don’t know what they were thinking when designing and releasing this game. Avoid Babylon’s Fall as it is not worth your money or your time.
Sands of Aura is not a disaster, and it is not a hidden masterpiece either. I came away respecting the ambition more than the actual play experience. There is a compelling world, a decent narrative frame, and moments of real atmosphere. But the game keeps undercutting itself with inconsistent defensive timing, uneven encounter behavior, and a progression loop that does not always make you feel stronger when it should. For me, that leaves Sands of Aura as a just okay action RPG, interesting enough to remember, not polished enough to recommend broadly.
I respect Death Howl more than I enjoyed it. It has a clear creative identity, strong art direction, and a combat system that will click with players who enjoy hard, grind-forward strategy with heavy resource tension. For me, it was mostly frustration. I came in expecting a deckbuilder that would scratch a certain itch, and instead found a very demanding tactical game where RNG and attrition often drowned out the fun. I do not hate Death Howl, and I do not think it is a bad game. I think it is a very specific game that asks for a lot, very early, and gives back in ways that did not work for me.
By the time the credits rolled, I was left feeling disappointed more than anything else. There is a good game buried in here. With tighter economy balancing, more meaningful survival systems, and enemies that are dangerous without being bullet sponges, I Hate This Place could have been an easy recommendation. Instead, it feels like a promising idea that loses confidence in itself halfway through.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a strange, mixed experience. The campaign is a complete mess. Not the fun kind of messy, but the kind that makes you ask how many meetings were skipped or how many analytics dashboards were misunderstood. But the rest of the package is not like that. Multiplayer movement and gunfeel continue to be top tier. The wall jump adds a fresh twist. The reward shower keeps you locked in. Zombies is pure comfort food and Dead Ops 4 is chaotic joy.
The only real thing holding it back from greatness is its difficulty. Those sudden spikes break the pacing and make it hard to fully enjoy what the game is doing so well elsewhere. There were multiple moments where I thought, “Okay, this is it, I'm done,” only to boot it back up an hour later because I couldn't shake it. That's the magic of Silly Polly Beast — it frustrates you, but it also pulls you back in.
Yooka-Replaylee is the kind of game that knows exactly what it is, a 3D platformer packed to the brim with collectibles, quirky characters, and colorful worlds. It doesn't try to reinvent the genre or push the platforming forward in any major way, and that's both its comfort and its curse.
Star Overdrive is a contradiction of a game. At its core, it has something beautiful, an incredible hoverboard system, a sprawling alien world, and a dreamlike vibe that's unlike anything else I've played recently. When the game just lets you ride, it soars. But surrounding that core are systems that feel clunky, tedious, and too random for their own good. The crafting, the skill trees, the combat, the dungeons, they all pull you away from what makes the game special.
When I heard MercurySteam was behind this, my expectations were admittedly high. Their previous work on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was, in my opinion, amazing. Those games were confident, cinematic, brutal and easy to play in a way that felt satisfying. Blades of Fire feels like a very different beast — a slower, more methodical, less directed experience. That’s not inherently bad, but it’s definitely not what I was hoping for.
The Precinct is an ambitious attempt at creating an authentic police simulator that gets many things right but is held back by technical limitations and repetitive gameplay loops. The detailed law enforcement mechanics and atmospheric 1980s setting show promise, but the excitement of serving and protecting eventually gives way to routine.
Yes, it's in Early Access, and yes, things might improve with future updates. But for now, on PS5 and I guess the same would be on Xbox Series X, it's just not worth it. If you're really curious, maybe give it a go via GamePass and see if you can stomach the rough ride. Otherwise, wait. There's a good game here, but it's buried under a pile of performance issues that seriously affect the experience.
Once Upon a Puppet is a game that succeeds more on its artistic merits and creative vision than its mechanical execution. It's a beautiful, atmospheric adventure that creates a unique and memorable world, even if the journey through it isn't always smooth.
Drug Dealer Simulator is a niche title that won't appeal to everyone. Its core gameplay loop is inherently repetitive - source product, prepare deals, make deliveries, manage money, repeat. However, for players who enjoy management sims and can look past the technical limitations, there's an engaging game underneath.
The Tale of Bistun is a modest but earnest attempt to bring Persian mythology to life through interactive storytelling. Its greatest strength lies in its narrative presentation, particularly its excellent narrator who guides players through this tale of love and loss. While the gameplay mechanics are basic and the combat system lacks depth, the game's brief runtime prevents these limitations from becoming too problematic.