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DONTNOD Entertainment has been breaking boundaries when it comes to representation since the original Life is Strange. It has created a range of broad, nuanced characters that identify as gay, bisexual and with the arrival of Tell Me Why – transgender. 

Such inclusions haven’t been perfect though, with its previous games expecting you to choose between killing your entire family or watch the girl you love die as the final decision, or neglect your sibling in favour of an underdeveloped gay romance. 

These felt like misguided missteps even if the intention was pure, mistakes which thankfully aren’t repeated in Tell Me Why. In fact, this is arguably the tightest narrative adventure the studio has ever created, using its shorter duration to ensure the dramatic story is told with far greater finesse and focus on its ambitious themes. 

Developed with the backing of Xbox Games Studios, Tell Me Why is a deep, harrowing and wonderfully progressive experience with a loving focus on family, community and accepting who you are in the face of criticism. It fumbles at times, but remains a bold step forward for DONTNOD’s potential as a virtual storyteller. 

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Tell Me Why follows the lives of Tyler and Alyson Ronan, two siblings who are reuniting after a traumatic event separated them ten long years ago. Imprisoned after supposedly killing his mother as a child, Tyler has grown up away from his family, forced to adapt to his identity as a transgender man alone and with a lacking support network.

Despite these obstacles, Tyler has emerged as a strong, confident person with a future he wants to pursue, even if it means leaving behind those who were once important to him. Upon reuniting with his sister, the duo seek to sell their childhood home, a bastion of mixed memories that looms over them like an otherworldly spectre. 

Unfortunately, the act of abandoning their roots drags them back into the past, with the twins coming to realise they are capable of reliving past memories, communicating with one another telepathically as they slowly come closer to unearthing the mystery behind their late mother’s passing. It’s a compelling journey with several twists and turns across Tell Me Why’s three chapters, culminating in a final act that is easily one of DONTNOD’s best.

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Taking place in the quaint Alaskan town of Delos Crossing, Tell Me Why benefits from its more intimate scale. The entire game takes place across a small selection of locations, with every named character playing a vital role in the overall narrative. You’ll come to care for them, learning of their motivations and how the death of a mother once thought unimportant had lasting consequences on the lives of so many people. 

You play as Tyler and Alyson throughout each chapter, swapping between them and learning the unique perspective they have on events. Each twin has a different interpretation of the past, and having to side with one of them while maintaining their bond as siblings makes for some excellent dramatic moments, and several dialogue decisions can have a huge impact on the plot you initially won’t suspect. 

I opted for decisions that felt realistic in the face of an adversity. Tyler may have been away from his sister for years, but he still grew up in a supportive environment, bringing other LGBT people under his wing across support groups and community activities in Fireweed Youth Camp. While his isolationist upbringing may have changed his outlook, Tyler still cares about people, since he knows exactly how it feels to be shunned and excluded. 

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While I can’t speak of Tell Me Why’s greatest moments in fear of spoilers, it hurls you into some neat situations awash with pressure, yet they feel realistic in the context of this small town adventure. You’ll peruse a police archive for files relating to your past against the clock, or cause a distraction in the local supermarket before sneaking into an office. 

On their lonesome these might sound painfully boring but Tell Me Why provides them with narrative consequences that make you care, and while the dialogue is still cringe-inducing at times, it’s a higher level of quality compared to what came before it. Supernatural tomfoolery aside, the circumstances around the central mystery feel relatable, especially with how the plight of its queer characters are depicted. 

As a transgender person myself, I’m far too familiar with queer identities being framed through tragedy or as a bigoted punchline in a number of mediums. We’re seldom allowed to be happy or feel proud about our existence in the wider world, but Tell Me Why supersedes this quandary with the excellent depiction of Tyler Ronan. 

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Tyler’s identity as a transgender man isn’t a result of childhood trauma, or a similar event which has forced him to change into something he isn’t. He’s a man, and always has been, and this notion is reinforced again and again throughout Tell Me Why as he confronts bigots and talks about the excitement he has for top surgery and further developments in the years to come. 

While you’ll confront bigotry throughout Tell Me Why in the form of ingrained societal attitudes and generational divides, they’re always painted as the wrong opinion, backwards ideals that have no belonging in the world you inhabit. But just like in reality, these people exist, and we need to speak up against those who seek to discriminate if we hope to move forward and make the world a better place. 

Tyler’s deadname (the identity possessed pre-transition) isn’t mentioned once throughout the entire game, which put a massive smile on my face. This, alongside a number of other surprising developments prove that DONTNOD has done its research here, ensuring it is respecting diverse identities and giving them a worthwhile place to shine. I see this as a new benchmark for the medium in a lot of ways, particularly in the AAA space. 

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While I adore much of what Tell Me Why achieves, it does falter somewhat in its second episode. The central mystery loses some of its momentum, and the cliffhanger ending doesn’t leave enough questions lingering in the distance to keep us guessing. This is unfortunate, since the final chapter is easily the game’s strongest, filled with unexpected revelations and some truly heart-wrenching decisions to make.

The shorter format is certainly stronger than five episodes dominated by filler, but it feels like DONTNOD is still finding its feet in some regards, or perhaps required some stronger supporting characters to stand alongside the stellar lead siblings. Tell Me Why’s trio of chapters releasing across three weeks softens the blow, since players won’t be waiting months for a resolution.

But I feel these weaker moments are worth enduring, since even the quiet instances are filled with engaging snippets of character development that really help the inhabitants of Delos Crossing feel alive. The world building is exquisite, whether you’re partaking in optional conversations or interacting with random objects strewn about the place.

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Tell Me Why takes solace in the smaller, more personal glimpses into the lives of its characters. You’ll often be greeted with the opportunity to simply sit down next to someone and see how they’re doing, delving into the ongoing events and seeing how they’re affected. Given how the main narrative delves into mental health and emotional trauma in some fairly harrowing yet well-handled ways, it’s a relief to stew in such brief moments of solitude.

Verdict

Tell Me Why is an engrossing narrative adventure that pushes inclusivity to the forefront, setting a new benchmark for queer representation in the blockbuster space. As a transgender person, this is the level of research and respect that I anticipate from games going forward, and knowing it has the backing of Xbox Game Studios gives me that hope.

While the second chapter is somewhat underwhelming, Tyler and Alyson’s journey manages to pull you in regardless of its shortcomings, even if at times I wanted DONTNOD to be somewhat more consistent with the story it wanted to tell. This likely won’t convert sceptics of the studio’s previous work, but it’s certainly a worthy addition to its legacy.

The post Tell Me Why Review: An engrossing narrative adventure from the studio behind Life is Strange appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

I was a child when I first played the original Mafia back on PS2, and quickly grew inpatient with how slow the vehicles felt and opted for faster, more chaotic open-world adventures of the era. At the time, I was far too young to appreciate the ambitious storytelling and nuanced approach to world building this criminal underworld was trying to convey. 

It’s not easy to return to nowadays, and with Mafia 3 proving to be underwhelming, the franchise finds itself in a strange position. Now, 2K and Hangar 13 are seeking to revitalise the open-world series with a bold new venture that doesn’t just seek to remaster the 2002 original, but completely remake it with a new engine, new actors and new gameplay mechanics. 

The results are quite stunning, with the few hours I spent with the game pulling me into its corrupt world and refusing to let go. But I can’t help but feel its vision of mafia mayhem is a little outdated in 2020, suffering from some of the same problems the third installment was critically mauled for only a few short years ago. 

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Mafia: Definitive Edition begins in a quaint coffee shop. Tommy Angelo is approached by a detective who seeks to learn about the events that made our protagonist a wanted man, keen to uncover how a timid taxi driver slowly but surely turned towards a life of crime. From here, we delve into the past and play through the early days of Angelo’s Mafia career and how he made friends, enemies and connections that would change his life forever. 

It’s a compelling opening as you run errands with seasoned gangsters to bust up the cars of those who wronged you or partake in an impromptu rally race to ensure the don wins a tumultuous gambling bid. Mafia: Definitive Edition does a fantastic job of establishing a sense of agency in its world. It truly feels like you’re in 1930, dealing with the aftermath of The Great Depression as a working joe simply trying to make ends meet. 

Driving through the rain-drenched streets of Lost Heaven is thickly atmospheric, heightened further by radio broadcasts which delve into the socioeconomic factors that influenced America at the time. This city might be fictional, but it isn’t afraid to project onto real-world issues that help it feel genuine and alive. So it’s a shame that outside of story missions it can come across as desperately empty, suffering from the same lifelessness that plagued Mafia 3. 

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Sadly the preview build kept me from exploring the city on my own terms, only catching glimpses of its sights and its occupants through the scope of story missions – which themselves are fairly standard fare for the genre. You’ll be briefed on a situation before driving out to a location and watching the chaos unfold in the form of firefights or other dramatic confrontations. 

They’re wonderfully acted and make you care and despise the cast of characters in equal measure, even if the wider narrative touchstones are achingly predictable the second you start putting the pieces together. It’s clearly an early attempt in the medium to ape the likes of Goodfellas and The Godfather, with several moments making clear homage to the cinematic greats. While cutesy, it detracts from what this story could really be capable of, and the PS2 origins become clear.

Hanger 13 has said the original story has been expanded, although the central character arcs will remain largely untouched. Knowing this, hopefully they have updated some of the dialogue and development to truly stand out, so it’s far more than a love letter to the creators of the genre. There’s an excellent tale to tell with the life of Tommy Angelo, and this remake could be poised to realise its full potential. 

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Gunplay in Mafia: Definitive Edition is enjoyable, and tries to depict Tommy Angelo as a man who isn’t proficient with firearms, coming from a working class life where aside from military service, violence was an activity best avoided. I’m not sure it does an effective job of depicting this fantasy, since the second I picked up a pistol I was pulling off headshots with ease, watching as rival gangsters tumbled off balconies to their death. 

It would be excellent if gunplay was expanded with Angelo sometimes struggling to reload, or finding his guns jamming in the midst of a firefight. Such things would help translate the impact of learning to survive in a lawless world, with our lead’s profiency in firearms growing alongside the unfolding story. I’m unsure there will be an upgrade system or ability to customise your own weapons in the full game, but it would certainly be welcome.

The preview build’s final mission takes place in the early hours of the morning, with the city shrouded in darkness and an ongoing storm making it increasingly difficult to navigate. Angelo and company use this as an oppurtunity to accomplish a deal, travelling outside the city to meet up with some folks who deal in alcohol following the strict implementation of prohibition laws.

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What follows is a masterclass in mission design as you discover your friends have been ambushed by law enforcement officers who are working under the dime of a rival crime family. From here, a massive shootout occurs as you seek shelter in a nearby barn, trying desperately to defend your injured comrade as swarms of cops, gangsters and other enemies storm the building.

It’s a thrilling sequence, but would be even better if the gunplay and movement didn’t feel unusually stilted and lacking in challenge, a glimpse of tactical nuance abandoned in favour of what is a fairly average third-person shooter experience. Fortunately, all of the ingredients help supersede such complaints, but I hope the full game makes me feel like I truly belong in the shoes of Tommy Angelo.

First Impressions

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a stunning remake of the 2002 original, bringing its world to life like never before with revamped visuals, expanded story and a greater sense of place. It’s a joy to explore, yet I can’t help but feel its hindered by many of the problems that held back Mafia 3, ailments I hope would have been addressed. I only played a small portion of the game, so there’s still all to play for, and this has plenty of promise.

The post Mafia: Definitive Edition Preview: A welcome return for the PS2 classic appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Wasteland 3 is Divinity Original Sin in post-apocalypse America. That’s the short version and if you know what that means and like the idea there’s no need to keep reading this review. Just go and buy it.

But, if you’re still on the fence, or confused about what that means, here are the specifics. Wasteland 3 is a new isometric, turn-based tactical RPG in the same vein as the popular Pillars of Eternity, Divinity and Shadowrun series of games.

It tasks you to step into the shoes of a fictional hero, build a crew of ramshackle soldiers and survive amidst a hostile landscape. Outside of tweaks to the character creation and development mechanics the only big difference between it and other titles in the genre is its setting.

The game puts you in the shoes of a Ranger. These are a group of elite soldiers looking to restore order in a post-apocalyptic America suffering in the aftermath of a nuclear war. The game follows on from the events of the first two games, seeing you travel to Colorado at the behest of the region’s self appointed leader, “the Patriarch”, who needs help quelling a slew of potential rebellions against him.

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If this sounds similar to the plot of a Fallout game, it should. Wasteland and Fallout are two series with very similar histories. Before Bethesda bought Fallout and turned it into an open-world, first-person RPG the franchise was also an isometric, turn-based RPG. This may make Wasteland 3 not terribly original, but, despite the gameplay and settings feeling very similar to other franchises, it still manages to be fun because it gets nearly all the basics right.

For anyone that’s played a Divinity, Pillars or Shadowrun game the mechanics will feel instantly familiar. Once the opening cutscene finishes you’re tasked to either pick from a selection of prebuilt characters or create your own custom hero, again exactly like Divinity Original Sin. In multiplayer each player takes control of a single protagonist, while in single player you manage two.

If you don’t want to build a character you can pick between a selection of pre-built squads, each of which come with a unique specialisation, look and backstory. Specifically, you can pick between the combat-focused Young Rangers, melee-driven Punk Lovers, stealthy Father Daughter, science-led Mentor and Student and A-team-esque Tech Heads. 

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The stock characters offer a decent selection for those in a hurry and stick fairly closely to the traditional model/tropes seen in most modern post-apocalypse TVs, movies and games. For those looking to carve their own path from the get-go, character creation is par for the course in the genre. You get to make basic changes to your characters’ appearance, picking their face, hair, height, voice and clothes.

From there you go on to pick a basic backstory, starting weapons, attributes, skills and quirks. Like a lot of modern games the character creation and development mechanics are class free, letting you free wheel the progression trees to create your own unique build. 

This may sound intimidating but Wasteland 3 does a good job explaining what each metric does and guides you away from poor choices early on. For example, picking a sub-machine gun as my opening weapon, the game threw up a handy dialogue reminding me that this class of gun required a different set of stats from the ones I’d picked to be effective.

It also helps that all the options include all the tropes you’d expect including metrics for stealth, combat, medicine, engineering, dialogue and survival. The only difference being that they have weird names, such as “kissass” referring to the diplomacy skill that can be used to resolve potentially hostile encounters peacefully.

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From there, things move fairly quickly to get you into familiar Wasteland territory. After fighting through a quick opening scripted section you’ll be dropped into an abandoned base, which you need to rebuild and set up as the Rangers’ new command centre in Colorado. It then gives you the keys to a giant armoured truck, a smidgeon of opening secondary and primary missions and sets you off on your merry way to explore the frozen nuclear wastes of Colorado. 

This sounds basic, but the game’s tone, solid combat and dialogue mechanics do a good enough job to keep you entertained. The world offers a wonderful amount of variety and some genuinely challenging decisions. It’s split into settlement hubs that you can explore as a squad, and a larger main world map using a giant, customisable army SUV.

Quests on offer work well enough especially as the cast of characters is as diverse and entertaining as you’d expect from a title with Wasteland’s historic pedigree. 

One second you’ll be exploring the Patriarch’s capital – a dystopian paradise split into two sections, one held by the uber rich “100 families” and the second a slum full of destitute refugees and mafia-style gangsters eager to take advantage of them. The next you’ll be fighting Mad Max-style raiders or attempting diplomacy with a cult dedicated to former US President Reagan.

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The latter is a particularly important mechanic as the game’s factions are all interconnected and, like most modern RPGs, how you act and who you help will affect how each interacts with you. Annoy one too much and they’ll turn hostile and shoot you on site, or refuse to offer you any aid, closing off potential quest lines and plot options. This mechanic is put front and centre in both the game’s dialogue, base building and mission mechanics. 

For example, while exploring the world the game will often throw up curve balls that put you in between a rock and a hard place. During my first venture into the wastes I was given a choice; abandon a family I was attempting to save from raiders to help one of the Patriarch’s trade convoys, or risk losing my good reputation with his faction by plowing on with my original goal.

Decisions you make are doubly important as the staff you pick to man your homebase and NPCs you recruit to your party all have backstories and their own allegiances. Anger one faction too much and you risk losing your bases’ quartermaster, leaving you unable to buy or mod weapons there, or have your favourite sniper quit the Rangers out of frustration for your choices, leaving your squad a person short.

Combat and character development mechanics also do a reasonable job keeping you entertained early on. The combat works exactly like most previous Wasteland games’. At the start of an encounter each character has a certain number of action points they can use to move, enact skills, use items or fire their weapon. 

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The pecking order of who moves first and how many action points they have is determined by their stats and gear. From there you and your enemies take turns duking it out until one side is dead. As ever making effective use of cover, the environment around you and the game’s overwatch (Ambush) mechanics are super important when playing at higher difficulty levels.

Weapons on offer include everything from basic assault rifles, pistols and shotguns to over the top sci-fi lasers and rocket launchers, each with their own mechanics and stats. Firing them feels suitably weighty and the over-the-top death animations of some enemies is more than enough of a reason to keep blasting away early on.

There’s also decent modding mechanics, similar to XCOM or Gears Tactics’, that let you load your favourite weapons with things like custom barrels, ammunition, sights and grips, making them truly feel like your own.

Character development is similarly fun, albeit a little too familiar. Each level you get to upgrade one of your characters’ core attributes using skill points. From there you can upgrade a core skill. The skill points not only make them more effective at certain actions, they also open up specific development trees that let you earn new combat abilities.

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For example, levelling up the “nerd stuff” specialisation will open up a skill tree to let you hack robots or knock turrets offline mid-fight. Developing leadership will let you activate abilities that boost squad members stats or let them start turns with more action points.

Customisation options feel suitably varied and familiar to keep things fun and intuitive throughout the start of the game. But they also highlight the one big flaw with Wasteland 3 – it all feels a little too familiar.

Wasteland 3 is a fun game, and the story hits all the right notes. But the fact is, any established tactical RPG player will have heard them before. The gameplay is fun, but all the new additions to the franchise have already been done, sometimes to better effect, by competing titles. 

The multiplayer element is gloriously fun, with Wasteland’s making it all too easy for a less scrupulous player to screw over his teammate in glorious fashion through clandestine private conversations with the game’s NPCs. But, Divinity beat it to the punch on multiplayer many moons ago.

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The story is good and has a lot of surprising high moments, but you have to go through a lot of cliches and standard tropes of the genre to find them. The humour can on occasion also go a little too far into tropes of the genre that would best be forgotten.

An unpleasant scene where you listen to a client’s first “session” with a goat prostitute is a particularly cringe-worthy experience. With Fallout already doing the hammy humour more and more I can’t help but think Wasteland could have differentiated itself by going a little higher, like Pillars did with its fantasy setting.

These small things don’t stop Wasteland 3 being a fantastic game any fan of tactical RPGs will enjoy, they just stop it standing tall as a pinnacle of the genre the same way past entries into the franchise did. Which is a shame, given how well it does the basics.

Verdict

If you’re a fan of tactical RPGs then you’ll love Wasteland 3. It ticks all the right boxes and notes expected of a modern isometric, turn-based roleplaying game and wraps them up in a solid and thoughtful nuclear apocalypse setting. The only downside is that it doesn’t do a terrible amount to bring the genre forward, meaning it can feel a little too familiar on occasion.

The post Wasteland 3 Review appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

As a newcomer to the world of mixed-martial arts, UFC 4 felt like a daunting prospect. Only familiar with the professional fighting world through the eyes of scandals, knockout compilations and the fact that Ronda Rousey isn’t a very nice person. But this lack of knowledge was a surprisingly easy barrier to surpass when it came to jumping into EA Vancouver’s latest sporting sim. 

UFC 4 has been engineered with newcomers in mind, while never forgetting about the hardcore fans who flock to experiences like this for a nuanced technical showcase of the craft that takes into account every strike, hold and submission that makes this sport so enthralling. 

While it can fumble with inconsistent mechanical systems and a lacklustre presentation, it achieves its goal with great results, transforming me from a hesitant sceptic to a fledgling fan. Hardcore followers will be disappointed over iterative changes instead of massive overhauls compared to last year’s entry, but UFC 4 is building upon a solid foundation with small yet necessary steps. 

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Upon jumping into UFC 4 for the first time, you’re immediately thrust into the character creator to craft your very own athlete. I had some trouble creating an avatar who resembled my own appearance, so I opted for the fantastical approach with bright hair colours and unusual proportions that would hopefully frighten my opponents into submission if I didn’t have the technical prowess. From here, it’s onto the Career Mode. 

EA Vancouver has created this new story portion with the goal of bringing new players into the world of UFC, slowly introducing them to mechanics of matches, which genuinely feel like triumphs when you emerge victorious. After being absolutely trounced in the amateur circuit, you’re taken under the wing of Coach Davis, a former fighter who is keen to train the next generation of athletes. 

Davis will teach you a discipline of moves and techniques before throwing you into a match with someone who specialises in them, offering you an opportunity to test your newfound knowledge against a like-minded rival. It’s an effective introduction before the career mode settles into an established groove which will be familiar to those who played UFC 3. 

Once you’re settled into the fighting world, you’ll take on weekly fights and different opportunities provided by your manager while slowly but surely ascending to the big leagues. There’s a definitive sense of progression here I really appreciated, with losses still providing an element of satisfaction since your proficiency in different moves increases the more you use them, meaning you aren’t hindered by generic skill upgrades. 

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I will admit the career mode is held back by a distinct lack of personality, with the majority of characters coming across as robotic caricatures of their real-life counterparts. Crowds are lifeless, while dialogue coming from my avatar felt detached from every situation she was in. A dialogue system outside of brief interactions with texts and social media would have given things more life, or perhaps building a career-spanning feud with a fellow fighter as we both climbed the ranks. 

But how is the actual art of fighting in UFC 4? Do you feel like a capable fighter, or a mediocre fool mashing at buttons hoping your adversary hits the mat in a mess of bloody limbs. Fortunately, the combat system is wonderfully accessible. Punches and kicks are mapped to the face buttons, and you can combine certain combinations to perform kickboxing, knee strikes and other techniques.

The shoulder buttons are responsible for blocking and performing a mixture of high and low blows, all of which are essential in getting your opponent onto the ground to execute a submission. Alternatively, you can rush an enemy with a tackle, which stands a good chance of bringing them to the ground for a minigame. Here, you can choose to perform a submission move, pummel their face in or jump back onto your feet.

Who is successful is dictated by whoever has enough stamina to fill up their respective metre quick enough, meaning it can fill a little arbitrary at times. It feels fairly seamless otherwise, with fights transferring from sparring to clinching right onto the mat with smooth, realistic animations that are a joy to watch.

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Achieving victory through submission is expressed once again through a minigame, where you must dominate an opponent’s icon and fill up the gauge before they escape. Fortunately, how long you last in these instances is dependant on stamina and your overall condition, so there’s no way to accidentally mess up and throw a match like in WWE 2K, which is a huge relief.

If you aren’t an MMA expert and are worried about forgetting all of these fancy moves, assist options make the act of performing them much easier. Even so, things are taught in a way that you’re only expected to remember select things at any given time, although don’t expect to find success by randomly mashing buttons. Fail to watch your stamina, and you’ll be dominated in a matter of seconds.

Those who prefer a more arcadey experience instead of chasing after photorealistic title belts will be happy to learn that EA Vancouver is unleashing its playful side with UFC 4. A few select inspirations throw you into backyard cage matches or ancient tombs, with each fighter sporting a garb that’s perfect for the occasion. Leaning into this with fun unlockable characters would have been the cherry-on-top, but sadly they’re nowhere to be seen.

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Verdict

UFC 4 is an enjoyable trip into the world of mixed-martial arts, which makes some ample improvements to the formula compared to previous entries. While it can still feel underbaked and bland in certain areas such as the career mode, it has been refined with a stellar onboarding experience that makes it super accessible to newcomers.

Creating my fighter and slowly working my way into the world of UFC was rather enjoyable, and it felt like I was learning all of the different skills and building upon them with each new victory. In a year where the world of professional sports has ground to a halt, EA Vancouver has managed to build upon its virtual counterpart with a number of worthwhile additions.

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13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a bold departure for Vanillaware, which has previously cut its teeth on gorgeous, hand-drawn brawlers with the lightest of strategy elements, like Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown. Since the PS2 days, it has seldom abandoned traditional fantasy settings and predictable genre conventions, but this new outing throws every conceivable toy from the pram and doesn’t look back. The Japanese studio has grown up, moved forward and is far, far better for it. 

Even from the prologue alone, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a daring, ambitious and downright enrapturing time travel caper that feels like a mixture of Doctor Who, Terminator, War of the Worlds and countless other iconic sci-fi properties. While its influences are worn proudly on its sleeve, the beautiful aesthetic and innovative approach to storytelling help Vanillaware’s latest effort really shine, with the prologue establishing a winding tale of tragic intrigue that I’m already smitten with. 

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The core premise of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is simple. Otherworldly aliens have attacked the Earth, and a small group of towering mechs are the only means of conceivable defence. Constructed across time as a way to combat the foreign menace, these machines are piloted by chosen individuals, who all happen to be in high-school because anime. 

While this core premise seems trivial, it quickly involves into a mystery which spans from 1944 all the way into a far flung future, following the same thirteen characters as they mature, fall in love and come to terms with the inevitable fate that awaits them. It’s beautifully established in the opening few hours, with each individual storyline set to intertwine in some unexpected ways. 

You’re piecing together the true intentions of this world alongside the characters themselves, taunted by an impending sense of dread that you can’t help but morbidly pursue. The cast of characters consists of high-school students from across time, all of which find themselves attending the same school and being controlled by a higher power that’s yet to be uncovered. 

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Each new face has their own personal demons to conquer in the wake of an impending apocalypse, and they all have their own establishing scenes in the opening hours. Natsuno Minami is a track athlete with a keen interest in the paranormal, while Keitaro Miura is a young man who is drafted into the Japanese Army in 1944 before being thrust forward in time. 

Another highlight is Takatoshi Hijiyama, a soldier who finds himself stranded in the 1980s, slowly falling in love with the man responsible for his now fractured life. I’ve only described a few members of the main ensemble here, but they’re all fleshed out by wonderful performances and nuanced circumstances in the wider narrative, and I’m curious to see how they develop as the story progresses, and if the game’s LGBT themes stick the landing given Atlus’ less than stellar history in that department.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a traditional narrative adventure combined with a real-time strategy element similar to Into The Breach. This latter element is rather simple yet executed with enough style and substance that it easily stands on its own. Played from a top-down perspective, you control a number of mechs as they seek to protect a specific area of the map – this very same location is capable of expelling a number of deadly abilities, too. 

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Some enemies are large and stationary, while others are fast moving and airborne. You’ll need to combat these adversaries with the right abilities, such as downing foes in the air with an EMP blast or hacking away at larger aliens with a devastating melee attack. While seeking to execute such attacks turrets and shields can be deployed across the map, protecting allies as they move in for the kill. 

It’s a battle system which is easy to learn yet fiendishly difficult to master, and the constantly changing dynamics of each passing mission ignites it with a welcome aspect of creativity. Each pilot can be upgraded with new skills as they level up, enhancing their repertoire of abilities alongside the story. However, you’ll need to pull some mechs back after a couple of fights, since repeated battles can have a fatal effect on the young pilots.

The way in which the strategic battles and freeform storytelling of 13 Sentinels complement one another is really impressive, adding further weight to a mystery I’m desperate to uncover. It’s never abundantly clear where or why you are fighting and how it ties into the prologue’s events. Characters you’ve yet to meet and locations you’ve yet to visit are referenced in such a carefree manner, like the game is trying to pique your interest before purposefully tripping you up.

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First Impressions

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is shaping up to be another winner for Vanillaware, and a stark departure from the genre stylings it has called home for decades. It also seeks to abandon many of the harmful anime stereotypes its past games have perpetuated, such as an oversexualised female cast clearly made to be ogled at. Here, almost all of the characters feel genuine with their own distinct personalities and stories to tell.

The prologue sets the stage for a bleak sci-fi adventure with ambitious storytelling and fast-paced strategic battles which complement one another rather well, and I’m curious to see how this partnership expands as the narrative continues. Right now, this could be a sleeper hit for 2020 which I hope doesn’t fall under the radar.

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There’s something weirdly alluring about the idea of hopelessness, exploring a world where there is no light at the end of the tunnel, just a dull, lifeless cavern in which to exist in, fighting valiantly to find some form of solace in a realm confined to misery.

Mortal Shell expresses this sentiment perfectly through an alien world filled with deadly creatures who wish for nothing but your untimely death. As a lifeless vessel seeking salvation, you take control of corpses each with their own unique abilities and backstories that slowly unfold along the way. 

Cold Symmetry has crafted one of the finest Souls-like games in recent memory, which is a tremendous achievement given it’s a team of just 15 people. But this isn’t a copycat that limits itself to mimicking the masochistic difficulty of FromSoftware’s efforts. It builds upon the formula in bold and unexpected ways that raise it to another level. 

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Mortal Shell begins with your awakening in a world that is already broken, the final strands of humanity clinging onto whatever hope they can in the face of insurmountable odds. The lands ahead are drenched in mystery, and there is no choice but to step forward and embrace whatever horrors await. 

Its narrative is teased through cryptic dialogue and item descriptions which shine a dim light on what your true purpose really is. Even then, you’ll need to make up your mind in the end. The few unfortunate souls you do encounter treat you with a sense of distinct apathy, making it clear you don’t belong and you’re pursuing an elusive goal that is impossible to achieve. But they cheer you on, even if the face you wear isn’t your own.

Mortal Shell isn’t subtle with the inspiration it takes from Dark Souls. At first glance it looks, sounds and even plays like the beloved classic. However, after a couple of hours it becomes clear that Cold Symmetry has created something far more meaningful here. Instead of crafting your own hero, you take control of four distinct shells each with their own skills, attributes and characteristics. 

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They are essentially classes, but they’re implemented in a way that makes them feel like living, breathing people. This is important as you’ll learn more about each of their distinct backstories as the game unfolds. You achieve this through the upgrade system, which uses currency known as Tar and Glimpses to unlock new skills alongside small nuggets of backstory relating to each shell. Even the purpose of items are unveiled as you use them, forcing you to consider the potential risk and reward of every decision. 

It’s a compelling idea, teasing a dark, unfolding mystery which each passing minute. A small yet dedicated number of classes also encouraged frequent experimentation, with each one possessing a varying amount of health and stamina. This allows for a different flow to each combat encounter. I quickly found my favourite, an all-rounder who was fast on his feet but could easily take a beating when the going got tough. 

Combat in Mortal Shell is fast and heavy, with an incentive placed on timely strikes and dodges with each enemy posing a genuine threat. Let your guard down, and even lowly bandits can lay you down with ease. On the flipside, marching through previously daunting areas and dispatching everyone with ease is delightfully satisfying. Every encounter is shaken up by the ‘Harden’ mechanic, which is what really sets this adventure apart from its contemporaries. 

With a press of the shoulder button, you can surround yourself with an impenetrable shield for a few precious seconds. This will often stagger enemies, leaving them vulnerable to a succession of strikes. Alternatively, you can activate harden in the midst of a strike, ensuring the attack is executed with an extra helping of damage. It’s wonderful, and adds a surprising amount of depth to an otherwise pedestrian combat system. 

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Harden combines with the parrying system beautifully, meaning you have opportunities to either protect yourself from damage without worry, or risk it all for a well-timed parry to fell most enemies in a single strike. Fail, and you’ll take a lovely helping of damage. Such a divergent approach to combat alongside the flexible class system really helps Mortal Shell stand out, even if at times its mechanical ambitions outweigh the world that surrounds it. 

You’ll only find a handful of weapons throughout Mortal Shell, each of which are obtained by besting their previous owners in battle. But they all have their own progression system that makes mastering them so much more engrossing. All have two special attacks which can either imbue them with unique properties or deal tremendous amounts of damage. They can feel a little overpowered at times, but are invaluable in a scrap.

The world of Mortal Shell is hauntingly claustrophobic, perhaps by design. I always felt trapped, hesitantly turning each corner only to be greeted by another nightmare to contend with. You begin in a poisonous swamp populated by lethargic knights and bandits who sit around campfires plugging the decaying strings of their lute. It’s a peaceful picture until you walk towards them and immediately trigger a fight. It’s immediately clear that nowhere is safe.

From here, you’ll descend into underground dungeons and into ethereal realms populated with floating structures that feel pulled from a different reality. You’ll dart across floating platforms dealing with adversaries before coming across a library housed with ancient relics. At the centre lies a demented shrine, one I slowly approached before being plunged into one of  the game’s many excellent boss battles.

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Mortal Shell’s biggest showdowns normally consist of two phases, cementing themselves as formidable tests of attrition. You’ll fail again and again before finally emerging victorious. They all feel fantastic, and defeating them will often transform the world around you in fascinating ways. After besting a knight at the bottom of a snowy cavern and claiming a valuable item, the entire area became shrouded in darkness.

As I made my way towards the exit, foes I once fought had been slaughtered by deadly monsters, who now blocked the path forward. Such a stark change was so exhilarating to witness, subverting knowledge of an area I’d spent hours building. Now, the labyrinth was nothing but a dark precipice I blindly struggled to navigate, reaching the exit of out sheer luck and determination.

It isn’t over yet, either. The swamplands have now been covered in a dense fog, with deadly monsters to be found within it. A bell tolls in the distance, sending a disgustingly eery shockwave through the land I had no choice but to tackle. It’s excellent, and I haven’t seen a game in this genre create such a shifting sense of agency before, and I hope other creators learn from it.

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I would level complaints at the size of Mortal Shell, but given its generous retail price and the size of its development team, the scale of achievement here is stunning, and I loved every second of my time navigating this battered and broken world. I will admit that some areas in the game’s latter segments are a little uneven, with far too many foes to content with between small bastions of safety.

It became a test of patience rather than skill at times, so I often ended up sprinting past everyone hoping I wasn’t swiftly murdered. It worked, sometimes. But these moments are few and far between, scant inconsistencies in an otherwise fantastic package. The fact such an underdog effort can stand shoulder to shoulder with the big players so easily is hard to believe, but Mortal Shell achieves that and then some.

Verdict

Mortal Shell is one of the year’s biggest gaming surprises, offering a deep, fascinating journey into a melancholic world that’s well worth taking. It takes blatant inspiration from Dark Souls and Bloodborne, yet builds upon the combat and progression of such classics that it more than stands on its own two feet. As Cold Symmetry’s debut title, Mortal Shell ensures they are a studio to walk as we dive into the coming generation.

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Whenever a group of 20-something gamers gather around a fire to reminisce about the good old days, the same three things always pop up: couch co-op, cartridges vs discs and of course, skateboarding. A staple of gaming culture during the early 2000s, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was a series to be reckoned with.

Fast forward to 2020 however, and the once revered series has seen two failed attempts at a comeback with the middling Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD and the abysmal Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5. Well, it’s been five years since THPS5 and Vicarious Visions is now back at the helm with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.

As you can surmise, this latest entry is actually a remaster of the first two games, bundled into one package. Ahead of the game’s release, Trusted Reviews was given access to a demo, featuring a revamped version of the classic Warehouse level from the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.

Booting up the demo feels like peering through a gateway to the past. Clips of skaters I used to recognise play to the tune of Goldfinger’s seminal track ‘Superman’, but before long there’s a whole host of new blood to show that, in the years since the Tony Hawk’s series of video games have been out of the zeitgeist, the real-world of skateboarding has very much carried on and found its next generation of stars.

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It’s an uplifting thing to see, as the introduction lets me know that I’m in for something special that carefully walks the fine line of modernity and retro. If like me, you’re an existing fan of the series, then you’ll find that diving into THPS 1+ 2 feels like riding an old bike – the muscle memory’s there, it just take a moment to remember all the old tricks.

Diving into the gameplay, it wasn’t long before I was busting out ollies, kickflips and rail grinds with the same velocity as my younger self, and it felt fantastic. Stringing tricks together and building your combo feels incredibly slick, and there’s the added benefit of being able to pull off a manual – a trick that wasn’t present in the original two titles – to traverse these levels into a way that just wasn’t available before.

When you do string enough moves together, you’ll max out your special meter and this is where the fun really begins. With the special meter active, you’ll be able to enact some ridiculously impressive moves that seem to defy the laws of physics – how anyone can pull off ‘the superman’ is beyond me.

There’s also a nice graphical bump after the disastrous attempt of THPS 5 to cover up its blemishes with lacklustre cel-shading. Nope, this time around, Tony and the gang seem to be making good use of the technology available with current consoles.

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With regards to the soundtrack however, things are very much grounded in the past – and that’s no downside. As part of the Guitar Hero generation, I grew up on a healthy dose of epic guitar solos and slamming bass riffs, which makes me feel right at home with the 90s rock/hip-hop vibes being dished out here.

Still, with the air-tight gameplay and waves of nostalgia, the game doesn’t offer up all the means for exploration that THPS fans have come to expect, with the ability to step off your board and walk around being absent here. Of course, this is a feature that didn’t appear until Tony Hawk’s Underground, but it might alienate later fans of the series.

In fact, my only caveat so far is that if you grew accustomed to the wackiness of later THPS games, then this remaster might seem a tad tame by comparison. Staying true to its source material, this title puts more of an emphasis on becoming skilful with the gameplay, and while there is an element of level exploration to be found, it’s unlikely to be as much of a focus here as it was with the likes of Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 for instance.

Having dove into the series at Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 – where the levels became larger (as did the roster of absurd hidden characters), I partially include myself within this group, but it’s just so much fun to be playing a THPS game again that I’m not too fussed.

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Hearing familiar sound effects as I mash buttons together in the hope of pulling off something miraculous, THPS 1+2 is an undeniable rush of nostalgia. Even for newcomers to the series – the lack of any substantial skating games in the last few years means that this remaster is automatically your best bet, so long as the rest of the game lives up to the high standard set by the demo.

First Impressions

Between THPS 1 + 2 and the long awaited but finally confirmed return of the Skate series on the horizon, the next few years could be fantastic for the skateboarding genre. Anything that revitalises the genre from its long and unnecessary slumber is fine by me – here’s hoping that we a similar treatment for the Guitar Hero series down the line. Hey, a man can dream.

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