Author: Henry Stockdale

Customer service jobs in supermarkets feel like a rite of passage in the UK. They offer an instructive and character-shaping congregation of work-placed nightmares. Whether it’s the repeat shoplifters with odd nicknames, chancers who believe the warehouse should have every out-of-stock item available within seconds, or just the complainers unhappy that you’ve had the audacity…

Few games have left such an immediate impression on me as The Collage Atlas. Here are anchors dropping from a white sky, razor-thin keys opening butterfly locks, and books swarming in the wakes of ships as if they were murmurations of starlings. Brought to life with a hand-drawn pen-and-ink aesthetic, the game’s calm spaces and…

Even the most diehard Star Fox fans will likely admit it’s one of Nintendo’s most mismanaged series. I could sing Star Fox 64’s praises all day; those fantastic space battles in the Arwing mean it’s one of the few games I continue revisiting. However, later entries left the series struggling to establish a cohesive direction.…

Persona 5 Tactica marks a welcome return for the Phantom Thieves, delivering a fun strategy spin-off with plenty of heart. Predicting the next Persona spin-off feels like a fool’s game when Atlus goes from fighters to rhythm games, so I’m surprised Persona 5 Tactica didn’t come sooner. A strategy RPG entry feels like a natural…

[ad_1] Trails to Azure is an important second entry to the Crossbell saga, adding some neat touches and forming two parts of a whole with Trails From Zero. For all of Lloyd’s talk about overcoming barriers, Trails to Azure faced many before finally reaching the West. Nearly twelve years after its initial PSP release,…

[ad_1] Forspoken takes it time to get over a wobbly start, but there’s something worthwhile here amongst the noise. Forspoken doesn’t leave a great first impression. The restrictive opening chapters, poor pacing, and that PS5 demo do it no favours, and things didn’t click until the campaign was nearly over. I might’ve stopped sooner…

[ad_1] RPGs aren’t necessarily the first thing you’d associate with Nintendo, but I became a fan of the genre through Nintendo’s efforts. My fate was sealed after a friend loaned me Fire Emblem Awakening, and it wasn’t long before I’d beaten it twice. Giving me control of an army and building supports between…

[ad_1] Nintendo’s long-running fantasy series looks to its rich history for this smart, satisfying turn-based tactical RPG game. Intelligent Systems has made some bold decisions with Fire Emblem Engage, and I’d argue they’ve mostly paid off. Diverging from one of this generation’s most acclaimed RPGs was always going to be risky, but Engage takes…

[ad_1] Fire Emblem Engage feels like the tactical RPG game I’ve been waiting for, yet after a handful of hours in its presence I’m still unsure if I prefer it to Three Houses. It’s a natural evolution for the series with a classic touch, building upon Fire Emblem’s modern gameplay while taking cues from…

[ad_1] 35 years ago, Final Fantasy redefined RPGs when SquareSoft pushed the boundaries of 8-bit storytelling. Playing as the four Warriors of Light, you’re tasked with rescuing Cornelia’s Princess Sarah, who’s been kidnapped by a former royal knight, Garland. What follows is a quest to save the world, restoring the elemental crystals’ power by…