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There are few settings better suited to a detective mystery than an isolated old manor filled with strangers, secrets, and people who would rather not answer your questions. The Séance of Blake Manor understands that appeal immediately, but gives the familiar formula a distinctly Irish and supernatural identity. Set in Connemara in 1897, the game casts players as private investigator Declan Ward, who arrives at Blake Manor to investigate the disappearance of Evelyn Deane. Unfortunately, the missing woman is only the beginning of a much larger mystery involving spiritualists, mystics, skeptics, religious figures, and a gathering intended to culminate in a grand séance on Halloween night. It is an immediately compelling premise, and Spooky Doorway does an excellent job of making the manor and its inhabitants feel like part of a much larger web of secrets. Continue reading “The Séance of Blake Manor review (PS5)”

Titanium Court is the kind of game that seems determined to resist a simple explanation, and that is very much part of its appeal. Developed by AP Thomson and published by Fellow Traveller, this PlayStation 5 release throws match-three puzzles, tower defense, roguelike progression, strategy systems, and an abundance of surreal narrative ideas into the same increasingly strange court. The result can be overwhelming, occasionally frustrating, and sometimes difficult to fully decipher, but there is also something remarkably distinctive about the confidence with which Titanium Court follows its own peculiar logic. Continue reading “Titanium Court review (PS5)”

Eastasiasoft’s Fallen City Brawl, developed by Fallen City Studio, wears its arcade influences openly. This is a side-scrolling beat ’em up built around the familiar pleasures of punching through gangs, picking up whatever happens to be lying around, and gradually clearing a dangerous city one screenful of enemies at a time. Four characters join forces against the criminal forces controlling Fallen City, with the villainous Ignition Gear serving as the central target of their various personal grudges. It is a premise that does enough to establish a reason for the action, but storytelling is clearly not where the game puts its energy. The characters have backgrounds and motivations, yet the narrative rarely develops them enough to make the journey or its conclusion particularly memorable. Even the bosses arrive with surprisingly little ceremony, which makes some of the supposedly important encounters feel closer to another regular fight than a dramatic showdown. Continue reading “Fallen City Brawl review (PS5)”

Aya Games’ Ayasa: Shadows of Silence is the kind of debut that immediately makes an impression, even if that impression isn’t always a comfortable one. This dark puzzle-platformer follows the young Ayasa through a surreal world where light and darkness have fallen out of balance, with six symbolic lands representing concepts including Faith, Hope, Love, Greed, Indifference, and Betrayal. There are no conventional conversations to guide the player through this strange journey, with the story instead relying on environmental imagery, movement, symbolism, and music. It gives the game a distinctive, dreamlike identity, although its determination to remain mysterious can also make the narrative feel frustratingly opaque. Continue reading “Ayasa: Shadows of Silence review (PS5)”