A mostly fantastic glimpse into gaming's future - freedom, gorgeous environment - it was hampered by the past with clunky menus, regular death and intrusive loading screens.
Neo-Paris is a gorgeous environment to explore, from its slums to its skyscrapers – and its designers are clearly aware of that, raising Olivier Derivière's soundtrack whenever a new vista opens before Nilin – and those personalised combos, almost rhythm-action-like in execution, keep combat varied, if not exactly fresh.
Red-End and the Seemingly Symbiotic Society(Netherlands/NAP, Robin Noorda & Bethany De Forest): Mind-warpingly creative 4K stop motion animation takes us to a number of impossible but strangely gorgeous environments, where new kinds of insects yield a succeeding generation that looks different from it and has less respect for the world it is born into.
A lot of things are clearer in this gorgeous new environment, except that part about turning the iPad into a cash register for media companies.
Top Pot doughnuts has achieved success from a secret 1920s doughnut recipe and a gorgeous vintage environment.
A week to dig into manuscripts, to share thoughts with some of the best editors and the most talented authors in the country in a gorgeous, inspiring environment.
Its pacing is impressively precise, introducing new items regularly enough to prevent minds from wandering, yet the imposing atmosphere and those gorgeous otherworldly environments are unable to disguise the fact that it's never particularly exciting to play.
Although there's still much to be done, the game already looks gorgeous, with Crowle's environments and character design influenced by Ronald Searle, Mary Blair and the production design of Paranorman.
RPGFan extolled the game's environments as "gorgeous and well layered," and noted while the game did not achieve the level of graphical quality set by Symphony of the Night, it "made a damn good attempt at it".
Gorgeous visuals, impressively detailed environments, enveloping sound and exquisite gameplay: it all adds up to an essential experience for anyone with the slightest interest in having a laugh with a controller of some kind in hand.
Because, if you liked games then, and still do now, you know full well that Turrican doesn't hold a candle to the best of Call of Duty (wow, I actually wrote that), and that Ultima IV looks like a disaster on a Stickle Bricks production line beside the gorgeous, entirely enveloping fantasy environments of The Witcher 3. And, I know, these games shouldn't be compared like that.
