New releases for January 2021

Ubisoft was set to capitalise on the quiet month of January with not one but two new releases. Their Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake stumbled at the final hurdle, however, leaving just the much-requested fan favourite Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game – Complete Edition. Even without retro royalty (Sands of …

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UK chart: FIFA 21 scores while Cyberpunk 2077 stumbles

EA’s FIFA 21 has reclaimed its place at the top of the UK chart, pushing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – the Christmas no.1 – to #2. The rest of the top ten has merely seen a shuffle with no re-entries to speak of. Animal Crossing: New Horizons climbs from #5 to #3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe …

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Art Sqool (Switch)

There’s arguably a difference between what you do in Art Sqool, and what Art Sqool is. And I think what you get out of it will depend to an unusual degree on what you put into it. Let’s get the facts out of the way: you play as Froshmin, who has just started at Art …

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The SEGA Saturn’s Last Christmas

SEGA’s decision to drop the Saturn more than a year before the UK launch of the Dreamcast – giving them little to no presence within Europe during that time – could be seen as a mercy killing. The much-maligned 32-bit system scraped through the first half of 1998 with very few third-party releases, forcing SEGA …

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James Pond: Robocod – the saviour of Christmas 1991

James Pond: Robocod was the rarest of things – a sequel almost indistinguishable from its predecessor. In this case, it was all the better for it – the original James Pond had more than its fair share of shortcomings. The fishy fellow appeared quite gormless and swimming around underwater labyrinths while collecting keys and rescuing lobsters …

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2020: Christmas Board Game Guide

Cheese, biscuits, mulled wine, turkey and board games. All things that come to mind when you think of Christmas. But like nan drinking too much mulled wine, or cheese-based trumps, board games can go terribly wrong. Make a poor choice and you get fights over the rules, or suffer the tedium of sitting through a …

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2020: Games You May Have Missed

When perusing the list of games this accursed year has given us, contenders for overlooked titles were bountiful. However, and regrettably, haven’t played many for ourselves – if we were to cover them here, we’d simply be paraphrasing. So, let us give a noble salute to the eccentric Switch brawler Fight Crab, the PS2-era throwback …

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Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

Sometimes Nintendo’s way of thinking is beyond baffling. Take this NES re-release for example. As you’re likely aware, Nintendo has a platform on Switch full of SNES, Famicom and NES games. A handful are added periodically for online subscribers, including Japan-only titles. So, where did Nintendo put this localised re-release of the first-ever Fire Emblem? …

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Merry Switchmas! Override 2, Super Meat Boy Forever, The Hong Kong Massacre, Landflix Odyssey, and the BIT.TRIP series hit the eShop

Launching a game near Christmas to achieve optimum storefront visibility is a tale as old as time. It comes as no surprise, then, to see dozens of titles lined-up for the Switch eShop this week, including several on Christmas Day. Big hitters include the colossal robot brawler Override 2 – this time starring Ultraman – …

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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the UK’s Christmas no.1

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has bagged the prestigious Christmas no.1 slot. Not only is it the first time an Assassin’s Creed title has topped the festive chart, but it’s also Ubisoft’s first ever Xmas no.1. These truly are unprecedented times. Thanks to price cuts Immortals: Fenyx Rising and Watch Dogs Legion climbed the chart too, both …

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Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition

This visual novel takes place in 2030 and is set in a nuclear research facility known as “LABO” – Laboratory of Atomic and Biological Organization. Two interconnected stories feature, both available from the outset. One part stars Watase Kasasagi, a rescue squad captain experiencing memory loss following a meltdown at the facility. The other features …

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When the Past was Around

When the Past was Around should be right in my wheelhouse. It’s short – bingo. It’s about grief – good news. It’s a bit odd – please and thank you. It aims high, but I ended up with less than the sum of its well-crafted parts. It’s craft worthy of a better game. The hand-drawn …

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