Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow. Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow; meow meow meow meow meow. Meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow? Meow. Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow. Meow meow meow meow meow. 

To paraphrase: Catto’s Post Office is a very short game. Its Steam page is upfront about this, estimating a completion time of just 1 hour. And yes, it’s absolutely adorable. Look I’m from Northern England, I’m supposed to be a bit gruff and miserable and blunt, but it still managed to tug on my heartstrings like a piece of yarn. But what does it actually do with the hour of your time?

What could pawsibly go wrong?

Dedicated feline postal worker Catto wakes up to discover that no one in his tiny town seems to remember his birthday. Instead he must spend the day working (I feel for you mate), delivering a parcel to each of the village’s main points of interest; and though he keeps his little head held high, he can’t help but wonder why his friends seem to have forgotten the occasion. You can probably guess why. 

Along the way you’ll make friends with the inhabitants of this cat world, cute little critters going about their busy little day. Interacting with them, you get dialogue reminiscent of 90s RPG’s like Earthbound; brief but charming and filled with plenty of puns. You’ll let out a chuckle here and there, a small dose of serotonin will hit your brain, and you’ll never be patronised or challenged. There’s no ‘clever’ twist, no nauseating reveal that this is actually a psychological horror and Catto is processing the death of his wife. It’s exactly what it says on the tin. How genuinely refreshing.

Catrols, felinesuals and meound (I’m so sorry)

Mechanically it’s… exactly what you think it is. Catto can walk around the neighbourhood, knock most things he sees over and meow with a dedicated meow button (a selling point on the Steam page). Unironically, I had a more satisfying time controlling Catto than some AAA games. Make of that what you will. One button will enable you to interact with objects and characters, there’s no inventory management or sub menus and though there are some dialogue choices, they’re just for extra flavour. It’s going from point A to point B, with the current objective clearly displayed in the top corner and no time limit or pressure to complete. This extends to the ‘side quests’, simple distractions that boil down to collecting an item that’s usually in the immediate vicinity, but I would’ve appreciated perhaps a bit more depth. These kitties are so cute, I’d do anything to make them happy.

The visual language is as wholesome as its premise, with a simple cartoony aesthetic full of pastels and flat shading. It’s easy on the eyes and on your computer; this’ll apparently run on Windows 7 computers(!). As the story progresses, so does the time of day, bathing the adorable port side town in varying tones of sunlight, a highlight being the golden hour (I’m a sucker for a good sunset). The character models (in a nice diversity of cat breeds) wouldn’t look out of place in Animal Crossing, and the feline theming extends into objects such as chairs, groceries and written signs (“meow”). 

This is all accompanied by appropriate sound design; menu clicks will mew at you, Catto’s little feets pitter and patter on the ground, and the soundtrack is largely bells and the soft tinkle of a basic piano melody. It’s all cohesive and satisfying but if I had to be pedantic: A. the street lamps are illuminated even during the day and B. I noticed a couple of grammatical and spelling errors in the dialogue boxes. Nothing egregious or immersion breaking.

Is it purrfect?

A rarity in the current industry, Catto’s Post Office lives up to all of its promises. But it doesn’t really go further than that. There’s little replay value or staying power beyond an easy list of achievements and some hidden rubber ducks to discover amongst the map. But maybe you don’t want that, maybe you want a short and sweet parcel of joy after a long day; Catto will deliver it straight to you. After recently ploughing through an enormous open world game, I greatly appreciated the brevity; though I perhaps would’ve liked to get to know these characters better and done a little more for them. 

The devs clearly made it with love and good intentions, and if you’re someone who wants to spread love and good intentions, the game is currently 20% off as an introductory offer. That’s cheaper than a room temperature glass of lactose free milk. Meow. 

Set in a dystopian, cyberpunk future, Resonant Blade is a 2D action adventure game with unique color switching mechanics for combat and puzzle-solving scenarios. Developed and published by Wise Wombat Games, Resonant Blade sees you playing as Atlas, a once scientist now turned soldier. After seeing one of his comrades die in battle against a Dark Synth, one of the main antagonists of the game, Atlas picks up the sonic-powered blade and the game starts from there onward.

Sonically-Charged Gameplay

Resonant Blade provides a unique spin on combat for a 2D action adventure game. Instead of mashing away at enemies with your sword, you are required to scan your surroundings to see what colors are highlighted around the enemies. Attacking with the wrong color will do very little damage, so keep in mind that you’ll have to constantly keep switching colors. In the beginning of the game, you start with three of the primary colors: Red, Blue, Yellow. Another interesting feature of the game’s  combat is the Triad system. Upon defeating or parrying an enemy of a certain color, an icon of that color will appear under your health bar. When you have three colors of certain combinations, you can perform special moves that can only be done with those color combinations. These can range from healing to devastating attacks.

The color mechanics in the game are also used for puzzling-solving and traversal. These can range from hitting nodes with a certain color or dashing through walls that require the correct color. As you progress the game, you will unlock more colors such as Purple, Orange, Green. In early dungeons or parts of the main hub area, you will see interactable objects with colors you don’t have. This is to incentivise the player to return after unlocking new colors.

Just to talk about it briefly, but this game uses a stamina mechanic. Stamina is tied to sprinting, dashing, attacking, and parrying. This was something in the beginning that I viewed with disdain, but as I played through more of the game I can say it adds a bit of challenge to everything you do. Instead of dashing and swinging your sword all willy-nilly, you’ll have to take your time to analyze enemies, choose the appropriate color, and know when to strike them. I will though say that it would be nice to have infinite stamina when traversing the main city. Personally, I’m not a fan of my character slowing down often from sprinting.

Dungeon Design

The main way of progressing through the game is exploring and reaching the end of dungeons. At the end of said dungeons, there’s a boss fight that is designed to have the player use what they’ve acquired or learned throughout the dungeon. I would say that doesn’t apply too much to the first boss, but it is meant to test the player on using the color switching mechanic. Afterwards, bosses will incorporate things such as new mechanics and colors into their fights.

Another thing about dungeons is that you’ll find materials and shops that sell materials for crafting purposes. As you progress the game, you’ll unlock different items to craft to progress further. One of the earliest examples involved crafting a bomb weapon to clear through some rubble. These bombs can also be used in combat or hitting hard to reach places.

Final Thoughts

Although I will say that I had a good time with Resonant Blade, I had some issues that I feel like addressing. This might have been an issue on my end, but playing this game with a controller was a bit difficult. It played fine until I reached a certain point where I had to hold down a button. It was as if it was treating my keyboard and my controller as being active at the same time. From then on, I had to use a keyboard for the rest of the game (which wasn’t too bad to play on either). Thankfully, the developer is making constant updates to the game to fix issues. If you enjoyed this game or not, be sure to leave helpful feedback to the developer. Overall, I would recommend this game if you’re looking for a unique 2D action adventure game.

Chains of Freedom is a turn-based RPG that plants you in an Eastern European county that has been ravaged by “EDEN”, a disease that caused World War Z -like mutations and death. Out of that apoclyptic episode a cure is found and the “The Soverignty” emerges to reinstate order with your help. You start as a Peacekeeper with a mission which ends up being the catalyst that starts you down the proverbial rabbit hole of deceit and ulterior motives.

The Good:

Chains of Freedom captures the top-down RPG elements pretty successfully. The overworld is pretty linear, but there are some puzzles and item finding to freshen up some of the hand-holding. Playing the game I definitely heard (or seen) echoes of some more popular series such as BG3 and Diablo, though without the hack-and slash element. Chains of Freedom is very much a good attempt at capturing some of those more popular aspects, albeit without some of the polish expected in those franchises. The combat is where Chains of Freedom really shined for me. The UI may turn some players off at first as I did not find it to be very intuitive however, as the gameplay hours add up you will get use to it. Playing around with “hit chances” and other probabilities can be very entertaining, though I did find that even a very high probability will fail (in some cases, multiple times). The weapon selection is decent, the crafting CAN come in handy, and there are SOME biocrystal perks which can be extremely helpful.

The Bad (Or Not So Great):

The visuals of Chains of Freedom are ok, I found the comic-style illustrations of the cut-scenes the most eye-grabbing but the actual gameplay visuals are really just acceptable. The lighting is pretty good throughout however, the contrast can make some enemies and objects in combat fade into the background a bit too much. The soundtrack is forgettable. It emphasizes the feeling in some parts of the game, but after any length of gameplay it dwindles into just perceived background noise. The UI, crafting, and biocrystal perks can get pretty annoying at any point in the game. There are exceptions to crafting, some perks are little more than useless (some ARE worst than useless) and it turns into a guessing game which is not unheard of in RPGs, but it seems the logic of the system ebbs and flows instead of being constant. While the story did lead me to want to continue or move to the next area, there was very little surprise or Shyamalan-esque twist. Again, not in itself a bad element, but it honestly would not have hurt in Chains of Freedom.

Conclusion:

Chains of Freedom is a solid action RPG. The elements are there and, in some cases, executed pretty well. The elements that fall flat do just that, they don’t bring down Chains of Freedom into the area of being a “bad game.” The story and combat do well enough to keep you going and in, some cases, feel a very real sense of achievement. Overall I rated Chains of Freedom with a 7/10. While there were pieces that didn’t astound me, I never felt like I was playing a sub-par game. There was definitely some interesting elements with the biocrystal perks and the enemies you encounter a long your way to the boss fights. The combat was good, if a little clumsy in places, and the RPG elements really stand tall as the focus of the development team.

Reclaim the Sea is a fantasy pirate game with some great potential.  It is a single-player strategy roguelike, developed and published by 1 Last Game (published by indienova in China), that released in July of 2025. The gameplay can be entirely done with just your computer mouse and consists of managing your crew, weapons and ship as you make choices in text-based encounters and battle enemy ships in real time. The developers at 1 Last Game were inspired by the popular strategic roguelike game, FTL: Faster Than Light (developed and published by Subset Games in 2012). The developers also shared a post-release roadmap with bug fixes, balancing, quality of life changes and free content making the top of the list.

With procedurally generated maps and ships, each run in Reclaim the Sea offers a “new” experience. The graphics are a charming pixelated style. I find the sound effects of the ship taking damage, mixed with the pirate music, pleasant to my ears. The game includes 3 difficulty settings, 9 unlockable ships and 21 achievements to accomplish. There is a plethora of different builds and strategies for you to try. So, ready those combat birds, it’s time to discuss Reclaim the Sea!

The Story: A Shallow Tale

After selecting your ship, the game begins by giving you a very brief backstory and your main objective, “You must reach the capital city of Veritas.” Along the way, you encounter different ships, platforms, shops and text-based events as your travel throughout the map, ultimately searching for the exit to get to the next zone. Though there are different factions within the game, such as Civilians or the Scrapmetal Brigade, your main opposing faction are those in the Freedom Defenders. To bring about justice and freedom, you must defeat their battleships and free the oppressed people of the world!

Unfortunately, when it comes to the story, that’s pretty much all there is. There are a few tidbits of lore you can pick up, but nothing ever goes too deep. My best guess is that we, as pirates, are against oppressive social structures and the constraints of conventional society. The Freedom Defenders are trying to defend those ideals, and thus, are our enemy. It’s a pirate story for the ages, but is never fully explained in game and is only inferred. Despite that, I found myself being forgiving of the lack of lore due to the games charm and simplicity. I’d appreciate more, even something simple like a recovered diary page from a ship we plundered. However, that’s just my passion for stories and sometimes “it is what it is” as they say.

Another thing I appreciate is the sprinkling of fantasy elements that exist. Crew members are different races with different skill levels based on their race, such as the humans excelling in navigation and ship piloting, dwarves who are masters in repairs and handling machinery and elves who are formidable melee fighters. You can invest in automatons and have a ship full of robots. You can use lightning ammunition to destroy enemy rooms and magic shields to block projectiles. Reclaim the Sea still feels like a pirate ship sailing game at heart and the fantasy elements enhance the experience, rather than take over.

The Exploration: A Small World Full of Adventure

Reclaim the Sea has 4 resources that you will need to take into consideration as you explore. Food is consumed as you travel (depending on your crew). Gold is used for purchasing items at shops or for bribery. Wood is used to repair your ship and its barricade (if you have one). Ammo is used to fire the ship weapons. The 3 difficulties determine the amount of resources you start with and can gain as you explore. Your map, or zone, is scattered with various points of interest that will be revealed to you as you traverse. Your goal is to find the exit, which will then give you the option to either continue exploring or proceed to the next zone.

You will need to travel through 7 zones in total. Each zone has different levels of resources, weather hazards and hostility. You also get to choose the zone you will travel to, allowing for more opportunity to strategize. Though it may seem enticing to continue exploring after finding the exit, you will need to be mindful of your threat level. As you sail, your threat level continues to grow. This attracts bounty hunters and marauders to intercept your ship as it travels, leading to more battles and possibly to disaster. If you are feeling battle ready then by all means, explore to your hearts content with your cannons at the ready! Personally though, I would recommend taking the exit when your threat level gets to the red if not as soon as its discovered.

Each destination displays the current distance, the type, the faction it belongs to (when applicable) and the food cost to travel there. These points of interest you travel to can be ship battles, shops, or my personal favorite, text-based events. The text-based events will question morality, intuition and may even have long-lasting effects. It is a simple and straightforward system that I think most players will get the hang of easily.

Once you reach the final zone, a boss battle icon will appear on the map, allowing you to take on some of the heavy hitters in the game. After you achieve victory or suffer defeat, the game rewards you with your total stats, a final score and any achievements or ships you’ve unlocked. Then, it’s back to the home screen. Each run will most likely take 30 minutes to an hour to complete. Beyond the unlockable ships, it is a fresh start every time with nothing carrying over between runs. It is short, sweet and simple, but I will talk a little bit more on this later on in the review.

The Combat: Simple Controls and Strategic Planning

Combat in Reclaim the Sea is not the most demanding of the player. All combat, whether it’s cannons firing or people boarding, is done in real time with only a few clicks. You have the ability to freely pause whenever to input tactics and strategize. There are also some optional auto-pausing when a battle begins or a fire threatens to burn down the boat. At any point, you can input commands to your crew to either fire the weapons at a selected position or move them freely around the ship to the different rooms, such as the infirmary to heal up or the bridge to steer.

Personally, I do prefer my roguelikes to have a bit more action, games like Hades or Returnal to keep me on my toes. However, it was still nice to sit back with my cannons firing, my combat birds soaring, and watch the enemy ships sink into the murky depths. I should mention that there is an option to turn off auto-fire, though to be honest, I’m not entirely sure why you would.

You can also control your distance from the enemy ship with different distances having their advantages based on your strategy. Want to shoot from a safe distance with the opportunity to escape if disaster seems inevitable? Stay at a far distance with someone at the helm and fire those long range cannons. Want to board enemy ships and strike them down with swords? Get up close and use your grappling room to do so. However, setting a distance can be difficult as it depends on your ship’s speed in comparison to the enemy ship. I’ve found on a few occasions that no matter what I did, the enemy ship was always faster than mine, making them the decider of distance.

With different rooms, you can perform different actions. Every ship starts with a bridge and an engine, but some ships start with other rooms such as an infirmary to heal your crew or the perch to send out combat birds. You can purchase more rooms by buying them from shops up to certain amount depending on your ship.

Along with the rooms are the different weapons you can discover, from standard cannons to thunder mortars. It is important to have enough crew members or automatons to man the different rooms and weapons. The developers at 1 Last Game stated they wanted to allow for multiple different strategies and builds. Both the rooms and weapons are key in creating your ultimate strategy. With each new run, you can experiment and find new ones and I highly recommend doing so! In one run I stuck to firing cannons and playing defensively at a distance. In another I wanted to get up close and quickly gun or slice down the enemy crew. The game certainly appears to have that replayability factor that all roguelikes should have.

The Concerns: Too Much and also Not Enough?

At times, Reclaim the Sea can oddly feel both overwhelming and underwhelming on different aspects in the game. There is a lot you need to keep track. Because of this, the HUD feels cluttered and clunky with no options for customization. On top of the things to keep track of, you can upgrade almost everything at shops, up to level 4. The upgrades, however, have varying degrees of impact. The 10 extra points to my ship’s hull feels a lot more impactful in battle than upgrading my weapon room for 10 extra room HP and -10% reload time.

Different shops will offer different services, but this doesn’t feel varied enough. Along with upgrades and selling, you can also buy supplies, repairs, crew members, rooms, weapons, figureheads, augments and blueprints to add to your ship. Breaking down the shops point of interest could benefit strategy—for example, buying upgrades and repairs exclusively at a smithy, or recruiting more crew only by heading to a port. It could demand for better planning of travel. This also takes away the guarantee that you’ll find what you need at most shops.

The game might feel daunting to players who are unfamiliar with the genre. It demands a slight learning curve in order to fully grasp everything. There are no permanent resources that carry over between runs and requires the player to start fresh each time. There is no guarantee that you will do better in the next run. This alone is not necessarily that bad of a thing though! I enjoy a challenging game that I can sink hours into learning and researching the best strategies. New players might need to do multiple runs before they find a great strategy and can achieve their first victory.

Unfortunately, this brings me to my biggest concern for Reclaim the Sea. There is a sheer lack of content that exists in the text-based encounters. It is entirely possible to run into the same event multiple times in one playthrough. The outcomes also never seem to differ. Harvesting the whale meat caused my crew to fall ill, delayed my progress, leading to both food loss and a heightened threat level every time. The giant spiders never existed at the platform and I was instead greeted by a friendly shopkeeper.

The lack of variety in either events or their outcomes make the game feel stale, and dare I say, boring. This makes me worry about the longevity of the game in the eyes of the players. Once you find the right builds and are confident in your strategies, unlocked the ships and collected the achievements, aiming for a better final score does not feel all that compelling.

As mentioned, the game is inspired (and some some say copied from) FTL: Faster Than Light. In my research of Reclaim the Sea, I came across comments asking “why play this game instead of playing FTL“. Personally, I have not played FTL, but judging by the pictures and videos alone I can see the striking similarities. So why play Reclaim the Sea instead? FTL seems to be more polished, more expansive in content, slightly cheaper and more popular, with a modding community to add endless amounts of ingenuity and fun. Sadly, I can’t really answer that question yet, but I can see the potential in Reclaim the Sea.

The Conclusion: Avast Ye Maties, Reclaim the Sea could be a Treasure!

All hope is not lost for Reclaim the Sea! The developers have already shared a post-release roadmap with a treasure trove of updates. 1 Last Game’s Reclaim the Sea is still a charming and enjoyable—albeit brief—experience, blending pirates and strategy. There seems to be a promising future for the game and I hope the developers can deliver!

Thanks for reading and see you on the high seas!

As someone who has been following Stellar Blade since launch, I’ve seen the game steadily grow through cosmetic packs, seasonal updates, and a few novelty mini-games. The latest crossover, however—the Stellar Blade × Nikke DLC, finally brings something that feels like more than a fashion drop. It’s not a massive story expansion, but it’s a fresh injection of gameplay, style, and challenge that breaks up the usual rhythm of slicing and dodging.

From hack ‘n’ slashing to arcade shooting

The standout feature of the Nikke DLC is the brand-new shooting mini-game, directly inspired by Goddess of Victory: Nikke’s third-person gunplay. It’s fast, punchy, and a little chaotic, Eve swaps her blade for a gun and dives into frantic target shooting that’s more about quick reactions than the precise, timing-based melee combat we’ve been used to.

It’s a strange fit at first. The camera shifts, the controls change, and you’re suddenly in arcade-shooter territory. But it works as a breather from the game’s usual formula, and once you find the rhythm, it’s genuinely addictive. Although there aren’t that many of them they still pull you back in to try for better scores or faster times.

A boss fight that will take longer than the rest of the DLC

Alongside the shooting mode, the DLC delivers a new boss encounter against Scarlet. She’s more than just a bullet sponge, her attack patterns demand adaptability, and her fight blends Stellar Blade’s melee depth with the new gunplay elements. While it’s still a single encounter rather than a sprawling questline, it’s a welcome bit of high-energy content that fans will probably replay just for the thrill.

Naturally, no crossover DLC is complete without cosmetics, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The Nikke pack includes new outfits, hairstyles, accessories, and even collectible dolls and stickers, plus music tracks that carry over into the main game. While cosmetic rewards aren’t exactly ground breaking, the mix of practical gameplay and style upgrades gives the DLC more staying power than past content drops.

And yes, Eve looks fantastic in the Nikke-themed gear. It’s unabashed fan service, but in a game like Stellar Blade, that’s part of the charm.

My Conclusion

The Stellar Blade × Nikke DLC is a stylish, high-energy injection of variety into a game that, for many of us, was starting to feel settled into its post-launch comfort zone. It’s not a massive expansion, there’s no sprawling new story arc or map to explore, but it’s a fun replay-able chunk of content that blends flashy fan service with genuine gameplay change, with a very small price tag.

If you loved Stellar Blade but have been waiting for something to break up the melee grind, this crossover is worth a look. If you were hoping for hours of new narrative, you might find it thin. Either way, it’s an encouraging sign that Shift Up is willing to experiment beyond cosmetics and seasonal fluff.

As a long time Mafia series fan who even adored Mafia III, despite its repetitive combat loop and the drag of open-world bloat, Mafia: The Old Country felt like a balm for my nostalgia. Finally, a return to the tight, linear, story-driven design of the originals! It’s like hearing that old familiar song before everything changed… and yes, that feels good. But I can’t help wondering: did the developers hold on tight enough to what made this series special, or did they lean a bit too far into careful curation?

Back to where it all started, but does it do it justice

Right off the bat, Old Country looks and sounds stunning. Sicily works like a character in its own right: dusty mines, rolling vineyards, and the cobbled lanes of San Celeste are rendered with such care using Unreal Engine 5 that you almost feel the heat on your neck and the dust on your boots. Voice acting is an immersive triumph that makes you feel like you’ve stepped straight into a vintage mob chronicle. As someone who felt strained by the grind of Mafia III’s open world, this leaner approach is refreshing. No random side missions. No “forever game” distractions.

You follow Enzo’s rise from miner to mafioso across a rich, tight narrative. There’s a deep sense of tradition and family at play here, quiet moments over candles, tense meetings, joyrides, all of them giving the game its emotional core. With so much backstory to the Mafia series and it’s characters this would seem like a no brainer for fans. But the story goes from gritty, nobody to a somebody, narrative to a full blown romance drama.

With that, the same restraint that created atmosphere can also smother engagement. The world often feels static, as if it’s a stage set rather than a place you inhabit. Go off the beaten path and there’s almost nothing to interact with, NPCs don’t react, law enforcement is absent, and environmental opportunities go unused. I am definitely not complaining about the lack of open world bloat. But any kind of activity like poker or odd jobs you can do like in mafia 2. Especially since the collectibles just feel like a chore more than something a player would want to collect since there is literally nothing to be engaged with on the way. There are barley any NPC’s filling the roads and even in estates and villages they are very static and lifeless outside of missions.

Repetitive but still engaging

Combat is a mixed bag. Gunfights have weight and sound, and there’s a scrappy tension to ducking in cover, swapping weapons, managing ammo, all of which feels grounded and cinematic. Even the duels, knife fights, are cinematic and add variety: they make Enzo’s world feel intimate and brutal. Yet, these knife battles grow repetitive fast. They’re button-prompt rhythm exercises more than duels, predictably telegraphed, and devolve into formulaic back-and-forths. Same for stealth, The enemies are not only very predictable but also so spaced out that essentially any takedown is safe.

I came to this game hoping for roots, not repetition. And yes, narrative-first linear design and beautiful settings are defining strengths of the series. But at times, The Old Country feels like a beautifully framed relic rather than a lively game. Missions follow a predictable arc: drive-cutscene-duel-repeat The lack of meaningful progression systems, side depth, or evolving gameplay loops makes the campaign memorable in the moment, but not necessarily unforgettable afterwards. One dev said: “We’re steering the Mafia series back to its roots,” though perhaps they leaned too heavily into safe preservation. It took me around 12 hours to beat The Old Country taking it slower. Even with the repetitive mechanics I found myself so engaged with the story that I only noticed its short comings after the fact.

My Conclusion

Mafia: The Old Country is the kind of game that a true fan can respect. It’s a strike of lightning back to the soul of Mafia, quiet, violent, ritualistic, and weighed down by tradition. The visuals, the writing, the performances, they all deliver that rare feeling of authenticity and mood that modern open worlds often sacrifice. But, as someone who still chafes at regimented stealth, repetitive knife duels, and there-but-not-there worlds, the nostalgia wears thin when mechanics don’t evolve. I understand going back to the roots, but games still need to evolve and unfortunately The Old Country plays mostly on nostalgia. if you want to close your eyes and step into a moody, beautifully staged Sicilian crime saga, this is it. Just don’t be surprised if once the credits roll, you’re left craving more depth, more unpredictability, and maybe a little more life outside the script.

When Death Stranding first released in 2019, it arrived with a mix of hype, curiosity, and confusion. For many including myself, it was a tough game to love. The slow pace, overwhelming solitude, and cryptic storytelling made it feel more like a philosophical art piece than a video game. Despite its beautiful world and inventive mechanics, I struggled to stay engaged. It was a title that I appreciated more than I actually enjoyed. So when Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was announced, I was sceptical. But I gave it a shot, and I’m glad I did.

More accessible to new players but still engaging for the fans

This sequel is not just a continuation. It’s a reimagining. It’s clear from the start that Kojima Productions took the feedback from the original to heart. Death Stranding 2 is more accessible, more engaging, and most importantly, more fun. It respects your time and gives you more control, all while staying true to its strange and singular vision.

One of the biggest changes comes in the form of gameplay fluidity. In the original game, movement was intentionally slow and clunky, realistic, perhaps, but often frustrating. Every step felt like a battle against gravity and terrain. In the sequel, movement has been overhauled. Sam Porter Bridges is faster, more agile, and better equipped for the challenges ahead. Whether sprinting across rocky ground, climbing steep hills, or diving to avoid enemy fire, there’s a physicality to the controls that feels intuitive and responsive. With better tools being available very early on as oppose to the first title, players can enjoy Kojima’s story without being held back for half the game.

Vehicles also return, but this time they’re far more versatile. You can customize them for different terrains, equip them with offensive capabilities, and even link them to your supply chain more effectively. The tools for traversal have been expanded significantly, giving players far more agency. Whether it’s curved ziplines, monorails, grappling hooks, or advanced cargo systems, getting from point A to B is no longer a test of patience, it’s a satisfying puzzle with multiple solutions. And since simple journeys are no longer a battle every single time, Death Stranding 2 now focuses on other challenges.

This does not mean that every journey will be a cake walk

Another area that has seen major improvement is combat. In the first game, combat felt like an afterthought, introduced late and often optional. Here, it is integrated early and frequently, with a much greater sense of purpose and variety. New weapons, ranging from long range to melee, allow for a range of playstyles. From stealth-focused takedowns to full-on firefights, the game gives you the freedom to engage on your own terms.

Enemy design is also sharper. Encounters feel meaningful rather than random, and the inclusion of more aggressive threats creates a real sense of tension. The AI has improved, and the game offers enough challenge to keep things interesting without becoming overwhelming. The option to avoid combat entirely is still present, but it no longer feels like the only viable strategy.

Physical and the not so physical enemies are not the only hazards spicing up players’ journey. The environments in Death Stranding 2 are stunning, but more than that, they feel alive. The new setting introduces dynamic weather systems, geological hazards, and shifting terrain that affect how you plan your routes. It’s not just about walking through pretty landscapes; it’s about reacting to a world in motion. Players will have to think on the move as storms will overflow rivers rendering what once was a ladder bridging the stream into a deadly river that will swipe porters of their feet. There are many environmental curveballs that may come out of seemingly nowhere, not only making repeated trips more engaging but also looking incredible while doing so. The visual fidelity is incredible, and the Decima Engine continues to impress with its lighting, animation, and environmental detail.

Much prettier, and much more dangerous

The world is not only prettier, but also feels less lonely this time. The asynchronous multiplayer system has been expanded in smart ways. Player-built structures, supply drops, and even helpful vehicles can still appear in your game, making the act of exploration feel cooperative even when you’re technically alone. But also the addition of physical NPC’s filling the world as you connect more of it adds a lot to fill in the loneliness. The sense of shared purpose, the original game’s core theme, comes through more clearly and more organically here.

On the topic of NPC’s. Yes, it’s still a Kojima game. That means convoluted plot points, strange characters, and moments of pure surrealism. But Death Stranding 2 finds a better balance between its philosophical ambitions and emotional storytelling. The cast delivers strong performances, and while the narrative remains dense and at times cryptic, it’s also more focused and more personal.

Sam’s journey this time is less about saving the world and more about understanding connection on a human level. The stakes are high, but the writing doesn’t lose sight of the character’s emotional arcs. It’s still weird, but it’s weird with heart.

My conclusion

What’s most impressive about Death Stranding 2 is how much it learns from its predecessor. Every major criticism of the first game, its pacing, its clunky controls, its combat, its solitude, has been addressed in meaningful ways. The result is a sequel that welcomes both returning fans and newcomers, but more importantly, gives sceptics a reason to reconsider the series.

If you bounced off the first Death Stranding like I did, give this one a chance. It’s not just better, it’s a game that understands what it wants to be and respects the player in the process. Death Stranding 2 is still unique, still experimental, but it finally feels like a game designed to be enjoyed, not just endured. For me, it turned a franchise I only played to experience more of Kojima, into one I now deeply admire.

I’ve been playing Rooftops & Alleys since its launch in early access on May 21, 2024. As a long-time player and enthusiast of the movement-heavy genre, I witnessed its transformation from a raw vertical playground into a polished 1.0 release. That evolution culminated on June 16, 2025, with a major update that brought progression systems, new maps, multiplayer modes, better customization, and full achievements. In that moment, the title felt complete, purposeful, and astonishingly satisfying.

A game I have been waiting for since 2007

When the game first launched, what stood out most was its unwavering focus on parkour and trick chaining. Inspired by the likes of Mirror’s Edge and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, yet forged in its own style, the game presented maps designed for flow, freedom, and experimentation. Even in those early days puzzles were simple: string together precision vaults, wall runs, flips, dives, and cartwheels. It rewarded control, timing, and a love for movement, not narrative, loot, or progression traps. And also the last game worth paying attention to was FREERUNNING on the PS2 back in 2007. So it is about time we got something to fill in those shoes.

The solo developer behind it impressed with updates that felt both speedy and community‑driven. New challenges, tweaks to physics, occasional fixes, even experimental game modes all landed with surprising regularity. Most regulars hung around for the mastery curve, once you learned how momentum, input timing, and trick diversity all clashed into combo scoring, something clicked. And once it clicked, I found myself chasing perfect runs hour after hour.

What’s new?

With the 1.0 release the game leapt forward. Where once you simply ran, now you progressed. A full solo progression system arrived, complete with up to 300 “feathers” earned by collecting medals in map challenges. Unlockable cosmetic items for your runner and your companion pigeon gave players goals beyond just high‑scoring runs. A progression overview menu helped you track achievements, map completion, and next challenge targets.

A brand‑new map, the dense, ship‑container‑style “Container Ship”, expanded the vertical space into tighter corridors and platforms, with fresh time trials and trick rush challenges. The existing six maps felt more alive, enriched by this addition. The combo and scoring engine itself was overhauled. Repeated tricks began diminishing in value, encouraging variety and creativity. A sliding mechanic fully rebuilt on momentum gave smoother transitions across gradients and tight surfaces. Add a polished photo mode with depth‑of‑field, post‑filters, and puppet‑style pose adjustment, plus a new soundtrack with twenty original tracks.

Multiplayer got a meaningful upgrade: the new Tricks Battle mode lets four players compete in real‑time combos. You see each other’s scores rise as time ticks down, creating shared tension and competitiveness. This slot into online lobbies felt immediate and rewarding. Meanwhile traditional modes like Tag and Capture the Flag remained available for casual free‑runs.

If you’re into Pro Skater and Hi-Fi rush this might be for you.

That said, the game retains its barriers. The learning curve is steep. The initial tutorials are optional and brief, requiring players to jump between menus and then practice in the world, a friction point for new users. Keyboard controls feel clunky; gamepad users enjoy the smoothest experience. Despite improvements, some glitchy vault triggers and physics quirks remain, especially on complex manoeuvre attempts.

Solo content remains limited, six maps and around 48 challenges at launch, and without a narrative thread, long sessions can loop into repetitiveness. Some players may find trick rush and time‑trial content less engaging but personally I spent hours going for those gold medals forgetting that I do indeed have an adult life to get to. So for the dedicated, the grind of improving run times, nailing consistency, and customizing outfits offers satisfying rewards.

My conclusion

Having played since the earliest days, Rooftops & Alleys 1.0 feels like the true launch everyone was waiting for. It took a raw, ambition‑driven parkour sandbox and gave it shape: progression, polish, modes, maps, music, and community. It never promises storytelling, deep lore, or blockbuster scope. Instead, it celebrates movement, risk, creativity, and skill. That makes its strengths very clear—and its flaws manageable for anyone who loves the parkour grind.

If you’ve been curious or cautious, now is the moment to dive into what it has become, not just what it started as. For those who fall in love with motion, flow and the pursuit of perfect runs, Rooftops & Alleys is a must have.