PC Game Reviews

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Our detailed reviews help you make informed decisions about your next PC game purchase. We provide a thorough analysis of gameplay, graphics, story, and more.

Hytale Early Access Review So FarThere really isn't a better way to describe it other than it's basically Minecraft 2.

IGN PC ArticlesJan 14

Review: Big Hops Is a Pleasant Platformer Big Hops is the sort of that it’s easy to get excited about, and it is because it feels like it plays fair. Yes, there will be challenging leaps and levels with secrets that seem just out of reach. But it is very possible to accomplish everything, and the easy to learn controls make it simple to get accustomed to the movements you’ll need to fly over gaps, scale walls, and get through even the trickiest environments. Big Hops stars a young frog named Hop. As the game begins, he’s exploring a forest and camping with his sister, Lily. Except he has a weird dream before everything all begins with an unknown voice claiming that they know Hop longs for adventure. It’s then that a spirit named Diss kidnaps him, asking him to collect Dark Drips. In order to actually get back where he belongs, Hops will need to visit different worlds, each of which involves a different type of biome with people to meet and challenges to deal with, in order to build an airship and get back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJlCBQaLUQY If you’re familiar with classic platformers like Super Mario 64 and Donkey Kong 64 or more recent games like Yooka Laylee, you’ll feel right at home with Big Hops . While there are NPCs to interact with and challenges to overcome, at its core the game is about landing incredibly jumps or acrobatic feats to collect all kinds of things. Airship parts? Sure. But also bugs, veggies, gadget blueprints, music mixtapes, Dark Bits for trinkets, cosmetics, and the gameplay and story-advancing Dark Drops and airship parts. To accomplish this, you can jump, climb, dive, double jump, swing with Hop’s tongue, wall run, and engage in other parkour actions to reach pretty much every spot you can see. The design direction makes each of the locations we visit feels very different, and the veggies also feel like we get a little more control when it comes to how we get through these spots. Because of those types of produce, it can feel like we determine how to overcome certain puzzles or reach certain spots. I do feel like some of the locations were more entertaining than others. Like I enjoyed Open Ocean and Red Desert, but I didn’t enjoy Shattered Mountain. But because of the veggies that let us do things like immediately get access to fire via peppers, create a tightrope with a cactus, or create bounce pads with mushrooms. The right answer for getting through spots can seem a bit obvious sometimes, as the oil shots end up being really helpful in many situations and the balloons are more specific, but there is freedom to experiment and try things. Images via Luckshot Games And the Trinkets system feels like it adds even more freedom. It adjusts gameplay elements and restrictions or grants abilities. As examples, Deep Breaths+ increases the breath meter, Grip Training+ reduces stamina used when climbing, and Stacked+ allows three of the same type of item in one slot. There are a lot that are great and feel like they could be general quality of life adjustments or help a player with areas where they maybe feel week. I felt like I could make the most of the exploration elements, and I did adjust them in certain areas. If anything, the only thing that kept me from really adoring Big Hops is that there isn’t all that much to the story. Not that a solid platformer needs an epic novel with earth-shattering developments, but I never really felt like there was anything super notable happening. Hop is cute and all. Some NPCs we meet in worlds can be charming. But it struck me as very anticlimactic, especially the ending. Big Hops is a really pleasant platformer that gives players many ways to approach its challenges. It’s versatile, and the controls feel pitch perfect. The nature of it also means we get to see some pretty varied biomes. Some worlds do feel more interesting than others, sadly, and and the story could be stronger. Still, it’s quite enjoyable and worth someone’s time if they enjoyed titles like Yooka Laylee and Super Mario 64 . Big Hops is available for the Switch and PC. The post Review: Big Hops Is a Pleasant Platformer appeared first on Siliconera .

PC News Category - SiliconeraJan 14

Big Hops ReviewRibbiting stuff The post Big Hops Review appeared first on WellPlayed .

Reviews PC – WellPlayedJan 12

Review: Cassette Boy Experiments With Perspectives Like Fez When Polytron Corporation released Fez, we’d never really seen anything like it. A game that uses perspective to solve puzzles and make progress and shifting between 2D and 3D? Later, we’d see Superliminal and Viewfinder play with how we see things changing how the world works. Cassette Boy is a game in that same vein, only blinding The Legend of Zelda style action-RPG elements as we rotate our viewpoint to change the rules of the world. It’s also just as clever as many of these other games I’ve mentioned, and I hope this indie gets the attention it deserves. Cassette Boy begins with our avatar being addressed by a sparkling entity. It cryptically explains that the moon is gone because our character wasn’t looking at it. This being explains that perspective is everything, and illustrates examples showing that objects, entities, and buttons can disappear if you can’t see them. As such, it’s now up to you to recover the Moon Fragments to restore them to the sky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic71W0L8SMo While Cassette Boy is a The Legend of Zelda- like in some ways, it really prioritizes puzzles and experimenting with our view of the world in a way I appreciated. After the opening introduction and acquiring a sword, we’re given the ability to use the shoulder buttons to rotate the world. In town, it means getting access to houses where you couldn’t previously see doors. More importantly, it means opportunities to start “hiding” enemies, switches, and blockades to make progress to different areas or turning the world fast enough to cause squares to pop up to provide opportunities to reach higher areas or damage foes. So as some of the earliest examples, there’ll be a situation where you rotate 90 degrees to completely hide a huge slime you couldn’t otherwise defeat at that point to slip past to the next area in a forest. For one boss, you rotate the world 360 degrees as quickly at the switches that will make a piece of ground pop up when the opponent is about to get near to damage it five times to win. You stand on a switch to open a door, then rotate the world to block it so you can then move and safely go through the doorway. In one situation, you move a box to a point where you need to rotate 360 degrees to lift yourself and the box up so you can jump. Keep in mind, these are the earliest kinds of progression. In a true The Legend of Zelda and even Metroidvania type of fashion, Cassette Boy also eventually encourages returning to past areas or temporarily blocks off access to certain spots by hiding them behind a type of “trick” you haven’t learned yet. So you might see a shrine in the first forest you can’t reach yet or an area of town blocked off, but need to wait until you can see things the right way to get to that new place. These come in the forms of cassettes for the headphones you acquire early on that help you "focus" to change the way you see the world. Image via Wonderland Kazakiri and Pocketpair Yes, I mentioned a shrine. Like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom , there are portals to brief shrines in Cassette Boy . If you gain access to one of these optional spots, you’ll be posed with additional logic puzzles. I’ve never seen any combat-related ones in my time with the game. Each one I encountered seemed to build upon my knowledge of my abilities in ways that sometimes challenged me a bit more than the typical puzzles encountered when searching for bosses holding Moon Fragments. Which is good because, while the combat isn’t terrible, it does feel like closer to the earlier The Legend of Zelda NES and Game Boy games. The melee attacks with the sword didn’t have the sort of responsiveness and combos as some contemporaries, and aiming with the bow and arrow can be a pain even after you get used to knowing how long to hold it to shoot it proper distances. Another thing I appreciate about Cassette Boy is that it is a really minimalistic game. It relies about the same Game Boy style greenscale palette. While there are a few indoor area tile situations where this can be a lot when multiple designs are combined, it generally is really effective and eye-catching, while still making visual distinctions quite clear. Which is important since you do need to be very precise about positioning to solve puzzles. That’s a little frustrating sometimes, especially when it involves ensuring a dangerous enemy is blocked or that a blockade is 100% hidden. But the design philosophy really adds to the experience. Image via Wonderland Kazakiri and Pocketpair Likewise, that comes a bit with the script. This is a rather simple game and doesn’t feature a super intense narrative. There are some occasionally clever lines, though! And again, there is a minimalistic approach to it. For example, while there’s not a lot of dialogue for NPCs, we will see reactions to certain events. This happens with our avatar’s neighbor, Nell. Our protagonist themselves will also occasionally think about things happening, and those asides can be entertaining. Cassette Boy is at its best when challenging you to rethink your perspective to solve puzzles in this The Legend of Zelda and Fez style adventure. There are times when it can really test you and make you think! The minimalistic design direction is also a highlight. However, some combat elements can occasionally feel finicky, especially when the bow is involved. It definitely can be quite clever, and it’s well worth at the very least trying the demo if you also enjoyed games like Fez. Cassette Boy will come to PCs via Steam on January 15, 2026, and a demo is available. It will also eventually appear on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X . The post Review: Cassette Boy Experiments With Perspectives Like Fez appeared first on Siliconera .

PC News Category - SiliconeraJan 9

The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon ReviewOne small step for man, one giant leap for the Trails series.

IGN PC ArticlesJan 8

Hinako’s Parents From Silent Hill f Wish Everyone a Happy New Year Takeshi Masago and Tamami Hiraoka, who play Hinako’s father and mother in Silent Hill f , have uploaded a video of themselves wishing people a happy new year in character. You can watch the video on Masago’s YouTube channel. [Thanks, Inside Games !] The video is a little over thirty seconds long. After they both wish the viewer a happy new year, Hiraoka (who plays Kimie, Hinako's mother in Silent Hill f ) asks Masago (who plays Kanta, Hinako's father) what his resolution for 2026 is. He pulls out a kitchen knife and says that he wants to return to his job as a chef this year, with Kimie applauding and cheering him on. Kimie then reveals that she’s just happy if Kanta and Hinako can live a happy life in the new year. The short then ends with Kimie telling Hinako that they’ll be having hamburg steak for dinner, and Kanta yelling Hinako’s name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfeTZJ_65Hg As of the time of writing, the short has racked up over 118,000 views. Most of the top comments are from people saying that this was the happy ending or true ending they wanted to see. Masago also uploads videos of himself playing through Silent Hill f, with Hiraoka appearing on occasion as a guest. The actresses for Hinako and Rinko have also streamed themselves playing the game. Silent Hill f is available on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC. You can read our review of it here . The post Hinako’s Parents From Silent Hill f Wish Everyone a Happy New Year appeared first on Siliconera .

PC News Category - SiliconeraJan 7

Review: Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Is Packed With Experiences Level-5 is officially two for two when it comes to games that successfully survived development hell. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time turned out exceptional , even with so many ideas packed into it. Now that Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is here, it feels a bit like each mode might be one direction the final game could have took and Level-5 decided to finish them all and toss them in together. While it didn’t turn out as wonderfully as the latest Fantasy Life , it’s far better than I expected. There are a lot of modes in Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road , so many that I must confess that it sometimes feels like each one felt like it could have been a full game in a way. Or, at the very least, that feels true for both the Story and Chronicle modes. Story Mode is the story of a new team and a new dream. Destin Billows (Unmei Sasanami) loved soccer, but was forced to give up on actively playing due to his health. He claims to be genuinely happy to be transferring to South Cirrus Junior High School, as it doesn’t have a team. However, after learning about the school delinquent Briar Bloomhurst (Jouji Sakurazaki), who was a star player and forced to abandon his dream, and being basically badgered into friendship by Cedric Freud (Heita Kisoji), to restore the football club. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ArR7UnwT8w It’s absolutely wild. Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Story Mode feels like playing through a shonen sports manga. We see Destin and Briar meet and decide to move forward together. We watch Destin take part in rock-paper-scissors style RPG battles against members of the student council, police officers, nosy neighbors, and staircases. We pet and photograph cats. We kick illusionary soccer balls. We listen in on gossip from classmates. We find new teammates. I mean, we eventually also play soccer too, but the process of living life, seeing these kids at school, and getting a better understand of why it’s so important they bond and do well. I could see some folks get frustrated at exactly how long it takes to form the new football club and start hitting the field, but I adored the progression pace and story being told. But then, for people who want to get into actually playing faster and building up the “best” team, there’s Chronicle Mode. Our goal here is to help Vic, Misty, and Clark “Wandaba” Wonderbot get the strongest team of 11 players with the strongest Keishin to defeat the Mind Eaters who could make humanity extinct. This involves heading into soccer matches across time, reliving past Inazuma Eleven game and anime storylines. It’s a lot. Especially since Player Universe can be used recruit players and we use the Team Dock to put together our team. In general, it isn’t a bad place to start, since it begins with Mark Evans (Mamoru Endou) going through a tutorial that explains how to actually play soccer and is more about completing actual matches. We can choose Chronicle Battle, Route Unlock Battle, Rare Drop Battle, and Hero Battle to advance our goals. Success in matches is dependent on meeting the History Check, which involves certain actions during teams like “Pass to Kevin,” “Shoot as Kevin,” “Complete a Focus Battle,” “Complete a Focus Battle as Axel,” and “Play for Victory.” This means it can be tricky, but difficulty does scale up and does get more immediately into the game. Images via Level-5 Like Story Mode, I’m a fan of this Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road mode, even though it involves a lot of grinding to get through it. Chronicle Mode still has a story structure. There’s still character building and team organization, which I love. The active soccer matches work well, and it isn’t difficult to pull off the extravagant special moves the series is known for. I also didn’t find it too difficult to pass the History Checks. The Focus Fields and Focus Battles are helpful for dealing with Zone defending, and I love how we have the standard shots, Long Shots to attack from a distance, and Shot Chains along with our Specials when enough Tension builds up via playing. The ease of play might be a bit of a downside, as I almost felt as though the CPU could have been a bit more intelligent and responsive to my actions. But then, there are so many routes here, with the Go Galaxy and LBX: Little Battlers eXperience ones added post-launch , so it’s genuinely possible that there’s so much that I haven’t hit the more challenging bouts. Plus allowing us to deplete enemy Keeper Power helps with getting one past the better goalies. The Competition mode rounds things out. You can take part in essentially a quick match feature with preset teams, play in 1v1 and 2v2 games, and take part in online tournaments. The tournaments can involve seasonal rewards, to encourage constant participation. While there are a lot of options, including a Bond Town where you can create a town and explore, I feel like the campaign modes are stronger and a better time. It’s because all you really need to do is grind out characters to win, but that isn’t fun! Since I was coming into it so far after launch, I felt discouraged for a few hours. What’s worse is that sometimes I’d experience terrible lag. So even though I did invest five hours into that mode, my success could be affected by outside factors. Images via Level-5 Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is a lot, and it feels like an installment that attempts to cover almost every possible aspect of the series. It doesn’t top the earliest Mamoru Endo DS entries for me. However, there’s so much here that it feels like a mode exists for every possible player. Not to mention that it is admirable to see it not only released, but is genuinely good. There are some minor issues, such as balancing and NPC intelligence in matches. The CPU isn’t great about making decisions. However, the fact that we are seeing rebalancing and substantial updates like Re-Story make me wonder if this could eventually turn into a 9 out of 10 game in a few weeks or months with additional patches and fixes to things like online multiplayer. Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is available on the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. 8 The post Review: Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Is Packed With Experiences appeared first on Siliconera .

PC News Category - SiliconeraJan 3

Review: Angeline Era Is More Than a Tribute to Ys Style Games Angeline Era is a surprise. It’s one of those titles you might have missed as December began due to the number of releases and events. It feels like a loving reference to the earliest Ys games and similar early action-RPGs on the PS1 and PC. It is an examination of trauma affects people. But more importantly, it’s a game you should play if you get a chance, as it is a valuable and important experience. Tets Kinoshta is headed to Era as Angeline Era began. Angels summoned him there, suggesting only he can collect and protect the nine bicones. After arriving and collecting two of them, he meets a wandering angel named Arkas who fell to earth when their ship Throne crash landed there. In the process, angels lost the ability to Shimmer. Arkas again asks Tets to gather the bicones, get to Throne, and dispel the storm surrounding it to allow angels to shimmer again. However, that means facing the fae princess Niamh McManann along the way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yizu73qqNi0 Angeline Era is many things all at once. When exploring areas and the world, it looks like a polygonal RPG. Bumping into people allows you to talk to them. (The dialogue is usually quite clever!) Bumping into enemies destroys them. There can also be light puzzle-solving elements. When in an overworld map, you can press a button to “search” an area for a level. If you find a spot to reach one, you go through a brief, 2D, first-person trek to reach the new space, which becomes an isolated slice of another space where you can find new enemies and encounters. There are times when it can feel like the priority is getting through a stage, pushing yourself for optimal jumps and placements, rather than fighting. These levels and boss fights can feel really extraordinary sometimes. While there are RPG elements to them as in the Ys games, as we can manage equipment, stop at mirrors to restore health, and such, Angeline Era often feels more like a platformer. We jump and double jump to reach places and attack enemies at different positions. There are hazards to avoid and different paths to follow. When we get to major foes, the fights can be clever and challenging! The first fight against the various fish (which goes from two to eventually 32 on screen at once) feels like a bullet-hell affair. When we face Dulla and Han, it’s a more traditional type of foe with close range, ranged, projectile, and even what amounts to a one-hit KO move. This is all accompanied by a script that can sometimes initially feel goofy, humorous, over dramatic, and a send-up of early PS1 and PC adventures. Screenshots by Siliconera However, there’s so much more to the story than that. As someone goes through Angeline Era , they might wonder what’s happening with the angels, fae, Throne, and Shimmer ability. Alongside silly NPC dialogue, there can actually be poignant moments. So much so that when the more genuinely serious, thought-provoking, philosophical comes up, it fits in seamlessly and manages to make an already engaging experience even better. I fear I can’t say too much, because there’s so much going on that it would ruin things. That’s because Angeline Era isn’t just an action game like Ys in which Tets plays the Adol role and ends up being the hero to save the day. This is more than a tale about a conflict between angels and fae, and reclaiming an ability. It’s an examination into Tets too. We’re learning about this character’s life and who he is as a person. Images via Analgesic Productions The gameplay in Angeline Era is challenging and entertaining, reminiscent of Ys games, but its story feels even more important. There’s so much to it that should be discovered firsthand and not spoiled that I fear anything I say could spoil too much. But the examination into who Tets is and the quest to save Era is executed well. The stage and boss fight design is great. Especially since the varied difficulty levels lets anyone enjoy it. It’s a game that begs you to check everywhere and see it through to the end. Angeline Era is available for PCs. The post Review: Angeline Era Is More Than a Tribute to Ys Style Games appeared first on Siliconera .

PC News Category - SiliconeraJan 2

Skate Story ReviewEat the moon The post Skate Story Review appeared first on WellPlayed .

Reviews PC – WellPlayedJan 1

Asus ROG Strix G16 (2025) ReviewSimilar in design to last year, the AMD version of the Asus ROG Strix G16 offers solid gaming performance in a bulky shell.

IGN PC ArticlesDec 31