Comprehensive Game Reviews

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From AAA titles to indie games, we cover it all. Our comprehensive reviews provide detailed insights to help you find your next favorite game.

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad ReviewThe night is dark and full of microtransactions.

IGN PC ReviewsMay 31

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time ReviewAn excellent blend of cozy life sim and action-adventure RPG that rarely stops surprising.

IGN PC ReviewsMay 29

To A T Review - A Sweet-Natured Fable Without Much To DoIt's a universal truth that crosses cultural boundaries: Middle school is hard. The awkward early teenage years makes everyone feel self-conscious, like an outsider, whether it's an embarrassing pimple or your arms being permanently locked in a stiff T-pose. To A T, a narrative adventure from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, is a sweet-natured fable about growing up and accepting yourself. But while the narrative and world you occupy are cute and quirky, the act of playing never feels as playful as it should. You play as a created character accompanied by your faithful canine companion, both of whom you grant personalized names at the start. Your arms are permanently stretched outward, stiff as a board, for reasons that you don't fully understand. But you've made the best of it, learning to adapt with special tools like an extra-long spoon to eat your breakfast cereal. You can turn sideways to shimmy your way through doors. And your dog is apparently well-trained enough to help you change clothes or use the bathroom. Naturally, this quality makes you an outsider. Everything you do is just slightly awkward and harder than it should be, and you're bullied relentlessly by the other kids at your school. The writing is very sharp in capturing both the inherent silliness of schoolyard teasing and the way it can have a real impact on your mental health, making you preoccupied with the taunting even when the bullies aren't around. Your avatar is just a happy, friendly kid who loves his favorite cereal mascot, tries to do well in school and at sports, and just wants to fit in. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsMay 29

Elden Ring: Nightreign review – The Soulslike co-op dream is almost fully realized, and it’s glorious I've been playing FromSoftware games since the original Dark Souls , which is now somehow almost 14 years old. The game that created an entire sub-genre following in the footsteps of 2009' s Demon's Souls was the start of something very special. It feels like Elden Ring: Nightreign is the next step of the journey that began all those years ago, as FromSoftware has taken its punishing combat and open-world gameplay and combined it with a co-op emphasis and different mechanics of other genres to create something unique and extravagant, although not quite perfect. Dying is better with friends Screenshot by Destructoid FromSoft's co-op has always been a nagging point for me. It's never been simple, never easy, and I've always wanted more from it. Nightreign isn't the endpoint of Soulslike co-ops, but it shows what the developer is truly capable of. Alongside the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods , FromSoft is flexing the future of what its games will look like, so don't be surprised if the next big Dark Souls or Elden Ring game features seamless co-op from beginning to end as an option. While multiplayer has felt like an accessory in the studio's previous titles, Nightreign is definitely meant to be played in co-op. You can also play solo, but it feels exceedingly difficult and almost like it's missing the point of the game. There's fun to be had and it's possible to do, but this is an experience that's way better with friends or strong allies met in random matchmaking. Because of this, one of the game's most egregious and glaring negatives is the lack of crossplay between platforms (PC, Xbox, and PlayStation). This feels like a huge oversight in 2025, where the feature has become commonplace. So if you can, make sure your friends all have it on the same platform (teams of three only, no duos at launch, unfortunately). Figuring out this core multiplayer feature in 2025 is FromSoft's final boss, and once it's conquered, we are truly in for some fun. Having said that, I'm thrilled to say that Nightreign is a fantastic experience if only because it's more Elden Ring, but with a co-op twist that takes inspiration from roguelikes and battle royale to craft an addicting, satisfying experience that's also not for the faint of heart, as is the studio's M.O. Screenshot by Destructoid Even without crossplay, fighting Elden Ring's terrifying boss battles with friends has never been easier than in this new experience, where teams of three drop into an evolving version of the base game's Limgrave map. It's called Limveld, and it's being taken over by the night. Nightreign features eight playable characters at launch, all with their own unique abilities and backstories. Each expedition starts with players selecting their character, all of whom can be upgraded over time with itemized buffs called Relics, in an ever-changing adventure, effortlessly capturing the allure of battle royale and roguelike games. Prepare to die and run like hell Screenshot by Destructoid When you begin your adventure, you will die. You will die a lot. But with each expedition, you learn more about the map, the game's characters and mechanics, and find and earn items that help make everything a bit easier. Every match of Nightreign takes place over the course of three in-game days (about 15 minutes each). Drop in, plot a course on the map, and start killing enemies to level up as much and as fast as you can, because a storm circle is closing in. When the circle closes and concludes each day, a boss fight will occur against a variety of enemies from the base game, and other previous FromSoft games, too, which always makes for a nice surprise when you see an old foe who tormented you in previous titles. Survive the first night and get ready to do it all again the next day. Survive a second major boss fight and then get ready for a bigger battler against a new, powerful endgame boss called a Night Lord, where success means big rewards and progression for your character and their story. The roguelike elements of Nightreign combine with traditional BR mechanics in that you land at level one with your own character and base weapon and go from there. It's all about speed in Nightreign —kill quick, loot quick, and move quick as the circle encroaches, all while dealing with Elden Ring's classically challenging enemies. It's incredibly fun, and sometimes frustrating, but always interesting with a group of friends. The map is littered with optional bosses and other points of interest that drop big buffs and high-tier loot, and taking them down is a huge help when it comes to accomplishing your goals. Screenshot by Destructoid The loot on the map has rarities and randomized abilities, as you may expect, and just about every powerful weapon from Elden Ring can be found there. My first random legendary weapon I found was Devourer's Scepter, but it's all here: Sword of Night and Flame, Dark Moon Greatsword, all of it, and each run shapes how you play, depending on what you get. Like other games with random loot drops, some runs will feel magical as it all comes together. During the review period, this happened for me once after I luckily found Rivers of Blood and Moonveil and dual-wielded them to a hard-fought, well-earned victory over a tough boss. In other games, I found nothing and struggled. Welcome to Elden Ring. A world worth living (and dying) in Screenshot by Destructoid As you play through Nightreign , you progress your characters and their storylines by beating bosses, completing expeditions, and surviving three nights. The better you do, the more currency and Relics you unlock, thus furthering your chances for success. At a base level, each hero has low HP, mana, and stamina. Leveling up is a necessity, as you won't stand a chance against many enemies. Dying means losing a level and your stats gained, but you can be revived by teammates who hilariously have to beat you up with their own weapons to revive you. This can be frustrating with occasional desync and lag while in co-op, only adding to the sweaty experience. In the review period, I had several matches that felt doomed after dying early on. But we pushed on, found a way to survive after some clutch revives, and ended up somehow defeating the bosses presented against us. This is where the game truly shines, and its replay value is immense. That feeling of frustration followed by accomplishment, relief, and satisfaction after tackling a difficult boss has been around since Demon's Souls. It still feels amazing, and now you can experience it with pals as a pre-made team in bite-sized experiences, marking what feels like it could be a true turning point for FromSoft into a new era. The post Elden Ring: Nightreign review – The Soulslike co-op dream is almost fully realized, and it’s glorious appeared first on Destructoid .

Reviews Archive – DestructoidMay 28

Elden Ring Nightreign Review - Distilled SoulsThe Roundtable Hold has seen better days. There are weeds breaking through cracks in its rotting floorboards, the room in the east wing that Gideon Ofnir once used as an office is now an abandoned mess of dust and clutter, and sunlight is bleeding through a gaping hole in the stone wall where the giant pair of fingers previously resided. It's a familiar space, but one that's also noteworthy for its differences, which feels reflective of Elden Ring Nightreign as a whole. Anyone who's played Elden Ring will recognize Roundtable Hold and enemies like the Bell Bearing Hunter and Ancient Hero of Zamor. Nightreign's combat mechanics are almost identical, too, making it easy to fall into a habitual groove as you roll through attacks and strike back with a vengeance. Elden Ring's DNA is ever-present, but Nightreign is also a game of striking subversions: a From Software game that asks you to play it unconventionally, disregarding meticulous exploration, isolation, and measured combat for a cooperative multiplayer game built on speed and aggression. In many ways, it's the antithesis of what people typically come to From Software games for, and yet somehow, someway, this experimental non-sequel is an absolute triumph. It all starts with Nightreign's enticing structure. First, you choose the boss you want to fight, then embark on a 35- to 45-minute Expedition that takes place across three in-game days. During the day, you and two teammates (doing multiplayer is the ideal scenario) will quickly explore the land of Limveld, an alternate version of Elden Ring's Limgrave where the topography stays the same but locations and enemies randomly change from one Expedition to the next. Everyone starts at Level 1, so you'll want to kill enemies to accrue runes and level up, as well as find new weapons, tools, and character upgrades to aid you in the battles ahead. At some point during both the first and second days, a deadly battle-royale-style circle begins closing in, funneling you into a mandatory showdown against a random boss. These bosses are selected from a pool of familiar foes, so there's a lot of variety, but you'll also run into the same few opponents if you're repeating the same Expedition over and over again. If you manage to survive for two days and defeat the boss at the end of Day 2, you'll move onto the third day and square off against the Night Lord you chose to fight at the beginning of the Expedition in what is typically a grandiose, challenging, and ultimately thrilling battle. Whether you win or lose, you'll earn relics that you can equip to provide various advantages in future Expeditions, from adding elemental damage that targets a boss's weakness to improvements to attributes like strength and vigor. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsMay 28

Elden Ring Nightreign ReviewWhen Elden Ring Nightreign is played exactly as it was designed to be played, it’s one of the finest examples of a three-player co-op game around – but that's harder to do than it should be, and playing solo is poorly balanced.

IGN PC ReviewsMay 28

Review: Fantasy Life i Turned Out Incredible Anyone else ever worry when a game gets delayed, then delayed again, then delayed even further? I do. It completely shakes my confidence. Especially when the developer behind it hasn’t launched a lot of titles recently and talks about using AI when making things. Simply put, Fantasy Life ended up being one of my absolute favorite 3DS games, and I was terrified about Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time after the delays and the disaster that was Fantasy Life Online . I didn’t need to be. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is amazing. My only concern is perhaps maybe that Level-5 tries to do too much with it, but even then it is easy to just… ignore the elements you don’t care for as much and focus on the ones you do. There are like three games worth of games in Fantasy Life i , and all of them are good. When I say there’s so much to Fantasy Life i, that applies to the story too. Our avatar is an archeologist working alongside Edward to investigate a mysterious dragon skeleton that led their crew to an island spot. Except upon reaching an unusual place, it means the fossil awakens to become Skelegon. So in the past, we’re investigating Mysteria in the past, our home base hub on the outskirts of depths with a mysterious gear somewhere inside in the present, and an additional major landmass known as Ginormosia. Each place has its own mysteries, not to mention gameplay elements, and they all feed into each other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alqHzDtQvhE&ab_channel=LEVEL5ch%E3%80%90%E5%85%AC%E5%BC%8F%E3%80%91 The Mysteria past location in Fantasy Life i feels most like a traditional action-RPG and Fantasy Life game. Here’s where you’ll pick up the 14 lives. Four of them are classic RPG class roles, which are Hunter (archer), Magician, Mercenary, and Paladin. These are used for the action-RPG combat segments. The gathering jobs are Angler, Farmer, Miner, and Woodcutter, which are tied to fishing, getting crops, mining rocks and ore, and getting wood. Those directly feed into the crafting lives, which are the Alchemist, Artist, Blacksmith, Carpenter, and Tailor. The alchemist can make potions, some accessories, and mounts, the artist works on home decorations, the blacksmith makes weapons and equipment, the carpenter makes furniture, and the tailor makes some decorations and clothing. And since the best way to get equipment for your combat classes is via the Alchemist, Blacksmith, and Tailor roles, all that feeds into each other again. Artist and Farmer are the new roles this time around and, as such, need to be unlocked by actually going through the campaign quests. When going through the campaign, tied mostly to the Mysteria part in the past and our hub in the present, it means following storylines that send you to different locations. In the past, you’ll work alongside Rem to go to different islands in Mysteria from the main hub of Eternia, which is your base in the present. There aren’t really traditional dungeons here, as instead you’ll go through woods, caves, fields, and other locations. These will be filled with gathering points for those types of jobs, enemies to fight, and even “bosses” for the combat and gathering roles. For example, a “boss” for a miner might be a major elemental crystal or for a woodcutter would be a tree with angel wings. Aside from having more health than usual, these “foes” will change their weak point, forcing you to search for the “sweet spot” to deal damage when “attacking” to gather. Naturally, there will be enemy bosses as well, which could be a real boss or a bigger and more adept version of lesser foes around you. Images via Level-5 However, interestingly enough, our base in the present time in Fantasy Life i involves Animal Crossing types of elements. There’s terraforming, to determine how it all looks. We have villagers of sorts, in the restored Strangelings from Ginormosia and the main campaign. We get a home that we can customize. It is based on 24-hour, real world time for flower, crop, and resource gathering. There’s even relationship-building with these allies, which unlocks additional traits and bonuses for when they join you while adventuring in the world or crafting. Yes, if you’re not playing with folks online, you can have up to three in your party for adventures at any time. They’ll help when you fight enemies! When you’re gathering, they’ll offer buffs for you, debuffs on the target, or even join in if they share that job. Whenever you craft, you can add folks who share that role to the task to boost your skill level and get a possible bonus. There’s also open-world style exploring. Like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , heading to Ginormosia means finding towers that unlock new views of the map, conquering shrines with different sorts of challenges to get Strangelings that can be restored into villagers for your hub, more gathering opportunities, enemies to challenge, and even villages to save, as well as additional insights into the overarching story and major characters you’ll encounter in them. And you can jump into this area at any time! It’s even encouraged, since fast traveling back and forth can reset resources in certain areas or make it easier to find certain foes for tasks. However, I noticed that facing enemies in these spots seemed to trigger bugs where suddenly foes will be temporarily invincible, due to being outside their range or getting stuck on different “levels” or “elements” of the environment. That usually rectifies itself after a few seconds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABhNnsO4Fw&ab_channel=LEVEL5ch%E3%80%90%E5%85%AC%E5%BC%8F%E3%80%91 The funny thing about Fantasy Life i is, while this is a game that absolutely involves grinding, it never feels like a grind. It respects your time in so many ways. Do you need resources? Once you can bring in NPC allies or work together with other players, it takes far less time to get the materials you need and ends up being more fun. Worried about that crafting minigame? Get enough experience and you can automatically skip it by unlocking certain abilities in the skill tree and adding allies. Need money? There are folks in the past who will offer sidequests with helpful rewards. Getting a lot of Celestia flowers? You can put those toward items in a shop in the present. Ginormosia is getting too easy? Rank things up at a tower. Don’t like how you look? You can change it at any time in the present and “buy” new catalogs to add additional cosmetic options. Just want access to the new jobs without the tutorial quests? You can skip them. Happen upon a gathering spot, group of enemies, or crafting table that needs a job you don’t have equipped? It automatically swaps to the one you need at a push of a button. Want to forge some equipment when you’re in a restaurant with cooking equipment? Any workbench offers access to all crafting Lives’ actions. By finding other people to play with, unlocking Strangeling allies from Ginormosia, and unlocking certain nodes in the skill trees for each job, you can basically customize elements of the experience to your liking. There’s also a sense of freedom that comes from reaching certain points in the Fantasy Life i story. Once I got access to Ginormosia, I immediately unlocked all the towers, found all the shrines, and made sure I restored a Strangeling from each crafting and gathering class. After I got the Farmer role unlocked, I spent a lot of time leveling Lives, finishing sidequests, and starting to work on my own little town. It’s like open-world games in that way, as you get this sense of freedom to do what you want and prioritize the elements you enjoy. Yes, you unlock more recipes, Lives, and locations if you follow the campaign. But if you take your time, you’ll find just as much to do without advancing things. Images via Level-5 The only real issue I noticed is that Fantasy Life i has a real issue on handheld gaming PCs. This is a problem not only I noticed, but someone else I consulted with as well. It plays amazingly well on high settings! …Until you enter a cutscene. Then everything slows to a crawl. The only way I managed to solve it was to drop down to medium settings, then play around with all of the other features like shadows, anti-aliasing, and such until I found a combination that worked. Once you do go through that, I found it works perfectly and still looks fantastic, so it’s more of a potentially temporary annoyance than anything. Again, minor hiccups aside, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is amazing. There's so much to it, and it is easy to prioritize the elements you like best. There’s an endless wealth of content and options, and you could probably spend months enjoying every element. The original Fantasy Life is one of the best 3DS games, and now Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is one of the best titles we’ll see on the Switch and PC. Since Level-5 also confirmed there will be DLC , I also wonder if we’ll see it get even better. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is available for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and it will also come to the Switch 2. The post Review: Fantasy Life i Turned Out Incredible appeared first on Siliconera .

Reviews Articles and News - SiliconeraMay 28

Elden Ring Nightreign Review – Encapsulating Efficiency<img loading="lazy" src="https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2025/05/27/66f8c3c7/Elden%20Ring%20Key%20Art.jpeg" width="800" height="450" alt="Elden Ring Nightreign Game Informer Review 8 10 " typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-thumbnail" /> Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Publisher: Bandai Namco Developer: From Software Rating: Mature I was skeptical of Elden Ring Nightreign when I first learned of it. Elden Ring is a masterpiece, and though I yearned for yet another visit to The Lands Between, doing so in a run-based roguelite format with a battle royale-style circle closing in on me wasn’t my first choice. In my first dozen hours in Nightreign, I remained skeptical. I wondered if this arcadey format cheapened everything that made Elden Ring so great – it certainly felt like it was on its way to doing so. But at some unceremonious point in the first 12 hours or so, the knowledge I acquired over my previous runs converged, and the pieces clicked into place.Suddenly, I was a master of this parallel Lands Between, calling out key locations my trio needed to hit before the day was up, carving out efficient pathways on the map to secure success, and shouting out moves and dodge timings in real-time to help my team. Nightreign condenses the journey of Elden Ring, its highs and lows, and the acquisition of knowledge into a 45-minute run repeatedly, often to great success. Even though that success comes with some significant caveats, it had me saying, “Just one more run,” over and over again, a marker of excellence in the genre.<iframe width="560" height="315" frameBorder="0" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pRhcXR-1SeY" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay" allowfullscreen="true"> </iframe>Set in Limveld, the starting area of Elden Ring, but in a different timeline, players select one of eight Nightfarers at the Roundtable Hold to take on one of the game’s eight expeditions. You have one goal during these: survive through three days, which requires taking down lots of enemies to level up, collecting armaments and items, and defeating major bosses that attack with each day’s end. A successful expedition through Limveld brings you to a fight against the Nightlord, and defeating five Nightlords brings you to the credits. A loosely structured narrative ties the game’s run-based premise together, but it’s barebones, providing just enough justification for those seeking it out.Though learning new Nightfarers on the fly can be detrimental to the others in your trio, all eight playable characters bring something valuable and unique to the roundtable. I stuck with the ranged archer Ironeye character, who is nimble and perhaps the most essential of any run, but I enjoyed the tanky Guardian, too, with his invincibility casting ultimate ability. I look forward to mastering the other six Nightfarers as I shepherd new players through this world. Special “Remembrance” questlines for each character ensure I take them through various runs to complete specific objectives like killing a boss to collect an item, as do unlockable outfits and the constant chase of permanent equippable Relics that offer run-changing buffs and effects.The difference between my runs in the opening hours and the runs I complete now, 41 hours in after defeating every Nightlord, cannot be overstated. I went from casually exploring camps and locations, scouring for loot and secrets, like I would in Elden Ring, to realizing every second wasted has the potential to be ruinous. There is no time to explore, search for secrets, or try out new tactics, at least if you want to defeat the Nightlord at the end of day three (let alone the major bosses at the end of day one and two). <img loading="lazy" src="https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/27/586ce129/er3.jpg" alt="Elden Ring Nightreign Game Informer Review 8 10 " typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-body-default"> Nightreign might be the fastest roguelite, a lesson in min-maxing that punishes idle behavior and indecisiveness. Alongside the other press reviewing this game, linking up in Discord consisted of casual greetings before a succinct lock-in moment as we all began quietly scouting the map while waiting for our Nightfarers to drop into Limveld. By the time we land, we already have our first day on the expedition planned, ready to begin thinking about our day two plans well before hitting level four. It’s fast, demanding, and all the more stressful because of it, but there’s something special about receiving everything you get out of a single-player From Software game in a 45-minute run.That is, when the game’s caveats don’t smash through your enjoyment like a club the Raider Nightfarer might carry. Predictably, matchmaking is a mess. This is annoying in a single-player From Software game, but unacceptable in Nightreign, which is explicitly designed for three-player co-op. And though From Software says this game can be played solo, the scaling feels so off that it’s a challenge for only the best players, or in other words, the true masochists. Even with two other teammates in a voice chat doing everything we’re supposed to, whether using password matchmaking or invite matchmaking, it was a coin toss on whether it’d work. When it didn’t work, it was never clear why. Though random matchmaking is always challenging with a small player pool like we had pre-launch, it is worrying that none of the other systems work particularly well. Still, playing with friends is as challenging as ever due to From Software’s archaic multiplayer. The flawed matchmaking becomes even more frustrating when you're seeded a map that feels like a failed run from the jump. Though there are times when I prevailed without what I thought I needed, it’s clear what’s necessary in each expedition. The first Nightlord is weak to holy damage, and ideally, you get some holy camps on your map, marked with a symbol to let you know this is a location you should loot for holy armaments. But if you don’t get those camps, there’s a solid chance you don’t find a holy weapon elsewhere, meaning you can’t take advantage of the Nightlord’s primary weakness. Of course, there are other ways to overcome, but Nightreign tells you what is effective against the Nightlord upfront. It’s urging you to utilize a tactic, and it sucks to realize at first glance of the map that you likely won’t get to do so. That frustration pops up in different ways on an expedition, whether it’s a lack of the camps you need, a world boss that’s far overtuned (looking at you, Bell-Bearing Hunter), or a storm circle that puts you on the run for much of the day, meaning you’re skipping valuable points of interest and boss fights just to survive.Sometimes my teammates and I failed an expedition because of something we did wrong, whether that’s misreading a boss, taking too long to loot an area, or missing out on a key location like a flask-granting church. There were lessons to learn in each of these runs. There were an irritating number of times when my teammates and I failed because of Nightreign’s random elements, which felt out of our control and maddening as a result. Yes, this is par for the course for a roguelite, but achieving success feels so rigid in Nightreign that there isn’t room to experiment with something different when things go wrong. I desperately want a button that allows your trio to choose to restart an expedition, rather than waiting to die to return to the roundtable hold, and hopefully get back into another run without a matchmaking issue. <img loading="lazy" src="https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/27/335ebd71/er7.jpg" alt="Elden Ring Nightreign Game Informer Review 8 10 " typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-body-default"> Still, whether I completed a run, died because of a mistake I could learn from, or met an early end because luck wasn’t on my side, I was always raring to begin another expedition. The adrenaline and dopamine of a great Elden Ring session are present throughout Nightreign, and it’s exciting knowing you’re theoretically just 45 minutes away from experiencing those feelings again.Nightreign is at its best when I’m at my best, which means From Software’s take on the roguelite genre needs to meet me halfway, leaving its frustrating misgivings at the roundtable hold. When the matchmaking works, when the map randomness gives my trio a fighting chance, and when the storm doesn’t punishingly throw an unfair wrench into the expedition, I’m excited to rise to the challenge. The reward for my efforts is the mastery, knowledge, and adrenaline I spent dozens of hours building in Elden Ring, condensed into a single run. And every success is as visceral and glorious as the last. <section class='type:slideshow'><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/27/404d57da/er5.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/27/8b9193e4/er9.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/27/a369b551/er2.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/27/9e0cf1d8/er8.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/27/05b70656/er4.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/27/37e1c8a8/er6.jpg'></figure></section> Score: 8 About Game Informer's review system

Game Informer ReviewsMay 28

Review: TMNT Tactical Takedown Gets Great After You Settle in Strange Scaffold proved itself quite an unusual developer, due to doing unconventional and narratively interesting things with titles like Clickolding and Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 . TMNT: Tactical Takedown is an opportunity to do that with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IP, and it’s surprising just how creative the team got to be. While I do think it isn’t for everyone, due to the way the narrative forces the direction of early encounters and the initial difficulty, but it is a delightful challenge once someone gets settled. As established ahead of launch, TMNT: Tactical Takedown is set after some definitive events that resulted in both Splinter and Shredder’s deaths. The turtles have grown up a bit, which means they’re on their own paths. For example, at the outset Raphael is sharing an apartment with Casey Jones. However, Karai, the new leader of the Foot Clan, invades with a horde of units to invade the sewer stronghold, recover Shredder’s kabuto, and defeat the turtles. It’s up to the quartet to reunite, regroup, and fight back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDby7SjDfRk&ab_channel=StrangeScaffold While I do appreciate the direction TMNT: Tactical Takedown takes, I wish the initial approach and introduction worked differently. When the game starts, we following Michelangelo as he starts investigating the Foot Clan incursion into the sewers. Things start with some tutorial style segments showing how each action, be it to move a turtle, deal damage, or move an enemy, uses one some of the up to six points each turtle gets per turn. It also brings up how we get six hearts, losing one for each hit of damage, and that we can only revive twice per level. It shows how stage mutations are designed to encourage forward movement toward goals, with new sections opening up on turns and existing ones disappearing to force you forward. However, the downside to this is there are moments when I felt the forced “narrative” direction for levels and Strange Scaffold’s “guiding” us through a level doesn’t allow for as much strategic experimentation. At the outset, Michelangelo, then his brothers, end up overwhelmed by Karai and her soldiers. While I appreciate the structure and concept, it makes it difficult to really experiment and understand characters’ initial movesets. You’re tossed in and not given a chance to experiment with unique movement options, since you need to use skills to get around the field, and test the additional effects that come from proper positioning around foes. The constant movement of the battlefield and overwhelming hordes of enemies also impart a sense of urgency that I felt prevented me from really getting my bearings until I’d actually used three of the turtles. Images via Strange Scaffold Once the turtles start to get their bearings and properly fight back, it feels like Strange Scaffold gets TMNT Tactical Takedown on more solid footing. After you’re able to access the shop and start customizing movesets, I feel like it really opens up and feels fantastic. That extra element of control makes the execution shine. See, I feel like TMNT Tactical Takedown can sometimes feel like Fights in Tight Spaces and Knights in Tight Spaces . Because of the mutation mechanic, a stage might be a more contained area at parts. Knocking an enemy that is especially strong out of bounds might be a wiser choice than outright attacking. Prioritizing attacks and movements based on energy you have left becomes critical. It can be about dealing with the most hazardous opponents first or attempting to use AOE or enemy moment skills for crowd control. This is complemented by what ends up being a genuinely fascinating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story, as Strange Scaffold really goes some places with TMNT Tactical Takedown . First, a more futuristic look at what happens with the brothers is a novel approach. The team also did a fantastic job of implementing different characters from the series’ run, including major and minor ones and using them well. I appreciate the decision to split characters up both so we can better focus on what they're capable of on their own in levels and see who they are as individuals in this new installment. Images via Strange Scaffold I also love the visual approach. TMNT Tactical Takedown looks like a tabletop RPG. All ally and enemy units look like miniatures, and they’re dropped down on the field and move in ways that resemble those types of actions. The aesthetic is maintained for setpieces and maps too. It suits the situations so well! TMNT: Tactically Takedown is a delightfully challenging game, once you get settled and accustomed to the pace. It does involve quite a bit of adjustment as the story gets started. I wish there was perhaps a bit more of an opportunity to be introduced to movesets or experiment as a result. But after a few hours spent getting accustomed to the nuances, you’ll find this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is available for the PC via Steam . The post Review: TMNT Tactical Takedown Gets Great After You Settle in appeared first on Siliconera .

Reviews Articles and News - SiliconeraMay 27

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown Review - Splitting Up The Family<img loading="lazy" src="https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/23/0cd3baf0/rooftop_1.jpg" width="800" height="450" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-body-default" /> Reviewed on: PC Platform: PC Publisher: Strange Scaffold Developer: Strange Scaffold The Turtles have a long history in video games, and the spectrum of quality for those projects is all over the place. Strange Scaffold has opted for a novel departure from expectation with Tactical Takedown, taking the four radical green brothers into a grid-based tactical affair that still aims for a sense of high movement and excitement. Production values are limited, and the game’s scope is small, but fans can find a lot to enjoy in this turn-based adventure.In this variation of the familiar setup, Splinter and Shredder are dead by the time the story begins, and the teenage ninja brothers are each confronting and grieving that reality in their way. The story setup establishes that each Turtle is off doing their own thing, but in a story and set up about a family working together, it’s an unusual choice that the entire game that follows has you controlling only one character at a time. A late-game addition attempts to confront that narrative disconnect, but it still feels strange to play a whole TMNT game and never see the heroes together.While it’s an odd choice for a tactics game about a family of warriors, in practice, changing playable characters each level keeps things fresh. Michelangelo is about mobility, Raphael likes to push the attack, Donatello plays with traps and debuffs, and Leo is about power and evasion. Each skill in battle helps to differentiate the playstyles, and over time, you can use accrued points to buy additional powers, though I found that the initial mix of abilities led to clear synergies that were hard to abandon.The 20 stages hop between locales like the sewers, subways, and city streets. But the square grid boards always lean into two core ideas – constant forward motion and a seemingly insurmountable number of enemies that you somehow manage to overcome. In tandem, those two things bring life and energy to the game and keep me having a good time. Traditional tactics games often encourage the use of cover. But in keeping with the “Ninja” part of the game’s name, Tactical Takedown requires that you dart in and out of range of attackers while steadily advancing across a battlefield that will fall away beneath your feet if you don’t move forward. The resulting momentum communicates a sense of speed and action, even as you navigate a static turn order. Especially early on, battles can prove quite challenging until you wrap your head around each character’s specialties. That difficulty is at odds with the colorful, childlike nature of the presentation. With time, I warmed to the flow of fights and the intriguing puzzle of figuring out how to take out so many Foot Clan soldiers in one blazing turn of play.While the simple character illustrations appropriately call back to Saturday morning vibes, the overall visual palette of the game doesn’t hit the mark. The rotatable isometric view recalls a miniature board game, but there are too few animations, too little detail on environments, and an overall generic feel that doesn’t do the game any favors. Even so, the interstitial pop-up dialogue boxes between levels capture the essence of the Turtles’ wholesome family drama. I smiled as the game rolled out long-established tropes like Donnie’s genius and Leo’s angsty leadership, as if watching an old cartoon episode play out in written snippets.Even as a brief game of only a few hours, I felt ready for things to wrap up by the time I hit the credits, but that’s not an indictment of how it all came together. Instead, this new tactical twist on the Turtles knows not to overstay its welcome. It’s a bite-sized chunk of strategic fun with an evident love of these classic characters that shines through, and that’s worth plenty. <section class='type:slideshow'><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/23/1001f5b5/sewer_3b.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/23/614f1aec/tmnttt_sos_bros_diog.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/23/7a7b2134/subway_1.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/23/d937108f/rooftop_2b.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/23/83b93a33/tmntt_your_turn_ui.jpg'></figure><figure><img src='https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2025/05/23/e6cc8d85/tmntt_rooftop_showdown_combat.jpg'></figure></section> Score: 7.5 About Game Informer's review system

Game Informer ReviewsMay 23