Books by RedDogFun:

Two Point Campus continues in the already impressive footsteps of Two Point Hospital before it, dressing up an engaging business management sim in goofy irreverence. To be honest, its dorky, oddball sense of humor misses me more often than it hits. But that all fades into the background for the most part when I’m having a blast laying out my new library, planning out dorms, and throwing sweet parties in the student union.

Most of the time you’ll be juggling your budget, student happiness, and the space requirements of running a university...

Picture a game that looks left at all of the fans clamoring for a new Power Stone game, looks right at the ones who want a new War of the Monsters, and then shrugs its shoulders and says “Why not both?” That game is GigaBash. It’s a 3D arena fighter with a collection of 10 monsters and mechas inspired by classic kaijus and a focus on simple controls, environmental destructibility, and the power fantasy of being a giant monster slamming other giant monsters through skyscrapers. It’s not much more than meets the eye, but its claws are certainly sharp enough to scratch any kaiju-sized party fighter itches.

GigaBash’s biggest strength is how it balances its immediately intuitive controls with just the right amount of depth underneath that approachable surface...

You ever see someone with massive, toned arms but embarrassingly scrawny legs? Digimon Survive is a little bit like that person: it overwhelmingly succeeds at being an entertaining visual novel, but completely skips leg day when it comes to its tedious tactics combat. Apart from some serious pacing problems, meeting Digimon Survive’s memorable characters and exploring the grim world they are in make the story at its center very enjoyable. But while this visual novel digivolves in the areas of storytelling and characterization, the slow and mind-numbingly simplistic turn-based combat system crammed into it comes close to spoiling that otherwise enjoyable tale entirely.

The glacial opening hours of Digimon Survive feature a group of quirky high school students who are sucked into a paralle...

When I started Cult of the Lamb, I wasn’t expecting to be shoveling so much poop. This is a true wolf of a base-management game in the sheepish clothing of an action-roguelite, but it balances that unexpected mix of genres with grace. Its adorable art style and surprising amount of side activities fill its relatively linear structure up with personality – and while its combat sections aren’t deep enough to keep me coming back after the credits rolled, this is a dark ritual I’m very glad to have completed.

Cult of the Lamb puts you in the fluffy hooves of a cult leader newly resurrected by an imprisoned deity called The One Who Waits...

Sony has been slowly building up its catalog of PC ports of first-party PS4 games, and now with Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, we have the biggest to date. This game needs no introduction. The PlayStation 5 remaster improved on the 2018 original significantly with new facial models, improved resolution and performance, DualSense controls, and graphics that show off some of the best ray tracing on consoles thus far.

Porting Insomniac’s incredible game and bespoke engine to PC was by no means an easy feat of engineering, but the task was put in the very capable hands of Nixxes, a new member of Sony Studios. Here’s what’s on offer in the new PC version:

Higher frames per second, meaning you can exceed the 120fps ceiling of the PS5’s 120fps mode...

Much of the joy from any good battle royale is derived from the feeling of making big plays, and hoo boy! If there’s one thing that Rumbleverse is good at, it’s setting you up for opportunities for big plays. The latest from Iron Galaxy Studios (the developers of Divekick and seasons 2 and 3 of Killer Instinct) Rumbleverse is a free-to-play, melee-driven battle royale with a very Fortnite’y, but nonetheless charming cartoony artstyle, infused with all of the pomp and grandeur of professional wrestling. One moment you’ll be Irish-Whipping an opponent into a wall for a brutal wall combo, the next you’ll be chokeslamming bodies off of skyscrapers, and occasionally giant-swinging them into the ocean...

After laying pretty much dormant for 25 years, Soul Hackers is an unexpected series for Atlus to try and bring into the modern age. While it doesn’t take any risks or bring anything new to the JRPG table, Soul Hackers 2 is enjoyable enough to justify that long-awaited revival. It may be held back a bit by its uninspired level design and turn-based battle mechanics, but the story still shines bright enough to help carry it thanks to a diverse cast of characters and engaging themes about what it means to be human.

Soul Hackers 2 may technically be a sequel, but it smartly serves more as a soft reboot, benefitting players who are hopping into the franchise for the first time...

The superpowers have been scrapped and the sex toys have been safely stowed back in the sock drawer – the new Saints Row has shed its shark-jumping silliness and smutty tendencies in favour of a return to its open-world gangland roots. However, this back-to-basics approach has borne out a fairly primitive kind of crime spree, and stripping the series of its more outlandish elements has laid this reboot’s design and technical inadequacies bare – with no pixelated modesty censor big enough to hide its junk...

I wouldn’t expect roller skating and third-person shooting to be a chocolate and peanut butter situation, but Rollerdrome proves it can be just that. By essentially inventing a new single-player sport, OlliOlli World developer Roll7 has found enough ways to make both sides of this unique coin shine without getting overwhelming. Wrap that package in an intriguing world with more going on beyond the sport than you might expect, and I’ve found myself lost in match after match of skate-shooting mayhem.

The year is 2030, and you’re entering the Rollerdrome as a new skater, Kara Hassan...

Volition has always been known for pushing technology, with its game Decent even beating the revolutionary Quake to a full 3D engine. In this Saints Row reboot, technology has remained a core pillar to build on. Using an improved proprietary engine, Volition has added the big-ticket item for this generation: ray tracing – or ray traced ambient occlusion to be precise, but more on that later. The current generation console versions offer I think the largest mode set I have seen in a console game to date. We are looking at the PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, as well as the Xbox One X to give you a flavor of what the last gen versions offer.

Modes of Play

All platforms offer a fixed set of resolution outputs, with no drops below the output levels noted...