Tom suggested I compare exclusives here, immediately activating my dormant guides brain and sending me to the spreadsheets. As it turns 5, why doesn't the PS5 feel like the beloved console it looks like on paper? Lots of reasons, as ever. But I found everything ultimately points back to the games.

sort of incredible to read a review that doesn't just made a vague nod at AI being bad, but actively reckons with the ways in which falling obsessively to AI usage actively obliterates the artistic intent and integrity of the work you've made.

Ahhh, yes, another review written. Now to edit all of my personal opinions, principles, and ideas out of it, and it'll be ready for public consumption.

For Arc Raiders to ride the wave of human sociability all the way to the bank, while also being so contemptuous of the thing that makes us social animals in its own workflow demonstrates a lack of artistic integrity that I find impossible to ignore. Our review: https://bit.ly/49bVn01

I have huge respect for Rick for having a clear stance on this, that's laid out simply and effectively in terms of the game's own themes - robots replacing humanity! - and the way it undermines its otherwise standout emergent systems.

Saw some interesting chat yesterday about GTA 6's potential outdatedness come launch, which I thought was kind of fascinating, and got me thinking about open world lineage. For GTA 6 to be outdated, the rest of the open world genre needs to have moved forward signifcantly. I don't think it has.

Quick-ish piece from me on 'carrot and stick' design and BF 6's Redsec, which is a perfectly cromulent battle royale but also one that makes me pine for my trusty PUBG - or really, any game that has the confidence to cut the filler, be quiet, stop giving me objectives, and get out of their own way.

Here's a big old chat I had with Hamaguchi-san, which in many ways was a bit of a casual hangout before we did the MCM panel. We talk about all sorts - part 3, dataminers finding non-final versions of Rebirth's pivotal scenes, and how Square lost all of the design data for the original FF7.

Delighted to announce Heartbeats, Dreams and Laser Eyes: 15 Years of Simogo, and equally thrilled to be working with @hollynielsen.bsky.social, @nadiaoxford.bsky.social, @illogicaljoker.bsky.social and Christian Donlan, who will be contributing essays to the book. Preorder at the link below!

Giving our excellent Halloween playlist from Matt a shout out as it's increasingly rare (and difficult) to have lists that express a site's personality and taste, and aren't just pure SEO-based collections of the standard genre canon. Brilliant stuff here: www.eurogamer.net/getting-into...

Psychonauts studio Double Fine returns with a surprising, shapeshifting adventure of captivating wonder and beauty. Our Keeper review: www.eurogamer.net/keeper-review

ALSO: contributed the bottom half of the tips here for getting started in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Some handy battle stuff I picked up over time, but the big one for me: spend those mega evolution shards early and often - there's a very low cap to your storage. www.eurogamer.net/nine-things-...

Here's a very long, good old fashioned preview from me on FM26. I think FM fans are in for a shock with some of the new UI. And I've some reservations about how some of that new UI actually works, too, beyond the newness. BUT: that new tactics system. COR! www.eurogamer.net/brace-yourse...

When the damage is happening in Ball x Pit, and the effects are going off and the screen is flashing and flickering, it's like watching the crowd at a stadium concert. Our review: https://bit.ly/4nMqT9i

You gently run your hand through the rack. You can feel it—pure cotton, rich wool, Irish linen. The plump buttonholes are handsewn; the buttons attached with a firm shank. You flip the price tag over. It's affordable You buy the jacket and go home, which is only 15 mins away. Your apt is $600/month

This looks great. We can't squeeze in much Next Fest coverage this time which I'm v sad about but if we were, I'd be playing this and probably writing 500 words about how it's neat that games continue to tap into increasingly niche parts of the human experience & history. So just imagine those pls.

Had a lovely time with lots of Pokémon Legends: Z-A and expect most people to love their first 15-20 hours with it. Goofy, heartfelt, some great ideas. Towards the end the structure/city can get quite repetitive, and it still suffers from ‘modern Pokémon’ drawbacks. www.eurogamer.net/pokemon-lege...

Battlefield 6 clearly understands what makes the series special, even if it occasionally seems reluctant to accept it. Our review: https://bit.ly/43dGKFB

'Night and the City' by Chris Donlan remains one of the finest online articles on game urbanism ever. Somehow simultaneously personal, historical, and objective it is an excellent read, and a reminder that L.A. Noir remains truly unique. Find it here: www.eurogamer.net/night-and-th...

EA's takeover, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, and "vanity mega projects": Human Rights Watch assesses the impact of gaming's latest controversy www.eurogamer.net/eas-takeover...

Oh, hey! I'm *writing* again! Let's talk about a man named named Ramza Beoulve. Let's talk about the "ease at which men are branded heretics..." Let's talk about revolution. www.eurogamer.net/the-revoluti...

Delighted to feature @dreamcastaway.bsky.social on Eurogamer for the first time today, with this on the incredible timeliness of Final Fantasy Tactics:

Excellent, excellent - now do one about games that have you press L3 + R3 at the same time to go Rage Mode

Let the record show we set up this review long before The Discourse, I promise (it’s just a busy period.)

Jenny Jiao Hsia's dazzling, semi-autobiographical tale of teenage life finds wit and warmth in its WarioWare weirdness, even as it deals with difficult themes. Our review of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize-winning Consume Me: www.eurogamer.net/consume-me-r...

“It’s shocking, it’s disheartening, it’s insulting."

(ours is going up soon btw)

We've got one more review going live tomorrow, and that should, I think, tip us over into the most reviews we've ever published in one week on Eurogamer, at least in my decade-ish here anyway. Exhausting but brilliant week to have worked on the site.

dudes rock

Here's my review of Ghost of Yotei, a game of simple pleasures - killing bad guys with swords! - and missed opportunities, namely in its poor sidequests, the bread-and-butter of good Western fare that Sucker Punch has, remarkably, failed to improve from the first. www.eurogamer.net/ghost-of-yot...

The Pokémon Company confirms that no, its imagery was not granted for use in disturbing US Department of Homeland Security video www.eurogamer.net/the-pokemon-...

more

The politically-charged 1997 PlayStation original is one of the finest tactics games of all time. This remaster offers a brilliant new reading of what was already a classic text. Our Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles review: www.eurogamer.net/final-fantas...

I've played a little chunk of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and do not have an enormous amount of love for its very chaotic new real-time battles - but there's a hint at a bit more depth there, which may reveal itself with time. www.eurogamer.net/pokemon-lege...

"Please can you do more reviews Eurogamer" yes

Here, listen: if you're reading this and you've ever been the one to decide on a Monday morning embargo, I just want you to know I don't like that and I want you to please stop it and never do it again or else.

A lot of talk about Game Pass etc and cannibalisation of sales, their knock-on impact on layoffs, etc. When I spoke to FM boss Miles Jacobson he had a pretty different perspective: for them it’s led to a 9x increase in players and 2.5x increase in revenue. “We don’t see any cannibalisation.”

Re. RPS freelance, I now have a budget for irregular (maybe 6-12 pieces a year) 2000-3000 wordish, more granular and specific reporting and investigative criticism that broaches a new topic or addresses a gap in knowledge regarding something familiar.

This is *sublime*

Who does not love loading up a game and spending 3 minutes clicking through all their useless microtransaction related "rewards"? I adore seeing various game assets with hideous colour variations with minor stat differences. It really gives me a feeling of accomplishment.

Opportunity here to write for the best publishes-good-writers-doing-good-writing games site out there. As a commissioning editor seeing a million pitches from new writers a day, I genuinely see an RPS byline as probably one of the clearest green flags when I'm wondering "can this person write good".

A glorious, bumper length Donlan review of Silksong. Must-read stuff:

An excellent weekend longread for you here from Matt, on the story of Until Dawn at 10:

Donlan. On. Silksong. Alert. (more to come)

Absolutely magic review here from one of the best around, which does that thing all great (positive) reviews do: makes me *absolutely convinced* I now have to find time to watch this show

I saw a bunch of 007: First Light & quizzed many of its leads from the perspective of a Bond /and/ Hitman mega-fan who always saw major pitfalls in IO taking on this character. They seem to be nailing it. Here's a preview, the first of a series of features: www.eurogamer.net/007-first-li...

NORCO's EDITIONS release comes encased in a premium slipcase with original artwork from @geographyofrobots.bsky.social's own Yuts. Inside, find exclusive cover art by @esanchezill.bsky.social, an essay and developer interview booklet by Eurogamer Deputy Editor @christapsell.bsky.social + much more.

🌍 W E L C O M E 🌍

Yeah we did! Site's having issues atm (it's not us, it's Squarespace) so bear with. Time for me to highlight our writers: round of applause to @christapsell.bsky.social who has done an incredible job with the Norco booklet, and to Christian Donlan (!) for the definitive essay/Q+A on Arco

Massively honoured to have been asked to work on the Norco booklet here. A special game of alienation and meaning in the modern word. Even more beautiful and relevant today than it already was on release. And talking to @geographyofrobots.bsky.social was a total delight.