The Witness; Gravity Rush; Final Fantasy Explorers, gaming reviews

From a Myst-inspired open world puzzler to a light-hearted monster-hunting game

Oliver Cragg,Jack Shepherd,Sophie Witts
Thursday 28 January 2016 12:23 EST
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The Witness is an extended, exquisitely beautiful logic test
The Witness is an extended, exquisitely beautiful logic test

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The Witness

*****

PS4/PC (£29.99 )

Jonathan Blow's Myst-inspired open world puzzler has a simple premise – find one of the games many sequential square grids and trace a line(s) from one corner of it to another. While The Witness's pastel-shaded environment subtly points to larger questions about creators and created realities, the game's real triumph is its singular focus on being an extended, exquisitely beautiful logic test that subverts its own rules to joyous effect.

Oliver Cragg

Gravity Rush

****

PS4 (£22.99)

It's amazing to think Gravity Rush was once a PSVita exclusive. The sheer size of the open world, along with the mind-boggling gravity switches that see you walk on walls, belong on the big screen. You play as Kat, a young woman can manipulate gravity when paired with a cosmic cat called Dusty.

Eventually, you end up solving crimes and helping out civilians, all while finding out more about your Royal past. With an enduring main character and beautiful world, this is a must-have for new and returning players alike.

Jack Shepherd

Final Fantasy Explorers

***

3DS (£29.99)

Square Enix offers Final Fantasy fans a healthy dose of nostalgia in this light-hearted monster-hunting game. Explorers shuns the story-driven approach of the main Final Fantasy series for a plot-lite game that sees players battle increasingly tough fan-favourites such as Ifrit and Shiva. You can team up with defeated monsters or friends online to take on classic enemies, and using the Trance system to transform in to classic Final Fantasy characters mid-battle is great fun. But cut through the fan service and Explorers is at heart a very repetitive game, and series newcomers who don't know a Chocobo from a chicken may tire of its endless quest structure.

Sophie Witts

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