The Lylat System has a peculiar, undeniable gravitational pull. Just when you think you have finally hung up your pilot’s flight suit and stored your Arwing for good, Fox McCloud is suddenly everywhere.

Hot on the heels of his scene-stealing, Han Solo-esque debut in this year’s blockbuster The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (complete with that brilliant 2D anime flashback), a brand new Star Fox title lands on the Nintendo Switch 2 as a top-to-bottom, bombastic remake of the legendary Nintendo 64 classic Lylat Wars.

Does a fresh coat of paint justify a modern price tag for a brief 90s campaign? The answer is a resounding – if slightly complicated – “yes”.

Retailing at £41.99 digitally, this is a gorgeous, fundamentally sound rail shooter that bridges the gap between retro nostalgia and modern hardware capabilities. The result is an experience that feels remarkably fresh, serving as an absolute must-play for newcomers and a stunning nostalgia trip for veterans.

Story

The narrative structure will be instantly familiar to veteran pilots, playing out almost exactly as it did in 1997.

The fate of the system rests squarely on the shoulders of the Star Fox Mercenary Squad. You follow the hot-headed Fox McCloud and his iconic wingmen (Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, and Peppy Hare) as they engage in intense aerial combat. Your ultimate goal is to take the Lylat System back from the clutches of the evil mad scientist, Dr Andross.

Where this remake massively improves upon the original is in its cinematic presentation. Velan Studios and Nintendo have expanded on the original framework by weaving in brand-new cinematic cutscenes that play between stages.

What is truly impressive is that these incredibly high-quality sequences are rendered entirely in-engine.

The detailed texture work gives the anthropomorphic cast a slightly creepy, realistic animal aesthetic, reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox. These additions allow players to learn much more about the team’s dynamics before launching into battle.

Seeing Fox’s impulsiveness clash against Falco’s arrogance in fully rendered cutscenes elevates the game beyond a simple arcade shooter, breathing genuine life into the squad without bogging down the pacing with unnecessary exposition.

Gameplay

On the track, Star Fox is unabashedly old-school arcade shooting mixed with ingenious modern twists. While you spend plenty of time piloting the Arwing, the experience is not just flying. You are also placed at the controls of the Landmaster tank and the Blue-Marine submarine. The Landmaster brings heavy ground combat and a temporary hover ability, whilst the Blue-Marine submerges you in the oceans of Aquas with unlimited homing torpedoes.

Furthermore, the game occasionally takes the reins off for open sections known as all-range mode. These areas allow for complete 360-degree manoeuvrability, though the tighter camera angles can make it a bit unwieldy and easy to crash into the scenery if you are not careful.

The core mechanics, such as barrel-rolling to deflect lasers, utilising bombs, and keeping your teammates out of scrapes, remain as sharp and demanding as ever. The original game’s legendary branching paths are fully intact here, requiring players to discover hidden objectives to see everything the Lylat System has to offer. For those who have already mastered these routes, a dedicated Challenge Mode adds new objectives to missions you have already completed.

The biggest revelation here is the introduction of “Mouse Targeting”. By holding the new Joy-Con 2 controller like a computer mouse, players unlock incredibly intuitive aiming from inside the cockpit. This control scheme effectively uncouples your targeting reticle from your flight path, giving high-score chasers an unparalleled level of precision.

Alternatively, a local co-op option allows two players to share one of the Joy-Con 2 controllers, with one handling the piloting and the other acting as the gunner.

However, they give with one hand and take with the other; the game dictates that Mouse Targeting can only be used in Campaign Mode and Challenge Mode. Similarly, the asymmetric co-op play is only available in Campaign Mode and Challenge Mode. Locking these brilliant new mechanics exclusively to the single-player and challenge experiences feels like a missed opportunity for the game’s competitive modes.

Multiplayer is where this re-release truly breaks away from its N64 legacy. Under the game’s dedicated Battle Mode, players can clear objectives and take down foes online in 4 vs 4 dogfights. These matches can be highly competitive, allowing you to create private matches with friends or match up with random players worldwide.

What makes the multiplayer exceptionally consumer-friendly is its GameShare integration. If one person has the game, up to four players can take to the skies locally in Battle Mode with GameShare. This generous feature also expands online using GameShare via GameChat. This functionality allows you to drag your friends into squad battles remotely without forcing them to purchase their own copies.

Audio

Acoustically, the game impresses across the board. The overall atmosphere is intense and immersive, elevated by an exceptional orchestral score composed by Stephen Barton, recorded at Abbey Road no less! The music retains the essential sense of nostalgia for longtime veterans while delivering a crisp, punchy soundscape that incorporates sweeping, cinematic flourishes.

While some purists may miss the iconic, crackly radio static of the original N64 voice lines, the modern voice cast delivers nuanced, engaging performances that perfectly suit the cinematic tone. The chatter from your wingmen feels natural, and the audio cues for incoming missiles and enemy ships remain incredibly distinct. These cues are crucial for surviving the chaotic All-Range Mode battles.

Performance

As a native Switch 2 title, the game serves as a brilliant technical showcase for Velan’s proprietary Viper engine. The visual overhaul is genuinely stunning, successfully utilising fantastic lighting, smoke effects, and volumetric fog to transform the blocky polygons of the 90s into an immersive spectacle.

Everything from the reflections on the waters of Corneria to the kaleidoscopic wormholes you travel through looks fantastic, running with silky-smooth performance even when the screen is filled with lasers and explosions. The title supports single-system play for 1 to 2 players, and online lobbies for up to 8 players.

If you are willing to jump through some hardware hoops, the game offers a fascinating social feature. Using a compatible USB-C camera, such as the Nintendo Switch 2 camera (sold separately), you can change your face while using GameChat.

This projects your real-world face into the game to look like a member of the crew. The resulting Character Avatars actively reflect your head movements and expressions during online sessions. This adds a hilarious and highly personalised touch to multiplayer lobbies.

However, players should be aware of the requirements surrounding these features. Utilising the GameChat network requires an internet connection, a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership, and mobile phone number registration. Furthermore, the two-player co-op using GameShare is only available via GameChat. You will need to meet all those requirements to take advantage of the remote co-op features.

Verdict

Carrying a PEGI rating of 7, this modern shooter successfully repackages a legendary classic for a new generation. Star Fox for the Nintendo Switch 2 is undeniably a very faithful, conservative remake, one that refuses to fundamentally alter the 30-year-old blueprint of its source material. For some, the asking price might seem steep for a 90-minute campaign they have already played.

Yet, for those willing to dive back in, the snappier controls, jaw-dropping graphics, and generous GameShare multiplayer features make it an absolute triumph.

Velan Studios has treated Nintendo’s long-left franchise with the utmost respect, delivering a title that is polished to a mirror sheen. It is an incredibly fun, deceptively deep return to the Lylat System that proves some formulas are truly timeless.

The post Starfox Review – Nintendo Switch 2 appeared first on CRISP..

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We’ve spent serious time testing, comparing, and living with the products in this guide. Whether your dad is a tech obsessive who already owns three pairs of wireless earbuds, a weekend adventurer who needs gear that keeps up with him, or the kind of man whose idea of a luxury upgrade is finally getting a decent coffee at home, there’s something here that fits. No filler. No regifted candle sets. Just a seriously solid edit of gifts that land.

From connected carry that makes travel seamless to home tech that quietly improves every day, the best gifts for dads in 2026 share one quality: they solve something real. And that, it’s safe to say, is exactly what good gift-giving looks like.

Travel and Outdoors

Helinox Sunset Chair

£149.95

Designed for maximum relaxation outdoors, this lightweight and highly portable camping chair sits high off the ground for incredibly easy access. Its exceptionally supportive high back design ensures outstanding comfort, making it a truly versatile seating option for everything from casual garden lounging to dedicated weekend camping trips.

For the dad who: demands premium, portable comfort whether camping or relaxing in the garden.

Buy Now

Fjällräven Kånken Crossbody

£80

A compact and highly practical shoulder bag scaled down from the iconic Fjällräven Kånken backpack. Crafted from exceptionally durable and water-resistant Vinylon F fabric, it features a zipped main compartment, a secure rear pocket for valuables, and a flexible adjustable strap for comfortable everyday carry.

For the dad who: needs a stylish, hands-free way to carry his daily essentials without lugging around a full-sized bag.

Buy Now

Tech

Panasonic PV3B Series 900s Palm Shaver

£219.99

This minimalist shaver fits perfectly in the palm of your hand to offer unparalleled control. It features five Japanese stainless steel blades alongside an ultra-fast linear motor and responsive beard sensor technology to deliver a close, comfortable, and precise finish every single time.

For the Dad who: wants a perfectly tailored appearance, without cluttering the bathroom sink.

Buy Now

FeatherSnap Scout Smart Bird Feeder

£159.99 (+£5.99 monthly subscription)

Blending modern technology with the beauty of nature, this solar-powered and Wi-Fi-connected smart bird feeder captures high-resolution photos and videos of garden visitors. It features motion-activated cameras alongside AI-powered bird identification to seamlessly send fascinating wildlife footage directly to an accompanying smartphone app.

For the dad who: loves staring out the window and identifying local wildlife.

Buy Now

Edifier ES20 Portable Bluetooth Speaker

£49.99

A compact yet exceptionally powerful Bluetooth 5.4 speaker designed to keep the music playing anywhere. It features a premium 43mm driver, a passive bass radiator, and IP67 water and dust resistance to ensure rich audio quality alongside an impressive fifteen-hour battery life and highly customisable ambient lighting.

For the dad who: is the designated family DJ and takes his playlists outdoors.

Buy Now

Canal Toys Mini Camera

£12.99

This ultra-compact digital camera brings a delightful touch of retro charm to everyday photography. Small enough to fit on a keychain, it includes a mini display screen, internal memory, and various colour filters to allow users to effortlessly capture spontaneous family moments without the distraction of a smartphone.

For the dad who: loves capturing candid moments with fun, pocketable nostalgic gadgets.

Buy Now

Food and Drink

AeroPress Original Coffee Maker

£39.99

This highly portable coffee maker uses a patented three-in-one brewing technology to deliver barista-quality coffee in under two minutes. The cordless, durable design expertly combines aeration, immersion, and pressure with a micro-filtration process for a consistently smooth, rich, and full-bodied brew.

For the dad who: refuses to compromise on his morning brew.

Buy Now

Vocation Brewery Exploration Case

£50

A wonderfully curated twelve-can mixed case that showcases the impressive breadth of Vocation Brewery’s award-winning range. The comprehensive set includes bold IPAs, juicy pale ales, and rich stouts like Life & Death and Hop Skip & Juice, all perfectly completed with a signature Mencia tasting glass.

For the dad who: is always eager to sample – and compare – new craft beers.

Buy Now

Luxury

The English Distillery Gently Smoked Sherry Hogshead

£75

Crowned the World’s Best Single Malt at the 2026 World Whiskies Awards, this premium small-batch English single malt boasts a classic sherried profile. It presents deep notes of burnt sugar, rich toffee, and sweet smoke, beautifully finished with hints of smoked apple, cinnamon, and vanilla.

For the dad who: loves savouring a truly exceptional dram in his favourite armchair.

Buy Now

Courvoisier VS Limited Edition w. Giftbox

£27

Packaged in a bespoke messaged giftbox reading “A toast to a very special person”, this highly awarded cognac brings deep, fragrant notes of apple, pear, and grapefruit to the forefront. These brilliant fruity elements are beautifully balanced with a fresh oaky finish and uniquely uplifting floral notes.

For the dad who: loves gathering the family for a celebratory toast.

Buy Now

Fashion

Fjällräven G-1000 Lifestyle Bundle (Wallet, Cap, Trousers)

£250

Elevate his everyday wardrobe with this premium kit from Swedish outdoor experts Fjällräven. This bundle includes the classic leather Övik Wallet (£65), the lightweight, comfortable G-1000 Vardag Lite Cap (£45), and the exceptionally durable, everyday-appropriate Vardag Relaxed Trousers (£140). All are crafted with the brand’s legendary focus on longevity.

For the dad who: values timeless functionality, Scandinavian style, and quality gear built to last a lifetime.

Buy Now

Sport

4iiii Viiiiva Heart Rate Monitor

£64.99

A newly launched, highly precise heart rate monitor specifically built for athletes who want to train with genuine purpose. This incredibly compact and comfortable device delivers reliable performance data, and is fully compatible with all major tracking platforms to make it an essential entry point into serious performance monitoring.

For the dad who: treats his Sunday morning cycle like an Olympic time trial.

Buy Now

The post Father’s Day Gift Guide 2026: Gifts He’ll Actually Use appeared first on CRISP..

With Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, the beloved green dinosaur leaps off the screen – fresh from a charming appearance in the Super Mario Galaxy movie – and straight into the most delightful digital toybox imaginable.

Good-Feel, the development studio famous for creating wonderfully cosy and craft-themed Nintendo adventures like Yoshi’s Woolly World and Kirby’s Epic Yarn, has crafted a marvellous new title, continuing their highly tactile aesthetic with this new Nintendo Switch 2 title.

Set within the crinkling pages of a sentient encyclopaedia, the game takes a brilliantly wacky premise – transforming it into a supreme visual showcase for Nintendo’s latest console, thrusting players into a whimsical playground where studying quirky habitats and the sheer thrill of discovery take the lead over traditional, twitchy platforming gameplay.

Arriving in Yoshi’s papercraft universe feels like opening a spectacular pop-up book, where an ever-changing world presents a breathtaking landscape of shifting mechanisms, hand-sketched backdrops, and beautifully textured fabrics. Nintendo has leveraged the Switch 2’s capabilities – gorgeous in both handheld and docked modes – to ensure every single frame operates as a vibrant, glittering work of art.

Story

The adventure kicks off when a talking, slightly flustered book named Mr. E (for Encyclopedia, naturally) tumbles onto the Yoshis’ island during a sudden storm. His precious pages have blown away in the wind, leaving him entirely devoid of the vast knowledge he once held.

To help their strange new friend, the Yoshis dive headfirst into his remaining chapters to catalogue a vast array of peculiar creatures. The journey functions as a heartwarming rescue mission filled with gentle surprises throughout.

Players slowly uncover the brilliant magic behind the book and its gloriously diverse biomes, as the developers have carefully constructed a setting that feels incredibly comforting. The storytelling relies heavily on visual observation – albeit quite a lot of reading, it would have been amazing for at least the cinematics to be voiced for younger players – inviting players to scrutinise the papercraft architecture and piece together the history of Mr. E’s world.

The writing remains wonderfully peppy throughout the campaign. The charming relationship between Yoshi and the eclectic cast of newly discovered creatures provides a vital, grounded anchor to the fantastical setting. This emotional core makes the final revelations feel genuinely earned, and you leave with a massive grin.

Gameplay

On its surface, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book might look like a simple, stress-free side-scroller with no traditional fail states.

Don’t let its bright, ‘edutainment’ veneer fool you  – just as Nintendo breathed a new lease of life into open-world gaming with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this title quietly executes a brilliant revolution of its own. It is an incredibly innovative and daring piece of game design that pushes boundaries even further than the brilliant Super Mario Bros. Wonder in terms of sheer, unadulterated imagination.

The core of the experience revolves around filling out Mr. E’s scattered pages by interacting with the local flora and fauna. Finding a new animal allows you to borrow its unique traits to solve environmental puzzles, but the real magic lies in how completely the game rewards boundless curiosity, constantly coaxes you into asking, “What if?” What if I go back and sprout every single closed flower in this meadow? What if I pick up this strange little creature and carry it all the way up to this high ledge?

Every single time you follow a whimsical hunch, the game totally meets you there, flooding the playtime with joy as you realise your random experiment was entirely intended by design. It forces you to use your brain in a thoroughly refreshing, lateral way, making the entire journey an addictive masterclass in environmental problem-solving.

Each discovery is quickly annotated on the screen – or rather, the page – exactly where you’ve found it, once again giving immediate feedback loops to each learning, which can become quite complicated for the trickier puzzles.

Thankfully, Mr. E is on hand to give a clue with a quick tap of the ‘L’ button, stopping short of hand-holding but preventing barriers to progress – only a handful of discoveries allow access to the next stage, but completionists are also very much rewarded, as with previous Yoshi titles, as each chapter’s cover page carefully documents all of your findings, as well as hints to how many remain.

Adding to this magic is the wonderfully personal cataloguing process. Once you document a creature, you are allowed to give it a custom name – a small design touch which means that by the time the credits roll, your completed encyclopaedia is entirely unique to your journey.

My eight-year-old daughter immediately fell in love with giving them silly titles, while my four-year-old son was simply mesmerised by seeing our custom-named papercraft animals reacting to Yoshi’s movements on screen. It is a brilliant loop that maintains its magic flawlessly across the entire runtime – the only thing that would have elevated things was a two-player or assist mode.

Despite being able to choose from a menagerie of colourful Yoshis for each level – definitely a game which rewards repeat run-throughs to uncover a stage’s secrets – the lack of a shared gameplay experience made things a bit challenging when looking for the more obscure solutions…of which there are many, but rarely to the point of frustration.

Audio

The audio design is a spectacularly cheerful triumph for the new console. Good-Feel has expertly utilised the hardware to deliver an auditory experience that feels genuinely magical. The ambient soundscape provides a dense, comforting layer of environmental noise, from the satisfying, heavy rustle of turning pages to the distinctly upbeat melodies associated with the distinct worlds on show.

In the midst of puzzle-solving, the audio mixing allows you to track hidden collectables across the environments with absolute precision. You can distinctly hear the rapid, papery skittering of an unseen creature hiding in the foliage. This clarity provides a fantastic advantage during the most elaborate, secret-stuffed exploration sequences.

The musical score delivers a stunning blend of light, acoustic instruments and catchy, hummable tunes. It successfully builds a sense of overwhelming joy during the game’s more expansive set pieces, ensuring the auditory experience matches the visual splendour perfectly.

Performance

On the Nintendo Switch 2, the title operates as an absolute technical marvel. The engine features dynamic shadows and accurate reflections that add a massive amount of visual depth to the handcrafted environments. The game flawlessly maintains a wonderfully smooth performance even when the screen is filled with chaotic physics interactions and exploding confetti.

To sell the magnificent illusion of a living book, the developers have applied a selective, lower frame rate to character animations, most notably when Yoshi leaps, and his feet become a pedalling blur – thank the Spider-Verse movies for changing media forever!

This artistic choice perfectly mimics traditional animation techniques and looks breathtaking in motion. The overall game performance remains impeccably smooth, ensuring the highly stylised animations never interfere with the snappy responsiveness of the Joycons.

Verdict

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a phenomenal achievement in joyful game design. It successfully blends a relaxing, non-linear narrative with incredibly clever, discovery-focused mechanics. The final result is a premium adventure that is wonderfully charming from the first page to the last.

Years from now, I have little doubt that ripples of its inventive design philosophy will be seen across the industry, and Nintendo deserves immense praise for delivering a true platforming masterpiece brimming with heart and originality – a great addition to the Switch 2 for the little dinosaur(s) that could!

The post Yoshi and the Mysterious Book Review – Nintendo Switch 2 appeared first on CRISP..

Finnish game developer Housemarque has created a title that feels both remarkably familiar –  taking the frenetic, particle-heavy NDA of past successes – and yet fundamentally revolutionary at the same time by weaving in a dense, emotionally resonant narrative.

Set on the decaying off-world colony of Carcosa, Saros takes this desolate landscape and delivers a level of fidelity, lighting, and performance that serves as a supreme technical benchmark for the PlayStation 5 Pro.

As Soltari Enforcer Arjun Devraj – brought to life with magnificent gravitas by actor Rahul Kohli – players are thrust into a world where the laws of physics are failing, and the echoes of a lost civilisation remain dangerously active.

The arrival on Carcosa serves as an immediate, uncompromising statement of intent – an ever-changing world presents a predatory landscape of shifting obsidian sands, brutalist ruins, and impossible geometric structures.

Housemarque has rigorously utilised the PlayStation 5 Pro’s expanded graphics processing capabilities to ensure that every single frame operates as a near-baroque work of art.

By fully implementing Sony’s snazzy PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) technology, the development team manages to maintain a razor-sharp 4K output while running at a buttery-smooth 60 frames per second – at least during gameplay.

This technical achievement is essential for a game that demands such extraordinary levels of player precision. The gorgeous reflections on shimmering metallic surfaces and the complex volumetric fog create a profound sense of physical presence. The environment pulls the player directly into Arjun’s desperate, claustrophobic struggle for survival, establishing a tone of dread that never relents.

Story

The narrative of Saros operates as a highly sophisticated exploration of grief, obsession, and the terrifying nature of the unknown. Arjun is a man fundamentally haunted by the disappearance of his wife, Nitya, during a disastrous research mission to the forbidden planet of Carcosa.

His journey functions as an act of personal penance. Through his investigation, he slowly uncovers the horrifying truth behind the ancient Soltari civilisation and the mysterious cosmic anomaly simply known as the Yellow Shore.

Housemarque draws heavily and explicitly from the weird fiction of Robert Chambers with multiple references, both subtle and overt. They have carefully constructed a setting that feels incredibly ancient and quietly malevolent. The storytelling relies heavily on quiet environmental observation – much like their PS5 predecessor Returnal – drip-feeding morsels of context and content and forcing the player to scrutinise the architecture and listen to scattered audio logs to piece together the tragic history of the doomed Echelon colonies.

As the narrative pushes forward, the boundary separating reality from hallucination begins to blur significantly. The Yellow Shore exists as an entity that grants god-like power at the severe cost of the user’s sanity, and its corrupting influence is deeply felt in every corner of the Carcosan landscape.

The writing remains exceptional throughout the campaign, actively avoiding typical action-movie clichés in favour of a much more contemplative, unsettling tone. The complex relationship between Arjun and the lingering memory of Nitya provides a vital, grounded human anchor to the high-concept science fiction.

This emotional core makes the final, reality-bending revelations feel genuinely earned and deeply moving, making for a story designed to linger in the mind long after the credits roll.

Gameplay

Combat in Saros represents a masterclass in risk/reward design philosophy. The core of the combat experience revolves around the Soltari Shield – a defensive tool that allows Arjun to absorb incoming projectile fire from hostile entities, but also acts as the primary engine of your offensive capabilities. Absorbing enemy energy allows you to charge Arjun’s heavily armoured arm, which can then be transformed into a wide variety of devastating Power Weapons.

This specific mechanic forces the player to play with extreme aggression, as players must frequently step directly into the path of overwhelming, screen-filling barrages to fuel their own destructive counter-attacks. It stands as a brilliant subversion of traditional cover-based shooting mechanics and forces constant engagement with enemies, richly rewarding players who can maintain their composure and situational awareness under extreme pressure.

The movement system feels equally refined. It offers a level of pinpoint responsiveness that fans expect from Housemarque’s best work. Arjun possesses a jet-assisted dash that grants a few crucial frames of invincibility. This manoeuvre allows him to weave safely through the dense, psychedelic patterns of glowing orbs that define the game’s spectacular boss encounters.

The action roguelite structure ensures that no two expeditions are identical. You continuously collect persistent resources to permanently upgrade your Soltari suit and unlock entirely new weapon archetypes at the Echelon IV base camp, creating a satisfying, steady sense of progression – and you’ll need it as the come-down after thirty-minute-long runs is brutal. Nevertheless, you pick your modifications and readily come back stronger for the next one.

The enemy design remains varied and constantly terrifying. The roster features mechanical monstrosities and bioluminescent predators that dynamically adapt to your preferred tactics as you push deeper into the hostile zones.

The ultimate test of your combat mastery arrives with the unpredictable Carcosan eclipses. These dynamic, mid-run events fundamentally alter the fabric of the active biome. As the alien sun is completely obscured, the landscape plunges into a twilight state bathed in a sickly yellow hue.

Enemy aggression scales instantly, and entirely new, temporally displaced horrors bleed into the environment. This sudden escalation forces an immediate tactical pivot. Players must quickly decide whether to sprint towards the safety of the nearest world-gate or stand their ground to harvest the ultra-rare temporal isotopes that only manifest during totality. The eclipse system guarantees that a comfortable run can transform into a desperate struggle for survival in seconds, keeping the tension remarkably high.

This escalation of the combat rounds out the symmetry of the risk/reward structure beautifully, as even the pick-ups during an eclipse have a duality of both improving some stats to the detriment of another. Do you opt for a boost to armour at the expense of strength, or boost your health, but lose additional lucenite – the ever-important currency for upgrades – upon taking damage?

The layers of complexity to the combat and level design are metered out much like the story, ultimately rewarding persistence and perseverance for those players up to the task.

Audio

The audio design in Saros ranks as the most sophisticated implementation on the PlayStation 5 to date. Housemarque has expertly utilised the Pro console’s dedicated processing power to deliver a 3D audio experience that feels genuinely transformative. The ambient soundscape provides a dense, oppressive layer of environmental noise, grinding mechanical crunchiness, and the distinctly unsettling whispers associated with the Yellow Shore.

In the absolute heat of battle, the spatial audio allows you to track multiple lethal threats across a vast three-dimensional space with surgical precision. You can distinctly hear the low hum of a charging laser building behind you, or the rapid skittering of an unseen predator hiding in the rafters. This audio clarity provides a massive, tangible tactical advantage during the most chaotic firefights.

The musical score delivers a stunning blend of traditional orchestral elements and heavy, industrial electronic synths, intelligently swelling and receding in direct response to the on-screen action. It successfully builds a sense of overwhelming operatic scale during the game’s massive, multi-phased boss encounters.

The voice acting is equally impressive throughout the campaign. Rahul Kohli’s performance as Arjun conveys a palpable sense of weary determination that fits the game’s oppressive tone perfectly, as do his ever-so slightly unsettling stranded crewmates.

Furthermore, every weapon discharge and shield absorption carries a specific, high-fidelity sound profile, translating directly into excellent haptic responses through the DualSense controller. Saros is nothing short of an audio tour-de-force.

Performance

On the PlayStation 5 Pro, Saros operates as a pure technical tour de force, delivering an image completely devoid of the distracting shimmering or ghosting artefacts that can sometimes plague lower-resolution titles during fast motion – and would have broken the immersion needed to keep up with this monster of a title.

The engine features dynamic shadows and accurate reflections that add a massive amount of visual depth to the brutalist environments, as the game flawlessly maintains its target 60 frames per second even when the screen is filled with complex particle effects and explosive fire-fights.

Load times are virtually non-existent due to the SSD integration. This specific technical advantage is a massive benefit for a game built around a repetitive loop structure. After suffering a death, you are back in the action at the base camp in mere moments…although each cycle is punctuated by lengthy discussions with crewmates that can grate if you’re overly eager to get back into the fray, but want to desperately learn more of the story.

The DualSense integration serves as another major highlight, as once again the pressure-sensitive nature of the adaptive triggers proves to be a key aspect of how you fight – a half-press unleashes your alt-fire, an unwieldy solution at first that quickly becomes second nature.

You can literally feel the distinct, subtle vibration of Carcosan rain hitting Arjun’s suit, and the intense, escalating buildup of energy in the controller before unleashing a massive Power Weapon. Every aspect of the Pro hardware has been utilised to make the player feel physically grounded within the world of Carcosa…although the impact is a little diminished versus the novelty of many of these features in Housemarque’s own Returnal (review here) back in 2020.

Verdict

Saros is a monumental achievement in modern game design. It successfully blends a high-concept, emotionally resonant narrative with best-in-class, arcade-inspired action mechanics. The final result is a premium experience that is both intellectually stimulating and physically demanding.

The exceptional technical polish present on the PlayStation 5 Pro remains unparalleled, making Saros an essential purchase for anyone who wants to witness the unleashed potential of Sony’s upgraded hardware.

Housemarque has successfully delivered a cosmic horror epic that will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the definitive games of the entire console generation. Saros is a haunting, surprisingly thoughtful, and relentlessly challenging journey that deeply rewards players – particularly those more patient – at every turn.

The post Saros Review – Playstation 5 Pro appeared first on CRISP..

Thankfully, the final product is a breathtaking achievement in world-building and design, and yet remains a game that actively defies easy classification.

Pragmata sits firmly within Capcom’s wheelhouse of character action games, expertly blending tactical gadget-based combat, complex environmental puzzles, and yet still manages to deliver a deeply moving narrative.

Set in a near-future where the moon has been completely transformed into a massive, automated industrial facility known as The Cradle, Pragmata tells the story of a lone astronaut named Hugh Williams and a mysterious young android girl named Diana.

It’s a game that feels wildly futuristic and surprisingly grounded at the same time, slathered in a highly unique ‘NASA-punk’ aesthetic to create a world that is visually unlike anything else. On the PlayStation 5 Pro, Pragmata acts as a technical showcase of the absolute highest order – and that’s saying something in a period of stellar releases for the console.

The very core of the entire experience is the evolving relationship between the two main characters – Hugh is a heavily armoured protagonist to ensure Diana’s absolute safety as they cautiously navigate the hostile lunar facility, whilst Diana is an active, highly capable, and essential part of your survival strategy.

Her unique digital abilities allow her to interact with the world in novel ways, creating a collaborative style of play that feels incredibly fresh and constantly rewarding – check out our Pragamata review to find out more!

Story

The narrative structure of Pragmata is undoubtedly one of its most impressive, captivating features, blowing past already high expectations. It successfully manages to find a warm human heart within its heavily industrial setting, as Hugh and Diana’s journey across the moon is filled with moments of mystery that slowly unfold over its eight-to-ten-hour play time.

They frequently encounter hostile, malfunctioning AI constructs and the scattered fragments of a lost lunar society. The story intelligently explores weighty themes involving AI (obviously), the fragility of memory, and what it truly means to be human.

Diana proves to be a deeply fascinating character – an advanced android-human hybrid whose wide-eyed curiosity about the world provides a stark, beautiful contrast to the bleak, mechanical reality of their surroundings. The duo’s dynamic is wholesome and deeply father/daughter in its presentation, providing an emotionally rich core.

Yes, it’s another ‘dad’ game to put alongside God of War and Last of Us, but that’s the company that it deserves to be mentioned around – Pragmata really is that good.

The writing is exceptional throughout the lengthy campaign – carefully avoiding typical sci-fi clichés in favour of a much more personal and emotional tale. The protective bond that gradually develops between Hugh and Diana is surprisingly organic despite hitting a few familiar story beats, making set-piece moments actually feel impactful – sometimes harrowing – and consequential.

The overarching antagonist is IDUS, a rogue artificial intelligence controlling The Cradle. Operating not as a typical, hateful villain, but as a misguided system iterating on human concepts with terrifying, uncanny results, IDUS’s machinations and efforts to stop the pair keep the story moving at a kinetic pace.

While the background lore involving the facility’s collapse is dense and requires a significant amount of reading to fully grasp, the overarching story remains accessible and considered – without venturing into spoiler territory (although many corners of the internet have done so already!), Pragmata’s plot is both a storytelling and gaming highlight for 2026.

Gameplay

The gameplay loop in Pragmata is brilliantly built around the highly innovative Unit Printer system, a mechanic which lends the game an impressive amount of strategic depth and variety.

Hugh’s space suit is equipped with a high-speed, integrated printer that can instantly fabricate weapons, tools, and attachments on the fly using lunafilament, a vital resource dropped by defeated robots and scavenged from the environment.

This robust system provides a staggering number of tactical options – there are 16 distinct weapons in Pragmata, all with customisation options and hacking nodes available to unlock. You can print everything from traditional pulse rifles and concussive grenade launchers to futuristic crowd control with decoy generators and high-output shotguns. This extraordinary flexibility allows the player to tailor their loadout to every encounter, with none feeling undercooked or ill-thought-out. Both offensive and defensive play styles are well catered for.

The real, undeniable brilliance of the combat system is the flawless synergy between Hugh’s ballistic shooting and Diana’s digital hacking skills. While Hugh handles the physical, heavy combat, Diana can interface directly with the facility’s vast digital infrastructure, quickly linking with your visor to highlight enemy weak points, as well as actively taking control of hostile drones and turrets to turn them violently against their masters.

Crucially, this happens entirely in real-time during the heat of combat. You might find yourself suppressing a group of heavily armoured robots with a printed heavy machine gun while Diana is simultaneously remotely disabling their energy shields or opening a hazardous steam vent directly behind them. It makes every major battle feel like a complex tactical puzzle that you are actively solving under heavy fire, putting your brain into a flow state as both hemispheres work at full pelt during hectic battle arenas.

All in all, Pragmata manages to deliver fun and dynamic gameplay with more than enough variety – and memorable boss battles, with the Gigantic Bot being a personal highlight – to make replayability a clear plus point.

Audio

The audio design in Pragmata is impressively clean, sharply industrial, and deeply atmospheric. The ambient soundscape of the moon is a carefully constructed mixture of hollow, cavernous echoes, the deep hum of ancient server farms, and the heavy, mechanical clank of Hugh’s armoured space suit.

The musical soundtrack is beautifully ethereal and appropriately space-age, filled with haunting, synthetic vocal tracks and pulsing electronic beats that perfectly match the game’s unique aesthetic. The specific audio cues for the Unit Printer system and Diana’s successful hacks are distinctly clear and highly satisfying, providing vitally important auditory feedback during the game’s more chaotic, visually noisy moments.

 The vast, empty spaces of the lunar facility sound appropriately massive and intimidating. Furthermore, every weapon discharge and digital hack possesses a specific, high-fidelity sound profile, making Pragmata as memorable for its sounds as its sights.

Performance

On the PlayStation 5 Pro, Pragmata acts as a stunning technical tour de force. The highly versatile RE Engine delivers astonishing visual fidelity across the board, with both character models and environmental textures easily among the best seen in years.

PSSR upscaling technology is expertly used to maintain a remarkably sharp 4K resolution while the game runs at a consistently smooth 60 frames per second. The game’s absolute visual peak arrives during a section explicitly inspired by generative AI, as the duo are tasked with navigating a distorted New York City built within the moon base, where the architecture defies geometry and bright yellow taxis are physically fused into the pavement. It is a wildly maximalist style that completely drops the jaw.

Load times are virtually non-existent when moving between sectors or returning to the Shelter, and this speed allows for a wonderfully seamless transition between the barren moon’s surface and the labyrinthine interior of the facility.

Performance remains rock-solid even when the screen is filled with complex particle effects from Hugh’s various printed weapons and Diana’s digital gadgets. The DualSense integration is also excellent. The haptics and adaptive triggers provide a deep level of tactile immersion that significantly enhances the experience, as players clearly feel the distinct mechanical click and whirr of the Unit Printer system fabricating a new weapon, as well as the heavy, lumbering weight of Hugh’s suit as he navigates the low-gravity lunar surface.

Incredible work here, and entirely worth the wait.

Verdict

At a time of safe sequels and staid IPs, Pragmata is a bold, highly inventive new title that showcases the absolute best of both Capcom’s creativity and technical prowess.

The seamless combination of tactical combat, environmental puzzle-solving, and emotional storytelling makes for a truly unforgettable journey.

The Unit Printer system and the real-time synergy between Hugh and Diana provide a level of mechanical depth that is rarely seen in modern action-adventure games – a unique instance where the dual protagonists’ relationship evolves not just during cutscenes, but actively during moment-to-moment gameplay, testament to the best implementations of their unique dynamic.

On the PlayStation 5 Pro, it is a staggering technical triumph that fully justifies its exceptionally long development time. Pragmata is a beautiful, kinetic and deeply original experience that absolutely should not be missed by anyone seeking a fresh take on the genre – or a fresh take on gaming in general.

The post Pragmata Review – Playstation 5 Pro appeared first on CRISP..

A World Cup eSIM is the smartest thing you’ll pack for the 2026 FIFA World Cup — the first tournament ever to span three countries simultaneously. The USA, Canada, and Mexico are co-hosting 48 nations across 16 cities this summer, which means millions of fans face a genuinely new challenge: crossing international borders, smartphone in hand, without coming home to a roaming bill that costs more than the flights.

The solution is simple. A travel eSIM connects your phone to a local network the moment you land — no physical SIM to swap, no carrier kiosk queues at a foreign airport, no daily data caps eating into your budget on match day. Buy it online, activate it with a QR code, and arrive connected.

At a glance: The FIFA World Cup 2026 runs from 11 June to 19 July 2026. Host cities span the USA (11 cities), Canada (2 cities) and Mexico (3 cities). You’ll need a separate World Cup eSIM for each country — they’re country-specific — but each plan is inexpensive, digital, and activates in minutes.

We’ve pulled together every plan tier, price, and special offer across all three host nations so you can pick the right data plan before you fly and also added a handy little widget from Breeze eSIM below.

Why a World Cup eSIM Beats Standard Roaming

Standard international roaming with a mainstream carrier can cost $10–$15 per day in the USA alone. Over a three-week World Cup trip across all three host nations, you’re looking at $400+ just to keep your phone working normally. A dedicated World Cup eSIM plan brings that same connectivity down to a fraction of the cost — often less than the price of a stadium hot dog per day.

Stadium Wi-Fi is worth addressing too. With 60,000+ fans simultaneously trying to post that goal celebration, shared venue networks buckle under the pressure. A personal eSIM data plan runs independently — reliable enough to navigate, stream, coordinate with friends, and actually use your phone during the match.

Does My Phone Support eSIM?

Most smartphones released since 2018 are eSIM-compatible: all iPhones from XS onwards, Samsung Galaxy S21 and later, Google Pixel 3 and newer, and most current Android flagships. Use the Check Compatibility button on any plan page — it confirms your exact model in about 20 seconds. If your phone supports dual-SIM (most modern handsets do), your home SIM stays active for calls while your travel eSIM handles all data. No number changes. No missed calls.

World Cup eSIM — United States 🇺🇸

New York/NJ  ·  Los Angeles  ·  Dallas  ·  SF Bay Area  ·  Seattle  ·  Kansas City  ·  Boston  ·  Philadelphia  ·  Atlanta  ·  Miami  ·  Houston

High-speed data across all 11 USA host cities, up to 5G where available. Fixed plans give you a total data allowance for your trip — not a daily cap — so you can use it exactly when you need it most.

Fixed total allowance — not a daily cap. 5G where available.

Instant activation  ·  No roaming fees  ·  5G where available

Covering multiple USA host cities? The 20 GB or 30 GB plans are the sweet spot for most fans. The 50 GB special offer at $40.99 (was $58) is the one to grab if you’re hotspot-sharing or streaming every highlight along the way.

World Cup eSIM — Canada 🇨🇦

Toronto (BMO Field)  ·  Vancouver (BC Place)

Canada hosts matches in Toronto and Vancouver — two of North America’s best-connected cities. High-speed data up to 5G where available. Buy two or more plans and save 10%.

Save 10% when buying two or more plans. Fixed total allowance — not a daily cap.

Instant activation  ·  10% off 2+ plans  ·  No roaming fees

Covering both Toronto and Vancouver? A 15 GB to 20 GB plan covers you comfortably. Travelling as a group? Buy together and bank the 10% multi-plan saving before anyone checks out separately.

World Cup eSIM — Mexico 🇲🇽

Mexico City (Estadio Azteca)  ·  Guadalajara  ·  Monterrey

Three iconic football cities, including the legendary Estadio Azteca. Mexico plans come stacked with special offers across almost every tier — making this the best-value eSIM of the three host nations.

Fixed total allowance — not a daily cap. 5G where available.

Instant activation  ·  Massive special offer savings  ·  No roaming fees

Mexico’s special offers are genuinely striking. The 50 GB plan drops from $119 to $48.99. The 20 GB plan falls from $55 to $22.99. Even the entry tiers are discounted. No other host nation comes close on value.

Which World Cup eSIM Plan Is Right for Your Trip?

7–10 day trip, one host city
5 GB to 10 GB covers maps, messaging, social media, and streaming highlights without watching your usage.

2–3 week trip, one country
15 GB to 25 GB handles daily navigation, WhatsApp groups, Instagram, and video calls home without rationing.

Full tournament, multiple countries
Get a separate World Cup eSIM for each country. 20 GB+ per country — 30–50 GB for the USA given the distances between host cities.

Heavy users and group hotspot sharing
50 GB to 100 GB. Special offer tiers give the best cost-per-GB — especially Mexico and USA.

The cost difference between a 20 GB and 50 GB plan is typically less than a single day of carrier roaming. Going one tier higher than you think you’ll need is almost always the right call.

How to Set Up Your World Cup eSIM — 5 Minutes, Done

1. Check compatibility — visit any plan page and tap Check Compatibility. Confirms your phone model in about 20 seconds.
2. Choose your plan — select your destination country and data tier, then check out. Your QR code arrives by email within minutes.
3. Scan the QR code — go to Settings → Mobile/Cellular → Add eSIM on your phone, then scan. The eSIM installs instantly.
4. Set your travel eSIM as the data SIM — your phone asks which SIM to use for data. Select your new plan. Your home SIM stays active for calls.
5. Land and connect — your plan activates the moment you arrive. No queues, no kiosks, no faff.

Pro tip: Activate your eSIM at home on Wi-Fi before you fly. It takes 60 seconds and means you land already connected — no scrambling for signal in the arrivals hall after a long flight.

World Cup eSIM — Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a separate World Cup eSIM for each host country?

Yes. eSIM plans are country-specific, so you need one for the USA, one for Canada, and one for Mexico if visiting all three. The upside: modern phones store multiple eSIMs simultaneously. Switch between them as you cross borders — each plan only counts down when it’s the active data SIM.

Will a World Cup eSIM work inside stadiums during matches?

Yes. An eSIM connects to the local carrier network — entirely separate from any stadium Wi-Fi. With 60,000+ fans on one venue network at peak moments, a personal eSIM plan is significantly more reliable for posting, streaming, and navigating match day.

When should I buy my World Cup eSIM?

Before you travel. Buying in advance lets you activate at home on Wi-Fi and arrive connected from the moment you land. There’s no benefit to waiting and real cost to forgetting.

Can I keep my regular number active while using a travel eSIM?

Yes, if your phone supports dual-SIM (most modern flagships do). Your home SIM handles calls and texts. Your travel eSIM handles data. Friends reach you on your normal number while you benefit from local data rates.

What if I run out of data during the tournament?

You can purchase a top-up from your account at any time — it’s all digital, nothing physical to swap. Adding data takes a few minutes from your phone, wherever you are.

Do World Cup eSIM plans support 5G?

Yes — all plans support data up to 5G where available. All major World Cup host cities in the USA, Canada, and Mexico have 5G infrastructure across urban areas and stadium districts.

The Verdict

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a once-in-a-generation event across three brilliant countries. The football will be extraordinary. The last thing you want is a connectivity problem taking your focus away from any of it.

A World Cup eSIM is the effortless fix: buy before you fly, activate in minutes, arrive connected. Plans from $3.99, deep special offers across all three host nations, zero roaming bills. If you’re making the trip, this is a no-brainer.

🇺🇸 USA eSIM

🇨🇦 Canada eSIM

🇲🇽 Mexico eSIM

Instant activation  ·  Plans from $3.99  ·  No roaming fees  ·  5G where available

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. CRISP may earn a commission if you purchase through these links at no extra cost to you. Pricing sourced directly and accurately at time of publication (April 2026) — verify current pricing on the plan pages before purchasing.

Full eSIM Store

The post World Cup eSIM 2026: USA, Canada & Mexico appeared first on CRISP..

Set in 1603 and built as a native PS5 title with PS5 Pro enhancements, this standalone follow-up swaps Jin Sakai’s crisis of conscience for Atsu, a lone mercenary who has long since made peace with being the monster in someone else’s folktale.

The result is an open-world action adventure that will instantly click with anyone who roamed Tsushima, but there are enough mechanical and tonal shifts for Yōtei to stand on its own. 

The swordplay is nastier, the world is wilder, and the line between ghost story and historical drama blurs in ways that suit the northern setting. Rather than trying to reinvent everything, the game refines and deepens the template, and on both PS5 and PS5 Pro it leans hard into cinematic presentation and DualSense-driven immersion.

From the first hours, it makes an incredibly strong initial impression. Combat builds on Tsushima in smart ways, giving Atsu a broader, more expressive arsenal and replacing the stance system with something more tactile and readable. 

The story hits many familiar revenge beats but plays them with a darker, more personal edge. The open world, meanwhile, is full of exquisite vistas, reactive weather and a strong sense of place. 

The downside is that the underlying structure still leans heavily on familiar checklists, and if you treat every icon as mandatory, the pacing can sag. With that caveat in mind, this is still one of the PS5 catalogue’s standout first-party exclusives – find out all the details in our Ghost of Yotei review.

Story

Ghost of Yōtei opens with a nightmare and a massacre. Sixteen years earlier, Atsu’s family home at the foot of Mount Yōtei was attacked by a group of masked samurai. She remembers flames licking up the ginkgo tree in the courtyard, remembers the six figures who butchered everyone she loved, and remembers waking pinned to that burning trunk with her father’s katana through her shoulder. Those men become the “Yōtei Six” in local legend. For Atsu, they remain a list of names and faces to erase.

In the present day she is a bounty hunter and blade for hire, drifting through Ezo with a battered cloak, a scar that runs like a fault line across her back, and a reputation that has already seen her likeness printed on wanted posters. When a new lead surfaces on Lord Saito and his lieutenants, she heads north and the game finally lets you steer. Structurally, it is a straightforward revenge tale: six lieutenants, one architect behind them, and a long road of bodies between here and closure.

The twist lies in scale and perspective. Tsushima was the story of a nobleman caught between ideals and necessity. Yōtei centres on someone who abandoned that framework long ago. Atsu is introduced as a blunt instrument, closer to a wandering horror than a knight, and much of the story is spent testing whether anything of the person pinned to that tree is still intact. 

As you clear bandit camps, dismantle Saito’s network and resolve side stories, her legend grows in-universe. Tavern tales and bounty posters change to reflect the kind of Ghost you have chosen to be, and NPCs react accordingly.

The Yōtei Six themselves are initially drawn as clear archetypes: the calculating Snake, the brutal Oni, the elusive Kitsune, Saito’s sons known as the Spider and the Dragon, and Saito himself. 

Some of them get enough screen time and side material to feel like people rather than themed boss fights; others remain strong silhouettes with a handful of motives sketched in. The narrative is at its best when it narrows the focus to Atsu’s relationships with a small circle of allies and accomplices, particularly figures like Oyuki, Jubei and Kiku, whose fates intersect with both her past and Saito’s brutal present.

Sucker Punch leans harder than before into player choice in how you progress. After the opening sequence, you can pursue most members of the Yōtei Six in different orders. The world reacts to who has fallen and who remains: patrols shift, rumours at inns change, and some side quests resolve differently depending on which lieutenants are still breathing. Certain encounters and flashbacks are fixed, so everyone still experiences the same narrative spine, but the route you carve through Ezo shapes the pacing and tone. Pursuing Saito’s inner circle with minimal detours produces a tighter, almost linear path. Letting every rumour, bounty and personal tale pull you off course stretches Atsu’s quest into something more fragmented and melancholic.

That flexibility comes with the usual open-world trade-offs. The central story hits some superb highs, particularly in the prologue, mid-game revelations and the final stretch, but it is easy to blunt that momentum if you insist on clearing every marker between major beats. Some supporting villains never quite escape their archetypes. 

A handful of late-game emotional turns land harder if you have followed specific side threads and can feel a little abrupt if you have not. Even so, Atsu is a strong enough protagonist to hold the whole structure together. Her journey is more intimate, more openly angry and more willing to flirt with outright horror than Jin’s, and that tonal shift suits the setting and the passage of time.

Gameplay

Moment to moment, Ghost of Yōtei builds directly on Tsushima’s foundation: third-person movement, open regions, a blend of stealth and confrontation, and a light layer of progression via gear, techniques and charms. The most significant change is in how combat is framed. Where Tsushima revolved around stances, Yōtei centres combat around weapons and a new counter-focused system.

Atsu begins with a single katana, and the feel of that blade will be immediately familiar to returning players: fast slashes, clean parries, deadly ripostes if your timing is good. As the story advances, she expands that arsenal with a yari spear, a heavy ōdachi, a kusarigama and eventually the ability to dual-wield swords. Each weapon has its own timing, reach, strengths and weaknesses. Enemies telegraph different attack types with clear visual cues, and you are encouraged to switch not just for damage numbers but to answer intent.

Broad, sweeping strikes are safest to meet with the katana’s classic parry and counter. Linear thrusts are better handled by planting the spear and turning defence into a sweep. Slow, crushing overhead blows can be absorbed and reversed with the ōdachi, which chunks through armour and shields. The kusarigama excels at hooking shields, tangling legs and creating openings in a crowd. Dual-wielding trades safety for aggression, letting you shred staggered foes before they can recover. Instead of memorising which stance breaks which weapon, you are reading attack tells and choosing the right tool on the fly.

That sounds intricate, but it feels like a natural evolution of what Tsushima started. Early encounters restrict enemy variety and layer the system in gently. Tutorials and generous slowdown support you as you learn the rhythms. 

Later, mixed groups of ronin, spearmen, shield-bearers, archers and elite foes force you to constantly reassess positioning, options and priorities. When it works, combat has a brutal, expressive flow: closing the distance with a dodge, swapping to the appropriate weapon, catching an attack at just the right moment and turning it into a dismembering counter or a shove into a campfire.

Stealth remains a parallel route rather than a secondary concern. Atsu can crouch in pampas grass, use rooftops, ledges and the grappling hook to control elevation, and chain assassinations if she plans well. Enemies are a little quicker than Tsushima’s to investigate lost comrades and suspicious noises, and vision cones feel less forgiving. That nudges stealth into a more deliberate space. You can still clear entire camps without being seen, but sloppy play is punished more swiftly and recovery often involves committing fully to open combat.

Ranged options expand alongside melee. The hankyu and yumi bows return, with unlockable skills that emphasise quick target switching and satisfying multi-headshot opportunities. Tanegashima and tanzutsu matchlock weapons give you limited but powerful ways to delete a priority target at range, at the cost of noise and attention. Throwables like kunai, smoke bombs and explosives complete the toolkit, and the control scheme does a decent job of keeping all of this accessible without turning the pad into a finger-twister.

Outside combat, Atsu can establish camps. These serve as rest points where she can restore health and spirit, cook simple meals for short-term buffs, craft ammunition and interact with certain allies between main missions. Camps slot neatly into the game’s rhythm. Ride hard until resources and focus run low, make camp to reset and chat, then plan the next push into hostile territory.

The open world wraps around this core. Exploration is still guided not by a cluttered HUD but by the guiding wind, which can be called with a touchpad swipe or reshaped by playing the shamisen. Foxes dart out of the undergrowth and lead you to shrines where new charms can be earned. Hot springs offer quiet moments of reflection and permanent health boosts. Bamboo stands test your reflexes and reward stamina. Dynamic weather and time-of-day transitions help keep familiar routes interesting; one ride across a valley at dawn, in clear air, can feel very different to the same route under heavy snowfall or beneath shifting aurora.

New activities sit comfortably alongside returning ones. Sumi-e brush painting replaces haiku composition, giving Atsu stiller, more introspective moments. Gambling at zeni hajiki tables offers a low-key diversion in inns and villages. 

Bounty hunting quests and weapon mastery challenges add more structure for those who want to be guided rather than simply wander. Some side missions are tightly written character pieces that loop back into the main plot or Atsu’s past; a few are more perfunctory errands. Taken as a whole, the world feels dense without being suffocating, though players who insist on completing everything before pushing the story forward will feel the familiar fatigue of any busy open-world map.

Difficulty is flexible. You can adjust base challenge and various assist settings independently, softening timing windows or clarifying UI cues without entirely neutering the game. Armour sets and charms support distinct playstyles, whether that is high-risk, high-reward counterplay, archery from a distance, stealthy attrition or relentless aggression. The weapon counter system nudges you towards a balanced build, but it is possible to lean heavily into one approach and still succeed, especially on mid-range settings.

Yōtei also introduces three cinematic modes that double as tone control. Kurosawa mode brings back stark black-and-white visuals and a grainier soundscape that evokes mid-century samurai cinema. Miike mode tightens the camera, heightens gore and grime, and makes battles feel more claustrophobic and intense. Watanabe mode relaxes colour grading and overlays lo-fi adjacent music during exploration, giving long rides and quiet moments a very different mood. Each mode is optional and trade-offs in visibility or readability mean they are not ideal for all situations, but they are thoughtfully implemented and give the game a welcome range of flavours.

Multiplayer, for now, remains prospective. Ghost of Yōtei: Legends, a follow-up to Tsushima’s co-op mode, has been announced as a free update with two-player story missions and four-player survival maps against horror-inflected versions of the Yōtei Six and other mythological foes. At launch, however, the focus is entirely on single-player, and that narrower scope shows in how tightly the main systems and narrative beats are interwoven.

Audio

Much of Yōtei’s impact comes from sound. The world is alive with small details: grasses rustling in the wind, wolves calling in the distance, prayer flags snapping under sudden gusts, the crunch of fresh snow underfoot. Weather changes are not only visible; you can hear rain rattling on Atsu’s hat and armour, hear how a rising wind masks or reveals enemy movements. The audio mix makes simply standing still and listening in a forest, on a cliff path or outside a village surprisingly rewarding.

The score, by Toma Otowa, blends traditional Japanese instruments with more modern textures. Low drums, shamisen and shakuhachi flutes underscore duels, while more melancholic pieces follow Atsu through moments of quiet or reflection with her allies. Watanabe mode gives the soundtrack room to experiment, bringing in laid-back beats for exploration that recall the energy of shows like Samurai Champloo without feeling out of place. It’s a soundtrack that supports the drama rather than overwhelming it.

Combat audio is both dramatic and functional. Each weapon sounds distinct: the katana’s clean cuts, the heavier drag of an ōdachi swing, the whistle of a spear thrust, the metallic rasp of a kusarigama’s chain. Successful parries are punctuated by crisp audio cues that make timing feel more intuitive. Arrows have a threatening hiss as they pass near, and firearm reports are rare but thunderously loud when they do occur.

Voice acting anchors the story. Atsu’s performance balances menace and vulnerability, letting her shift from dry humour to genuine anger or grief without losing coherence. Key members of her “wolf pack” are equally well drawn. Some minor quest givers and incidental NPCs come off flatter, especially in the English track, but the main cast is strong in both languages. Lip-syncing is tailored to Japanese, as you would expect, though English holds up well.

This is also one of the better adverts for the DualSense. Haptic feedback reflects terrain, weather and impact: the granular sensation of moving through deep snow, the patter of rain, the impact of steel on steel, the judder of a blocked heavy attack. Adaptive triggers stiffen when drawing a bow and snap under firearm recoil. The touchpad and built-in speaker are used more than tokenistically. Painting sumi-e scenes or directing the wind via the shamisen feels satisfying in the hands, and small sounds-from Atsu’s breathing to the rasp of a blade being sheathed-relayed through the controller help tie you more closely to her perspective.

With a decent headset, 3D audio does at least as much work as the on-screen HUD in keeping you oriented. The direction of distant patrols, animals, streams and village chatter is easy to read, and that in turn makes it easier to rely on environmental cues instead of staring at an on-screen compass.

Performance

As a native PS5 title, Ghost of Yōtei offers multiple graphics modes, and with PS5 Pro now in the mix there is a clear split in how the game behaves on each console.

On a standard PlayStation 5 there are three primary options. The first is a quality-focused mode that prioritises resolution and image stability at 30 frames per second. Internal resolution targets are just under full 4K, and the result is a very sharp picture with dense foliage, detailed distant mountains and stable volumetric effects. For people who play slowly, treat the game like an interactive film and are less sensitive to frame rate, this mode has obvious appeal.

Alongside that sits a performance mode, which drops internal resolution down towards 1080p to reach a 60fps target. The image is noticeably softer, especially on large 4K displays, and fine geometry can shimmer a little as you move. In return, combat feels wonderfully responsive, camera movement is smoother and horse riding across open fields and forest tracks has a flow that flatters the game’s traversal and counter-driven fighting system. For many this will be the default choice.

The third main mode on base hardware introduces ray tracing. It retains a 30fps target but enables ray-traced global illumination and improved shadowing, with internal resolution sitting between the two other modes. The upgrades are most obvious in interiors, dense woodland and scenes lit by lanterns, fires or low sun, where indirect light and deeper shadow gradients add a lot to the atmosphere. On a standard PS5 this is the best-looking mode in static screenshots, though some will still prefer the feel of 60fps in motion and happily give up the extra lighting fidelity.

On PS5 Pro, all three of those modes benefit from higher internal resolutions and more stable image quality, but the more interesting change is the addition of a fourth option built specifically for the newer console. The Pro-only ray-traced performance mode combines 60fps gameplay with ray-traced lighting, leaning on Sony’s upscaling to keep the image sharp despite a lower native resolution. 

In practice, it offers a very compelling compromise: combat and traversal feel as fluid as in the standard performance mode, while reflections, shadows and indirect light behave more like they do in the 30fps ray tracing mode on base hardware. There are occasional artefacts if you go hunting for them, but it is easy to see why many PS5 Pro owners describe this as the definitive way to play.

Across both consoles and all modes, loading times are short. Fast travel is close to instant, flashbacks slide in and out without obvious loading breaks, and respawns after failure are quick enough that tough encounters invite one more attempt. Streaming as you gallop across Ezo’s larger regions is generally solid. You will occasionally catch a pop-in if you are really looking for it, but it is rare and fleeting.

Technically, Yōtei is not flawless if you probe its edges. Some background geometry and incidental props are fairly simple once you get close, and in stark midday light a few scenes can look flatter than the dramatic lighting elsewhere suggests. Overall stability, however, is strong. Extended sessions do not reveal glaring memory or performance issues, and there is no widespread reporting of broken quests or progress-blocking bugs.

Verdict

Ghost of Yōtei is a confident, often beautiful continuation of Sucker Punch’s samurai saga. It reuses the bones of Ghost of Tsushima where that still makes sense-the guiding wind, fox dens, hot springs and understated HUD and lays a darker, more personal story over the top. Atsu is a compelling lead whose anger and trauma give the familiar revenge structure some real bite. The expanded arsenal and weapon-based counter system make fights feel more expressive and deliberate. Ezo, with its dynamic weather, mountain ascents and frozen forests, is a memorable place to inhabit.

The caveats are familiar too. The open world still leans on camps to clear, icons to tick and side missions that range from quietly affecting to entirely forgettable. If you let yourself be distracted by everything, the pace of the central story can sag. Look too closely at certain assets and you can see the seams. None of that, though, significantly undermines what the game gets right. Moment to moment, drawing steel, reading an opponent’s intentions and punishing them with the right weapon remains gripping. The use of DualSense and 3D audio is among the best on the platform. Performance options on both PS5 and PS5 Pro give you plenty of control over how you want it to look and feel.

Taken on its own terms, Ghost of Yōtei is a worthy successor to Tsushima and yet another of the PS5 catalogue’s standout exclusives, regardless of whether it’s played on the original PlayStation 5 or enjoying the Pro’s visual embellishments – it’s nothing short of a masterpiece.

The post Ghost of Yotei Review – PlayStation 5 Pro appeared first on CRISP..

Released on all major formats as a remaster of 2007’s Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, it gathers the original game, its ‘Revenge of the Plague Lord’ expansion pack and the extra content from ‘The Legend Returns’ into a single slick package. 

In terms of additions, it brings a new class as well as dozens of fresh items and fully redrawn artwork suitable for modern, high-resolution screens. 

The big question is in a world of world-beating indie puzzlers like Ball x Pit and Balatro, does this loop of gem-matching combat and RPG progression still have what it takes? 

Check out our review to find out!

Story

The narrative frame remains largely unchanged from the original release – you’re a budding hero in the world of Etheria, initially running errands and squashing monster problems before being drawn into a wider conflict, involving everything from undead hordes to political machinations.

Immortal Edition stitches the original’s main plot and expansions into a single campaign, expanding both the map and tidily weaving additional questlines into the existing structure.

Writing is brisk and functional with dialogue appearing in short text windows with character portraits, rarely overstaying its welcome. 

You accept contracts, chase rumours and confront bosses, each interaction pushing you back to the world map and, more importantly, another battle board. 

The tone is classic high fantasy RPG with a slightly knowing wink, full of valiant heroes, scheming villains and a handful of self-aware asides.

What the remaster does particularly well is organisation. Expansion content that once sat apart now feels like a natural extension of the central story. 

Optional questlines, side challenges and extra modes are surfaced more clearly, so you are less likely to miss them or to lose track of where you were…oh, and it’s all played as a turn-based match-3 puzzler in the vein of Bejeweled – hence the novelty of Puzzle Quest!

Gameplay

Mechanically, Immortal Edition stays firmly rooted in the rules and patterns of the original from all those years ago. 

Battles play out on a shared grid filled with coloured mana gems, skulls and special tiles. On your turn, you swap adjacent pieces to make matches of three or more. Matching skulls deals direct damage, while matching colours feeds your mana pools. 

You then spend that mana on class-specific spells which can damage foes, manipulate the board, shield you or inflict status effects. Crucially, both you and the enemy pull from the same board, so every move has the potential to set up a lucrative cascade of attacks for either side.

These simple foundations provide the underpinning to a surprisingly deep web of systems. The class-based selection means each character has distinct spell lists that encourage varied playstyles, from control-focused builds that constantly reshape the board to brute-force approaches that stack skull damage. 

Gear adds passive bonuses and new triggers, companions provide further modifiers, and captured enemies can be researched to expand your arsenal. The Legend Returns content adds even more wrinkles, and Immortal Edition layers a new class – the Swordmaster – as well as rejigs existing ones to offer a well-balanced roster.

The long-running point of contention has always been the game’s devious AI. Many players feel that enemies enjoy suspiciously lucky runs when new gems drop in, leading to accusations that the computer ‘cheats’. 

Immortal Edition is not immune from this debate – the developers have been explicit in saying the AI does not have hidden information or modified odds, and recent patches have even toned down how often opponents can chain large combos from off-screen drops, precisely because those moments felt rigged, regardless of the underlying maths.

In practice, perceived unfairness is reduced…but certainly not gone. You will occasionally watch an enemy string together a multi-match turn from a single swap and feel your blood pressure rise. The flip side is that when you engineer a devastating chain yourself, it still feels brilliant. That tension, and the knowledge that your next move could tip the board dramatically, remains a big part of the game’s appeal.

Outside combat, Immortal Edition retains light strategy elements. You can upgrade cities to unlock new options, train and equip companions, capture monsters to learn their abilities, research spells and manage mounts. 

None of these systems are especially complex by modern standards, but they provide welcome texture between battles and reinforce the sense that you are building a hero over time.

Audio

The soundtrack leans on orchestral fantasy themes that loop quietly in the background. They are not the sort of tracks you will rush to add to a playlist, but they sit comfortably beneath long sessions without becoming distracting. Different regions and key story beats get slightly varied motifs, giving a gentle sense of place.

Sound effects are crisp and informative. Gem matches chime pleasantly, skull hits land with a satisfying crack, and spells have distinct audio signatures that make it easier to track what has just happened in a busy turn. Given how much of the experience involves staring at a static board, audio feedback is vital for keeping the flow engaging.

Voice work is minimal, mostly limited to interface barks and the odd stinger. It underlines actions rather than driving the storytelling, which fits the series’ roots.

Performance

Technically, Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition is light on requirements but thoughtful in its update. All the original assets have been redrawn or cleaned up for HD and 4K displays.

Gems now have distinct shapes as well as colours to aid accessibility, character portraits are sharper and environmental art on the world map reads more cleanly. The overall presentation still has the feel of a mid-2000s game at heart, but viewed through a much clearer lens.

On a modern PC, performance is effectively a non-issue. Load times between the world map and battles are short, the interface scales nicely to different resolutions and even very modest hardware has no trouble running the game smoothly. 

Options menus focus more on animation speed and input preferences than on graphics sliders, which makes sense given the underlying design.

There have been some complaints levelled at the new visuals feeling a bit over-smoothed or plastic-y compared with the original’s grittier look, with some speculating about AI-assisted art. 

There is no confirmation from Infinity Plus 2 or 505 that any generative tools were used, and official messaging simply denotes the assets as redrawn for modern resolutions. The more concrete criticism is that, stylistically, the art is functional rather than delivering a radical improvement, where preference is likely to depend on individual taste and degree of nostalgia.

Verdict

Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition on PC is a respectful restoration of a stone-cold classic. Infinity Plus 2 and 505 Games have pulled together nearly twenty years of content, sharpened the presentation, added a handful of sensible tweaks and presented the whole package in a way that feels at home on current hardware – making this perfect for the Steam Deck. 

The core loop of out-thinking opponents on a shared match-3 board while sculpting a personalised hero remains as compelling as ever, and few modern games have matched its particular blend of puzzle tension and RPG tinkering.

At the same time, the age of the design shows. The campaign is long and occasionally grindy, the story is transparently a delivery mechanism for more battles, and even with tweaks the AI will sometimes feel like it has stolen a win. The visual refresh makes the game easier on the eyes, but does not disguise its roots.

For newcomers, this is easily the best way to experience Puzzle Quest. For returning fans, value will depend on how keen you are to revisit familiar quests with cleaner art and a bit of extra content. 

Where that sits on your buy list will largely come down to how much fondness you have for lining up three gems in a row, and hoping the next drop is in your favour…

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On PS5, it promises to bring that cabinet experience into your living room: big drifts, huge nitrous blasts and a handful of wild tracks that feel ripped straight from the films. Raw Thrills’ pedigree is obvious, especially if you know their addition to the ‘Cruis’n’ series with Blast on Switch, but this particular port is a more modest proposition. 

What you get is the essence of the arcade game, with very little wrapped around it beyond not spending a pound every two minutes!

Story

Events are grouped into themed sets with paper-thin narrative labels about undercover missions, high-risk deliveries and rival crews. A short briefing might tell you that the police are closing in, or that a particular gang needs to be taught a lesson, and then you are immediately thrown back onto the track.

Dom and the core cast never take centre stage…and not even a single mention of the value of family, which is a crime in itself. 

There are no cinematic cut-scenes or extended dialogue sequences, but rather the game leans on the tone of the films – over-the-top chases, improbable explosions and family-adjacent banter – without trying to hew too closely to its blockbuster source material.

It admittedly suits the arcade heritage, but anyone expecting a properly scripted Fast & Furious campaign – RIP Crossroads – is going to find this an extremely slight package.

Gameplay

On the track, Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition is unabashedly old-school arcade racing. You choose from a small roster of eight licensed vehicles, including muscle cars and modern performance icons, then throw them around stunt-filled tracks based on locations like Hong Kong, Yellowstone and Havana. 

The driving model is loose and generous. Cars pivot eagerly into drifts with a light tap of the brake, and you are almost always better served by keeping your foot planted than by driving with any real finesse.

Nitrous sits at the centre of everything. You build a boost meter by driving aggressively and threading through traffic, then cash it in for long bursts of speed that drench the screen in motion blur. 

Events range from point-to-point sprints to lapped races and more objective-driven challenges that ask you to ram marked vehicles or smash environmental targets. Once you have ticked off first place on each track, an “Extreme” mode remixes things, but the underlying content does not change.

The biggest frustration is the rubber-banding – AI rivals refuse to let you break away. You can drive three near-perfect laps, clip one obstacle in the last corner and watch the field magically swarm around you. For casual players and younger drivers, that forced drama keeps races tense, but for anyone with a competitive streak, it quickly feels like the game is more interested in stage-managing photo finishes than rewarding skill. 

Compared with Raw Thrills’ own Cruis’n Blast conversion on Switch, which throws more tracks, more modes,four-player co-op at you and feels – ever so slightly – freer in how races unfold, this comes off as the thinner experience.

Local multiplayer is where the game is most fun. Two-player split-screen lets you recreate that arcade rivalry at home, and the forgiving handling makes it easy for people of different abilities to enjoy the same race. Online options are basic and do not add much long-term pull, so this is very much a sofa racer.

Audio

Audio is a clear carry-over from the arcade cabinet heritage – LOUD. Engines roar aggressively, turbochargers whistle and tyres squeal at the slightest provocation. Nitrous blasts arrive with a satisfying whoosh, and set-piece moments – collapsing bridges, missiles, falling trees – are underlined with big, cinematic sound effects that help sell the chaos even when the visuals are not doing anything especially advanced.

The soundtrack sticks to high-energy tracks that sit somewhere between action-film score and radio-friendly dance. You are unlikely to come away humming anything, but the tempo matches the pace on track. Brief snippets of voiceover comment on big drifts, heavy crashes and close finishes. Lines do repeat over longer sessions, yet in short bursts they add the right level of arcade chatter.

Crucially, the mix does a good job of keeping important cues audible. Approaching traffic, incoming sirens and the crunch of guardrails all cut through the music clearly, which helps with reaction times when the screen is busy.

Performance

On PS5, Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition looks and feels very much like a straight console port of an older arcade title. The cars are cleanly modelled and clearly licensed – all-American muscle from Ford, Dodge and Shelby but nary a hint of exotic European hypercars or Japanese drift machines – however lacking the fine detail you would expect from a native current-gen showcase whilst hurtling at 180mph. 

Environments are colourful and busy, with lots of moving parts and explosive set-pieces, yet close inspection reveals flat textures and simplistic lighting.

The upside is rock-solid performance – frame rates hold steady during hectic races, even when you are weaving through traffic while rockets explode in the distance. Load times between events are short thanks to the PS5’s storage, which preserves that “insert credit and go” momentum that defined the cabinet. There are no obvious streaming issues or major hitches.

DualSense support is present but understated, with some trigger resistance and rumble variation for different surfaces and collisions, but little that fundamentally improves the feel of driving. 

Verdict

Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition on PS5 delivers exactly what you would expect from a straight arcade conversion – immediate handling, insane, short tracks and – particularly in local split-screen – there are genuine highs and laughs to be had.

The problems lie in how quickly you can see everything there is to see. Six tracks and eight cars do not stretch very far; the event structure is threadbare, and heavy rubber-banding saps satisfaction from clean wins when going solo. 

When you remember that Raw Thrills’ own Cruis’n Blast on Switch delivers more content and a wilder sense of fun from the same broad template, this does feel like the weaker sibling.

As a budget party racer for Fast & Furious fans, it is serviceable. As a long-term home for arcade racing on PS5, it does run out of road a little too quickly, despite the budget £25 price point.

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