STILL PLAYING

Yakuza 5 PS4 The Remastered Collection is complete. Time, then, to revisit perhaps not the best but certainly the most Yakuza game of all. We’re struck by the melancholic opening chapter and the tragedy of Kazuma Kiryu’s inability to escape his past, even with his kindly new boss prepared to overlook it. Still, no Yakuza stays downbeat for long – and, as we bomb down the expressway at ludicrous speed, we eagerly anticipate the bear fights and dance-offs to come.

Archero iOS Habby’s mobile ARPG has a delightful central mechanic – your chosen hero fires automatically, but only when standing still, which is tough in dungeons filled with nearbullet-hell levels of ordnance – and its RPG stylings get their hooks in quickly. But like too many mobile games, it’s aggressively monetised, from constant video-ad pesters to a suspiciously steep difficulty curve and an IAP battle pass that only lasts a fortnight. Frustratingly close to greatness.

Apex Legends PS4 Returning to Respawn’s battle royale after a long break makes us feel like a confused elder who’s wandered into the wrong nursing home: it’s all familiar enough, yes, but something’s off. New map Meltdown is a messy sprawl with a loot train running through it whose nuances we’ve yet to master, and we’re convinced there are fewer guns laying about. When we do finally find our old friend the Wingman, we’re overjoyed – until we discover just how fatally it’s been nerfed. Are we out of touch? No. It’s the videogames that are wrong.