STILL PLAYING

Vanquish PC Because we’re gluttons for punishment, one rock-hard shooter a month just isn’t quite enough. In truth, the barrage of projectiles in PlatinumGames’ electrifying action game can’t quite compare to the bullet hell of Returnal, though they’re cut from a similar cloth – both forcing you into the open and built around intelligent riskreward mechanics. It does leave us wishing Serene was equipped with Sam Gideon’s slo-mo-triggering exosuit, mind.

Inertial Drift PC There’s something to be said for a game that does one thing extremely well. So it is with the drift mechanic of this focused, celshaded racer, which uses the right stick to enable you to fine-tune the angle at which you glide around corners. It takes some getting used to, but before long you’ll learn to negotiate even the tightest bends on the narrowest of its neon-glazed tracks without taking your foot off the gas. Thrilling stuff.

Fantasian iOS We’re waiting for Part 2 before we review it, but as a largely traditional roleplayer freshened up by a clutch of smart new ideas, Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Apple Arcade JRPG would have been a perfect fit for this issue’s Play section. Arcing attacks to target multiple enemies feels good; getting to choose when to grind enemies is a nice touch, too, giving you longer to admire and potter about in the handcrafted dioramas that make up its world.