The Monday letters page realises that the next gen Xbox will be able to play PS5 games, as one reader hopes Bluepoint Games isn’t working on God Of War.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Nintendo logic
So, Sony has had a successful State of Play, their best in years I’d say, and Xbox’s was good too (I’ll be honest, I can’t remember anything about it, but I remember the buzz was decent). That means that Nintendo is the next one to have a showcase, but we still don’t have a date for it.

I’ve seen some rumours that it’ll be March, but I feel that’s just the obvious guess anyway. But my question is what will they be talking about? All we know about from them at the moment is Fire Emblem and Splatoon Raiders and while I don’t think many people here would consider them a particularly big deal you just don’t know with Nintendo.

But surely they must be preparing to announce at least one new triple-A game (or whatever you’d call them with Nintendo). It’s probably not Animal Crossing or Zelda, because the timings don’t work out, so to me the two obvious options are Super Mario or Smash Bros.

You might say Mario is the most obvious, but Nintendo has been so weird about it so far I don’t think there’s any guarantee they’ll suddenly become predictable. My bet would be on Smash Bros., with some new characters and other minor new content. Not the most thrilling choice, in my opinion, but the logical choice. I would expect it to be the big game for Christmas.
Ishi

Perfect prelude
There was a lot of good stuff at the State of Play but it didn’t shake my opinion that Resident Evil Requiem is the most exciting game at the moment and the one I’m most looking forward to. The new footage looked great and so has everything else before it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game not make a single mistake before release and always look like a must have.

If it turns out to be a dud after all this I will actually be really impressed that Capcom has been able to hide it so well. I don’t expect that will be the case though and while I’ll still wait for the reviews I’m predicting this will be one of the best game of this year and probably the whole generation. Don’t let me down now!
Purple Ranger

Stuck in Sparta
I tend to agree with the Reader’s Feature about God Of War. Sons Of Sparta looks bad and a remake trilogy does sound like a big wasted effort, given those earlier games were nothing like the new ones in terms of gameplay or story. It’d be tragic if Santa Monica Studio were wasting their time on it, but it’d be just as bad if it were Bluepoint Games, doing it – which is something I’ve heard fans talking about.

It’s not that remaking the game itself is a terrible idea, it’s just that by doing that you’re locking out talented developers for five years or more. Developers that could be busy moving the franchise forward or just generally not redoing something that already exists and you can play as remasters. I just don’t see any good outcome, because if they get a no-name dev, like with Sons Of Sparta, then that drastically decreases the odds that it will be any good.
Focus

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Two Keanus
I didn’t think much of the state of play. The hair on the back of my neck when the John Wick trailer started playing. It would have been obvious to anyone that has watched at least one of the films it was a John Wick game.

But that’s tempered by the fact that I’m an old gamer that remembers when movie tie-in was just another way of saying a game was a poor quality, rushed cash-in. Remember The Matrix game?

GoldenEye 007 was the first game I remember that was based on a film that turned out to actually be good.
TomTom

For the love of the game
Interesting comparison of Sony and Valve’s attitude in the Reader’s Feature at the weekend. I would not have thought of the comparison myself, but it does work. I think the problem for both companies is that ordinary games – basically anything but a mega hit – have become too small for them to bother with.

This seems a mistake to me though, as in Sony’s case they lose out on a key incentive in buying their console. But for both companies it’s a waste of talent and knowledge that has taken years to build up and is no longer being used properly. As long as a profit is made why not make them anyway, for the kudos alone?

That worked for Astro Bot, which wasn’t a big hit but made people think better of Sony for a while. Soras will probably be similar, but I feel we need a lot more of that, multiple times a year.
Tenna

Only on PlayStation
Perhaps I’m just being slow here, but I realised that if the next gen Xbox is just a PC in console’s clothing, as it were, then that means that all PlayStation 5 games will, eventually, be on Xbox. I guess it doesn’t really mean much, since Microsoft doesn’t get a cut of the sales or anything, but we may finally have our all-in-one single format (except for Nintendo, but that was never going to happen).

For years that seemed like something to really wish for but now that it’s actually close to happening it feels like nobody will actually care. In the end, the PC has been the single format all along (especially for those using emulators) and Microsoft putting the Xbox logo on a different machine isn’t going to change that.

I think we’ll soon begin to realise that, in terms of consoles, single format domination is a bad thing. People are upset about Sony not releasing more first party games but now that the Xbox has slipped into irrelevance they have no incentive to change.

Why spend all that money when you’ve already proved it doesn’t matter to whether your game Is a success or not? Sony won by doing nothing so there’s no incentive to do more next time.
Tom Meadows

Last gen
I’ve been watching Nioh 3 a bit on Twitch and wondered whether or not it should have been a dual console release. I can’t see any reason it couldn’t work on the PlayStation 4. Surely they could lower the resolution or whatever it was that stopped a version on PlayStation 4. It seems like Sony left money on the table with this decision. To me at least it still looks the same as Nioh 1 and 2.

Pretty sure there’s still millions of PlayStation 4 users out there.
Bobwallett

GC: It’s not Sony’s game.

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Positive recap
I’m still thinking about Thursday’s State Of Play, because it was more than a few steps ahead of the usual disappointments that we are usually served by Sony. It absolutely began with a bang. Death Stranding 2 on PC; Ghost Of Yōtei: Legends in March; Kena 2; the reveal of a John Wick game, with Keanu Reeves returning in the role of the Baba Yaga. Silent Hill Townfall was revealed and it’s first person; that was quite the surprise. It’s also set in an island inspired by Scotland, so that’s a nice change of pace to see locations from Japan to the UK being used. It’s a very fresh take on the series.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is free from PlayStation 3 jail. I’ve wanted for this for many years and to see it finally happen is just unbelievable. Saros continues to look stunning and I can’t wait for it, personally. Pragmata looks charming and I actually have played the demo; very enjoyable and a fun hacking romp – Diana is a charmer as well. Project Windless is quite interesting. A chicken with a bone to pick and dual swords. Yep, I’m sold.

The anime titles and Marathon were my low points. I’m not particularly interested in either title. Control: Resonant and 007 First Light continue to impress. Crimson Moon sounds like a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing more. The final reveal was the remake of the God Of War trilogy, which was a win for me personally. It’s obviously years away, and it did just begin development, but spoken as a massive fan of the franchise I’m absolutely pumped for this.

However, it was disappointing to see no Phantom Blade 0 at the event. At least pre-orders could have been revealed. Since it does have a release date, after all. We didn’t see Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 or Kingdom Hearts 4. That was a let down on Square Enix’s part. Maybe we’ll see those at the Tokyo Game Show.

Wolverine will be shared in the spring, so I wasn’t expecting that. All in all, it was a fantastic event and the games look very stellar. There’s much to be excited for and I can’t wait to see more. I’ll also say that I would have liked to see more from Judas and Tides Of Annihilation and Lego Batman, but I can wait longer. To a wonderful 2026 and the release of Resident Evil Requiem in two weeks!
Shahzaib Sadiq

Inbox also-rans
I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the Highguard dev complaining about ‘gamer culture’. It’s not my type of game, so I wouldn’t be interested in it whatever happened. But I never saw any explanation for why everyone turned on it except that they were hoping for something else to be revealed at The Game Awards – which is hardly the developer’s fault.
Kakem

Am I the only one that thought the latest trailer for Marathon made it look like Splatoon? Not necessarily a bad thing but why do they have blue blood?
Gonk

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The small print
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Olivia Attwood is letting her hair down and making the most of single life following her split from husband Bradley Dack.

The ITV host, 34, was pictured with best pal and radio co-host Pete Wicks, 37, on a night out in London – and it was a late one.

Olivia and Pete partied with friends at a club in Soho, leaving in a car together just before 3am to head back to their hotel in Central.

Ever the fashionista, Olivia showcased her style in a pastel yellow playsuit with a white lace trim, paired with black tights and heels that enhanced her height.

She threw on a red bomber jacket to shield herself from the February chill as the group stood in the smoking area, waiting for their taxi.

Olivia had already been out celebrating her newly announced partnership with Garnier at The Newman Hotel before joining the group for a more raucous time.

As such, she had her honey blonde tresses styled in loose waves before shoving them up into a ponytail as the night went on.

She and Pete – with whom she fronts Kiss FM’s Sunday Roast show – were seen deep in conversation at multiple points, the former Strictly Come Dancing star clearly a shoulder for her to lean on through a tough period.

It comes after the pair were forced to shut down affair rumours last summer, having been seen cosying up on a yacht in Ibiza, which reportedly landed her ‘in the doghouse’ with Bradley, 32.

Still, Olivia has maintained her close bond with Pete and is showing no signs of slowing down, having thrown herself into both work and socialising since confirming she and footballer Bradley had parted ways.

Last month, following weeks of speculation, the Bad Boyfriends presenter took to her Instagram Story with a statement, showing that she was unpacking boxes in her new London apartment by herself.

She admitted that ‘vulnerability is not [her] bag’, feeling especially anxious about getting personal on social media, as it’s akin to ‘bleeding in shark-infested waters’.

However, in the name of transparency, the famously sarcastic and sharp-tongued reality star revealed that she was ‘crying [herself] to sleep’ as she navigated some major life changes.

‘I never expected to be moving into this apartment alone. And I’m in over my depth for sure’, she wrote.

Addressing her marriage breakdown directly, Olivia proved there’s no bad blood, despite swirling reports that their relationship ended due to a ‘breach of trust’ on his part.

‘I just want to be happy. I want Brad to be happy. Just one day at a time. For both of us’, she penned.

It was initially said she felt ‘heartbroken’ by her marriage’s demise when stories first surfaced in January, but after ditching her wedding ring and £200,000 engagement ring, sources claim the romance is now over ‘for good’.

‘Olivia is already talking about divorce because it is feeling very final and over for her,’ the insider told The Sun.

‘She’s worked too hard on her career to let it fall apart because of her relationship going south.’

They added that Olivia, who recently moved into a new London apartment by herself, is now ‘getting her ducks in a row and thinking of the future’.

‘She’s still determined to focus on work and knows she can’t just fall apart.’

The source also says she now needs ‘space away from Bradley’, having spent 10 years together.

Olivia, who rose to fame on Love Island in 2017, knew Bradley before she became a household name, having met the midfielder in 2015 through mutual friends while on a night out in the West End club Libertine.

She then entered the ITV2 villa in an act of revenge after he cheated on her.

While Olivia had a brief fling with Chris Hughes, they split shortly after the show ended, allowing her to reconcile with Bradley in 2018.

The Gillingham player popped the question in late 2019, and after multiple delays due to the pandemic and Bradley getting injured, they finally made it down the aisle in June 2023.

Olivia – who has an estimated net worth of £6million – and Bradley went all out with their nuptials, celebrating at London’s Bulgari hotel after walking through an archway of 10,000 roses in her £30,000 Galia Lahav dress to say ‘I do.’

Alas, it wasn’t to be ’til death do us part’, with Olivia already unfollowing Bradley on Insta, despite keeping ‘Dack’ in her display name.

In contrast, Bradley has been photographed looking downcast on several occasions, also still wearing his wedding ring.

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Married at First Sight is unleashing an All Stars version, combining contestants from the UK and Australia who didn’t find love the first time around.

As if the idea of marrying someone you’ve never met before wasn’t challenging enough, there’s now the added element that they’ll be from halfway across the world.

In the brand new 24-episode series called Second Marriage at First Sight, four legends from MAFS UK and four from MAFS Australia will be paired up with an unknown partner from the opposite country.

The couples may have to navigate cultural differences and the eventual location-based decision on where to settle if they find love.

They’ll be forced to make calls about their jobs, homes, families and friends, as they weigh up whether to risk it all for love.

Second Marriage at First Sight will start on British soil, before the couples jet off to the land down under to meet friends and family in the Southern Hemisphere.

Many fans on X were delighted with the news and can’t wait for it to hit our screens. @superbadiuk wrote: ‘Omg when will it air?’

Currently, we don’t know when the series will be coming to Channel 4.

@srslycereal is already thinking about future crossovers: ‘When does Canada get this? Lol.’

Both UK and Australian versions of the social experiment have been going since 2015, providing us with some iconic moments over the last decade.

The changes made to the Channel 4 hit show haven’t been welcomed by everyone. @aidoo_andrea wasn’t so sure about the switch up in format: ‘No no no. Keep it as it is.’

MAFS UK is produced by CPL, and its CEO explained some of the reasoning behind their decision to combine cultures: ‘Research shows people in Australia have more successful and enduring relationships with Britons than any other nationality, so we are genuinely hopeful that our brave singles can finally find the love they have been looking for.’

Head of Reality Entertainment for Channel 4, Steve Handley, said he thinks it will be their ‘greatest love story yet’.

He explained: ‘Everyone deserves a second chance at love and this time they’re saying ‘I do’ to a stranger on the other side of the world, risking absolutely everything for another shot at getting it right.’

Married at First Sight UK and Married at First Sight Australia is available to watch on Channel 4.

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Saber Interactive has unveiled a new big budget John Wick game and it’s not just for PS5 – even if it doesn’t have a release date yet.

Technically this new John Wick game wasn’t a surprise. The head of film studio Lionsgate said last month that a ‘major’ new John Wick game would be announced and he wasn’t lying, as anyone that watched last night’s State of Play will know.

The new game, which doesn’t yet have a name, is a multiformat title, and will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC at an unspecified point in the future – but seemingly not this year.

Most of the reveal trailer seems to be pre-rendered, but there’s what appears to be actual gameplay towards the end, and it looks very good.

The authenticity of the action is no doubt due to the involvement of series creator Chad Stahelski, with the game featuring an original story set before the Impossible Task. In other words, it’s a prequel that takes place before the events of the four films.

Whatever the game ends up being called, it will be developed by Saber Interactive, who have a number of very different studios – and it’s not clear which one is making this. But the publisher’s biggest hits include World War Z and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, so they’re used to working with other people’s IP.

According to the trailer blurb the game will feature, ‘a hard-hitting gun-fu combat system, jaw-dropping camerawork, intense driving experiences, cinematic storytelling, and a bold range of atmospherically immersive environments.’

As you can see, the game does feature the likeness of Keanu Reeves but whether he’ll be providing the voiceover is unclear. There’s a good chance he will though, as he’s no stranger to the world of video games, given his sterling work on Cyberpunk 2077.

This will not be the first John Wick game but unfortunately the excellent strategy action game John Wick Hex was delisted last year and is now all but impossible to acquire.

It’s a shame, because while it’s one of the ugliest games we’ve ever played – and does not feature Keanu’s likeness – it is one of the most original turn-based strategy titles of recent years.

Turn-base strategy is not the obvious way to go for a property like John Wick though and it’s only a surprise it’s taken this long for a big budget triple-A game to be announced.

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This is what dreams are made of — Hilary Duff is headed on a world tour that will include Canadian stops in nine cities.

The Lucky Me tour, which marks Duff’s first full-scale global headline run in almost two decades, will span seven countries, with dates across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand beginning June 22 at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach Fla.

Duff will make stops in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, with La Roux and Jade LeMac set to open 2026 dates and Lauren Spencer Smith opening for 2027 dates.

The Come Clean singer announced the tour in an Instagram video, in which she tries on different looks for her upcoming shows and makes references to The Lizzie McGuire Movie and A Cinderella Story.

“I’M GOING ON A WORLD TOUR!!!” she wrote. “… now what do I wear?”

Duff first teased the tour announcement at her final Small Rooms, Big Nerves show in Los Angeles, when she brought fans onstage to re-enact her viral With Love dance.

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The fans wore T-shirts that read “loading world tour” as they turned around and revealed the news to the crowd.

The Mature singer is currently gearing up for the release of her sixth studio album, Luck… Or Something, out on Feb. 20.

The Lizzie McGuire star first teased new music in August while celebrating the 22nd anniversary of her second studio album, Metamorphosis.

“I was embarking on something I had no idea would make such an impact on peoples lives, and mine. As much as I look back and think this album doesn’t hold the emotional depth I look for today, I know my 14/15 year old self meant every word. It sure as hell also landed on people at the right moment in time and set me off on a pretty epic adventure,” she wrote.

“Yesterday marked the 22nd anniversary of Metamorphosis … Although these are distant memories for me, thank you for showing up the way that you did,” Duff wrote, adding, “To be continued….”

Check out the full list of Canadian dates below:

Aug. 12, 2026 – Toronto, ON – RBC Amphitheatre

Jan. 22, 2027 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena

Jan. 26, 2027 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome

Jan. 27, 2027 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place

Jan. 30, 2027 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre

Feb. 2, 2027 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum

Feb. 4, 2027  – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre

Feb. 5, 2027 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre

Feb. 7, 2027  – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A PlayStation 5 dinosaur shooter inspired by Dino Crisis is getting a sequel, despite being eviscerated by critics and players alike.

While rubbish games are in abundance if you scour deep enough on Steam and other online stores, it’s rare that one gets as much attention as Code Violet.

The PlayStation 5 exclusive horror title became one of the most pre-ordered games on the PlayStation Store last month, presumably based on the trailer which made it look like a decent blend of Dino Crisis and Turok.

However, as detailed in our 1/10 review, ‘decent’ is far too generous. In fact, we described it as ’embarrassingly poor’ and a ‘vapid, broken, entirely un-entertaining experience’ – and one that was inexplicably priced at £39.99.

Despite Code Violet being panned across the board (it has a 29 rating on Metacritic, and a 2.6 user score), developer TeamKill Media has announced that a sequel is in development following the original’s ‘overwhelming success’.

‘We’re actively progressing on several exciting projects, with more announcements and reveals coming your way very soon,’ a post on X reads. ‘Today, however, we’re especially thrilled to share some big news with the entire TeamKill community.

‘Thanks to the overwhelming success of Code Violet and the incredible support from all of you, we are officially coming that development has begun on the next chapter of Violet’s story: Code UltraViolet!

‘We’re incredibly excited about what’s ahead and can’t wait to bring you along for the journey. Stay tuned!’

In a subsequent post, TeamKill clarified Code UltraViolet is a standalone ‘direct sequel’ to Code Violet, and not a DLC expansion.

The announcement of a sequel isn’t too surprising considering Code Violet is TeamKill’s most successful game ever, but with such negativity around the original, it’s hard to see people diving back in for a sequel – unless they pull off some kind of Herculean comeback.

Based on TeamKill’s history though, we wouldn’t bank on it. Along with Code Violet, the developer is responsible for the similarly panned Quantum Error, Son And Bone and 2020’s Kings Of Lorn.

Sadly, if you’re hoping for a new Dino Crisis from Capcom, there’s evidence to suggest they’re bringing back another dormant franchise instead.

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A reliable insider says three new PlayStation 5 games are coming to the PlayStation Plus catalogue and one is a lot bigger deal than the other two.

Right now, PlayStation fans have their eyes set firmly on the new State of Play airing this Thursday. Since it’s set to last over an hour, there are expectations that there could be a few entirely new game reveals, alongside updates for games like Saros and Marvel’s Wolverine.

It turns out that’s not the only thing Sony has planned for this month, as a reliable insider has shared details on a few games that will be added to the PlayStation Plus catalogue starting from next week.

This effectively makes them free for anyone who is subscribed to the PlayStation Extra or Premium tiers, with the headliner being Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2.

According to Dealabs’ billbil-kun, who has a proven track record of PlayStation Plus leaks, Sony will be making a formal announcement tomorrow on Wednesday, February 11.

Spider-Man 2 launched in 2023 and, at the time, we described it as the best Spider-Man game ever made, even if it was pretty unoriginal and stole wholesale from the Batman: Arkham games.

The game was also rather contentious thanks to its £70 price tag and sparked the age-old debate about pricing versus length, when it was discovered the main story and side quests could be cleared in just 30 hours.

Spider-Man 2’s inclusion in the PlayStation Plus catalogue is interesting, since a single month of the Extra tier is only £10.49 – so you can join just for that and then instantly quit.

Obviously, the goal is to use Spider-Man 2 as a means of attracting new subscribers and then hope they’ll stick around when they see how many other games they can access.

Aside from Spider-Man 2, billbil-kun claims two others will be added on February 17: racing MMO Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown for PlayStation 5 and puzzle platformer Neva for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

We can’t speak for Neva, but it is certainly visually gorgeous and the team at developer Nomada Studio won a BAFTA for artistic achievement last year.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is far less exciting, as it suffers from dated graphics and bizarre design decisions that keep it from being any sort of alternative to Gran Turismo 7 or Forza Horizon 5 (though neither are included in the PlayStation Plus catalogue).

This update also comes after Sony’s roll-out of free monthly games for February, which all PlayStation Plus subscribers can add to their library at no extra cost and keep forever… as long as you remain subscribed.

Those games are boxing sim Undisputed, underwater explorer Subnautica: Below Zero, indie Metroidvania Ultros, and flight sim Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.

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A new indie game from the makers of The Binding Of Isaac may seem a frivolous tale of magical furballs but it’s actually one of the most deeply complex strategy titles of recent years.

For a brief time, at the end of the 2010s, turn-based strategy games were fashionable. Despite loving the genre, we never would have thought that possible but, alas, those 15 minutes of fame were fleeting, and the obsession was only brief as far as mainstream gamers were concerned. As such it’s unlikely there’ll ever be another XCOM and a game like Into The Breach was only ever going to be a one-off.

Although Baldur’s Gate 3’s combat did keep the concept alive for triple-A gaming – and there’s a Star Wars themed XCOM clone coming out this year – turn-based strategies have largely returned to being the preserve of indie developers. And Mewgenics is about as indie as it gets, as one glimpse at the graphics and the credits – which largely consist of just two people – will tell you.

Beyond all the cat nonsense, Mewgenics is a disarmingly complex strategy roguelite combined with a breeding simulator to furnish an army of moggies to take on the powers of evil. It’s very silly and incredibly deep, in what must be one of the most extreme mismatches ever seen, between how a game looks and how it plays.

Although Mewgenics is essentially two games in one the basic explanation of what you’re doing is relatively straightforward. You start by managing your team of felines, kitting them out much as you might in XCOM itself. You can take four of them at a time on a single roguelite run, with combat resolved in an isometric arena reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics and all its many derivatives.

Should you be so skilled as to survive to the end of the day any cats that remain are automatically retired and can no longer be used again (except in special cases that we won’t spoil). Instead, you have to select replacements from your ever-growing cattery – ideally ones that have been purposefully bred for the occasion.

There’s a whole research and development element that goes on at your home base, both in terms of breeding the cats and expanding your HQ, with additional rooms and equipment that allow for buffs and other upgrades to be carried across multiple runs.

Although managing the loadouts of your cats involves a lot of very nerdy video game style considerations, the breeding is both complex and funny. Rather than dealing with test tubes and cloning vats, as you might expect when genetically engineering an army of killer kitties, you instead have to encourage loving relationships, making the critters feel comfortable and trying to stop fights between competing males. Even then your plans may be thwarted, if a female cat rejects a potential partner or a cat’s sexual preferences mean it’s not interested.

While breeding is important there’s also the issue of cat collars, which confer class types and associated abilities, and which frequently take the role of the most desirable loot. Combing genetics with collars, especially if your cat had a particularly powerful parent, allows your pussycats to gain abilities from multiple classes but also causes mutations and disorders, which can be either positive or negative – from sharper claws to an unstoppable urge to eat nearby poo.

Normally at this point in a review, we’d try to assure you that the game isn’t necessarily as complex as it sounds, but in this case that’s not really true. Mewgenics is a satisfyingly deep game, but it is a lot to take in at the start, especially given it can’t take itself seriously enough to give proper tutorials and the interface isn’t the most instinctive – especially when it comes to item descriptions, which make Elden Ring seem transparent.

The whole breeding aspect could easily have been a whole game in itself but technically it’s just a prelude to the combat, which in theory is fairly standard for the genre, as you move and attack across grid-based maps. However, the complexity of your cats’ abilities and weapons, and the weirdness of your enemies, means fights are highly unpredictable.

A successful run can take up to three hours but there’s so much randomness involved in that, in terms of the abilities your team is served up (you pick one from a selection of four each time you level up), the enemies, the locations, and random rolls of the virtual die, that the game can seem brutally unfair at times. At a base level it’s not actually that difficult but if luck is not smiling on you then it seems anything but.

As you might guess from the visuals, Mewgenics is by the creators of The Binding of Isaac. We can’t pretend it’s an art style we’ve ever liked but the game is made by basically two guys, so it’s hard to be too negative, especially given the impressive variety in cat and monster appearances. But a lot of the humour didn’t land for us and some of the depictions of the mutated or injured cats are, like their previous games, quite disturbing.

Despite its foibles, Mewgenics is an extremely ambitious and well thought out game. We didn’t gel with some of the elements, especially the random aspects and the artwork, but they’re clearly meant to be like that and are not an accident. Just like a cat, Mewgenics does not apologise for being itself and while it may not be purr-fect it’s impossible not to forgive its missteps, even when it’s purposefully annoying you.

Formats: PC
Price: TBA
Publisher: Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel
Developer: Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel
Release Date: 10th February 2026
Age Rating: N/A

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