Kyle Hilliard's Reviews
Agents of Mayhem is absurd, but it leans into its own insanity in a charming way and backs it all up with fun, destructive action
Ever Oasis is a unique pastiche of familiar ideas, but no single element rises above the rest. Even so, I was eager to keep upgrading my character and oasis throughout
Rime's puzzles rarely challenge, sometimes making you feel dumb for missing the obvious solution rather than smart for figuring them out, but the journey is a strong one with a satisfying ending
Gnog is a relaxing puzzle experience. None of the boxes make your brain hurt, but each offers a rewarding set of engaging tasks
Bye-Bye Boxboy marks a high point for the series, and has some of my favorite puzzles in the trilogy
Dragon Quest Heroes II is a step backwards from the first Heroes, but represents a solid Dynasty Warriors-style action game. It gets repetitive, but taking on a massive army single-handedly is fun
Breath of the Wild is a feat of design and polish. Hyrule feels like a real place, and the journey Link and Zelda undertake to defeat Ganon is compelling
Yoshi moves to the 3DS from the Wii U with little downgrading. The new modes don’t merit a re-purchase for those that played the Wii U version, but this version is a perfectly fine way to experience Woolly World
Half-Genie Hero is a smooth platformer with a great sense of humor that recalls old-school platforming challenges
Fusions is an extra-goofy take on the world of Dragon Ball Z. It’s repetitive, and doesn’t have enough fusing, but has a strange charm
Mario Maker 3DS is missing some core features from its Wii U counterpart, but it absolutely works as a portable Mario creation suite
You’re still collecting monsters by throwing Poké Balls and taking on the competition in turn-based battles, but Sun & Moon feels like a brand new Pokémon game in some fundamental and worthwhile ways
The Xenoverse games have become sort of a love letter to all things Dragon Ball, and that’s great, but the combat still comes up short. It gets in the way of a fun, often-goofy Dragon Ball Z experience
Rigs has motion-sickness issues (which may not be the case for all players) but the core arena game is a lot of fun, which makes this one of PlayStation VR’s strong early experiences
Rush of Blood is an unexpected direction for the follow-up to Until Dawn, but it’s a good, straightforward way to kick off PlayStation’s virtual reality initiative
This sequel has some much-needed improvements over the first game, but the pacing feels more sluggish
Breaking down a large cube into a recognizable object using your puzzle-solving smarts is hugely rewarding
Bound disappoints in some areas, but it did give me a deep appreciation of ballet and dance, which was entirely unexpected
Getting a handful of players together for local matches leads to simple, chaotic fun, but fewer than that leads to frustration and boredom
This follow-up builds on the well-designed original, and does so without overcomplicating the mechanics