Joseph La Russa
Echoes of the End is the prime example of a AA game with high aspirations. While it doesn't quite hit all of its lofty goals, its admirable effort, beautiful and fascinating world, and interesting story compensate for its more obvious shortcomings. A flawed but good first outing for Myrkur Games, Echoes of the End leaves me excited for this universe's and studio's future.
Mafia: The Old Country is the best Mafia game yet. Foregoing some storytelling tropes and poor game design choices of its predecessors, tightening its gameplay, and telling the most gripping story in the franchise to date, capped off by outstanding performances by the whole cast and a looker to boot, Mafia: The Old Country shines amongst its siblings and is an offer you shouldn't refuse.
"Despite a strong story and generally impressive performances, MindsEye is marred by baffling design choices, missing quality of life features, and a slew of technical troubles."
Avowed is superb, with true RPG goodness, real choices, deep systems, fun combat, and a true understanding and reverence of Eora.
Veilguard is a remarkable story with charming companions, excellent use of the tie-in media over the decade since Inquisition with some important characters originating from them, and a combat system that, while I did not and do not like it, I can recognize as high quality.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure is the sequel that nobody expected or really wanted, and yet it is exactly what the fans of the franchise deserved.
Ara: History Untold winds up being a mixed bag that doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights it had set its sights on, but the future for the game looks bright.