Ray Carsillo's Reviews
Although a bit short and repetitive at times, the fast and frantic action of Matterfall is a delight if you prefer your gameplay more arcade-y and your goals to be focused on high scores and conquering leaderboards rather than saving the world.
While there's really nothing broken in Archangel, the game suffers from a clear lack of follow-through on any of the interesting ideas it tries to bring to the table. Its slow, plodding pace stands out even more against the backdrop of mediocre gameplay and one-note characters that made me thankful when the game came to its abrupt end.
Pyre mashes up point-and-click adventures, RPGs, and sports games—and comes out the other end with one of the more memorable stories we've seen in some time. It's a tale of freedom, sacrifice, and rising against the odds, even when they seem to be in your favor. While it can be a bit repetitive gameplay-wise, the colorful world and even more colorful characters should be more than enough to motivate you to fight for the exiles of the Downside.
It's a solid third season for The Walking Dead, but we've seen so much better. Cheap plot devices and inconsistent tones in the writing hurt the overall quality of the narrative, and the Telltale Tool continues to show its age in the worst ways. And, for diehard fans, Clementine will still find a way to steal the show from the new cast.
Injustice 2 is one of the most complete fighting games you'll ever play. From the story to the Multiverse Mode, there is something for everyone here to enjoy. And with how addictive the gear system is, you'll be hard-pressed to put it down.
Farpoint is another perfect example of a VR game with solid ideas and spotty execution. There is a core of good gunplay and decent story, but the game quickly becomes one-dimensional in its approach, and finds a way to feel like a grind despite its short campaign.
It's funny how a remake of a game that never originally hit the West can feel like such a step forward. There are a couple questionable choices, like the removal of the weapons triangle, and series purists might grumble over some other changes like dungeon exploration, but overall Shadows of Valentia feels like the next great step in Fire Emblem.
What it lacks in length and complexity, Pinstripe makes up for in narrative. It's a compelling story set in a beautiful world full of interesting characters, and that alone should be worth a look for most—even if there's really not much challenge to this puzzle-adventure game.
A stellar atmosphere is not enough to save such a puzzle-platformer that completely lacks any sort of challenge. While the story of Six is a sad one, it's not for the fact that her adventure begins in a cage—but that the developer failed to find a way to make me care about it at all.
It's pure nostalgia, but if you loved these games as a kid, there's just enough new features to bring you back to it again—and they hold up well enough if you have someone you'd like to introduce these games to for the first time
Some long-forgotten issues from way back in the day crop up again in this throwback action-plaformer, but even if you aren't playing it through the nostaliga of someone who grew up with Banjo-Kazooie or other adventures like it, you'll still find a solid game to play in Yooka-Laylee.
MLB The Show 17 sets a new pinnacle for the franchise. It creates more depth for its tent pole modes and polishes everything else to a terrific gleam. Some online issues and glitches still continue to plague the series at launch, but you might get so engrossed in Franchise or RTTS that you won't even notice until they're fixed.
Old Time Hockey is more style than substance. Its heart was in the right place, but shoddy controls, glitches, and poor gameplay design make this an arcade-style game hockey fans just don't need in their lives.
There is a strong core of characters and story bedrock laid down in Mass Effect: Andromeda, but between questionable design choices, boring missions, and glitches galore, it's hard not to view BioWare's journey to a brand new galaxy as anything less than mission failure.
The fact that some of Fast RMX's modes like Time Attack missed launch is a bummer, and track design can be a bit inconsistent in terms of quality, but if you're looking for a pure arcade racing experience, this heir apparent to F-Zero will definitely do the trick.
The in-game currency decision was a head scratcher, as it adds an unwelcome grinding element to much of the gameplay. If you can look past that, then there's a decent campaign and the same addictive multiplayer Bomberman is known for sitting at this launch title's explosive core.
An inventive premise and surprisingly deep combat system sits at the core of what could've been a great game—if so many technical issues didn't surround it and detract so much from the whole of the experience.
Halo Wars 2 does a fantastic job building on the foundation laid out by the original game. New modes and new characters highlight what is a fun return to the Halo universe, even if the campaign is shorter than I'd prefer.
I can't remember the last time I've seen such a mess of a game. There's a decent story here, but it's buried under so much technical and design shortcomings that it's not worth your time digging to try to find it.
Double Dragon IV is a sequel that came about three decades too late. While it’s a great follow-up to the games from the 8-bit era, it also unintentionally shines a light on the shortcomings of the time—which only the most diehard of fans will be able to overlook.