Mike Epstein's Reviews
A true licensed tie-in game, Stranger Things 3: The Game is most fun when you let fandom lead the way but can fall flat on its own. [Warning: This review contains spoilers for Netflix's Stranger Things, Season 3]
Death's Gambit is a very blunt attempt to fuse two beloved games, Dark Souls and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, into one challenging 2D action-platformer. Developer White Rabbit shows a strong understanding of what made each of them great but glosses over fundamentals that all great games need, such as responsive controls and an understandable game world, and falls short of its promise.
Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption has a few clever new ideas, but it doesn't quite feel like a complete package.
Panzer Dragoon: Remake restores a cult classic on-rails shooter, flaws and all.
Bleeding Edge blends third-person action with MOBA and hero-shooter mechanics to create an interesting but flawed action esport.
Resolutiion is an action game that asks you to ponder big questions, but stops short of wrestling with them itself.
Iron Man has moves you've never seen before in VR. But in a bland game, they only take him so far.
Oddworld's newest revival looks incredible, but its classic stealth-platforming feels old-school in all the wrong ways.
Final Fantasy fans should play this game immediately. It's not perfect, but it has many of the franchise's traditional strengths. If you're new to the series, you may want to try the classics first, or wait for a sale.
'No Man's Sky' is the most massive exploration game of all time, but ultimately feels hollow
Far Cry 5 never decides what game it wants to be.
The best looking world we've entered all year can't save Assassin's Creed Origins.
Kill la Kill The Game: IF looks good, but lacks mechanical depth, narrative nuance, or a breadth of content to match.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics can be a passable, if bland, strategy RPG with great inspirations, but lacks the polish or depth to make a strong impression of its own.
West of Dead brings some interesting ideas to the well-trod Rogue-lite scene, but lots of technical and design flaws make it hard to enjoy them.
Skully's basic puzzle-solving and platforming are mostly benign, with occasional shows of both clever design and poor craftsmanship.
Destruction AllStars has solid driving, but its demolition derby-style car combat drags as much as it thrills.
Hood gives you glimpses of a new and exciting multiplayer concept, but its many, many design flaws keep the game from delivering.
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst still has fun parkour, but fails as a compelling open-world game.
Fire Emblem: Fates offers new features and gameplay that weigh down the series' tried and true gameplay, rather than enhance it.