Samuel Guglielmo's Reviews
Statik's puzzles are absolutely brilliant, providing some mind-bending experimental challenges in a unique way that takes full advantage of VR.
Symphony of the Machine opens with a few clever light beam puzzles, then makes you resolve those puzzles for two hours. It's also glitchy and full of unfortunate design decisions which kept me from even enjoying the nice visuals.
Maybe future episodes will improve on this. Unfortunately Tangled Up in Blue starts Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series off on an unconvincing note. Its best plot ideas are ditched before they get going, the soundtrack is good but repetitive, and it fails to improve on the formula in the way recent Telltale games have been doing.
An addictive and entertaining roguelite, Has-Been Heroes has some novel ideas that makes it an absolute blast for when you have 30 minutes to kill for another run.
Aaero is a competent rhythm game that borrows some elements from other genre greats. It stumbles on its strange design choices a few too many times, but hopefully some improvements can be made in the future
Fated: The Silent Oath really wants to tell a personal story about family in VR. Instead it tells a boring story surrounded by mostly boring gameplay elements that is only occasionally brought up by some nice art design.
Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition has a solid eight-hour campaign that is still one of the best offered in an FPS even five years later. Sadly, the other modes don't hold up very well and the new Duke Nukem stuff is ultimately a bust. Still, if you haven't played Bulletstorm, this is a great opportunity to do so.
Darknet is an extremely well made puzzle game that continued to build upon its simple elements in smart and creative ways. If you own a VR headset then you'll want to dive into this.
Above the Law is a perfectly good episode with a few great quiet moments. It just lacks the oomph that the first two episodes brought and is being dragged down by a far too large cast of characters.
Mafia III's first expansion, Faster, Baby!, turns the formula on its head. The story it offers is good, but not exceptional, while the gameplay is a huge step up. Fans of the main game should grab this when they can.
Unearthing Mars switches gameplay styles a little too often to be consistent, and none of the ones it switches to really carry the game. It looks nice, but that's about all I have to say for it.
Ghostbusters: Now Hiring seriously has all the potential to be something special, but at only 15-20 minutes long, it's still just potential. Hopefully, future episodes can do better.
I'd say it's shocking Troll and I is as bad as it is, but it's really not. It takes so many good ideas from other games and uses them completely wrong. It tries to tell a simple story and totally stumbles over it. It lies to you about how to progress the game. Finally, in a co-op game, it somehow fails at making the co-op fun. Just avoid this game.
Typoman: Revised is a smart puzzle platformer that takes one fantastic central mechanic and delivers some amazing puzzles with it. I just wish it brought a few more.
Equally fantastic and frustrating, NieR: Automata can be compelling and frantic one minute and then drag you down with annoying filler segments and a terrible open world the next. The good ultimately outweighs the bad, but I did wish a bit more was put into some elements.
Dying: Reborn VR has a few cool puzzles, but most of the puzzles are terrible and require absurd leaps in logic or for you to pixel hunt for difficult-to-see items. The rest of the game doesn't hold up at all.
Human Conditions is just three more side quests and one more co-op mission for Watch Dogs 2. That's not a horrible thing: Watch Dogs 2's side quests are meaty and fun and these three are no exception. Just it's not really much to drive anyone back to the game.
Night in the Woods is basically everything I always hope games can be. Powerful and moving with gameplay that's clever, rewarding, and unique, all wrapped up in one of my favorite presentations. Don't pass this up.
We Are Chicago really wants to tell a story that most games don't want to touch upon, but it completely fails at delivering that story in a satisfying manner.
Trying something slightly different while waiting for the true sequel, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is a delightful VR puzzle game that does a great job reacquainting players with the charming and creative cast of Psychonauts.