Robert N. Adams's Reviews
Stardew Valley has a little bit of everything for everyone and does it all well. It's well-designed, well-polished, and encompasses everything I love about this style of game and more. A modern masterpiece in every way.
Rebel Galaxy is nearly perfect in every way. It provides the perfect mix of player choice, balance, and challenge for fans of space combat games who don't mind the lack of 3D flight.
Metro Exodus builds on the gameplay of the previous titles and expands it into a much broader world, adding new mechanics and expanding the narrative without padding things too much.
Although it has some minor flaws, Shardlight nevertheless stands out as an excellent point & click adventure that pays homage to its predecessors.
GRIS features outstanding graphics, beautiful cinematics, and whimsical music. While it lacks in gameplay and replayability, it handily makes up for it in its presentation.
Children of Morta serves as a fine ARPG for newbies and veterans alike. A beautiful world brought alive by beautiful pixel art, catchy music, and incredibly compelling gameplay that holds the whole package together.
Littlewood might just be the perfect casual game, blending farming RPGs, roguelites, and city builders into one neat package.
The Corridor has a corridor as advertised and a bonus button, too. Pressing the button makes weird fun happen in a perfectly concise experience.
Although it's a bit linear at times, Metro 2033 Redux excels in providing a first-person shooter experience with bountiful opportunities to make clever use of stealth.
While Planet Coaster has some flaws with management and automation, it is nonetheless an excellent theme park simulator that adds many new tools for the aspiring rollercoaster tycoon.
Deliver Us Mars improves on its predecessor Deliver Us the Moon in every way with a richer narrative, fun platforming, and challenging puzzles.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe does what Starcraft 64 could not: make a real-time strategy game work well on console. It does have its aggravating flaws and quirks, but these are balanced out in part by robust quality-of-life features and sensible design. Despite its flaws, Pikmin 3 Deluxe gets most of its gameplay right and will hopefully serve as the blueprint for the continuation of the franchise on the Nintendo Switch.
Although it makes some stumbles that its predecessor avoided, Metro: Last Light Redux is nonetheless an exciting romp through previously unexplored parts of the Metro universe.
American Truck Simulator is a great game for listening to podcasts while driving around a virtual simulacrum of Nevada and California. It has some flaws, but the overall presentation was fantastic and very enjoyable.
Agents of Mayhem is Volition trying something new with a bit of their longstanding franchises mixed in, and they mostly do a great job at forging new paths. It has a few bugs and it's not perfect, but it makes for an excellent new game with a heck of a lot of character.
Astroneer nicely builds on the Early Access release. The world is much more polished and it finally gives players something to do beyond simply digging up the earth and crafting new techs.
Rebel Galaxy Oulaw changes genres from its predecessor and manages to make a fun, compelling experience with a lot of customization options and an accessible way for nearly anyone to play.
Deliver Us The Moon redeems the troubled Early Access launch of this 3D adventure game, providing an experience that feels like playing a movie without sacrificing gameplay.
Planetbase has a handful of minor flaws, but the overall presentation is excellent despite these tiny problems. A fun game for people who like building and managing communities.
Mushroom Wars 2 is a simpler-than-average real-time strategy that nonetheless possesses a good bit of a depth and has potential for competitive play.