Leif Johnson's Reviews
SpellForce 3 competently blends RPG and RTS games into a generally enjoyable package, but there's not enough creative force to create a lasting spell.
Dreadnought in many ways successfully brings the World of Tanks formula to outer space with sci-fi flair, and the vertical movements of the ships add some depth. It's often fun, but if you want to advance at a reasonable pace you'll have to deal with an unreliably active PS4 player population and an XP system that requires a lot of grinding to unlock new ships.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II has some launch issues, but it's a respectable and funny action RPG.
Lords of the Fallen has fun combat and a good spin on Dark Souls' skill system, but its hero is overpowered.
Ashes of the Singularity delivers thoughtful real-time strategy with tons of units in play, but drab maps and a poor story.
Absolver is a beautiful martial-arts fighting game that allows for an impressive degree of personalized play with its innovative combat deck system, which lets you learn skills from combat with other players and NPCs. Unfortunately, it only comes with a single PvP arena mode at launch, and its fascinatingly nebulous campaign breaks off early and abruptly. It feels like an early access game with a ton of potential, but it's not quite there yet.
Heart of Thorns expands Guild Wars 2 in meaningful ways, but hasn't yet mastered its own masteries system.
Hob is a beautiful Zelda-like puzzler with fun combat elements that takes place on an enchanting world where nature and machinery alter the landscape as easily as a twist of a Rubik's cube. The wordless approach to the story creates some confusion and the fix camera sometimes results in unnecessary deaths, but never does the time spent with Hob feel wasted.
Sundered takes the 2D Metroidvania platforming formula augments it with some successful ideas that all but reward you for dying. Its procedurally generated levels are hit and miss, as the dynamic parts come off as bland in comparison to Sundered's impressive hand-drawn areas and epic boss fights. In addition, its randomly appearing enemy hordes sometimes lead it to devolve into mere button mashing and random deaths, but the knowledge that I'll come back a little stronger each time makes it hurt less.
Hellblade could benefit from more exploration and enemy variety, but it's a powerful portrait of the strength of will over personal demons.
Dawn of War 3 has overly dominant elites, and a merely serviceable campaign, but it captures the power of mass battles well.
Styx: Shards of Darkness greatly resembles the earlier Styx: Master of Shadows from 2014, but Cyanide improved the gameplay this time around with the inclusion of craftable weapons, the lack of a lock-on in combat, and expanded abilities. It presents an interesting world to explore but wastes its potential by recycling environments from early missions late in the game. Co-op mode is fun, too, but only selectively as some stealth-only missions seem far more manageable on one's own.
Grow Up doesn't feel terribly different from Grow Home other than its larger world, but its main achievement is to strengthen some of its predecessor's weak points. The drive to climb to the top of everything remains, but here it's improved on with new methods of climbing and flying, and the option to toss down plants that serve as tools for any situation. The camera sometimes complicates this, but not enough to bury the charm of the original.
Blackguards 2 removes much of the chaff from the original game, but you'll still need some patience.
If you can stomach the plodding matches, Scrolls delivers a rewarding melange of collectible card and tabletop gameplay.
Endless Space 2 is a beautiful and capable 4X game, with memorable personality that's seemingly calculated down to the pixel level. It doesn't deviate much from the genre's norms, but it delivers a generally satisfying 4X experience with only a few missteps in combat and diplomacy. Provided you're also okay with tackling a steep learning curve, it's also a satisfying entry point for the genre.
The Elder Scrolls Online will never feel like a proper Elder Scrolls game for many people who flock to it, but while we wait for whatever comes after Skyrim, it's a damn fine way of passing the time.
As the millions of people still streaming into the game show, if Blizzard sees Battle for Azeroth as a struggle to keep our hearts and interest, it's clearly already won.
The Sexy Brutale is a beautiful puzzler that skillfully combines time loops and elements of Clue.
XCOM: Enemy Within is a feature-packed expansion that makes a great game even greater.