Evan Norris's Reviews
In terms of murder mysteries, it doesn't get much better than Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Plus. The setting is fascinating, the story provocative, the characters full of personality, and the game world dripping (literally) in atmosphere. The only area where it stumbles is gameplay, which, unfortunately, is the most important area.
Even with a short running time and a lack of special set-pieces, Iron Meat does justice to the genre, not to mention its own on-the-nose name.
By marrying the expectations of a typical top-down 2D entry with the improvisational, do-it-yourself gameplay from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Grezzo has arrived at a winning formula that mixes old and new. That said, not everything is perfect: the echo system isn't great in combat situations and the game's dungeons demand more complexity.
Thanks to refined camera controls, additional moves, quality-of-life enhancements, expanded 2D platforming sections, and the retention of almost everything that made the Wii version special, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is the best way to experience Mickey's adventure in Wasteland.
Thanks to three must-play DS games, innovative porting work, a slew of special features and quality-of-life upgrades, and a surprisingly strong remake of a former franchise dud, it's among the best collections released under the Konami banner in the last five years.
It has a lot going for it, including a fascinating premise, 13 unique playable characters, excellent moment-to-moment action, and outstanding production design. With a better story and more nuanced strategic and relationship-building gameplay, it would join its predecessor as a GOTY contender.
The final product doesn't do much to elevate the Yars franchise, due to an excessively flippant tone, an over-reliance on unsatisfying stealth and hacking mechanics, and generally straightforward, unsurprising gameplay. The controls are solid, the power-ups are interesting, and the exploration is rewarding, but that's not quite enough to save the game from mediocrity.
Thanks to engaging combat, impressive level variety, rewarding exploration, an immersive hub area, and vibrant art, it's one of the very best games of 2024.
Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn takes what was effective and inventive about the original — weapon upgrades, vertical level design, and local multiplayer — and enhances it significantly with new moves, additional weapons, more complex level designs, and lavish sprite work. Only a few small faults keep it from greatness.
Mika and the Witch's Mountain is a cozy, comforting little adventure. It benefits from an interesting premise, breezy mechanics, some fanciful tunes, and a rewarding gameplay loop that pushes you forward. Its biggest problem is that it feels unfinished; the story and character relationships don't have enough time to mature, and the mechanics don't have sufficient room to evolve.
Natsu-Mon might not be the best game of the year, but it's destined to be one of the most memorable and affecting. Its emergent storytelling helps you feel like the author of your own adventure. Its seamless open world provides an exciting sense of discovery. And its many quests and quest-givers will keep you engaged for over two dozen hours.
Volgarr the Viking II is a throwback title, for better or worse. On the positive side, it deploys its simple control scheme to maximum effect, leverages several interesting platforming ideas, and provides hours of challenging gameplay that will test your reflexes and resolve. On the negative side, its punishing nature, overlong levels, and general opacity can prove more frustrating than rewarding.
Even with a few underdeveloped components, Arranger is very much like its heroine Jemma: charming and hard to ignore.
While the social component of the game is strong, the micro challenges that underpin it are ultimately too insignificant to stand the test of time.
Earth Defense Force 6 is more of the same, in the best way possible. It can get tedious at times, and it looks more like a PS3 game than a PS5 game, but it delivers all the chills, thrills, and spills you'd expect from the franchise.
Parasol Stars is a hidden gem in both the Bubble Bobble franchise and the PC Engine library. It boasts lovely graphics, high replay value, and a surprisingly deep scoring system. Its only drawbacks: a short running time, two-player multiplayer that can feel clumsy at times, and a nasty bug unique to this modern port. Once the patch is live, definitely consider picking this one up.
Despite a handful of unsightly assets, an underwhelming story, and a few difficulty spikes, the remaster of Monster Hunter Stories makes for an easy recommendation, for Monster Hunter fans or simply for anyone interested in approachable turn-based role-playing games who missed the original on 3DS.
Despite the lack of 2010's Rocket Knight, the Re-Sparked collection is a video game anthology worthy of the hero Sparkster. It pulls together three noteworthy fourth-gen action-platformers — one of them, Rocket Knight Adventures, among the best of its kind — makes them more accessible than ever before thanks to save states and rewind, and surrounds them with bonus features.
Its Campaign Mode is a letdown, and the lack of online multiplayer hurts its longevity, but NeoSprint is an overall okay arcade racer suitable for both solo play and game night with friends.
Banana Rumble doesn't unseat the original Super Monkey Ball or its sequel, but it gets closer than you'd think.