Evan Norris
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Deus Ex
- Halo: Combat Evolved
Evan Norris's Reviews
Regardless of whether it’s superior or inferior to its predecessor, Tears of the Kingdom is a staggering achievement in video game design and programming, and one of the very best games of the generation.
If Japanese indie developer Edelweiss wasn't already on your radar, consider this your wake-up call.
It's among the best games of the last five years.
An extraordinary achievement.
A modern RPG classic; a game that would have made a splash on SNES, even surrounded by all-time greats like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger.
An audacious and ambitious game that ranks among the best of the series, even if it's a touch inharmonious.
It takes what was already one of the industry’s best run-and-gun games and makes it even better, thanks to reliable controls and mechanics carried over from the base campaign, plus a new playable character, a handful of uniquely challenging bosses, gorgeous visuals, and delightful music.
Thanks to the studio's amazing attention to detail, and its investment in worldbuilding, turn-based mechanics, and production design, Sea of Stars has emerged as one of the best games of 2023.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder couldn't have a more appropriate name. It's filled with beautiful sights, lovely music, unexpected mechanics, unfamiliar enemies and power-ups, and, thanks to Wonder Seeds, revelation after revelation after revelation. Not everything new about the game works, and it suffers slightly from easy levels and boss battles, but it delivers everything you'd expect from the series, and more.
This sequel improves upon the original, which was already one of the top indie games in recent memory, by expanding upon its mythology, retaining and enhancing its fast-moving gameplay, introducing extraordinary new level designs, providing plenty of replay value, and wrapping everything in a stunning pixel art package.
While repetitive enemy encounters and mundane micromanagement add a layer of tedium to the proceedings, they don't undermine everything amazing about the game: an interesting cast of characters; impossibly-deep tactical role-playing mechanics; a dizzying amount of engaging, rewarding content; and peerless artistic assets.
One of the better indie game on the market.
A terrific, substantial, imaginative package.
The Alliance Alive is yet another terrific RPG on 3DS, a platform that refuses to go quietly.
Super Daryl Deluxe is extraordinary — not just because it's a terrific RPGvania, but because it's the work of two university students.
Strange Journey Redux is a masterclass in first-person dungeon crawling.
It's one thing for a game to embrace the mechanics of many different genres; it's another entirely to nail them all.
Arguably the finest 2D action-adventure of 2018, a year that has seen an influx of well-crafted Metroidvanias.
The Eternal Collection is an excellent port of an ever better game.
An essential piece of the Resident Evil canon.