Evan Norris's Reviews
Shiren is not for everyone. Anyone craving an accessible or user-friendly RPG need not apply. Fans of challenging rogue-likes, however, should snatch the game up immediately.
It suffers a bit from recycled ideas and mechanics, but in terms of music, art direction, and combat it carves out a corner all its own.
Headlander is neither Double Fine's best game nor its most ambitious. Yet it's a solid, quirky, funny, and bold experiment in a genre new to the developer.
Zero Time stands as the weakest of the trilogy, but still a satisfactory visual novel in its own right.
Insomniac proves with Song of the Deep that it can make a gem with a small team, on a tiny budget, and in a previously-unexplored genre.
When it's not sending you into cardiac arrest, it's bending your mind with plot twists and challenging your reflexes and brain power with a series of platforming and puzzling challenges. In the end, lightning strikes twice for Playdead. Six years was worth the wait.
Uncharted 4 is a roller coaster of a game, one with incredible action set-pieces, tactical gunplay, and emotional moments. It's a triumphant send-off for one of the most beloved series of the last ten years.
In the end, Platinum didn't need to do much to make Mutants in Manhattan a worthwhile experience. All it had to do was respect the source material, create some satisfying combat mechanics, and honor the series' local multiplayer origins. It failed largely at all three.
A creative, open-ended game rich in emergent gameplay that's sadly spoiled by technical problems.
Paranautical Activity is a mixed bag designed for a niche audience. If you like twitch shooters, permadeath, and high difficult levels, this is a game that's worth considering. If you're a shooting fan who wants more structure and predictability, Paranautical Activity is probably a skip.
If this is to be the Vita's swan song, so be it. It's arguably DrinkBox's greatest work, and it's an early contender for game of the year.
In every way it's the faithful successor to Star Fox 64 that fans have been anticipating for almost 20 years.
Despite its low profile and low price, Star Fox Zero is a blast to play.
Faithfully restored and rich in nostalgic goodness, Day of the Tentacle Remastered is easy to recommend, both to LucasArts fanatics and adventure game newcomers.
Pokkén Tournament is an unqualified success.
While the final act bogs down in firefights, the game, for the most part, juggles physical and mental challenges successfully.
Even with a graphical facelift and some new customization options, the Wii U version of Rodea pales in comparison to the Wii build, and it doesn't come close to Naka's earlier works.
A movie license tie-in game that lives down to genre expectations.
A solid, if unspectacular, hack-n-slash game that honors the subject material and respects its fans.
With a little more financial support and a lot more play-testing, Armikrog could have been something special. As it stands, however, it seems incomplete.