Steven Wong
Traverser puts players in the role of Valerie Bennett, who has the freedom to move between a floating city's upper and lower halves in a journey to free her father and uncover the truth. Although the game has a nice atmosphere, complete with a gravity manipulation glove for puzzles, Traverser can get weighted down with wasted potential.
Sorcerer King has a lot of great ideas, but they don't necessarily come together well.
Despite its faults, Civilization: Beyond Earth does fulfill its promise to take you to a distant world, where you'll find exotic alien life, meet future leaders of mankind... and conquer them.
Endless Legend doesn't quite measure up to some of the longer standing series, but it gets very close. For a relative newcomer, that's a big deal.
With Cities: Skylines, you have the chance to plan the city of your dreams, complete with a complex road sysem and economic infrastructure. However, the game's steep learning curve and vague status feedback might put-off a lot of would-be mayors.
Ultimately, the game left me wishing there was more to it.
Ronin puts you the role of a motorcycle helment wearing ninja, who can dodge bullets and deliver death with every leap. However, the game's unforgiving nature tends to sap much of the fun out of vengeance.
Personally, I don't like having so much left to chance, but I can definitely see the appeal. There's tremendous satisfaction in making it through a floor that you've been stuck on for several playthroughs. Each success is like overcoming the impossible. It's also hard to get bored with a level that's different each time you play it. For hardcore players, Dungeon of the Endless could be the game that will occupy your time and mind for what seems to be... well... endless ages.
Much like a Claptrap, parts of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel try too hard to be liked. The freezing element, although welcome, doesn't add much to the gameplay.
A City Sleeps' high difficulty level is bound to limit the game's appeal to hardcore players. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say that the game is unbeatable, but there were times when I felt hopelessly stuck, and it's probably one of the longest "short" games I've ever played.
All taken together, Phantom Breaker offers a couple hours of mindless, mass-bashing fun. It has some of the same charm as old-school beat'em up arcade games like Turtles in Time, but with an Japanese anime theme. It's fun for a time, but it passes quickly, and it's very easy to move on without looking back.
Gods Will Be Watching is a sci-fi thriller that's all about making the right decisions. The thing is, there are no right decisions... and that's the good news.
Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown takes the Shadowrun experience - where magic works alongside high technology - and brings it online for players to play cooperatively. But it's hard to make a living in this dark cyberpunk fantasy when there are so many problems with the world... and we're not just talking about the dragon that destroyed Fenway.
The smarter sims, sleek customization system, and emotions truly brings The Sims 4 to life. However, even with those impressive features, the game ultimately feels like a incremental step up from The Sims 3.
Rollers of the Realm, by most respects, is an excellent pinball and RPG hybrid. However, it takes a great amount of skill and no small share of luck to get through it.
Citizens of Earth feels like a game that's meant to be played with a walkthrough guide nearby, which is also reminiscent of a classic RPG-adventure experience, but not one that is necessarily enjoyable all the time. That being said, Citizens of Earth does provide an fun retro experience. It just has trouble keeping things interesting during the long trip around the world.
While there might be a few snags, the start of El Presidente's fifth term is looking to be a worthwhile one.
Toren is an experience that's worth at least one run. Then, it gets put up on a shelf like a nice book, where it ends up disappearing alongside the other novels.
Trials of the Blood Dragon offers a fantastic challenge and features an outrageously funny storyline. However, the lousy platforming shooting elements and frustratingly difficult levels can seriously drag the gameplay experience down.
Although 3 out of 10 Season 2 delivers a fun series of episodes and experiences, but it has trouble standing out as a standalone season.