Thomas Wilde
Double Dragon Gaiden's got one big problem. It's not what you'd think, but exactly what you should've expected.
To my mind, that's what makes Dead Rising interesting in 2016. It hasn't aged well at all, and it's a sort of time capsule for late sixth/early seventh-generation design, but it still has a quiet intensity and sense of genuine dread that none of its more famous sequels even tried to match, and which in many ways stands alone in recent video game history. If you can come to grips with its relative user-unfriendliness, it's an experience worth having.
The Quarry is a fun, bloody thrill ride on your first playthrough, but its lack of interactivity and a lot of little issues drag down the whole.
I would love to see a sequel that kept the Guild's basic premise and look but enabled you to keep equipment, sort your cards outside of combat, or hold on to character advancement. As the game stands right now, it kills time, and that's about it.
Beyond that, however, I see Bleed's appeal, but it's a game that just isn't for me, at least not right now. It's a distinct experience in that it's a modern game dressed in a retro game's skin, with a substantial learning curve built into it before you're even competent. I don't think it's bad at all, but playing it feels like I've found myself in the cockpit of some vehicle that I don't know how to drive, five seconds before a crash. I figure there's a decent audience for this sort of game out there, but I'm not in it.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is an odd and often frustrating experience, with an escort mission front and center. There's a lot here that makes it worth checking out, though, even if only once.
You really need to play No Straight Roads. While the isn't amazing, the presentation is, and it's flawed in some truly interesting ways.
The '90s are back, sort of, in a comic book/urban fantasy mash-up that provides some co-op fun but can't quite live up to the rest of its genre.
A weird story of transhumanism and criminals in a rebuilt futuristic Warsaw, Gamedec is an interactive detective novel that's more interesting than traditionally fun.
If you're looking for a real beat'-em-up challenge, Sifu's got it, but it's not as fair as it is tough.
A short burst of nostalgic cartoon violence, Final Vendetta is uneven but mostly entertaining.
Kunio takes on ancient China in this mash-up of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and River City Ransom. Are these two great tastes that work together in any way at all?
The Winters' Expansion doesn't add content to Resident Evil Village so much as it seasons it. There's some fun to be had here, but as a whole, it's a little insubstantial.
If you'd buy a summer home in the zombpocalypse, Dead Island 2 is for you. For anyone else, it's more complicated than that.
'ReVamped' is a flawed port of a flawed game, but 'BloodRayne' is so earnestly grindhouse that I've never been able to truly dislike it.
Ikai is a game that, despite its hiccups in the opening acts, nails the landing. The focus on Naoko over random jump scares pays off, resulting in an enjoyable experience that will resonate with you for some time.
There's the seed of a good game here, but it's underdeveloped. Garage has style and wit to spare, but its cheap deaths, poor map design, murky graphics, and frequent bugs all add up to a frustrating experience. I'm usually willing to give any zombie game more credit than most sensible people would, and even I can't recommend this.
Rogue Lords will really annoy your fundamentalist relatives, but is it any fun? Well... that's a complicated question.
Into the Pit is a retro FPS/roguelike that's far less than the sum of its parts. It's got great action, but everything that surrounds it is questionable.
Redfall's fun with friends, but there are a few problems with the formula.