Alex Langley
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 is a failure in almost every way a game can be a failure.
After several years, delays, and missteps, the Kickstarter-funded Mighty No. 9 is here, and believe me when I say that the supposed spiritual successor to Mega Man is a Mega Bust.
Are you looking for something to chill your bones? Something to make the shadows seem that much longer and the night that much darker?
The opening of Blackguards 2 is deep with implication, unpleasant, entirely unfun, and a perfect metaphor for what you're in for with the rest of this game.
J-Stars Victory Vs+ is more middle-of-the-road bad— it's never especially frustrating, but it's also never especially exciting.
Fans have been wishing for the perfect Dragon Ball Z game for a long time, and Dragon Ball Xenoverse makes it clear that they'll need to wish for something else
Schrodinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark, tries to bring this old-guard genre up to date with some new gameplay elements and puzzle-solving, but the results are a bit more Bubsy than Mario.
Playing The Elder Scrolls with your friends may sound like fun, but after playing a bit, you might just end up wishing for the sweet release of Oblivion.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime tried for a bold experiment with its control scheme, and though this sets it apart from other similar games, it's ultimately an experiment that needs to go back to the drawing board.
As the fifth proper entry in one of gaming's biggest franchises, Street Fighter V had a lot to live up to.
Adr1ft hits an uncomfortable balance between visual novel and video game; it has too many video game elements and too dry a story to make a good first-person experience, and it lacks enough fun to make for a good game.
As internet speeds have increased and gaming has become a more popular pastime, MMOs have begun rising and falling like the tide, and unless Firefall makes some drastic changes, there's not enough to entice players into logging in and keeping this game alive. If you want to play an MMORPG, you would be better off spending a few bucks up front for something that's actually fun.
Mix two servings of Chunsoft's Mystery Dungeon series with a heaping helping of Atlus' Etrian Odyssey series and you get Etrian Mystery Dungeon, a dungeon crawler offering deep dungeons and shallow gameplay.
Bound By Flame strives to live up to its forefathers, and while it doesn't exactly fail, it does make some serious mistakes that drag the experience down.
Namco-Bandai wanted to create a sequel which retained the core of what came before it, while expanding where necessary, and the result is a sequel which suffers from that most crippling of sequel problems... mediocrity.
Well, if easy and weird is how you like it, Nintendo's Tomodachi Life may be just the Mii Rap Simulator/news program for you!
Despite a few quibbles, Sacred 3's action flows freely (even if the treasure doesn't). If you're a fan of the previous, more Diablo-like entries in the Sacred series you might be disappointed with some of this sequel's retooling. But if you're hungry for a game to play alongside a few friends, one where you can relax, laugh, and bust some bad guys, and don't mind a bit of repetition without much loot to show for it, Sacred 3 makes for a passable, if flawed, meal.
Dying Light's core gameplay is solid and offers a uniquely thrilling sort of fun, but for every moment you spend having a good time, you'll spend just as many frustrated by its shortcomings.
Hand of Fate mixes deck-building with hack 'n slash dungeon crawling in a way that's fluid enough for casual fans to enjoy, but lacks the complexity for veterans of either genre to really sink their teeth into.
White Night's distinctive visual style make it immediately identifiable; artistically, this game's a success. Its few shortcomings aren't to be overlooked, however, as its sluggish, frequently directionless, and deliberately archaic in its design. Don't come in expecting jump scares and big gore; this is a slow-burning experience with an emphasis on style and atmosphere.