Life is Strange: True Colors is Deck Nine’s best work to date and I’d place it just behind the original brace of games. It’s more streamlined, has no “fail” states, and doesn’t delve quite as deeply into the supporting cast, but the story is compelling.
Unfortunately, the presentation and strong opening hours are not enough to offset the repetition and grind that comes to dominate the experience if you want to unlock more of the narrative and see the true ending.
This is the President is an engaging take on the typical management sim genre, with a strong focus on story-driven elements that manages to charm and frustrate in equal measure. The story-driven elements serve to both elevate and detract from the overall experience.
There’s always something to do, the first-person parkour and combat remain top-class, and the story missions offer both memorable locations and set-pieces. On the other hand, the bulk of the gameplay on offer feels derivative. It’s hard to immerse yourself in the world when you’re engaged in methodical icon-clearing.
While ELEX II’s core gameplay could be dismissed as traditional or dated, the way all the elements of the world interact with you and one another is what creates the magic.
Dolmen's janky combat, cheap difficulty, and grindy multiplayer mechanic make it tough to recommend to all but the most devoted 'Souls fans that'll stomach it.
Starfield is a game that somehow enthralls me and irritates me in equal measure. On one hand, you’ve got a compelling galaxy-sized rabbit hole you can lose yourself in for hours on end, with complex questlines, refined role-playing mechanics, and that “new IP” freshness that makes it easy to ignore the flaws for a while. The problem is the more time you invest, the more procedurally generated content you experience, and the less rewarding the experience becomes.
If you love your yearly fix or want to return to the IP without having to invest 100 hours, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is easy to recommend. If, however, you’ve been desperately waiting for some evolution of the IP, you’re out of luck yet again.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is easy to recommend as a compelling action-RPG with well-written protagonists and rewarding systems, though the second half of the game loses the plot - both literally and figuratively.