Evan Rowe's Reviews
Solar Ash is a fun, fresh adventure that’s perfect for players who love getting lost in strange new worlds and being rewarded for exploring their every nook and cranny. Its tale is engaging enough to keep you moving forward (and backward, and up and down and every which way), and the final reveal is both well earned and well executed. It might not be the best game you play this year, but diving into the Ultravoid to explore it’s vast impossibilities and unearth it’s deepest secrets is an experience that shouldn’t be missed.
Alan Wake is a game that’s easy to get caught up in, featuring an atmosphere that’s rich and enticing, writing that is equally campy, charming, and exciting, and characters who are interesting and memorable, even in cases where they may be a little too directly related to their sources of inspiration. It truly is a thrilling experience, and while the game certainly still shows its age at times, it’s absolutely delightful to play through and this is easily the definitive way to do so.
Lost Judgment has so much going on in it, it’s kind of hard to paint a complete picture of what’s available. This is a full-fat experience, building on the promise of the first game and feeling like a much more well-realized iteration of the concept’s vision. In most ways, I think Lost Judgment is successful in proving it’s capable of carrying itself, though it has the double-edged fortune of both standing on the shoulders of last year’s epic Yakuza: Like a Dragon while also trying to escape its shadow. It’s a worthy follow-up that feels like it’s building up to something great, and while the narrative doesn’t conclude with quite the same impact as its forbear, it’s still a well-told story with depth, heart, and insight. The fact that the rest of the game is so rich and that the characters are so well written make Lost Judgment an easy recommendation, and its an adventure you won’t soon forget.
Regardless, TOEM is a delightfully cute adventure and it’s a great way to spend a few hours getting lost in an idealized, zero risk adventure. It’s a perfect palette cleanser between games or at the end of a session of otherwise more action packed titles, or just a great way to chill out for an hour or two. I’d wager it also makes a great introduction to gaming for younger kids, and has the makings of something families can enjoy together, which definitely earns bonus points if you’ve got kids, family members, or partners who like to help find things or solve puzzles without being the one in control. Don’t let the simplicity of TOEM fool you, though; it’s a rich and entertaining experience that’s worth dipping into.
Minor shortcomings aside, Psychonauts 2 is the rare sequel that succeeds in living up to the hype and delivering on the promise set up by its predecessor and many years of anticipation. It is such a treat to spend more time in this world, and I will still staunchly argue that Psychonauts is the best stuff Doublefine has ever created. I love that this exists, I love that a whole new generation of gamers are getting the chance to experience this magnificent world for the first time, and it is so refreshing to see a game with so much creativity get the time, attention, and budget it deserves. Psychonauts 2 is a heartfelt, joyous adventure that ups the ante in every way, and I think it’s a must play experience for anybody who loves a good adventure.
I Am Dead takes pains to emphasize that death is not the end for anybody, so much as a transition into something else. It’s a comforting sentiment and a refreshing take on the grisly finality the death is normally viewed with in games. While it’s far from the first story-driven game to examine the concepts of our own mortality, I Am Dead‘s approach to exploring what it means to have lived and died is both quaint and uplifting, and it makes staring death in the face a surprisingly pleasant affair.
All told, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is a worthy successor to the original game, and the PC release feels well put together and worth the price of admission, perhaps even more so than the first. It’s not without its blemishes, but I’ve found the improved pacing and enhancements to the first game’s design to be meaningful enough gains to justify recommending the PC release as a great way to play and experience No More Heroes 2 for the first or fiftieth time.
If you’ve never had the chance to experience No More Heroes before, this is as good an opportunity as any to get in and see what it’s all about. It holds up well enough to still be enjoyable, and if nothing else is a great opportunity for the series to finally reach a wider audience, and hopefully win over a new swath of fans in the process.
Road 96 is a great deal of fun, and is incredibly charming. I came into it cautiously optimistic about the premise, and I have found myself delighted by its character, heart, and the way it depicts people and places with such love and attentiveness to detail. I don’t know whether it’s the next big thing in narrative games, but it delivers on most of its promises and offers an experience that truly feels unique among its peers. Plus, it’s a good old fashioned adventure of the kind that frankly I didn’t realize I’d been hankering for. It’s not a perfect game, but it’s a darn good one, and as with all good stories, the journey of playing Road 96 really is the best part.
Axiom Verge 2 is a thoroughly enjoyable game that hits most of its notes perfectly, and is easy to recommend. Where Axiom Verge 1 was a clear love letter to Metroid, Axiom Verge 2 establishes more of its own identity, both in how it fleshes out the shared universe of the series, and the ways it blends elements of its predecessors and its inspirations together to create something really unique. Like the first game, it feels both familiar and entirely new. The sense of mystery and wonder, combined with excellent mechanical execution, will keep you going on a breakneck pace from start to finish.
Judgment is an easy game to recommend, especially with the sequel coming out in September, and I’ve had as much fun with it as any other mainline Yakuza title. Plus, it’s hard to argue with getting a full-fat, high quality Yakuza narrative experience in a $40 price point. This is a really promising start for a new franchise, and it’s only going to get better from here. Seeing RGG Studio stretching itself and finding new ways to apply and change the formula it’s already found so much success with is an exciting and welcome shift. Whether you’re racing drones, playing a Mario Party inspired VR board game for cash, tracking down cheating spouses, chasing a local parkour crime gang through the streets, or solving a really thorny murder mystery, you’re going to find yourself having a blast.
The good news is that Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the same incredible game on PS5, as well as an excellent RPG. This particular release amounts to a light coat of polish that makes some subtle improvements but nothing truly revolutionary as we’ve seen with some other PS5 upgrades. This may largely be owing to the fact that the original release already looked excellent, but it still would have been nice to see the PS5 release support a full 4K60. Also unfortunate is the lack of using much of the DualSense controller’s features, but again, this is the sort of addition that’s hard to shoehorn in after the fact. While the PC is still the best place to play Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the PlayStation 5 can keep pace well enough and it’s a solid way to experience Ichiban’s incredible, can’t-miss story.
I want to love Maquette. It’s is a solid puzzle game whose moments of brilliance are regularly interrupted by stumbles and rough spots. It soars much more often than it dips, but there are enough times where things don’t land that the experience can feel disruptive. While some extra time to polish some of the rough edges would have been majorly beneficial, it’s still a wholly unique piece that merits your time and attention. Just know going in that it’s imperfect, as all of us are, and try not to let those little details get under your skin.
The Yakuza Remastered Collection for PC is exactly that; a set of remasters that give the old games just enough polish to run cleanly on the PC and ensure they can live on to be enjoyed for years to come. While there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking or exciting about the ports, and while I would have really liked seeing a bit more attention paid to crisping up UI elements and maybe polishing the pre-rendered cut scenes, the work on the ports is solid and the games run great and there’s honestly little to complain about. Whatever minor hiccups might exist are completely worth it, as the ability to play all three of these Yakuza games in higher fidelity is by itself a huge treat.
While rough around the edges in a few areas, overall The Medium is an excellent adventure that’s not lacking in scares, and is thoughtful in how it approaches its subject matter. I felt the tension, the dread, the sadness, and the fear in those moments where they presented themselves, and I felt a connection to Marianne and her story that I don’t often feel in many games, regardless of genre. It’s a beautiful game to look at and the art direction is excellent throughout. The Medium has a lot of heart and it wants to tell you important things, if you’ll listen. I’m not generally one to say that I enjoyed my time with any horror game, but this is a case where that is absolutely true for me, and that alone is reason enough for me to say this is a world worth experiencing.
I can’t say for sure whether Immortals Fenyx Rising is for you. The systems in this game are absolutely not super in-depth; they are streamlined, easy to understand versions of systems you see in other games, and this is true of character progression, combat, and practically everything else. They are designed to get to the point and let you get on with your game. It’s not overly involved because it doesn’t need to be, and there are plenty of games out there that do get incredibly deep if you want those kinds of experiences. Immortals Fenyx Rising isn’t the perfect antidote to open world fatigue, but it is a damn good first volley at trimming off the extra checklists for the sake of checklists, and giving players a more focused experience that they can dial up or down to suit their tastes. As a bonus, it’s wrapped in a gorgeous looking package with some clever writing and a story that may not be ultra compelling but is fun to enjoy nonetheless. It’s the perfect open world game for somebody who loves Greek mythology, for somebody who wants to have more control over their experience, who wants to be able to kick back and explore without pressure, or who wants to dig into a big game they can actually finish. For me, it’s a fantastic way to revisit a style of game I’d given up on and focus on just having fun with it, which is worth the price of admission for me alone, and I can confidently say that between the three big Ubisoft releases this season, Immortals Fenyx Rising is the game I’ll be choosing to spend my time with.
Paradise Killer checks a lot of my favorite boxes. There’s an exciting and strange world to explore, there’s a strong cast of characters to get to know, a solid mystery to solve, and enough throwback references to 90s-era technology and eclectic iconography thrown in to create something that feels nostalgic and completely alien all at once. I’ve honestly never experienced a game quite like this one, and it’s one of the easiest recommendations I’ve been able to make in some time, especially if you relish in the weird. It’s a delight to get lost in Paradise, which leaves a lasting impression in almost every way imaginable.
Bugsnax may not be the next big thing in creature collection, but it does a great job of bringing something new to the genre and demonstrates a lot of untapped potential therein. More importantly, it instills you with a sense of adventure in a strange new place to explore where any and all of your expectations are subject to defiance at a moment’s notice. The bugsnax themselves are consistently cute punctuation throughout your journey, but the journey of uncovering the mysteries of Snaktooth Island is far and away the real purpose of this game. Bugsnax will surprise you, it will delight you, and it will absolutely, positively burrow its way into your subconscious once you’ve dug in.
The Solitaire Conspiracy almost shouldn’t work, but it’s an example of that rare bit of alchemy that manages to fuse together two things that have no business occupying the same space into a shiny, exciting new thing that’s a joy to behold. You could certainly break down the game into its distinctive components, but there is a throughline that runs through all of it that doesn’t just tie those elements together, but makes them feel like they belong in this place with one another. It’s not necessarily a revolution in gaming, but the story is cheeky and fun, and the Solitaire itself is fun enough that you’ll want to keep it installed to continue playing well after the credits roll.
I think that Star Renegades gets a whole lot of things right, and it plays in an interesting space in the way it tries to cherry pick ideas from a lot of other successful games. Most of these mechanics are designed in a way so that they feed well into one another, and despite its complexity, combat still feels really good once you get into the groove with it. I’d be interested to see a version of Star Renegades with some of the excess fat trimmed down, if that were possible. Just a little more streamlining or editorializing of the mechanics could really benefit the game, because for me it’s something I’ll usually only play one or two runs at a time, and I think it could potentially benefit from a faster overall cadence. Still, it does an impressive job of juggling a lot of ideas at once and mostly keeping all of them up in the air. It’s not my favorite rogue like or RPG of the year, but it’s definitely unique and fun enough that it warrants some of your time.