Stephen Palmer
Jotun's undoubtedly a beautiful game but it contains a fair bit of dead time between the action.
The Final Station deserves credit for an original concept and some fleeting graphical flourishes.
Zenith is really weird.
Dear Esther certainly creates some striking scenes with its graphical and aural combinations and there are some deeper elements to uncover if you're dedicated to going through it multiple times to seek them out.
The Bunker's professional production and compellingly told story make it an extremely engaging experience despite its low level of player interaction.
You can get a lot of playtime out of Dead Synchronicity.
There's no doubt that my capacity to enjoy Clustertruck was affected by the lack of an invert Y axis option but really, how difficult is it to add something like that? If you play games the "normal" way, you might like Clustertruck a bit more than I did but even then, I'd imagine its novelty value would soon wear off and quickly be replaced by repeated feelings of frustration.
Rogue Stormers' reward system encourages you to plug away at the same stages repeatedly, perhaps getting a little farther each time, until you finally beat it.
In short, Farming Simulator 17 is best summed up as "not for everyone".
The Amnesia Collection is a mixed bag.
Despite its inferior controls, Lara Croft GO on PlayStation is still a very pleasant experience.
Sylvio probably sounds like an interesting little game on paper but its execution is flawed in pretty much every way.
Subterrain deserves praise for the intricacy of its various systems but they could have been implemented in a much more user-friendly way.
How to Survive 2 expands on the ideas of its predecessor with mixed results.
Despite its paucity of modes, Disc Jam is still incredibly addictive and fun to play.
FlatOut 4 could have been a much better experience if its car physics were improved and it had a more varied career mode.
The Banner Saga games look and sound great and there has clearly been a lot of effort put into their design and lore but their repetitive battles and profuse, prattling dialogue make their journeys ones of drawn-out tedium rather than exhilarating adventure.
What Remains of Edith Finch is an immersive and memorable experience that succeeds at pulling you into its richly detailed and dreamlike world.
When I first loaded up Outlast 2, I expected an unsettling experience and that's what I got.
Butcher is a fun, addictive riff on a classic genre with an uncompromising approach that makes it feel both rewarding and frustrating.