William Murphy's Reviews
Lords of the Fallen proves there is plenty of room for more difficult, deep, and engaging RPGs in the world and does enough different to stand out from the pack. I sincerely hope we get a sequel, as I feel like Deck13 is only just beginning to build this world and carve a niche in the genre.
In short, ArcheAge does a whole lot of things most MMOs never would dare dream, but the sad truth is that it's not exceptional at any one thing. And that, unfortunately, makes the grand idea that is ArcheAge a little underwhelming overall.
If, like me, you love the Halloween time of year and are nostalgic for the days of trick or treating and sugar-fueled nights… pick up Costume Quest 2 for its budget price of fifteen bucks and make it a new tradition every year. You'll be glad you did.
[D]espite its shortcomings, Styx: Master of Shadows is an enjoyable hardcore stealth game with the light trappings of its RPG forebear. At $30 and offering around 15-20 hours of sneaky goodness, if you can overlook the poor combat and budget animations, chances are you'll find a lot to like in Styx.
If you're a fan of open world RPGs, love the idea of killing and enslaving orcs, and aren't too worried about tweaking Tolkien to serve the purpose of fun, you owe it to yourself to buy and play Shadow of Mordor. Talion's quest right up there as one of this year's best and Monolith should be very proud of their work.
Lichdom: Battlemage is a fun, if shortsighted RPG with some fantastic upsides. Is it worth the asking price of $40? I'd say no at this point, and hold out for a Steam sale. It's definitely something fans of the old Hexen will enjoy, but fans of open ended RPGs will find Xaviant's game lacking. A solid effort, but not quite what I'd hoped for after seeing the game at PAX East this year.
WildStar is at once similar to and unlike any other game in the market. It pulls from worlds gone by, while forging new mechanics all its own. No one can know if this new universe will stand the test of time, but for now… I'm just going to dig in and explore Nexus, Cupcake.
My biggest wish is for more of this game, a sequel or some DLC, because I want to see this world continued, and I want to play the combat until my thumbs bleed. I'm disappointed in its short play-length, but it can't be said enough that Transistor is a beautiful and unique RPG that every gamer should play. I can hardly wait to see what Supergiant will come up with next.
Bound By Flame sounded promising every time we saw it... but so do most games. What we ended up with instead is an RPG trying to be as great as its inspiration but never coming close. Poor combat, poor story, and poor acting, all serve to make this "epic tale" one you'll want to skip. Do not buy.
Child of Light is a beautifully rendered, fun, and fairly engrossing RPG that every fan of the genre should try. It does enough different to stand out from the pack, and I'm talking about more than its artistic styling. It won't drain forty plus hours of your free time, but for $15? Yeah, this one's worth the three Starbucks coffees it'll cost you and won't leave a bad taste in your mouth in the process.
ESO is an excellent MMORPG, with a lot to offer fans of The Elder Scrolls.
Somewhere along the way, [Red 5] got a little lost, but they're back on track and with a thriving but small community they're onto something very special. It's a little rough around the edges right now, but I'd heartily recommend Firefall to anyone who's sick of the same old MMO fodder. Just be prepared to roll with the work-in-progress nature of the game, and you might be pleasantly surprised at the fun on offer.