Lee Mehr's Reviews
Moons of Madness demonstrates adaptation mismanagement of Lovecraft’s method to leave you haunted by his story’s horrific implications.
In the end, The Suicide of Rachel Foster feels like the quintessential first draft of a horror/drama flick latched to a graceless gameplay template. The excitement and deliberate pacing early on suggest learning from the industry’s best exemplars. Ominous warnings suggest ghosts are roaming The Timberline’s halls. As it progresses, however, uncoordinated game design and tonally-tangled storytelling turns that engagement frozen stiff. Like walking through a grand hotel with years of decay, you can’t help but wonder how it could fare under new management.
Uneven storytelling and unexceptional gameplay makes this quaint Scandinavian mystery one you can a-fjord to miss.
A humorously derisive examination of modern society in game form, Mosaic is an enthusiastic dive into pointlessness—occasionally too much for its own good.
STONE arrives at an uncomfortable middle more akin to a pile-up than a tightrope balancing act. The anthropomorphized backdrop feigns a more peculiar and memorable adventure, but the story is mostly lifeless and forgetful. It’s another third-person walking sim that’s not bothered to utilize our protagonist’s skills in any interesting or tangible way. Add on a fifteen-dollar retail price and you’re left considering a few rounds at the pub has more value, and I doubt our marsupial lead would protest to that.
Weakless has fundamentally solid roots but inconsistent design causes this experience to wither on the vine.
An interesting specimen that would’ve benefitted from annoying tedium and clunky controls being weeded out of its gene pool.
With gripping game design shored up by fantastic visuals and stimulating storytelling, Return of the Obra Dinn solidifies Lucas Pope as a game-craftsman of remarkable talent.
Whether it’s in respect to the repetitive gameplay structure, unsatisfying flight controls, or deflating brevity, there’s really no reason to see what the buzz is about. Bee Simulator is a well-meaning edutainment game but its honeymoon period is gone at breakneck speed. You’ve bee-n warned, and I’ve run out of puns.
Need for Speed Heat feels like a hotrod just a few parts shy of reaching its former glory.
If leaden pacing, meddlesome gameplay, and turgid storytelling is Kojima’s way for us to “build bridges” with one another, I’d rather have the wall be ten feet higher.
A police-themed game that feels like a crime existing on a store’s digital shelf.
Leave it to a game focused on Nikola Tesla’s boundless imagination to seldom demonstrate the same kind of inventive spirit.
William Chyr’s passion project is among my favorite first-person puzzlers for its ambitious scope, entrancing visuals, and brain-breaking conundrums.
Afterparty retains Night School’s penchant for good storytelling, but clumsier game design and technical issues leave my enthusiasm—ironically enough—in limbo.
An oftentimes-gorgeous game whose shifts in gameplay focus make way for a dispiriting experience as time goes on.
Where this reboot stumbles can be plainly seen when measuring it in two distinct categories which the original so easily surmounted: its past and its competition.
Pixelopus’ sophomore effort makes me constantly yearn for the painting that could’ve been instead of the painting that is.
KeokeN’s project initially seems destined for the stars but ultimately doesn't break through the stratosphere.
A look inside this polished me-too platformer reveals quality nuances often stuck in limbo.