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Mirage: Arcane Warfare has some of the most fun and exciting melee combat around, but squanders the unique mechanics on dull game modes with low player counts in a transparent effort to ape Blizzard's recent smash hit, and this ultimately works against the strengths of the gameplay to the point of bringing down the entire experience.
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier lacks meaningful gameplay and its episodes needed greater distinction, but it still provides that same appealing Telltale drama about an unconventional family thrust into dangerous situations.
If visual quality is what Tequila Works had in mind, three years have been well spent on fabricating a stylish, truly wondrous environment, despite drawing obviously from previous adventure accolades. It'll likely underwhelm if approached explicitly as a puzzler, but Rime's brief tale manages moments of genuine poignancy. The PC port is in dire need of patching, however, if such charm is to survive.
It may have some flaws, but Rakuen really is an adventure worth taking. It successfully executes on modest heartfelt ambitions, and perfectly captures the vision of its creator - a rare occurrence in modern game design.
This is likely their best game since NetherRealm was founded within Warner Bros. The formula seems so perfect, it's hard to imagine anyone not finding something to enjoy in Injustice 2. Whether you like fighting games, DC Comics, or just superheroes getting into visceral combat, this is a sequel worth checking out.
Seasons after Fall is a lovely looking adventure that has some charm and decent gameplay, but it gets far too bogged down with repetition in the second half and this ultimately leaves an unsatisfying impression.
Strafe has the look and style to stand out, but Pixel Titans should have been focusing on making sure the game was not only fully functional, but actually fun to play, as well.
With some solid gameplay - and there is lots of it to be found - Puyo Puyo Tetris might just be one of the definitive puzzle games of 2017, particularly on the Switch where the handheld, play-on-the-go nature fits it like a glove.
Empathy: Path of Whispers attempts to tell a series of intriguing personal stories in a mysterious, abandoned world. The end result however is a visually dated, largely boring, and technically broken game that doesn't deserve your time and money.
The Surge is a remarkably solid action-RPG that uses its premise to wedge a number of interesting design quirks into a familiar formula. Not terribly deep, but a wrench-swinging, robot-pulverizing good time nonetheless.
Really, anyone should be able to pick up and play Super Rude Bear despite its perceived difficulty. It may not be a classic, but it does enough right to warrant your time and attention.
Plasma Puncher doesn't look to revolutionize the modern beat 'em up, but its punchy character controls and tough, wave-based combat offer an addictive few hours of amoeba-murder that ultimately makes that okay.
Prey's dynamic gameplay adapts beautifully to players as they explore an interesting space station crawling with bizarre alien life forms. Its involving action proves entertaining when combined with a solid base of resource management. Despite a few presentation problems and minor issues, Prey is one mind-altering trip that should be played by fans of the genre.
A fearsome atmosphere that comes to life thanks to great visual and audio design can't help Pinstripe fully overcome its dull and repetitive gameplay.
Little Nightmares is like the long, intense screech of a violin before the jump scare - except that the scare never comes and the sound eventually fades to the background. Yes, it's dark and moody, but after establishing the atmosphere it never evolves into something that's really worth playing.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 attempts to push the franchise forward by introducing new mechanics and an open world, but the delivery falls flat. With an underwhelming story and plenty of bugs, the result is a game stuck in mediocrity.
Dawn of War III is a surprisingly inconsistent RTS with a disappointing campaign, coming from one of the most consistent development teams in the genre. The steep initial learning curve, muscle memory and furious multitasking required to fully enjoy the game's multiplayer will likely alienate many series fans, but there are enough good ideas here that you can at least see what Relic were going for with this flawed but occasionally exciting sequel.
What Remains of Edith Finch is a good game, but it fails to arrive at a satisfying conclusion, or build on its gameplay and narrative themes in any satisfying way. Thus, it never elevates itself to be something more than a series of interesting distractions, tied to a mystery that never resolves itself.
It falls a bit flat on some of the more traditional fronts for an open-world shooter, but The Signal From Tölva still makes for an atmospheric, absorbing trek across a strange and ancient landscape. Impressive effort.
There's not enough substance to Mr. Shifty to leave a lasting impression, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is certainly enough to get your blood pumping for a bit. In this case, that was certainly enough for me.