Shadowgate doesn't religiously preserve the architecture or the puzzles of the original game, and is better for it. What it does retain is the castle's sense of threat and atmosphere of danger—rare things to find in an adventure game.

While the threat of so much death in such a short period of time might throw fans of Knight's sunshine for a loop, Rubble Without A Cause felt different and fresh, and I'm glad that The Odd Gentlemen didn't just do a repeat of the previous installment. Good work, Gentlemen... You've got me hooked.

With a bit of restraint and more focus on the types of relational challenges that it does well, Metrico would have been an easy recommend to fans of the fringe. In its current state, it's an aggravating equation that produces unhappy results.

Steel Rats, with its demanding combat and big-budget action, pretty much builds a whole new genre around itself. I’ve seen stunt racing and vehicular combat before, but the developers have blended the two so exquisitely that the it defies comparison to anything else. Naturally, Steel Rats ends with an obvious sequel hook, so I’ll end this review with a ‘More, please.’

Those looking for an intriguing sci-fi tech thriller could do worse than The Signifier – it’s competent and intriguing until the second half. That said, with a more fleshed–out plot, more interesting puzzles and a stronger finish, Playmestudio could have had something special on their hands.

Blackguards is tolerable, if plodding, but I don't have anything nicer to say about it.

Night Call has the potential, setting, characters and plot to be an epic noir detective title, but instead of capitalizing on it, the developers feel like they’re too in love with the taxi driver premise to let the best aspects shine through. Instead of using my cunning to find a killer, I spent more time worrying about money and hearing the same conversations over and over. What started as a journey of intrigue and secrets quickly became underwhelming repetition.

Alluring pop divas…political rebels…musical party game...Unison spreads itself too thin trying to satisfy all of these criteria, and ultimately comes up short everywhere.

Instead of finding innovative means to explore new narratives, they are content to rely only on its effective control scheme and Jet Li's face to drive the core experience. Everything else falls back on tired videogame conventions and that makes Rise to Honor an acceptable game, but a deeply flawed next generation model.

It's a shame that given such a potentially provocative issue as the premise of the game, Whiplash chooses to take it nowhere and instead falls back on ineffectual humor, cartoonish violence, and an unimaginative interface.

While DmC: Devil May Cry—Vergil's Downfall is exactly the kind of story-based DLC that I enjoy the most and getting a new slice of a fantastic game like DmC: Devil May Cry is always welcome, this add-on could have gone from "okay" to "outstanding" with just a little more work.

This sense of gradually increasing paranoia, along with a story that only becomes more metaphysically unhinged as it goes along, makes for a title that ultimately rewards patience and those players who are willing to slip into its atmospheric world like they would a warm, spooky bath. That said, I think many players will probably give up on Mask of the Lunar Eclipse after they’ve been asked to photograph another slow-walking ghost for the billionth time, but if they stick with it they’ll be rewarded with a survival horror experience unlike any other.

All of the elements that make up a decent survival horror game are on display here. The monsters, the violence, the simplistic, action-oriented storytelling... They're just so shoddily rendered and assembled that all they add up to is a mediocre experience.

Developer Vatra clearly has a fondness for the material and they've tried to address some of the series' more nagging issues with varying degrees of success. There are moments in Downpour that genuinely work and showcase what this franchise could be with a little more TLC. Unfortunately, there are still rough patches to be smoothed over and kinks to be worked out in subsequent sequels-but here's to hoping Vatra gets another crack at it.

Sadly, when everything’s take into account, Serial Cleaners doesn’t live up to its predecessor. The cleaning/stealth gameplay is solid and there are some great level concepts, but the story doesn’t offer much motivation and there’s plenty of potential here that goes untapped.

Players should be aware that the first batch of twenty levels are free and function as a demo. It's over pretty quickly though, and the remaining areas of the game are split into two in-app purchases at .99 each.

Putting my issues aside, the idea of participating in a full-fledged Hamlet universe works astonishingly well in Elsinore, and in contemporary society where classic literature is losing popularity, making such content accessible to a new audience is admirable, and I can only appreciate the ambition to revive Shakespeare through my favorite medium. Elsinore might be tedious at times, but I suppose that only enhances its status as a modern and authentic take on Hamlet.

Stela’s world decay, the desperation of its inhabitants and the environmental connotations that come along with them strikes a fine note and it’s supported by an engaging playstyle and attractive aesthetic — the problem is that several other games have walked the same path before it, and many of them do it better.

With the art design of its monsters, its staggering amount of content, and battles of a scope that would make some RTSs envious, EDF2025 is a masterful game, almost flawless in its execution.

While reading off of my TV for forty hours took some getting used to, I’m glad I read Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception. The characters are well-written, it’s beautiful to look at, and I can’t wait to see where it’s all going.

As someone with no deep knowledge of the franchise and severe misgivings about fighting game innovations, I was pleasantly surprised at how extremely playable Gundam Versus is. Great balancing and simple controls allow anyone to jump right into the combat, and the matches are always brief enough that I never felt like I was being forced to wallow in failure while learning the ropes. It turns out that a player doesn’t need to already know and love Gundam to appreciate high-speed robot carnage.

I like Teriel as a character, and I dig the mordant, yet surprisingly colorful world that IMGN.PRO and Fool’s Theory have put him in. This team is clearly talented on certain levels, but there’s a lot of refining and revising to be done before I’d be even remotely interested in seeing more of Teriel’s story.

With Nier, Cavia has done the seemingly impossible, and created something entirely unique from nothing but borrowed components

Project Nimbus left me feeling mixed. I wanted more from the campaign, both in mechanics and story. On the other hand, the mechs are responsive and the Warfront mode kept me coming back. I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it, but hardcore mech fans may find something here to like.

The worst thing about Star Wars Battlefront II is that it could have been great. Without the terrible leveling system designed to milk money from players, the multiplayer would be a blast. If the story was expanded and focused on Versio, it could have been worth discussing. Instead, the final product is so cynical and wrongheaded that it’s added fuel to a larger discussion about lootboxes and gambling that’s starting to grab the attention of lawmakers outside the industry.

While I was probably the furthest thing from the intended audience before starting this review, I had an absolute blast with Kill la Kill: IF, and I could almost be considered a convert at this point. It probably doesn’t have much chance as a serious, tournament-worthy fighter and the supporting content is thin, but if this title can win me over, it’s well worth any fighting game fan’s time.

Koihime Enbu’s a decent little brawler, though it doesn’t do enough to stand out from the crowd apart from its all-female cast. As such, it comes moderately recommended for fighting game enthusiasts who want to jump into something new, but it’s a much harder sell to a more casual demographic.

A glimmer of the first game's superb design and balance remains underneath these missteps, but the bottom line is that instead of building upon the solid foundation from the first game, they undermined it.