DeVuego

With an arresting art style and admirable commitment to minimalist game design, Gris manages to turn a straightforward, often derivative platformer into something that feels far more special and important.

There are many bones that make the body of Crossing Souls amazing, but like most gambles, it doesn’t always pay off. In this case, the ribbon to tie everything good together didn’t really complete the package. However, it’s offerings under the surface are definitely worth applauding

There’s no need for a flashy presentation when it comes to Samus Returns because the gameplay speaks for itself. Yes, it contains the beautiful visual detail of a Nintendo title, but, more importantly, its precision and skill-based game design found in today’s best titles received the most attention. Acting as more than just fan-service, or maybe an apology for Other M, this game is a reminder that 2D platforms still work when given diverse combat style, and surprisingly, a hopeful hint to Nintendo that Metroid might be their ticket to pulling in a whole new generation of players.

Rime captures the essence of adventure through its mysterious locale’s various paths, inviting visuals, and well-designed puzzles, but it also seeks to use its gameplay mechanics as a storytelling device. While variety isn’t strong throughout its run, the world created offers an experience that—at least for one playthrough—is worth taking.

Lords of Shadow 2 runs into a classic sequel problem. By trying to do more and fix the few issues of the first game, MercurySteam actually does less and creates more problems. Despite this, they’ve still crafted a competent tale with solid core gameplay that should entertain longtime Castlevania fans, even if it’s not quite everything they’d hoped for.

MercurySteam has attempted to take the success of their console Castlevania reboot, Lords of Shadow, and blend it with the more old-school legacy of previous portable releases in the franchise. The result is Mirror of Fate—a game that redefines our expectations for a handheld Castlevania in a number of positive ways, but which also, unfortunately, tries to fix other elements that simply weren’t broken.

The historical accuracy and details of the game are a testament to arguably the greatest general the US has ever had. HISTORY: Legends of War: Patton, however, falls flat in many aspects of the basest execution we would expect from a current console game and this keeps it from fulfilling its true potential.

Deadlight was a fantastic idea whose execution just didn’t do it the justice it deserved. It’s too short, its challenges too cheap at times, and it occasionally loses focus of what it wants to be—and yet, at the same time, Deadlight is also a surprisingly beautiful adventure through a world of chaos that does more right than it does wrong.

Well made, but should of stayed on disk.