Robert Risdon


96 games reviewed
77.9 average score
80 median score
66.7% of games recommended
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With interesting mechanics such as "beating" the game for dying at certain times or doing silly things like removing your operating system, or the extremely odd way that some of the enemy machines pantomime the more mundane (or not so mundane) actions of humanity, Nier: Automata is oft-times confusing but the deftness with which the various elements found throughout, miraculously pulls the game together and is anchored by the best music in the business. What results is easily the most under-appreciated game of these last two years.

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9.8 / 10.0 - Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
Aug 14, 2019

Double Damage Games has nailed it out of the park with the near-perfect evolution of Rebel Galaxy Outlaw. With its stunning graphics, detailed universe, and stellar gameplay, it is an upgrade in every sense of the word from the original Rebel Galaxy, but it has not lost touch with the core of the original title. Strong quests, side missions, customization options, and scope will firmly land RGO as the best space game of 2019.

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Jul 19, 2016

All in all this season of Horizons is shaping up to be incredibly exciting. With the Engineers update well under way it is only a matter of time before we get ship-launched fighters, commander customization, and multicrew ships. With Elite: Dangerous Horizons, Frontier is doing everything right, and little wrong. More variety in ships, added customization, tweaked missions, planetary landings, you name it ... Elite has grown, and in all the right ways.

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9.5 / 10.0 - Tyranny
Nov 23, 2016

From the gorgeous, if tired, brown-infused broken environments of Tiers to the colorful noble classes and shabby peasants, every aspect of Tyranny redefines what it means to be a great cRPG title. Incredibly memorable and haunting overtures play softly in the background as the apocalyptic-ly hostile world swirls around you in a bevy of an ambient aural explosion that is deep enough that you can almost feel the dusty, rust-filled Blade-Grave to the soaring and ancient Spires, every moment in Tyranny is truly a moment to behold. The attention to detail and push for a world that feels both truly alive while simultaneously feeling broken and defeated is marvelous and truly a work of art. It is without a doubt that future generations of gamers will look upon Tyranny with the same grounded, yet awe-inspiring greatness that we currently see when we look back onto Baldur's Gate II.

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9.5 / 10.0 - Everspace
Jun 20, 2017

Everspace is a single-player space shooter that takes its primary gameplay influences from roguelike games, and rather than dungeon diving you are careening through stunning sectors of dangerous space. With a captivating story, massive 3D environments, fast-paced and brutal combat, Everspace does what few other titles could do, and that is make the incredibly frustrating and often cheaply challenging roguelike genre an interesting, gorgeous, and most importantly, an accessible genre to those gamers like me that are put off by roguelikes. Everspace, now fully released on Xbox One, is easily one of the best games of the year.

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Nov 22, 2018

Creative Assembly did something with Total War: Warhammer II that is, in my experience, quite rare in the Warhammer franchise … It followed up an excellent title with an equally (and in many ways, superior) excellent title.

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Sep 19, 2017

Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition on PlayStation 4 is, with no doubt in my mind, the best console port of a classic-style isometric RPG that has been seen in years. Brilliant use of the controller in place of a keyboard and mouse tie in together with the gorgeous effects, compelling storylines, incredible performance and challenging though oh-so-rewarding combat to deliver a masterpiece to the millions of console owners the world over. Originally released on PC in March 2015 after an incredibly successful Kickstarter the year prior, Pillars of Eternity final makes its triumphant entrance on consoles and it is glorious.

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9.3 / 10.0 - Elite: Dangerous
Jul 20, 2017

It is no secret that I love Elite: Dangerous; I have covered it quite extensively since we first got our hands on the preview in 2014 and ever since I have been utterly hooked. Now, after what seems to me is a lifetime of waiting (it wasn't), Elite: Dangerous is now available on the PlayStation 4 and it is every bit as glorious as the other platforms and in regard to the consoles, it is far, far superior than its Xbox counterpart. With HOTAS peripheral support on the PlayStation 4, Elite: Dangerous is absolutely the game to show that space sims not only work on console, but they excel there.

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9 / 10.0 - Victor Vran
Jun 9, 2017

In all honesty I am not sure where to start with Victor Vran. Back in July 2015 Pierre-Yves scored it well and said quite a bit that remains true nearly two years later. Victor Vran is an excellent hack-and-slash action RPG set in a Van Helsing-esque Victorian-era fictional world that has you playing the role of a Hunter and carries you through a number of sprawling dungeons full of spiders, skeletons, specters, and everything in between. Even two years after the original launch the magic of Victor Vran, while familiar, is still present.

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9 / 10.0 - Attack on Titan
Aug 26, 2016

Attack on Titan surprised me. I am more used to licensed properties, especially those in the anime world, being sub-par at best. Shingeki no Kyojin destroyed that expectation, stomped it into oblivion, then chewed on the remains. Serious, intense, fast, and incredibly challenging at times, Attack on Titan really shines when you are swinging from one side of a map to the other in the hopes of rescuing a comrade in distress. Though the Epilogue introduces a horrible looking and frankly dumb new titan, it still provides some good after-action, well, action.

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Jun 22, 2017

I have historically been extremely critical of the Warhammer/Warhammer 40k franchise so when I first learned of Total War: Warhammer I was a bit skeptical. I love the Total War series and with the exception of Total War: Attila they have produced some of the best strategy titles to date. Attila was not bad, just not up to par with previous titles and that, along with the abysmally bad pile of Warhammer crap that has come out in recent years, had me seriously concerned for the franchise. Fortunately Total War: Warhammer is actually really, very good. So good that it almost washes the bad taste of over a dozen horrible Warhammer/Warhammer 40k titles out of my mouth.

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9 / 10.0 - F1 2016
Sep 9, 2016

The end of summer is here and it is time for the annual titles to rain on us from the gaming Gods. No different than many other popular yearly franchises, the official FIA Formula One World Championship flagship title, F1 2016 is now available and back with even more Formula One goodness. Chalk full of exciting tracks, a robust career mode, and the new Formation Lap / manual starts feature, F1 2016 promises to be the most complete F1 experience ever. Spoiler Alert ... F1 2016 delivers on that promise.

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Star Hammer: Vanguard Prophecy is easily on of the best console ports ever, sitting up there with Divinity: Original Sin, Wasteland 2: Director's Cut, and Diablo 3 (the crown jewels of PC-to-Console ports). With an utterly brilliant remapping of controls, Star Hammer's deeply tactical play-style is easily approached and managed through such a smooth and simple control scheme. Sure, there are a few things, like voice acting or hiding of the HUD during setup, that I would like to see, but in truth? Those are minor wants; Star Hammer is the complete package and is spectacularly satisfying on the Xbox One.

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Sep 20, 2018

If you are looking for something different, something deeper, but want to maintain the darker presence of a Lovecraftian novel, then Sunless Sea: Zubmariner Edition on PlayStation 4 is most certainly your game. With patience and perseverance you may even be able to survive well enough that you do not need to eat your crew… A note of fair warning though, is that this game is less about pushing off from a dock and blowing everything up but rather about managing supplies, fuel, food, and terror as you work to perform quests throughout the Unterzee. With a port that seems meant to be, Sunless Sea: Zubmariner Edition is the perfect game to pick up as we roll into Halloween 2018.

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9 / 10.0 - Nioh
Dec 11, 2017

For all of the success of KOEI TECMO and Team NINJA's Nioh it seems too often that it is brushed aside as "Dark Souls with Samurai" which is a criminal understatement given how good Nioh is.

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9 / 10.0 - Darkwood
Oct 3, 2017

Darkwood is a brutally atmospheric take on the top-down horror genre. Coming out of Early Access, Acid Wizard Studio's hit title is something of an amazing amalgamation of genres; blending horror with exploration, challenging combat, roguelike-world generations and roleplaying game-like character development, Darkwood is simply put, and awesome title. What shocked me most was that it seemed to be very similar to some of the best board games I have played, not in play style, but in the way it feels. For example, Mansions of Madness, easily one of the best board games ever, leaves you with this dark and foreboding feeling when you are done playing. Darkwood is that, but in video game form, and with rich gameplay and stunning sound design, Darkwood is easily the breakout title of the season.

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9 / 10.0 - Frostpunk
May 23, 2018

With dozens of different selections for technology research, an interesting and almost living personality to your city, and heaps of frozen trouble, FrostPunk will challenge every fiber of your strategic being and it. is. glorious. I am not entirely sure I can adequately define the addictive brutality found in FrostPunk as it is genius in its drive to freeze you out. FrostPunk is worth your time on every level … the visceral struggle of a lost people working their way through the frozen tundra is incredibly relatable and it is terrifying.

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9 / 10.0 - Ancestors Legacy
Jul 17, 2018

Ancestor's Legacy is without a doubt one of 2018's gems; fantastic characters, a unique and absolutely brilliant camera that allows you to get up-close and personal with the action on the ground, an interesting story, a gorgeous world, and wonderfully tactical real-time combat are packaged up into a must-have experience. With a bit here for RTS fans and a bit here for RPG fans, Ancestor's Legacy really is a title that any gamer can pick up and play, though they will be punished for their mistakes. Whether you choose the screaming Vikings or the straight-backed Germans, you are in for a surprisingly deep and incredibly intricate real-time experience.

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Jan 16, 2019

Insurgency: Sandstorm was a bit of a mystery to me going into it; I grew up playing countless hours of Team Fortress (the original!), Counterstrike, and Unreal Tournament, leading all the way through to modern shooters like Call of Duty, Player Unknown's Battlegrounds, Arma, and Battlefield, so I was not sure what to think going in. Boy was I shaken to my core; my daughter would often pop her head into the room to check up on me as I giddily laughed or made some exclamation at the awesomeness that will be found throughout the entirety of Insurgency: Sandstorm. Well done I say, well done indeed.

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Dec 21, 2018

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a must-buy this holiday season. Such a seamless and wonderful amalgamation of genres is rare and The Bearded Ladies have blended them so well that in Road to Eden you have a completely unique experience that feels natural, almost welcoming. Until it steps on your face but I say that is a part of the charm…

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