Tom Marks's Reviews
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is yet another convincing example of how much fun a linear, no-frills, single-player campaign can be.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land successfully warps the series' classic mix of ability-based combat, platforming, and secret hunting into the third dimension.
Stray is a delightful cat-based platforming adventure in a cyberpunk world worth exploring.
Cult of the Lamb is a wolf of a satisfying base-management game in the sheepish clothing of an approachable action-roguelite.
Tinykin's vibrant levels and simple but satisfying platforming make collecting pollen a delight.
Wild Hearts’ building mechanics add a very fun twist to its familiar but well-executed co-op monster hunting formula.
Super Mario RPG is considered a classic for a reason, and this faithful remake makes it easy for anyone who missed it in the SNES era to see why.
In its best game modes, LawBreakers manages to make simply moving around feel amazing. Learning how to fall with style in the most deadly way possible is a thrilling challenge. Getting stuck playing a weak mode and map thanks to the grab-bag matchmaking can be frustrating, but it doesn't ruin an otherwise fast and tense shooter that lets you gleefully propel yourself through low-gravity with rocket boots and miniguns.
Trials Rising has an impressive new tutorial, even more extensive customization, and an awesome pool of levels that can be disappointingly discouraging to unlock.
Yoshi's Crafted World is a very fun platformer that's light on challenge or ambition, but brimming with creativity and charm.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is a fun, if fairly simple, comic book beat-em-up that's enjoyable alone or with friends alike.
A beautiful, if simple, puzzle game that remains faithful to Myst without feeling dated.
Golf Story's clever writing and sound golf fundamentals keep it entertaining, even through some stale moments. Despite its light-hearted RPG structure, there's a challenging and very real golf game here that's worth coming back to even after the story is over. But it left me wishing that more of the campaign focused on the golf itself, and less on the often repetitive side tasks.
A fun, unconventional RPG with interesting new ideas that aren't entirely overshadowed by its repetitive nature and stale combat.
Fun combat, great writing, and a great look, but with pacing and progression tuned for a mobile experience, not the PC.
A fun, nostalgic platformer and a cool use of VR, but repetitive design makes its short length a boon.
Chasm is a lovely and fun Metroidvania with a lot of cool new ideas, even if its randomized maps are uninteresting.
BattleTech provides exciting strategic decisions and a compelling story, plus the slow-paced and meticulous fun of building up and customizing a mercenary company but suffers from the frustrating unpredictability of its weapons and procedural missions, and losing a favorite mechwarrior to a random head hit feels like it somewhat undermines the choices I've made along the way. Those frustrating moments didn't ruin my many hours with BattleTech by any means, but they did mean I wasn't rushing back for more after I beat the campaign.
The Room VR: A Dark Matter offers an enjoyable and impressively polished VR puzzler while it lasts.
XCOM: Chimera Squad plays with some interesting new ideas, but doesn't bring them together into a particularly graceful whole.