At first glance, A Valley Without Wind isn’t much to look at. It looks like a competent Metroidvania at best and a Terraria knock-off at worst. But once you sit down with it, A Valley Without Wind opens up to be so much more than your usual action-RPG. READ MORE
Walking the PAX floor is always a wonderful-yet-confusing experience for me. While great indie titles have no lines, PAX-goers queue around the block at booths big enough to obscure the sun for games they’ll be able to play in a month. One such title I was able to waddle up to and play almost immediately was They Bleed Pixels. READ MORE
Some games are just a little more straightforward than others. Rather than come up with some overarching reason to make you care about shooting lots of robots, Demiurge Studios’ Shoot Many Robots just throws waves at you and hopes the enemy variety and co-op fun is enough to keep you playing. READ MORE
Rayman, as a series, has always been at its best when it knew not to do too much. Both the original game and the 3D sequel took its floaty feel, distinct art style and lead character and let that set the experience apart in an otherwise-derivative platforming adventure. And that totally worked. After a decade in the wilderness, Rayman Origins takes another highly-popular game, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and follows the formula as much as possible. It works magnificently. READ MORE
The original Luigi’s Mansion was a game that didn’t get much credit. Out at the launch of the GameCube, the title made design decisions based on showing off the system’s tech, didn’t have the epic scale of his brother’s adventures and had the riveting twist of a vacuum cleaner. So it was quickly overshadowed by Super Smash Bros. Melee and Pikmin, left to fade into obscurity. Here’s the thing, though: behind the waving curtains and transparent ghosts was a solid game experience with a formula no one has really duplicated. READ MORE
