wangxiuming

So I'm happy to report that Legacy has - thankfully - avoided the two monumental design errors of its parent game. The DLC features a brand new area to explore outside of Kirkwall. Your adventure brings you to a Grey Warden prison in the Vimmark mountains, an area which turns out to be darkspawn-infested fortress. The dungeons - while not mindblowing - are a refreshing change of pace from exploring the carbon copy cutouts that were Dragon Age 2's map designs. The atmosphere is suitably sinister, and the DLC brings a healthy dose of interesting story content to boot. An ancient darkspawn is breaking free of its chains, and as you delve deeper into the depths of the prison, you uncover startling secrets concerning the nature of this threat. The story is engaging, and some endgame revelations are quite satisfying. See the full text of the review here: ****/2011/08/review-dragon-age-legacy.html

I've blogged a bit about Supergiant Games' Bastion previously, and discussed most of its most prominent features; for those who still don't know much about this Xbox Live Arcade downloadable, well, let's just say it's an action RPG infused with style, atmosphere, and just enough poignancy to make the trip feel worth both your time and your hard-earned dollar. If there is only one XBLA downloadable game you get this year, you can bet Bastion should be one of your top choices. Recommended For: + Action RPG fans + Fans of games with style + Fans of immersive, story-based games + Anybody with an Xbox360 Not Recommended For: - People with no souls. See the full review here: ****/2011/07/review-bastion.html

After the whole Dragon Age 2 debacle, I think Obsidian Entertainment might be bracing themselves for a fandom backlash, especially considering how much they changed Dungeon Siege III from its predecessors. While a solid game in its own right, I almost hesitate to call the game Dungeon Siege at all - essentially the only thing that has been retained in this third entry to this popular PC game franchise is the massive amounts of loot you'll find and the story lore. And frankly, the lore was one of the weaker aspects of the first two titles. Dungeon Siege III is a third person action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a company practically known for taking over other people's game series. With titles such as KOTOR II, and Neverwinter Nights 2 (and corresponding expansions) under its belt, Obsidian has a reputation for making deep, engrossing sequels filled with interesting characters and topped off with intricate plots. With Dungeon Siege, this fan-favorite developer has stepped outside of familiar territory; most of their games are pseudo turn-based RPGs - Dungeon Siege III is their first fully real-time action RPG. DS3 tries to combine fast-paced action with Obsidian's renowned storytelling and for the most part it succeeds. Operative words being "for the most part." See my full review here: ****/2011/06/review-dungeon-siege-iii.html

Developed by Q Entertainment and published by Ubisoft, Child of Eden is a first person shooter. But it's also a game unlike almost every other first person shooter out there. Dazzling visual and audio effects, brilliant level design, smooth controls, and a catchy technopop soundtrack form a solidarity with which Child of Eden rises to greatness. See the full text of my review here: ****/2011/06/review-child-of-eden.html

It is perhaps impossible to review Dragon Age 2 without making comparisons to its predecessor. Dragon Age: Origins was a stunning achievement in late 2009, winning multiple game of the year awards and lauded as one of the best RPGs of the generation. Considering the daunting tasks that the game had to achieve and how well it succeeded - creating an immersive setting, establishing a fun and tactical gameplay system, and building a strong fanbase for future games to capitalize on - it's no wonder that the game took 5 years for the RPG veteran Bioware to complete. Comparatively, Dragon Age 2 was released in March of 2011, less than 1.5 years from the release of the original in November of 2009. That was probably the first clue that something was wrong. See the full text of the review here: ****/2011/06/review-dragon-age-2-da2.html

It's been four years since the first Witcher game opened to warm reception in 2007. The PC exclusive action-RPG featured a new combat style, deeply evolving and open-ended paths, and a powerful protagonist with some brutal decisions to make. The Witcher 2 has proven CDProjekt as a powerhouse developer in the RPG arena. This fledgling developer has improved upon the original Witcher in almost every way possible, bringing us a climactic and thrilling adventure that both action and RPG fans alike will appreciate. See the full text of the review here: ****/2011/06/review-witcher-2-tw2.html