Mitchell Saltzman
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Writing For
IGN 
The Escapist Latest Reviews
Forestrike's tactical martial arts inspired action does a wonderful job of combining combat and puzzle solving to make for a clever roguelite that will test your wits and reflexes in equal measure.
Despite its disappointing story and bland level design, Ninja Gaiden 4's excellent combat still make it one of the best 3D action games in recent memory.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is yet another great soulslike to add to the ever-increasing pile, featuring excellent combat, wonderful level design, an incredible skill tree, and fearsome bosses. Just watch out for some steep difficulty dips and spikes, and a reliance on cheap-feeling "gotcha!" ambushes.
When Elden Ring Nightreign is played exactly as it was designed to be played, it’s one of the finest examples of a three-player co-op game around – but that's harder to do than it should be, and playing solo is poorly balanced.
Doom: The Dark Ages may strip away the mobility focus of Doom Eternal, but replaces it with a very weighty and powerful style of play that is different from anything the series has done before, and still immensely satisfying in its own way.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is a triumphant revival of one of the pioneers of the 2D Fighter that doesn't land every strike it throws, but hits with all of the most important ones for figthing game fans.
Full of ambition and packed with great boss battles, Eternal Strands doesn't land every shot it takes, but it lands enough to make it an impressive action RPG.
Shovel Knight: King of Cards, like previous entries in the Shovel Knight series, is a blast. This is hands down the most ambitious and largest Shovel Knight game yet, with more levels, more dialogue, branching paths, and a completely new and cleverly used style of play centered around King Knight’s unique abilities. Not all of that ambition pays off, especially when it comes to its intrusive Joustus card game, which slows down the momentum of the game – and while it’s not mandatory, it felt like I would be missing out on a huge chunk of content by not participating in it. Nonetheless, King of Cards still wraps up this first era of Shovel Knight with style and flair befitting of a king (knight).
Darksiders Genesis may lack the polish and flair of its numbered brethren, but make no mistake: this is still a Darksiders game, and it’s one of the best. There’s a really strong balance of great combat, clever puzzles, rich exploration, and excellent progression mechanics that keep its momentum going strong through its entire 15-hour run time. I wouldn’t say I think this new style should be the new standard for the Darksiders series going forward, but I do hope this spinoff isn’t a one-off because there’s a ton of potential here to explore.
WWE 2K19 looked like it stopped the downward trend for the series, but WWE 2K20 doubles back, breaks its ankle, and tumbles down the slope. Fundamental parts that felt totally fine in WWE 2K19 now feel clumsy, the impressive roster of 238 superstars is all but meaningless when a majority of them look like they crawled out of a PS2-era wrestling game, and while 2K20’s MyCareer mode offers a better wrestling story mode than most previous WWE 2K games, that’s a low bar to clear – it’s still saddled with bad progression and a plodding pace. This is a mess that 2K needs to clean up in a hurry.