Once Upon a Jester Review
At the beginning of the year I played a small microcosm of a game called Techno Banter released by publisher Crunching Koalas. Who would of thought a game about an anthropomorphic bouncer at a nightclub in a dystopian metropolis would have resonated so much with me? And yet it did. Techno Banter is not wholly profound by any stretch of the imagination. But its concept is so different. It has fleck...[Read More]
Godbreakers Review
Godbreakers doesn’t truly get hard until after players beat a complete run for the first time. And as a player relatively well-versed in roguelikes, that’s a surprising twist in the formula. After felling my first raucous, multi-stage boss I had burned through my limited-use healing coils. A combination of unfamiliarity with a new game, an accidental heal, and a decent difficulty curve...[Read More]
Battlefield 6 Review
If I love a good mil-sim, why have I not played more Battlefield? The only two entries in the series I’ve touched have been Battlefield 1 and Battlefield V, the recent games not set in modern day but in World Wars of the past. Gaming had, at least for a few years, seemingly exhausted its taste for first-person shooters set in the wake of 9/11 and the never-ending war in the Middle East. The ...[Read More]
BALL x PIT Review
BALL x PIT proves that even after 30 years, the simplest of concepts can still be iterated upon in unique ways. 1976’s Breakout was a simple, single-player answer to Pong. What if there was only one paddle that moved and players had to use the trajectory of the ball to chip away at a wall of bricks? Okay, sure. Ten years later, Arkanoid spiced things up by adding better physics and power-ups...[Read More]
Little Nightmares III Review
When Tarsier Studios introduced a second protagonist to Little Nightmares II, they laid the foundation for what would come. Little Nightmares III, like its predecessor, clings to inspiration. Tarsier’s original 2017 puzzle-platformer could have gotten lost in the mire of Playdead inspiration but instead differentiated itself from the likes of Inside. When it comes time for a sequel, the incl...[Read More]
Fallout 76: Burning Springs Preview
The longevity of Fallout 76 has been something to admire. What is, essentially, the only non-Starfield game we’ve received from Bethesda in the last seven years continues to dazzle me. Since 2018, every major Bethesda or Xbox games showcase has included time dedicated to showing what Fallout 76–and Elder Scrolls Online, by association–has coming up and what the game has accomplis...[Read More]
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Review
The gulf of time between me playing kart racers has been gargantuan. In 2006, Mario Kart: Double Dash would have been in heavy rotation in my college hall. The fervent madness of Baby Park as six or seven of us would constantly swap out controllers, hooting and hollering at sour defeat and ruthless victory. Fast-forward to 2019 and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. I’d never played the origina...[Read More]
Dying Light: The Beast Review
As big and expansive as Dying Light 2 Stay Human was when it released in 2022, I am sympathetic towards players who eventually became exhausted by Techland’s parkour playground. One of the major caveats with open-world games is their ability to keep players anchored to the bountiful amount of side quests, checklists, and things to do. We’ve all seen the criticism of overly packed world...[Read More]
Ghost of Yōtei Review
At what point do we wish to abandon reality and blissfully exist inside a game’s world? No matter how fantastical or violent or absurd or realistic or impractical, a rich world teeming with personality so frequently provides more than just meager escapism. And while becoming lost in a game and submerged in its fiction is intoxicating–especially when the outside world is particularly vi...[Read More]
Baby Steps Review
Calling Baby Steps an anti-game is not an indictment of its expert ability at infuriating the player with punishing regression of progress. Nor is it a way to shield this absurdist piece of entertainment from legitimate criticism from players who will never acquire a taste for the buffet of bitter pills it jovially wishes us to gobble down. Yes, Baby Steps is a video game. A videogame. A game. It&...[Read More]
Wizordum Review (PS5)
Wizordum is a standout entry in the renaissance of what has become colloquially known as boomer shooters. But 30 years ago we would have called them first-person shooters. Or arena shooters. Or, perhaps, just an action game. Look, I’m not a boomer. And honestly, I kind of hate the slang “boomer” being applied to anything not preceded by an “okay.” Still, it’s a ...[Read More]
LEGO Voyagers Review
Take this fact with a grain of salt: I completed a large portion of LEGO Voyagers by myself. While it seems almost cruel to conduct such an experiment on what is meant to be a cooperative experience between two players, I was curious as to what would ultimately happen if I tried it. On a couch I sat with no other partner able to take the second controller in their hands to assist me in this humble...[Read More]