Grand Theft Auto V (PS5)
Update 4/30/2022: A prior version of this review mentioned my difficulties with playing the campaign and restoring my save from the PS4 version. This was because I had not uploaded my PS4 save to Rockstar’s Social Club. I downloaded the PS4 version onto the PS5, downloaded my save from PS+, opened the PS4 version, uploaded the save to the Social Club, and was successfully able to resume my P...[Read More]
30XX – Abyssal Armory Update (Chumps Preview)
Chumps Preview is a special kind of post where we unofficially preview games in Early Access, Beta, or are otherwise “unfinished.” This kind of preview is meant to be a first impression rather than a definitive review where we provide a rating to determine a game’s value. As such, we fully expect a game covered in a Chumps Preview to have room for improvement, some bugginess, and...[Read More]
Warp Frontier (Switch)
The point-and-click genre of PC gaming is what made my elementary schooling tolerable during the long afternoons I would spend at daycare. The fanciest computers at my school could run Putt-Putt and Freddi Fish, which were MUCH more fun than Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Rodent’s Revenge. As a 30-year old who pines for the simpler days of 1990s gaming, it’s not often that a point-and-cli...[Read More]
Grapple Dog (Switch)
I fondly remember my summers as a kid: I would go to Grandma’s house in Chicago and play Sonic the Hedgehog on her Sega Genesis. I owned a Sega Genesis in Los Angeles, too, but playing Sonic at Grandma’s felt so different in all the nostalgic ways. A few weeks ago, I saw a trailer for Grapple Dog, and right from the jump I got all of those nostalgic feelings back again. Grapple Dog is ...[Read More]
Aeterna Noctis (PS5)
The first game I played on my shiny new PS5 (on release day, no less) was not Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales or Astro’s Playroom. I played Hollow Knight, which was part of PS+ for the month of November 2020! My knowledge of Hollow Knight was limited; I knew it was fun, hard, and charming. I sat down…and played through the entire thing in about a week. While I couldn’t b...[Read More]
Clid the Snail (PC) Review
It’s January, and we all know what that means: Dry January! You betcha, it’s the one month of the year where we pre-game giving up drinking alcohol to prepare us for the inevitable social media Lent, where some of us give up social media and tell everyone we know through a snarky tweet. Of course, not all of us practice that, but then again, who does? It’s the anticipation that c...[Read More]
Looping Back to Loop Hero
In March, our resident racing aficionado and all-around fantabulous human Benjamine Branscum wrote a glowing review of Loop Hero. In short, Ben argues that there’s a pleasant surprise that comes from playing a simple game of looping around and around, and worth considering on PC. However, it is now December (almost 2022, yeesh!!). Nine months since release, Loop Hero has also released on Nin...[Read More]
Serious Sam 4 (PS5) Review
“Why so serious, Sam?” was a question I repeatedly asked myself as I played Serious Sam 4 (PS5). After reviewing Doom Eternal on the Switch, I was excited for another opportunity to play a FPS demonfest on my PS5. Except, Serious Sam is far from serious. Gory? Sort of. Fun? Sort of. Equipped for the next-gen? Absolutely not. Serious Sam 4 is best described as a Doom meets Duke Nukem FP...[Read More]
Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX Review (PC/Steam)
Picture this: It’s the early 2000s, you’re in middle school, and you’re bored with Pokemon. You got your hands on this new game for the Game Boy Advance that your friends are obsessed with. It’s like Pokemon, but you create monsters by typing in words and you actually raise them and *control* them in battles. Yep. That was my middle school experience: Investing almost 200 h...[Read More]
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story (PC/Steam)
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story was announced in Fall of 2020, and League of Legends fans like me became incredibly excited to explore the land of Runeterra in Riot Forge’s RPG. Not to be confused with Riot Games, League’s developers, Riot Forge is a publishing initiative comprised of Riot Games and other developers; Airship Syndicate developed this game. Ruined King was set to ...[Read More]
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Switch)
In late September, I was just as surprised as you when it was officially announced that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) was being remade for PS5 and that it a Switch port was being released to tide us over. As one who had never played the original (on XBOX, PC, iPhone, or Android), I was cautiously optimistic about what was in store. I knew that KOTOR had a cult following, I had a v...[Read More]
Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan Review
I’ve done my best to avoid being political in my reviews, but writing this particular review has proven to be challenging. As someone who has dabbled (and subsequently published) media research, I’ve spent several years of my life defending the notion that video games do significantly change our behavior. In more advanced terms: the “hypodermic needle theory” is bunk. IR...[Read More]