Hauntii Review
Hauntii is one of those wonderful games that isn’t overshadowed by its intoxicating aesthetic. Undoubtedly, Moonloop Games’ debut title is one that could sell based on its trailer. Countless independent games over the years have battled for recognition through any number of quirks and often work to ensnare eyeballs through a sleek or–for a lack of a better word–haunting tra...[Read More]
Braid, Anniversary Edition Review
Reflecting on Braid‘s significance, one has to play with time. The landscape of 2008 was vastly different for gaming, for most media. In this moment I try to peel back the thick, foggy folds of time and remember August 2008, the month Braid released on Xbox Live Arcade. Poor aimless, hopeless Ben. Unlike Braid‘s main character Tim, I had no steadfast goal to cling to. Much like Tim, li...[Read More]
Crow Country Review
Crow Country is not a game meant for anyone who would look at it and think, “ew.” The blocky, polygonal characters. The scanlines eerily misting over the screen. The crunchy sound effects. It’s meant to shove players face-first into a nostalgic bath of PlayStation 1- and Nintendo 64-era trappings. When I was a teenager, I freebased this stuff. “The asylum I grew up in?̶...[Read More]
SaGa Emerald Beyond Review
It would be difficult to conceptualize SaGa Emerald Frontier to those, like me, who have no experience with the SaGa franchise. After the long, winding trail that was Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, Emerald Beyond wasn’t necessarily a polar shift. Certainly, like Rebirth, Emerald Beyond is packed with quaint characters that are distinctly 90s-era JRPG vessels. There’s a capacity for multip...[Read More]
Stellar Blade Review
Stellar Blade marvelously glistens when viewed through the lens of a Golden Age PlayStation 2 game. There is a distinct feeling that specific era evokes. One where a console manufacturer was at the top of its game and publishers and developers were churning out bombastic, diverse, incredible videogames. It was a vibe that fueled the cocky, experimental Wild West of the PlayStation 3 as well. I loo...[Read More]
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Review
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU excels most at storytelling, enveloping players in a rich, emotional journey. Often, that may not be the sentiment one wishes to hear from a game, rather a film or gripping piece of music. But using a videogame as a delivery vessel, Surgent Studios and creator Abubakar Salim have accomplished a harrowing task. My time with Tales of Kenzera: Zau was bookended by the death of m...[Read More]
Grandia HD Collection Review (PS5)
Grandia, unfortunately, has not had the staying power of numerous other long-running JRPG series players likely recognize. Unlike Final Fantasy, Ys, Dragon Quest, Shin Megami Tensei, Tales, or Trails, Grandia has long been dormant. With three numbered entries–the last being 2005’s Grandia III–and a short-lived MMORPG, it would be hard to argue that there is any kind of fervor beh...[Read More]
The Last Case of Benedict Fox: Definitive Edition Review
Rarely do we play games on “Day One” in their most optimal state. Often when I review games in their pre-launch state, a degree of lenience must be applied. It’s not uncommon for a patch that resolves known bugs or cleans up visuals to be applied the day before a game goes live for the rest of the world. Personally, I find it hard to judge a mildly messy review experience harshly...[Read More]
Alone in the Dark Review
In the early 1990s a young, anxious Ben Sheene had to quit out of Alone in the Dark. Ben had only been used to 8-bit games on his Nintendo Entertainment System, where the concept of “scary” was a darkly-lit level and musical stings. This was a time, mind you, when Jason Voorhees in a purple jumpsuit killing camp counselors off-screen was violent. Or when eerie music began to play, sign...[Read More]
Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator Review
Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator has no qualms readily identifying its goals to players. This is not an entry in the simulation genre meant to dissolve players’ time into crystalline tasks of micro-management. In the past handful of years, simulations seemed to have undergone a sea change in their ability to produce meme-worthy content. Perhaps one of the most noteworthy is Powerwash Simulator,...[Read More]
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth effortlessly carries the daunting weight of its own significance. A handful of hours into Rebirth, players are fresh off Cloud’s recollection of the incident in Nibelheim, one of the Final Fantasy franchise’s most significant moments in a singular title rife with them. The emotional knife is seemingly soothed with a figurative calm in the literal town of Kalm,...[Read More]
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Review
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League unfortunately does not exist in a bubble. The daunting weight behind Rocksteady’s newest major release since 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight is immeasurable. Kill the Justice League and Rocksteady have been pushing the boulder up the steep incline of gaming opinion since a formal reveal in 2020. Nearly any vantage point one might take in a review for...[Read More]