AJAZZ AK680 Max Mechanical Keyboard Review
Last year I delved deeper into the arena of customizable mechanical keyboards, one I had primarily passed by in my years of gaming. The AJAZZ AK820 Max and the AJAZZ AK870 were two sides of a similar coin. Both had impressive lighting effects, responsive and satisfying keystrokes, and ease of use for whatever purpose they would be implemented for. When it was all said and done, the AK820 felt like...[Read More]
Moons of Darsalon Review
Moons of Darsalon adheres to a frustrating video game trope, yet strives to make it the core mechanic–and an enjoyable one at that. Escort missions have been heavily derided in games. They are almost universally loathed for their insistence upon stripping the player of any former agency, requiring the pace to screech to a halt. Often a hapless and helpless NPC needs guidance towards some obj...[Read More]
Turbo Overkill Review (PS5)
Turbo Overkill follows a simple bible: rip and tear. And while it is inked in blood and shell casings, it is leather-bound in the meaty flesh of chainsaw victims. Chainsaw leg victims, to be more precise. This should come as no surprise from Apogee Entertainment, a publisher who rose to prominence with Duke Nukem 3D under its former moniker 3D Realms. Turbo Overkill is meant to be evocative of an ...[Read More]
ROBOBEAT Review (PS5)
Imagining a game without a soundtrack is near impossible. Undoubtedly across the vast ocean of games, there are numerous titles either lacking a score or any other noise outside the cacophony of blips and beeps. But I crave the music. And as time has gone on, evocative scores are so intrinsically enjoyable to me that they become a part of the narrative or gameplay. While many developers may work t...[Read More]
Eternal Strands Review
Over 20 hours into Eternal Strands I was still encountering new enemies, new areas, and new ways to use the handful of magical powers my weaver Brynn had acquired. And though these moments were fresh in the scope of developer Yellow Brick Games’ debut title, not all of them were unfamiliar to a player like myself. Eternal Strands evokes that old adage “imitation is the sincerest form o...[Read More]
Tales of Graces f Remastered Review
My first Tales game was Tales of Symphonia. Someone on my hall in college lent it to me in 2006 to play on my Gamecube. Back then, games weren’t as plentiful and it was wonderful to have a group of people with similar tastes that you could trade back and forth with. Maybe my memory is hazy from the hundreds of other games I’d played prior but I think Tales of Symphonia was also the fir...[Read More]
Towers of Aghasba Early Access Review
In the weeks since Towers of Aghasba launched into Early Access and spending quality time with it, a crucial element for success has occurred: communication. While it would be easy enough to praise the regular patches that have seen their way through, progress is not always indicative of promise. Developer Dreamlit inc. could have been stuffing Towers of Aghasba with content since its late Novembe...[Read More]
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered Review
Years ago I once played a demo for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Likely on PC as it would be a few more years before owning a PlayStation console. While my gaming brain had been relatively matured by that point, I distinctly remember having absolutely no clue as to what I was doing in the Soul Reaver demo. Raziel’s tattered wings glided me towards chunky polygonal pillars. A spiral health met...[Read More]
The Thaumaturge Review
The Thaumaturge is a strangely cozy game, personally speaking. Of course, one might not think such things about a game set in 1905 Poland, a country dealing with the encroaching threat of Revolution amidst Russian occupation. Soon the entire world would know war. Industry, culture, and technology were shifting. In The Thaumaturge, the streets are lined with muddy poverty, upper-class parties, and ...[Read More]
Spirit Mancer Review
When the dust settles, I’ll remember more of what Spirit Mancer got right than where it stumbled. Even when a game is flawed, it can still make a remarkable impression if it strives to simply be different. Better to shoot for the moon than wade in the dredges of safety. My feeling for Spirit Mancer was crystallized about three hours in, having touched upon the numerous parts of the game deve...[Read More]
Metaphor: ReFantazio Review
“Humans are the real monsters.” The thought resonated with me early into Metaphor: ReFantazio‘s narrative, one that not so subtly works to tackle and deconstruct themes from our own reality, a reality many would wish to escape for any other kind of fantastical existence. No doubt Atlus and Studio Zero did not plan to release their work in proximity to such a tumultuous inflection...[Read More]
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Review
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III stumbled so Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 could soar. Triumphantly so. Black Ops 6 possesses a kind of opulence I haven’t seen in a Call of Duty game since perhaps Infinite Warfare, Black Ops 3, and Advanced Warfare–the first fruit borne from Activision’s mandate that Call of Duty‘s key three developers would be gifted with 3-year development cy...[Read More]