Developer Stoic’s first entry in its three-part turn-based strategy role-playing game epic The Banner Saga is excellent, both as a standalone game and as an introduction to a greater narrative. It’s expansive world and endearing cast craft a compelling stage, tense battles and difficult decisions giving each exchange weight and uncertainty. It’s beautiful and dark;…
Nidhogg is best described as a game where you fight for the right to be eaten by a giant, hideous worm-like monster. Why anyone would risk their lives for such a fate befuddles me. But the process of getting there is so damn tense and exciting that the conclusion hardly matters. It’s the thrill of…
Games often deal in choice and consequence, though rarely do so grounded in reality or make the options so seemingly small and simple. Usually it’s in some sort of fantastical setting with the choices being some extreme form of “good” and “bad,” nary a grey area in sight. Hardly riveting, let alone something to get…
From the lay of the over-world to the very intro sequence and menu music, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is as much an homage as it is a sequel to A Link to the Past. The entire framework remains unchanged from the 1992 classic, at times stopping just short of outright remaking…
It’s the end of the year, and you know that means: it’s time for Game of the Year! We decided to forego the usual route of side-wide awards, however, and instead simply post our own picks. Today, Callum stops by with his top ten list of games for the year. Why a top ten list?…
Video games and rhythm never cease to go together flawlessly, especially so with games that use it creatively, or at least intelligently. 140 from developer Jeppe Carlsen falls under the latter. It’s a minimalist platformer that ties basic jumping puzzles to the beat of music, testing not only your reflexes and dexterity but your sense…
The past couple years of Ratchet & Clank games have seen an admirable, but ultimately failed shot at experimentation. All 4 One saw the series become a cooperative-based experience, while last year’s Full Frontal Assault turned it into a tower-defense game. Neither managed to capture the magic of earlier Ratchet & Clank adventures, in part…
Flying Carpets Games recently debuted The Girl and the Robot, their first game out the gate, after successfully hitting their Kickstarter goal. The game follows a young girl attempting to escape a winding castle situated in the sky with the help of a gold-colored robot. And it looks very promising. I recently went hands-on with…
Rain’s concept is a splendid one. It follows a young boy and girl who suddenly find themselves turned invisible, unable to be seen except in the rain. The idea opens up a fair number of inventive opportunities. Except Rain fails to capitalize on them at every turn. Monotonous levels and repetitious puzzles make Rain a…
The episodic model seems to the be steadily becoming the standard for point-and-click adventure games. Ever since Telltale Games practically mastered the craft, all sorts of adventure game makers have been aping the model to varying degrees of success. It’s a tough structure to pull off. One of the latest games to take a crack…
