Hollow Knight understands the value of discovery
Hollow Knight embodies the sort of excitement and mystery I’ve always wanted out of metroidvania-style games
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Desync is stylish as hell, and just as frustrating
Just on its aesthetic alone, Desync had me hooked. It drops you into its neon-cyberspace with nary a clue as to where you are or what your purpose here is. Static and interlace effects dance across the screen as you make your way through the hub, grungy synth scoring the scene. It’s a very striking…
Resident Evil 7 Review – It’s been a long road home
The Resident Evil franchise has seen its share of ups and downs over the years, ever since its inception in 1997. What started out as one heck of a scary game — at least for the mind of a then twelve-year-old me — eventually turned into shooters, and the overall quality saw a big dip…
Nioh Review – The path to mastery is a rocky one, amrita?
It’s really hard to approach Nioh without talking about From Software’s Souls franchise’s influence on modern videogame design. Nowadays, practically every game to come out with action RPG elements is invariably compared to Souls. While From Software’s groundbreaking work is undeniable, it’s worth pulling the break and look at games for their own merits. Nioh…
Alwa’s Awakening Review – Deliberately retro, for good and bad
I’ve gotten to the point where I approach games that trade on being retro with a bit of trepidation. It’s too easy to fall into the trap of evoking that era’s design principles without understanding why games were designed that way why it doesn’t really fly these days. Yacht Club Games’ Shovel Knight tangled with…
Flywrench Review – Test your limits
Difficult games always feel like a test to see whether you’ll best whatever it throws at you or if it’ll prevent you from moving forward due to its challenges exceeding what you’re physically capable of. Before Flywrench, I hadn’t encountered any examples of the latter. Any time I stopped playing an extremely hard game was…
Linelight delivers a calm, elegant puzzle solving experience
For a genre that seems tailor made to unwind with, I wouldn’t call most of the puzzle games I’ve played over the years relaxing. Tough, taxing; sometimes frustrating, but ultimately rewarding: those are the words I’d use to generally describe them. I love puzzle games, but they always have a habit of driving me up…
A Normal Lost Phone grapples with some interesting topics, but falters along the way
With how much personal data cell phones carry these days, the thought of losing one is terrifying. There’s a lot of damage one can do with even just a bit of access to someone’s life. With full access? I don’t even want to think about it. A Normal Lost Phone from developer Accidental Queens plays…
Yakuza 0 Review – Past, present and future
The Yakuza series has never been one for subtlety. For years, we’ve followed Kiryu Kazuma’s adventures as he continually got deeper and deeper into trouble within the ranks of the Japanese mob. For as reluctant as our anti-hero’s been, trouble always seemed to follow him closely, and as is tradition, these bouts have always hit…
Islands: Non-Places Review – Surreal mundanity
What are “non-places”? They’re the spaces we filter through so often that we pay them no mind. Bus stops, parking lots, lobbies, and so on. Places we spent a fair amount of time passing through, but never pay any attention to. Transitory spaces where our minds wander or we distract ourselves with our phones while…