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…
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…
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…
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…
If there’s one thing that Telltale’s really good at it’s playing with our expectations. Their dealing of third-party franchises has seen mixed results over the years, and while they’ve been mostly positive, there’s no helping feeling a little uneasy seeing them step out of their comfort zone. That was the case when it was announced…
By now, after two complete seasons of The Walking Dead by Telltale, anyone jumping in knows what they’re getting into. Whether or not you have actually played the previous seasons, it’s pretty safe to assume things aren’t going to go well in this new season, taking into account the murderous nature of both the TV…
Videogames so often deal in destruction and violence that anytime one comes along that focuses on rejuvenation it feels fresh. That the entire crux of Okami, for example, was to restore life and color to the world was a big part of why it resonated with me so deeply. I always prefer games that focus…
Many are considering 2016 to be one of the worst the world has ever seen. Games, however, have been pretty freaking great all year round, so at least they’ve helped keep people entertained while all sorts of chaos takes place in the real world. Here are a few of my personal standouts. Are some of…
It can’t be easy being Empress. Think about it: Not only do you have to run an entire empire by yourself, everyone blames you for basically every problem. Maybe the harvest has failed or there’s a rebellion in the northern isles or your favourite warship has sunk; there is never a spare moment. Sometimes you…
Watch Dogs 2 is a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Unlike its 2014 predecessor set in Chicago, San Francisco’s turn at being the stage of open world hacking shenanigans is anything but a silly romp, and it’s great for that. Thankfully, there’s more to this game than simply being in on the whole…
