Games reviewed… eventually
If there’s one thing the labyrinthine lore of Kingdom Hearts needed, it’s a prequel. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PS3, PS4 [reviewed], PSP, Xbox One) Released Jan 2010 | Developed / Published: Square-Enix 10 years before Kingdom Hearts we join Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, three young students of the venerable Keyblade Master Eraqus. Terra and … Continue reading Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
A year or so ago, I reviewed Injustice 2. While I loved its core gameplay and the concept at the heart of it, I had some serious reservations about the needlessly malignant and dark story and the hideous profligacy of microtransactions; now that the original game was released for free for a brief period of … Continue reading Injustice: Gods Among Us
Some games ask deep and meaningful questions about their players. Questions like “How much control do players have?”, and “Is the violence we express in games merely a symptom of our own, inherently cruel human condition?” Abzu shames all of these petty inquiries. Instead, it asks a truly monumental question of us as players. “What … Continue reading Abzu
I knew I was going to enjoy Control right at the beginning. Our protagonist, Jesse Faden, enters the harsh, brutalist headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control late on one drab New York night. She steps through the doors and into a dull foyer, an abandoned desk ahead of her and a great seal adorning … Continue reading Control
Look, some days you’ve just got to play a really mad indie game about octopodes and fatherhood, right? Octodad: Dadliest Catch (Android, iOS, PC, PS4 (reviewed), PS Vita, Switch, Xbox One, Wii U) Released Jan 2014 | Developed / Published: Young Horses Meet Octodad. He’s an octopus who, for some reason, chooses to live among … Continue reading Octodad: Dadliest Catch
The first time you enter the Night Market in Sleeping Dogs is the moment I am sold on it. The claustrophobic crush of stalls, the people crowding around, and the sheer din of life merge together in the dim neon to create an astounding atmosphere. Over the hustle and bustle you can hear vendors trying … Continue reading Sleeping Dogs
The gap between Kingdom Hearts II and III was spectacularly long. To tide us over in that interminable wait, Square-Enix decided to release a plethora of interquels, prequels, and semi-sequel things, in turn creating a vast and labyrinthine miasma of plot. 4 years after Kingdom Hearts II this process began with the awfully-titled 358/2 Days … Continue reading Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
You know what having all this time on lockdown means? That’s right, it’s time to play a lengthy JRPG! The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (PC, PS3, PS4 [reviewed], PS Vita) Released Sep 2013 | Developed: Nihon Falcom | Published: NIS/Marvelous I’d like to preface this review by saying that I know very … Continue reading The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Mohawks! Hyper-bright colours! Energy drink zombies! Giant death-robot balloon mascots! Snarky comments! Skate punk! What do you get if you put all this together? No, it’s not just some random collection of non-sequitur nonsense, it’s actually also a load of stuff listed from Sunset Overdrive, Insomniac’s 2014 Xbox One exclusive open-world action game. If any … Continue reading Sunset Overdrive
What can I possibly add to the discourse surrounding Final Fantasy VII? It is without a doubt one of the most famous and most well-loved games of all time, and given it is over 20 years old, I’m sure there’s very little new I can say about this. But fuck it! I’m gonna do that … Continue reading Final Fantasy VII
