I have great memories of the JRPG heyday. The NES, SNES, PS1, and their contemporaneous handhelds were absolute goldmines of fantastic JRPGs, and growing up I happily devoured as many as I could get. However, while subsequent generations certainly had their share of excellent games in the genre, I feel like things tailed off slightly … Continue reading Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Tag: Switch
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
I have a real soft spot for the hard-boiled grim detective trope in narratives. There’s something almost mystical about that image and its portrayals in games - from the cynical poetry of Max Payne’s dialogue to the jaded ultraviolence of Booker in Bioshock Infinite - tend to result in some of my favourite characters in … Continue reading The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
Oh I have been looking forward to this one for a long time. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is just around the corner as of time of writing, and though I know I’m not terribly likely to play it on release - such a thing is the antithesis of the patient gamer ethos after all - it … Continue reading Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
Vampyr
Games about quarantines, horrific viral epidemics, and people struggling to eke out a living in a crumbling, burning world kind of feel a lot less fantasy and a lot more uncomfortable these days. At least we haven’t had any vampires yet in real life. Vampyr (PC, PS4 [reviewed], Switch, Xbox One) Released Jun 2018 | … Continue reading Vampyr
Abzu
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
Assassin’s Creed: Rogue
The Assassin’s Creed series is proper weird. We’ve seen the Crusades, punched the Pope into submissions, signed the Declaration of Independence (well, stood around a bit while historical domain characters signed the Declaration of Independence) and even been a pirate but the one thing that all the games have had in common is heroes who … Continue reading Assassin’s Creed: Rogue
Furi
There’s something beautiful about a game that you can play and beat in an afternoon. It’s so very refreshing in this era of huge, expansive 100-hour experiences. Furi lasted me a scant few hours one quiet afternoon but in that short time I played a tightly-constructed and fantastically intense game that was an instant hit … Continue reading Furi
Bastion
Proper story’s supposed to start at the beginning. Ain’t so simple with this one. Now here’s a Kid whose whole world got twisted, leaving him stranded on a rock in the sky... Bastion (Switch, PC, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One [reviewed]) Released Jul 2011 | Developed: Supergiant Games | Published: Warner Bros. From … Continue reading Bastion
Assassin’s Creed: Liberation
No, we’re not at the pirate game yet. Soon... Assassin’s Creed: Liberation (PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One) Released Oct 2012 | Developed / Published: Ubisoft The second game in Ubisoft’s dalliance with 18th-century America, Assassin’s Creed: Liberation was a simultaneous release alongside Assassin’s Creed III. Originally released solely on the … Continue reading Assassin’s Creed: Liberation
A Hat in Time
Kickstarter sure is a fickle beast. The crowdfunding platform has held host to some truly notable flops, particularly where video games are concerned, but every now and again something notable emerges from it. Pulling nearly 10 times its initial $30,000 goal, it seems people really wanted a brand new 3D collectathon platformer .Much like its … Continue reading A Hat in Time