Last year was the Year of Yakuza, with Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami both releasing in the west. Yakuza 0 felt like a turning point for the series in the west, where the series generally didn’t get much attention. While Yakuza 0 was the beginning of series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu’s story, Yakuza 6 is supposed … Continue reading
When The Fall released in 2014, there were few games that had attempted to handle the concept of artificial intelligence seeking self realization. The idea of an AI eventually achieving consciousness by subverting its own rules was a novel one and certainly made the game memorable. Four years later, The Fall Part 2: Unbound seeks … Continue reading
Unless you’ve not been paying attention to the gaming world over the past few years, you’ve no doubt heard all of the controversy surrounding Konami and the Metal Gear franchise. As a longtime fan, it was a massive bummer to see how the franchise was handled and to hear the various reports about the poor … Continue reading
There’s this really bad time to be a games writer if you aren’t working on big features constantly. Basically, between Game of the Year and usually sometime in late January, there’s tragically little to talk about, as it’s the best time to catch up on games. As this is stuff that doesn’t make a ton … Continue reading
This last year was the mystical year of too many games. Narrowing the list down to just 10 games was always going to be impossible. So, I’ve divided my top ten into games that I need to play more of but what I’ve played is good, honorable mentions, and an Official Top Ten. These are … Continue reading
The original Hand of Fate was a fantastic concept that failed when it got to executing the concepts. The idea of having randomized encounters laid out in a card game style, while using Arkham-style combat worked decent enough, but ultimately everything felt repetitive. While Hand of Fate 2 changes many of the encounters, it often … Continue reading
ELEX is definitely something unique. An open-world game, with multiple completely distinctive settings and tribes to interact with. There can be trolls, mechs and dinosaurs, all in the same area, providing something truly different. It’s also a technical disaster that will appeal to a hardcore crowd, but few else. ELEX takes place on the planet of … Continue reading
The Jackbox games have always served as a great tool for breaking the ice with a group of friends. The Jackbox Party Pack 4 is the latest release of their yearly party game franchise and contains an absolutely brilliant group of titles. Fibbage 3 is the big returning game for this pack and it is … Continue reading
The year 2010 was definitely a good year for gaming. Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas (the best 3D Fallout game), and several others helped to define the year. It was also the year that Cuphead began development. Throughout the years, we’ve seen Cuphead in various stages and now, after seven years, … Continue reading
Steamworld Dig was a game I got into way too late. Playing it on the Playstation Vita, however, felt nearly perfect. While seeing the art in full size is great, indie games like that work especially well in handheld form. So it certainly wasn’t a surprise that the sequel, Steamworld Dig 2 was announced for … Continue reading
The original Rock of Ages from Ace Team and Atlus was lovable, if not a great game. Released in 2011, it was part Super Monkey Ball, part tower-defense, pitting two players against each other to put up a defense against a giant player controlled boulder. It’s big appeal was it’s Monty Python-like humor, pitting 2D … Continue reading
After spending almost 100 hours earlier this year with Yakuza 0, you’d think that the idea of a HD-ified remake of the original Yakuza would fit perfectly for me. Mostly, you’d be right. There’s a lot to like about Yakuza Kiwami, a remake of the original Yakuza. However, there’s not much to love. Yakuza Kiwami starts … Continue reading
Defender has inspired a number of games over the years. Resogun from Housemarque and Astro Tripper from Pom Pom Games are more recent examples and both worked incredibly well to emulate that style of gameplay. Graceful Explosion Machine takes a lot of the base mechanics of Defender, adds a nice coat of paint, and creates … Continue reading
