Author: firemarth
Review: Dragon Quest Builders 2
A few years back, there was a little crafting game that caught me by surprise: Dragon Quest Builders. As I have mentioned before, I initially thought the game was a late-to-the-party cash grab on the crafting genre when demoing it, but it turned out to be much more than I had anticipated when diving into the full game. Read More
Review: SolSeraph
I grew up back during the times of the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64, and it's an era that I have much nostalgia for...despite never owning either system. Before I turned 13 or so, my parents did not allow any video games in our home ("They aren't educational."), so I got most of my gaming memories from time spent at friend's houses. Read More
E3 2019 Hands-on: The Riftbreaker
If there's one thing that attending multiple E3 and PAX West expos has taught me, it's that the Polish indie games scene is thriving. Over the past few years, both expos have had a booth dedicated to titles coming from a country that isn't exactly the first place that comes to mind when one thinks about gaming (aside from CD Projekt Red, probably). Read More
E3 2019 Hands-on: Fall Guys
Some studios are breaking the Battle Royale idea down to its most basic level...Developers Mediatonic are going their own way with the genre, applying these mechanics to something much different: a wacky game show. Read More
E3 2019 Hands-on: The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan
In the chaotic and noisy environment of a gaming expo, it's not too often that you see a demo for a darker, narrative-heavy game. Titles that want to immerse the player are going to struggle to present themselves against a backdrop of flashy lights and loud music...although that's not to say that it is an impossible feat. Read More
E3 2019 Hands-on: Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 is an upcoming release that has my attention, despite some of the drama coming out of developer Gearbox. We were offered the chance to go hands-on with the latest demo build at this year's E3, alongside a run-down of some new information for the game. Read More
E3 2019 Hands-on: Sayonara Wild Hearts
"A Pop Album Video Game." That was the first description I had heard of Sayonara Wild Hearts back when the game's initial trailer debuted during the 2018 Game Awards. Of course, that's because that's the first line the trailer opens up with, and after going hands-on with the game, I can see where developers Simogo are coming from with that description. Read More
Review: Gato Roboto
What do you want to accomplish when you're creating a game? Do you want to make a splash, create something that moves a genre (or the industry) forward, and is full of innovation? Or would you rather take an existing formula, put a personal touch on it, and just do it really really well? Read More
Review: World End Syndrome
I really shouldn't like visual novels. I have no idea why I do, looking back at many that I consider my favorites. For as much weight as I put on quality storytelling, the VNs I remember fondly don't seem like they would hold up. Read More
Review: Tapsonic Bold
I, like many others, have never been much into playing mobile games. Trying to play a game on my phone's screen through disappointing speakers, while using touch controls that block said screen just through the use of them, has never appealed to me. Read More
Review: Katana Zero
The talk of the town in the gaming community recently is difficulty. Should games offer different difficulty levels to appease less-skilled or less-abled players? Would doing so compromise a developer's "vision?" Do games have to be hard to be fun? Read More
Review: Corpse Party: Sweet Sachiko’s Hysteric Birthday Bash
The "fan disc" is a relatively common thing when it comes to visual novels. After pouring hours of life into reading through a story, some people will surely come to care for the characters therein and want to spend more time with them. Read More
Review: Fate/Extella Link
As we grow as human beings, our tastes change. It's an inevitable fact of life. Like, you suddenly start enjoying slow-paced ambient music despite being a metalhead through most of your youth, or you decide that mushrooms are in face the perfect pizza topping even though you hated them growing up. Read More
Preview: Audica
Ever since the end of the Rock Band boom, developer Harmonix has become much more experimental in the games they produce. Aside from Rock Band 4, which they continue to support with updates and DLC, Harmonix has also jumped into board games, social games, and virtual reality. Read More
Review: The Caligula Effect: Overdose
A couple of years ago, Atlus published an ambitions little title for the Vita known as The Caligula Effect. Many compared it spiritually to the Persona series, which is no surprise, since the writer that penned the game's narrative, Tadashi Satomi, was also the mind behind the first two Persona games. Read More
Review: Dead or Alive 6
The Dead or Alive franchise of fighting games is a series that markets itself on two things: fast and aggressive fighting and a splash of sex appeal. Apparently, pitting sexy well-endowed women and buff chiseled men against each other in brutal fisticuffs is a winning formula. Read More
Review: Metro Exodus
As the recent release of Kingdom Hearts 3 has proven, it can be challenging for newcomers to a series to jump into an on-going series without knowledge of past releases. KH3 may have taken this to a bit of an extreme, but I still experienced something similar when Metro Exodus fell into my hands. Read More
Review: Arcade Spirits
Back in the 80s, the arcade was the place to be! All the cool kids would bike on down to the local arcade after school to play the latest games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, fighting for high-score dominance while simultaneously stuffing their faces with greasy food, all lit up under a warm neon glow. Read More
