It has arrived: the end of the year. A year that felt simultaneously gone in a flash yet unbearably long. It sure has been an…interesting…start to a new decade. In gaming, though, the year has been crazy. A brand new console generation has begun, and people are still struggling to be a part of it,
After nearly 100 years, George Orwell’s books still resonate strongly with readers. One of these is Animal Farm, an allegory for Russian revolution and subsequent Stalinist era. It should come as no surprise that this is a fairly political work, with themes that resonate even today about the dangers of authoritarian rule. Of course, this
Chronos was an oddball title when first released: A third-person action game released on a VR console. It’s now been released in a more accessible format for everyone who may have missed it the first time around. Released December 1st, 2020 for PC via Steam by Gunfire Games, Chronos: Before the Ashes is a remake
Fast-paced action, pixel art, and religious undertones – there’s nothing about this concept I don’t love. Today we’re returning with a full-fledged review for Fallen Angel, which we covered in a preview last month, now that it’s been fully released.
To what extent do the controls make the game? Just because a game can be ported over to another system, does it mean it should? This is what I pondered while trying out Cave Digger, originally released for VR systems by Mekiwi and out now for standard PC play on Steam. Digging Yourself Deeper Gameplay
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Matrioshka Games’ Fallen Angel, a top-down adventure game that, for better or worse, is a mix of nostalgic elements from yesteryear combined with newer design philosophies. Right from the word go, it’s clear they’re going for a nostalgic aesthetic. The graphics are detailed pixel-art and, while
Big Farm Story is something I would… hesitate to call a game. Despite being released to the public as a playable early access game, it’s devoid of content and feels more like a prototype than anything. I’ve done previews of games that were still in Early Access before, and I’m no stranger to the idea
There’s something to be said for expectations in a game. When I was approached to review Skully, I had been expecting something along the lines of your usual kid-friendly colorful platformer. Explore a variety of themed worlds, use abilities in different ways to traverse the levels, beat some baddies and do some light platforming. A
The Switch has become a haven lately for quirky indy titles, and it’s easy to see why. It’s perfect for games that are easy to pick up and put down, don’t require a lot of power, and are just the sort of thing you’d want to play for a few minutes while out and about.
Horror really is one of the most popular genres in the indie scene, and it’s easy to see why. Fear is such a visceral reaction that sticks with a player years after they’ve stopped playing. It allows for telling tales a bit more complicated than the usual fight against evil. It relies on the unseen
Touhou is perhaps my favorite series I’ve never played. It’s hard to have even a passing familiarity with the top-down shooter genre without hearing of the beatiful and deadly curtains of bullets the series is known for and the brutal difficulty it can reach. Part of the reason is the creator’s encouragement of fangames, resulting
I love the indie scene, positively adore it. It’s an endless stream of ideas too off the wall for mainstream publication. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, but more often than not they leave something with you.
If there’s one genre the indie scene loves to cover, it’s psychological horror. The unsettling journey into a deranged psyche allows disquieting and surreal imagery that touches on something deep within us, and as they’re by nature weird and experimental it’s something the AAA industry rarely covers. Today we’re covering The Shattering, brought to us
Memoria Misera (Extreme) is the trial added alongside the Resistance Weapons relic questline released in patch 5.25 of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers. It’s available at level 80 by finishing the quest Fire in the Forge and talking to the Wandering Dramaturge standing nearby in Gangos. It can be completed via the duty finder with a
I think the mood of Saints Row IV can be summed up by a moment early on where I, an aggressively British President of the USA, was demolishing a block party of aliens by kicking them in the nuts so hard they flew over the horizon while Stan Bush’s “The Touch” blared over the radio.
Bubble Bobble has always been a nostalgic series for me. I have fond memories of going through the original, and it’s still a title I go back to every now and then. It’s simple but difficult, especially on the deeper levels, and has an earworm of a main track that I somehow can’t get sick
This past week I had the opportunity to sit down with Curse of the Dead Gods by Passtech Games. Out now in early access on Steam, it’s a rogue-lite game that puts you in the shoes of an adventurer exploring an ancient temple. Cursed by the gods, you’re now exploring both for loot and to
Ori and the Blind Forest was one of my favorite games in recent memory. One of the few long, exploration-focused games I committed to beating a second time. The melancholy world that focused on themes such as loss and rebirth really spoke to me. And of course the main character was positively adorable.
I’ll always have fond memories of the original Harvest Moon and Harvest Moon 64. The peaceful routine of watering my crops each day, planning out my investments in advance, talking to my fellow townspeople to learn the ins and outs of their personalities and schedules…it scratched an itch that few other games really do.
I’ve noticed a trend of RPGs that take the classic formula and mix things up by making the focus of the game some job you’d usually foist off on an NPC. The Atelier series continues that trend, placing you in the shoes of an alchemist who must venture out into the world to acquire the
