Santo Ileso was brought to life in Las Vegas last week as select media was invited to experience Saints Row – the reboot from developer Volition being released next month on August 23. Saints Row comes nine years after the last release in this series, and more than fifteen years after the original – so what
It’s not often that I love a game at first glance, but I’ve always been a fan of that “dark cute” aesthetic. Of taking absolutely cute and saccharine critters and putting them in a situation that’s more than a little bit messed up. That contrast of something that wouldn’t look out of place in a
You really had to be a certain age to fully understand the absolutely monstrous chokehold that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had on younger kids at the time. Since then, to a certain extent, many other IPs popular with their target audience have had a hard time replicating at the height of its popularity. Save
I got into collecting retro games a few years back. Both to reexperience the NES era that I grew up with, and to try out games from other consoles I never owned when I was younger. I’ve managed to build complete collections of three of my favorite franchises (Tales of, Ys, and Fire Emblem), and
While I tend to lean more towards fantasy over science fiction in video games, there has been the odd franchise or two with the latter type of setting that I’ve gotten into. The Metroid series comes to mind here, along with some sci-fi based shooters. Bearing in mind the relatively neutral perspective I have on
When you’re creating a follow-up or sequel to a previous game, one of many things to consider is “how much should we change from our previous game?” Changing too much could risk alienating fans of the original, but could bring in new fans. Not changing enough might be seen as being lazy, but may make
Few games have been as much of a roller coaster for me as Weird West. What first caught my attention was the developer, Wolfeye Studios, being made of former Arkane Studios developers. Weird West is also an immersive sim just like Arkane’s previous titles Dishonored and Prey, but this time departing from the usual first-person
IllFonic is a studio that’s been actively pushing back at the negativity that surrounds the idea of licensed games. While their two previous licensed titles – Friday the 13th: The Game and Predator: Hunting Grounds – received middling reviews, both maintain dedicated fanbases, with the latter still receiving updates even now in 2022. Now with
While Devolver Digital is known for publishing everything from the quiet and emotional Gris to the gory and violent Carrion, the publishing studio itself is known for having a snarky, off-kilter sense of humor. Watching any of their E3 “press conferences” is a quick way to see what the studio is about (and a rabbit
You know, it’s really hard to call something niche when a series has been receiving regular entries for what’s now been decades. It may be hard to believe that the Atelier franchise as a whole has been a long standing presence reaching right back to the original PlayStation, but there’s something to be said about
Few games have made me more excited over a simple trailer than Infernax. As someone who grew up with 8-bit action games, I eagerly covered a preview of it last month, where I was pleased with what they had and could only speculate on where it would go. When I heard I’d have the opportunity
One thing that being a game reviewer for nearly a decade now has taught me is that it’s not really possible for me to dislike an entire genre. Sure, there are some genres out there that I’m not much a fan on – fighting games for example – but then the occasional game comes along
Some may accuse me of clinging to nostalgia, but I still think there’s still value in the formula of certain simplistic old school arcade game mechanics. There’s something appealing about the ability to quickly understand how to play and be able to hone your skills as you do so. I’m sure it’s also fun as
I’m one of those “90s kids” that grew up with games of the 8-bit and 16-bit generations. I have a lot of nostalgia both for the art style and game design of that era, and I am absolutely LOVING the resurgence of retro throwbacks. The latest in this trend is Infernax, a monster-packed side-scrolling action
Early gaming has always fascinated me to some extent. Given that video gaming itself can largely be tracked to scientists goofing off on an oscilloscope to eventually grow into a lucrative and profitable economic mainstay is ridiculous feat in such a short amount of time. While they are merely a shadow of their former selves
Oh, hey guys. It’s me, Grant, I’m back from the year 2042. You thought 2020 wasn’t so hot? Looks like we’re in for another world war in 20 years or so. At least according to EA and DICE’s Battlefield 2042. So if you can’t wait 20 years, I’m here with the deets on how things
If you’ve been a semi-casual Gamer Escape reader this past summer (which you should be, duh), you’ve probably come across our past coverage of Weird West, a top-down cel-shaded action RPG developed by some of the core staff behind Arkane Studios and games such as Dishonored. Published by Devolver Digital, it drew me in since
Ever since finally getting my hands on a PC Engine Duo (or, as it was known in the US, the TurboDuo), I’ve been on a bit of a shmup kick. The system is known for its absolute glut of space shooters, after all, so why not dive in and see what it actually had to
A short while ago we previewed Aragami 2, the sequel to the 2016 indie stealth action game Aragami, seeing what had changed from the original and what we were looking forward to. However, that preview left a few burning questions, so we just had to take the opportunity to look at the final release. Aragami
Cyberpunk is one of the most interesting subgenres of science fiction. It’s a demonstrably solid framework for writing flawed and morally gray characters, beaten down by a world brought to the edge of collapse by the whims of puppeteering corporations and capitalism run amok. Often, it explores the question mark of human consciousness, individuality, and
