Nothing beats getting stuck into a great metroidvania. The non-linear exploration, the progression of new abilities, challenging boss fights—when prepared properly, all of these elements confect one of gaming’s most satisfying, addicting experiences. The appreciation I have for this genre is on my mind with every metroidvania I play, but it’s especially true for those
A couple months have gone by since I had the opportunity to preview Jusant, the latest release from developer Don’t Nod. The demo wasn’t a complete homerun, particularly when it came to the more straightforward elements of its storytelling, but I left the experience heavily enticed by the game’s beat-by-beat climbing gameplay and unique atmosphere.
It’s hard to deny the equalizing factor of the Jackbox Party Pack series. Regardless of the personalities of those present or overall friend dynamic, the games typically always feature some neat gimmicks that allow for just enough input to foster player creativity and generate a plethora of inside jokes. And infusing alcohol in the mix?
CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 has walked quite the rocky path. Following a launch burdened by myriad technical issues and negative player reception, the game has nevertheless soldiered on and steadily improved. I was lucky enough to miss out on a lot of egregious technical issues in my initial playthrough, and thus enjoyed my time
Jusant was a game that immediately and intensely caught my eye upon its announcement at the Xbox Games Showcase this year. The title’s visual style was undeniably a huge part of that initial eye catch, but its premise was what intrigued me most: traversing a towering monolith of stone and unearthing the stories of the
In 2019, Remnant: From The Ashes showed up on the scene with an interesting fusion of third-person cooperative shooting gameplay and the challenging, more exploratory emphasis of Soulslike games. While a novel blend in its own right, the first game’s rougher edges prevented it from really sinking its claws in me as much as I’d
When the Wachowskis unleashed The Matrix onto unsuspecting moviegoers in 1999, there was little inkling of just how much its gun-toting, martial arts-flinging, slow motion-laden antics would persist in popular culture for decades after. Setting aside the flood of parodies and inspired works in film itself, video games were (naturally) quick to take inspiration from
It takes astonishingly little to endear me to an art style inspired by those found in titles released for the original PlayStation. Games for the console sported a very singular look, and to this day can provide a unique atmosphere in the gaming space that belies their age. Quite a few modern games have been
With any mammoth franchise, it’s standard practice to create tie-in media that seeks to fill in the gaps of a greater narrative canon. This is just as true for The Lord of the Rings as it is for other IPs, and when it comes to video games in particular, the series has seen a lot
Megan Everett is a cheerful, knowledgeable breath of fresh air, who also happens to be the Community Director over at Digital Extremes, the developer and publisher for Warframe. A few weeks back, she was able to spare us 30 informative minutes of her time, as well as throw in some great anime recommendations: Attack on
10 Years of the Tenno The game Warframe has a rags-to-riches story. After Dark Sector was released, developer Digital Extremes wanted to use the ideas that publishers had removed from Dark Sector and craft a game that was truly theirs. Unfortunately, at the time, science fiction wasn’t considered trendy, so after every publisher turned them
Last week, Digital Extremes gave us a little peek at what’s in store for the upcoming release of The Duviri Paradox, their newest roguelike addition to Warframe. While we can’t share all of their secrets yet, they’re letting us give you a glimpse behind the curtain before the official release on Steam PC, Epic Games
It’s not all that often that I get the opportunity to revisit a beloved review title after it’s release, but when The Arcade Crew reached out for word on the latest major update for Infernax, of course I had to check it out for myself. So, for those of you who haven’t heard of Infernax
It’s always a compelling prospect when a development team, hot off the considerable challenge of releasing a video game, makes an attempt to switch things up with a forthcoming sequel. It can also be equally off-putting; would an alteration of core elements mean a loss of what made the experience click in the first place?
We were invited out to Los Angeles last week by developer Respawn Entertainment and publisher Electronic Arts to preview Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ahead of its April 28 release. After a three hour preview… we were yearning to play more.
To the surprise of nobody, I was hooked from the moment I saw the trailer for Curse of the Sea Rats. I mean, an action platformer where you play as a cast of rats that look straight out of a 90s Disney movie with a fantastical ensemble of foes, what’s not to love? Well, as
It’s always fun to go through and revisit games in your library. You probably have more than a few you remember fondly and would love an excuse to play again. Today, for many of you, this may be the case. We’re talking about Dead Cells, a roguelite game by indie studio Motion Twin with metroidvania
Since the release of 2017’s Nioh, developer Team Ninja has been having something of an action RPG renaissance. While the impetus of Nioh’s continued development was the success of From Software’s Souls series, the game managed to not only carve out its own unique space in the genre, but carve it with beta tests and
When I first saw the trailer for Grim Guardians: Demon Purge, a few inspirations immediately stuck out in my mind. A castle of demons full of diverse architecture, a variety of abilities just as useful for exploration as they are for combat, an aesthetic reminiscent of Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow, plus
The year was 1976. The first VHS cassettes and their accompanying VCRs were newly available for purchase, everyone was dancing the night away to their favorite disco tracks, and programmer William Crowther had finished developing Adventure (later Colossal Cave Adventure): one of the earliest text adventure games ever made. Crowther, an amateur cave explorer, based
