Narrative
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind (Nintendo Switch) Review
When the first World War ends, the streets of England are ripe with opportunities. Based on the Netflix show of the same name, Curve Digital and FuturLab bring us Peaky Blinders: Mastermind, a spin-off of the English gangster show, now approaching its sixth season on Netflix. Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is an interesting and rather innovative game, coming from the minds behind Velocity and Velocity...[Read More]
Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories (PS4) Review
Prior to E3 2019, if you mentioned the video game company NIS or NIS America I would have no idea what you were talking about. Before meeting with the NIS America team at E3, their category of games was out of my gaming scope. Even though I do like adventure games and RPGs, franchises such as Trails of Cold Steel, Disaster Report, and even Disgaea flew under my radar; it was not until that meeting...[Read More]
Unless It Moves The Human Heart – The Last of Us
According to author and professor Roger Rosenblatt, writing is not worth much “unless it moves the human heart.” As far as I am concerned, that standard should apply to all forms of art, and video games, my friends, are an art form. In my experience, few games have illustrated the ability to inspire emotion more profoundly than The Last of Us. While weaving a soul tearing narrative and...[Read More]
Persona 5 Royal (PS4) Impressions
A few years ago, P-Studio and Atlus stunned the world with the release of Persona 5, a JRPG revolving around high school drama laced with superhero tropes, mature themes, supernatural beings in strange parallel worlds, and addictive systems that provided hundreds of hours of play. Committing to Persona 5 is a journey, one that’s more like a televised series than most RPGs, as each section could be...[Read More]
The Longing (Steam) Hands-On Preview
Games these days tend to lean towards the quick and snappy side of things. Whether it’s the ability to hop in and do a couple of rounds online or move through a compelling story, the pacing often mandates that things progress or conclude typically within a couple of hours for each session. The Longing aims to challenge that idea with the concept of rewarding patience. The Longing follows a y...[Read More]
Professor Lupo and His Horrible Pets (PC) Review
Ah, puzzle games, where the line between “I need a MENSA member to explain this to me” and “This is a fun challenge” is razor thin. Although a good story always helps. Professor Lupo and His Horrible Pets aims to put itself in the canon of memorable puzzlers with a charming graphics style, interesting story, and memorable puzzles.
Aksys Reveals Several Upcoming Titles at Anime Expo 2019
Anime Expo is a convention well known to those fascinated by Japanese pop-culture. From anime to manga to video games, Anime Expo is chock full of brand-new announcements! July 8th marked the twenty-seventh annual Anime Expo, taking place in Torrance, California. The popular Japanese publishing house, Aksys, came in guns blazing, revealing several new video game titles.
Layers of Fear 2 (Xbox One) Review
Layers of Fear 2 is frustrating. By all accounts, it is precisely the sort of game that should take root in my subconscious to haunt and delight my thoughts. Yet, even with the achievements in storytelling, sound, and visuals, the gameplay holds back an otherwise profoundly interesting horror experience.
A Plague Tale Innocence Unleashes a Horde of Rats
Streets drenched with torrential waves of rats and terrifying Inquisition leaders outline the bleak tale of Amicia and her little brother Hugo in A Plague Tale: Innocence. While this medieval narrative features the fearful rodents prominently, it’s the overpowering knights and relentless lords that seek to capture the orphans that are the real monsters. This unique setting and impressive vis...[Read More]
Empathy – Path of Whispers Preview (PC)
Video games remain one of the most unique opportunities to tell a story, in ways that no other medium can. Playing in an interactive world has so many chances to connect to the player in front of the screen and developers all over the world have been experimenting to find new ways to share their ideas. Empathy is one of these attempts, a first-person narrative about solving the mysteries of once f...[Read More]
Blackwood Crossing Review – Xbox One
It’s been a little over a week since I finished my playthrough of Paper Seven’s Blackwood Crossing and I am still not okay. I apologize to my editors now, because a standard review of this game won’t do it justice. If I laid out all the technical aspects of Blackwood Crossing and scored based on our typical review guidelines, it would score lower than I want it to. So, to my editors and readers, p...[Read More]