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December 17, 2024 - The first new card pack for Pokémon TCG Pocket is out today, and it is a big one. Boasting a collection of 86 new cards, the "Mythical Island" set features new powerful cards like Mew EX, Aerodactyl EX, and Vaporeon, plus alternate versions and immersive art for existing Pokémon. Early impressions are good, with many of the newcomers already seeing heavy play. Mew Ex fits in perfectly with the already existing Mewtwo EX deck that has been making waves since the beginning of the game's life. I'm personally interested to see how the competitive meta shapes out around all of the new stuff we got. There are, of course, ongoing events to run alongside the release of "Mythical Island," so now is a good time to jump into the game if you haven't already. The first major expansion for the game isn't set to release until the end of January, so this is a good way to tide people over until then. Details on the expansion are sparse, but it has been confirmed that trading cards will be opened up when it drops (currently, the trading option is greyed out in the menus).

Games, like grief, are not a one-size-fits-all My mom died today. The last month has been quiet for me, as far as writing goes. I had been running a seasonal theme for the site centered around being thankful for the games and people we love, and while the event went off well enough, there was a somber feeling within me throughout. Mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer some time ago, and we knew her journey around the sun was drawing to a close soon – even if we didn’t have a date or time frame it would happen within. In my infinite wisdom, I chose to mostly just look the other way. Not a conscious decision, mind you – I was simply not involved in the day-to-day care in the way my other family members were. I visited her several times and called in to check on her, but my involvement was limited beyond that. Instead, I stayed home with my family, taking care of my child and burying myself in books and video games. I never had time to really sit and think about what was happening on the family front, because I made sure I didn’t have time to spare. I played a lot of games, but not with the intent to help me process what was happening. Games have never really been therapeutic for me in dealing with loss or grief, as I generally have other outlets for my thoughts, like writing poetry or songs. In this particular case, gaming was not a hobby of mine that my mother approved of growing up – is that something I want to be reminded of as I play? But with so many games out there dealing with themes of loss and death, surely something can help us cope, right? Well, maybe. Gris is a great example of a game about grief that can help us process our emotions surrounding death. See, most games about these subjects are not instructive – that is, they do not attempt to tell you how to cope with these situations – and that is for the better. Loss and grief are unique to each person, and the many variable situations that arise from the deaths of friends or family members, and the way we process all of it, are so different that it wouldn’t benefit anyone to simply say, “do this thing and you will be happy again.” Instead, games like Gris and Spiritfarer make you a participant in the processes and proceedings surrounding death and dealing with the emotions that come from it. It offers you an opportunity to guide those characters within the game through their own struggles – struggles that are often all too familiar to its players – and help them come to terms with their grief. It is through the endeavors of these characters that we see ourselves reflected, offering new perspectives or outlooks on our own situations. Other games, like What Remains of Edith Finch , take a slightly different approach by exploring life and memory in the face of death. As perhaps a more hopeful or explicitly positive spin on the healing journey, Edith Finch has the player taking control of the titular Edith as she wanders through her family home, viewing the life events and inner thoughts of those who came before her. It’s a strong reminder that our lives and relationships are both complicated and beautiful, despite the pain that may come with our losses along the way. We are valuable. It matters that we lived. That Dragon, Cancer is a more familiar tale for me, as it explores Joel Green’s battle with cancer. Thinking about this game feels very raw for me now, not that it was ever an easy play. It is a sad and moving journey through the experiences of a family slowly losing someone to terminal cancer – it seems impossible not to find myself in this, even if the experiences are not a one-to-one match. That Dragon, Cancer hits closer to home now that my mother has passed. So many games out there explore these ideas, explicitly or not, and many are exceptional games, but what can be said about them if they don’t seem to help you? What is there to be done if the pain of grief and loss sticks in your throat in spite of the images on the screen, or your food turns to ash as a cheery tune blares through your headphones? Sadly, I don’t have a great answer. For some, time may be the only cure. For others, there is no way forward without professional help. The inability of these games to help someone through their grief does not diminish their value as pieces of art, nor does it mean they can’t be useful coping mechanisms for others in similar situations. In many cases (including some of my own past experiences), the value and meaning behind these games can only be recognized when you are further removed from the trauma (or the game) itself. These games can normalize our trials, offer comfort, and present a hopeful outlook and message – or maybe they just exist as a pleasant distraction. There’s no one way to deal with our grief and no single way to approach games about the subject. Our experiences with art are oftentimes just as much about what we bring to them as it is about the content presented to us.  While playing games likely won't help me now, maybe they will later. Maybe they already have. I think it’s worth noting that when this happened, my thoughts did  turn to those games about grief and loss. This is not the first time anyone I’ve known has passed away, of course, but it is the most fresh for me. It’s still raw, and I don’t know when it will heal. But I will say this: in searching for answers during a difficult time, I arrived at the same place I started – hurt by my mother’s condition and eventual passing, but grateful for the positive memories and everything she did for me and my siblings. Thank you, Mom. I love you.

January 29, 2025 — Pokémon TCG Pocket released their long-awaited trading update today — just ahead of the equally anticipated Space-Time Smackdown expansion set — and the reception has been unfavorable, to say the least.  Despite the initial excitement, reactions to the update have turned sour in online spaces (such as the TCGP subreddit and the dedicated trading discord) as the cost of such trades became more widely known. If we take even a cursory look, we can see these forums inundated with topics about the subject.  You can see a few examples of the backlash on Reddit here. To be blunt: the cost of trading is absurdly expensive and downright predatory. There are numerous reasons why this is the case, but if you don't know how it works, here's a quick rundown of how trading works in Pokémon TCG Pocket : First , you need trade stamina, which works as the time gate for trading. Each trade uses a single trade stamina, with a single stamina replenishing after 24 hours. You can, of course, use in-game items and items purchase with real money (gold) to get more of this. Second, you can only trade cards of the same rarity (no cards two-stars or above). This second one is important as it means there's no way to trade something like a Charizard for a Squirtle. Third, trading a card with flair is only possible if you receive a card with flair back. Fourth, you can only have one active trade at a time. That already seems so restrictive, but we haven't even scratched the surface yet. Next, any card above two-diamond rarity requires trade tokens, which is a separate resource from the aforementioned trade stamina. Token requirements are shown in the image below — 3 diamond cards are 120 tokens, 4 diamond cards are 500 tokens, and 1 star cards are 400 tokens. Mind you, this is all for a single card. To get trade tokens, you must expend excess (any card copy beyond your second copy) cards. The rates are as follows: 3 Diamond – 25 Trade Tokens 4 Diamond – 125 Trade Tokens 1 Star – 100 Trade Tokens 2 Star – 300 Trade Tokens 3 Star – 300 Trade Tokens Crown – 1500 Trade Tokens That means you would need to burn 4 copies of a 4 star card just to receive one back (not counting the one you are trading). The trading is also blind, for some reason. There is no way to request a card for trade in-game. Instead, you initiate a trade with whatever card you are sending to the other player. There are ways around this, of course, like knowing the person in real life, or joining the trading pages online, but it's a restriction that just makes the experience worse. On top of the heavy resource requirements that trading necessitates, there lies another, equally annoying reason the trading system is dysfunctional - card flairs. Card flairs are essentially just little animations that play for your cards when you play them in battles. To obtain these card flairs, you need a totally separate resource (stardust) and an extra copy of the card, where any additional copy beyond the first 2 counts as the 'extra' to be used in crafting. What this means is that a player will have to choose between keeping extra cards on hand for trading, or spending them to obtain the flairs. There's really no room for both, given how rare the 1 star rarity cards are (2.572% chance of any 1 star card appearing at all and it only gets worse from there). There's really no excuse for this type of model, especially when you consider the primary demographic and player base of any Pokémon game are literal children. It is clear that the only purpose of this system is to further extract money from the player base (again, mostly children), and that it was not born out of any concern for the health, balance, or benefit of the game itself. Setting aside ethical concerns (Jesus Christ, no), the act of trading itself is pretty convoluted and bafflingly restrictive. As someone who is only missing two regular cards from any existing set, the entire process feels like more effort than it's worth. I know I won't be interacting with the system in any way unless it is completely overhauled. There has not been any statement from developer DeNA, Creatures Inc., or The Pokémon Company regarding the backlash, and given their track records, I would not expect any positive resolution to this situation anytime soon — if ever. The trading update coming on the eve of the game's largest update (expansion) yet is such a terrible look, you have to wonder if the companies behind it are just hoping for the noise to die down thanks to Space-Time Smackdown.

More of a fever dream than a fright-fest When I think about my early childhood, the memories are a bit hazy. I can picture the broad strokes - cattails in the pond, tall figures walking around and talking, shadows and shapes of houses in the distance. But all the details, like faces or words spoken, are lost. Little Nightmares is like those memories translated into video game form. At least aesthetically. The actual events and creatures contained within the game are certainly more unnerving than anything I ever experienced first-hand, but the visuals hold a dream-like quality to them that is really engaging as an art style. Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, Playdigious, Namco Bandai Games America Inc. Developer:   Tarsier Studios Platform:  Played on PC Availability : April 28, 2017 for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows. May 18, 2018 for Nintendo Switch. From the very first moments of play it is clear there is something more to the game than meets the eye. The camera sways and shifts as you wander through the dark. Giant figures stalk the halls, reaching around corners and under furniture with long, spindly arms. Grotesque people with squished faces look for every opportunity to devour you. So much of the game is dripping with a sinister visual flare, it's impossible not to think something deeper is happening here. Yet, the game doesn't give you any direction in the storytelling department. There are no cutscenes or text boxes, no dialogue or notes to find. Everything is communicated through environmental design and music. That music does a lot of the emotional lifting, too. While it mostly fades into the background, it is a tense and disconcerting score that shows up in all the right moments - keeping you on your toes when there's an enemy nearby, or inducing paranoia through clever sound design in more quiet moments. Hide and Seek is the name of the game. Unfortunately, that wordless, oblique story-telling doesn't really give you much to work with on a surface level. You don't learn much of anything about any of the characters’ (including Six, the protagonist) motivations or ideals, and you'll never hear a thing about how they're all related. While not necessarily a negative, that hyper-focus on visual style over all else means that people not looking to do a deep-dive on the environments might not get much out of the experience. At this point I'm sure you've noticed we haven't discussed the way the game plays at all. Truthfully, I find the actual action to be the most underwhelming aspect of Little Nightmares. At its core, this is a puzzle platformer with a heavy focus on stealth. I'm using the word “puzzle” a bit loosely here, as the most difficult decisions you’ll have to make are whether you sprint past an enemy or wait them out under a table. There is no combat in this game - you're just a child running for your life. You'll dash, crawl, swing, climb, and jump to safety as you're chased across the few short levels in the game. There's not much mechanical depth to the action - you have a grab button for picking up items and climbing/swinging, a jump button that doubles as a throw button when holding an item, a crouch button to walk silently or slide while running, and a lighter to illuminate the darkness. That mechanical simplicity works in the game's favor, as it never feels like you're searching for the right move. There's a clarity of purpose when you walk into a new room - hard to mess up when you have so few options available. Little Nightmares has great ambience, combining a unique visual flare with a moody soundscape. Disappointingly, that lack of mechanical depth goes hand-in-hand with mostly uninspired level design. Each room usually has a single exit, and it's just a matter of finding the right object to climb up, or finding a key for the door. There are a few exceptions to this formula, but they're rare. The chase sequences are great fun (maybe the most interesting part of playing  the game), but suffer this same problem. There's really no creativity in the way you progress or navigate the world. Luckily, Little Nightmares is an incredibly short game, with my run clocking in at just over three hours. The brevity of the experience keeps the game fresh, even if it is mechanically repetitive. There's always something new and interesting to look at or figure out in the brief runtime. Despite these hiccups, Little Nightmares was still a positive encounter. It is extremely expressive in its visual language and it kept me on the hook for the whole ride. The music and art direction create a very uneasy atmosphere, which I found more interesting than scary, but your mileage may vary. In the end, Little Nightmares feels just a bit unfocused and comes away seeming more like a fleeting daydream than the nightmares it sought to emulate. Verdict Little Nightmares is a game begging to be examined more closely, but even if you do, I'm not sure you'll ever get a concrete answer. Despite being visually engaging, nothing I was shown motivated me to dig deeper - leaving the experience feeling a bit underwhelming. With such a short runtime, Little Nightmares stays engaging the entire playthrough, but it never quite reaches the heights I had hoped for. The game has a captivating atmosphere (both aesthetically and musically), but it ultimately left me feeling more ambivalent than excited. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

Tiny Glade, a casual building game marketed as a diorama builder, drifted into my life through the 2024 Steam Awards, where it was nominated for the Sit Back and Relax Award. As someone who enjoys sitting back and relaxing, I was intrigued and purchased the game while it was on sale. Tiny Glade was developed by Pounce Light, a small but mighty team of two. The game boasts stunning visuals with soft textures and intricate details. The soothing soundtrack by NokNok Audio perfectly complements the aesthetic, creating a truly serene atmosphere. I spent a good 20 minutes exploring the world, marveling at the charming details like the adorable sheep that wander freely. The best part: you can pet them!  Publisher: Pounce Light Developer:  Pounce Light Platform:  Played on Windows PC Availability: Released on September 23, 2024 for Windows PC and Linux (Steam, GeForce NOW). The core gameplay revolves around building your own idyllic landscapes. You're provided with the essential tools: building rooms, laying paths, creating ponds, and adjusting the terrain. The simplicity of the interface is initially appealing, but the full customization options for each element are somewhat hidden. It took an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to make a door. While left-clicking on an object provides basic controls, right-clicking reveals the more advanced options, which took some time to discover. Unlike many games, Tiny Glade offers no quests or objectives. This complete freedom to create is both its greatest strength and a potential weakness. The game might feel aimless if you prefer a more structured experience. However, if you enjoy open-ended creativity, the possibilities are truly endless. You’re not completely left in the dark though, as Tiny Glade offers a daily theme that acts as a prompt to inspire creativity, which I have found to be very helpful. There are an array of settings and tools available to you in Tiny Glade — the possibilities feel endless! Overall, Tiny Glade is a charming and relaxing game. While the interface could be more intuitive, the freedom to create and the enchanting atmosphere make it a delightful experience. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a creative outlet and a peaceful escape from the demands of everyday life. Image Credits: Eloise Crawford

Maybe we should run for President My biggest problem with Dungeons and Dragons doesn’t stem from the game’s systems themselves - it’s just hard to get a bunch of people with similar sensibilities in the same room at the same time on a regular schedule. Coming from a small town, this has become a nearly insurmountable barrier to entry, with any sessions I play either coming very infrequently, or remotely via dedicated sites. Baldur’s Gate 3  attempts to rectify this by offering you the closest approximation to the tabletop experience available today. While many video games based on the Dungeons and Dragons property have been excellent, they’ve never quite managed to emulate the tabletop experience. Games are inherently limited in scope, and the tabletop experience is limit less . In tabletop, there are an uncountable number of ways to solve a problem and innumerable ways for you and your party to grow and react to the events in front of you. Truly capturing that feeling of freedom and possibility in video games is nigh impossible. Baldur’s Gate 3  has come as close as we’ve ever seen. Publisher: Larian Studios Developer:  Larian Studios Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on August 3, 2023 for Windows PC, September 6, 2023 for PS5, September 22, 2023 for macOS, and December 7, 2023 for Xbox Series X/S. Baldur's Gate 3 is the latest role-playing game developed by Larian Studios, previously most well-known for their Divinity series of role-playing games. Taking heavy inspiration from games like Planescape: Torment and the first two Baldur's Gate titles by BioWare, Baldur's Gate 3 leans heavily on the conventions of the CRPG genre - possessing a psuedo-isometric camera and list style conversation choices - but aims to improve them in some way. Starting your adventure on the Nautiloid, a large plane-hopping ship shaped much like its namesake, you find yourself implanted with an Illithid tadpole that threatens to turn you into a mind flayer (a large, squid-like species that is controlled by a hivemind). It is here that you will meet Lae'zel and Shadowheart, two companions who would assist you on your quest to escape the Nautiloid and remove the tadpole. This tutorial sequence serves as a good introduction to the base mechanics of the game: skill checks for tasks you want to do and actions in combat are done via dice rolls, which get bonuses based upon your stats chosen in character creation and equipment you are wearing, and conversations offer a wide array of choice that guide how people react to you and how some quests progress. If you have played Dungeons and Dragons, or any of the video games spawned from it, the dice-rolling aspect will be familiar. Baldur’s Gate 3  doesn’t stop at just having the dice rolls happen, however, they make a show of it. Every choice or action that requires an active roll (or would in tabletop) brings you to a separate screen with a digital die and all of your bonuses or options available to you, and then you’ll press a button to roll it yourself. Incorporating sound and visual effects to amplify what would otherwise be a mundane event, Baldur’s Gate 3 instead makes these rolls a focal point of the experience.  The Nautiloid section also introduces you to combat - another familiar aspect if you’re a tabletop player. Despite not being a grid-based affair, everything else about the battles is familiar to 5th edition players, as this is the system Larian Studios translated to video game format. Again, dice-rolling is integral here, as you roll to see if you land your attacks and then roll again for damage - both are handled automatically for the player to keep things moving. It flows beautifully, and the sheer number of abilities and approaches you can take is staggering. Baldur’s Gate 3 has an unparalleled level of freedom in your approach to combat for a video game, giving you the ability to decide when, where, and how you approach each encounter, with very few exceptions. The options are so vast that I found myself asking what wasn’t allowed more than what was. Baldur's Gate 3 seems to contain endless possibilities. That level of freedom of choice extends far beyond combat in so many important and revealing ways. In fact, it starts the moment you start a new game, in the character creator. Now, obviously the character creator in Baldur’s Gate 3 is not the first of its kind, but it may just be the most comprehensive to date, in totality. With 11 different races (many with different sub-races), 12 different classes, 4 different body types, and an array of various skin tones, scars, and hairstyles, this game stretches the limits of the creativity of its players. Unfortunately, it is limited in face types, with only a few being available for each race, and not fully customizable themselves. This issue is largely alleviated by mods, which now have official support from the studio and game, but persists in the base game. I think it is also worth noting just how well the character creator (and by extension the game) treats gender, sex, and body types.  Baldur’s Gate 3  lets you choose a “body type” from four options: the first two are standard issue male and female presenting, with 3 and 4 being a larger version of that same binary. You then choose your pronouns, including a non-binary option. Your voice selection is not limited by your selected body type or pronouns, either. You can choose any voice from the slider, including masculine and feminine-sounding options, regardless of your other choices. Perhaps most notably, you can choose your genitalia independent of your other choices. It’s a great way to bolster inclusivity for LGBTQ+ players. All of this is then reflected in the game proper, with NPCs referring to your player character as your chosen pronouns, and your chosen genitalia being represented in the romance scenes appropriately. The option to change all of your appearance and pronoun selections is also available via a standing mirror within your campsite, meaning you can make the change midway through a playthrough, if you like. I find this to be one of the best-implemented systems in any character creator I’ve ever seen. It just opens up so many roleplaying opportunities for the player that might not otherwise be available with the current standard A/B body type and gender most games employ. There are a vast number of options available to the player in character creation and beyond. The game’s freedom is astonishing in the context of the adventure proper, as well. Larian has somehow accounted for, or at the very least not prohibited, an uncountable number of creative solutions. You can fly to the top of buildings to circumvent enemies or find ways to break into a building, pickpocket an NPC while your player character distracts them, or lay down 100 barrels of explosives next to a group of enemies undetected - whatever your mind thinks of, is worth trying. It truly mimics the feel of a DM willing to allow you to at least give things a go, asking “yes, and?” There’s just incredible attention to detail in every aspect of your interactions in the world. It’s also a vast and interesting world, thankfully. Set in the Dungeons and Dragons world of Faerûn, Baldur’s Gate 3 has a lot of material to draw from and work with, which it uses to create interesting storylines, visit well-known, legendary characters, and introduce you to varied locales. Larian has successfully navigated decades of prior material and incorporated it in a way that makes you feel like your actions have a real impact on the world while also respecting the source. Along the journey, you will be exploring 3 large areas, one for each act, with smaller dungeons or biomes available for traversal throughout.  While so much of this game wowed me, my favorite aspect remains the characters - especially the party. Nearly every major player within the game has complex motivations or beliefs. The party has a great mix of personalities, which sometimes contrast with your decision-making and sensibilities - and they’re not afraid to tell you. However, if you get close to your party members, you’ll come across some of the best-written individuals in gaming. Each one has their own voice, their own morality, and it makes navigating those conversations and scenarios so much more interesting than if everyone was always in agreement with you. There’s also a romance aspect to those interactions you can pursue if you like. It’s just a pity that the multiplayer mode creates limitations in your interactions with those party members. And yes - I did partake, thank you. The multiplayer mode in Baldur’s Gate 3  supports between 2-4 players, with your party playing through the same scenario as the single-player campaign. In many ways, I find the best use of this would be to treat it as a traditional DnD scenario, with your party having interactions and chats outside of the confines of the game. This is largely because in multiplayer, interactions with the companions and other NPCs are much more limited, with each player only able to speak with companions bound to them at a given time. The interaction between the player and NPC is limited to whoever initiated the conversation, and they do not always repeat conversations for other players. With 4 players, companions are entirely cut out of the experience and story altogether. This is a huge loss, in my opinion, and not worth it. I do understand the way things needed to be done to make things work here, and getting the experience to be both playable and fun is certainly commendable, but it’s not a sacrifice I’d endorse on a first playthrough. If you have a group available to meet in the way required to play multiplayer, you’re better served by playing Dungeons and Dragons proper - at least on your first go.  For all of its role-playing opportunities and freedom of expression, Baldur’s Gate 3 is still ‘just’ a game. It’s bound by the limitations of its design in ways tabletop never will be. And that’s okay. There’s so much here that it feels endless, like there’s always another nook to check, or a solution you didn’t try that could alter outcomes. Eventually, we’ll have seen everything there is in the game - maybe we already have - but this is sincerely the best try at replicating the tabletop experience we’ve seen yet. I loved every minute of this game, despite playing it 3 times. Each adventure was filled with different choices, new roleplaying opportunities, and varied outcomes to major and minor questlines. I know that I have not found the edge of possibility here - so much more remains. This is a truly beautiful game Baldur’s Gate 3  is a game that can be daunting to even start. It sports an enormous world with deep and complex characters and combat systems, numbers litter every shop and menu, and there’s a massive amount of content within the game. All of these separate systems, and things to keep track of can seem overwhelming, but I promise that every bit you put into this game is given back tenfold. Verdict Baldur’s Gate 3 is the best approximation of the classic Dungeons and Dragons experience available in video game format. As a game I loved so dearly while playing, I will surely continue to mess around with it for years to come. With exceptionally deep role-playing opportunities, complex and interesting combat mechanics, wonderful visuals, and great writing, Baldur’s Gate 3 is now counted among my favorite games ever. The bar has been raised for what is possible in the AAA role-playing space - let’s see if anyone can ever match it. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

A Hekki  good time 1000xRESIST opens up with a rather brutal scene of the player character, Watcher, murdering her “ALLMOTHER” in cold blood. Okay, you have my attention. It’s a rather jarring start, as you’re immediately shunted back in time to see everyone – including Watcher – giving praise to the ALLMOTHER as they say goodbye to one of the sisters. Each character uses in-world jargon or phrasing as they speak to you, and things start moving fast, so there’s no time to really get settled into the world.   Despite (or because of) this, the world is immediately interesting. Each of the sisters are clones of the ALLMOTHER, most people in the world have died, and something  got to them. Soon after starting, your character starts moving back and forth through memories at different points in time, as you piece together little bits of information on the “ALLMOTHER” character, your sisters, and the past. This time travel mechanic is also seamlessly used to navigate through the world and environments therein. Publisher: Fellow Traveller Games Developer: Sunset Visitor Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on May 9, 2024 for Windows PC and Nintendo Switch This flipping back and forth, combined with its non-linear narrative aspects, can sometimes make the adventure a bit disorienting. I think that makes things more interesting. It opens up new avenues of storytelling for the game, and allows you to guide your own experience with the story in a way that a normal cutscene would not. Sometimes you have dialogue to choose from, or maybe you’re just running trough a nearly empty zone as words fly by. This variety extends beyond just the mechanical aspects of gameplay.   See, 1000xRESIST is a lot of things, but it becomes very hard to say, specifically, what type of game it is. Part mystery, adventure game, and even part visual novel, it’s impossible to pin down. That ambiguity exists within the story and narrative of the game as well, as it leaves you crumbs of information that may seem like nothing as you play, which then blow up into major revelations.   The core experience of the game is done through exploration of the mission areas. You’ll walk through, talk to people, solve some puzzles, and watch some cutscenes. There aren’t many major decisions to make, and there aren’t any battles, but the game keeps you on your toes through its storytelling. I was always reading every dialogue box intently as I clumsily forced my way through the environments, trying desperately to piece the events together before the game outright explains it to me. And there’s a lot there to unpack.   I loved the way they used lighting and angles to convey ideas throughout the cutscenes. The game makes expert use of various techniques to paint a picture for you in each scenario by changing perspective via camera angles – shifting from first person to third, side-scrolling to fixed angles. 1000xRESIST is always trying to tell you something , and I’m not certain I have grasped everything that was intended. I don’t necessarily think you need to. Certainly, there are themes about family, independence, living as part of the immigrant diaspora, living under fascism, nature vs nurture, and so on, but I think it’s possible to play this game and just enjoy what is in front of you without deep examination. The story itself is moving and interesting, even if you can’t quite get  it. Yet, every time I closed the game, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Thinking about what was happening, wondering what I missed, or even creating my own theories about where things were going. Perhaps I didn’t get it all, but the journey itself was rewarding and exciting as I went through.   Where the narrative experience succeeds, I find the actual gameplay falls a bit flat. While they may in many ways be intricately tied together, running through the environments can feel clumsy, and the constant time shifting can make the exploration a chore. Even the hub of the game, The Orchard, seems like a maze; which is undesirable since the hub's only purpose is to house characters you interact with. Realistically, outside of walking around (or zipping around in some of the memory sequences), there’s not much to the actual mechanical gameplay. I can forgive that, as it’s mostly used as a narrative delivery mechanism, and the environments themselves are deeply interesting, even if the actual textures or geometry are extremely simple.   That excellent use of imagery extends to the gameplay moments, as well. Graphical fidelity, performance, and animations may not be the game’s greatest strength, but I find they’ve made great use of the tools to deliver meaningful and interesting ideas. You don’t need ten thousand strands of hair to see the fear or sadness in Watcher’s eyes as increasingly horrific events unfold, but the excellent blocking, lighting choices, and dialogue certainly elevate the scenes.   Ultimately, I found the game to be a lot of fun to play through. I constantly thought about where things would head, and I admired the care with which the story and characters were developed. There are some things I didn’t love about the game, sure, but it doesn’t plod along or stick around for enough time to make those apparent flaws stand out amongst the positives. Verdict   1000xRESIST is an excellent narrative adventure game with a lot to say, but not so much to do. Despite its lack of interactivity, the game delivers on its great characters, story, and music. Positioning itself as an examination of the realities of existing within an immigrant diaspora, 1000xRESIST  strikes at the heart of what it means to be human. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

As the year comes to a close, I wanted to take some time to reflect upon and talk about the best games that were released in 2024 that I had the privilege of playing. I played over 70 different games during the course of the year. Of that 70, here are the top 10 that have left a positive impression on me. Metaphor: ReFantazio   The first game to make the list comes with a caveat - I have not finished the game. In my defense, it is very long. It is also very, very good. This turn-based RPG features an eclectic cast of characters, each with their own purpose and ideals, that drive the game forward at every turn. It’s a deeply interesting game to look at, has an excellent soundtrack, and features a well-told story that at least attempts to impart deeper ideas and understanding to the audience.  Made by the same people who make the Persona  games at Atlus, there are a ton of familiar game mechanics and design philosophies you’ll encounter throughout the journey, but this is more than just a fantasy Persona . Dragon’s Dogma 2 I had a lot of thoughts about this one , both as I played and long after, but I think my quote here sums it up nicely: “The truth is that this is a hard game to put a number on. The things it does well (exploration and combat) it does exceptionally well. It is a best-in-class experience on those fronts, creating a sense of adventure rarely seen in games.”  Dragon’s Dogma 2  comes up short in a few ways, but shines in so many of the ways that matter. 1000xRESIST     1000xRESIST  is an excellent narrative adventure game with a lot to say, but not so much to do. Despite its lack of interactivity, the game delivers on its great characters, story, and music. Positioning itself as an examination of the realities of existing within an immigrant diaspora, 1000xRESIST  strikes at the heart of what it means to be human. Dragon Age: The Veilguard   Dragon Age: The Veilguard  is an exciting, beautiful, and captivating ride through Thedas. As another sprawling adventure on the list, there’s a lot to do and I had a ton of fun doing it. The combat is fast and flashy, and the characters are beautiful - visually and otherwise. Bursting with both bombastic setpieces and heartfelt moments, the game is a wonder to look at. Thankfully, it also runs like a dream and all of those big moments go off without a hitch. I go into a lot more detail in my review, but this game has a lot of heart.   I am Your Beast   Image Credit: Strange Scaffold The latest game from Strange Scaffold had me singing its praises in my review : “I Am Your Beast is a visceral, exciting, and often silly first-person shooter that is worth every bit of your time and then some. Responsive controls, a unique visual flair, and an enthralling pace create a joyous experience that gives you just as much as you are willing to put into it.”  I was blown away by I am Your Beast  and its beautiful simplicity. There’s only so much you as the player can do, mechanically speaking, but the open mission design and different weapons offer a lot of space for the player to both be creative and efficient. Unicorn Overlord    Image Credit: Atlus Co., Ltd. It's not often that I find high fantasy RPG games refreshing , but Unicorn Overlord  scratched just the right itch. With a heavy narrative focus on the characters, the game tells its story through your interactions with the people along the way, just as much or more than it does in more standard ways like expository dialogue. There’s so much to love about this game - stunning visuals, varied and deep combat, interesting characters - all of it serves to paint a picture of a world torn by war. The game has a strong emphasis on your relationships with your party and that carries through every facet of the game. Definitely worth a look if you like strategy RPGs at all. Granblue Fantasy: Relink   Image Credit: Cygames, Inc. An excellent Action RPG that satisfies both the number-cruncher and “cool guy” enjoyer in my soul. Boasting a cast of 22 unique playable characters and a large array of encounters to participate in, Granblue Fantasy: Relink  has a colossal amount of things to preoccupy yourself with.  Thankfully, it’s not just about how much  you can do in the game - it’s impossibly fun to play, as well. The combat is fast-paced and fun, offering players multiple options per character in terms of how you build their movesets and gear. Additionally, the story, art, and cutscenes are major positives for me , even if it is very straightforward in terms of presentation. Astro Bot   Astro Bot  remains one of the most creative platformers I’ve ever played, and I think my time away from it has only improved my thoughts on it. It’s another one I reviewed here, so I urge you to check that out, but the short version is: tight controls and great level design can really carry a game to great heights. In spite of its slavish devotion to PlayStation brand sentimentalism, Astro Bot  feels like a real love letter to Platformers and great games of Sony’s past. It has a killer soundtrack and cute characters, too - perfect for spending time gaming with the little ones. Balatro Image Credit: LocalThunk At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, Balatro may actually be the most satisfying game I’ve ever played. There’s always a compulsion to start just one more round before bed, at work, or on the couch. Seeing all of your deck building and joker hunting culminate in massive numbers to crush the “blinds” is endlessly gratifying. While the core concept is deceptively simple - play poker hands to beat the target score - the breadth and depth of your deck building options creates a nearly infinite number of combinations to mess around with. Its simple controls and clean UI make it the perfect mobile game. Slay The Princess – The Pristine Cut  In my review of Slay the Princess - The Pristine Cut , I called it a “masterwork of storytelling and visual design.” I’ll stand on that ‘til the day I die. This is a game that has it all: excellent artwork, a top-notch soundtrack, and an excellent story - all told within a winding and mind-blowing narrative framework.  A visual novel / horror hybrid, Slay the Princess  is at times terrifying, and at others deeply moving. Despite being a combination of two genres I don’t frequently engage with, this game is a testament to the medium’s ability to deliver true artistic experiences. Each of these games has something to them that I believe makes them special, and I hope you give them a chance if you haven’t yet. 2024 was a big year for games and there were quite a few I didn’t get to. I’m excited to play more of the ones I missed that came out and I’m looking forward to 2025 titles like Avowed,   Monster Hunter Wilds, and Slay the Spire 2 . If you have suggestions or would like to see a specific game reviewed, you can submit it using the form here . Thank you to all of my readers and have a happy 2025! Image Credits: All image credits to Taylor Rioux, unless otherwise noted.

Brutal and beautiful - this is one game that will stand the test of time.   Have you ever felt like something you loved has passed you by? Like the hopes and dreams you had as a kid evaporated into thin air? As if something you have spent your whole life doing is no longer meant for you to engage with?   I felt that way in 2015.   Up to that point, I had gone through most of my life with playing video games (plus writing about and reading about them, in some capacity) as my primary hobby. As a child, I dreamt of making games. Developing, directing, working in the art department - it didn’t matter where I landed, only that I was involved in some way. Personal failures and unforeseen circumstances led me away from that path, but even after college, I still felt like games were a home for me. In 2014, that feeling changed. After years of progressively worsening monetization in games and the Ubisoft-style approach to open-world games becoming industry standard, I had enough. Ironically, the breaking point for me was a game I ultimately liked, Dragon Age: Inquisition , winning game of the year. It signaled to me that this is where games were going, and where they would be for a long time. So, I quit. I quit playing games, I quit reading about them, I quit watching YouTube videos on them, and I quit going to gaming events.   And then I remembered The Witcher 3  was coming out. So, I booted up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings  again, just a few short weeks before the third game’s release. I really liked The Witcher 2 . It was a comfort for me during hard times in my life, where I could escape and just enjoy something on my combination TV/suitcase monstrosity and Xbox 360, but I wouldn’t have said it was my favorite game, or even close. I had basically gone dark on gaming news or updates about the third game, so I didn’t know what to expect. Nothing could have prepared me for The Witcher 3 .   I was drawn in immediately – from the opening cinematic to the dream sequence that follows, and even further still to Velen and beyond. I was hooked. I was more than hooked. I spent all night playing and ended up calling into work. It was as if something buried deep within my soul had been revived – a true and deep love for what I was experiencing blooming instantaneously and intensely as I rode Roach across the fields of White Orchard. The Witcher 3  is more than a game for me - it represents a moment in time where I regained my passion for the artform.   It just so happens that there’s a damn good game here, too. Publisher: CD Projekt Developer: CD Project Red Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on May 19, 2015 for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows, October 15, 2019 for Nintendo Switch, and December 14, 2022 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.   For the uninitiated, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt  is an action-adventure RPG with a heavy emphasis on choice and consequence. Developed by Polish gaming company CD Projekt Red as the third game in their Witcher  series, the third entry released to enormous critical and commercial success. The series, based upon and inspired by the series of fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, follows Geralt, a Witcher (a sort of monster hunter/spirit detective combined with a bounty hunter), as he navigates a world full of magic, monsters, and political intrigue.   The broad strokes of the plot revolve around Geralt initially on the search for his former lover, Yennifer, and then again looking for his adoptive daughter, Ciri. Along the path, Geralt crosses swords and words with old friends, rivals, and everything in between. If you have a save file from previous entries, decisions you made can carry over into your new game. You can also opt to answer several questions at the beginning that alter the world state you are coming into, but not every carry-over decision is affected this way. While most choices from previous entries do not make major changes to this game, having some quest lines or lines of dialogue altered based on those choices is a welcome bonus.   Those previous world choices help make each playthrough feel like your unique world - a world shaped by your journeys with Geralt just as much as it is shaped by the scenario in front of you - despite the fact that, realistically, not much changes because of them. And I think that’s quite fine, as the depth and breadth of choices available to you within this game is staggering. Outside of the main quest, how each quest plays out or ends is often based on your decisions throughout the journey, and there aren't always clear-cut right answers. Who lives, who dies, and even who rules hinges upon Geralt's choices and actions – sometimes in unforeseen ways. While the main story is quite good, especially in the more emotional moments with Geralt and Ciri, the real standouts are the side quests you encounter off the beaten path. Excellent voice acting and writing even on the smaller missions give a lovely depth of character to the people you encounter, and Geralt is quite brilliant on his own. There are so many interesting and moving moments tucked away in the side stories of this game, it would be a grave mistake to skip any of the missions. Whether it’s a classic story with a unique twist, a story about abuse and revenge, or a reunion with an old friend, there’s so much to engage in and fall in love with. The Witcher 3 is full of emotional moments that are expertly presented.   All of this is within the greater context of The Witcher 3  being an open-world style game. As such, many missions can be easily missed, whether you never go to the area or you advance too far into the main plot, so much of this wonderous game can be left overlooked. That might be the game’s greatest flaw, truth be told; that anything here could go unseen despite its brilliance is a true tragedy. Several world-altering events can be overlooked if you rush too far forward.   Luckily (or unluckily, to some) nearly every major point of interest or quest is explicitly marked on your map. This can feel overwhelming if you’re trying to do everything the game has to offer, as there are so many map markers. Each monster nest, quest line, treasure chest, or other notable object in the world leaves a little question mark on your map until you get close enough to see what it is, exactly. On the first playthrough, seeing so much available to you at once can be a bit disorienting. Personally, I enjoyed going to each of those markers and seeing what was there, because it was almost always interesting (with the exception of the sailing chests in Skellige).   There is just so much care put into the way this world is built. Even minor encounters can tell a story. What appears as a simple chest icon on the map can tell a story about betrayal, murder, or even disease through the excellent environmental design. You will also frequently find notes or letters in an area that explain or allude to the events that have transpired. There’s so much that you can piece together throughout your travels. Of course, not everything is that way. There are times when what you find really is just a barrel or chest with randomized loot and no story to tell. I tend to think there are fewer of those than detractors would have you believe, but they do exist.   Speaking of world-building – it is immaculate here. While much of the groundwork is laid out via the Sapkowski stories, even more is CD Projekt’s own design. Events of the games (which did not happen in the books) have shaped the world into a complex wonder. Seemingly endless journal and bestiary entries expound upon events past and present, or even detail the inner workings and stories surrounding the monsters you’ve taken on as contracts. You could spend hours just reading about the characters, nations, and races of people in this world – and learn about all the complex ways those things meld together. While this is not necessary to do in order to follow the plot of the adventure, I find it makes the events of the game much more interesting when you have an understanding of the world at large. The vistas and locales are absolutely teeming with life and character. From a gameplay perspective, The Witcher 3  is a third-person adventure game with RPG mechanics. The basic loop sees you taking on a quest or contract and trying to find the person or monster in question. Geralt has a “Witcher sense” that helps him see footprints or follow smells, allowing him to track his targets through the world. Your horse Roach can help expedite your long travels, as well.   In combat, you have swords for slashing, signs (spells) for casting, and a crossbow for shooting. The signs are probably the most interesting aspect of this, as they each have alternate versions that change how they function or upgrades that are better at doing one thing versus another. For example, the spell Quen can either be a barrier that can absorb a single instance of damage or be a held barrier that heals your health when attacked but leaves you stationary. From here, upgrades can change how much damage is absorbed, how much health is recovered, or even if breaking the shield causes an explosion. Your melee has many pathways available to you, as well – build for heavy strikes or quick ones, special abilities with different use cases, etc.   Your gear and equipment are a vital part of the experience, as well. The large variety of potions and oils available to you allow you to prepare for upcoming fights and fine-tune the way you fight. That said, your gear is probably the most impactful aspect of your build. Each piece and set comes with innate bonuses, and upgrading them makes a massive difference in the damage you do to others and take yourself. Gear sets largely determine the way you fight, even if you don’t use your swords a lot and opt for your signs instead, as the weapons and armor you have can shape the signs or abilities you use and their effectiveness.   All of this blends together in the battles as more of a dance than a hack-and-slash affair. You move around the battlefield, waiting for the right time to strike. Dodging and parrying are integral to the flow of combat, and when your opening arrives – you strike. It’s a lot of fun, but not particularly complex in action. There’s no sequencing of buttons to press for combos, and nothing particularly deep about the movesets your enemies have, which can lead to a feeling of repetitiveness as you fight Drowners for the 700th time. In my most recent playthrough, I built myself around a devastating, overhead strike – setting it up by lighting my enemies on fire to lock them in place while I charged my move. Other times I’ve built around quick attacks or signs. There’s a good variety of what you, the player, have available, but that doesn’t extend to the enemies you fight. Most really only have 2-4 different moves they can use.   The varied builds and combat tools keep the battles engaging. Combat isn’t the only aspect of gameplay, however, and many of the side activities are just as engaging (or more so) than the fights. Gwent is a major standout here, becoming popular enough to spin off into its own standalone title following the release of The Witcher 3 . For a quick explainer, Gwent is a card game where the cards you play give you points, and the person with the most points in a round wins the round. The first person to win two rounds is the victor of the match. In the base game, there are four decks (factions) to choose from, with a fifth added in the Blood and Wine Expansion, and each has its own strategies and synergies. There are a large number of cards to collect, people to play against, and even some nice quests revolving around the activity. It is a lot of fun, and definitely a worthwhile break from the violence, politics, and drama that unfolds throughout the rest of the adventure.   Perhaps the most underrated aspect of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt  is the music. This soundtrack is absolutely incredible. With a heavy Slavic influence, the OST is brimming with personality and a unique flavor rarely seen in mainstream games. From exciting battle themes like “Hunt or Be Hunted” or “You’re Immortal,” to more somber tunes like “The Wolf and The Swallow,” composer Marcin Przybyłowicz has crafted a beautiful song for every moment. It has led me to appreciate the varied sounds of Slavic, or even more specifically Polish, music. Since playing this game I have developed an appreciation for instruments I never even knew existed prior to the experience, such as the Gadoulka, Gusli, Suka, and Rebec   That music accentuates and enlivens the most dramatic moments in the game in ways that are hard to overstate. Frankly, nothing could have prepared me for the ways in which this game would move me. From beginning to end, and through the expansions that came later, I was so enraptured by every scene and moment, that I felt as if I was experiencing something truly transformative. Those feelings extended beyond the specific cutscenes or events, as well. I often found myself wandering the hillside or woods through a storm awestruck by both the visual beauty on display and the soundscape I was experiencing. Many of the sounds in the game are diegetic, meaning they occur within the context of the story and are able to be heard by the characters, which lends itself to more immersive sounds. Tavern songs, trees creaking, the clanging of armor – all of it was captured so well; it was a truly immersive experience. There's always something to do in a bar or inn. The most positive aspects of the game are elevated even further in the expansions that came out after release. Hearts of Stone  is a heart-wrenching tale that adds new gear, crafting systems, and content in the northern Novigrad area, while Blood and Wine  is a massive send-off for many of the series’ most prominent characters, including Geralt. Blood and Wine opens up a massive new area, new combat enhancements, and a long, engaging story. Both would deserve their own reviews under normal circumstances upon release - many outlets did just that - but what stands out to me is how cohesive they are to the game as a whole. Everything fits in so well, and their inclusion in the entire package makes this one of the most impressive games you’ll ever play from just about every perspective. There’s just something so special about this world that CDProjekt has crafted. From the way each village tells its own story, to the way notes and journal entries have their own voice, everything feels so alive . Characters have bespoke facial animations or tics, NPCs go about their daily lives and react to the world changing around them - every aspect of this game enraptures me. Next summer, we’ll be coming up on 10 years since this game was released, and I’m not sure I’ll ever quite get over how much I love it.   In my most recent playthrough, as I sat down at the fire with an old friend at the end of a long journey, I couldn’t help but tear up a little. I will be putting The Witcher 3  down for the last time, I think, having done 6 full completionist runs of the game. After spending hundreds of hours with Geralt, Dandelion, Triss, and Ciri, it feels like a chapter of my life is coming to a close. Because this is the game that reopened the book on video games for me, and because I cherished every moment I spent playing, I can leave it happy. So, when Geralt smiled at me as the game came to a close, I couldn’t help but smile, too. Good luck on the path. Verdict Bold and breathtaking, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt  is an exemplar of storytelling and narrative design. With a great blend of serious, tense moments and stretches of levity, each quest will keep you engaged and enthralled. Boasting an excellent and varied soundtrack, beautiful visuals, and deep roleplaying opportunities, this game offers a more complete experience than nearly any other game in history. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt  is a revelation – a true work of art – and if you have not yet played it, do so immediately.

Each of us have burdens to bear I remember returning home for the first time after dropping out of college. A little bit of nervousness – and a lot of shame – surrounded me as I pulled into my parents’ driveway. After all, I was a ‘gifted child.’ I was supposed to be destined for greatness in one way or another. But it doesn’t really work like that, does it? You still have to do the thing. Just like every other ‘gifted child’ you’ve ever heard of, for whatever reason (and there were, of course, many), I didn’t make it out of school. So, I walked through the door and saw my parents again. They were happy to see me, just as I would be to see my child come home, but I could tell there was a disappointment there, too. Night in the Woods  is a story revolving around Mae, a little cat girl whose story mirrored mine in many ways: she dropped out of college and moved back to her hometown of Possum Springs, her parents are happy to see her but a little dispirited, and many of the people she knew have moved on with their lives in ways she neither knows nor understands at first. The adventure starts aimlessly – you have the freedom to walk around and speak to people, climb buildings and powerlines, or even steal some hotdogs. All of it without true purpose - an all too familiar feeling. It doesn’t take long in this side-scrolling adventure for things to pick up, though. Soon you’re meeting friends, having dinner, and even finding a severed arm. In between all of this, the game gives you the freedom to explore and engage with a large number of people and things. The purpose is here  - found within those little moments with friends, family, and sometimes even strangers. Publisher: Finji Developer:  Infinite Fall, Secret Lab Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on February 21, 2017 for Windows, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, February 1, 2018 for Nintendo Switch, and September 9, 2021 for iOS Night in the Woods  is a branching choice-and-consequence adventure wearing the skin of a cute cartoon starring anthropomorphic animals, with a little hint of 2D side-scrolling platformer. The game gives you quite a large number of roleplaying opportunities in those moments, as you’re able to change the things you say or do in nearly every given instance. Those choices aren’t one-off decisions, either, as they impact your relationships with characters and guide smaller events along the path. Your decisions don’t have much effect on the larger vision of the plot, but they alter the tenor of the events that unfold around you. Who shows up for you in tough moments, how they interact with you, how you interact with them – all of that  is shaped by your choices. On paper, that doesn’t sound like much, but when you see the game in motion, it feels like it matters a lot. It mattered to me, and it seemed to matter to Mae. Every bit of time I spent jumping on powerlines, breaking into buildings, or stealing clothes felt like it was worth the effort. You do all of that to build relationships with other people, whether that is your direct intention or not. Many of my favorite moments in the game came outside the main story; finding a person sitting on the roof of a building and having a chat or meeting some weirdo (complimentary) in an empty parking lot, all of it builds the atmosphere of the town you’re in and shapes who Mae is. That said, there’s a lot more to do here than wander the town. Night in the Woods also contains a plethora of unique and fun mini-games: Shoplifting, playing music on your bass, a dungeon crawler akin to Hyper Light Drifter , star gazing, and even smashing cars. There were moments early on when I kind of got lost in those mini-games, especially the Rock Band -esque music game. I even questioned the genre at one point, wondering if I had suddenly stumbled into a full-on rhythm game instead. Those mini-games were often instrumental to breaking things up for me, as the middle of the game drags on a bit without much happening in the main plot. Those side dishes are elevated by the game’s unique art style. Shifting perspectives, new UI elements, or even complete overhauls to the visual style come with each one, and it keeps them distinct from the main game and one another. There’s a certain whimsy to the overall cartoony visuals that seems  light, but belies some truly sad and deep moments. People in Possum Springs are struggling, as all working-class people do, with the burdens of daily life. Floods, unemployment, family drama, closed businesses, and financial woes permeate conversations with your friends, family, and even strangers. All of this is expressed beautifully not just in the dialogue, but visually as well. Varied facial expressions and emphatic body language animations guide each scene. Splashes of color and high contrast are used to create a depth to the atmosphere in some scenes. It’s a visually beautiful game, even if the style is simple. Night in the woods is a lot of fun to look at. The dialogue in Night in the Woods  also seems simple but is so wonderfully done that it becomes hard for me to nail down exactly why. I think it’s a rare example of excellent contemporary dialogue in a video game. Jumping into Possum Springs, I immediately clocked where and when we were, at least stylistically. This is a Midwest town in the early 2010s. Has to be. The words the people use, the foliage, and even the way your mom won’t just stop talking and let a conversation endpoint me there. A real ‘Minnesota Goodbye’ happens at one point – each character says goodbye and Mae makes the motions to leave, but her mom is still yapping. It’s very natural and charming in ways I didn’t expect. It is so familiar to me and my own experiences. That conversational, familiar approach works wonders in moments of levity, for sure, yet it truly shines in those deeper and darker moments we spoke about before. You can really feel the tonal shift adding weight to the content of the conversations, and your choices can impact those scenes further. Do you lean into Mae’s irreverent side, or try to play it safe? It’s a constant battle between Mae’s own baked-in immaturity, her insecurities, and the life decisions that lead everyone to where they are now. The dialogue lends itself well to exploring the game's themes of queerness in a natural way while using conversations with adults (particularly Mae’s parents) to depict a generational divide in the understanding or acceptance of various gender identities and sexuality. For instance, while Mae never explicitly states her sexuality, it is at least brought up in the sense that she is ‘not picky,’ stating “I don’t care if they’re a boy or a girl.” She also once dated a boy, and you can flirt with women. Knowing this, it becomes clear that Mae’s parents don’t know or understand this about her, asking if she’s “seeing a boy’ - reinforcing heteronormativity. Additionally, several other characters are LGBTQ+ and it explores the pressures of their relationships and the realities of life in that context. It never comes off as an unnatural blurting out, instead, it always happens within the flow of conversation, or sometimes is never addressed explicitly at all.  The natural and free-flowing dialogue make sure there's never a dull moment in the game. As this is a spoiler-free review, I don’t want to get too deep into the game's main plot, or even the specifics of the conversations you have with characters – all of that is worth going through yourself. Instead, I would like to offer you this: Night in the Woods  is a story about the people you encounter and the struggles of their lives just as much as it is about the overarching events that transpire in the main plot. But that’s true for all of us, isn’t it? Our lives  aren’t just about what happened, but also about who they happened with, and how those events and people shaped us going forward. I’ve always said I don’t have any true regrets in life – every mistake or good decision I made has left me in a place where my heart is full. I have a loving family, great friends, and food in my belly. I’m not sure there’s any room for regret here. Instead, my energy should always be put toward moving forward. We all face struggles, sometimes even ones of our own making, but there’s one thing I know for sure – we must find joy and purpose in our lives, even in our dark moments, or we will perish. There is no other choice. Verdict Night in the Woods is an excellent 2D side-scrolling adventure game with heavy roleplaying elements. Jumping off the screen with a unique and engaging visual style, the game explores themes of regret, shame, helplessness, friendship, and community through its natural dialogue and clever writing. Night in the Woods is often irreverent and downright hilarious but never shies away from the struggles of real people – even if everyone here is actually an anthropomorphic animal. Fun mini-games and great music keep the experience fresh, even if it slows down in the middle more than I’d like. Overall, Night in the Woods is an excellent examination of working-class struggles, queerness, and the burdens of adulthood. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux, Infinite Fall, and Secret Lab

The wolf has been defanged It has been 10 years since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition  and a lot has changed since then. BioWare, specifically, has undergone massive changes over that time, with much of the leadership of the company moving on. Included in those departures was David Gaider, the lead writer and creator of the setting of the Dragon Age Franchise. While Dragon Age: Inquisition released to critical acclaim, receiving the first Game Awards’ “Game of the Year” award in 2014, BioWare has had only a few games come out since then – both of which would be classified as ‘disappointing’ at best. 10 years is a long time to wait for a new game, especially one as highly anticipated as Dragon Age: The Veilguard . So that begs the question: was the wait worth it? Well, let’s talk about it. Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer:  BioWare Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on Oct. 31, 2024 for PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series S/X Dragon Age, as a series, has always been inconsistent in terms of its gameplay, tone, and even its art direction, in some respects. Its general need to reinvent the wheel could be likened to another famous RPG series: Final Fantasy. While perhaps not as drastic as the Final Fantasy series, Dragon Age is a property that does not iterate on many of the core concepts in previous games, opting to instead completely modify any aspect they felt was not working for the latest game. Dragon Age: Origins , the first game, was a largely grounded dark fantasy game with a breadth of roleplaying systems and opportunities. Dragon Age 2  kept many of those bones, but made some shifts in tonality and gameplay – opting for a more quippy, or sometimes even silly, tone compared to its predecessor. That isn’t to say Dragon Age 2 did not have serious or dark moments, or that Origins  was humorless, rather there was a shift in the prevailing tone and tenor of the story and dialogues. This was supplemented by BioWare changing how dialogue works, offering 3 choices at a given time – Diplomatic, Humorous, and Aggressive. Dragon Age 2 also modified the combat to a more action-oriented style, with a faster pace, button mashing, and waves of enemies versus set encounters you could plan for ahead of time. Dragon Age: Inquisition then made another leap – eschewing much of what came before. Continuing the trend of tonal shift, Inquisition was a much more sanitized story, with nothing negative ever happening to you or your party, and no lasting consequences for any of your actions. In almost every instance, the “bad stuff” would happen off-screen, with you only coming in to see the aftereffects and do cleanup. Dragon Age: Inquisition  made additional sweeping changes to the combat, now being almost entirely action-focused (although, there is an option for a tactical mode), and relying much less on consumables or traps. Inquisition also removed the existence of healing magic, opting instead for limited-use potions. The largest and most controversial change was the shift to an open-world style, with large explorable zones and an unimaginable number of collectibles and banal side quests. Flashy and fun, the combat is always engaging. Despite all these changes, Dragon Age kept a throughline on a few things – strong character writing, a grounded, semi-realistic art style, and choices carrying over to the following games in the series. BioWare has always excelled at character writing; these games have been no different. Some of the most complex and interesting characters to ever grace the medium have come from BioWare games and the choices you made regarding those characters always influenced the next game or games, even if in small ways. Codex entries here, dialogue there, or a questline that way – your choices felt meaningful and represented in the world around you. I say all this because Dragon Age: The Veilguard doesn’t really have any of that. Despite being an explicit and direct continuation of the previous entry, it has so thoroughly divorced itself from Inquisition and the continent of Thedas, it barely feels like it belongs in the same world. Some change is to be expected, but I was a little thrown off by just how different it is. How could a direct sequel, in a series known for its choices, only include 3 from the previous entry? I would be selling it short by saying I was incredibly disappointed with this decision from BioWare, and it becomes even more frustrating when characters from those previous games start showing up and just completely gloss over or ignore any consequential happenings from the prior games. I think BioWare underestimated how much people appreciated seeing their world come to life, even in small ways, as the games went on. I do understand the difficulties this presents from a development standpoint. At some point, there must be a crunch in terms of what carries over – I just don’t comprehend why now . This is meant to be the big finale for many major plot threads in the series, and many major players are deeply involved in the prior game. Condensation is fine, but 3 choices total is bizarre. Veilguard goes to great lengths not to step on any toes for world states but it just seems off to include those cameos in the first place. That lack of reactivity is not limited to imported choices – even self-contained choices are cosmetic or misleading. As you progress, it becomes clear you and your team are safe. There are never any real stakes throughout the campaign. There is a single choice in Act 1 that feels consequential and then absolutely nothing until you reach the end of the game. The game plays it so safe that you can’t even be a little mean  most of the time. The dialogue wheel will present you with an option that may look scathing, but if you select it, you just get a lukewarm response that doesn’t even say what you’ve chosen. All outcomes through the bulk of the game are also predestined. So much is happening in this world, how can there be no tension? Something you’ll also notice very early on is that there is almost no intraparty conflict – everyone gets along great. Even at their worst moments, team members are quick to reconcile after a short lecture from Rook, and most often the conflict is entirely juvenile. This is not necessarily a bad thing – it’s prudent to put aside your differences to face the greater threat – I just didn’t love the way all of it was handled. With so many disparate personalities and backgrounds, you would think something would pop up here or there. Companions in Dragon Age have always been very vocal about their dislikes and opinions of other members, often sparking some of the most remembered conversations between the cast. Despite this, I do love this cast of characters. It may be my favorite companion class in all of Dragon Age history. Each party member is unique, and the game does a great job of fleshing them out as people. Many of the missions in-game are directly tied to the party members, and those quests are some of the best content in the game. There is a gift-giving system, but it’s underwhelming. You just bring the gift, and you’ll get a short dialogue about it and then it’s done. Even beyond that, many of the companion scenes suffer from the same writing issues that permeate the entire game – everything comes off a bit like it has been crafted for a children’s movie, rather than dark fantasy. The game also suffers from the exclusion of the opportunity to speak to your party members outside of their specific missions. There’s no way to ask them about themselves, their people, or anything they care about. Every interaction with your party is on-rails. And while all the scenes are so well animated, I think it may come off to some as over-animated . Everyone is so expressive physically that it creates juxtaposition with the underwhelming facial animations. We may owe some of this to the shift in art style, which has been met with mixed reception, but I love the way this game looks. I don’t really mind the changes in proportions of the characters versus prior entries, and the high saturation and color palette give the game a clean look. The effects and environments are often flat-out stunning. The environments especially are gorgeous, with beautiful vistas, grimy keeps, and everything in-between. The layout of the areas being more self-contained seemed to help BioWare focus more on the visuals. Where Inquisition  had giant, muddy, open areas, Veilguard  makes everything worth looking at. However, I do feel like changes to some of the more iconic designs (i.e. Darkspawn) do a disservice to the franchise by further distancing Veilguard  from Dragon Age’s overall visual identity. The character models look incredible, and the hair is gorgeous! The new visual flare works wonderfully with the combat as well. Splashes of color and nice particle effects keep the battles engaging - not that it really needed the help. I played a custom difficulty with enemy aggression and damage turned all the way up, and the fast pace and high damage kept me on my toes the entire time. It’s going to draw a lot of long-term comparisons to Mass Effect 2  – you map only a few abilities to your loadout at a time and give commands to your companions rather than fully control them. Also, much like Mass Effect 2 and 3 , there is a primer and detonate system that makes up the real meat of the battles. There’s not much to it: some abilities set the weakened, sundered, or overwhelmed status, and other abilities detonate it – causing a high-damage burst. The systems have been shaved down to make room for the fast pace – much like the transition from Mass Effect 1 and 2 . The mechanical complexity has taken those same hits – with there being very few auxiliary systems to worry about, outside of finding gear sets and equipping it. There’s no more crafting, traps, supplementary potions, or anything of the like. Repeating the same missteps they did with the Mass Effect franchise, BioWare has distilled Veilguard  down to only combat and conversations with more restricted input. For some, this might be a welcome change, as fights in the previous entries could feel a bit bogged down by all the options, and gathering and crafting was just so time-consuming in Inquisition. There has also been a change in the composer for this title, with Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe taking over for Trevor Morris. It’s a pretty drastic change in style. I am generally a fan of Zimmer when he’s on , but it’s just another miss for me. I can barely remember much of the music from my time playing, but there are a few standouts. It’s not that I feel like the music is bad , per se. It’s just not particularly memorable, and occasionally doesn’t fit the mood of the scene or fight quite right. One major strength of Veilguard  is in its story. Seeing some of these plot threads come to a definitive end after so long was really satisfying. They really nailed it for me, especially in the back third of the game. Act 3 is just so moving as a long-time player. That said, I couldn’t help but wish for more. In my mind, there’s so much missing from the game because of those excluded choices from the previous games. As events were unfolding, I often thought back to some of the people who never made it into Veilguard. What would THEY be doing right now?  There’s a lot of room for head-canons and fanfiction, but I prefer if stuff like that is codified. Overall, the game seems to have positioned itself as both an ending for what has come before, and a new beginning for what the Dragon Age franchise could be moving forward – within the narrative and without. There is a notable exception for the post-credits scene. It is, quite possibly, the worst storytelling decision BioWare has ever made, and I really hope they take that one back. That strong story is elevated even further by wonderful performances from the cast. In particular, Solas (Gareth David-Lloyd), Neve (Jessica Clark), Bellara (Jee Young Han), and Davrin (Ike Amadi) are standouts to me. But from top to bottom, this cast does an exceptional job of making every line count. Each member nails the emotions of the moment in every scene, and I don’t really want to single anyone out for best or worst. I would find myself running back and forth from area to area just to hear them talk a little more, which makes it even more disappointing that you don’t have the option to ever just sit down and chat with the party. All that running back and forth also let me enjoy the level design. The levels are self-contained areas with a great mix of winding paths, semi-open fields, and shortcuts that help you loop back around. Navigating any level can be engaging, as you’re always looking for those secret rooms for treasure chests, or hidden ladders to take you back to another room you’ve already been to. I was honestly a bit surprised by the verticality of the levels, as well. Generally speaking, BioWare games have a very flat structure – single level rooms or fields, with maybe the occasional stairway to a second floor. But here, it’s built into every structure, and those structures fit into the world around you in interesting ways (sometimes). If I must nitpick, I would have liked to see more variety in the biomes or zones we went to. Obviously, this story is mostly self-contained to a specific geographical location, so I understand why we didn’t get to see more. I just think the game is beautiful, and I would have loved to explore more of the world. The environments are breathtaking and absolutely worth exploring. I fear I’m at risk of sounding too negative as this review goes on, but I really liked this game! When all the gears are turning and things click into place, it’s some of the best work BioWare has ever done. There are just a lot of little bumps in the road for me. Ten years is too long to wait for any game and even if the wait was shorter, I am not sure this is where I would have wanted this series to go after Inquisition . Dragon Age’s struggles with identity are longstanding, but I think it’s time for BioWare to lay down roots and start watering. If they are certain the old Dragon Age is dead and gone, it’s time to focus on what works here and grow from it. I do wonder how those 10 years were spent. We know it used to be a multiplayer game, and now it isn’t. We know that other characters were supposed to appear, but they didn’t. After so many delays, so much turnover, and untold amounts of corporate meddling, it is a wonder that this game arrived at all. I wonder if this is the game the team set out to make, or if there just came a point where you have to get it out the door. There are a lot of head-scratching decisions in the way this game works, but it does  work. It runs well, is fun to play, and has so, so much heart. I have gripes, but I did love my time with the game. Every time I felt like I was losing interest in the game, a new main mission would rope me back in. There is a lot to love about Dragon Age: The Veilguard , but if you’re a long-time fan of the series, your enjoyment of the game may be affected by how you weigh the changes that were implemented. For me, I can’t really look at this game in terms of what it could have been, or what we should have gotten – all I can do is play the game in front of me. In that respect alone, I think it’s a damn fine game. Verdict Dragon Age: The Veilguard  is an exciting, beautiful, and engaging game that I really enjoyed. Stunning environments, character models, and effects give the game a unique visual flare, but the lack of variety in enemy types and places to go hampers it. Great combat, fun characters, and an engaging story keep things afloat - even with a laundry list of faults. Veilguard  suffers from juvenile writing for most of it’s runtime, with many of the interactions coming off as candy-coated or softer versions of what one would expect from this long-running series. Despite those faults, the game has so much heart it feels impossible not to like it. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux and BioWare

Infinite paths lead to infinite truths You find yourself in a cabin, with no clear direction as to why you're here or who you are. The only company you keep are two disembodied voices - one who is an aspect of yourself, and one who is very clearly not. That other  voice is The Narrator, and he's not too keen on telling you who or what you are, or just why he's so sure the princess needs to be slain. Even so, you must continue. The game offers you a chance to turn around and leave, but if you take it, you only end up where you started (your first hint something is amiss). Beyond that, the first major choice is deciding on taking the pristine blade atop the table or not - even something as simple as this changes everything . Therein lies the true conceit of Slay the Princess - every decision matters. Truly matters. Each option could change the tenor of the conversation, or lead to new outcomes. Every choice may open new doors, but they also close others. This truth makes speaking about the game without spoilers an impossibility. At least, speaking about it in any meaningful way. So, for this review, there are major spoilers. If you want just the basics, here they are: Slay the Princess  is a visual novel style Horror adventure game and it's one of the best games you'll play all year . Now that you have been freed from the burden of wanting - SPOILERS Publisher: Black Tabby Games, Serenity Forge Developer:   Black Tabby Games Platform:  Played on PC Availability: October 23, 2023 on PC, October 24, 2024 on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X Slay the Princess is a visual novel styled horror game, with a heavy focus on psychological and body horror, and story. This latest updated version, Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut,  adds new illustrations, new princesses, a gallery, and more to the already massive visual novel. The mechanics to playing the game are simple: Click the choices you want to select, listen to or skip the dialogue, then click the next choices you want, and so on. You really should not skip the dialogue, unless you’ve seen that particular scene before – it’s hugely important for informing any future decisions. The story and writing, and its progression, are phenomenal. Pick up the knife or not, talk to the princess or not, try and save her or kill her – each individual decision opens up new pathways to completing this chapter. And once you die, save the princess, or kill her, you wake up once again in the forest on the pathway to the cabin. You’re stuck in a time loop, and the only way out is to end things. But end them how? One way is to just kill the princess, no questions asked, and accept your fate. You will get an ending this way. More interesting, however, is if you fail – purposefully or not. Remember that time loop I mentioned earlier? Well, once you reach the second chapter on any individual run, the world will shift based on your decisions in the previous chapter. The choices are not just self-contained in a chapter – they ripple throughout an entire run. They inform the shape of the world, the princess you get – how she looks, speaks, and responds to you – it even changes the music that plays. Once you reach the end of a path, you and the princess are sucked into the void, where you’ll find a mirror and the princess. Or something like the princess. It’s an amalgamation of all the princesses you’ve encountered and ended the plotline of an individual run, and this “princess” is asking you to bring them more. And so, you must complete several runs, taking different choices here and there as you go, in order to get different outcomes and princesses. Once you have gathered enough, you end up back in the void where your choices throughout culminate, and you face the truth of the world. That I will not spoil. But it’s complex, it’s messy, and it’s amazing.  It never feels like it gets tedious, or the dialogue drags on too long. Each individual chapter is paced, in many respects, exactly to the players’ liking – each dialogue choice gives you your response, but also tells you if it is exploratory dialogue or will advance the scene. Depending on your choices, and if you actually read the text, a run could be anywhere from 5 minutes to a few hours. But with so many different ways to go through each chapter, the game feels like it might actually be endless. At time of writing, I have roughly 40% of the achievements on steam for the game. I don’t think you need to play more than that to understand how great this game is, but the more I play, the greater appreciation I have for this game. Absolutely nothing feels wasted here. As I tumbled through the existential journey, I never quite landed on what this game is. It’s everything. It’s sometimes somber, sometimes hilarious, and other times horrifying - the story isn’t just one thing. It’s begging for a deep dive analysis at some point as there’s so much going on and worth examining. On a surface level, I gather it’s about the choices we make and how they affect us and those around us. Every decision, every action (or inaction) shapes us in some way. They can scar us or even heal us, if we let them. It’s a reminder that everything matters to someone, even if you don’t see it at the time. It's about love - learning to love others and let go, and learning to love ourselves, even when we've made mistakes. The artwork is absolutely breathtaking. The great story and writing is elevated in no small part by the impressive presentation. The art style is akin to a sketch book, but holds so many details it is hard to wrap my head around it. There’s also a function where you can kind of shift the camera a bit by moving your mouse around – I haven’t seen any practical use yet, but it is cool! Every dialogue in each chapter has unique images associated with it. I cannot imagine how much work went into making all of this. Beyond the sheer scale of the artwork, I quite like that there are varied perspectives, environments, and animations as you go. You’re in a time loop, but it’s not repetitive. The game makes great use of this highly-detailed, and varied art style to bombard you with graphic, gruesome, and sometimes painful images and effects – I mean that with reverence. Using all the tools at its disposal, it managed to make me laugh, scream, and once even cry. I’m stuck with some images in my head, even as I write this. The voice acting should be lauded as well, all things considered. Jonathan Sims as The Narrator and disparate voices in your head, and Nichole Goodnight as The Princess, deliver on every line – and there are a ton of them. The range of emotions on display is outstanding, moving from sorrowful, happy, scared, and more not just within the entirety of the game, but sometimes all within an individual scene. Both do surprisingly slick work on their modified voices as well. I wasn’t sure if the voices in your head or forms of the princess retained the original actors throughout, at first. I also think it’s imperative to commend the music, as well. The staff obviously had high views of it themselves, or they wouldn’t present you with a suggested playlist of songs each time you finish a run. Leitmotifs are a less common tool these days in movie and videogame scores, but used with great effect in Slay the Princess. In fact, I think The Princess’s leitmotif was incorporated in just about every song I can remember hearing. Despite that fact, each track has its own unique voice, accentuating or setting the moods it needs to as you step through your journey. I’m not an avid visual novel gamer – it’s just not really my nature – but Slay the Princess  has given me a much greater appreciation for both the genre and the team behind the game. Every piece of this work is woven so wonderfully together, it’s hard to find any threads to pull and take it apart. The Narrator wasn’t willing to give basic answers on what was going on in Slay the Princess, and I’m not sure I can do that either, but I think it’s worth your time to take those first steps and see for yourself. Verdict Slay the Princess is a masterwork of storytelling and visual design. Exemplary performances from the cast, and the writing to match it, will keep you hanging on every word. Every element of the game serves to elevate the whole, with the artwork and music being my favorite elements. It’s hard to overstate how much of a triumph this game really is. It’s a game that forces you to examine your choices and ideals, inside the game and without. The possibilities feel endless, and with this latest update, there are even more. I hope you’ll consider playing this game, as I now consider it an essential work in gaming and the best game I’ve played so far in 2024. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux and Black Tabby Games