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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

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

The only thing we have to fear is...nothing at all   Time is a funny thing. Days can become a blur, while moments may seem to linger forever. Try as we might, those moments are lost to us as time marches forward. Memories dull, legends change, and even pictures never tell the full story. Somehow, as I played through F.E.A.R. , I felt as if I had been transported to a different time altogether. In this way, I was able to experience a moment in time as my fully-realized adult self. See, I’ve never actually played F.E.A.R. – my only knowledge of it being ads in old gaming magazines I would collect. The usual force of fond remembrance – nostalgia – has no power over me here. I get to experience what some have called the best horror game ever with clear eyes and a clear mind. Despite all its time-slowing shenanigans, it felt no more than a blip on the radar. Publisher: Sierra Entertainment Developer:   Monolith Productions Platform:  Played on PC Availability : October 16, 2005 for Windows Following the exploits of the First Encounter Assault Recon team, F.E.A.R . is a first-person shooter with some minor exploration aspects in the levels, and a heavy focus on a time-slow mechanic during shootouts. The basic premise is that your team is looking for Paxton Fettel, the commander of a battalion of psychically manipulated clone troopers. As the troops and Fettel cause havoc across the city, you’ll find yourself party to increasingly strange events – including being stalked by a ghostly young girl with long black hair, à la The Ring.   In many ways, it’s hard to make an accurate assessment of the way this game feels and plays when compared to its contemporaries – I have not played them in over a decade – and it feels unfair to stack it up against more modern shooters. So, all I’m left with is what I felt in the moment, and it’s…fine. Controls work as they need to, and everything moves at a fast pace, until you start your time slow ability.  That slowing ability basically trivializes every fight in the game, as headshots obliterate most enemies instantly, and it’s easy to line up your shots here. Almost none of the guns feel particularly unique, as every encounter amounts to a simple point and click. The only real variance between the weapons being how fast the fire rate is and how the bullets spread when fired. I ended up using pistols or single fire weapons in most instances for their ammo efficiency, but I had an automatic rifle for whenever I was in a pinch. There’s also a melee attack which could be very powerful, but I rarely used it. The AI kind of wanders about the room aimlessly, taking occasional potshots at you while you massacre the field. It’s all dreadfully uninteresting, and quickly becomes repetitive. Most of the miscellaneous systems in play are carbon copies of its predecessor shooters: Health packs to heal, armor that you can collect as a pick-up, and so on. It’s all very Goldeneye or DOOM inspired. Even as others moved on to self-regenerating systems, or ditched power-up pickups in favor of equipment loadouts, F.E.A.R. hung on to those systems. Another thing it clung to was a lack of any really interesting level design. Endless square rooms with a walkway or two (if they’re feeling generous) make up the bulk of the experience, and you’re mostly facing the same cloned enemies in the process. There are some set-piece fights or unique layouts scattered throughout the several hour experience, but they were too few for my liking. The story might be the most interesting part of the game, but I'm not jumping for joy about it. So, what would make F.E.A.R. stand out as an exemplary horror game? I’m still not sure. There are  horror elements in the game: A little girl in red who stalks you, flashing images on screen, and creepy guys crawling after you in dream sequences. These elements are surprisingly sparse, with most of the game being those gunfights we talked about earlier. In fact, the horror elements themselves are just plainly boring . The game outright refuses to do anything interesting with its premise, instead opting for jumpscare after jumpscare. Climbing down the ladder or in a hallway? There’s the girl! Sadly, she will just go away. Walking into a new room? Boom! Low-res JPG of a dead guy! Throughout the game there are rooms filled with blood and broken bodies, voicemails describing the events, and objects clanging in the background unprompted. There is certainly a buildup in the story to where the plot threads take us, and while the narrative might be a bit loose , it’s engaging enough to keep things moving. Sometimes, that’s all you can really ask for. The most interesting aspect of the plot revolves around increasingly more frequent and lengthy flashback sequences, but I became tired of even that as the game progressed. That isn’t to say the game is devoid of any merit. There are certainly memorable moments scattered across F.E.A.R. ’s runtime. There are neat chase sequences and some interesting flashbacks that tie right into the real-time experience. I just wish the game had either pared down the boring aspects or put in some more interesting moments in between all the monotony. Perhaps the most disappointing thing for me is the fact that the game didn’t manage to make me feel much of anything at all as I played. For a game that has such a large focus on time, it’s a shame that it felt like such a waste of mine. Verdict F.E.A.R. is a clear product of its time aesthetically, but doesn’t really hold up in any other department, either. Repetitive combat and dull, washed-out level design make a bulk of the horror shooter a chore, rather than an engaging romp. The plot is paper-thin, and never makes good use of the horror elements scattered throughout the game. Any semblance of horror amounts to simple jumpscares, so if those don’t work for you, it’s not a functional horror game in any other aspect. I mostly come away from playing this game feeling a bit sad. I’m sad I didn’t have a chance to experience it during its release period and I’m sad that I feel like I wasted my time. It feels wrong  to judge a game so harshly that hasn’t been relevant in over a decade, but I can pick up so many other old games and still have fun. I just never will with this one. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

The whispers still linger here Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is quite a scary game, but maybe not in the ways you might think. Sure, there are scary monsters, and dark corners, and whispers in your ear at all times, but those are not the true frights the game has in store for you. In truth, the real fear comes from within - inside Senua herself, and inside us, the player. The game begins with Senua - the titular character - on a mission to save her now-dead lover from Helheim, and in order to do so, Senua must confront the Northmen who hunt her, and the terrors of her own making. On the surface, Hellblade is a game set in a quasi-mythological world that's a mish-mash of Norse and Celtic mythologies, and it's a story about a woman who just wants to defy the gods to bring back the man she loves. This is all window dressing for the game to explore its themes of mental illness and psychosis, and those themes permeate through every facet of the experience. Publisher:  Ninja Theory Developer:  Ninja Theory Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on August 8, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, April 11, 2018 for Xbox One, April 11, 2019 for Nintendo Switch, and August 9, 2021 for Xbox Series X/S From the first moments of the story, Senua is beset by auditory and visual hallucinations. The voices, known as "The Furies" in-game, are the first to make themselves known. A product of "The Darkness" (a sort of corruption that is a physical manifestation of Senua's psychosis), The Furies are there to guide you through every part of the game. From puzzles to combat, the voices are always chattering away, offering hints or direction on what's coming or what to do next. The implementation of these voices is excellent, and if you have a nice headset or surround sound setup, you're going to be amazed at the type of effects used here. While the voices generally add a nice layer to the game from a thematic and story-telling perspective, some of the implementation can be a bit grating. The voices are constantly prattling, and in combat they can give you a nice heads-up if someone is attacking you, but it most often felt like an annoyance rather than helpful. I think it's easy to hand-wave this and say that the discomfort of the combat is representative of the discomfort Senua is feeling, but I can't help but wonder if there would have been a less deleterious way to implement this. After all, combat is inherently simple - Light attack, heavy attack, parry, dodge, charge. Not much to worry about, and the enemies telegraph their moves quite obviously. It feels like a chore more often than an engaging part of the game, but the threat of The Darkness creeping up on Senua can create a bit of tension. As perhaps the game's most controversial mechanic, The Darkness is more than just an allegory for Senua's struggles - it is the greatest threat to your journey. Each time you fall in battle, The Darkness that starts in Senua's arm creeps closer to her head, and once it gets there, your save will be deleted. Or, so they say. I'm not sure it is actually possible for this to happen, but it's the threat that matters - keeping you in a state of paranoia not unlike the one Senua is experiencing herself. It is unfortunate, then, that the combat is so uninteresting in execution. It just feels so disjointed, like it's an entirely separate thing from the rest of the game, or that it's just an afterthought to keep people engaged. With all of the care put into the other sections of the game, it feels like a strange miss. Hellblade is stunning to look at, even in motion. Luckily, the combat is usually only a punctuation on the more interesting environmental exploration and puzzle solving sections. These exploratory moments see Senua stumbling through very detailed, and sometimes confusing, surroundings - looking for runes in the environment. The runes often unlock via a change in perception, whether that's just finding the right spot to look, or doing another action to then create the right conditions for the rune to appear. This is, of course, another reference to Senua's mental state and how perception often guides reality. How perspective can shape our actions, or allow us to continue through difficult times. These puzzles offer us insight into Senua's ongoing struggles, and how she is dealing with them, with each new environment exploring some trauma or difficulty in Senua's own world - represented by the scenes in front of us. Sometimes the line between what is explorable and what isn't can be a bit blurry. I don't actually think this is intended, but it is funny how that could also be seen as an allegory for Senua's psychosis blurring the line between fiction and reality. Despite those minor grievances, Hellblade 's greatest strength lies in its presentation, The superb audio design - spearheaded by the voices - elevates every scene and moment the game offers you. The boss encounters are very strong, as they often have a more interesting combat gimmick. Combining this with the eerie sounds of Senua's mind and an additional unique visual flair, the boss fights become something special . The cutscenes especially are exemplary. The cutscenes make excellent use of color, lighting, and effects to convey their messages. Despite being 7 years old at the time of writing this review, the cutscenes are still gorgeous. Yes, graphical fidelity has far surpassed what is here (see Senua's Saga: Hellblade II), but the direction and acting are exemplary. Melina Juergens, in particular, gives a stunning performance as Senua - able to convey such a wide array of emotions so well. Whatever facial tracking they used was implemented not only better than its contemporaries, but is still a great example today. Even beyond the graphics themselves, the use of darkness, lighting, effects, and camerawork makes everything feel tense and confusing. They really managed to put some amazing work in here. However amazing those moments may be, I do not believe they will be known as Hellblade 's lasting legacy. The visuals and presentation, while stellar, are (and will continue to be) outpaced. Time marches on for all of us, after all, and no number of cutscenes will ever cover up the unfortunate reality that playing this game isn't all that fun sometimes. Instead, I think Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice will be primarily remembered for its representation of psychosis and mental illness. It is a conscious depiction with real care taken to display and understand Senua's struggles, and it becomes a mirror for us to examine our own understanding of the world and how so much of it is shaped by our own perception and circumstance. Verdict Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is at times moving and at others frustrating in its execution. With a considered portrayal of mental illness, it's a game that has a lot to say, and does so very well. While ultimately held back by its repetitive, often boring combat and some areas not being clearly navigable, Hellblade is something worth experiencing. Ninja Theory has made sure the subject matter is both handled with care, and remains interesting. If nothing else, it is a commendable effort. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

No amount of new media can re-write this history I recently had the displeasure of re-experiencing Fallout 4 , and while I wouldn't normally bother doing a write up for a game I actively dislike so far from its release, this one stuck with me. See, Fallout is very plainly a mediocre series in Bethesda's hands in general , and at the time of it's release, Fallout 4 was garnering so much hype, it was impossible to avoid. Bethesda's most recent major release, Skyrim , was such a massive success, it had millions begging the developer for another entry into the Fallout franchise - excitedly wondering how the developer could improve on their formula and breathe new life into the storied franchise. Except they forgot to do that. Or maybe they didn't forget, and just chose not to, opting instead to pare back many of the mechanics and identifying features of past games in an attempt to capture the mass appeal Skyrim achieved. Releasing a full 7 years after Fallout 3 and 5 years after Fallout: New Vegas , it's shocking just how much lesser this entry feels as an RPG. Publisher:   Bethesda Softworks Developer:  Bethesda Game Studios Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released November 10, 2015 on PS4, XBOX One, and Windows PC. Next Gen update on April 25, 2024 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S Despite being physically massive, much of the world feels the same in all the worst ways. Characters are completely one-dimensional, and even the best companions are limited in their speaking and interaction. Samey combat and encounter design becomes a chore very early on, and with so few unique areas to engage with, the experience quickly becomes repetitive. Each apartment or factory feels like the last, often sharing the same or very similar layouts and enemies. Honestly, this game coming out in the same year as The Witcher 3 feels a bit disgusting. Bethesda has all of the resources and time in the world to get these things right! How did they miss the mark so badly? I am going to put (perhaps too much of) the blame on the community surrounding Bethesda. Let me explain - since the early days, Bethesda has always suffered from broken, messy games. In many ways, the games were propped up by the vast world and unparalleled freedom the games offered. This lead to the community fixing the bugs or broken questlines through mods, and over time, Bethesda became reliant on this relationship. You can see it in action, as many of the same bugs from Skyrim exist in Fallout 4 and even still in Starfield . Bethesda is all too content to put together a shell of a game - sloughing off of old, broken bones - and throw their hands up, proclaiming, "the modders will fix it!" All too often, that modding community has been eager to answer the call and the games are paying the price to this day. The final moments of fun the game was able to share. It's not without some merits, however. Few games offer the freedom that Bethesda open world games do, and the character creator is pretty fun to mess with, even if it is a bit lacking by contemporary standards. However, they are no longer ahead of the curve, comparatively. They are no longer singular in this regard. All too often your reward for exploration or engaging with the game in less than straight-forward ways is not worth the trouble. Every time I look back at the time I wasted on this game, I regret it. I really wanted this one to be good, or live up to the hype. I recently ran through Fallout: New Vegas again, and the difference in the depth of role-playing achievable is pretty staggering. The story-writing falls flat as well, but I don't think it's ever been a strong suit of the Bethesda brand. Coming off the excellent TV series, it feels a bit sad to have to trudge through this. Choices in conversations are now 2 or 3 words, with the character going off on tangents at their whim. All-in-all, Fallout 4 is a plodding, and often hopelessly bland experience. Clunky gunplay and pared-down role playing mechanics make this among Bethesda's worst offerings. It is an effort completely devoid of purpose or meaning - meant only to take from you. I hope that one day the series can be saved from Bethesda's cultish devotion to mediocrity, but I won't be getting my hopes up. Verdict Fallout 4  remains Bethesda's weakest offering to date. A game filled with bugs nearly 15 years old, it rarely feels like more than a chore to play. Featuring some of the weakest story and character writing the company has ever released, it attempts to win the audience over with a massive map and endless checklists of things to do. Slavishly devoted to avoiding risks, it is a game without meaning or thought. The drowned out color palette is frankly representative of the experience as a whole - there's just not much going on here. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

Could this be a turning point for the series ? Earlier this month on Sept. 5, BioWare held a hands-on capture event for the latest, highly-anticipated, release in their long running Dragon Age franchise. At this event, media members and content creators were invited to play and capture footage of their time playing. With the embargo now lifted on Sept. 15, a deluge of videos, articles, and tweets have surfaced about the game - and they're overwhelmingly positive. Jade Valkyrie , a content creator who was present at the media event, was effusive in their praise. "From my early hands-on experience, I can confidently say that this game is everything we hoped for - and more. There [are] improvements across the board for many types of Dragon Age fans," Valkyrie stated in her most recent Youtube video . For myself, Dragon Age: The Veilguard felt more like a myth than a real game prior to this summer. We knew BioWare was working on it, but they have been very tight-lipped over the last 10 years. Since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014, the series has been completely dormant in the gaming space. This year, however, we've been treated to trailers, podcasts, and articles all about DATV . I felt so much excitement over the reveal trailer in June, that I played through all of the games again, read some of the comics and even did a deep-dive on all the lore and codex entries. YouTuber @ GhilDirthalen , who was also at the capture event, has really helped me through this mania by providing an assortment of videos and playlists that cover everything from world lore to theories about where this is all going. You can also catch their latest videos about the preview event, if you're looking for some information and impressions of the game. As far as what I've seen today? The game looks better than I ever imagined it would. DATV looks absolutely stunning in every shot we've seen. I have heard some longtime fans complain about the way DATV looks, stylistically. I think it looks amazing, even if there has been a definite shift in style from Dragon Age: Origins to now. It just looks beautiful in motion, and thank God for those updated hairstyles in the character creator. From the characters to the effects on screen, DATV is full of eye-candy. The gameplay they've shown off so far has me excited. Combat looks fast-paced and fun, but also has a nice depth to it that I'm itching to explore. The role-playing portion of this RPG looks great, too. There are a lot of backgrounds and factions to choose from, and new exciting characters to bounce those ideas off of. Combat and characters are the real highlights for me. Twitch streamer Saira , also known by @sairaspooks on Twitter , noted, “this was important to me, and [I]’m sure it’s going to be important for some of you too. not only can you pet assan forever, you can also play rock paper scissors with manfred! make sure you say hello to them whenever you return to the lighthouse 💜”. Overall, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is shaping up to be an amazing game, and BioWare’s best title in a decade (maybe even longer, actually). Early impressions make it clear BioWare just might be on the cusp of something incredible. Will this be the series’ big break? I don't know if it will outpace Inquisition in sales, but I can't wait to get my hands on it when it releases on Oct. 31, 2024. Image Credits: BioWare/Electronic Arts

Can the franchise recover some of its standing? Sept. 18, 2024 - Square Enix has released a financial results briefing that was held on May 13, and those results come as a blow to fans of the prestigious JRPG franchise. Stating "profits did not meet our expectations," Takashi Kiryu, president and representative director of Square Enix lamented the lack of growth in their Digital Entertainment segment. Focusing on their HD games sub-segment specifically, Kiryu continued "The HD Games sub-segment failed to better its profitability, posting operating losses in every year of our previous medium-term plan. In addition to this, we did not manage our title portfolio across the company as well as we could have, which I believe resulted in opportunity losses due to cannibalization between our own titles." Final Fantasy XVI had an excellent DLC come out earlier this year. With Final Fantasy XVI and VII Rebirth releasing only around half a year apart, Kiryu believes the games may have stepped on one another, but Square is taking steps to address this. "In the case of the HD Game sub-segment, sales of individual games will remain the key variable, but we believe that we will be able to exercise some degree of control over that volatility by carefully curating our pipeline over the next three years,” Kiryu assured investors. Kiryu said, “By also working steadily to improve our profitability, we intend to offset the weakness in SD games to achieve overall profitability.” Kiryu also mentioned a shift to a multiplatform strategy as part of their effort to increase profitability. With Final Fantasy XVI' s release on Steam on Sept. 17, 1024, final numbers are still in flux. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth released earlier this year to critical acclaim. Both Final Fantasy XVI and VII Rebirth were excellent entries in the series, but it seems that quality did not translate to sales. You can read our write up on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth here , and our review of the Final Fantasy XVI DLC The Rising Tide here . Square Enix has a lot of games on the docket over the next few years, but questions remain on what direction their flagship series will take moving forward. Profitability is obviously their main concern, but how will they balance those decisions with the creativity and quality the series has exemplified over the last 37 years? Time will tell, but you can be sure Square will continue to find ways to make Final Fantasy a prestige IP. Kiryu continued, "Engaging with content can move us. This is a sensation that, with the passage of time, forms unforgettable memories that help shape the values that ground us. It is our belief that this chain of events enriches our lives. We arrived at the conclusion that continuing to deliver content that can provide our customers with unforgettable memories that enrich their lives is our Group’s mission and reason for being." Image Credits: Square Enix

Sail the Seas of Loss and Healing If you've ever played a Thunder Lotus Games project before, the stunning artwork and beautiful animations of Spiritfarer should come as no surprise. What may surprise fans about this work is just how easy-going it is, comparatively speaking. In a world of rogue-lites, rogue-likes, and souls-likes, sometimes a relaxing experience can be a breath of fresh sea air. You could use any number of game genres to describe what Spiritfarer is, or tries to do, but in many respects, those labels seem to fall a bit short. In my best effort to box-in the experience, I would say Spiritfarer is a base management game with some minor platforming elements where you’ll sail the world to help departed souls find peace through completing their quests and help them pass on to the afterlife. Spiritfarer is clearly meant to be an easier, relaxing/cozy game, versus something more action oriented like Jotun or Sundered - Thunder Lotus Games' previous projects. As the game progresses, you’ll befriend many souls, learn about their trauma, and help them through their final wishes. You can also play co-op, although I did not have the opportunity to do so myself. Publisher:  Thunder Lotus Games Developer:  Thunder Lotus Games Platform:  Played on Switch, PC Availability: Released August 18, 2020 on PC Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, and October 4, 2022 for iOS and Android The game starts with you, Stella, and your partner/cat Daffodil taking over the job of Spiritfarer from Charon. He presents you with something called the Everlight and sends you on your way to find a new boat to carry out your tasks. You soon find a boat, get it fixed up, and begin your journey in earnest. The game does a really great job of onboarding you into the experience, and even as you progress and open up the world and get new abilities and ship functions. Characters will explain every new mechanic themselves, offering you a bit of development and insight into the characters themselves - all while teaching you the nuts and bolts of the management aspect of the gameplay. Your ship starts off with only a few functions – You can do a simple fishing mini- game, sail to new locations, and sit on a couch. You receive a blueprint table early on that can allow you to upgrade your ship. Eventually your ship will have the capacity to mine, cook, harvest, farm, and craft items that can be used for many different things. Some items are good gifts, others are used to upgrade your ship, etc. I'm a sucker for fishing in games, even if it is extremely basic (as it is here), so I took it slow in the beginning; collecting items lost at sea while sailing and hauling in a few nice meals consumed my early hours. Between islands, there is plenty of time to do the tasks you need, whether that’s quests for your spirit pals, or any other of the various management functions. I never felt rushed as I played through the game.  Other management games really seem to push you toward efficiency to get the results you want – something I’m not too fond of, because it feels like chores to me – but Spiritfarer ’s more laid back approach allows you to take these at your own pace without penalty. You really get to steer your own experience; doing the tasks in any order and at any pace you choose. The calmness and ease with which you can approach the game really lends itself to a system like the switch and it's mobility. It's kind of the perfect couch game. I do quite appreciate the freedom in design of the ship itself. Each new room you get can be placed on the deck, but you are given full control over the height and position of each new room - allowing for a lot of creative applications in design for your vessel. I have seen some really cool designs online, but I'm quite boring in this regard; I just stacked the rooms on top one another in perfect rows like shipping containers, organized by function and size. There's no right way to do this, and I think that's neat. Daily tasks and work keeps you busy - all needed to get materials to advance. The art of Spiritfarer is easily its greatest strength, in a game full of them. I truly cannot overstate how stunning the visuals are here. Each of the characters have a fun, unique style to them that breathes personality with each animation. The vistas and sunsets are a wonder to look at, and the way they've made each and every scene just BLEED style is truly something worth beholding. That strength isn't limited to the pictures on screen, either, as the music is quite phenomenal. While generally soothing, and light-hearted, there are great pieces with an ominous air, or even expressing deep sadness. Each note goes so well with the scenes they accompany, I'm almost in awe. Truly, no misses here. Despite the game being 4 years old at time of writing, I think it would be a disservice to really talk in-depth about the story for anyone who may not have played it yet. The way the characters stories are presented, the thoughts and feelings they might evoke, and the masterful way it all intertwines with the overarching story are all best experienced. It feels like something that could be so personal to each player, I would be remiss to go into spoilers about it. If you have an inkling of a desire to play the game, do it blind. Trust me on that. While the beginning of the game might feel very barebones in it's narrative presentation, it really comes around and ties in beautifully. The little vignettes the characters offer speak to a lot of experiences many of us have encountered. Even if we have not seen these exact scenarios play out in real life, we can see ourselves and our lives in them in many ways, as we have all dealt with loss in one way or another. I often found myself thinking of lost family and friends as I played the game. It was a bit bittersweet. You cherish those moments you have so much more when those you love have left you, but it brings the pain of loss when you remember. Everything about the game oozes style. What complaints, then, could someone have about this game? Well, from my perspective, here are a few things I took issue with: The game is almost too simple, many in-game tasks start to feel too much like busywork, and it's a slow start to get into any semblance of over-arching story beats. It is easy to see how these points are just matters of personal preference - there is nothing technically wrong with any of the mechanics, progression, or stability of the game itself. I just kind of don't vibe with some of these things. Frankly, I generally don't enjoy base management style games in general; so, something like Spiritfarer might be immediately flagged as a bad fit. The art and quality of the developer's previous work is what drew me in. So, it might seem a bit unfair to dock the game for then having base management game mechanics. However, I do feel like if they had made those mechanics more interesting or, at the very least, less time consuming, I would have liked the game more. Thematic dichotomies are well expressed - there's great visual storytelling within the game. In fact, the simplicity of it's core mechanics is a huge detriment in this same regard. Because the busywork of base management is so omnipresent, something interesting or beautiful the first few go-arounds quickly morphs into tedium and monotony. I do understand that the game is going for a more laid-back approach, so asking for too much complexity might be abject idiocy. I find it hard to pin-point what I feel they should have done different - should it be more complex? Faster to do? Should we have to do the tasks less often? I don't have a real, concrete answer - doubly so since these games are just not made for me - but I do know I don't like whatever this is. Finally, while the story is legitimately wonderful once it all comes together, it takes a bit too long to really get anywhere at all. I feel like even if you beeline the major points, you're just kind of wandering for a little too long. It seems a bit directionless, but that may not be accidental. I have to wonder if this is intentional, as so much of the game is pointing to it's overall thematic elements; could this feeling of being directionless and being adrift tie into what the game is meant to portray? It is hard to say, but if you feel like it is purposeful, it's easy to excuse. Verdict Spiritfarer is a beautiful game, with some truly stunning artwork, music, and writing that is ultimately lifted up by what you bring into the experience. While there are some elements I don’t personally vibe with, it is an otherwise engaging and deeply moving game that should command your attention, and bring you many moments of joy, or even sadness. Thunder Lotus has once again proved they have an excellent command of their voice, using all aspects of their game to create something worth everyone’s time.