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Marathon  — the latest title from the storied developer Bungie — began its open beta on Feb 26, with hundreds of thousands  playing the game across PC and PS5. Despite its imminent release on March 5, 2026, nary a peep has been made as of late about the art theft controversies Bungie has found itself in over the years.  While Bungie is not the only game-maker  to skate by relatively untouched by such accusations, this moment specifically feels odd to me.  Bungie’s Marathon -related art theft was first brought to light  in 2025 by artist Fern “Antireal” Hook on Twitter, calling out former Bungie employee  and then Marathon art director Joseph Cross by name. After this, Bungie issued an apology and confirmed  that the assets were stolen. As part of the fallout from this incident, as well as other development concerns , Bungie delayed the release of the game indefinitely (later updated to March 5, 2026). An image of the accusation and associated images by Antireal. Eventually, Bungie did clear things up with the artist they stole from, reaching an undisclosed agreement  with Antireal for the theft. While I am happy that Antireal was able to get what they believe to be adequate restitution for the offense, it feels imperative to remind people that this is not Bungie’s first plagiarism rodeo, as the developer has been credibly accused of — and even admitted to — similar offenses for assets related to its other title, Destiny 2 . In 2021, Twitter user Relay314 pointed out  that Bungie stole their fan art and used it as part of a trailer. Bungie community manager Cozmo apologized  for the incident, claimed it was accidental, and properly credited the artist for the work — only after being called out for the theft, of course. In June 2023, Bungie once again stole  an artist's work, making slight alterations and passing it off as their own in a cutscene in Destiny 2. The team behind Destiny 2  once again apologized, issuing the following statement :"We've discovered that an external vendor that helped to create this cutscene mistakenly used this art as a reference, assuming it was official Bungie art. We have reached out to the artist to apologize for the mix-up and to credit and compensate them for their awesome work." This would not be the last Destiny-related accusation, either. On September 11, 2024, Twitter user and artist @Tofu_Rabbit noted  that Bungie directly lifted from a commission they did back in 2015. Bungie was once again forced to come to terms  with the artist for the theft, but was once again only willing to do so after being called out on Twitter. In that same thread, Reid Southern (@Rahil) also stated  their work was “ripped off”, though Bungie has thus far been silent on this one. Sift through these accusations and subsequent apologies, and a throughline quickly reveals itself — the plagiarism was someone else’s fault, and it was an accident. This line doesn't quite make sense to me, given the frequency and blatancy of the theft. One reference element accidentally making it into your product unchanged is bad enough, but the continued inclusion of lifted assets and lightly altered pieces finding their way into finished products speaks to more than just contractor negligence — it’s a pattern that shows a complete lack of care and respect from Bungie. Despite these frequent offenses, Bungie has largely been let off the hook. As long as the Destiny expansions are good and the new game is fun, many are quick to forgive the shady business. I made a Bluesky post  asking if people simply forgot about the plagiarism, and was quickly reminded by multiple people that, no, people did not forget — they just don't care. A few examples of the plagiarism accusations against Bungie. And while it is true that, in most of these known cases, Bungie has reached an agreement with the offended artists ex post facto, that is not the same thing as the plagiarism never having taken place at all. Hand-waving Bungie’s malice as having been “resolved” does not engender confidence in the company’s ability to produce works of art that are original, well-considered, or otherwise not stolen. It has led me to wonder — would these same people be so forgiving if this theft were done by an AI or smaller creator/creative team? Would those who are currently playing and praising Bungie for Marathon ’s art extend those same courtesies to nobodies who had been caught, time after time, of stealing the work of others in the making of their own? If a writer stole a work, made hundreds of millions on that stolen work, and then paid out a pittance to the original writer or merely mentioned them in the credits, would this be enough to repair the thief's reputation? I am inclined to think not. For all the (rightful) railing against the theft of creative works by Generative AI (and its now frequent commercial implementations), so little of that same energy is put toward the large conglomerates that do the same thing. Writers and other creatives are among the most vocal of all groups when it comes to advocacy against the use and inclusion of plagiarized AI works, but so many of my games writer peers can be found playing the Marathon  beta, praising its art specifically. Is that not hypocritical? Or does the personalized nature of said theft make it less meaningful? If a writer stole a work, made hundreds of millions on that stolen work, and then paid out a pittance to the original writer or merely mentioned them in the credits, would this be enough to repair the thief's reputation? I am inclined to think not. It has been said ad nauseam that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. It’s a nice little slogan that allows us to excuse our excesses, collapsing any distinctions one might make between ethical quandaries into a single bucket of “all bad.” But if it is true that all products are the direct result of worker exploitation, then doesn't that also mean the lines we draw are even more important? Surely we can come to understand the difference between a company like Constellis, a military contractor whose list of offenses includes murdering civilians, and another company like Arizona Beverages USA, whose most notable offense is falsely labeling their products as “all-natural”.  Yes, I am willing to concede that labor conditions both within the United States and abroad mean that most people are not fairly compensated for their work, and that most are significantly harmed by the economic systems and institutions that surround us all. What I am not willing to concede is that such a truth means we should not fight against such exploitation, or that all exploitative acts are equal. Throwing my hands up to say it's all bad and subsequently forgiving all injuries is a type of defeatist, loser-baby attitude that I will not personally abide. That said, Bungie is not Constellis, nor is it Shell or any other major company with a laundry list of horrific offenses. It is simply a company that continues to steal work from other artists to elevate its own products. I’m not even telling you that you must stop playing Bungie games (especially when your work relies upon it), or to stop appreciating the artistry behind the things they do  create — we all have our own lines in the sand. But don't tell me  not to care, and don’t imply that the plagiarism never happened just because Bungie was held to some account for it.

The waters of Mars are not welcoming. Mars is not a particularly appealing frontier, in my mind. Our current understanding of it (at least beyond the surface) is quite limited, and while our rapidly evolving knowledge can give us insight into its composition and history, little can be said of the benefits of colonizing or otherwise taking a trip to live on the red planet. This certainly hasn’t stopped some of the dumbest people on Earth from dreaming of doing so, however. Vile magnates like Elon Musk openly dream of starting colonies, floating ideas of practicing eugenics  and forcing those on the planet to engage in lifelong servitude so that their toilet thoughts can be fully realized. Of course, rarely are the human costs  of such an equation fully considered before such promises are made. Mars: War Logs  exists in world that I can only imagine as the optimal endpoint for such a colonization. The planet is controlled by factions of evil, corporate dictatorships (known as guilds), led and policed by drugged-up technocrats (technomancers). Slavery is big here, though they don’t outright name it — instead, people are thrown into prison work camps to do the dirty work needed by the guildfellows who have imprisoned them. From the buildings that stand on Mars to the very clothes people wear, everything is grimy, dusty, and run-down. When I say this is the “optimal” endpoint for such a dream, it is not to say that things are good — only that they technically function, at least for the time being. Publisher:   Focus Entertainment Developer:   Spiders Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released April 26, 2013, on Steam; Released July 26 on Xbox 360 and August 13, 2013 on PS3. A bleak colonial frontier is a great setting, but Mars’ implementation is clumsy. The narrative is defined by a strange, moralizing literalism; we see the world through a character named “Innocence,” who is surrounded by a choir of "virtues" like “Tenacity” and “Charity” — though such characters may or may not actually live up to those named ideals. After a whirlwind of background lore about the water wars, the story attempts to establish its "mature" credentials by immediately putting Innocence in the path of a prison-camp predator who threatens him with rape. After being saved by the main character Roy (who does so by just standing ominously about 15 feet away from the would-be assaulter), we are given our first dialogue choice that amounts to little more than a choice between nice answer, neutral answer, and evil answer. This strict “morality” of available options is poorly handled here in the moment and throughout the entirety of the game. I suppose in that sense, it is quite like the Mass Effect games that Mars  so clearly wishes to emulate. Every response can be broken down into which of these three paths you want to take, and doing so shapes the reputation of your character to other characters within the game. However, unlike the Mass Effect games, there is little difference in practice between being a mean guy or a nice fella. In gameplay, your reputation is shifted by those dialogue choices and by in-game actions. If you finish off your enemies and harvest their blood for serum after having defeated them, you get dinged as having done a bad thing. Obviously, there is no consideration for the fact that the cops keep showing up to kill you and will continue to do so even if you let them live. It does come up with each of your companions at least once, but generally manifests as a single throwaway line in larger sets of dialogue. This morality system feels incomplete — lacking, even — against the backdrop of the world being built around us. Surely there is more to this world than good and bad? One would assume context would be important, but each decision lies on this ternary.  Mars certainly is coarse. Nearly every other design decision feels similarly incomplete. You have interactive party members, but they are small in number and only have a few lines of conversation each. There is a crafting system, but the available recipes are exceedingly limited, with players really only able to craft a handful of items despite being given a veritable mountain of materials. The narrative is wholly disjointed, moving from point to point between acts in some of the most jarring transitions I’ve experienced in a video game. Each zone is full of people standing about, but only has 1-4 people you can actually speak to. It’s a grab-bag of all the typical 2010s RPG trappings, but none of the depth. Yet that haphazard implementation of gameplay systems pales in comparison to the writing. I suppose some of this is exacerbated by the fact that the voice work is atrocious, but much of the dialogue is quite painful to sit through. The biggest victim of this specific element is women. For some strange reason, every single woman you speak to in the game offers to have sex with the main character, Roy, implies an offer of sex, or can be “romanced” within three lines of dialogue. It is not a bad thing to allow characters to form relationships or have agency and preferences. It is a bad thing that every single speaking female character in the entire game specifically and explicitly desires to bed the player character. It reads like a teenage headcannon, one that only sees these women as prizes to be won or tossed aside.  Due diligence would have required that I get an exact number or percentage of dialogue between Roy and his companions that is romance or sex related, but I think that asking me to spend much more time with Mars  is a bit cruel. I would estimate that about half of all dialogue with women companions is about romance or sex, with a much smaller percentage for NPCs, who generally only have one or two lines about the proposition. Still, given the extremely limited dialogue available with each character, this ratio turns into a defining aspect of each entity. Which slab of meat looks most appealing to you, sir? The biggest victim of this specific element is women. For some strange reason, every single woman you speak to in the game offers to have sex with the main character, Roy, implies an offer of sex, or can be “romanced” within three lines of dialogue. If there is a highlight to Mars  (and I use highlight loosely, here), it would be the combat. It is a very active system, with players frantically rolling around to avoid insanely powerful enemies while taking chipshots with your weapons or technomancy. The “fun” of the roly-poly battles is further elevated by the frantic and incoherent meanderings of the camera. One moment, you are staring down a group of enemies, ready to dodge your way into advantageous positions, and the next, the camera has seemingly lost all sense of time and space, staring exactly into the opposite direction you need. Lock-on is of little help here, and even changing targets can be difficult to land on the enemy you want. Ultimately, Mars: War Logs is a fitting monument to the very colonization dreams it depicts. It is a collection of high-concept ideas that, when stripped of proper execution, collapse into a muddied mess. Half-baked napkin thoughts do not make a good space mission plan, nor do they make a decent video game. Inevitably, problems will arise. Whether it’s a life-support failure in a vacuum or a T-posing glitch in a digital work camp, something will go wrong in the use of technology. Is there a plan to address these concerns? Was there ever a real plan at all? All of this is to say: taking a trip to Mars (or Mars ) won’t do you any good, and will serve only to inflate the egos of the fools who put you there. I'm pretty sure they did not pay for this likeness. Verdict Don’t go to Mars. That would be a very stupid thing to do, voluntarily. Image Credits: Focus Entertainment

Why Kill the Past when you can just change it? There is a certain structured chaos to Romeo Is a Dead Man , the newest game from creator Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture — the development studio best known for titles like the Kill the Past and No More Heroes series. Grasshopper’s latest surreal third-person action game sticks with and smoothes out combat from the studio’s previous titles, while keeping the developer’s staple abstract storytelling. Publisher:   GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. Developer:   GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released February 11, 2026, on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The main story has depth, although it can sometimes feel unintelligible. Despite this, Romeo’s motivations are easily understood and followed throughout. After almost being killed by a demon, Grandpa shows up and saves Romeo’s life by turning his mangled body into Dead Man. Somehow dying in the process of facilitating this transformation, Grandpa is now an animated patch on the back of Romeo’s jacket. Always animating without ever being too annoying or distracting, Grandpa helps guide Romeo to find Juliet, who might be at the center of some space-time anomalies. Oh, did I mention that after being saved by the Space Time FBI, Romeo is now drafted into their ranks to hunt down the disruptions and therefore correct the corresponding anomalies? Third-person action, although being the only method of combat, surprisingly takes up only half of the game. The other half being within a digital realm that vaguely mirrors the real-world zone in which the combat takes place. Combat feels responsive with multiple melee and ranged weapon choices available to pick from. Choosing to deviate from the default katana to a heavy two-handed sword, gauntlets, or a two-part spear does affect fights and how to approach hoards of smaller enemies. Having a light and strong attack option simplifies combat, requiring a stronger awareness of positioning and patience over a more complex system.  Stronger attacks can have purposefully longer uninterruptible animations, encouraging the optimization of combos mixing lighter and stronger attacks to stay mobile and evasive, or opt for heavy, immobile high-damage options during a stun or opening. Almost all larger enemies have weak points that are only breakable with ranged weapons, necessitating the use of one of four ranged weapons: a pistol, shotgun, machine gun, or rocket launcher. Having a diverse set of eight weapons that can be swapped at any time— even during combat — is great and can make encounters feel fresh again. Although a lack of findable upgrade materials forces committing to two or three weapons to avoid becoming underpowered and needing to grind for materials to buy more upgrades. Romeo has an eclectic variety of styles to showcase. Breaking up the combat, Subspace is a digital area used to find portals that lead to new, previously unreachable areas in the real world. No combat happens here, making early instances feel like an interesting break to open doors and solve puzzles in a more laid-back area. Later on, Subspace fills with uninteresting and frustrating tedium. All areas look the same, made with simple colored cubes that make it difficult to discern your position. Later, more complex levels become hard to reliably traverse, leading to accidentally retreading areas and often trying to remember which path has not been checked. Additionally, levels that have many portals make remembering which line up with what area in the real world much more difficult. With subspace increasing in size and complexity, the last level consists of slogging through an hour or more in subspace, mixed with short bursts of combat in between real-world portals. Upgrading and customizing a build in the home base — visitable between and during missions — is a standout departure from other games in the best way. Quicktime minigames to cook buff-producing katsu curry, a retro game to upgrade stats, and growing your own allies from seeds are fun changes of pace that feel unique and fit the overall grab-bag style this game has to offer. While having several currencies that can be used multiple ways was initially confusing, stat increases are easily noticeable in gameplay and keep the upgrade loop rewarding. Overall, style is the main standout of Romeo Is a Dead Man  from beginning to end. Using avant-garde approaches to cutscenes, whether it's told in the game’s normal 3d style, 8-bit, comic panels, or hand-drawn animation, nothing feels cheap or phoned in, and that includes the soundtrack. These changes in style feel intentional and always keep scenes interesting. Unfortunately, this artful shift in tone and style makes the much less unique designs of combat and puzzle areas feel generic in comparison. While not perfect, this unique approach to storytelling and systems is a statement that deviating from standard practice can make a large impression without completely leaving convention behind. Verdict Romeo Is a Dead Man  is a stylized, third-person action joyride with fun, albeit repetitive, combat. Boss fights are diverse, with a great soundtrack and interesting designs. Cutscenes and upgrading both diverge from standard practice in the best way, oozing with style to stand apart from other offerings. Pacing suffers with the diverse approach to mechanics and forcing frequent puzzle sections later into the game; however, the main story’s relatively shorter twenty-hour playtime with refreshingly little padding keeps the overall experience short and sweet. Image Credits: Grasshopper Manufacture Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.

In Ys X: Proud Nordics , Adol can increase affinity with companions that have joined the crew along the journey. While this can be done through Companion Quests and special events, another way is to give your comrades a gift. Each companion only has a single gift to obtain, so once you have it, there's no need to search for additional items for that character. For all Gifts and their corresponding locations within Proud Nordics , please see below. Ys X: Proud Nordics Gift Locations Grenn Rune Sword : Available from the Baudin & Co merchant ship starting in Chapter 3. The ship can be found near Termina Island. Cruz Dvergr’s Hammer : It can be found within a chest on Breezy Isle, which is first accessible in chapter 4. Dogi Foreign Gauntlet: On the open sea (Sea Chart), head North of Kalon Island to find a ship housing the Gregorio's Curios shop. You'll need to buy the Hidden Treasure Chart B from him. Then, head over to Ozmid Expanse where you can salvage the gift item. Rosalind Green Turban Ear Clips : As part of the main story in Chapter 5, you'll land on Falun Island, where this gift can be found near the exit to Ilmer Village (on the east side of the map). Rafe Oku-Thor Amulet : Recapture Flumen Straight - Abandoned Mine. The A rank reward for completion is this gift for Rafe. Karja Peculiar Harr Woodcarving : Found on Raufos Island in Chapter 5. This is found within the fort, near a Rosmarion. Mirabel Pink Pearl Ring : Found in the Ruined Capital of Ribe during Chapter 6 in the southwestern part of the island. You'll need to use Mana Ride to reach the chest. Ezer White Lion Crest : Anika's Goods merchant ship can be found North of Eversummer Isle in Chapter 6. This shop sells the gift item for Ezer. Hopefully, this guide will help you finish up your journal, raise your companion's affinity, and unlock those achievements!

Cultural touchstones are a bit hard to nail down in the internet era. The fast-paced nature of online communication — and almost the ephemeral nature of the attention economy that drives much of it — leaves us with few shared experiences, even among peers. In decades past, a movie or show would be seen and talked about for weeks or months beyond release, but this is truly rare in the modern context. Websites and influencers are always looking for the next big thing, and so too are the audiences that engage with them. Often, when a new work drops, the conversation surrounding it dies as quickly as it had arisen. Die On This Hill  certainly won’t solve this problem, but it can help alleviate it. Product:   Die On This Hill Designer: Sam Greszes Publisher:   Sam Greszes Price: $30 Age:  N/A The developer of Die On This Hill , Sam Greszes, describes the game as “a party game about making, refuting, and reacting to the hottest takes anybody has ever seen.” Once you play it or see it in action, you can understand this to be a perfect distillation of the experience. To start, each player is dealt a hand of “debate” cards with ideas or phrases. The player whose turn it is chooses debate cards, which are then connected to “Hill” cards that contain phrases like “Is”, "Is Not", or "Is Unable To Stop The Crushing Tide Of", in order to make an argument. For example, one might form the phrase “Society should ban monogamy”, at which point the active player must then make the argument to the other players. Once the active player creates the phrase, the other players may play their “Let Me Cook” card to argue against the phrase the active player created. Both sides have 45 seconds to argue their chosen hill, and the other players react to the debate by tossing emoji tokens at the active players based on how the argument makes them feel. At the end of both debates, the person with the most emoji tokens in their tray wins and takes the hill card for the round. For the purposes of scoring, positive and negative emojis carry the same value. There are some further interactions you can make, such as sabotaging an argument or wagering hill cards that allow you to change the tenor of the conversation on the fly. It creates this really exciting and dynamic flow to each round of a game that I find is hard to come by in the party game space.  The card selection lends itself exceedingly well to this format, containing cards that range from universal ideas to hyper-specific references. In this way, you’ll never feel like you’re left out of a conversation or an opportunity to engage with the game. Instead, those hyper-specific selections feel a bit like prized cards that you love to get if they fit within your wheelhouse. A real chance to let loose about something on your mind.  While I said earlier that there are few true cultural touchstones in the internet age, I think Die On This Hill ’s mix of universal and specific topics allows players to connect across generations and in-groups, which is truly ideal for the party setting it has been designed for.  Speaking of cultural touchstones, the obvious comparison that comes to mind is Cards Against Humanity . Both games have a similar aesthetic and revolve around appeasing other players in an effort to earn points. Cards Against Humanity ’s ubiquitous presence at parties for the last 15 years probably isn’t doing Die On This Hill  any favors, as general sentiment has soured on it, but I ask you to consider this: what if Cards Against Humanity  was good and fun and not racist?  I don't think the games are the same, and in some ways it feels like I’m trying to combat an invisible argument, but I think the comparisons will be inevitable for some at first glance. That said, Die On This Hill is certainly a “safer” game to play. It’s really only as vulgar or obscene as you make it to be in your arguments. The cards themselves are not one-liners to score points, meaning there are no true “dead” cards to play — they’re just prompts to get you to talk to your friends. All of the game pieces are sturdy — there's no threat of them disintegrating as you play. I do think that Sam’s experience as a PR professional has helped in this regard. That lengthy exposure to the internet and community discourse has surely helped shape both the format and the content of the game. Hard to imagine coming up with a game like this without having first-hand experience with the types of unhinged arguments people make in online spaces on every topic. All things considered, I find the game to be extremely versatile in terms of what types of audiences you can bring into playing it, as well as how you play within those groups. It’s social media improv of the highest order. So yeah, I’ll say it outright — Die On   This Hill is an amazing party game. That’s one hill I’m willing to die on, at least.

Looking to fill out your fishing journal in Ys x: Proud Nordics ? Look no further! We've got you covered. Fishing is a mini-game in Ys X: Proud Nordics that sees you collecting various fish species throughout the world. First available on Termina Island in chapter 3, various locations reveal themselves throughout the game, opening up as new dungeons and locales are discovered. Aside from your rod, Adol will also need bait in order to fish, which can be purchased from general stores in towns.                                                                                           See the tables below for fish locations and associated rewards. To obtain rewards from fishing, you may report your results in the ship's common room by interacting with the table. Small, medium, and large fish may also be delivered to the Reticent Penguin in the Ozmid Expanse, while Ancient Fish may be presented to the Rambunctious Penguin residing in the Raoul Darksea for unique rewards. Please note that this is a list in progress for the Proud Nordics fishing minigame, and is not fully comprehensive in its current state. Some or many of these fish may be present at other locations not listed here. All fish locations in Proud Nordics can be viewed in the journal once collected. Ys X: Proud Nordics Fish Locations Small Fish Name Location Item Drops Sadina Termina Island Falun Island Viewpoint Isle Plump Fish Meat Basic Ingredients Plump Fish Meat Soldier Crab Termina Island Viewpoint Isle Balta Island Seabed Temple of Ægir Haze Island Yellow Drop Basic Craft Stock Yellow Lump Marine Amana Viewpoint Isle Inlet Isle Falun Island Kalon Island Blue Drop Basic Ingredients Blue Lump Obelia Herring Carnac Harbor Inlet Isle Anchor Island Breezy Isle Plump Fish Meat Basic Ingredients Plump Fish Meat Boleh Great Tidal Reef Anchor Island Haze Island Munir Clam Basic Ingredients Munir Clam Robushu Great Tidal Reef Dvergr Coast Ruined Capital of Ribe Basic Beast Parts Dark Drop Dark Lump Blue Saddie Falun Island Viewpoint Isle Soleil Island Blue Drop Blue Lump Blue Lump Medium Fish Name Locations Item Drops Saman Termina Island Viewpoint Isle Breezy Isle Balta Island Anchor Island Orlen Island Eversummer Isle Red Drop Plump Fish Meat Red Lump Ryunga Grugal Fortress Kalon Island Haze Island Rich Game Meat Basic Beast Parts Rich Game Meat Purch Haze Island Strangely Shaped Island Falun Island Basic Beast Parts Xiphoid Bone Steely Bone Rowana Viewpoint Isle Haze Island Dvergr Coast Ruined Capital of Ribe Red Drop Red Lump Red Lump Glass Corp Seabed Temple of Ægir Grugal Fortress Falun Island Basic Reagents Cure Leaf Melg Flower Mercenary Crab Fling Island Kalon Island Viewpoint Isle Celadon Clay Aged Wood Shell Rock Queen Boleh Grugal Fortress Dvergr Coast Ruined Capital of Ribe Sun Nectar Melg Flower Red Herb Ponffer Crescent Moons Isle Dvergr Coast Grugal Fortress Soleli Island Giant's Hand Isle Basic Beast Parts Supple Leather Tough Leather Calamitis Serenes Island Crescent Moons Isle Seabed Temple of Ægir Dark Lump Dark Seastone Ultimate Beast Meat Large Fish Name Locations Item Drops North Tuna Kalon Island Soleil Island Falun Island Breezy Isle Plump Fish Meat Munir Clam Eryn Mushroom Mud Wells Haze Island Dvergr Coast Grotto Isle Basic Beast Parts Supple Leather Tough Leather Sunny Saman Sprout Atoll Odd Rock Isle Viewpoint Isle Ruined Capital of Ribe Soleil Island Yellow Drop Yellow Lump Yellow Lump Aqua Marina Crescent Moons Isle Soleil Island Jötunn Island Plump Fish Meat Plump Fish Meat Dryad Tear General Crab Seabed Temple of Ægir Redsand Isle Viewpoint Isle Shell Rock Blacksilver Sand Soul Timber Empress Saman Giant's Hand Island Seabed Temple of Ægir Crescent Moons Isle Red Seastone Red Seastone Supreme Fish Meat Onyx Tuna (These are in the open world sailing / Sea Chart) Ozmid Expanse Sonnelia Basin Specular Bay Rogue Sea Basic Ingredients x50 Rainbow Drop Rainbow Lump Ancient Fish Name Location Item Drops Jumpi Haze Island Serenes Island Ruined Capital of Ribe Rainbow Drop Rainbow Drop Rainbow Lump Hineria Haze Island Orlen Islands Ruined Capital of Ribe Dvergr Coast Serenes Island Basic Beast Parts Rich Game Meat Munir Clam Gold Borsas Seabed Temple of Ægir Redsand Isle Viewpoint Isle Yellow Seastone Yellow Seastone 1000 Gold Cobalt Corp Viewpoint Isle Seabed Temple of Ægir Blue Seastone Blue Seastone Schneeblauchen Murgleys Crescent Moons Isle Giant's Hand Island Viewpoint Isle Steely Bone Everlasting Leather Vajra Bone Wishstar Viewpoint Isle - Forbidden Lands Aurora Berries Rainbow Lump Rainbow Seastone Megalofang Viewpoint Isle - Forbidden Lands Sin Soul+ We'll look to add more locations and information as we play more, but this should get you started and will help you fill out that journal and earn your trophies!

When looking at a game like Ys X: Proud Nordics , there exists some inclination to draw comparisons to stories of old, such as the Odyssey . Much like Odysseus himself, Adol has completed a great task and sets sail to reach a new destination. Also like Odysseus, he is waylaid by forces beyond his control that prevent him from reaching said destination and must overcome trials and tribulations in an effort to see himself back on track.  Despite more obvious inspiration from Norse tales (I mean, it’s in the name, really), Adol’s island-hopping adventure within Proud Nordics , is not unlike that of the King of Ithaca, with Adol sailing from place to place in an effort to free himself from the ties that bind him here to the Obelia Gulf — though Adol is not nearly so clever as the fabled King, and rarely uses more wit than is necessary to swing his sword about. We even get to experience our own sort of Scylla and Charybdis scenario, with Adol and his crew being torn between navigating a giant current and facing down a veritable monster of a foe. Adol is bound in more ways than one. While at first he simply needs funds to continue his journey, he soon finds himself magically cuffed to Proud Nordics ' main heroine, Karja Balta. Karja herself is also an unwilling participant in this union — she is no Calypso. Publisher:   NIS America, Inc. Developer:   Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH Platform:  Played on PS5 Availability: Released February 20, 2026,  on Steam, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2. And though many of these island encounters are sure to stir up memories or comparisons to this tale or that one, Ys as a whole draws one particular analogy from me: One Thousand and One Nights. I suppose which version of the fables I am referencing may be worth examining, but the framing of these fantastical stories is the same in all adaptations. In One Thousand and One Nights , the story begins with the ruler Shahryar taking a new wife each night and then murdering her the following morning. Eventually, a beautiful woman named Scheherazade (seeking to end the madness of the king) volunteers to become the king’s latest bride, but before she is killed, Scheherazade tells a fantastic tale that intrigues the king. And so, the king lets Scheherazade live another night to tell more of the tale. And then another. And another still, going on for 1001 nights. The stories Scheherazade tells are filled with magical beings like Genii, magic items, treasure beyond imagining, and other absurdities. Despite this, the most interesting aspect of the collection is the narrative structure. Each tale works as a sort of nested story (known as a frame story), with Scheherazade’s plot and marriage being the highest level, and the story she tells being the next. Within each of these stories, however, are more stories still. Scheherazade will tell a tale of a fisherman, who in turn speaks of a Vizier and a Sage, which holds another further story, and so on. It is this structure of nested stories that Ys as a series also employs, with Proud Nordics  serving as part of a larger whole. You see, Ys itself is a long-running series, with most of the titles being out of order from the previous entry chronologically. However, each game within the series is actually a recounting of events by Adol himself, in the future. Or rather, someone reading his journals of these adventures. So while Proud Nordics  may be the specific retelling of a journey in the Obelia Gulf, within the game, smaller stories still are being told.  Adol might be primarily concerned with breaking his binding to Karja and moving on to another adventure, but smaller-scale conflicts arise, such as in the town of Carnac, where the local militia is unable to protect people from monsters due to a combination of a lack of funding and a dearth of magical skill. Adol himself frequently drifts off into these dream-like states where he entreats an old man to learn more about his current circumstances, only to then be shunted back into the main scenario again on a whim.  Any collection of stories — such as those that the Ys series represents — will inevitably have various peaks and valleys. True in a literal sense that the islands and locales that Adol roams have such topography, and a metaphorical one (e.g., Ys VIII  is a game I like very much, but Ys II is not). In this regard, Proud Nordics  stands among the upper echelon of Adol’s adventures. Containing both a competent collection of narrative bits and an excellent action-based battle system, it is at times endearing and nearly always exciting. Proud Nordics may not be the highest fidelity game out there, but the environments and characters are well-designed. While narratives and stories have never necessarily been Ys’s strongest suit, Proud Nordics  carries itself well, primarily on the backs of its two leads, Adol and Karja, and their relationship. Despite Adol’s continued “silent protagonist” schtick, he does exhibit quite a bit of personality, especially as a foil to Karja’s more boisterous and brash demeanor. Indeed, Karja’s transformation in particular is worthy of note on its own. Seeing her evolve throughout the journey is really a testament to the long-form storytelling games can indulge in, even when the episodic, out-of-order nature of each entry necessitates these one-off characters.  Of course, Karja and Adol are not the only characters, nor are they the only highlights. Series regular Dogi brings his earnest nature and calm demeanor to the fold, while characters like Grenn are always good for a few laughs. These other side characters largely make up your ship’s crew as you sail the seas, but even town-specific NPCs are well-done enough to warrant attention. The game is also littered with sidequests that expand upon the world and its characters in a way that may feel compulsory. Without engaging in these side missions, I fear much of the charm of Proud Nordics  would be lost. Thankfully, they are not so obtuse as to be difficult to engage in or complete.  Where Proud Nordics really hangs its hat is in the combat. Adol is a magic swordsman through and through, utilizing his blade to deliver swift blows to any who might stand in his way. On PlayStation, the “X” button beckons forth his normal blows to foes, but he also has the ability to channel Mana (a magical force bestowed by the gods) into powerful abilities needed to defeat the Griegr (a mysterious, undying force that seeks to take over the area). Karja can similarly use Mana abilities, but her technique is that of a heavier hitter, swinging the axe around with force enough to crush the Griegr.  The game is also littered with sidequests that expand upon the world and its characters in a way that may feel compulsory. Without engaging in these side missions, I fear much of the charm of Proud Nordics would be lost. Aside from the individual abilities each character might use, they may also combine their efforts to unleash powerful Duo abilities. The particulars of combat are numerous, with each character having many skills to use alone or jointly, and strategies for engaging with enemies being equally as varied. In many instances, I was surprised at the outward difficulty of the enemies in Proud Nordics , as well as the depth of the combat system by which I was tasked to rout the bosses. Evasion, guarding, character switching — all of this is necessary and much more intricate than one might assume from first glance.  Proud Nordics is quite involved in many ways, really. Numerous systems by which you may upgrade your abilities or outfit your ship can be made use of, and minigames like fishing grant reprieve from the combat while still offering some reward for their engagement. It's charming how sure of itself Proud Nordics is in this regard. Not once does it ever feel like the developers wanted to walk something back to chase an audience they've never had. Never does it shy away from its genre trappings, opting instead to embrace its being as an RPG, flooding the zone with systems and terminology that would be indecipherable to passersby. I can't help but wonder if Adol, in his journal musings, was so inclined to recount these particulars to those who read the journal, or to any he told his tales. Did he regale listeners with breakdowns of how he used lightning crystals to empower his skills? Was he truly so meticulous as to note each fishing spot and its possible rewards? Or was he, like me, more inclined to leave that for readers to imagine, hoping they themselves would seek out adventure? In Proud Nordics , so much of the culture and particulars of the politics are laid bare to us in our journey. The world and its people are rich and deliberate in their presentation. It's not a shock that this is the case — Ys is a series going on for nearly 40 years at this point — but I am awed a bit by the scope of the tale the series is telling.  I keep coming back to One Thousand and One Nights  in my mind. Scheherazade has a knack for telling her stories while never fully getting lost within them. While readers may fall deeper and deeper into the stories as they are told, the ones recounting them are always able to keep track, steering us from story to story as needed. I wonder how long Ys will go before losing itself or its place. I’m astonished it hasn’t yet, really. And while 1001 Ys games seems an unlikely outcome, I do hope that each new vignette we are shown will continue to be delivered with such clarity and care as Proud Nordics  has been. Verdict Image Credits: NIS America, Inc. Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher. For changes made from the original Ys X: Nordics , you can check out the page on Steam .

Back to the old haunts. Longtime readers of mine will know this, but I was never a big Vampire: The Masquerade fan , and not for lack of trying. I’ve played some of the games and tried my hand at the TTRPG, but it never really stuck with me until this last year, when I gave the visual novel Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York another go. I am a little ashamed to admit that it sent me on a bit of a spiral. Lore breakdowns, actual plays, fan fiction — whatever I could get my hands on was lapped up quickly. I’m not really sure why Coteries  connected me to the world so thoroughly, but the impact was immediate. Publisher:  Dear Villagers Developer:  Draw Distance Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released September 10, 2024 on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. All of this is to say that I have been led to this moment by a burning desire to know more. I wanted to learn about the clans and the world, to learn about the characters, and to learn how the game is played. I wanted to know how this story, this trilogy, would end. As Reckoning is the final act of the series (preceded by Coteries of New York  and Shadows of New York ), surely everything from those games would come to a head. Our questions would be answered, or at the very least entertained, and the world of Vampire: The Masquerade would continue to inspire and evolve. Yet, I found very little of that here, in Vampire: The Masquerade  – Reckoning of New York .  On your first playthrough of the game, Reckoning  has you play a Ravnos clan fledgling named Kali. Kali is a born trouble-maker (much like many in clan Ravnos) who spends her nights as a smuggler for her sire, Reynard Cassel. We start off seeing Kali getting caught by enforcers for the Camarilla (the dominant vampire group in New York), and she is brought before the Court — a cadre of vampires who run the city — and Sheriff Qadir. Kali is then tasked with discovering more about the machinations of other vampires in the city, and taken under the wing of another vampire in the room, Padraic. This setup is all too familiar. In fact, it is eerily similar to the setup of the last two titles in the trilogy. As a sequel entry, it retreads plot points and setups that have been handled before, only now doing so through the lens of the new character Kali. Rather than move the overarching story of the world forward in any way, we spend most of our time apart from the developed cast of characters and storylines on a wild goose chase for unrelated matters. Smaller-scale stories can work well in the context of a larger world, but in Reckoning , there's no real impetus to see this story through.  Reckoning is almost impressively uninteresting. The main problems come from two places: The characterization of Kali, and the actual structure of the events that take place within the game. For Kali, much of my annoyance stems from her sarcastic personality and reference-laden dialogue. So much of the world in Vampire: The Masquerade relies on its dark, almost brooding atmosphere. Kali undercuts this vibe frequently with odd reminders of real-world TV shows and people, and never lets a moment sit without some quip or aside. The rare opportunities to make choices cement this by providing options that are either all sarcastic or otherwise end up with the same outcome.  This flattening is mirrored in the overarching narrative. There are two types of events you can witness in Reckoning : Main Quest and Detour. Main quest is exactly as it sounds — events that specifically move the story forward in one way or another. Generally speaking, Kali and Padraic go to a new location for information on Reynard Cassel's whereabouts, find nothing, and then move on to the next venue. Repeat for 4 chapters until some more major events happen to shake things up. Detours are similarly uninteresting, serving as stops to fill up on blood to keep your hunger at bay, or to force encounters with the bumbling, incompetent hunters who seek to destroy vampire kind. Most often, these detours are a mix of both. The lack of true choice was a decision I had defended in prior games in the series in part because it fit the world so well that your individual actions and word choice meant very little to those in deep-seated positions of power (though Shadows  in particular does allow for some major changes based on how you interact with the world). In Reckoning , it's taken to the extreme where even your individual word choices are similar. While having the Prince wave off your pleas is one thing, having such a limited effect on even the smallest characters in a scene is an odd decision. Why offer the choices at all? It does nothing to reinforce the themes of the world or story, and only serves as a minor annoyance that interrupts an already lacking narrative. While having the Prince wave off your pleas is one thing, having such a limited effect on even the smallest characters in a scene is an odd decision. Why offer the choices at all? We spent two games building up a specific story within a specific place, only to have that largely ignored for 90 percent of Reckoning ’s runtime. All we get in return is the inner thoughts of a teenager working through her feelings of betrayal and codependency — feelings that never fully get resolved before dumping us into a finale that I can only describe as haphazard at best.  If you’re wondering about Padraic’s side of the story, it is a little more tolerable. While the overall plot and aimlessness do remain the same on his side, he’s not quite as grating personality-wise. This comes at the cost of Padraic being quite boring on his own, but I suppose I would prefer the melancholy of a Malkavian over endless snide remarks. Reckoning also takes majors steps back in terms of its presentation. While the first two titles had these beautiful, stylized portraits and would often showcase mesmerizing painted vistas, Reckoning takes a more “realistic” approach to its imagery. The change in artstyle is an immediately noticeable downgrade, but the lack of variety in scenery is equally deflating. In the first two games, entire scenes would have bespoke artwork, and character portraits would evolve as the game progressed to signify changes to the characters themselves. This has all but been replaced by flat portraits that cycle as each character speaks. Little care is given to visually capture the environments or personalities of each cast member. All we get are blank stares straight into the camera. As a standalone visual novel, I find Reckoning does very little to draw players into its world or story. There are few immediate story hooks, and little intrigue or mystery in its characters to keep you on the line. As a sequel, it is an abject failure. It does not continue or resolve any hanging threads from prior titles (aside from canonizing the ending choice from Shadows ), does not fit thematically in the world or series, and is a visual and writing downgrade across the board from its predecessors. A sad end to an otherwise worthwhile set of visual novels set within the Vampire: The Masquerade universe. Verdict Vampire: The Masquerade – Reckoning of New York  is a weak visual novel in almost every regard. Flat, lifeless artwork and an uninteresting main plot are chief among its problems, but its design as a sequel that ignores the plot and purpose of the first two entries is almost equally as disappointing. All of this is compounded by the fact that the choices you get to make as a player are so absurdly limited that they may as well not exist. This game is not worth the time it takes to read it, and I struggle to understand how this could have happened after such care was put into the first two entries in this visual novel trilogy. Image Credits: Draw Distance and Dear Villagers

I must admit, stocking shelves is such a bore. Having worked in gas stations for about a decade, replacing product was always the thing I least liked to do. I mean, none of it is fun, honestly. Sweeping, mopping, ringing customers up, and cleaning toilets — few jobs I’ve ever held felt more degrading in the day-to-day. I suppose in that sense, I am grateful for Roadside Research ’s more fantastical take on the convenience store drudgery. As a 1 to 4-player co-op simulation game, tackling these mundane efforts is much more entertaining on its own, and doubly so given the alien-invaders-as-store-clerks premise it holds itself to. Publisher: Oro Interactive Developer: Cybernetic Walrus Platform: Played on PC Availability: Released February 12, 2026 on Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC Between stocking shelves, mopping up feces (an activity that brings me no joy to relive, even jokingly), and charging customers for goods, you’ll be trying to avoid suspicion from said customers and the government agents that accost you. My early impressions of Roadside Research  are, unfortunately, nearly as limited as the current gameplay. With very few character customization options and a limited variety of interactions available to you in any given scenario, there’s not much to take away from the game beyond having a good time with your friends. When you have a full group of competent players, even the slow trickle of research tasks are of little concern. There is very little threat of discovery from your hunters should you simply perform your tasks efficiently. Additionally, store customization is limited and your available tasks are equally sparse. Only a few item options are present, and the only real work to be done lies in pumping gas, scrubbing messes, and taking people’s money — a great approximation, indeed.  If you’re looking for a way to kill a few hours with friends, Roadside Research  is not a particularly compelling option in its current state. That said, I do find the game has a lot of promise. Should more varied research tasks be implemented, and should agent involvement escalate in future updates, running the gas station disguised as aliens could be quite a lot of fun.

Thanks, I hate it. Yes, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties  is as mid as you’ve probably heard by now. Let's get that out of the way right from the jump. More pointedly though, the unusually selective and narrow manner in which review codes were distributed for it ahead of embargo, compared to the last few games in the series, would seem to suggest that SEGA knew it to be so. Publisher: SEGA Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Platform: Played on PC and Steam Deck Availability: Released February 12, 2026 on PS4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC, Nintendo Switch 2 For a bit of context as to where I’m tackling Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties  from, my on-ramp to the series was Yakuza 0 . I loved it, and eagerly devoured Yakuza Kiwami  and Yakuza Kiwami 2  soon after. I then got to the remaster of Yakuza 3  and frankly found its overall clunkiness to be a bit of a chore. I never ended up circling back to it, having stopped somewhere around the midpoint about four years ago. I’ve since leapt ahead and completed the three new Like a Dragon  titles. This long preamble is to lay completely bare the fact that, if ever there were someone for whom Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties  should be explicitly for, it’s me. Yet with all of this weight in its favor, I still found the game to be a frustratingly regressive and sauceless experience. The story kicks off with former yakuza bigshot Kazuma Kiryu having left mainland Japan behind. He’s running a beachside orphanage in Okinawa and just trying to raise his adopted kids in peace. The land they’re living on comes under threat of development, thrusting him back into the world of organized crime — all while Kiryu tries to make sure he’s home in time to look after the children each night. It’s a great narrative setup that, in its original form, managed to keep the welfare of the kids front and center in the player's mind. Unfortunately, this remake crams so much unskippable new stuff into the first several hours that it derails this focus entirely. Early on in the adventure, Kiryu happens upon the leaders of an all-girl motorbike gang who were not present in the original. They aim to protect and empower women to stand up to the rival gangs who prey upon them openly in the streets. Kiryu is quickly convinced to join as they plead the case that they need his strength, which is a pretty weird feminist message that even he points out the awkwardness in. This would all be fine as a way to introduce a side activity for the player to loop back to later should they wish, but the core questline immediately demands that Kiryu then find and recruit ten members, then organize them into fighting squadrons, and then lead the charge on besieging a rival gang's turf. It’s a whole diversion that is quickly revealed to be fairly analogous to Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii ’s crew recruitment and treasure hunting in its scope and depth. Its existence as a feature is entirely fine despite its clunky and laborious introduction. The problem is that it’s only a couple of hours later that the revised storyline demands once again that Kiryu engage with a whole lot more of it. It ends up hogging so much of the game's first few chapters that it leaves one feeling as if the biker girls and their problems are Kiryu’s main focus and not the plight of the orphans under his care. While the visuals are a massive upgrade from the original game, they could still use some work. I tend to see little point or purpose in remakes which creatively aim to just be a 1:1 copy of the original but with updated visuals or whatever. If the original version remains available, then experiencing it in the best approximation of its original form holds more compelling artistic value to me. I’m actively welcoming of change in the type of product that the Kiwamis represent. The issue is that so few of the changes made here feel as if they’re for the better. Drastically reducing the number of substories should be an endeavour in cutting bloat and improving what remains. It doesn’t, though, as most of the substories featured in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties  are very short and completely forgettable. Some are cute for those who have played the newer games, such as introducing an early prototype of the Street Surfer personal vehicle seen in the two games — Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth , and  Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii  — most recently released and furthest along in the saga’s timeline. The downtown Ryukyu map, where much of the game takes place, has also been shrunk, presumably in an effort to make the whole locale not feel sparse due to so many substories having been cut. This in turn makes giving the player the Street Surfer at all feel jarringly pointless from a gameplay perspective. There’s variation made to the brawling system with the addition of a second meter and a weapons-based fighting stance for Kiryu, as well as buffing auras for elite enemies. None of it means much in practice, though flinging nunchuks around is at least amusing. A parry mechanic has been introduced that feels unnecessary, but isn’t really intrusive or bothersome. The issue is that so few of the changes made here feel as if they’re for the better. Drastically reducing the number of substories should be an endeavour in cutting bloat and improving what remains. Look, there is a level of quality to be found at the game’s foundational level. It is a Yakuza  title after all. The immersive sense of place that each location communicates is as wonderful as always, even if the visual fidelity feels a little lacking. The whole system for blinging out Kiryu’s flip phone and gaining passive buffs for doing so is delightful. There’s plenty of charm to be found in many of the characters and scenarios, and I did get quite invested in all of the Animal Crossing -esque orphanage management. The fact that Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties  cannot help but feature a solid and good base experience despite itself really just serves to amplify the aggravation it made me feel about everything piled on top of that foundation, though. From top to bottom, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties  feels exhaustingly cynical. It’s as if its creation were a chore that the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios team would just inevitably have to deal with, but had little drive or passion to really do. The choice to recast a prominent role with an actor who has confessed to sexual assault, and then putting him in a scene where he fingerpoints mockingly at another character for being jailed for the same crime, is utterly baffling. The choice to have removed a trans-positive substory added in 2019’s Yakuza 3 Remastered,  while also now delisting that version of the game from individual sale, is utterly deflating.  The included Dark Ties  add-on is a prologue adventure that serves to flesh out the character of Mine. It’s fine, but its 7ish hours isn’t worth the price of admission if you’ve finished Yakuza 3  before and it’s the only part of the package that you’re interested in. The ways in which the character is written throughout it just aren’t that compelling. I can’t help but feel as if it would’ve been better served as a smaller thing, either interspersed throughout the main game or frontloaded like the Haytham chapter that kicks off Assassin’s Creed III , alas.  If there’s one remarkable thing I can say about Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties it’s that it truly made me empathize with its protagonist more than any other game in the series, as just like Kiryu, I spent the entire experience wishing I were sitting on a beach with my loved ones.   Verdict Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is a depressingly tired experience and an absolute low point for the series.  Please, RGG Studio, let Kiryu rest. Image Credits: SEGA and Jam Walker Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream" Originally released in 1995 as The Dark Eye , 2026’s Edgar Allan Poe's Interactive Horror: 1995 Edition  is an uncanny, point-and-click retelling of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s most notable works. Annabel Lee , Berenice , The Cask of Amontillado , The Masque of the Red Death , and The Tell-Tale Heart  (among others) are all played through or directly read to the player throughout the course of the game, and the events of the main story proper serve as a reflection on these stories and Poe’s own life.  Developer:   Inscape, GMEDIA Publisher:  GMEDIA Platform:  Played on PC (Steam) Availability:  Released February 15, 2026 on Steam . Starting as a nameless man, the player approaches a manor and is bid welcome inside, thus beginning this sordid journey. In this house, the player shuffles through the dreary, run-down rooms to find the next appropriate person to speak with or item to interact with for further story progression. The environments are quite bare, but there are some interesting artistic choices within the abode. All character models are stop-motion puppets, cutscenes are FMVs, and much of the off-putting artwork is 2D imagery. Seeing the puppets in motion is unnerving, especially so because of their lifeless eyes and exaggerated features. Unlike many adventure games from the 90’s, there are no puzzles to solve, inventory to manage, or quests to complete — you simply click objects or people until the next story sequence occurs. In this way, the game serves more as an interactive play, where scenes are dictated to you with only minor input by the player. That interactivity does lead to some interesting engagement, however. As you explore the house, your character will slip into these dream-like states where you go from the overarching story into reenactments of Poe’s works. Within these dreams, players do the same lever-hunting as outside of them, but there are also opportunities to switch perspectives between the murderer and victim so you can see both sides of the story. Poe’s works have stood the test of time for a reason. Tackling themes of death, loss, and fear, Poe was masterful at evoking the terror of uncertainty in his writing. This game captures those feelings well in the visuals and voice performances we are treated to. The unsettling nature of the imagery and dialogue is further enhanced by the soundscape. Every element of these reenactments serves to elevate the stories they tell into something truly unique. I honestly don't think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. The imagery is just as unnerving as the writing. That said, I must recommend you steer clear of Edgar Allan Poe's Interactive Horror: 1995 Edition . While the game is likely relatively short, I encountered a game-breaking issue multiple times that left me unable to complete the game. When you want to save or back out of the game, you must press the ESC key twice, which will bring you to the main menu — at least that’s what is supposed to happen. In four separate instances, I attempted to save and exit, only to have the game take me to a black screen, which locks up the game and does not save progress. The final time I encountered this issue was accidental, as I had resolved to run all the way through the game without saving. Alas, my sweet little black cat jumped up to my desk and hit ESC, ending my furthest journey — a sign, if there ever was one.  But I persisted and found some workarounds for that save issue. I really wanted to finish this game. But then, on my next attempt, an interaction that was supposed to advance the story did not occur properly. When I backed out and reloaded, the interaction was no longer available, and I was softlocked from progress. Were these issues present in the original release? Could they have been addressed in some way before shipping this version? With the help of the publisher, I was able to work through some of these bugs, but how realistic is that for the average user without a direct line to the support team? Even after resolving these issues a few times, I encountered similar errors later on. That brings up the larger question of game preservation — what is the most appropriate way to bring these stories into new generations? While many developers aim to completely overhaul games to fit with modern audience expectations, GMedia has opted to bring the game forward in its original state. There are no added quality-of-life adjustments or changes to the voice work and art contained within the game. But an issue that causes complete progress loss any time you try to use a basic game function is untenable. Without a way to skip dialogue, having the threat of freezing or complete obliteration of your file is an absurd ask. I was unable to find complaints about such issues in searches related to the 1995 version of the game, but even if they existed there, these simply should have been fixed for the updated version. Verdict Edgar Allan Poe's Interactive Horror: 1995 Edition  is a bleak, fascinating, and truly unique take on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, but it suffers from some egregious technical issues. Despite the artistry involved, I cannot in good conscience recommend a game that does not fully function. Image Credits: GMEDIA Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.

*This is an expanded review for the video game Iron Lung, published on 02/12/2026 . If you would like to see the original mini-review, you can check that out here . What makes a video game “good” or “bad”? I suppose that is the eternal question for all art, not just video games, but in a medium as vast as this, what sort of thresholds are there to meet, or bars by which to be measured? I always come back to intent (what were the developers trying to do and say), execution (what does the work provide to us), and interpretation (how did the work make me feel). A bit vague, but important touchstones to look back on when genres, controls, and stories are all so wildly different game-to-game. Iron Lung  is a minimalist horror experience in which your goal is to navigate your submersible underwater to photograph increasingly unnerving phenomena. “Minimalist” may be underselling just how little we are given, actually. Confined to a single, small space, with only a few things to interact with, your options are quite limited. A brief introductory message and vague, garbled dialogue hints at your objective, but very little exposition exists to explain the stakes or the story of this world beyond this. Publisher:   David Szymanski Developer:   David Szymanski Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released Mar 9, 2022 on Windows PC (Steam). Released Dec 19, 2022 for Nintendo Switch. You’re not going to get a tutorial, either, as Iron Lung  throws you into the breach with little more than a console and a four-button control key to work with. Thankfully, the controls are shown on screen and are easy enough to get in tune with due to the simplistic nature of the gameplay. Such simplicity is not necessarily a bad thing in games. A single button can be used to great effect when placed in myriad encounters. Think of the jump button in many platforming games — this single button will allow you to defeat enemies, navigate vertical platforms, leap across open spaces, and engage with the environment.  In this game, nothing interesting is ever done with the simplistic controls to make it feel rewarding or engaging. You just go until you hear the clicks signifying your distance to an obstacle and press your dials until the noise stops. When you do eventually reach your destination (as marked on your map), you’ll go to the viewport and take a picture. When looking at a game’s visuals, it’s not just about how photo-realistic an image is, but more about what the image is meant to convey. Do the environments tell us a story? What does a character’s design tell us about their personality? There are many avenues to take in communicating via visual language. For its part, Iron Lung does attempt to do so and mostly succeeds in the submersible itself. You can tell that it is run-down, with leaks and rust all visible in the space. Clearly, the people sending you down below do not think you’re coming back, nor do they seem to care if you do. But so little is actually shown here that it becomes more engaging to simply stare at the console and see your numbers and radar adjust as the game progresses. But what about those pictures I mentioned? Well, they may be even more uninteresting. The photos start mundane — perhaps almost indecipherable — but progressively attempt to settle into a more uncanny or unnerving image set. Frankly, nothing shown here, even by the end, felt interesting enough to evoke a feeling.  But so little is actually shown here that it becomes more engaging to simply stare at the console and see your numbers and radar adjust as the game progresses. On the other hand, the audio does a much more commendable job in that respect. While it is similarly minimalist with no background track, the creaks and groans of the submersible do serve to create tension. You never really know if this moment will be your last, and each event that transpires seems intent on ending your escape. The clarity and realism in these sounds are not particularly high, but I think that brings me back to my point about evoking feeling. It doesn’t need to be true-to-life; it only needs to effectively communicate what is happening at any given moment. Whether it signifies increasing pressure, scraping against an underwater shelf, or proximity to my target, the sound just needs to get me to understand. It needs to make me feel like I'm in danger — and it does that just fine. Despite the suspense often created by these sounds, I can't help but come away from Iron Lung  wishing there was more to do or uncover. While a full playthrough will land somewhere between an hour or two, most of it is spent watching a dial. There’s absolutely nothing engaging or interesting about playing the game itself. It is, quite frankly, tedious. Without any mechanical complexity, story, or music to fall back on, the game must rely on a few jump scares to keep the audience awake. I suppose there is something admirable about a creator deciding to limit the scope of their work to exactly what they felt was necessary, but in the case of Iron Lung , that minimalism cuts too close to nothing. With no story or real visual component to speak of, your enjoyment may just come down to how interested you are in the unseen. Iron Lung Mini-Review (Original) Iron Lung is a minimalist horror experience where your goal is to navigate your submersible vehicle underwater in order to take pictures of increasingly unnerving phenomena. Vague, garbled dialogue hints at your objective and the stakes, but you’re not going to get much in the way of exposition. You’re not going to get a tutorial, either, as Iron Lung  throws you into the breach with little more than a console and a four button control key to work with. A full playthrough will land somewhere between an hour or two depending on how fast you adjust to the controls, making this one a brief encounter. With no story or real visual component to speak of, your enjoyment may just come down to how interested you are in the unseen.