Patricia Hernandez

Tips For Playing Stardew Valley [Updated!]

Living off the land ain’t easy. There’s a lot about Stardew Valley that the game doesn’t really explain, which makes jumping in a bit daunting. Heck, after playing dozens of hours myself, I still feel like I’m finding out new things about how the game works every day. So, I thought it might be useful…

Playing Destiny 2 Without Reading The Lore vs Reading It 

Destiny’s lore, famously, is housed in things like gun descriptions and collectibles. How does this affect the way we interact with and understand the game? In my case, I accidentally ended up joining a faction that is basically space Trump. Whoops. In the latest episode of the Favecast, Gita Jackson and I discuss what it’s…

In A Year Of Great Games, A Small One Called Butterfly Soup Stands Out

2017 has been so relentless in the release of top-tier games that it’s hard to justify spending time with stuff that is merely “good.” Why settle for anything less than “great”? Despite the incredible competition facing it, Butterfly Soup, a game about queer Asian women who play baseball, still shot right into my top five games…

In this special vacation episode of the Favecast, we’re joined by former game journalist/one-time guest Kotaku weekend editor and Dishonored 2 narrative consultant, Cara Ellison, to talk about the subtle things women notice when men write female characters, primarily through the lens of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Please note! We recorded this podcast on the…

If Something Happens, There Will Probably Be A Review Bomb On Steam

Every week, there’s a new headline about jerks who inundate Steam pages with angry reviews. Sometimes, the protests aren’t even about the game at all, but rather a larger controversy involving a developer or publisher. How did this become the now normal? In the latest episode of Fave This, a new podcast hosted by Gita…

Hollow Knight’s next content pack, The Grimm Troupe, drops on Halloween and will be free. Expect a new major quest, boss fights, friends, enemies, charms, and more.

Destiny 2 Clan Beats Raid In Six Hours, A World First

Destiny 2’s first raid, Leviathan, went live at 10am pacific today. Immediately, hardcore clans got to work. Hours later, a team of players cracked it. Raids, as many of you know, are tough dungeons with elaborate puzzles and challenges. You can only take them on if you’re at a high enough Power, and even then,…

Super Mario Odyssey will get a snazzy Switch bundle on October 27th, Nintendo announced today.

Doom and Wolfenstein II Are Coming To Switch

Hope you like the idea of taking Bethesda games with you on the go, Switch owners. During today’s Direct event, Nintendo announced that portable versions of two their biggest games would make their way to the hybrid console. Soon, you’ll be able to kill Nazis in the subway, and fight back against the forces of…

‘I’m An Idiot’: Pewdiepie Apologizes For Saying N-Word On Stream

YouTube’s biggest star uploaded a video today where he apologized for casually dropping the n-word during a Battlegrounds stream last weekend. “I should know better,” Kjellberg said. “I can’t keep messing up like this.” The video, which is titled “My Response,” is short and has no jokes: “You probably won’t believe this when I say…

YouTubers Worry About Blowback From New Pewdiepie Controversy

Between the “adpocalypse” that drained advertising money from YouTube, and highly-publicizedfiascos involving popular content creators, YouTube’s had a rocky 2017. Now, many who make a living off the website are dreading the fallout from the latest Pewdiepie debacle. The question many are grappling with at the moment: has the face of YouTube itself become a…

Indie Dev Calls For Copyright Strikes Against Pewdiepie After He Says N-Word On Stream

Game developer Sean Vanaman announced on social media today that Campo Santo, the studio behind the indie game Firewatch, will be filing a takedown against Felix “Pewdiepie” Kjellberg on YouTube over footage featuring their latest game, as well any future releases. This came hours after widely circulated footage showed Kjellberg say the n-word while streaming…

Overwatch’s Mercy Problem

A big controversy within the Overwatch community this year revolved around the healer Mercy. Top players experienced hostility and harassment just for picking the character, and major Overwatch personalities derided the hero for supposedly having a low skill ceiling. Mercy players, the argument went, weren’t actually good. They were just “one trick ponies” who hid…

Despite My Skepticism, Before The Storm Is A Great Life Is Strange Game

Within minutes of starting Life Is Strange: Before The Storm, Chloe Price smoked a cigarette, stood in front of a moving train, tagged some graffiti, used a fake ID, insulted a burly man, drank beer, and nearly got into a fight. It seemed like she was trying too hard to be edgy. By the end…

Jesus Kicks Ass In New 2D Fighting Game

Jesus died for your sins. Now he’s gonna kick your ass. Fight of Gods is an early-access fighting game that looks hilariously bad. Just look at this launch trailer, which features the likes of fighters such as Buddha, Moses, Anubis, and Zeus going toe-to-toe with one another: My favorite part is watching supposedly peaceful deities…

Here’s How Ubisoft Convinced Nintendo To Let Mario Use Guns

So much about Kingdom Battle is surprising, but the thing that I still can’t get over is that in this game, Mario shoots his enemies with a gun. This is Nintendo’s mascot we’re talking about, and the game wasn’t developed internally. How the hell did anyone get Miyamoto to sign off on that? Very carefully,…

The Internet Reacts To Sonic Forces’ Persona 5 Costume

Maybe you forgot that Atlus, the creators of Persona, are now owned by Sega, the makers of Sonic. Well, the internet got a terrible reminder of this fact yesterday, and it’s hilarious. Sonic Forces, the next 3D Sonic game, will have a costume that dresses custom original characters as the protagonist of Persona 5. The…

Why People Cheat In Games, According To The People Who Stop Them

The folks behind EasyAntiCheat, a service that stops people from cheating in video games, deal with one of the messiest issues in the medium. People often feel that anyone caught breaking the rules should be punished severely, but you don’t always know why someone cheated. That’s where things get dicey. As it turns out, not…

Pokémon Go’s Next Legendaries, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, Start Appearing Today

Pokémon Go’s roster of legendary beasts gets a little bigger today, Niantic announced. Except this time, you might have to travel a little. Here’s the breakdown: Raikou, an Electric-type Legendary Pokémon, can be battled throughout the Americas. Entei, a Fire-type Legendary Pokémon, can be battled throughout Europe and Africa. Suicune, a Water-type Legendary Pokémon, can…

The Best Thing About Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Are The Details

Kingdom Battle is a love letter to Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom, and you see this reverence in nearly every aspect of the game, from mechanics to the animations. Even the flavor text is wonderful. Right now, lots of people are talking about how Luigi dabs when he sends out an explosive sentry: This is…