The Many Musical Tributes To Mass Effect

No doubt about it: the Mass Effect games had some great music. Over the run of the trilogy, a collection of composers and songwriters came together to create an iconic, unmistakable sonic identity. (Sometimes, they even hid their music in the game itself.) But just as remarkable as the music in the games has been…

Believe It Or Not, This Video Game Poetry Is Beautiful

What do you think about when you think about poetry? Does a 1950s beatnik stereotype come into your head? Do you think of a smoky café where open-mike slams happen every Saturday night? Are memories of Pole Position summoned when you think of free verse? Depending on your tastes, it sometimes might feel like poetry…

It wouldn’t be Mass Effect Week if we didn’t link one more time to “Mass Effect Massive Interface Fail,” game designer Krystian Majewski’s incredible three-part takedown of the first game’s awful user interface. It’s a funny, damning, and wonderfully thorough analysis. If you’ve never met Honk Shepard, now’s the time.

The Secret Audio In BioShock Infinite Sure Is Creepy

At one point during BioShock Infinite, you gain a vigor called Possession. The scene where this occurs is evocative and eerie, and the audio that plays at the time is partially to blame. If you play that eerie audio backwards, it becomes even creepier: you can understand what’s being said. And this audio found by…

Mass Effect 3‘s Ending Disrespects Its Most Invested Players

This article was originally published on April 3, 2012. We’re bumping it up for Mass Effect week. For a different view on Mass Effect 3’s malleable ending, check out Stephen’s take We should have known the conclusion would be trouble. Ending a game like Mass Effect 3 poses a special set of problems, because a…

Eleven Indie JRPGs On My Radar

Here at Random Encounters, we spend a lot of time talking about big JRPGs—the Final Fantasys, the Dragon Quests, the Taleses. NOT TODAY. Today we’re going to talk about the smaller ones. “But wait a minute!” you are almost certainly screaming right now, your hands shaking as you get ready to write an angry comment.…

The Moneysaver: Of Batmen and Blood Dragons

Just as quickly as Batman: Arkham Origins was announced, it’s been discounted. By “discounted,” I mean $10 in Amazon credit for pre-ordering on any platform, which is basically the same thing. If you don’t like Batman, we’ve got more Batman for you anyway, with deals on Injustice: Gods Among Us for both platforms. Hit the…

War of the Fallen is the Right Way to Make a Mobile Card Battler

I’ve been quite vocal in the past about my disdain for the current generation of ‘collectible card games’ blossoming in the wake of Rage of Bahmut‘s success. Games like Aeria Mobile’s Pirate Maidens and Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade offer pretty art without much in the way of depth, simulating rarity to drive sales of booster…

The Prisoners May Be Innocent in One of 2013’s Most Interesting PC Games

I’m already on-record about how fascinating Prison Architect is. Seriously, it’s SimPrison—or ThemePrison, if you will—made by people who seem to be damn near fearless about making video games about uncomfortable topics. The game is from the indie studio Introversion, who have also made the saddest/best game about nuclear war. I recently sent Introversion’s own…

Standing In The Rain In A Trench Coat From The Future

Unrelenting rain drums on the tin roof of the shelter. I huddle from the chill in my standard-issue trench coat, bathed in the cool glow of the data terminal. This is how every adventure game should begin. I guess there’s room for other genres, but there’s something comforting about the cold and dreary future of…

The Most Defining Decisions You Have To Make In Mass Effect

Ever since the first game, Mass Effect has always been about shaping the story the way the player wants it. Through Shepard’s actions, players could create millions upon millions of iterations of the same universe. We decided to take a look back at the series—specifically, on some of the decisions our Shepards had to make…

Usually, “Francis” Makes You Laugh. This Time, He Might Make You Cry.

You probably know Francis. The big guy’s best known as a highly combustible enthusiast who rants breathlessly on YouTube. Whatever the latest video game controversy or glory is—an always-on next-gen Xbox, the new SimCity or the latest WoW expansion—you can count on Francis to have an opinion. But Francis is a character, played by the…

There’s a new Iwata Asks up on Nintendo’s website with the folks behind Animal Crossing: New Leaf. This time, you get to be mayor!

An Effin’ AI In BioShock Infinite Is More Of A Human Than I Am

A gun. That’s it, that’s often all I amount to in first person shooters. I might spend time customizing a body, I might see myself during a cutscene, my first-person view might allow me to see fingertips holding a gun steady, I might bleed and perhaps die (eventually), but at best I could be said…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Amongst Yourselves, our reader-written blog: a Flashback Friday post that looks back at a Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds concert from 2011 and a post offering up Assassin’s Creed as the next franchise that should get a week-long retrospective like we’re doing on Mass Effect And you can always go join…

An Oddly Long, Banter-Filled History of Mass Effect Elevators

Forget the controversial ending, the boring mining mini-games or the lack of playable Hanar. If there’s one element that I believe all Mass Effect fans can agree to love to hate (and hate to love), it’s the series’ elevators. Those elevators were just too damn slow. (They weren’t supposed to be.) Mass Effect Elevators: Origins…

It’s Just Like Playing BioShock Infinite, Only With More Heroic Clicking

Coming this summer to a hobby shop near you, the ultimate struggle for air superiority (or against air superiority?) spills over into WizKids/NECA’s HeroClix universe. I cannot wait to pit old guy in suit against Wolverine. Along with old guy in suit, possibly the most exciting HeroClix figure ever created, just about everyone that matters…

Everything on The USS Enterprise Can Be Explored In This Stunning Minecraft Replica

With its own custom-made texture pack, this 1:6 Minecraft replica of the USS Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation is simply amazing. It looks absolutely ready for a tour of duty outside Federation territory. Even more impressive is the fact that creator, Zinnsee had to battle mobs, stave off hunger and craft everything he…

As announced last night for Japan, June 28 will mark the end of the Nintendo Wii’s Forecast, News, Everybody Votes, Check Mii Out and Nintendo Channels in North America, along with an end to WiiConnect24 data exchange with your Wii friends. The Shop Channel and certain automatic Nintendo Forum functions will remain in play. Suddenly…

How Mass Effect Mods Resurrected My Shepard

Like many people out there, I lost my Shepard in the time between Mass Effect 1 and 2—probably because I forgot to back her up before formatting my computer or some such nonsense. So after Mass Effect 2 came out, I discovered to my great sadness that I would be starting a new female Shepard.…