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OpinionImpressionsStar Trek Legends Is A Fun Time, Not An Annoying Grind
Star Trek Legends, recently released on Apple Arcade, plays a lot like Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, Disney’s Sorcerer’s Arena, DC Legends and countless other turn-based mobile RPGs. But without any energy meters or annoying microtransactions. As a result, it feels like a game and not a treadmill designed to ferry you to a store.…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionImpressionsDoom 3 Is Better In VR
Most folks don’t love Doom 3, often citing how much slower the game feels compared to old Doom titles. But that slower speed plus its focus on creating a dark, scary atmosphere means that nearly 17 years after its release, Doom 3 ends up being a great VR game. It might even be a better game…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionImpressionsFinal Fantasy Creator’s New RPG Is Out And Painfully Pretty
I’m having a problem playing Fantasian, the new turn-based RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker released today on Apple Arcade. I can’t stop pausing to look at how gorgeous the game’s real-life miniature diorama sets are. I didn’t say it was a bad problem. If you have access to Apple Arcade and you…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsNier Replicant Gets Off To A Really Slow Start
After playing and being thoroughly wrecked by Nier: Automata, I was curious if Nier: Replicant ver.1.22474487139… the “version up” (since according to the developers it’s not a remake or a remaster) of the original Nier would inspire similar emotional devastation. I have dim memories of the first game. I remember the gruff dad and the…
By Ash Parrish -
OpinionImpressionsImmortals’ New DLC Taught Me A Lot About Chinese Mythology
It’s probably fair to say most DLC isn’t that great or memorable. That was the case with the first download for Immortals Fenyx Rising, which added a bunch of new puzzles and not much else. However, the game’s second DLC, Myths of the Eastern Realms, is a rare example of good downloadable content. In fact,…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionImpressionsGet Past The F2P Bits And Crash Bandicoot: On The Run Is Good Crash
Crash Bandicoot: On The Run, out today for iOS and Android, is a game in which Crash Bandicoot runs through narrow corridors breaking boxes and collecting Wumpa Fruit, just like every other Crash Bandicoot game. As mobile spin-offs go, it’s pretty on the nose. Looking at the landscape screenshots developer King.com of Candy Crush fame…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsNew Pokémon Snap Is Like Old Pokémon Snap, Only Much Prettier
Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64 is a game about rolling through islands, leisurely taking pictures of pocket monsters. All the upcoming sequel needs to please fans of the original is more of that with nicer graphics. I am pleased to report New Pokémon Snap is exactly that. Nintendo recently held a preview event where…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsMundaun Is Beautiful, Hand-Drawn Folk Horror
It was around the time the severed goat head in my backpack started bleating and then spoke that I truly began to understand the beauty of Mundaun, the new indie horror game from developer Michel Ziegler. Mundaun opens with a letter from your isolated hometown in the Swiss Alps. Your grandfather, a local parishioner writes,…
By Ian Walker -
OpinionImpressionsPuzzle Quest 3 Does The Match-Three RPG A Little Differently
The game that kicked off the match-three/RPG genre in 2007 is back for a third go with Puzzle Quest 3. An early preview of the Android version of the threequel reveals a somewhat more dynamic take on the genre mash-up. Giving players two seconds to map out their moves makes a big difference. The basic…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsThere’s A New Type Of Fall Guys Jackass
I would like to offer a sincere apology to my Fall Guys squad. I fell into the slime. I thought we were out. So I quit. I didn’t realize how much that screwed you (fall) guys! It won’t happen again, I promise. Yesterday, as part of the platformer royale’s season four update, Fall Guys received…
By Ari Notis -
OpinionImpressionsI Can’t Wait To Play Monster Hunter Rise With Other People
The review embargo for Monster Hunter Rise has lifted, and while I’ve been having a heck of a good time battling beasts with my AI dog and cat friends, online play is still a couple of days away. And everybody knows Monster Hunter is more fun with other people. The majority of the several days…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsHawkeye Can’t Save Marvel’s Avengers
Like a sexy civilian in a superhero movie, Marvel’s Avengers needs saving. Someone, or something, needs to swoop in with panache and 11th-hour heroics. And the hero up at bat is…Hawkeye? Really? Him? Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, joined the Avengers roster yesterday as part of the action game’s biggest update yet. First, those long-awaited next-gen…
By Ari Notis -
OpinionImpressionsMagic: Legends Makes Diablo-Style Combat Feel Like, Well, Magic
In the past, every month or so my partner and I would follow the instructions on the box and “gather” with our friends to play Magic: The Gathering. We’d have a casual sealed draft of whatever the latest set was, and at the end of the (at times very long) night, the winner walked home…
By Ash Parrish -
OpinionImpressionsThe New Mortal Kombat Movie Starts Off Strong
The new Mortal Kombat film, the first theatrical release based on the fighting games since 1997’s Mortal Kombat Annihilation, opens with a scene that should be quite familiar to fans. Hanzo Hasashi, the man fated to become the vengeful Scorpion, enjoys a quiet moment with his family in their ancestral home. It’s a quiet moment…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsDark Alliance Is A Spiritual Successor To Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance In Name Only
I went into my recent Dark Alliance demo with development studio Tuque Games expecting to briefly relive the grim, bloody hack and slash glory of the original Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games. The new game, while pitched as a spiritual successor, feels very different, however. Not bad, just different Dark Alliance, priced at $40 and…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsStubbs The Zombie Remaster Retains That Classic Jank
Zombies have been a big part of video games for a long time now. Mostly we kill them in droves. But back in 2005, Stubbs The Zombie shook things up and let you take on the role of a zombie devouring people in a futuristic city. That game is back on modern consoles via a…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionImpressionsCrash Bandicoot 4 Runs Great On PS5, Passably On Switch
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time arrives on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Switch tomorrow, giving us some of the most polished versions of last year’s excellent platformer alongside one that struggles a lot but gets the job done. Digital Foundry compared the PS5 and Switch versions side by side, and the differences…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsPyra Is My New Favorite Sword Main In Smash Bros. Ultimate
I greeted Pyra and Mythra’s announcement last month with a big sigh. Ugh, more sword fighters? It’s my preferred class in Smash Bros. Ultimate, but even I was beginning to get sick of them. After a couple hours with the new duo, however, I’m pleased to announce my initial skepticism was misplaced. Pyra and Mythra…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsQueen: Rock Tour Is Packed With Great Music, Not Ads And Microtransactions
Queen: Rock Tour is a mobile game that isn’t filled with nasty microtransactions, ads, “energy” timers, or make-believe currencies. Instead, it’s a fun rhythm game that replaces that crap with a ton of classic Queen songs. Released earlier this week for Android and iOS, Queen: Rock Tour is a rhythm game in the same vein…
By Zack Zwiezen
