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OpinionImpressionsGenshin Impact Is More Than A Breath Of The Wild Clone
There’s a lot to like about Genshin Impact, a free-to-play action-RPG that came out this week for PC, PlayStation 4, and mobile. While it might look a bit like Breath of the Wild, with its art style and mechanics, Genshin Impact stands on its own thanks to its combat, its quest and leveling systems, and,…
By Ari Notis Published September 30, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsGoing Under Is Another Roguelike In A Hellish Setting: Late Stage Capitalism
Capitalism sucks. It is a brutal economic system that is the source of poverty, war, famine, and the other two horsemen of the apocalypse. A new Steam, Xbox, PS4, and Switch rogue-like called Going Under takes all the dehumanizing and depressing bits of our current flavor of late stage capitalism, softens it with bright colors…
By Ash Parrish Published September 28, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Origami King Showed Me I’ve Been Wrong About Paper Mario
When you find art you truly love, it doesn’t leave you. Its lessons and rhythms, its shapes and sounds, start to take up space in your mind while you’re away. You know it, you understand it, and if it’s the kind of art that gets a sequel, you just might find yourself confronted with that…
Mike Sholars Published September 25, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsMafia Definitive Edition Is A Great Remake Of A Clunky Classic
The original Mafia, released all the way back in 2002, has become harder and harder to go back to over the years. It’s clunky, doesn’t look amazing, and suffers annoying quirks. Mafia Definitive Edition, a complete remake that just came out today, is a useful way to go back and experience what is still a…
By Zack Zwiezen Published September 25, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsKirby Fighters 2 Is Like A Carnival Game Version Of Super Smash Bros.
On Tuesday, a listing for a new game, Kirby Fighters 2, mysteriously showed up on the Nintendo eShop. Almost as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. Then, last night, without the faintest splash of fanfare, Nintendo released the game into the world. Kirby Fighters 2 is a 2D fighting game with platforming elements. You and…
By Ari Notis Published September 24, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Division 2‘s Newest Mode Is All Action And I’m Into It
A strange skyscraper filled with lots of enemies and an always-changing floor layout is the star of the new Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 update, which also kicks off the game’s third season. The Division 2’s latest update, Title Update 11, went live earlier this week. It fixed a bunch of bugs, added some new…
By Zack Zwiezen Published September 24, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsArt Of Rally Turns Driving Into Meditation
Art of Rally is what happens when you take driving—usually depicted in video games as a very loud and busy thing—and strip it back to its most beautiful basics. An incredibly minimalist effort from Funselektor (of Absolute Drift fame), it’s a full-blown single-player racing game described as “a stylized experience inspired by the golden era…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsA Return To The The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time Reminded Me Why It’s Special
The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time is widely considered not just one of the greatest games in the Zelda series, but one of the best games of all time. The 1998 Nintendo 64 game felt vast. It’s story was epic. It made controlling a character in 3D space feel intuitive. It was Zelda…
By Peter Tieryas Published September 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsPendragon Is A Strategy Game Where Conversations Are As Tense As Battles, And There’s Not Always A Difference
In most games, roadside villages are respites—hard-earned rests for weary travelers. In Pendragon, a narrative-driven turn-based strategy game about the fall of Camelot that just came out on PC, they are a wakeup call. Unlike many other turn-based strategy games, Pendragon plays out like a roguelike; you make multiple runs through a series of randomized…
By Nathan Grayson Published September 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressions13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim’s Time-Travel Mech Story Unfolds In The Coolest Way
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, the latest PS4 game from developer Vanillaware, tells the story of 13 Japanese high school students who get mixed up in a war between mechs and massive kaiju beasts that spans over a century and a half of history. To get the whole story, you have to weave together chunks of…
By Mike Fahey Published September 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsLeague Of Legends’ New Board Game Is Pretty Basic
Thelast official League of Legends board game was a pretty lavish affair, a tower defence experiment with nice miniatures and some cool ideas. The second, Tellstones, is…less ambitious. Tellstones: King’s Gambit is a simple game of memorisation and bluff, for 2 or 4 players, that only takes around 10 minutes to play (and sometimes a…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsOne Year Later, Apple Arcade Is Still A Great Deal
On September 19, 2019, Apple launched Apple Arcade, a $5-a-month subscription service dedicated to bringing top-tier, bullshit-free mobile games to iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV. One year later the service has more than 130 mostly great games with more arriving on a semi-weekly basis, and I’ve never once considered canceling. When Apple Arcade launched with…
By Mike Fahey Published September 21, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsStar Renegades Is A Gorgeous Turn-Based RPG Caught In Its Own Time Loop
There’s a ton to love in the beautifully pixelated RPG roguelite Star Renegades. I just wish all of its ambitious ideas came together as elegantly as its art style. In Star Renegades, the latest Steam game from Massive Damage, makers of the excellent Halcyon 6, you assemble a squad of charming cliches—the roguish bounty hunter,…
By Ethan Gach Published September 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsBPM: Bullets Per Minute Is A Shockingly Fun First-Person Rhythm Shooter
“Rhythm FPS roguelike” is not a series of words I thought I’d see strung together to describe a video game. But the year 2020 is committed to surprising the hell out of me, sometimes for ill (mostly for ill nowadays) but sometimes for good. BPM:Bullets Per Minute is one of those good surprises. Out now…
By Ash Parrish Published September 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsMicrosoft Cloud Gaming Is As Good As Your Internet Connection
On a brand-new Samsung Galaxy Note20 with a solid 5G T-Mobile connection, Microsoft Cloud Gaming works like a charm. Shooters like Halo 5 stream without stutter. Fighters like Marvel vs. Capcom Ultimate are passable for casual play. If I switch to the spotty wireless shared by my entire household, games get choppy and stuttery. It’s…
By Mike Fahey Published September 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsFall Guys’ New Mini-Game Variations Are Kicking My Ass
Earlier today, Fall Guys received a mid-season update meant to shake the game up before things get medieval. Mini-games that were previously a walk in the park have been remixed with new obstacles. As someone who had previously burnt out on the battle royale, this has been the perfect opportunity to step back into the…
By Ian Walker Published September 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsOthercide Is A Goth Tactical RPG That Embraces Death
Most tactical games condition you to avoid failure. In XCOM, once a character dies, they’re gone. Same for Fire Emblem (at least in Classic mode) and others of its ilk. Othercide isn’t like that. Playing Othercide means rewiring your brain to tolerate and even seek out failure. Death comes quickly and brutally and recurs ad…
By Ari Notis Published September 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsPumpkin Jack Is Colorful Halloween Action Game
Fall is nearly here, and I’m fully ready for the spooky season. With perfect timing comes a demo for the upcoming game Pumpkin Jack, an action platformer heavily inspired by Medievil and other PS1 and N64 era games. The Pumpkin Jack demo is available on Steam as part of PAX Online. It features one level…
By Zack Zwiezen Published September 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Outer Worlds’ First DLC Is Too Cynical For Its Own Good
Peril on Gorgon is a good excuse to return to the Outer Worlds’ retro-futurist dystopia. I only wish doing so had finally given me some hope that its neo-feudalist colonies might someday be saved. Out last week on PS4, Xbox One, and PC (it will arrive sometime later on Switch), Peril on Gorgon is the…
By Ethan Gach Published September 14, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsSpelunky 2 Doesn’t Mess With A Good Thing
In the original Spelunky, every run is different, but it’s also always the same. Your objective never changes; enemy behavior is always predictable. In the 100 hours I’ve spent with the first game, my skills, mistakes, and choices are what make every run unique and exciting. Spelunky 2 keeps the original’s winning combination of change…
By Riley MacLeod Published September 14, 2020