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OpinionImpressionsMy Video Game Ate My Homework Is A Sweet Graphic Novel About Games And Growing Up
In My Video Game Ate My Homework, a new middle-grade graphic novel from DC Comics and writer/illustrator Dustin Hansen, 13-year-old Dewey Jenkins’ science project is sucked into a malfunctioning virtual reality game console. Dewey and friends must navigate a digital role-playing adventure to retrieve the project and save Dewey from summer school. Check out an…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsSakura Wars’ Dramatic Intro Makes The Mech Battles Better
It took me an hour and a half to get to the first mech combat portion of Sakura Wars, the soft reboot of Sega’s long-running role-playing game series coming to PlayStation 4 on April 28. The first 90 minutes of the game is all about getting to know the characters and circumstances of this unique…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsNew GTA Online Missions Are All About Preparing For A Recession
Grand Theft Auto Online received a new update a few days ago that added six new missions. These missions are all about an old-time GTA Online character, Gerald, and his attempts to get ready for an upcoming recession. Five of them are good and one of them is the worst mission I’ve played in GTA…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionImpressionsThe Trials Of Mana Remake Proves Square Enix Can Faithfully Redo A Classic ’90s RPG
The second high-definition remake of a 90s-era Square Enix role-playing game coming out this month is much more faithful to the original than Final Fantasy VII. Beneath Trials of Mana’s cartoonish 3D makeover and questionable voice acting, it’s the same simple, satisfying action RPG it’s always been. This piece was first published on April 22,…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsTrials Of Mana‘s Healer Talks Like A Baby And Pwease, No
There are six playable characters in the Trials of Mana HD remake that comes out this week. The only dedicated healer among them is Charlotte, the diminutive granddaughter of the Priest of Light. I’d rather my party die a thousand deaths than be subjected to her insipidly cutesy baby-talk. It’s a widdle too uwu. When…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsMario Maker 2‘s Final Update Would Be Better If It Weren’t The Last One
Super Mario Maker 2 received its big version 3.0 update today, adding a bunch of new items, characters, and a whole new mode for building entire worlds. There’s a ton of great stuff to play around with in it. But as a final update, it leaves a lot on the table. First the big stuff:…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsDestiny 2’s Guardian Games Is Another Boring Bounty Fest So Far
Destiny 2’s latest event is a generous but all-too-familiar bounty grind, and I’m not sure I have it in me to stick with it. Revealed last week, Guardian Games is Destiny 2’s spin on the Olympics. Instead of individual players competing to see who’s the best, players of a particular class—Warlock, Titan, or Hunter—pool their…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsI Need Much More Of Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s Dancing Mini-Game
Don’t leave a rhythm game fan hanging here, Square Enix. The Final Fantasy VII Remake dancing mini-game is too good to be limited to a practice round and one spectacular sequence. Cloud needs to move his body right. As I played through Final Fantasy VII Remake, former (sniff) co-worker Jason Schreier kept asking me where…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsThe New Animated Mortal Kombat Movie Is Just As Brutal As The Games
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, the new film from Warner Bros. Animation, begins with dozens of ninja being torn limb from limb. Hanzo “Scorpion” Hasashi’s young son is viciously slayed while the titular ninja helplessly watches. Fans of the fighting game’s over-the-top violence will be… pleased? This might get a little gross, folks. The first…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsFallout 76‘s Wastelanders Expansion Is Underwhelming So Far
Running down the hill from Vault 76 where I emerged a year and a half ago, I spot a couple hiking up a stone path. They are the first people I’ve ever seen in Fallout 76 in my over 100 hours with it. They ask me if the vault’s still open and if I’ve heard…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsCloud Can’t Close Doors
Final Fantasy VII Remake looks so damn good, and it’s full of tiny graphical flourishes. You can even see which color materia Cloud has equipped in his sword. That might be why it’s so much more noticeable to me that Cloud can’t close doors. I’m only eight hours into playing the game, so maybe Cloud…
By Maddy Myers -
OpinionImpressionsThe Difference Between Final Fantasy VII’s Easy And Normal Modes Is Too Drastic
Combat in Final Fantasy VII Remake, especially when facing powerful boss battles, involves juggling normal and special attacks, destructive and healing magics, and strategically exploiting enemy weaknesses. Unless you’re playing in easy mode. Then it’s just button-mashing bullshit. I spent 40 hours playing through Final Fantasy VII Remake, mostly on normal mode, the highest difficulty…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsMinecraft Dungeons Is Like Family-Friendly Diablo
Minecraft’s transformation from an open-world crafting game into a linear dungeon crawler is an odd one, but Minecraft Dungeons is still shaping up to be a serenely welcoming loot-based hack n’ slash. Mojang demoed the game for me remotely last week due to the new work-from-home constraints imposed by the ongoing covid-19 crisis. These constraints…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsThe Division 2‘s First Season Is Pretty Good, So Far
With the release of Warlords of New York last month, The Division 2 added a big new playable area to the game. But this large update also added seasons, complete with special events and battle passes. We are now a few weeks into the first season and so far, so good. For the most part.…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionImpressionsAnimal Crossing‘s Bunny Day Mascot Is A Lot To Deal With Right Now
The passage of time is a big deal in the Animal Crossing series. New Horizons players were today treated to a ton of changes as their islands transition into spring, which brought with it new critters to catch and cherry blossom trees to diversify the landscape. But with the game’s first holiday right around the…
By Ian Walker -
OpinionImpressionsMount & Blade II: Bannerlord Is Blowing Up On Steam And I Can’t Stop Playing It
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is an open world third-person strategy game that overwhelms you with options and choices and helps calm you back down by letting you rampage across giant medieval battlefields. Even though it’s a janky early access game, all I want to do right now is keep playing it. Clearly I’m not…
By Ethan Gach
