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OpinionImpressionsWatch Hatsune Miku Perform ‘Live’ In Phantasy Star Online 2
Japanese virtual idol Hatsune Miku and her vocaloid friend, Meguirine Luka, have been popping by the Asia version of Phantasy Star Online 2 for years. Now North American players are getting their first taste of Miku and Luka’s “Living Universe” performance, and I was there, awkwardly trying to figure out the dance emote. A handful…
By Mike Fahey Published May 20, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsApex Legends‘ Flimsy Opening Quest Left Me Unimpressed
It took me just six minutes to finish the first leg of “The Broken Ghost,” Apex Legends’ cooperative storyline. With all the effort it takes to unlock the missions and the week-long wait between chapters, I expected a whole lot more out of the event than what I got. Unlike fellow games set in the…
By Ian Walker Published May 19, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsJet Lancer Is A Stylish Fighter Pilot Game With Great Boss Fights
Come for the stylish, retro graphics, stay for the tight controls and thrill of blowing your enemies’ faces off when you snap on your after-burners at just the right moment. I didn’t know anything about Jet Lancer when I first started playing it, except that its tiny red fighter jet and azure skies made me…
By Ethan Gach Published May 19, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsEverything Is Okay Now, There’s A Hatsune Miku Rhythm Game On The Switch
Virtual songstress Hatsune Miku and her digital friends finally bring their brand of rhythm action to the Nintendo Switch today. While Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Mega Mix initially comes off as a watered down version of 2017’s Project Diva Future Tone for the PlayStation 4, Miku’s new anime look, the Switch-exclusive game mode, and portable…
By Mike Fahey Published May 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsCrusader Kings III Is A Kinder, Gentler Crusader Kings
No pressure, guys, but Crusader Kings III might be Paradox’s most important game of all time. The second game in the series was a breakout, mainstream success for the normally hardcore PC strategy label, drawing in millions of people to the joys of running a medieval kingdom, seducing princes and murdering a lot of people.…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsFight Off Waves Of Beyblades and Bogglins Inside A Toy ‘R’ Us In Hypercharged: Unboxed
Have you ever wanted to fight off waves of Beyblades inside a Toy ‘R’ Us while playing as a tiny action figure equipped with a laser rifle? Well, you might enjoy Hpyercharged: Unboxed. Part Toy Story, part tower defense, part Horde mode, Hypercharged is a first-person-cooperative online shooter where you and some friends take on…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 9, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsRadio Commander, A Strategy Game Where You Just Talk On A Radio And Get Very Upset
The entire point of strategy games, and a lot of the appeal, is that you’re given direct control over entire units or even armies, even if historically you’d have only a fraction of that influence. Radio Commander realises that, and it’s a fascinating game because of it. It puts you in the position of an…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 7, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsIndie Adventure Neversong Reminds Me Of My Coma Nightmares
Released on Apple Arcade last week and coming to Steam and GOG on May 20, Neversong tells the story of Peet, an orphan boy who slips into a coma when his girlfriend is snatched during a visit to the local asylum. Peet wakes up in a melancholy twilight world populated by freakish children and twisted…
By Mike Fahey Published May 5, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsJohn Wick Hex Puts You Inside The Complex Mind Of An Assassin
In the John Wick movies, the titular character is not superhuman. He is bound, like all of his enemies, by the laws of physics. When he gets hit by a car, you see the effects of it on his body. By the end of fights, he is often limping and bleeding. When he gets stabbed,…
By Gita Jackson Published May 5, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsMoving Out, A Game About Trashing Someone’s House
Moving Out is a new game out this week on PC, Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. It’s a singleplayer or co-op experience, full of wacky arm-bending and physics gags, and depending on how you’re involved with the process is also an eerily accurate simulation of the art of moving house. As we’ve reviewed previously on…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 30, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsPredator: Hunting Grounds Is Only Fun When The Predator Is Around
Predator: Hunting Grounds takes the original film’s concept—a small squad of soldiers on a mission in the jungle are ambushed by a deadly alien hunter—and turns it into an asymmetrical multiplayer game. It seems like a logical and fun adaptation, but some mediocre gunplay and long waits bog the whole experience down. Hunting Grounds, out…
By Zack Zwiezen Published April 30, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThere Is Nothing Cathartic About This Spider-Killing Game
First-person spider hunting game Kill It With Fire is the stuff of nightmares. Here is the premise: the player is locked in a house filled with spiders. Squeaking spiders. Spiders that hide in drawers, under the toilet seat, and beneath cushions. These are spiders that screech as they tear ass across the room from one…
By Mike Fahey Published April 30, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsXCOM’s Breaching Is A Door-Kicking Revelation
XCOM: Chimera Squad isn’t your normal kinda XCOM experience, and while in some ways (reduced scale, smaller missions) that’s a bummer, in other ways—namely the new “Breach” system—it has been an absolute pleasure to play. Nathan has played more of the game than I have, so definitely go and check out his impressions pieceif you’d…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 29, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsHellpoint Is A Souls-Like With Some Cool New Ideas
Hellpoint wears its influences on its sleeves. It’s obvious that Canadian developer Cradle Games knew what it wanted to make—Dark Souls in space—and set out to do just that. I recently had the chance to try a preview version of Hellpoint on Xbox One, and while I often found it frustrating from a technical standpoint,…
By Ian Walker Published April 29, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsNew Game From The Developers Of Her Story Is An Unsettling Trip Through Stolen NSA Footage
Telling Lies, the latest work of interactive fiction from Her Story creator Sam Barlow, invites players to curl up in front of their computer and comb through hours of leaked fictional National Security Agency footage. Mostly, that involves watching the game’s characters via their webcams and other video sources, everything having been captured without their…
By Mike Fahey Published April 28, 2020 -
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 Published April 28, 2020 -
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 Published April 27, 2020 -
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 Published April 25, 2020 -
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 Published April 24, 2020
