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OpinionImpressionsPlaying Coffee Talk Reminds Me Of The Quiet Joys Of Being A Barista
Life sometimes feels like it runs a mile a minute. Shit never stops, there’s always a new crisis, and your jaw is clenched in perpetuity. In those moments, it can help to focus on the little things. Like coffee. A trip to the corner shop or a dirty cup from the office kitchen is like…
By Heather Alexandra Published January 31, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Latest Magic: The Gathering Game Is A Decent Card-Based Tower Defense
If you want a pure Magic: The Gathering video game experience, stick with Arena. Netmarble’s Magic: Manastrike, out now for iOS and Android, has two players dropping card-based creatures and spells into a two-lane battlefield in order to destroy their opponent’s towers. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it. Call it tower defense…
By Mike Fahey Published January 31, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Pedestrian Is A Good Platformer, But Great Puzzle Game
Three years after it first caught our attention, platforming puzzler The Pedestrian is now out. And it’s everything I was hoping it would be. The Pedestrian puts you in control of a tiny little guy/girl from a street sign, warning sign, door sign, whatever sign. From humble beginnings you soon set off an adventure, leaving…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 30, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsByleth Is Refreshingly Simple In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Byleth is here. Are you happy? Upset? I don’t care, let’s talk about how they play. Super Smash Bros. has always had a close relationship with the tactical Fire Emblem franchise, making Byleth the latest in a long line of sword-wielding fighters to join the Nintendo crossover. But a sword is just a small part…
By Ian Walker Published January 29, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsWarcraft 3: Reforged Isn’t Much Of An Upgrade
The remastered version of Blizzard’s real-time strategy classic Warcraft 3 launched yesterday, and while I’m nowhere near as disappointed by the lack of enhancements and upgrades as the folks over at the official forums, Warcraft 3: Reforged certainly hasn’t impressed me. Warcraft 3: Reforged was meant to be a much more ambitious remake of Warcraft…
By Mike Fahey Published January 29, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsPillars Of Eternity II Is Okay On Consoles If You Don’t Mind Long Load Times
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is the latest classic-style role-playing game to make its way from PC to console. The console port of the 2018 game comes with a lot of compromises, but some negatives are offset by the turn-based combat mode that was added to the PC version last year. Out yesterday on PS4…
By Ethan Gach Published January 29, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsWrath Is A Retro Shooter Done Right
The first gun you pick up in a shooter is very important. It tells you a lot about the game. In Wrath: Aeon of Ruin, the first gun you get is a chunky and powerful revolver that can also shoot three bullets at the same time, turning it into a mini-shotgun. So yeah, Wrath is…
By Zack Zwiezen Published January 25, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsKingdom Hearts III‘s New DLC Is My Kind Of Anime Nonsense, On Steroids
Kingdom Hearts has two modes: cheerful Disney reveries and the most extreme of anime bullshit. Both have their merits, but the latter is where the series shines its brightest and is most captivating. Kingdom Hearts III’s new DLC, Re:Mind, embraces this. There’s time travel and scheming villains, dramatic clashes between light and dark, difficult new…
By Heather Alexandra Published January 24, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsA Grizzled Cat Shoots Living Critters At Outlaws In Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
A hybrid first and third-person shooter starring a gruff-talking cat-looking bounty hunter armed with a crossbow that fires living creatures, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is an outlandish gem, whether you’re playing the 2005 Xbox original or this week’s HD remaster for the Nintendo Switch. The oddest game in the Oddworld series, which started with 1997’s puzzle…
By Mike Fahey Published January 23, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsI Love Watching My Buff Hoplites Wreck People In Magic: The Gathering‘s Theros Beyond Death Expansion
Magic: The Gathering’s big Theros Beyond Death expansion is full of woodland satyrs, brooding cyclops, bronze-shielded warriors, and cruel, twisted gods. After her long sleep was disturbed by the nightmare-weaver Ashiok, the fierce and righteous planeswalker Elspeth Tirel has escaped from hell to exact her revenge against Heliod, the sun god Fortunately, you don’t actually…
By Ethan Gach Published January 23, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Last Autumn Is Frostpunk‘s Best Expansion Yet
Frostpunk’s The Last Autumn expansion, out today on PC, is the city-building game’s best update yet. It adds several new mechanics and swaps out the threat of a plummeting thermostat for a tug-of-war between strict production deadlines and workers’ rights. The Last Autumn, Frostpunk’s second piece of season pass DLC, takes players back to before…
By Ethan Gach Published January 21, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsG.I. Joe: War On Cobra Is Another Cookie-Cutter Mobile Strategy Game
In G.I. Joe: War on Cobra, the new free-to-play mobile game from Hasbro and developer Emerald City Games, players take sides in the classic animated conflict. They build bases and harvest resources. They collect characters, vehicles, and weapons to defend their base and attack others. It’s the same free-to-play mobile strategy game I’ve played a…
By Mike Fahey Published January 21, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsTokyo Mirage Sessions Is Great On Switch
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore arrives on the Nintendo Switch on January 17, bringing the excellent Wii U role-playing game hardly anyone played to a much larger audience. While the Shin Megami Tensei/Fire Emblem crossover has more than enough style and charm to stand on its own, Atlus added a bit more story and a…
By Mike Fahey Published January 17, 2020 -
OpinionImpressions5 Hours In, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Is Not The RPG I Was Hoping For
I’ve played Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot for five hours so far, and it appears to be part fighting game and part fetch-quest generator. Mostly it’s a rehash of the source material that almost anyone who will be interested in the game will have seen performed half a dozen different ways. Trudging through the beginning of…
By Ethan Gach Published January 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsPuzzle & Dragons‘ Weird Anime Spinoff Game Is Now On Switch
In 2006, mobile developer GungHo spun off its popular mobile gem-matching game Puzzle & Dragons into an anime series, Puzzle & Dragons X. The show ran for 89 episodes and spawned a pair of Japan-only 3DS games, Puzzle & Dragons X: Gods Chapter and Dragons Chapter. Puzzle & Dragons Gold, released this week for the…
By Mike Fahey Published January 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Darwin Project Brings Goofy Charm To The Battle Royale Genre
Snowy battle royale game The Darwin Project left a two-year early access period on PC and Xbox One for its full release yesterday, also releasing on PlayStation 4 for the first time. The full release includes some notable changes to players’ abilities. After a few hours with the final release on PC, I’m not sold…
By Riley MacLeod Published January 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsWorld Of Warcraft‘s New Update Unleashes Eldritch Horrors On Azeroth
Twisted creatures from nightmare realms invade Azeroth in this week’s Visions of N’Zoth update for World of Warcraft. Am I talking about the minions of titular Old God N’Zoth, who seeks to engulf the world in his dreadful embrace, or the thousands of fox-eared Vulpera now trampling the planet in the name of the Horde?…
By Mike Fahey Published January 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team‘s Storybook Switch Makeover Is Enchanting
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team Blue for the Nintendo DS and Red for the Game Boy Advance looked good enough on their respective systems, but the upcoming Switch version, with its adorable hand-drawn art style, is downright delightful. Spike Chunsoft’s Mystery Dungeon series is all about roguelike dungeon crawling. The games’ heroes, be they Dragon…
By Mike Fahey Published January 10, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsI Can’t Wait To Fight Pokémon Shield‘s Nerdy New Psychic-Type Rival
The upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC, The Isle of Armor, will feature two new rivals exclusive to each of the games. Sword will get Klara, who specializes in poison type Pokémon, while Shield will get Avery, a Psychic-type gym trainer. I have Shield, and while Klara is demonstrably cuter than Avery, I can’t wait…
By Gita Jackson Published January 10, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThor’s Avengers Game Comic Book Is A Fresh Take On A Classic Brawl
Last month’s Marvel Avengers: Iron Man comic established the Avengers in Square Enix’ upcoming video game as a superhero team rife with internal tension. In Marvel Avengers: Thor #1, out this week, Thor’s trickster brother Loki amplifies that tension into all-out brawl between two of Earth’s mightiest heroes. It feels more like a classic reprint…
By Mike Fahey Published January 9, 2020