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OpinionImpressionsPokémon Jobs Are Kind Of Messed Up
There is so much dumb bullshit in the Pokémon universe that is not explained and will never be explaned. What’s it like inside a Poké Ball? Do people eat Pokémon? These are questions that, when we have asked the developers, they have been unable to answer. Not helping are a new addition to Sword and…
By Gita Jackson Published November 22, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsMario Kart Tour’s Winter Update Is A Bust
Mario Kart Tour’s big winter update went live yesterday and it feels underwhelming, making me question whether or not it’s really worth it to keep subscribing to the game’s $5 monthly subscription. The game’s Winter Tour is meant to be a festive bit of seasonal fun to close out the year. It sports Mario in…
By Ethan Gach Published November 21, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Sims 4‘s New College Expansion Is As Stressful And Gratifying As The Real Thing
Addison, the Sim I made to check out the latest college-themed Sims 4 expansion, has had a very bad week. She’s a Fine Arts major, taking a class about video games as an elective. Her schedule, as such, was a complete mess. Monday and Wednesday she had three classes, with barely any room in between…
By Gita Jackson Published November 21, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsA Day Of Trying To Stream Xbox One Games While On The Go
When Microsoft’s video game streaming service, Project xCloud, began its beta last month, there were only four games available to test. Now there are over 50. I spent a day taking the service on the road with me to see how it’s working. Currently, the service streams games from Microsoft’s servers to a smartphone or…
By Ethan Gach Published November 20, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsChildren of Morta Is A Solid Roguelike
Children of Morta is a roguelike RPG by Dead Mage, published by This War of Mine studio 11 bit. It’s out on September 3 for PC, with PS4, Xbox, and Switch versions coming in October. I’ve played pieces of it over the years, and now that I have the full game, it’s as solid and…
By Riley MacLeod Published November 20, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsShenmue 3 Feels Like A 90s Throwback, For Better And For Worse
Clumsy, awkward, and stiff. Those are some words you can use to describe Shenmue 3. Rustic, charming, and cozy. Those are also words to describe Shenmue 3. The long-awaited third entry in Yu Suzuki’s adventure epic has all the quirks of the 1999 original, good and bad. You will either love it or be left…
By Heather Alexandra Published November 19, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsGoogle’s Stadia Just Ain’t It [Updated]
Google’s game-streaming platform Stadia is finally here tomorrow. I’ve had a week to tinker around with the Founder’s Edition. It has the Stadia controller, a Chromecast Ultra, and a charger with a USB cable you can also use to plug into your PC or laptop for playing inside of a Chrome browser. Most of my…
By Paul Tamayo Published November 18, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsFallen Order Takes Star Wars Music In A Fun New Direction
No one can really bullshit their way through Star Wars.The Star Wars universe is one of the most fully-realized and obsessed over fictional settings. It’s also one of the most tightly managed, with an astonishing level of minutiae known by both franchise stewards and fans. The engines and blueprints of starships, droid models—you name it,…
By Joshua Rivera Published November 15, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsObsidian’s Next Game Is A Survival Adventure Where You’re The Size Of An Ant [Update]
Today, as part of Microsoft’s XO19 conference in London, Outer Worlds developer Obsidian announced its first project under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella: a survival adventure game called Grounded Grounded, which is releasing in early access on Xbox One and PC in spring 2020 (digitally and as part of Xbox Game Pass), is an up-to-four-player…
By Nathan Grayson Published November 14, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsEpic’s New Hero-Collecting Game Seems Fine, Has Vague Connections To Fortnite
The most striking thing about Battle Breakers, Epic Games’ new free-to-play collectible character role-playing game for PC and mobile devices, is its rocking ‘90s cartoon style opening, complete with theme song lyrics. “Monsters from the sky / want us all to die / they’re hidin’ underground / now they must all be found.” Good stuff.…
By Mike Fahey Published November 14, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsAge Of Empires II‘s Remaster Kicks Ass
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a lot. It adds new campaigns, civilizations, revamped enemy AI, and 4K graphics, in case you’ve been waiting to see a flood of medieval warriors clash incomprehensibly with one another in crisp detail. Remastered and slightly reworked, one of the defining real-time strategy games of the turn of…
By Ethan Gach Published November 14, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsLegend of Bum-bo Is A Pleasing, Puzzling, Poo-Filled Prequel To Binding Of Isaac
I’ve been staring at my computer screen for three minutes trying to decide where the piles of poo should go. If I can get four of them in a row, I can fling a pile at the rotting sack of guts bearing down on me, and temporarily block it. But no matter how I tried,…
By Ethan Gach Published November 13, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsLet Us Not Forget About The Ninja Saviors
Yes, yes, I know. Our Switch backlogs are huge already. Pokémon is about to come out. Nintendo’s even surprise-releasing games. But if you enjoy the side-scrolling beat-em-up genre, don’t forget that The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is just sitting there on the eShop waiting for you. Much like 2016’s Wild Guns Reloaded, Ninja…
By Chris Kohler Published November 12, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsNintendo’s Ambulance Game Is Giving Me Some Serious Dreamcast Vibes
All I could think as I played through a few levels of The Stretchers, Nintendo’s new eShop-exclusive Switch game, is that it feels like a Sega Dreamcast game I somehow forgot to play back in 1999. It’s got that low-poly, bright-colored aesthetic, a tiny little open city in which wreaking cartoonish havoc is acceptable, and…
By Chris Kohler Published November 11, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsLike Real Fitness, Ring Fit Adventure Is Great But Tough To Stick With
For a wonderful stretch of days in late October, every short workout I did with Nintendo’s Ring Fit Adventure revealed it to be a better game. Then I just stopped playing. These are the best and worst things that can come from a video game combined with exercise. First, the good stuff… I reviewed Ring…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 11, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsModern Warfare‘s New Maps Are A Lot Less Campy
Today’s big Modern Warfare update brings two new maps, and the free content feels like a small step forward for the heavily criticized multiplayer aspect of the new Call of Duty As promised with the new Modern Warfare, all maps are going to be free for everyone, and released across all platforms simultaneously. But after…
By S.E. Doster Published November 8, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsSuper Lucky’s Tale Is Better On The Switch, But Also Worse
Following his debut in Oculus Rift launch game Lucky’s Tale, adorable fox hero Lucky gave traditional platforming action a try in Super Lucky’s Tale for the Xbox One and PC. New Super Lucky’s Tale for the Nintendo Switch is an enhanced version of Super Lucky’s Tale, with new and remixed levels, story cinematics, and a…
By Mike Fahey Published November 8, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsOne Helpful Way To Cope With My Chronic Illness: Memes
A little under a year ago, everything I ate started making me feel sick. Even after removing the most obvious trigger, I still couldn’t get through a meal without stomach cramps, nausea, or diarrhea. Turns out I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS. At this point, the only thing that makes me feel better is…
By Gita Jackson Published November 8, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsMario And Sonic At The Tokyo Olympics Has Lots Of Fun Events, Few Ways To Play Them
The latest installment of Sega and Nintendo’s Olympics crossover series takes Sonic, Mario, and friends to Tokyo to compete in more than 30 summer sports mini-games. There’s a single-player story mode, online and offline play of single events, and that’s about it. No online or offline tournaments, no creating custom event playlists. Just pick and…
By Mike Fahey Published November 5, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsOverwatch 2‘s New Modes Are Fun, But Play It Too Safe
Since day one, Overwatch’s existence has been marked by refinement. Balance changes, new heroes, player-made modes, events, role queue, and other additions have indelibly altered the game’s fabric, or at least switched up its stitching. Now it’s getting a sequel, an opportunity for truly foundation-rattling change. So far, however, Overwatch 2 feels like another refinement.…
By Nathan Grayson Published November 2, 2019