It took me a while to get into Ball x Pit. The new roguelike blends elements from games like Breakout, Vampire Survivors, and even city builders, creating a complex mix of ideas. But as is the case with many roguelikes, once I figured everything out well enough to get a taste of my first win, […]
We are saturated with superhero media to the point where even self-criticism has been done to death with franchises like Watchmen and The Boys. But with its debut choice-driven narrative adventure, AdHoc Studio has managed to find a unique angle for the superhero genre. In Dispatch, the story focuses on an office-based lackey and corporate […]
It only took a few notes from the Plants vs. Zombies menu music to transport me to a long-forgotten world of sunflowers, pea shooters, and not being able to put the dang game down for one second. First released in 2009, the colorful strategy game was an instant hit, adding to developer PopCap’s enviable lineup […]
When the first 3D Ninja Gaiden came out on Xbox in 2004, I really wanted to play it; though the game looks a little antiquated now, at the time, teenage me thought that ninja protagonist Ryu Hayabusa was cool as hell. But alas, I didn’t have an Xbox, and I don’t think I could have […]
I have been a fan of David Lynch ever since a friend’s older brother interrupted a 13th birthday celebration to insist we all watch Eraserhead. In the realm of horror movies, it’s a common way to be introduced to a seminal film: be it in a friend’s basement, illicit underage viewings, or a stray recommendation […]
It’s a testament to the developers at Double Fine that it doesn’t take long before controlling a sentient lighthouse with spidery legs starts to feel almost normal. Keeper, the latest from the studio behind Psychonauts and Grim Fandango, is obviously a strange game. You play as a building that can walk and solve puzzles and […]
After shaking up the Pokémon formula with Pokémon Legends: Arceus, its successor, Legends: Z-A, pushes things even further – and it’s a very welcome change of pace. With Arceus, Nintendo and Game Freak demonstrated how much more vibrant, weird, and exciting the monster catching series could become with a few key changes to the classic […]
Dreams of Another is like playing an art-filled dream. It’s filled with unexpected events, disjointed acts, and hazy landscapes. Scenes end abruptly, and then you unexpectedly pick up the thread later on. You’ll meet talking angel statues and fish that want to escape their home and swim to the ocean. But it’s that same unstable, […]
There’s a lot of math in diet culture. It’s all numbers – calories in, calories burned – and a constant tally running in one’s head. In some ways, disordered eating can be considered a disturbed sort of strategy game, which is precisely why Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson’s Consume Me works so well. The […]
Nintendo has brought two of the very best Super Mario games to the Switch and Switch 2. It’s no surprise that Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel are excellent; these are critically acclaimed games, and two of the best-selling titles for the Wii, Nintendo’s top-selling console prior to the Switch era. So it’s great to […]