Mortal Kombat 11 Review | Lootboxes Can’t Stop The Bonecrushing Fun

As my journey into the fighting game genre deepens, I've finally gotten properly into a NetherRealms game. Although there are plenty of frustrating qualities to MK11, I can't deny that this game probably has the best single player story in a fighting game. Additionally, I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the core gameplay, …

Yuppie Psycho Review | First Job Survival Horror

On the short list of horribly unpleasant experiences, the first day at a new job surely makes the list. That is doubly true if you live in the dystopian world of Yuppie Psycho, where monolithic corporations and rigid class systems make your life all the more stressful. A story-based survival horror game with well-considered social …

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Review | War, Peace, And Anime

It's been roughly eight years since the last non-Japan only Valkyria Chronicles title was released, and while the turn based strategy genre has had significant popular titles like XCOM and several Fire Emblems, its nice to have the shooter strategy hybrid back. While its competitors do offer more complexity and depth, the winning combination of …

Yakuza Kiwami 2 Review: The Triumphant Return of the Dragon

My wild ride with the wonderfully bizarre world of the Yakuza series continues with Kiwami 2, a remake of the second game in the franchise. While Kiwami 1 was fairly disappointing, both in a narrative and gameplay sense, Kiwami 2 has the benefits of a much better script and has significant gameplay improvements due to …

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Review – A Well Measured Balance Between Approachability and Complexity

My unexpected deep-dive into the world of fighting games continues with ArcSys' latest BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. I was somewhat intimidated at first due to how notorious the BlazBlue titles are for being complex, but this one very much exists in the foot-steps of Dragon Ball FighterZ. In short the systems have been simplified without …

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Review – A Lover Letter to Castlevania

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was a Kickstarter phenomenon, promising the type of side-scrolling Metroidvania experience that gamers expect from Symphony of the Night director Koji Igarashi. As somewhat of an afterthought, one of the incentives for backers was a smaller spin-off game inspired by the earlier, more linear Castlevania entries. Described as a “mini-NES” game, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon stands on its …

Shadow of the Colossus (2018) Review: A Titan Reborn

The original Shadow of the Colossus was a total game changer. The sophomore effort from Team Ico is a singular work, and for many years has been cited in the “Are games art?” debate as the medium’s foremost champion. It is a lyrical dark-fairy tale that doesn't cast the player as a triumphant savior of …

Cuphead Review: The Epitome of Cool

There’s cool and then there’s Cuphead. Drawing inspiration from the surrealist non-children’s cartoons of Fleisher Productions and their 1930s contemporaries (besides the gratuitous racism), Studio MDHR’s freshman effort is an astounding aesthetic achievement. The hand animated stages and enemies are bursting with such an imaginative energy that the uphill battle against its brutal enemies are …

Celeste Review: A Climb Worth Taking

Every once and a while, a game will come along that displays stellar coherence between its gameplay and plot, both halves elevating the other. Matt Makes Games’ latest melds its vicious twitch platforming gameplay with a sincere story about grappling with depression and anxiety. It stars Madeline, a disgruntled young woman who has decided to …

Bayonetta 2 Review: Bombast Incarnate

Platinum Games has made a name for themselves delivering a particular brand of outrageous bombast. Whether it’s the manic firefights of Vanquish, the emulation of Kojima-esque insanity in Metal Gear Rising, or the visually singular Madworld, Platinum’s output oozes style. The Bayonetta series fits nicely into this pattern, aiming to deliver an action spectacle with …