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As part of our ThanksGAMING event for the end of the year, I want to take time to elevate and appreciate the people in gaming I admire or that inspire me – whether they are content creators, journalists, or developers. When I began brainstorming ideas on the best candidates, MarcoMeatball was the first person I thought of and reached out to. Marco is a YouTuber who wears many different hats but is most well-known for his video game music react videos. I first found his channel (which you can find on YouTube under the handle @MarcoMeatball ) about two years ago. I was browsing YouTube and came across his reactions to “Bury the Light” from Devil May Cry 5 and “To Zanarkand” from Final Fantasy X. I was hooked and I’ve been a subscriber ever since. Marco recently gave me the opportunity to chat a little bit with him so we can all learn more about him, his channel, and what his future plans are. Marco's video, "Opera Singer Reacts: Bury the Light from Devil May Cry 5," was where I found him first. I first asked Marco to tell me a little bit about himself, who is MarcoMeatball? I am a person. Just kidding! I’m someone who loves video game music, my dog, and my fiancée. I’m also someone who left behind a career I studied for over ten years because I realized it was slowly killing me and making my life worse. Q: How did you get into opera/music? When did you first realize you had a passion for it? A: I was resistant to opera for a long time. In fact, I didn’t really like it until I forced myself to sit in a room and listen to it repeatedly. One day, it finally clicked. I realized there was so much potential for expression, purpose, and power in operatic singing. Originally, I went to college for musical theater because I wanted to sing on Broadway. But over time, I discovered how much I loved opera and the stories it allowed me to tell. As for music in general, I got into it because I didn’t have much purpose growing up. My mom forced me to attend a musical theater camp, and there I discovered a love for self-expression, public speaking, and connecting with others through acting and music. I’ve been acting since I was 13 and in the 10th grade, but my love for music has been with me since I was a child. Q: Why did you transition to YouTube music content creation? A: It was an accident. My dad had just passed away, and I was looking for an outlet. Initially, I filmed videos like “deciding whether or not I’d like an anime based on its opening themes,” but I got worried about copyright. Then I tried making Final Fantasy XIV content exclusively, but that didn’t last long. Eventually, I realized there was space for me in the music content creation sphere, particularly sharing my experiences as an opera singer. It seemed like a natural fit. I was lucky—my first video took off about two weeks after I posted it, thanks to the algorithm (or something!). After that, I doubled down. I was mourning my father, doing auditions, and recording voiceover work in my booth anyway. Making videos became an additional outlet for my time, and it’s been a defining part of my life since then.   Q: You always seem to have a very positive disposition online—not just in your videos, but on social media as well. Is that a conscious decision or just who you are as a person? A: It’s a conscious decision. I’ve noticed many people don’t value honest, plain, and gentle communication. We live in a society that often tries to tear us down—it’s easy to destroy but difficult to build. The Internet can be aggressively vile at times, but I believe in kindness. I think people who gravitate toward my content often have soft souls in a world that pressures them to be hard and brutal. That said, my tolerance for rudeness has gone down over time. I wouldn’t quit YouTube over personal issues, but the Internet’s lack of civility and tolerance for disrespect could someday push me to hang up my hat.   Q: Your community seems to share that positive disposition. Why do you think that is? A: Like-minded people tend to find each other. I try to foster an environment of mutual joy and gratitude. Joy for video game music, joy for the games I’ve loved since I was seven, joy because life is short, and music is beautiful. If someone doesn’t share that positivity—if they’re rude or disrespectful—I usually hide them from the channel. That’s just how I run things.   Q: In your mind, what is it about music that brings people together? A: Music conveys feelings, emotion, and power. It unites us around common life experiences, no matter how different we are. That connection makes us feel less alone, and it’s something uniquely beautiful about music. Q: You recently started a YouTube channel dedicated specifically to anime music. What was the impetus behind that? A: I love learning, and anime music is a corner of the music world I know very little about. My goal is to approach it with fresh eyes and curiosity. On my main channel, I have a series called Non-Gamers React to Video Game Music, which I love because it lets me share something I’m passionate about. This anime music channel flips that dynamic—I get to learn from others who are passionate about something I’m new to. I’m pacing myself to avoid burnout. I’ve slowed down production and have content planned through January 2025, so I’m confident I can manage both channels.   Q: Do you feel like your main channel audience and anime audience are separate, or is there some crossover? A: There’s quite a bit of crossover—more than I expected. Some diehard video game fans aren’t into anime, and I was one of those people for a long time. But now that I’ve started reading manga, my world has been blown wide open.   Q: What’s next for Marco the man and MarcoMeatball the creator? A: For Marco the man: be healthy. I want to lose 40 pounds and enter my 40s in the best health of my life. My 30s flew by, and the pandemic didn’t help. I’ve also had to pull back from workaholic tendencies because they can be damaging if unchecked. For MarcoMeatball: ride the wave. I’ve been exploring broader, thematic videos that celebrate video game music rather than focusing solely on hyper-specific analysis. Celebrating video game music is my goal, and I hope to do it for as long as I live. Who knows what the future holds, but I’m enjoying the ride.   Q: And finally, are there any people or things you want to shout out or give thanks for? A: I’m endlessly grateful for my mods, my fiancée, my editor Nathan, and my thumbnail designer Raul. Special thanks to folks like Jesse’s Auditorium, Alex Moukala, Davi, and Tony for their support. And finally, my dog Luna. She’s been a bright spot in my life every single day since I brought her home at nine weeks old. I named her Luna because, at the time, all I had around me was darkness, and she became my moonlight. She’s one of the best things to ever happen to me. Marco doesn't always analyze the music himself - sometimes he brings in others.   Although I only had the opportunity to ask Marco 10 questions, I feel honored that I had the chance to learn more about him. I was struck by his kindness and generosity. It seems to me that the man behind the camera is just as warm as the persona we see on screen. As someone who is not very familiar with the Music world, I’ve always found Marco’s videos to be illuminating. You can learn so much by watching his conversations with others in the Music space or his reactions to your favorite video game music. Marco never fails to teach me things I didn’t know and I walk away with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the music. I look forward to seeing what Marco does next. I am thankful that Marco has been able to curate the community that he is proud of, as it is a community I am proud to be a part of. On behalf of all 350,000 subscribers, thank you, Marco.

Each of us have burdens to bear I remember returning home for the first time after dropping out of college. A little bit of nervousness – and a lot of shame – surrounded me as I pulled into my parents’ driveway. After all, I was a ‘gifted child.’ I was supposed to be destined for greatness in one way or another. But it doesn’t really work like that, does it? You still have to do the thing. Just like every other ‘gifted child’ you’ve ever heard of, for whatever reason (and there were, of course, many), I didn’t make it out of school. So, I walked through the door and saw my parents again. They were happy to see me, just as I would be to see my child come home, but I could tell there was a disappointment there, too. Night in the Woods  is a story revolving around Mae, a little cat girl whose story mirrored mine in many ways: she dropped out of college and moved back to her hometown of Possum Springs, her parents are happy to see her but a little dispirited, and many of the people she knew have moved on with their lives in ways she neither knows nor understands at first. The adventure starts aimlessly – you have the freedom to walk around and speak to people, climb buildings and powerlines, or even steal some hotdogs. All of it without true purpose - an all too familiar feeling. It doesn’t take long in this side-scrolling adventure for things to pick up, though. Soon you’re meeting friends, having dinner, and even finding a severed arm. In between all of this, the game gives you the freedom to explore and engage with a large number of people and things. The purpose is here  - found within those little moments with friends, family, and sometimes even strangers. Publisher: Finji Developer:  Infinite Fall, Secret Lab Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on February 21, 2017 for Windows, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, February 1, 2018 for Nintendo Switch, and September 9, 2021 for iOS Night in the Woods  is a branching choice-and-consequence adventure wearing the skin of a cute cartoon starring anthropomorphic animals, with a little hint of 2D side-scrolling platformer. The game gives you quite a large number of roleplaying opportunities in those moments, as you’re able to change the things you say or do in nearly every given instance. Those choices aren’t one-off decisions, either, as they impact your relationships with characters and guide smaller events along the path. Your decisions don’t have much effect on the larger vision of the plot, but they alter the tenor of the events that unfold around you. Who shows up for you in tough moments, how they interact with you, how you interact with them – all of that  is shaped by your choices. On paper, that doesn’t sound like much, but when you see the game in motion, it feels like it matters a lot. It mattered to me, and it seemed to matter to Mae. Every bit of time I spent jumping on powerlines, breaking into buildings, or stealing clothes felt like it was worth the effort. You do all of that to build relationships with other people, whether that is your direct intention or not. Many of my favorite moments in the game came outside the main story; finding a person sitting on the roof of a building and having a chat or meeting some weirdo (complimentary) in an empty parking lot, all of it builds the atmosphere of the town you’re in and shapes who Mae is. That said, there’s a lot more to do here than wander the town. Night in the Woods also contains a plethora of unique and fun mini-games: Shoplifting, playing music on your bass, a dungeon crawler akin to Hyper Light Drifter , star gazing, and even smashing cars. There were moments early on when I kind of got lost in those mini-games, especially the Rock Band -esque music game. I even questioned the genre at one point, wondering if I had suddenly stumbled into a full-on rhythm game instead. Those mini-games were often instrumental to breaking things up for me, as the middle of the game drags on a bit without much happening in the main plot. Those side dishes are elevated by the game’s unique art style. Shifting perspectives, new UI elements, or even complete overhauls to the visual style come with each one, and it keeps them distinct from the main game and one another. There’s a certain whimsy to the overall cartoony visuals that seems  light, but belies some truly sad and deep moments. People in Possum Springs are struggling, as all working-class people do, with the burdens of daily life. Floods, unemployment, family drama, closed businesses, and financial woes permeate conversations with your friends, family, and even strangers. All of this is expressed beautifully not just in the dialogue, but visually as well. Varied facial expressions and emphatic body language animations guide each scene. Splashes of color and high contrast are used to create a depth to the atmosphere in some scenes. It’s a visually beautiful game, even if the style is simple. Night in the woods is a lot of fun to look at. The dialogue in Night in the Woods  also seems simple but is so wonderfully done that it becomes hard for me to nail down exactly why. I think it’s a rare example of excellent contemporary dialogue in a video game. Jumping into Possum Springs, I immediately clocked where and when we were, at least stylistically. This is a Midwest town in the early 2010s. Has to be. The words the people use, the foliage, and even the way your mom won’t just stop talking and let a conversation endpoint me there. A real ‘Minnesota Goodbye’ happens at one point – each character says goodbye and Mae makes the motions to leave, but her mom is still yapping. It’s very natural and charming in ways I didn’t expect. It is so familiar to me and my own experiences. That conversational, familiar approach works wonders in moments of levity, for sure, yet it truly shines in those deeper and darker moments we spoke about before. You can really feel the tonal shift adding weight to the content of the conversations, and your choices can impact those scenes further. Do you lean into Mae’s irreverent side, or try to play it safe? It’s a constant battle between Mae’s own baked-in immaturity, her insecurities, and the life decisions that lead everyone to where they are now. The dialogue lends itself well to exploring the game's themes of queerness in a natural way while using conversations with adults (particularly Mae’s parents) to depict a generational divide in the understanding or acceptance of various gender identities and sexuality. For instance, while Mae never explicitly states her sexuality, it is at least brought up in the sense that she is ‘not picky,’ stating “I don’t care if they’re a boy or a girl.” She also once dated a boy, and you can flirt with women. Knowing this, it becomes clear that Mae’s parents don’t know or understand this about her, asking if she’s “seeing a boy’ - reinforcing heteronormativity. Additionally, several other characters are LGBTQ+ and it explores the pressures of their relationships and the realities of life in that context. It never comes off as an unnatural blurting out, instead, it always happens within the flow of conversation, or sometimes is never addressed explicitly at all.  The natural and free-flowing dialogue make sure there's never a dull moment in the game. As this is a spoiler-free review, I don’t want to get too deep into the game's main plot, or even the specifics of the conversations you have with characters – all of that is worth going through yourself. Instead, I would like to offer you this: Night in the Woods  is a story about the people you encounter and the struggles of their lives just as much as it is about the overarching events that transpire in the main plot. But that’s true for all of us, isn’t it? Our lives  aren’t just about what happened, but also about who they happened with, and how those events and people shaped us going forward. I’ve always said I don’t have any true regrets in life – every mistake or good decision I made has left me in a place where my heart is full. I have a loving family, great friends, and food in my belly. I’m not sure there’s any room for regret here. Instead, my energy should always be put toward moving forward. We all face struggles, sometimes even ones of our own making, but there’s one thing I know for sure – we must find joy and purpose in our lives, even in our dark moments, or we will perish. There is no other choice. Verdict Night in the Woods is an excellent 2D side-scrolling adventure game with heavy roleplaying elements. Jumping off the screen with a unique and engaging visual style, the game explores themes of regret, shame, helplessness, friendship, and community through its natural dialogue and clever writing. Night in the Woods is often irreverent and downright hilarious but never shies away from the struggles of real people – even if everyone here is actually an anthropomorphic animal. Fun mini-games and great music keep the experience fresh, even if it slows down in the middle more than I’d like. Overall, Night in the Woods is an excellent examination of working-class struggles, queerness, and the burdens of adulthood. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux, Infinite Fall, and Secret Lab

The wolf has been defanged It has been 10 years since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition  and a lot has changed since then. BioWare, specifically, has undergone massive changes over that time, with much of the leadership of the company moving on. Included in those departures was David Gaider, the lead writer and creator of the setting of the Dragon Age Franchise. While Dragon Age: Inquisition released to critical acclaim, receiving the first Game Awards’ “Game of the Year” award in 2014, BioWare has had only a few games come out since then – both of which would be classified as ‘disappointing’ at best. 10 years is a long time to wait for a new game, especially one as highly anticipated as Dragon Age: The Veilguard . So that begs the question: was the wait worth it? Well, let’s talk about it. Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer:  BioWare Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on Oct. 31, 2024 for PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series S/X Dragon Age, as a series, has always been inconsistent in terms of its gameplay, tone, and even its art direction, in some respects. Its general need to reinvent the wheel could be likened to another famous RPG series: Final Fantasy. While perhaps not as drastic as the Final Fantasy series, Dragon Age is a property that does not iterate on many of the core concepts in previous games, opting to instead completely modify any aspect they felt was not working for the latest game. Dragon Age: Origins , the first game, was a largely grounded dark fantasy game with a breadth of roleplaying systems and opportunities. Dragon Age 2  kept many of those bones, but made some shifts in tonality and gameplay – opting for a more quippy, or sometimes even silly, tone compared to its predecessor. That isn’t to say Dragon Age 2 did not have serious or dark moments, or that Origins  was humorless, rather there was a shift in the prevailing tone and tenor of the story and dialogues. This was supplemented by BioWare changing how dialogue works, offering 3 choices at a given time – Diplomatic, Humorous, and Aggressive. Dragon Age 2 also modified the combat to a more action-oriented style, with a faster pace, button mashing, and waves of enemies versus set encounters you could plan for ahead of time. Dragon Age: Inquisition then made another leap – eschewing much of what came before. Continuing the trend of tonal shift, Inquisition was a much more sanitized story, with nothing negative ever happening to you or your party, and no lasting consequences for any of your actions. In almost every instance, the “bad stuff” would happen off-screen, with you only coming in to see the aftereffects and do cleanup. Dragon Age: Inquisition  made additional sweeping changes to the combat, now being almost entirely action-focused (although, there is an option for a tactical mode), and relying much less on consumables or traps. Inquisition also removed the existence of healing magic, opting instead for limited-use potions. The largest and most controversial change was the shift to an open-world style, with large explorable zones and an unimaginable number of collectibles and banal side quests. Flashy and fun, the combat is always engaging. Despite all these changes, Dragon Age kept a throughline on a few things – strong character writing, a grounded, semi-realistic art style, and choices carrying over to the following games in the series. BioWare has always excelled at character writing; these games have been no different. Some of the most complex and interesting characters to ever grace the medium have come from BioWare games and the choices you made regarding those characters always influenced the next game or games, even if in small ways. Codex entries here, dialogue there, or a questline that way – your choices felt meaningful and represented in the world around you. I say all this because Dragon Age: The Veilguard doesn’t really have any of that. Despite being an explicit and direct continuation of the previous entry, it has so thoroughly divorced itself from Inquisition and the continent of Thedas, it barely feels like it belongs in the same world. Some change is to be expected, but I was a little thrown off by just how different it is. How could a direct sequel, in a series known for its choices, only include 3 from the previous entry? I would be selling it short by saying I was incredibly disappointed with this decision from BioWare, and it becomes even more frustrating when characters from those previous games start showing up and just completely gloss over or ignore any consequential happenings from the prior games. I think BioWare underestimated how much people appreciated seeing their world come to life, even in small ways, as the games went on. I do understand the difficulties this presents from a development standpoint. At some point, there must be a crunch in terms of what carries over – I just don’t comprehend why now . This is meant to be the big finale for many major plot threads in the series, and many major players are deeply involved in the prior game. Condensation is fine, but 3 choices total is bizarre. Veilguard goes to great lengths not to step on any toes for world states but it just seems off to include those cameos in the first place. That lack of reactivity is not limited to imported choices – even self-contained choices are cosmetic or misleading. As you progress, it becomes clear you and your team are safe. There are never any real stakes throughout the campaign. There is a single choice in Act 1 that feels consequential and then absolutely nothing until you reach the end of the game. The game plays it so safe that you can’t even be a little mean  most of the time. The dialogue wheel will present you with an option that may look scathing, but if you select it, you just get a lukewarm response that doesn’t even say what you’ve chosen. All outcomes through the bulk of the game are also predestined. So much is happening in this world, how can there be no tension? Something you’ll also notice very early on is that there is almost no intraparty conflict – everyone gets along great. Even at their worst moments, team members are quick to reconcile after a short lecture from Rook, and most often the conflict is entirely juvenile. This is not necessarily a bad thing – it’s prudent to put aside your differences to face the greater threat – I just didn’t love the way all of it was handled. With so many disparate personalities and backgrounds, you would think something would pop up here or there. Companions in Dragon Age have always been very vocal about their dislikes and opinions of other members, often sparking some of the most remembered conversations between the cast. Despite this, I do love this cast of characters. It may be my favorite companion class in all of Dragon Age history. Each party member is unique, and the game does a great job of fleshing them out as people. Many of the missions in-game are directly tied to the party members, and those quests are some of the best content in the game. There is a gift-giving system, but it’s underwhelming. You just bring the gift, and you’ll get a short dialogue about it and then it’s done. Even beyond that, many of the companion scenes suffer from the same writing issues that permeate the entire game – everything comes off a bit like it has been crafted for a children’s movie, rather than dark fantasy. The game also suffers from the exclusion of the opportunity to speak to your party members outside of their specific missions. There’s no way to ask them about themselves, their people, or anything they care about. Every interaction with your party is on-rails. And while all the scenes are so well animated, I think it may come off to some as over-animated . Everyone is so expressive physically that it creates juxtaposition with the underwhelming facial animations. We may owe some of this to the shift in art style, which has been met with mixed reception, but I love the way this game looks. I don’t really mind the changes in proportions of the characters versus prior entries, and the high saturation and color palette give the game a clean look. The effects and environments are often flat-out stunning. The environments especially are gorgeous, with beautiful vistas, grimy keeps, and everything in-between. The layout of the areas being more self-contained seemed to help BioWare focus more on the visuals. Where Inquisition  had giant, muddy, open areas, Veilguard  makes everything worth looking at. However, I do feel like changes to some of the more iconic designs (i.e. Darkspawn) do a disservice to the franchise by further distancing Veilguard  from Dragon Age’s overall visual identity. The character models look incredible, and the hair is gorgeous! The new visual flare works wonderfully with the combat as well. Splashes of color and nice particle effects keep the battles engaging - not that it really needed the help. I played a custom difficulty with enemy aggression and damage turned all the way up, and the fast pace and high damage kept me on my toes the entire time. It’s going to draw a lot of long-term comparisons to Mass Effect 2  – you map only a few abilities to your loadout at a time and give commands to your companions rather than fully control them. Also, much like Mass Effect 2 and 3 , there is a primer and detonate system that makes up the real meat of the battles. There’s not much to it: some abilities set the weakened, sundered, or overwhelmed status, and other abilities detonate it – causing a high-damage burst. The systems have been shaved down to make room for the fast pace – much like the transition from Mass Effect 1 and 2 . The mechanical complexity has taken those same hits – with there being very few auxiliary systems to worry about, outside of finding gear sets and equipping it. There’s no more crafting, traps, supplementary potions, or anything of the like. Repeating the same missteps they did with the Mass Effect franchise, BioWare has distilled Veilguard  down to only combat and conversations with more restricted input. For some, this might be a welcome change, as fights in the previous entries could feel a bit bogged down by all the options, and gathering and crafting was just so time-consuming in Inquisition. There has also been a change in the composer for this title, with Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe taking over for Trevor Morris. It’s a pretty drastic change in style. I am generally a fan of Zimmer when he’s on , but it’s just another miss for me. I can barely remember much of the music from my time playing, but there are a few standouts. It’s not that I feel like the music is bad , per se. It’s just not particularly memorable, and occasionally doesn’t fit the mood of the scene or fight quite right. One major strength of Veilguard  is in its story. Seeing some of these plot threads come to a definitive end after so long was really satisfying. They really nailed it for me, especially in the back third of the game. Act 3 is just so moving as a long-time player. That said, I couldn’t help but wish for more. In my mind, there’s so much missing from the game because of those excluded choices from the previous games. As events were unfolding, I often thought back to some of the people who never made it into Veilguard. What would THEY be doing right now?  There’s a lot of room for head-canons and fanfiction, but I prefer if stuff like that is codified. Overall, the game seems to have positioned itself as both an ending for what has come before, and a new beginning for what the Dragon Age franchise could be moving forward – within the narrative and without. There is a notable exception for the post-credits scene. It is, quite possibly, the worst storytelling decision BioWare has ever made, and I really hope they take that one back. That strong story is elevated even further by wonderful performances from the cast. In particular, Solas (Gareth David-Lloyd), Neve (Jessica Clark), Bellara (Jee Young Han), and Davrin (Ike Amadi) are standouts to me. But from top to bottom, this cast does an exceptional job of making every line count. Each member nails the emotions of the moment in every scene, and I don’t really want to single anyone out for best or worst. I would find myself running back and forth from area to area just to hear them talk a little more, which makes it even more disappointing that you don’t have the option to ever just sit down and chat with the party. All that running back and forth also let me enjoy the level design. The levels are self-contained areas with a great mix of winding paths, semi-open fields, and shortcuts that help you loop back around. Navigating any level can be engaging, as you’re always looking for those secret rooms for treasure chests, or hidden ladders to take you back to another room you’ve already been to. I was honestly a bit surprised by the verticality of the levels, as well. Generally speaking, BioWare games have a very flat structure – single level rooms or fields, with maybe the occasional stairway to a second floor. But here, it’s built into every structure, and those structures fit into the world around you in interesting ways (sometimes). If I must nitpick, I would have liked to see more variety in the biomes or zones we went to. Obviously, this story is mostly self-contained to a specific geographical location, so I understand why we didn’t get to see more. I just think the game is beautiful, and I would have loved to explore more of the world. The environments are breathtaking and absolutely worth exploring. I fear I’m at risk of sounding too negative as this review goes on, but I really liked this game! When all the gears are turning and things click into place, it’s some of the best work BioWare has ever done. There are just a lot of little bumps in the road for me. Ten years is too long to wait for any game and even if the wait was shorter, I am not sure this is where I would have wanted this series to go after Inquisition . Dragon Age’s struggles with identity are longstanding, but I think it’s time for BioWare to lay down roots and start watering. If they are certain the old Dragon Age is dead and gone, it’s time to focus on what works here and grow from it. I do wonder how those 10 years were spent. We know it used to be a multiplayer game, and now it isn’t. We know that other characters were supposed to appear, but they didn’t. After so many delays, so much turnover, and untold amounts of corporate meddling, it is a wonder that this game arrived at all. I wonder if this is the game the team set out to make, or if there just came a point where you have to get it out the door. There are a lot of head-scratching decisions in the way this game works, but it does  work. It runs well, is fun to play, and has so, so much heart. I have gripes, but I did love my time with the game. Every time I felt like I was losing interest in the game, a new main mission would rope me back in. There is a lot to love about Dragon Age: The Veilguard , but if you’re a long-time fan of the series, your enjoyment of the game may be affected by how you weigh the changes that were implemented. For me, I can’t really look at this game in terms of what it could have been, or what we should have gotten – all I can do is play the game in front of me. In that respect alone, I think it’s a damn fine game. Verdict Dragon Age: The Veilguard  is an exciting, beautiful, and engaging game that I really enjoyed. Stunning environments, character models, and effects give the game a unique visual flare, but the lack of variety in enemy types and places to go hampers it. Great combat, fun characters, and an engaging story keep things afloat - even with a laundry list of faults. Veilguard  suffers from juvenile writing for most of it’s runtime, with many of the interactions coming off as candy-coated or softer versions of what one would expect from this long-running series. Despite those faults, the game has so much heart it feels impossible not to like it. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux and BioWare

Infinite paths lead to infinite truths You find yourself in a cabin, with no clear direction as to why you're here or who you are. The only company you keep are two disembodied voices - one who is an aspect of yourself, and one who is very clearly not. That other  voice is The Narrator, and he's not too keen on telling you who or what you are, or just why he's so sure the princess needs to be slain. Even so, you must continue. The game offers you a chance to turn around and leave, but if you take it, you only end up where you started (your first hint something is amiss). Beyond that, the first major choice is deciding on taking the pristine blade atop the table or not - even something as simple as this changes everything . Therein lies the true conceit of Slay the Princess - every decision matters. Truly matters. Each option could change the tenor of the conversation, or lead to new outcomes. Every choice may open new doors, but they also close others. This truth makes speaking about the game without spoilers an impossibility. At least, speaking about it in any meaningful way. So, for this review, there are major spoilers. If you want just the basics, here they are: Slay the Princess  is a visual novel style Horror adventure game and it's one of the best games you'll play all year . Now that you have been freed from the burden of wanting - SPOILERS Publisher: Black Tabby Games, Serenity Forge Developer:   Black Tabby Games Platform:  Played on PC Availability: October 23, 2023 on PC, October 24, 2024 on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X Slay the Princess is a visual novel styled horror game, with a heavy focus on psychological and body horror, and story. This latest updated version, Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut,  adds new illustrations, new princesses, a gallery, and more to the already massive visual novel. The mechanics to playing the game are simple: Click the choices you want to select, listen to or skip the dialogue, then click the next choices you want, and so on. You really should not skip the dialogue, unless you’ve seen that particular scene before – it’s hugely important for informing any future decisions. The story and writing, and its progression, are phenomenal. Pick up the knife or not, talk to the princess or not, try and save her or kill her – each individual decision opens up new pathways to completing this chapter. And once you die, save the princess, or kill her, you wake up once again in the forest on the pathway to the cabin. You’re stuck in a time loop, and the only way out is to end things. But end them how? One way is to just kill the princess, no questions asked, and accept your fate. You will get an ending this way. More interesting, however, is if you fail – purposefully or not. Remember that time loop I mentioned earlier? Well, once you reach the second chapter on any individual run, the world will shift based on your decisions in the previous chapter. The choices are not just self-contained in a chapter – they ripple throughout an entire run. They inform the shape of the world, the princess you get – how she looks, speaks, and responds to you – it even changes the music that plays. Once you reach the end of a path, you and the princess are sucked into the void, where you’ll find a mirror and the princess. Or something like the princess. It’s an amalgamation of all the princesses you’ve encountered and ended the plotline of an individual run, and this “princess” is asking you to bring them more. And so, you must complete several runs, taking different choices here and there as you go, in order to get different outcomes and princesses. Once you have gathered enough, you end up back in the void where your choices throughout culminate, and you face the truth of the world. That I will not spoil. But it’s complex, it’s messy, and it’s amazing.  It never feels like it gets tedious, or the dialogue drags on too long. Each individual chapter is paced, in many respects, exactly to the players’ liking – each dialogue choice gives you your response, but also tells you if it is exploratory dialogue or will advance the scene. Depending on your choices, and if you actually read the text, a run could be anywhere from 5 minutes to a few hours. But with so many different ways to go through each chapter, the game feels like it might actually be endless. At time of writing, I have roughly 40% of the achievements on steam for the game. I don’t think you need to play more than that to understand how great this game is, but the more I play, the greater appreciation I have for this game. Absolutely nothing feels wasted here. As I tumbled through the existential journey, I never quite landed on what this game is. It’s everything. It’s sometimes somber, sometimes hilarious, and other times horrifying - the story isn’t just one thing. It’s begging for a deep dive analysis at some point as there’s so much going on and worth examining. On a surface level, I gather it’s about the choices we make and how they affect us and those around us. Every decision, every action (or inaction) shapes us in some way. They can scar us or even heal us, if we let them. It’s a reminder that everything matters to someone, even if you don’t see it at the time. It's about love - learning to love others and let go, and learning to love ourselves, even when we've made mistakes. The artwork is absolutely breathtaking. The great story and writing is elevated in no small part by the impressive presentation. The art style is akin to a sketch book, but holds so many details it is hard to wrap my head around it. There’s also a function where you can kind of shift the camera a bit by moving your mouse around – I haven’t seen any practical use yet, but it is cool! Every dialogue in each chapter has unique images associated with it. I cannot imagine how much work went into making all of this. Beyond the sheer scale of the artwork, I quite like that there are varied perspectives, environments, and animations as you go. You’re in a time loop, but it’s not repetitive. The game makes great use of this highly-detailed, and varied art style to bombard you with graphic, gruesome, and sometimes painful images and effects – I mean that with reverence. Using all the tools at its disposal, it managed to make me laugh, scream, and once even cry. I’m stuck with some images in my head, even as I write this. The voice acting should be lauded as well, all things considered. Jonathan Sims as The Narrator and disparate voices in your head, and Nichole Goodnight as The Princess, deliver on every line – and there are a ton of them. The range of emotions on display is outstanding, moving from sorrowful, happy, scared, and more not just within the entirety of the game, but sometimes all within an individual scene. Both do surprisingly slick work on their modified voices as well. I wasn’t sure if the voices in your head or forms of the princess retained the original actors throughout, at first. I also think it’s imperative to commend the music, as well. The staff obviously had high views of it themselves, or they wouldn’t present you with a suggested playlist of songs each time you finish a run. Leitmotifs are a less common tool these days in movie and videogame scores, but used with great effect in Slay the Princess. In fact, I think The Princess’s leitmotif was incorporated in just about every song I can remember hearing. Despite that fact, each track has its own unique voice, accentuating or setting the moods it needs to as you step through your journey. I’m not an avid visual novel gamer – it’s just not really my nature – but Slay the Princess  has given me a much greater appreciation for both the genre and the team behind the game. Every piece of this work is woven so wonderfully together, it’s hard to find any threads to pull and take it apart. The Narrator wasn’t willing to give basic answers on what was going on in Slay the Princess, and I’m not sure I can do that either, but I think it’s worth your time to take those first steps and see for yourself. Verdict Slay the Princess is a masterwork of storytelling and visual design. Exemplary performances from the cast, and the writing to match it, will keep you hanging on every word. Every element of the game serves to elevate the whole, with the artwork and music being my favorite elements. It’s hard to overstate how much of a triumph this game really is. It’s a game that forces you to examine your choices and ideals, inside the game and without. The possibilities feel endless, and with this latest update, there are even more. I hope you’ll consider playing this game, as I now consider it an essential work in gaming and the best game I’ve played so far in 2024. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux and Black Tabby Games

The only thing we have to fear is...nothing at all   Time is a funny thing. Days can become a blur, while moments may seem to linger forever. Try as we might, those moments are lost to us as time marches forward. Memories dull, legends change, and even pictures never tell the full story. Somehow, as I played through F.E.A.R. , I felt as if I had been transported to a different time altogether. In this way, I was able to experience a moment in time as my fully-realized adult self. See, I’ve never actually played F.E.A.R. – my only knowledge of it being ads in old gaming magazines I would collect. The usual force of fond remembrance – nostalgia – has no power over me here. I get to experience what some have called the best horror game ever with clear eyes and a clear mind. Despite all its time-slowing shenanigans, it felt no more than a blip on the radar. Publisher: Sierra Entertainment Developer:   Monolith Productions Platform:  Played on PC Availability : October 16, 2005 for Windows Following the exploits of the First Encounter Assault Recon team, F.E.A.R . is a first-person shooter with some minor exploration aspects in the levels, and a heavy focus on a time-slow mechanic during shootouts. The basic premise is that your team is looking for Paxton Fettel, the commander of a battalion of psychically manipulated clone troopers. As the troops and Fettel cause havoc across the city, you’ll find yourself party to increasingly strange events – including being stalked by a ghostly young girl with long black hair, à la The Ring.   In many ways, it’s hard to make an accurate assessment of the way this game feels and plays when compared to its contemporaries – I have not played them in over a decade – and it feels unfair to stack it up against more modern shooters. So, all I’m left with is what I felt in the moment, and it’s…fine. Controls work as they need to, and everything moves at a fast pace, until you start your time slow ability.  That slowing ability basically trivializes every fight in the game, as headshots obliterate most enemies instantly, and it’s easy to line up your shots here. Almost none of the guns feel particularly unique, as every encounter amounts to a simple point and click. The only real variance between the weapons being how fast the fire rate is and how the bullets spread when fired. I ended up using pistols or single fire weapons in most instances for their ammo efficiency, but I had an automatic rifle for whenever I was in a pinch. There’s also a melee attack which could be very powerful, but I rarely used it. The AI kind of wanders about the room aimlessly, taking occasional potshots at you while you massacre the field. It’s all dreadfully uninteresting, and quickly becomes repetitive. Most of the miscellaneous systems in play are carbon copies of its predecessor shooters: Health packs to heal, armor that you can collect as a pick-up, and so on. It’s all very Goldeneye or DOOM inspired. Even as others moved on to self-regenerating systems, or ditched power-up pickups in favor of equipment loadouts, F.E.A.R. hung on to those systems. Another thing it clung to was a lack of any really interesting level design. Endless square rooms with a walkway or two (if they’re feeling generous) make up the bulk of the experience, and you’re mostly facing the same cloned enemies in the process. There are some set-piece fights or unique layouts scattered throughout the several hour experience, but they were too few for my liking. The story might be the most interesting part of the game, but I'm not jumping for joy about it. So, what would make F.E.A.R. stand out as an exemplary horror game? I’m still not sure. There are  horror elements in the game: A little girl in red who stalks you, flashing images on screen, and creepy guys crawling after you in dream sequences. These elements are surprisingly sparse, with most of the game being those gunfights we talked about earlier. In fact, the horror elements themselves are just plainly boring . The game outright refuses to do anything interesting with its premise, instead opting for jumpscare after jumpscare. Climbing down the ladder or in a hallway? There’s the girl! Sadly, she will just go away. Walking into a new room? Boom! Low-res JPG of a dead guy! Throughout the game there are rooms filled with blood and broken bodies, voicemails describing the events, and objects clanging in the background unprompted. There is certainly a buildup in the story to where the plot threads take us, and while the narrative might be a bit loose , it’s engaging enough to keep things moving. Sometimes, that’s all you can really ask for. The most interesting aspect of the plot revolves around increasingly more frequent and lengthy flashback sequences, but I became tired of even that as the game progressed. That isn’t to say the game is devoid of any merit. There are certainly memorable moments scattered across F.E.A.R. ’s runtime. There are neat chase sequences and some interesting flashbacks that tie right into the real-time experience. I just wish the game had either pared down the boring aspects or put in some more interesting moments in between all the monotony. Perhaps the most disappointing thing for me is the fact that the game didn’t manage to make me feel much of anything at all as I played. For a game that has such a large focus on time, it’s a shame that it felt like such a waste of mine. Verdict F.E.A.R. is a clear product of its time aesthetically, but doesn’t really hold up in any other department, either. Repetitive combat and dull, washed-out level design make a bulk of the horror shooter a chore, rather than an engaging romp. The plot is paper-thin, and never makes good use of the horror elements scattered throughout the game. Any semblance of horror amounts to simple jumpscares, so if those don’t work for you, it’s not a functional horror game in any other aspect. I mostly come away from playing this game feeling a bit sad. I’m sad I didn’t have a chance to experience it during its release period and I’m sad that I feel like I wasted my time. It feels wrong  to judge a game so harshly that hasn’t been relevant in over a decade, but I can pick up so many other old games and still have fun. I just never will with this one. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

You're not alone I am not, by any reasonable metric, an “Alien” franchise fan. I have only ever seen two of the proper “Alien” movies ( Alien and Prometheus ), and I have never played a single “Alien” game. I don't have any nostalgic attachment to the characters, or really understand what a Xenomorph is (beyond ‘scary alien’). Yet, as I sit under a desk or in a locker - the music kicks in. While I make Ripley hold their breath, a demon made flesh prowls the room in front of me. I begin to understand. Just a total sense of helplessness and fear. No one to help you, nowhere to run, and nothing you can do except pray . Publisher: Sega Developer: Creative Assembly Platform: Played on PC Availability : Oct 17, 2014 for PS3, PS4, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One. December 5, 2019 for Nintendo Switch. Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game set in the “Alien” universe, a universe created (and primarily depicted) in the horror film franchise created by Ridley Scott. It's important to note this, as the protagonist of Alien: Isolation, Amanda Ripley, is the daughter of the main protagonist of the film franchise, Ellen Ripley. That aforementioned sense of helplessness against an unknowable, unkillable enemy makes up the bulk of the experience in Alien: Isolation.  Not just in terms of feeling, but in the gameplay as well. In fact, I would say that most of my time in-game was spent hiding from the Xenomorph. There are various systems at play here - a crafting system that allows you to make tools and weapons in your fight for survival, hacking that allows you to open doors or set off alarms, and your basic combat mechanics. All of which coalesce to create the core of the game. Noise makers to attract enemies, Molotovs to harm or deter them, med kits to heal and so on. While there are multiple enemy types (human, android, face-hugger, and Xenomorph), none really matter in the face of your reality - everything is in service of or related to avoiding the Xenomorph. You could  shoot those guys with your revolver, but doing so will bring the Xenomorph to you, sprinting is faster but noisy, and so on. Every part of you is painfully aware that getting caught by these enemies can spell death for you. Which is why I so often set the Xenomorph on the other enemies themselves. Tripping an alarm or throwing a noisemaker into a group of enemies is a sure way to clear them out, while also giving you a little more breathing room to get your tasks done. It can be risky - the Xenomorph may spot you and take you instead - but often worth the effort. It ends up being a much faster and easier task to just avoid the Xenomorph than both groups at once. There are, of course, multiple tense sequences where the Xenomorph is scripted to appear, and these are generally well done. From the way the lights might cut in and out, to the clanking of footsteps in the vents, Alien: Isolation  keeps you on your toes. The creature can even wait for you in vents, noted by dripping pools of saliva. Over time, the Xenomorph learns your habits and finds ways to sniff you out, making the experience even more terrifying. All of this is accentuated by the score. Most moments are quiet, with only the sounds of your actions and movement taking place. But when you're being hunted or something intense is happening, those strings kick in, and man  does it work. In many respects, it works in the same ways a movie score does, where everything bolsters what is happening on screen at a given moment. The music is not the only similarity to the films. Thematically, Alien: Isolation fits right in with Ridley Scott's works, exploring the ideas of how corporate greed, malice, and incompetence serve to harm us. The Xenomorph itself serves as this primal force, untouchable in its fury, rendering us at once both insignificant and helpless. The game explores futility and purpose, creation and carelessness. Unfortunately, most of this comes in the form of walls of text and audio files scattered throughout the levels. While the story is mostly fine, I think it's a bit too long, with the back third almost falling apart entirely. So much of the game is sneaking about and avoiding enemies, that it becomes fairly monotonous by the end. There's only so much desk crawling I can do before it starts to wear on me. I'm convinced we would not lose anything by cutting out at least a third of the levels. Despite this, I still came away appreciating the text and audio logs, and environmental storytelling on display. I didn't come into the game as an “Alien” franchise fan, but the quality of work here certainly has me leaving as one. I need  more. Thankfully, after I finish all the movies, there is a mountain of additional tie-ins to get through. They even announced a sequel to this game, and much like the Xenomorph hiding in the vents, my mouth is watering at the prospect. Verdict Alien: Isolation succeeds in so many more ways than it fails. Everything in the game serves to make the experience tense and frightening, with the Xenomorph itself being the real star of the show. Level and sound design create a sense of paranoia not commonly felt in games like this. Oftentimes bleak, the story is done well enough and is bolstered by the excellent supplementary material found throughout the game. That said, if you are not a fan of that type of story-telling, it may not work for you. While it sticks around a little too long, it's a strong outing, and I'm looking forward to the sequel. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

The Tyrant of the horror genre still rules with an iron fist Content Warning: Images and descriptions of gore and violence I was still a child the first time I ever watched or played a horror game, completely unaware of what I was getting into. I remember sitting on the floor at a friend’s house, watching the screen as a man in blue trudged through the sewers, when suddenly, a giant alligator burst onto the scene. As Leon ran for his life on-screen, my friend and I were screaming the whole way. No game had ever made me feel terror like that before. We spent the rest of the day playing Resident Evil 2 (1998) , and I was so distraught when I finally had to go home. Once we got back home, I begged  my sister to get me that game. Eventually, she did. Big sis pulled through, bringing home a copy of Resident Evil 2: DualShock Version . Not really knowing what I was doing, I played it on “Arrange Game”. How cool is an unlimited gatling gun or infinite SMG? Despite these powerful tools, I was still so scared of everything I was seeing and hearing. I could not play the game in the dark, or even alone. Those squelching sounds of the zombies and the lickers’ tongues haunted my dreams for some time. Eventually, I beat the game and fell in love with the Resident Evil Franchise. Publisher:  Capcom Developer:  Capcom Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released January 25, 2019 for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows. June 13, 2022 for PS5, and Xbox Series S/X. Enter Resident Evil2 (2019) , a remake of the previously mentioned, legendary game of the same name. While remaining fully within the same survival horror genre, this newer take on the classic now features an over-the-shoulder third-person camera, like the camera angles featured in many other modern Resident Evil games and popularized by Resident Evil 4 . Modernized controls, camera angles, and completely revamped graphics make the idea of a remake an enticing prospect, and Resident Evil 2 (2019) delivers all of that and more. The core of the game remains the same: A story split across 2 scenarios and stories (Claire and Leon), where you must navigate through the winding and intricate levels of a police station, sewer, and underground lab. While trying to make your escape and survive the night, you’ll come across zombies and other horrors, solve puzzles, and frequently rearrange your inventory to make the necessary space in your pack to continue through the areas. There are differences, however, in how these function from the original game. The story itself has been slightly modified, and much of it is told through beautiful cutscenes that really showcase the great character and environmental design put in place here. The Scenario A/B function of the game is less impactful in the remake than the original game, but you’ll still see different enemy and item placements and get a different final boss. The game is also visually much darker than the original, with your characters navigating dark hallways and rooms with only a flashlight or minimal lighting to keep the enemies hidden. Puzzles in the remake are actually puzzles, rather than simple key item repositories. There are a few concessions to modern game design principles, however. Items now appear on your map if you see them, and the map will automatically update to let you know if a room has been cleaned out. Navigating the halls of the station and other areas is seamless - no loading screens whatsoever. And finally, saves are now infinite, whereas in the original game they were limited to how many ink ribbons you had on your person. Visually stunning and appropriately dark, the game knows just when to show it's hand. Another big difference is the inclusion of Mr. X as a persistent threat in the first run of the game. He is somehow one of my favorite and least favorite mechanics at the same time. He is just so tenacious. The threat of this hulking mass wandering the halls and punching you in the face at any given time really ramps up the urgency of every action. And you’ll hear his big boots coming from a mile away. It always keeps the tension high, even if you can just enter a safe room to avoid him in many situations. Without playing the game, you would assume that the increased character control and better gunplay would serve to make the game less scary than its predecessor, but I am here to tell you that is flatly untrue. While you are more capable as a player, so too are the enemies. They move faster, travel in bigger packs, and are in more tightly enclosed areas then the original game. On top of that, the graphics are so damn good – making the gore and decay present here truly repulsive sometimes. Some moments in the game are absolutely brutal to witness. All of this is tried together by the excellent sound design all throughout the game. As you wander in the dark, you’ll hear noises of your enemies in the distance. Shuffling of the walking zombies, or glass shattering, or various other disgusting sounds permeate the halls. Sometimes it’s a fake-out, and at others - a warning. Those sounds really keep you on your toes – I felt insanely paranoid throughout much of my runtime. The sounds are appropriately disgusting when needed, but I think it’s so well done in other areas, too. Things like clanking of metal bars, or aluminum cans, or how your gun rings out when you fire it are expertly crafted, and if you have a good sound system or pair of headphones, you’ll be wowed by just how great everything sounds. The voice acting is perhaps the only thing that is uneven in the sound department. Some of the performances are stellar here, while others remain a bit flat. Nothing ever reaches outright bad acting, but it’s not the strongest feature. This is a bit of a disappointment, because the story and presentation are truly excellent, overall. It serves as a great re-telling of a classic story but does enough to make itself stand out from the original material. I found myself engaged throughout the entire experience, and there were more than a few surprises, even for someone familiar with the source material. It may not have been pretty, but we made it through the experience. Something that makes this game difficult for me to review is just it’s inherent nature as a horror game. It is with great shame that I admit this game scared the ever-living-hell out of me - basically from start to finish. Every enemy I can’t see but can hear drives me into paranoia. Each time Mr. X walks through a doorway, I start spiraling into a panic. It can be hard for me to focus on the details as I play the game, because I am just so flustered. I’m just trying to survive. Despite that constant state of fear, I loved this game. Or maybe it’s because of that fear that I appreciate the craftsmanship on display here. That is the point of a horror game, after all, isn’t it? I know my general state of panic was horrifying in the moment, but when I look back on each memorable set-piece, or fight, or scene, I can’t help but think to myself damn, that was cool . Verdict Resident Evil is a franchise that exemplifies horror, and Resident Evil 2 (2019)  goes even beyond that. It is, quite simply, the finest horror game I have ever played. From the exciting story to the frightening creatures on display, this game shines brightly in the dark. It’s a game that makes you consider your options constantly and puts you on the spot to face your fears at every turn. Best of all, it’s so damn fun to play. If you are interested in Resident Evil as a franchise, or even just horror games as a whole, you owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece. Image Credits: Capcom and Taylor Rioux

The whispers still linger here Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is quite a scary game, but maybe not in the ways you might think. Sure, there are scary monsters, and dark corners, and whispers in your ear at all times, but those are not the true frights the game has in store for you. In truth, the real fear comes from within - inside Senua herself, and inside us, the player. The game begins with Senua - the titular character - on a mission to save her now-dead lover from Helheim, and in order to do so, Senua must confront the Northmen who hunt her, and the terrors of her own making. On the surface, Hellblade is a game set in a quasi-mythological world that's a mish-mash of Norse and Celtic mythologies, and it's a story about a woman who just wants to defy the gods to bring back the man she loves. This is all window dressing for the game to explore its themes of mental illness and psychosis, and those themes permeate through every facet of the experience. Publisher:  Ninja Theory Developer:  Ninja Theory Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released on August 8, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, April 11, 2018 for Xbox One, April 11, 2019 for Nintendo Switch, and August 9, 2021 for Xbox Series X/S From the first moments of the story, Senua is beset by auditory and visual hallucinations. The voices, known as "The Furies" in-game, are the first to make themselves known. A product of "The Darkness" (a sort of corruption that is a physical manifestation of Senua's psychosis), The Furies are there to guide you through every part of the game. From puzzles to combat, the voices are always chattering away, offering hints or direction on what's coming or what to do next. The implementation of these voices is excellent, and if you have a nice headset or surround sound setup, you're going to be amazed at the type of effects used here. While the voices generally add a nice layer to the game from a thematic and story-telling perspective, some of the implementation can be a bit grating. The voices are constantly prattling, and in combat they can give you a nice heads-up if someone is attacking you, but it most often felt like an annoyance rather than helpful. I think it's easy to hand-wave this and say that the discomfort of the combat is representative of the discomfort Senua is feeling, but I can't help but wonder if there would have been a less deleterious way to implement this. After all, combat is inherently simple - Light attack, heavy attack, parry, dodge, charge. Not much to worry about, and the enemies telegraph their moves quite obviously. It feels like a chore more often than an engaging part of the game, but the threat of The Darkness creeping up on Senua can create a bit of tension. As perhaps the game's most controversial mechanic, The Darkness is more than just an allegory for Senua's struggles - it is the greatest threat to your journey. Each time you fall in battle, The Darkness that starts in Senua's arm creeps closer to her head, and once it gets there, your save will be deleted. Or, so they say. I'm not sure it is actually possible for this to happen, but it's the threat that matters - keeping you in a state of paranoia not unlike the one Senua is experiencing herself. It is unfortunate, then, that the combat is so uninteresting in execution. It just feels so disjointed, like it's an entirely separate thing from the rest of the game, or that it's just an afterthought to keep people engaged. With all of the care put into the other sections of the game, it feels like a strange miss. Hellblade is stunning to look at, even in motion. Luckily, the combat is usually only a punctuation on the more interesting environmental exploration and puzzle solving sections. These exploratory moments see Senua stumbling through very detailed, and sometimes confusing, surroundings - looking for runes in the environment. The runes often unlock via a change in perception, whether that's just finding the right spot to look, or doing another action to then create the right conditions for the rune to appear. This is, of course, another reference to Senua's mental state and how perception often guides reality. How perspective can shape our actions, or allow us to continue through difficult times. These puzzles offer us insight into Senua's ongoing struggles, and how she is dealing with them, with each new environment exploring some trauma or difficulty in Senua's own world - represented by the scenes in front of us. Sometimes the line between what is explorable and what isn't can be a bit blurry. I don't actually think this is intended, but it is funny how that could also be seen as an allegory for Senua's psychosis blurring the line between fiction and reality. Despite those minor grievances, Hellblade 's greatest strength lies in its presentation, The superb audio design - spearheaded by the voices - elevates every scene and moment the game offers you. The boss encounters are very strong, as they often have a more interesting combat gimmick. Combining this with the eerie sounds of Senua's mind and an additional unique visual flair, the boss fights become something special . The cutscenes especially are exemplary. The cutscenes make excellent use of color, lighting, and effects to convey their messages. Despite being 7 years old at the time of writing this review, the cutscenes are still gorgeous. Yes, graphical fidelity has far surpassed what is here (see Senua's Saga: Hellblade II), but the direction and acting are exemplary. Melina Juergens, in particular, gives a stunning performance as Senua - able to convey such a wide array of emotions so well. Whatever facial tracking they used was implemented not only better than its contemporaries, but is still a great example today. Even beyond the graphics themselves, the use of darkness, lighting, effects, and camerawork makes everything feel tense and confusing. They really managed to put some amazing work in here. However amazing those moments may be, I do not believe they will be known as Hellblade 's lasting legacy. The visuals and presentation, while stellar, are (and will continue to be) outpaced. Time marches on for all of us, after all, and no number of cutscenes will ever cover up the unfortunate reality that playing this game isn't all that fun sometimes. Instead, I think Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice will be primarily remembered for its representation of psychosis and mental illness. It is a conscious depiction with real care taken to display and understand Senua's struggles, and it becomes a mirror for us to examine our own understanding of the world and how so much of it is shaped by our own perception and circumstance. Verdict Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is at times moving and at others frustrating in its execution. With a considered portrayal of mental illness, it's a game that has a lot to say, and does so very well. While ultimately held back by its repetitive, often boring combat and some areas not being clearly navigable, Hellblade is something worth experiencing. Ninja Theory has made sure the subject matter is both handled with care, and remains interesting. If nothing else, it is a commendable effort. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

Saying Goodbye (For Now) What FFVII Rebirth can teach us about life...and letting go. My first Christmas memory is unwrapping an NES, meant for the entire family, immediately hooking it up to the TV in the room, and playing Ducktales until my family forced me to stop. Our family Christmases were always held in the metro area of our home state - both sides of my family lived there, so it was always convenient to have one big trip for the holidays. The trips were always long, and we relied on family to put us up for the nights we were there, but we always visited everyone we could. After all, this might be the only time we saw our family for the year (or even years). I generally hated these trips (or any other trip to the cities), but there was always at least one bright spot - visiting my uncle. I was really too young to understand the particulars, or even to know my uncle well, but every time we visited it seemed like he had something for me. He was especially supportive of my art, providing me with materials to draw and color as much as I wanted on his table - or his floor, which was my preferred spot. He once gifted us a large box of art supplies that seemed to last forever. A box of crayons, colored pencils, pastels, and paints - it was the go-to whenever I felt like creating something new. It was always there when I needed it. My uncle passed away in 2000, and it was a difficult time for my family. Especially so for my dad. Both my grandfather and grandmother had passed away within the last few years, and he had now lost a brother. To be honest, I don't remember much of the time we spent with family at these funerals or gatherings, but what I do remember was seeing my dad cry for the first time at my grandmother's funeral, and for the second time at my uncle's funeral. I didn't really know how to process anything that was going on. When we arrived back home, a friend lent me Final Fantasy VII for the PSX. We were a few years removed from the massive frenzy surrounding the game, but I had never played it and didn't know much about it at all. I had played Final Fantasy I, IV, and VI, so I was at least somewhat familiar with the series, and since I didn't have to go to school anyway, I figured I'd give it a shot. What I got was a deeply moving, and personal, experience. Aside from being a fun RPG with cool guys, big swords, and killer music, Final Fantasy VII ( FFVII ) is also a game about life, death, grief, and acceptance. Through Final Fantasy, I was able to gain a better understanding of not only these things and how they affect people, but I was also able to contextualize and process the events that I was going through. The most famous event in gaming history is a powerful moment, to be sure, but even beyond that singular bit, much of FFVII 's mid portion deals with the party's previous losses, their grief, and their acceptance of the events past and present that haunt them. It is my favorite part of the game. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second of three installments in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, which was announced in 2015. Rebirth , in particular, covers that aforementioned mid portion of the Final Fantasy VII story, and aims to do so in a larger fashion. Much like 2020's Final Fantasy VII Remake, Rebirth extends and extrapolates the events to give us a more in-depth look at the world, all with a great new coat of paint. Rebirth has a great balance of new scenes and characters with retelling the old story in both a recognizable and satisfying way...some of the time. In between all of the great character moments, and exciting action of the battles, the game manages to muddle the big moments of the original game, more often than not. Major moments from FFVII are often presented in a tonally inconsistent way with the original, or even move from one tone to the next in the same scene - giving major moments no time to breathe. It is an extremely long game with so many things to collect and see, yet it somehow never makes adequate time for the moments that really matter in the narrative - moving at breakneck speed from somber goodbyes to slapping butts all within the same cutscene. I am not particularly averse to change, or having a new spin on old material. Much like with music covers, I don't think it's worth doing unless you've done something new with the material. So, for me, it's not that things are different - it's how they've deviated that confuses me so frequently. Which, in retrospect, is a shame. I do believe there is a great game in here somewhere . For all the narrative faults, there's so much to love. The soundtrack, with over 400 songs, is a phenomenal blend of arrangements of old songs and new material. The combat is fast, fun, and flashy. The characters, voicework, and cutscenes are some of the best I've ever seen in a game. So why, then, does this feel so hollow in the end? My major grievances are with just a few elements of the game: Overwhelming side content, and main story presentation. The side-content, in particular, really wore on me as I played through the game. Mountains of filler collectibles and towers litter each map - all of which distract from the actual good and fun things you can do. Unfortunately, you need to complete everything in order to do all of the sidequests and get many of the good moments and content in the game. You need to pick those leaves, and hit those towers, and collect that trash in order to get your best materia, or unlock the character quests. All throughout that, Rebirth throws minigame after minigame at you. There seems to be a bespoke minigame for about 40% of the quests in each area. This sounds like a cool idea in theory, but most are really underdeveloped. Some have bad controls, some are broken mechanically, and most are just plain boring, but you have to do them all. You want to have a moment with Aerith? You better play this boring ass mushroom picking thing we threw in here, buddy. For the story, there's a lot more to love. Great action, voices, characters, and emotional moments throughout the game kept me engaged and wanting to see more. Not just the retreads of the original FFVII, either. The original beats of the story end up being some of the best moments. They give us a deeper understanding and appreciation of the characters and world that just wasn't possible back on the Playstation, but they fumbled the major incidents from the original game in ways that had me asking ' why ' more frequently than I would like. The final moments of the game are especially baffling. I feel like I have a good grasp on what happens, what they're going for, and where they're taking it for the next game, but I do wonder how a new player (one who has not played Final Fantasy VII before) takes all of what is happening in. To me, it's not just that the ending is intentionally confusing/misleading - it's that it takes a major bite out of the events, in general. So much of the messaging is lost in these moments, all so they can save them for the next game in the installment. This was frustrating enough that I began to question whether we really needed 3 parts at all. So much of this game was tedious in terms of the actual gameplay experience - could it have been condensed into a better game? By the end of this project we will have spent 10 years and what we get is a retelling that can realistically only land in one of two places: A fundamental change of the events that took place in the original FFVII , or a significantly worse, bloated, retelling of the original narrative. To be honest, I'm not really sure where I want them to land here. It might be more exciting to have them do something drastically different in terms of outcomes, but I don't really have faith that this team could pull off anything satisfying. Landing on the original plot, would be nice because it's an all-time classic, but then I wonder what the point of all the plot ghosts and rainbow worlds and other nonsense over the last 10 years was for. So when I sat down to review this game, I had to think about how I could possibly score it. It is often a lot of fun, but is maddening to me in so many ways, as well. As I ruminated on the things I liked and didn't like, I quickly realized I couldn't score it at all. It became impossible for me to really take this work on it's own merits. Every scene or mechanic was, in one way or another, chasing the ghost of a game that came out in 1997. The story, in particular, was impossible for me to decouple from the original work and the major impact it had on me at a vulnerable point in my life. Rebirth , then, has once again given me a valuable reminder that the cycle of grief can manifest in so many different ways. Only this time, it's dealing with the death of my time with the Final Fantasy VII universe. I will probably not play the next game. My frustration with the game and it's errant retelling has really soured me on the project as a whole. I just have to accept that this game, and this trilogy, was not meant for someone like me. There are so many other people who get the chance to play this game (and the others in the trilogy) without their expectations or experiences colored in the way mine are, and I truly hope they enjoy it. In the end, I can take some comfort in the fact that my memories of my original experience will stick with me forever. Final Fantasy VII is a core part of my gaming identity, and even if I don't necessarily count it among my favorite games, it came at the perfect moment in my life. The original Final Fantasy VII , much like that box of art supplies from my uncle, will always be there for me, just waiting to be picked up whenever I need it. Photo credits: Square Enix

No amount of new media can re-write this history I recently had the displeasure of re-experiencing Fallout 4 , and while I wouldn't normally bother doing a write up for a game I actively dislike so far from its release, this one stuck with me. See, Fallout is very plainly a mediocre series in Bethesda's hands in general , and at the time of it's release, Fallout 4 was garnering so much hype, it was impossible to avoid. Bethesda's most recent major release, Skyrim , was such a massive success, it had millions begging the developer for another entry into the Fallout franchise - excitedly wondering how the developer could improve on their formula and breathe new life into the storied franchise. Except they forgot to do that. Or maybe they didn't forget, and just chose not to, opting instead to pare back many of the mechanics and identifying features of past games in an attempt to capture the mass appeal Skyrim achieved. Releasing a full 7 years after Fallout 3 and 5 years after Fallout: New Vegas , it's shocking just how much lesser this entry feels as an RPG. Publisher:   Bethesda Softworks Developer:  Bethesda Game Studios Platform:  Played on PC Availability: Released November 10, 2015 on PS4, XBOX One, and Windows PC. Next Gen update on April 25, 2024 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S Despite being physically massive, much of the world feels the same in all the worst ways. Characters are completely one-dimensional, and even the best companions are limited in their speaking and interaction. Samey combat and encounter design becomes a chore very early on, and with so few unique areas to engage with, the experience quickly becomes repetitive. Each apartment or factory feels like the last, often sharing the same or very similar layouts and enemies. Honestly, this game coming out in the same year as The Witcher 3 feels a bit disgusting. Bethesda has all of the resources and time in the world to get these things right! How did they miss the mark so badly? I am going to put (perhaps too much of) the blame on the community surrounding Bethesda. Let me explain - since the early days, Bethesda has always suffered from broken, messy games. In many ways, the games were propped up by the vast world and unparalleled freedom the games offered. This lead to the community fixing the bugs or broken questlines through mods, and over time, Bethesda became reliant on this relationship. You can see it in action, as many of the same bugs from Skyrim exist in Fallout 4 and even still in Starfield . Bethesda is all too content to put together a shell of a game - sloughing off of old, broken bones - and throw their hands up, proclaiming, "the modders will fix it!" All too often, that modding community has been eager to answer the call and the games are paying the price to this day. The final moments of fun the game was able to share. It's not without some merits, however. Few games offer the freedom that Bethesda open world games do, and the character creator is pretty fun to mess with, even if it is a bit lacking by contemporary standards. However, they are no longer ahead of the curve, comparatively. They are no longer singular in this regard. All too often your reward for exploration or engaging with the game in less than straight-forward ways is not worth the trouble. Every time I look back at the time I wasted on this game, I regret it. I really wanted this one to be good, or live up to the hype. I recently ran through Fallout: New Vegas again, and the difference in the depth of role-playing achievable is pretty staggering. The story-writing falls flat as well, but I don't think it's ever been a strong suit of the Bethesda brand. Coming off the excellent TV series, it feels a bit sad to have to trudge through this. Choices in conversations are now 2 or 3 words, with the character going off on tangents at their whim. All-in-all, Fallout 4 is a plodding, and often hopelessly bland experience. Clunky gunplay and pared-down role playing mechanics make this among Bethesda's worst offerings. It is an effort completely devoid of purpose or meaning - meant only to take from you. I hope that one day the series can be saved from Bethesda's cultish devotion to mediocrity, but I won't be getting my hopes up. Verdict Fallout 4  remains Bethesda's weakest offering to date. A game filled with bugs nearly 15 years old, it rarely feels like more than a chore to play. Featuring some of the weakest story and character writing the company has ever released, it attempts to win the audience over with a massive map and endless checklists of things to do. Slavishly devoted to avoiding risks, it is a game without meaning or thought. The drowned out color palette is frankly representative of the experience as a whole - there's just not much going on here. Image Credits: Taylor Rioux

Could this be a turning point for the series ? Earlier this month on Sept. 5, BioWare held a hands-on capture event for the latest, highly-anticipated, release in their long running Dragon Age franchise. At this event, media members and content creators were invited to play and capture footage of their time playing. With the embargo now lifted on Sept. 15, a deluge of videos, articles, and tweets have surfaced about the game - and they're overwhelmingly positive. Jade Valkyrie , a content creator who was present at the media event, was effusive in their praise. "From my early hands-on experience, I can confidently say that this game is everything we hoped for - and more. There [are] improvements across the board for many types of Dragon Age fans," Valkyrie stated in her most recent Youtube video . For myself, Dragon Age: The Veilguard felt more like a myth than a real game prior to this summer. We knew BioWare was working on it, but they have been very tight-lipped over the last 10 years. Since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014, the series has been completely dormant in the gaming space. This year, however, we've been treated to trailers, podcasts, and articles all about DATV . I felt so much excitement over the reveal trailer in June, that I played through all of the games again, read some of the comics and even did a deep-dive on all the lore and codex entries. YouTuber @ GhilDirthalen , who was also at the capture event, has really helped me through this mania by providing an assortment of videos and playlists that cover everything from world lore to theories about where this is all going. You can also catch their latest videos about the preview event, if you're looking for some information and impressions of the game. As far as what I've seen today? The game looks better than I ever imagined it would. DATV looks absolutely stunning in every shot we've seen. I have heard some longtime fans complain about the way DATV looks, stylistically. I think it looks amazing, even if there has been a definite shift in style from Dragon Age: Origins to now. It just looks beautiful in motion, and thank God for those updated hairstyles in the character creator. From the characters to the effects on screen, DATV is full of eye-candy. The gameplay they've shown off so far has me excited. Combat looks fast-paced and fun, but also has a nice depth to it that I'm itching to explore. The role-playing portion of this RPG looks great, too. There are a lot of backgrounds and factions to choose from, and new exciting characters to bounce those ideas off of. Combat and characters are the real highlights for me. Twitch streamer Saira , also known by @sairaspooks on Twitter , noted, “this was important to me, and [I]’m sure it’s going to be important for some of you too. not only can you pet assan forever, you can also play rock paper scissors with manfred! make sure you say hello to them whenever you return to the lighthouse 💜”. Overall, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is shaping up to be an amazing game, and BioWare’s best title in a decade (maybe even longer, actually). Early impressions make it clear BioWare just might be on the cusp of something incredible. Will this be the series’ big break? I don't know if it will outpace Inquisition in sales, but I can't wait to get my hands on it when it releases on Oct. 31, 2024. Image Credits: BioWare/Electronic Arts

Can the franchise recover some of its standing? Sept. 18, 2024 - Square Enix has released a financial results briefing that was held on May 13, and those results come as a blow to fans of the prestigious JRPG franchise. Stating "profits did not meet our expectations," Takashi Kiryu, president and representative director of Square Enix lamented the lack of growth in their Digital Entertainment segment. Focusing on their HD games sub-segment specifically, Kiryu continued "The HD Games sub-segment failed to better its profitability, posting operating losses in every year of our previous medium-term plan. In addition to this, we did not manage our title portfolio across the company as well as we could have, which I believe resulted in opportunity losses due to cannibalization between our own titles." Final Fantasy XVI had an excellent DLC come out earlier this year. With Final Fantasy XVI and VII Rebirth releasing only around half a year apart, Kiryu believes the games may have stepped on one another, but Square is taking steps to address this. "In the case of the HD Game sub-segment, sales of individual games will remain the key variable, but we believe that we will be able to exercise some degree of control over that volatility by carefully curating our pipeline over the next three years,” Kiryu assured investors. Kiryu said, “By also working steadily to improve our profitability, we intend to offset the weakness in SD games to achieve overall profitability.” Kiryu also mentioned a shift to a multiplatform strategy as part of their effort to increase profitability. With Final Fantasy XVI' s release on Steam on Sept. 17, 1024, final numbers are still in flux. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth released earlier this year to critical acclaim. Both Final Fantasy XVI and VII Rebirth were excellent entries in the series, but it seems that quality did not translate to sales. You can read our write up on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth here , and our review of the Final Fantasy XVI DLC The Rising Tide here . Square Enix has a lot of games on the docket over the next few years, but questions remain on what direction their flagship series will take moving forward. Profitability is obviously their main concern, but how will they balance those decisions with the creativity and quality the series has exemplified over the last 37 years? Time will tell, but you can be sure Square will continue to find ways to make Final Fantasy a prestige IP. Kiryu continued, "Engaging with content can move us. This is a sensation that, with the passage of time, forms unforgettable memories that help shape the values that ground us. It is our belief that this chain of events enriches our lives. We arrived at the conclusion that continuing to deliver content that can provide our customers with unforgettable memories that enrich their lives is our Group’s mission and reason for being." Image Credits: Square Enix