I am a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to the Star Wars franchise, but not in the way that a lot of people are. There’s a certain curmudgeonly streak of people that have existed more or less since 1983 with a very specific idea in their minds about what the films, books, games,
When the term “Metroidvania” gets thrown around, the expectation of a quality title usually follows. It doesn’t matter if it’s an entry from its namesake or a well-loved and amazingly made entry from an indie developer. You really have to put your best foot forward. The amount of lofty expectations for this genre is a
Throwback games are nearly always a risky business. There’s certainly much to be gained by taking notes from the classics that came before, but a lack of innovation on tried and true concepts can just as readily cause a game to feel like a drop in the bucket for a genre rather than a proper
So here’s a statement that might surprise people who read this because it’s kind of considered verboten among anyone who plays a lot of video games: I actually really like mobile games. No, really. Don’t get me wrong; a lot of mobile games are shallow, lightweight experiences that barely qualify as games and I would
The Coffee Talk series features two things I’m fond of: visual novel elements and coffee! It’s interesting because while the premise seems rather simple, I don’t actually come across many games that explore these types of random mixes often, or well, for that matter.
Like many ordinary people, my relationship with the sport of golf is a bit complicated. I have played it in real life and like it. However, I don’t really spectate it because it just isn’t that exciting as an observer. Golf has a relaxed pace and has a lot of subtle nuances that make recognizing
It’s not all that often that I get the opportunity to revisit a beloved review title after it’s release, but when The Arcade Crew reached out for word on the latest major update for Infernax, of course I had to check it out for myself. So, for those of you who haven’t heard of Infernax
It’s always a compelling prospect when a development team, hot off the considerable challenge of releasing a video game, makes an attempt to switch things up with a forthcoming sequel. It can also be equally off-putting; would an alteration of core elements mean a loss of what made the experience click in the first place?
I can still remember myself sitting in the living room in January 2005, impatiently awaiting the arrival of the delivery truck. Every time I heard a car coming down the street, my eyes perked up as I rushed to the window. Hoping, praying, that this would be the truck I was waiting for. My Nintendo
To the surprise of nobody, I was hooked from the moment I saw the trailer for Curse of the Sea Rats. I mean, an action platformer where you play as a cast of rats that look straight out of a 90s Disney movie with a fantastical ensemble of foes, what’s not to love? Well, as
After I was most of the way through 9 Years of Shadows, I asked our review editor if I was allowed to simply post an image to review the game. He was… not enthusiastic about that being the entire review, so I will instead write a full review. But I will include the image itself
And…I’m back! It’s been about two months since we previewed Tchia, Awaceb’s open-world adventure game featuring its titular 13-year-old heroine, and man am I glad I didn’t have to wait long to fully experience this title.
Are you exhausted? Overworked? Do the events of your life feel akin to the tides, where everything takes place in an omnipresent cycle, looping day in and day out without end? If you answered yes to any of the above, you have something in common with the Grim Reaper himself—or at least as he’s represented
Back in 2021 I reviewed Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship: The Official Videogame 4 (or MEAMASCTOV4 for short!). Despite not really being into the sport of supercross in any way, I actually had a lot of fun with it, and it was a very solid racing sim experience. While I gave it a solid score
It’s always fun to go through and revisit games in your library. You probably have more than a few you remember fondly and would love an excuse to play again. Today, for many of you, this may be the case. We’re talking about Dead Cells, a roguelite game by indie studio Motion Twin with metroidvania
Since the release of 2017’s Nioh, developer Team Ninja has been having something of an action RPG renaissance. While the impetus of Nioh’s continued development was the success of From Software’s Souls series, the game managed to not only carve out its own unique space in the genre, but carve it with beta tests and
Sometimes, it can be hard to decide how to approach a review, oneself having multiple perspectives on the subject of said review. A game might play well, but is that enough to call it good? It is this sort of internal struggle I find myself dealing with in today’s title, Redemption Reapers, released on February
When I first saw the trailer for Grim Guardians: Demon Purge, a few inspirations immediately stuck out in my mind. A castle of demons full of diverse architecture, a variety of abilities just as useful for exploration as they are for combat, an aesthetic reminiscent of Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow, plus
What a difference a decade makes, huh? Before the release of Yakuza 0, the overall franchise was largely regarded as a niche that a handful of dedicated fans passionately latched onto since its inception. Because of that, it didn’t exactly make much business sense to release any spinoffs outside of Japan. Especially with how Dead
In the 1980s and ‘90s, Japanese developer Toaplan was an indisputable juggernaut of the shoot ‘em up. After the release of their first shmup (and third game overall), Tiger-Heli, the developer went on to unleash no small amount of shooting games across arcade floors. Some time later, they would also make their foray into console
