One of the more consistent dilemmas that surface in whatever long-running property you feverishly consume is the problem of staving off becoming stale. For every book series that has tens of entries from the likes of James Patterson or Janet Evanovich, for every tired comparison to the MCU and its plethora of shows and movies,
I might not speak for everyone when I say this, but some would agree that the recent visibility of the beat-’em-up genre bodes well for fans of local multiplayer games. It’s a genre that I’ve found myself covering a lot in those same days, and I can’t say that I’m not enjoying its time in
Endearingly strange games, and really just any weird media, are something I’m sure I enjoy more than most people. I’m always down to plop myself in front of something that some might find too out there, and some games meet these criteria in a way that I find endearing and entertaining. It’s part of the
Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that a franchise like Katamari Damacy has been with us for nearly 20 years. Then again, its quirky style and easy-to-understand gameplay may have something to say for its longevity. While certain games from the PS2 era wore their Japanese weirdness on their sleeve in ways that didn’t click with
You know, there was a time when it was a safe bet that the release of a licensed game from nearly any franchise would be met with skepticism. Call it a relic of decades past, but there are some that still vividly remember seeing a game from your favorite franchise turn out to be a
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
Ask any modern gamer about the trajectory of titles in certain franchises, and you’re more than likely going to hear similar things about the most popular franchises. On one end, you’ll have the Call of Duty or Maddens of the world pumping out endless sequels that are picked up year after year. On the other,
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
There’s something to be said about the hook of a solid narrative, especially with the Telltale-led resurgence of the adventure game genre far in the distance. Aside from the impending release of The Wolf Among Us 2, some in the collective gaming community might hold the notion that adventure games in general have gone back
About a month ago, I took a brief look at the resurrection of yet another long-dormant franchise. I walked away thinking that the opening hours in that preview meant that the comeback of Beyond the Grave was in good hands. Because of that positive first impression, taking on the review for the final build seemed
There’s something to be said about the allure of resurrecting long-dormant franchises, especially when you’re the kind of person who latched onto one of them when it was originally released. It’s a chance to breathe new life into your creation, and also a chance to adapt to the times. In recent memory, I’ve seen (and
People don’t often consider gamers to be the kind of people who are also audiophiles. More often than not, the concern is more along the lines of “is the game fun” than it is “am I able to get theater quality audio from a gaming headset.” It shouldn’t be a surprise the focus is often
If there was a “dad” version of any genre of gaming, it would absolutely be the “historically accurate FPS” side of the whole spectrum. Oftentimes, they revolve around World War I and II, though the focus tends to lean towards pivotal battles or specific battlefields that try to emulate the feel of the era they’re
If there was any sort of competition for the most re-releases in popular media in comparison to the original Star Wars trilogy, the Genesis-era Sonic games are definitely up there. Hell, the fact that there have been multiple compilations since then signals to most gamers and even passing fans that SEGA knows how timeless the
You really had to be a certain age to fully understand the absolutely monstrous chokehold that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had on younger kids at the time. Since then, to a certain extent, many other IPs popular with their target audience have had a hard time replicating at the height of its popularity. Save
If you can believe it, there was a time when one IP crossing over with another was considered a rare event. While I’m showing my age with this statement alone, the scarcity of such a thing just lent itself to the excitement of experiencing the crossover in general. In comparison to the dearth of options
I’ll be honest, I loved damn near everything about Lost Judgment. I’m pretty sure my review of the base game made that point glaringly obvious. With any game in the Yakuza franchise, it’s almost always packed to the gills with content. That reason alone usually deters the addition of new story content with each title,
Things sure have been busy at developer/publisher Midboss these days. We’ve been introduced to their cyberpunk world through 2064: Read Only Memories in recent years, and things are starting to expand with the upcoming release of Read Only Memories: Neurodiver. We recently covered the prologue/demo for the game, dubbed Pilot Memory, and also had the
Surprise! Early Access games are often pegged as messy/buggy works in process, but sometimes you come across games like Batterystaple’s 30XX and the steady updates that it’s been receiving since it “dropped” on Steam a year ago. We got the chance to check it out around that time, and even in that state I felt
You know, it’s really hard to call something niche when a series has been receiving regular entries for what’s now been decades. It may be hard to believe that the Atelier franchise as a whole has been a long standing presence reaching right back to the original PlayStation, but there’s something to be said about
