Author: Westen
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October Mailbag: Best Modern Gaming Trends, Dream Developer/Game Combo
As many regular readers probably know, I am a game hopper. I usually bounce between anywhere between 4-5 games at a time. This works great for the blog for many reasons. I usually have something to write about here at all times because I’m constantly experiencing new games, and I generally have an assembly line…
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My Ten Biggest Disagreements With Game Critics This Year (So Far)
One of my biggest “hot takes” is that game critics do a pretty good job overall. If you look at games that don’t have stupid, made-up controversies around them, the critic and consumer consensus is relatively in line for a lot of games. But of course, even for a game critic defender like me, disagreements…
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The Five Biggest Ways That Metaphor: ReFantazio Is Better Than Persona 5.
Let me preface this by saying that Persona 5 is likely one of my top 10 games of all time. I played it once when it first came out, and then played Persona 5 Royal when that was released. I hate replaying games, so it should tell you something that I played this 100 hour-ish…
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Why You Should Try To Play Metaphor: ReFantazio On Hard
I like to play on hard difficulty for a lot of games. I want to be tested. I want the intensity. I want to be forced into using everything a game has to offer and not get overly comfortable. I don’t want to just breeze through a game without even trying. But when it comes…
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The Plucky Squire Review: So Charming That It’s No Longer Charming
One of the worst people that you can possibly come across is the guy who thinks he is funnier than he actually is. Every conversation suddenly becomes this persons attempt at a stand-up comedy routine. They love their own humor a little too much. And maybe this person can be funny on occasion, but eventually,…
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Until Then Spoiler Free Review: World Class Ingredients, In The Oven For Too Long
Imagine the best chef in the world. They are on nationally televised cooking shows. If they open a restaurant, it makes headlines. They use the best ingredients that any chef could use. In the end, none of that matters if they leave the meal in the oven for too long. You can do everything else…
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Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Review- At A Crossroads Of The Past And The Future
Back in 2019, I thought Yakuza: Like A Dragon was one of the most bold games a long-running series could come out with. At that point, the Yakuza series was purely an action/brawler series with seven mainline games and an absolutely iconic protagonist. Deciding to switch heroes and go to a turn based RPG system…
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GRIS Review: How To Rate True Art?
Sometimes, the absurdity of how most of us handle video game reviews is not lost on me. Imagine an art critic going to an art show and assigning each piece a review on a scale of 1-10. For one reason or another, that doesn’t happen. Perhaps there is an understanding that art is above silly…
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My Hottest Gaming Takes of 2024 (So Far)
I have a complicated relationship with “hot takes.” The internet is inundated with hot takes for pretty much any entertainment medium, as it is a very easy way to get attention. In a crowded media landscape, pissing people off or being extremely contrarian is a quick way to stand out. Sports talk, in particular, is…
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Astro Bot Review: Bubble Wrap, Magic Shows, And Core Memories
If you play video games as an adult, odds are you played video games as a child. All gamers have a few games from their childhood that unlock some serious core memories. When you remember those times, you will, of course, remember playing whatever game it is that you are thinking about. But it goes…
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