Author: Westen
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Balatro Review: One of a Kind
Since the success of Slay The Spire in 2019, the roguelike deckbuilder genre has become increasingly competitive and complicated. All of these games need a big twist so they can stand out in a crowded field. I love this genre, but it feels like a large chunk of the games in it aren’t quite as…
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Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth Has Made Me a Photo Mode Convert
As games have gotten better and better looking, video games have leaned into digital photography. Almost every big release has a photo mode now, and Xbox and Playstation consoles are set up to allow you to easily access and share any photo you take. For years, I’ve been a bit of a grinch on this.…
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Way Too Early Thoughts on Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth (Spoiler-Free)
Including the demo, I have now put about six hours into FF7: Rebirth. This was my #2 most anticipated game of 2024. Early on, I’d say I may have even underrated how hyped I should have been for this game. Here are some quick takes and a bit of advice from my early hours with…
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Gaming Round Up: FF7 Remake, FF7 INTERmission, Lil’ Guardsman, Helldivers II, and Unicorn Overlord
In the lead up to the release of Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth this Thursday, it has been tough to center myself on one video game. Over the past 2-3 weeks, I have been bouncing around several video games, some of which for only a few hours. Because of this, it seemed easier to just do…
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“Ubisoftication” is a Good Thing, Actually
It seems that every time a new open world game comes out these days, I hear the same tired buzzword about their design from game critics. Putting a lot of markers on the map to tell you where the side content is, is “Ubisoftication”. Thanks to the new Zelda games and Elden Ring in particular,…
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3 Quick Takes on Helldivers 2: It’s Only Hell Getting In
For the second time this year, a game has come out of nowhere to take the gaming world by storm. Helldivers 2 didn’t have a giant marketing push and is only selling for $40. It’s pretty obvious that it wasn’t expected to be a massive success. Like many, Helldivers 2 was not on my radar,…
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BigNerdGaming’s Top 10 Games of 2022
When I don’t have other things to write about, I’m slowly starting to work on doing top 10s for each year through the mid-1990s. This is in anticipation of doing bigger lists, like my greatest games of all time. I find ranking games year by year is an easier way to parse through things over…
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Anomaly Agent Review: Slick, Stylish, Absurd
I love the word absurd because of all the positive and negative connotations that can surround it. Describing someone as absurd can mean they are awesome and hilarious. It can also mean they are extremely dumb. Anomaly Agent is absurd in every kind of way. Luckily, most of those ways are good! It’s a fast-paced…
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Skull and Bones Open Beta Impressions: Lost at Sea
Ubisoft has pulled off a seemingly impossible feat. We have a AAA open world pirate game coming out in about a week with absolutely no hype behind it. Skull and Bones first began development in 2013, and was announced in 2017. As with anything that has this turbulent of a development cycle, hype has slowly faded.…
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Dondoko Island Might Be The Greatest Minigame of All Time
I absolutely adore a great minigame in my video games. For long RPGs in particular, minigames can be a way to dramatically enhance the experience. When you are going to put 50+ hours into a game (and sometimes way more than that), it can become a grind, and breaks are good. A minigame can put…
Big Nerd Gaming 