Category: Takes
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Microsoft Didn’t Just Shut Down Tango Gameworks. It May Have Ended AAA Risk Taking.
I wrote last week about how shocked I am that Death Stranding was ever made. In an era where development times and costs have ballooned, publishers seem more risk averse than ever when it comes to their biggest budget titles. While we have been lucky to have a lot of fantastic games in the last…
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I Can’t Believe Death Stranding Exists, and I’m So Glad It Does
When I play a truly great video game, I will occasionally stop and think to myself, “I can’t believe this game exists.” While I play a lot of great video games, there are some that are so masterful in their craft, I can’t help but take a few moments to be in awe of the…
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Gaming Round Up: Ultros, Unicorn Overlord, and Harold Halibut
I promised a list of my top 10 games with a Metacritic score of 76 or under today, but that project ended up being a bit more labor intensive than I anticipated, so that list will now be coming Tuesday. Instead, here is another gaming round up with some of the things I have new…
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PSA: 7/10s are Good Video Games
The tension in the air is palpable in the moments before a big video game is about to have its review embargo lifted. The review scores that drop will have giant implications for how a game is discussed for years to come. The general scale gamers seem to have when looking at reviews is as…
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Gaming Round Up: Stellar Blade, Sand Land, Unicorn Overlord, and Ultros
When Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth came out at the end of March, I became a bit of a mad man. For a little over 3 weeks, it was basically the only game I touched. This was from a mix of absolutely loving the game, really being invested in the story, and not wanting to get…
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My Advice to Gamers: Stop Making Yourselves Miserable
As a dad in my mid-30s, I’m starting to feel a bit differently about myself. I certainly don’t feel wise, I still do plenty of things that are pretty dumb. But I do feel like I’ve spent enough time on this earth to actually have the occasional bit of advice to dole out. I’ve seen…
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Rise of the Ronin Early Impressions: A Big Miss By Reviewers
A lot of people on social media love to hate on gaming media as a whole. So much of my twitter feed is taken up with complaints about gaming journalists, reviewers, media, etc. I am not one of those people. I view game reviewers as a valuable resource that have often saved me from bad…
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Traditional MP Battle Systems Need to Die
If you grew up with SNES and Playstation RPGs like me, it was an era where you knew exactly what to expect heading into almost any game in the genre. When it came to combat, which was almost always turn-based, you would have basic attacks, and then special attacks and magic. The special attacks and…
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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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