The original Super Mario 3D World was one of the most acclaimed games on Wii U, and with good reason. It’s easily one of the high points of the whole Mario series, drawing inspiration from both its 2D and 3D incarnations to create something wholly unique and wonderful to play. …
I don’t know what it is exactly, but there’s something incredibly satisfying about a good job system in a JRPG. Grinding levels is whatever, but farming JP for hours on end to master every job and find the best ways to mix and match their skills? That always hits the …
As much as I loved the original Nioh, one particular memory is always first to mind when I think back on it: the hours I spent frustratedly bashing my head against Hino-Enma, the third boss in the game. Learning her moveset and figuring out optimal ways of dealing with each …
Glyph is one of the more unique approaches I’ve seen when it comes to 3D platformers. While it hits all the genre’s familiar notes—running and jumping between platforms, avoiding obstacles and collecting treasures—it’s got one little change that makes a big impact: you’re a ball, with the ball-like physics that …
Ever wanted to fly Firefly-style around the ‘verse, on the run from the law with a ragtag crew, taking on whatever odd jobs you can find to keep your supplies up? Ever wanted to do that, but in a game that puts queer stories front and centre? Ever wanted to …
I can’t tell if I love Cultist Simulator or loathe it. In some respects, it’s a remarkable game: a wholly unique mix of card game, text adventure, and resource management. Its fragmented narratives unfold in a mesmerising way through the cards played, inviting you into a grim, fascinating world of …
For Thomas Olsson of Skeleton Crew Studio, Olija is a very personal project. It’s a game about being a foreigner in a strange land, drawing from his own experiences as a foreigner living in Japan—an experience that can be exciting and awe-inspiring, but also lonely. Olija may take a swashbuckling …
Often when someone opts to make a retro-styled shoot-’em-up, there’s a deliberate choice to carry that inspiration through all aspects of the design. An old-school aesthetic comes with game systems that overtly channel those of yesterday’s classics, and the technical constraints they were built within. There’s plenty of appeal in …
There’s a lot more to a good roguelike than just permanent death and randomised dungeons. What makes the best of the genre work so well is the way they encourage experimentation with different weapons, different items, different builds—driven in part by necessity and in part by a game loop that …
Heaven’s Vault is a stunning achievement in innovative game design and non-linear narrative, woven through a story about the importance of understanding history. Usually when a game has a translation element, it’s limited to decoding a cipher: the words are all English (or whatever language you’re playing in), with letters …
