Vertex Pop describe their work as “feel-good action games”, and I can’t think of a more apt description. They’ve mastered high-energy, combo-centric arcade action and the endorphin rush that comes with that, while keeping frustration to a minimum, and coupled that with bright colours as whimsical designs. So it was …
I wish more crossover games took the Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE approach. Typically, when a game wants to blend multiple different properties, there’s some sort of very contrived incident that quickly smashes two universes together so that we can get as quickly as possible to the fan-service that arises from …
The original release of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE on Wii U didn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserved. The people who loved it loved it—myself included—but it didn’t make a huge splash when it came out, even by Wii U standards. As the latest in Nintendo’s ongoing effort …
I don’t have any interest in the competitive side of Pokemon, yet I’ve spent much of the past month breeding and training to raise the strongest team I can in Pokemon Shield. Even without multiplayer battles as the end goal, there can be something inherently satisfying in the grind to …
Despite their low-key tone and slice-of-life settings, many games in Gust’s Atelier series can be surprisingly impenetrable. Older games, in particular, confined players to rigid time-management systems that asked players to carefully manage how they spend their time between fighting monsters, gathering materials, synthesising items, and resting. Even more recent …
Using a PlayStation 4 controller with a smartphone used to a complicated endeavour that required rooting or jailbreaking your device. More recent versions of Android an iOS, though, are natively compatible with the PS4 gamepad—making a controller phone mount a much more practical thing to own than it was even …
Over the past decade, Mario and Sonic have become synonymous with the Olympic Games, at least where videogames are concerned. With the exception of the PyeongChang 2018 winter games (due to licensing reasons), every Olympics since 2008 has seen a Mario & Sonic tie in, each one delivering a collection …
Some 10 hours into Death Stranding, I crashed my motorcycle. I had a hefty load of cargo strapped to the back of it that someone had asked me to transport from one isolated post-apocalyptic settlement to another. In a misguided attempt at efficiency, I took a “shortcut” across the rocky …
The ending of Mary Skelter: Nightmares didn’t really leave much room for a direct sequel, but its unique world left so much potential for more stories to tell and ideas to explore. Where many a game would simply try to shoehorn in some contrivance to allow a follow-up to a …
I can’t think of a better game to ring in Halloween than Luigi’s Mansion 3. Sure, there are scarier games out there, and that’s what a lot of people look for at this time of year, but growing up on the likes of The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Addams …