The Swords of Ditto vs. Moonlighter: A Comparative Review
Two rogue-lites enter, one leaves. Which was the better game? When both are solid, it's hard to tell!
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July 12, 2019
I’m a Sucker for Card Based Sub-Genres
There's just something about video games, RPGs, and trading cards.
May 5, 2019
How About These Lesser Known Games for a PlayStation Classic?
Sony announced the final lineup of titles for the forthcoming PlayStation classic retro console, and it was… unexpected? Many gamers will see the list (which you can see here) and find a few games they liked playing yesteryear, but will find many more glaring omissions from a console claiming to be a “classic”. Countless outlets have posted lists on the games they’d like to see in a PS1 Classic console, but I wanted to focus on more obsure games that could go in to a PS1 retro console. Here are 20 hidden gems/less common, but still excellent original PlayStation games I’d love to have seen on the PlayStation Classic. (more…)
November 7, 2018
Top Games of 2017: Persona 5
The year of 2017 will go down as one of the best in all of gaming. From the release of Nintendo’s Switch console to the abundant amount of triple A titles worth your time released this calendar year, it’s hard to find any other time it’s been this great to be a gamer. As the year wraps up I wanted to look back at some of the games that shaped the past 12 months for me. While there were many games I played this year, only a select few stand out as truly awesome. This is one of them. (more…)
December 10, 2017
Rogue Legacy is the Best Kind of Dungeon Crawl
Some games choose to give you big advantages for completing a certain level or stage. Take for example the Legend of Zelda series: completing a dungeon will net you some extra health and a specific weapon or tool to assist in further exploration of the rest of the game’s world. Other titles give you small rewards throughout, like an RPG giving you additional HP and strength with every level you go up. Then there are dungeon crawlers like Castlevania which combine these two, giving you bigger and better weapons all the time, but not allotting anything major until you overcome a boss. Take that classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night formula, and mix in the random dungeon generation of rogue-like games such as The Binding of Isaac, and mix in some Final Fantasy for flair, and you’ve got yourself Rogue Legacy, a remarkably fun and replayable title from 2014. (more…)
July 21, 2016
The Epic Battles of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
If you haven’t noticed, Nintendo has had two successful role play games starring Mario. Sadly none of them are in conjunction with Square, but they are excellent in their own right. The Paper Mario series has been going strong since the Nintendo 64, and the Mario & Luigi series has been successful since the days of the Game Boy Advance. Both have adventures taking place in the Mushroom Kingdom, but until very recently they have stayed away from one another. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam brings both games together and, somehow, managed to capture the essence of both series’ in one complete adventure. However, there’s something that stands out more than the interesting premise and adorable mashup of visual styles… the boss battles in this game are insane! (more…)
January 28, 2016
Pro Tips for Playing The Legend of Legacy
A spiritual successor to the beloved old Saga series, being developed by past developers from Square Enix and Level-5, and featuring wonderful visuals and an intricate battle system caused Legend of Legacy to get a small amount of buzz from RPG fans before its release. Regrettably I haven’t played a Saga game, but I have played plenty of RPGs and really love me some Level-5, so I was all on board to give this game a go. A few hours in I found out just how difficult the game was: I was losing to small mobs, getting absolutely devastated by bosses, and generally not having a great time with the game. I stuck with it though, and discovered how to actually play the game. If you were like me and you are struggling to get a foothold in the world of Avalon then use these tips to better your adventuring and conquer even the most difficult of foes! (more…)
October 22, 2015
The Inescapable Allure of Etrian Mystery Dungeon
Dungeon crawlers have been one of the biggest surprises for me in all my years of gaming. The idea of rigorously treading through a seemingly endless dungeon full of ridiculously challenging enemies and assured failure around nay every corner just didn’t seem all that fun. When I had the opportunity to play Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan on Nintendo 3DS, all my perceptions shifted. Suddenly the idea of immense challenge and discovery was fun, fresh, and exciting. Exploring a dungeon for the first time was unlike any other RPG before, and I found myself bleeding countless hours into the game only to progress forward a small bit. Being able to map out the dungeon floor, marking the location of items and major enemies gave myself a grand sense of security, like I had an advantage over the once threatening world which spelled my doom numerous times before.
So then why is Etrian Mystery Dungeon, a game which strips away that safety blanket of knowing the coordinates of each dungeon and replaces it with randomly generated floors while still maintaining the degree of difficulty of past Etrian games, still incredibly fun, fresh, and exciting?
It comes down to Etrian Mystery Dungeon doing two things right: exploration and development. (more…)
April 14, 2015
Persona Q is a Great Game! Persona Q is a Long Game. I’m Not Going to Finish Persona Q…
I’ve spent a great deal of time with Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth and enjoyed every minute of it. I formed teams with my favorite characters from Persona 3 and made new friends from the lineup of Persona 4 characters. I’ve played cartographer and constructed 100% complete and perfect maps for over a dozen floors in the labyrinth. I’ve fused, sacrificed, and leveled up countless Personas, performed hundreds of all-out attacks, and helped Junpei Mr. X hit on girls. I’m not close to finishing the game, but I think I’m done. At least for now. (more…)
February 10, 2015
Review: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
When a game series has been around for the better part of two decades you would expect there to be some standout entries amongst the spread of games. And, undoubtedly, whichever your favorite game is won’t be someone else’s favorite. Final Fantasy is no exception to this, with 14 numbered games in the series and dozens of spinoffs, re-releases, and games in Japan that we’ll never get the chance to play here in America. One of those spinoffs was 2012’s oddly titled Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, a rhythm based game encompassing many of the series’ most iconic music tracks in a somewhat RPG-like experience on the 3DS. Though that game was remarkably fun (read my review and see why!), the sequel, Theatrhyhm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, literally makes the original game obsolete. (more…)
September 27, 2014